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<!--=================================================================-->
<H1 align="center">Table of Contents <BR>March 1999 Issue #38</H1>
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<td rowspan=4>
<UL>
<LI><A HREF="../index.html">The Front Page</A>
<LI><A HREF="./lg_mail38.html">The MailBag</A>
<ul>
<li><a HREF="./lg_mail38.html#help">Help Wanted -- Article Ideas</a>
<li><a HREF="./lg_mail38.html#gen">General Mail</a>
</ul>
<LI><A HREF="./lg_bytes38.html">News Bytes</A>
<ul>
<li><a HREF="./lg_bytes38.html#general">News in General</a>
<li><a HREF="./lg_bytes38.html#software">Software Announcements</a>
</ul>
<LI><A HREF="./lg_answer38.html">The Answer Guy</A>, by James T. Dennis
<LI><A HREF="./lg_tips38.html">More 2 Cent Tips</A>
<LI><A HREF="./cooper.html">Adding a Second IDE Hard Drive</A>, by Mendel
Leo Cooper
<LI><A HREF="./pollman.html">Compiling Programs on Linux</a>, by JC Pollman
<LI><A HREF="./gm.html">Graphics Muse</A>, by Michael J. Hammel
<LI><A HREF="./blanchard.html">Introduction to IRQs, DMAs and Base
Addresses</A>, by Eugene Blanchard
<LI><A HREF="./gentry.html">Linux Dialin Server Setup Guide</A>, by Josh
Gentry
<LI><A HREF="./jenkins7.html">Linux Installation Primer, Part 7</a>,
by Ron Jenkins
<LI><A HREF="./martin.html">PAP HOWTO</A>, by Terry Martin
<LI><A HREF="./adler1.html">The Slashdot Effect, An Analysis of Three Internet P
ublications</A>, by Stephen Adler
<LI><A HREF="./rogers.html">The Standard C Library for Linux, Part
Four</A>, by James M. Rogers
<LI><A HREF="./kidd.html">Why you might want to use the Library GPL for
your next
library</A>, by Eric Kidd
<LI><A HREF="./veselosky.html">Windows/Linux Dual Boot</A>, by Vince Veselosky
<LI><A HREF="./lg_backpage38.html">The Back Page</A>
<ul>
<li><a HREF="./lg_backpage38.html#authors">About This Month's Authors</a>
<li><a HREF="./lg_backpage38.html#notlinux">Not Linux</a>
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Write the Gazette at <A HREF="mailto:gazette@ssc.com"> gazette@ssc.com</A>
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<H3>Contents:</H3>
<ul>
<li><a HREF="./lg_mail38.html#help">Help Wanted -- Article Ideas</a>
<li><a HREF="./lg_mail38.html#gen">General Mail</a>
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<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="maroon">Help Wanted -- Article Ideas</font></H3></center>
<P>
Answers to these questions should be sent directly to the e-mail address of
the inquirer with or without a copy to gazette@ssc.com. Answers that are
copied to <I>LG</I> will be printed in the next issue in the Tips column.
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<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 10:47:38 +0100 (MET)<BR>
From: Jan-Hendrik Terstegge, <A HREF="mailto:jh.terstegge@gmx.net">
jh.terstegge@gmx.net</A><BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Korn Shell FAQ</font>
<P>
I'm looking for a good Korn Shell FAQ, because I dislike reading the
Manpages. Does anyone know a good Internet Address of a FAQ?
<P>
Thanks in advance
<P>
--<BR>
Jan-Hendrik
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 15:13:18 -0500<BR>
From: "Jim Coleman", <A HREF="mailto:jecoleman@upsala.org">
jecoleman@upsala.org</A>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Windows program replacements</font>
<P>
I'm making the move from Windows to Linux and am in the process of
tracking down Linux programs to replace anything in Windows that I feel
I cannot do without. It's a short but stubborn list. Presently, I'm
trying to locate a Linux Family Tree program (I'm using Family Tree
Maker in Windows) and also need a Linux program that can import the
contents of several Cardfile databases.
<P>
I've heard of and have downloaded the Unix based LifeLines program but
have not yet tried it. Though it comes highly recommended, even the
author admits that it's somewhat dated. I was hoping a more recent
program was available. Not necessarily freeware, by the way.
<P>
Suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks,
<P>
Best Regards,<BR>
--<BR>
Jim Coleman
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 14:45:12 -0800<BR>
From: "Michel A. Lim", <A HREF="mailto:support@whl-international.com">
support@whl-international.com</A><BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">RH5.2 and Intel EtherExpress Pro/10+ ISA NIC</font>
<P>
I am a Linux newbie, with some computer experience, trying to install my
intel etherexpress pro/10+ isa card on my new Linux box (Macmillan RH 5.2,
kernel 2.0.36-0.7). I have read several newsgroup postings regarding this
network card, but I could really use a step-by-step guide.
<P>
The card did work when the OS was win98. Linux is now the only OS on this
computer. The Linux install was successful except that it did not recognize
my network card. I disabled the plug and play function of the card using
the intel configuration software (softset2), and then tried re-installing
Linux and passing the IRQ and I/O settings (7 and 320-32Fh respectively) but
that also did not work. I then tried to add the following lines to
/etc/conf.modules:
<PRE>
alias eth0 eepro
options eth0 io=320-32Fh irq=7
</PRE>
this was also unsucessful. Furthermore, pnpdump returns "board not found,"
and even AFTER reading the HOWTO for isapnptools, I have no idea what to add
to add to my isapnp.conf file.
<P>
Any help would be very appreciated, just please be detailed as I am not a
guru by any stretch of the imagination.
<P>
thank you.
--<BR>
michel a. lim
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1999 18:30:50 -0200<BR>
From: "Eliane Aureliana de Sousa", <A HREF="mailto:lili@martins.com.br">
lili@martins.com.br</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">We do not relay...</font>
<P>
Could you help me? I have Red Hat Linux installed and I have sendmail and
a pop server running but when I try to send and receive mail via
Netscape what I receive is this mensage: We do not relay..... and there
is neve any msg in my mail box.
<P>
I've read as many how-to as I could, but I couldn't find nothing about
my problem. Send mail is already running, I need to know how to set the
permissions to let my users send and receive mail.
<P>
Thanks,
Eliane Aureliana de Sousa
Uberlandia - Brazil
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Mon, 08 Feb 1999 16:28:52 +0100<BR>
From: Kristoffer Andersson, <A HREF="mailto:e7koffe@etek.chalmers.se">
e7koffe@etek.chalmers.se</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Help wanted -- article ideas</font>
<P>
I'm having a sort of luxorius problem. In the building where I live we have
a 24-7 ethernet connection two the Internet - so long every thing is fine -
the problem is that this connection goes through a masquerading-server and
as a result it is almost impossible to connect to your computer from a
computer outside my building.
<P>
To go around this limitation I have set up a small script that uses ssh to
forward a few ports (21, 22 and 80) to a computer outside the building.
This is fine as long as you and your friends now to wich computer the ports
have been forwarded to.
<P>
A more fancy solution would be to use ssh to tunnel ppp! The problem is
that I dont now of an ISP that would let me to use PPP over the Internet
instead of over their modem-pools.
<P>
--<BR>
Kristoffer Andersson
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Mon, 08 Feb 1999 10:35:02 -0200<BR>
From: Silvia, <A HREF="mailto:silvia@waytecnet.com.br">
silvia@waytecnet.com.br</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">DOS Emulations</font>
<P>
How does the DOS emulation through the serial ports works?<BR>
What is the default terminal emulation?<BR>
How can we change this?<BR>
We need to use 25 lines 80 columns and the key combinations ALT+F1,
ALT+F2, ..., ETC.
<P>
Regards<BR>
--<BR>
Silvia
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Mon, 08 Feb 1999 04:52:35 +0100<BR>
From: JVA, <A HREF="mailto:vargaj@intrak.tuke.sk">
vargaj@intrak.tuke.sk</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Sound card with radio on it</font>
<P>
I am intending to install Red Hat 5.0 to myP 166: PC and my question is
that I have a ISA sound card (SF16-FMI) with radio on it, it's 100% SB
compatible,and has a IDE connection on it and it's not PnP will it be
able to work and in particular the radio
please help I enjoy listening to radio.
<P>
--<BR>
Jva
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 15:42:19 -0800<BR>
From: Jay Xia, <A HREF="mailto:xia@xlnt.com">xia@xlnt.com</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">MS words to Postscript conversion</font>
<P>
From time to time, people e-mail me documents
in Microsoft Words format. Do you know where
I can find an utility to convert the MS Words
documents into Postscript format so that I can
view/print them in Linux?
<P>
Thanks.
<P>
--<BR>
jay
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Sun, 14 Feb 1999 01:32:18 +0100<BR>
From: bonis, <A HREF="mailto:bonis@tin.it">bonis@tin.it</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">problema</font>
<P>
ciao, mi chiamo cris
ho red hat 5.0 e devo collegarmi a internet... con netscape
communicator..
..non ci riesco :)..sono abbonato a tin...e ho un modem esterno da 33.6
...ho provato di tutto..ma non riesco propio :) aiuto :) grazie.
ps.
ho installato Linux Red Hat da 3 giorni :)..e mai prima.. :)
<P>
--<BR>
bonis
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Sat, 13 Feb 1999 20:58:10 +0530<BR>
From: "Mukul Jain", <A HREF="mailto:jainmukul@usa.net">jainmukul@usa.net</A>
<BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Configuring Linux as mail server</font>
<P>
I want to configure Linux as my off-line mail server. What all I want is
that I want it to aceept my mail and when I dial to my ISP it just sends
the
collected mail and then recieves the mail from my domain. and distributes
according to Linux user accounts.
<P>
I've done the following setting
in sendmail.cw; I've added my domain entry.
<P>
In sendmail.cf I've changed the
DS to my ISP server
<tt>DSgg.vsnl.net.in</tt>
<P>
and at DM added my domain
also changed <tt>OHoldExpensive=True</tt>
<P>
Well and then changed settings for the mailers expensiver
<P>
Now still I get an Error 'We do not relay mail'
<P>
HELP!
<P>
--<BR>
Mukul
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 11:06:49 +0100 (Ora solare Europa occidentale)<BR>
From: Bruno Falconi, <A HREF="mailto:bruno@ifctr.mi.cnr.it">
bruno@ifctr.mi.cnr.it</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">primo approccio</font>
<P>
finalmente ho trovato un link interessante per chi vuole
inoltrarsi in Linux.
<P>
Ho cercato di installare Linux (Red Hat 5.2) sul mio pc
che gia gira con windows 98.
ho tre dischi (10gb, 2gb e 1.5gb).
ho incontrato mille difficolta' e alla fine non sono
riuscito ad installarlo, non solo, ma ho perso anche
Windows 98.
Ho ripristinato poi i dischi ed windows, ma prima di riprovarci
gradirei qualche dritta per fare una cosa seria.
<P>
grazie<BR>
--<BR>
Bruno Falconi
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 12:35:03 -0500<BR>
From: "Jeff Moore", <A HREF="mailto:champnet@iisc.net">champnet@iisc.net</A>
<BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Converting to Linux</font>
<P>
Was told that I can do lot more with this Linux, where it be with 286 or 386
so on, and to be able develop the full capabilities a Service provider to
community, schools, business, residential. Would consider this task is a
must see how it can be done. O f course now one would have to have a great
deal old hardware, software all ready and surely this person would no just
go out and buy old equipment with this intent in mind. Instead work with
students with a great of old equipment that we are upgrading- Using what we
have an looking for conversions that would act like they up-to-date? any
suggestion ?
<P>
--<BR>
Jeff Moore
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 01:05:56 +0800 (SGT)<BR>
From: "Jayasuthan ......", <A HREF="mailto:suthan@eplx01.fairchildsemi.com">
suthan@eplx01.fairchildsemi.com</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Clear Up Corrupted Files</font>
<P>
I having problem with my filesystem lately. I believe it caused by Linux
Kernel 2.2.0 with hdparm -m8 option on my hard disk. Lucky its not very
serius. But now the problem is cleaning up those file which corrupted. I
do have file in /lost+found folder and thats not an issue but files like
this :-
<PRE>
br-Sr-S--- 1 25449 28015 99, 105 Nov 26 2031 System.map
br-srwS-wT 1 29813 23328 9, 10 Jan 19 2026 System.old
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 1024 Feb 15 23:07 beta/
drwxr-xr-x 2 root bin 2048 May 8 1994 bin/
</pre>
Look at System.map and System.old file. This file can't just "rm -rf"
away. I don't want to format my hard disk well it will be very hard for
me. I do have good backup. I want to learn Linux file system and
understand it.
<P>
Please help me out here.
<P>
Thank You,<BR>
--<BR>
Jayasuthan
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 13:20:29 +0200<BR>
From: "yossi", <A HREF="mailto:yossi@sivan-north.co.il">
yossi@sivan-north.co.il</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Linux & Win95/98/NT clients</font>
<P>
Well, I am system administrator in colleage (about 200 machines). Mostly
they're running Win95/98 and some of them running NT4.0 Workstation. We
don't use yet Linux as a server ( but I use it a lot for
java-development). We use NT4.0.
So my question is :
I'd like to install Linux as a file-server & keep on him images of
hard-disks from classrooms(i.e every classroom has own "master" with all
the programmes installed on it). So if something goes wrong with one (or
more) of a computers in the classroom I'd like to keep this "masters" on
Linux server & connect to them somehow from this computer and take the
"image" off to my win95/98/nt client.
Somehow - I mean I have to have a boot-diskette that does the work.
The second point is that I'm not sure in possibility that
in-the-same-time I can use the "image" on Linux with multiple
connections... Sometimes the "image" has to be requested by 20-25
clients(in the same time).=20
If somebody can help me it's really great coz' this way I can install
first-Linux-server in our network ( I really like this OS.... but it
doesn't depend on me :) )
Any information will be appreciated.
Thanx.
<P>
--<BR>
Daniel Mester
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 18:23:55 -0700 (MST)<BR>
From: "Dale M. Snider", <A HREF="mailto:dsnider@nmia.com">
dsnider@nmia.com</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Re: Trap float divide-by-zero and NaN</font>
<P>
Can someone tell me how to turn on a gcc compile option to trap a divide
by zero and NaN with type float or double. I can get the divide-by-zero
trap with type int. Is this a trap that can be done on the kernal level?
The signal SIGFPED only works on integers?? I am using Red Hat 5.2
installation.
<P>
Trap on divide by zero: a=1., b=0., a/b=Inf
<P>
Trap on overflow: a=3.4e38, b=3.4e38, a*b=Inf
<P>
Trap on NaN: sqrt(-1)
<P>
I have included a small test code to illustrate the problem (question)..
<P>
To build sample code:
<PRE>
cc -g tst.c -lm -o tst
</PRE>
<P>
Test code:
<PRE>
#include &lt;stdio.h&gt;
#include &lt;math.h&gt;
main() {
float a,b,c,d;
int ia,ib,ic;
int i;
a=1.; b=0.;
c=a/b;
d=(float)sqrt((double)-a);
printf("Float: a=%f b=%f a/b=%f d=sqrt(-a)=%f\n",a,b,c,d);
ia=1; ib=0;
ic=ia/ib;
printf("Integer: ia=%d ib=%d ia/ib=%d\n",ia,ib,ic);
}
</PRE>
Results:
<PRE>
Float: a=1.000000 b=0.000000 a/b=Inf d=sqrt(-a)=NaN
Floating point exception (core dumped)
</PRE>
Note that the integer divide by zero is trapped but reported as " Floating
point exception"??
<P>
Cheers<P>
--<BR>
Dale
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 03:39:39 +0200<BR>
From: Jussi Kallioniemi, <A HREF="mailto:jukal@teraflops.com">
jukal@teraflops.com</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">business plan</font>
<P>
Just a quick question (worth printing to next issue?)
<P>
Is there any (good) GNU licensed programs to help
the creation of businessplans?
<P>
-- <BR>
Jussi Kallioniemi
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 23:50:54 -0800<BR>
From: "Snow Wolf", <A HREF="mailto:snowwolf@sprynet.com">
snowwolf@sprynet.com</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Letter to the Editor ...</font>
<P>
On the same day that I received my <I>Linux Journal</I>, I got a PC Connection
periodical. It's a standard PC mail-order catalog, but it seems to assume
that people are running Windows. Are there similar catalogs that cater to
people running Linux/Unix. Like have non-PnP modems, cards that include
drivers for other OSes besides Windows, etc., etc.
<P>
--<BR>
Charles Wheeler
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 11:36:25 PST<BR>
From: "Jaap Wolters", <A HREF="mailto:woltersj@hotmail.com">woltersj@hotmail.com</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">problem</font>
<P>
Ik heb geprobeert jullie programma "LINUX" te downloaden, maar ik krijg
geen toegang. hoe zou het toch kunnen? Op de t.v werd verteld dat het
programma beter is dan Windows 98, Minder fouten en minder vastlopers.
Is het programma windows compatible zodat ik mijn oude windows spellen
kan doorspelen. Ik heb ZEER veel belang bij dit programma, maar
aangezien me het niet lukt om het te downloaden zou ik graag uw advies
willen.
<P>
Met vriendelijke groeten
<P>
--<BR>
J.Wolters
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 12:21:53 -0500<BR>
From: "Nick Wilkens", <A HREF="mailto:NWilkens@holnam.com">
NWilkens@holnam.com</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Making a Red Hat 5.2 CD</font>
<P>
Hi, I downloaded the Red Hat/RPMS Red Hat/base directories from sunsite,
along with the proper image files, etc... I also burn them to a CD in
this same way under the Red Hat directory, is this proper? because when
i try to do a CD install, it says invalid media no Red Hat tree found or
something to that effect. Any suggestions?
<P>
--<BR>
Nick
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 17:28:54 PST<BR>
From: <A HREF="mailto:helicon123@hotmail.com">helicon123@hotmail.com</A><BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Installation Question</font>
<P>
Since Linux was mostly used by x86, do you think it's OK if I install it
on PII-300MHz computer?
<P>
--<BR>
helicon123
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 15:18:23 +0000<BR>
From: Austin, <A HREF="mailto:austinp@headland.co.uk">
austinp@headland.co.uk</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Help wanted: Fax gateway</font>
<P>
I'm toying with the idea of setting up a FAX gateway on a Linux machine.
The machine is currently on a LAN, and has no modem, so I'll be wanting
to stick a 56Kbps in there. I'm just after pointers, personal
experience, web pages, and general advice on this, because I have no idea
where to start :)
<P>
So far, I've discovered Hylafax. Is this what I should be using? Are
there alternatives?
<P>
How do you go about installing a modem? What models are recommended?
<P>
Thanks for any help.
<P>
-- <BR>
Austin
<a name="gen"></a>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="maroon">General Mail</font></H3></center>
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 16:03:26 +0000<BR>
From: Keith, <A HREF="mailto:kwhudson@ticnet.com">
kwhudson@ticnet.com</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Not Linux</font>
<P>
three oaths:<BR>
1 of marriage<BR>
1 of truth<BR>
1 of leadership
<P>
1st one Rendered invalid by actions<BR>
2nd one destroyed by testimony<BR>
3rd one ?<BR>
<P>
lets not be lazy..lets not take a just get it over attitude...lets
tell the Pop Press that we want news, not day to day hogwash...
<P>
People are made to tire of a subject, because the press forces every
conceivable amount of data real or not about a subject down to us. This
is known. This is planned.
<P>
No one has lost face. This is not a party issue. Let it continue. We
need a answer. We need the Law. Whatever the outcome will be.
<P>
--<BR>
Keith
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 18:24:34 +0100<BR>
From: Roger Irwin, <A HREF="mailto:irwin@trucco.it">irwin@trucco.it</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Closed software promotion</font>
<P>
Launching into issue 37, I go straight to Software Announcements. And
the first item is "New circuit design software", which goes on to
describe itself as a spice front-end.
<P>
Well, I design electronic circuits, and immediately hit the link. What I
found was that the spice front-end was a plug-in for the 'visio'
package. No mention was made of Linux, but the announcement said it would
work on any version of Visio. So, I would need the Linux version of
visio.
<P>
So then I followed the link to Visio, and looked to see 'platform
requirements'. It said this:
<P><font color="navy">
"We've thought long and hard about what you'll need from a
business diagram
program. That's why we've designed our software to work on
most desktops.
Chances are, the computer you already use will be fine for
running Visio
Standard."
</font><P>
Great, another program designed to run on as many platforms as possible?
Not quite, it will run on W95, W98 & Windows NT4.0. Period. Another
company who thinks the only OS that should be run on a desktop is
Windows, and <I>Linux Gazette</I> is helping to promote this.
<P>
Well done, keep up the good work...............
<P>
Bill will be so proud of you.
<P>
--<BR>
Roger
<blockquote> <I> (Sorry to let that one slip by me. I tend to assume if they
send the announcement to me, it works for Linux. And of course, I knew SPICE
works for Linux. Wish I had time to chase every announcement down, but I
don't. Anyway I removed it after getting a couple of letters telling me.
--Editor)</I> </blockquote>
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Tue, 02 Feb 1999 10:24:33 -0800<BR>
From: jeff godden, <A HREF="mailto:jgodden@panlabs.com">jgodden@panlabs.com
</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">under software announcements, SpiceLink is not a Linux product</font>
<P>
As usual, <I>Linux Gazette</I> remains one of my favorite sources
of net-gleaned Linux information. Thank you!
<P>
Under software announcements of issue #37 there is a link
to SpiceLink which i was very thrilled about to see such
a graphical support for spice under Linux. But alas, even
through it's linked from <I>Linux Gazette</I> this software cannot
run under Linux. From the president of the SpiceLink following
an inquiry:
<blockquote> <font color="navy">
You're right about SpiceLink; it's for Visio and therefore Windows.
</font></blockquote>
(maybe when they get near 100% of the Windows market they'll think about Linux).
Perhaps a note might be added that one better have WINE
running and even then it's uncertain...?
<P>
Many thanks!
<P>
-- <BR>
jeff
<blockquote> <I> (Always appreciate hearing when I lapse so I can get it
corrected. Thanks for doing it
in such a nice way. That announcement has been removed. -- Editor)
</I> </blockquote>
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Tue, 02 Feb 1999 12:54:29 -0500<BR>
From: Darren, <A
HREF="mailto:PCTech1018@netscape.net">PCTech1018@netscape.net </A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">RE: What is a 'high crime'</font>
<P>
A "High crime" is not necessarily what could be called a 'heinous' act.
A 'High crime' is simply a 'crime' committed by a 'High' official (such
as a senator, federal judge, or president.) Because of their unique
positions, what would not be considered crimes for us, may be considered
crimes for 'High' officials, hence the term 'common criminal' versus
'high criminal'. For instance, accepting bribes would, for private
citizens outside of public office, not be considered a crime (immoral
perhaps, but not criminal.) For high officials, bribery is most
definitely a 'high' crime.
<P>
Some people feel that the questions that the president did not
truthfully answer should not have been asked and were not relevant to
governing. After all, even some of the framers of the constitution were
known to have had 'improper relations'. But these same people seem to
forget that we did not have laws relating to sexual
harassment/discrimination back then. Also, the judgment by the courts
pertaining directly to those 'irrelevant' questions was that the
questions were relevant and proper at the time they were asked.
<P>
As to using the principle of 'acts related to governing', it would seem
that these same people feel that R. Nixon should have been impeached -
even though his alleged acts and deceptions had nothing to do with
'governing'. Using the Nixon precedent, W. Clinton should be held
accountable for lies and deception even if they had little bearing on
the act of 'governing'.
<P>
So then, we are left to ask, were the lies and deception in the courts
by the president acceptable? I guess we all need to answer that for
ourselves. If it is appropriate for the president to not tell the whole
truth on those matters that the court has decided he should answer for
and go unpunished for lying, then we should stop enforcing sexual
discrimination cases altogether. Women should just accept their place
as 2nd class citizens and let the rest of us get on with the job of
making a living. Just think, if he had 'pleaded the fifth', we wouldn't
be having this wonderful education on the constitutional process.
<P>
This may not be the populist view, but the moral high ground usually
isn't. Witness the popularity of Howard Stern and Larry Flynt. I am
not perfect. When I get caught breaking 'minor' laws, I should fully
expect some sort of punishment. But just because I am not perfect, does
that mean I should give up any expectation of holding myself and others
to standards of common decency?
<P>
--<BR>
Darren
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Wed, 03 Feb 1999 14:27:08 -0800<BR>
From: James Guilford, <A HREF="mailto:guilfoja@oplin.lib.oh.us">
guilfoja@oplin.lib.oh.us</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Thanks!</font>
<P>
I've been experimenting with Linux (Red Hat flavor) but
needed to remove it from a machine to install {gad}
Windows. LILO wouldn't go away.
<P>
I found the answer on your Web site. Thanks for saving me a
lot of trouble!
<P>
-- <BR>
James Guilford
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 14:08:43 -0600<BR>
From: "John W. Burgoon", <A HREF="mailto:jwb@indiana.com">
jwb@indiana.com</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">J. W. Pennington's article about Doubt</font>
<P>
I read Pennington's article with considerable interest and look forward to
more. As a web developer (trained in Physics and Chemistry) I have to point
out the word that the hard sciences use in place of Mr. Pennington's
"doubt": we call that "skepticism". Not cynicism, which many folks use as a
way to protect their ego. (Failure is more common than success, so cynics
just predict failure all the time to get their winning %age).
<P>
Skepticism is a firm belief in empirical or deductive fact coupled with a
firm disbelief in personal perception. The good engineer is a skeptic; he
wants to know some empirical fact before he allows himself to believe his
perceptions. He tests the girder design before it goes into a bridge, and
even then he over builds that bridge by a factor of 2 or 3 just in case the
wind blows, or any army drives across with tanks, or an earthquake hits.
And when it fails anyway, he shows up and figures out why.
<P>
Linux benefits from skepticism since we don't say "Ha, this is perfect" but
rather we say, "weeellll, this works but so far we haven't looked at x/y/z".
<P>
Kudos to the good author for pointing out a fine generality in which Linux
developers can take pride. Healthy old-fashioned skepticism kicks ass.
<P>
John W. Burgoon
<P>
<blockquote> <I> (Mr. Pennington will return with part 2 next month.
--Editor)</I> </blockquote>
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Thu, 04 Feb 1999 04:37:32 -0800<BR>
From: Igor Markov, <A HREF="mailto:imarkov@CS.UCLA.EDU">
imarkov@CS.UCLA.EDU</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Re: The Beauty of Doubt</font>
<P>
It seems, you are really talking about *critical thinking*.
*Doubt* is often caused by critical thinking, but shouldn't
be explicitly cultivated, in my opinion. Many colleges
offer classes on critical thinking, and the topic is not
that new. It is true, of course, that commercial
software developers are not as free to think critically
about their work as FSC folks, hence the advantage of FSC.
<P>
Regarding the other three terms: *cooperation* seems too
weak, free software developers *collaborate*."Cooperation"
is what Microsoft does when it gets sued for a breach of
contract ;-)
<P>
*Non-control (read: Freedom)* is vague. You probably mean
*independent thinking* and, separately, *freedom to allocate
personal resources*. For example, I may be interested in
kernel hacking, just because I like the subject (not because
I am paid for this) and may have new ideas, but not
time/skill to implement them. Someone else, who has a month
of vacation may pick them up and produce something useful.
<P>
"Rebellion"... how about "enthusiasm" or, better,
"improvement drive". I would actually agree that many
developers may be driven by a rebellion, but not the ones
who are responsible for most innovation. "Rebellion" does
not go well with incremental development models somehow.
<P>
Finally, the lack and, OTOH, the ease of several aspects
of management is critical to the FSC as much as the above
issues. This may need to be discussed as well.
<P>
well... so much for a non-native speaker. I guess, you will
correct me if I messed up connotaions/meanings etc.
<P>
--<BR>
Igor
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 21:17:27 +0000<BR>
From: Kevin Atkinson, <A HREF="mailto:kevinatk@home.com">kevinatk@home.com </A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Did you know about Aspell?</font>
<P>
I saw you article titled "ispell: Spelling Checker" in the <I>Linux Gazette</I>
and was wondering if you knew of the existence of Aspell.
<P>
From the manual:
<P>
1.1.1.1 Features that only Aspell has
<ul>
<li> Does a much better job with coming up with suggestions than
Ispell
does.
<li> Can learn from users misspellings.
<li> Is an actual library that others programs can link to instead of
having to use it through a pipe.
<li> Is multiprocess intelligent. When a personal dictionary (or
replacement list) is saved it will now first update he list
against the dictionary on disk in case another process modified
it.
</ul>
1.1.1.2 Things that only Aspell will have real soon
<ul>
<li> Support for detachable dictionaries so that more than one aspell
class can use the same dictionary.
<li> Support for multiple personal dictionaries as well as support for
special auxiliary dictionaries.
</ul>
1.1.1.3 Things that, currently, only Ispell have
<ul>
<li> Lower memory footprint
<li> Support for affix compression
<li> Support for spell checking Latex and Nroff files.
</ul>
<P>
Granted that when your article was first published Aspell didn't exist.
<P>
More information can be found at <A HREF="http://metalab.unc.edu/kevina/aspell/">http://metalab.unc.edu/kevina/aspell/</A>.
<P>
-- <BR>
Kevin Atkinson
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 15:17:36 -0600<BR>
From: "Gray, Robert C", <A HREF="mailto:Robert.Gray@feist.com">
Robert.Gray@feist.com</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Not Linux</font>
<P>
No offense meant, but <BR>
<P>
Three states list perjury as a "High crime or misdemeanor" in their state
constitution
they are California, Texas, and Alabama.
Three others call perjury an infamous crime (same as "High crime..." ?)
they are
West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.
Three others list perjury as an offense serious enough for removal from
office
they are Wyoming, Missouri, and Colorado.
<P>
All these states also list conviction of perjury as reason to preclude
someone from ever holding public office.
<P>
In all 50 states perjury is a crime!
<P>
--<BR>
Robert Gray
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
Date: Sat, 13 Feb 1999 17:43:22 -0300<BR>
From: Gustavo Larriera, <A HREF="mailto:gux@cs.com.uy">gux@cs.com.uy</A> <BR>
Subject: <font color="maroon">Corrected version of my article NTloader+Linux</font>
<P>
I would be pleased if this letter goes to the Mail Bag section.
<P>
I wish to thank the feedback I received for my article "Booting
Linux with the NT Loader" (LG January 1999). Some readers pointed
out my misinformation about the MBR-changed-means-NT-wiped-out
affair :-) I've corrected the article, the revised version can be
found at my home page [http://w3.cs.com.uy/u/gux/ntloadli2.htm].
<P>
Have a lot of fun,
<P>
--<BR>
Gustavo Larriera
<P> <hr> <P>
<!--================================================================-->
<center>Published in <i>Linux Gazette</i> Issue 38, March 1999</center>
<!--====================================================================-->
<P> <hr> <P>
<A HREF="./index.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/indexnew.gif" ALT="[ TABLE OF
CONTENTS ]"></A>
<A HREF="../index.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/homenew.gif" ALT="[ FRONT
PAGE ]"></A>
<A HREF="./lg_bytes38.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/fwd.gif" ALT=" Next "></A>
<P>
<h5>This page written and maintained by the Editor of <I>Linux Gazette</I>,
<A HREF="mailto: gazette@ssc.com">gazette@ssc.com</A><BR>
Copyright &copy; 1999 Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc. </H5>
<P>
<H4>"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"</H4>
<HR>
<center>
<table cellpadding=7><tr><td>
<IMG SRC="../gx/bytes.gif" border=1 ALT="News Bytes">
</td><td>
<H3>Contents:</H3>
<ul>
<li><a HREF="./lg_bytes38.html#general">News in General</a>
<li><a HREF="./lg_bytes38.html#software">Software Announcements</a>
</ul>
</td></tr></table>
</center>
<a name="general"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">News in General</font></H3></center>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><IMG ALT=" " SRC="./gx/cover60.jpg"></center>
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
April 1999 <I>Linux Journal</I>
</font>
</H3>
<P>
The April issue of <A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/"><I>Linux
Journal</I></A> will be hitting the newsstands March 12.
This issue focuses on Network Computing with a review of Corel's Netwinder
and articles on FlowNET a high-performance network solution,
Network administration using AWK tools, and an interview with John Ousterhout,
creator of Tcl/TK.
<I>Linux Journal</I> now has articles that appear "Strictly On-Line".
Check out the Table of Contents at
<A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/issue60/index.html">
http://www.linuxjournal.com/issue60/index.html</A> for articles in this
issue as well as links to the on-line articles.
To subscribe to <I>Linux Journal</I>, go to <A
HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/ljsubsorder.html">
http://www.linuxjournal.com/ljsubsorder.html</A>.
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
Debian Logo Contest
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Date: Wed, 03 Feb 1999 20:38:26 -0500<BR>
Debian Project,
<A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">http://www.debian.org/</A>
<P>
The Debian project is in the process of looking for a new logo. Currently
Debian has a semi-official logo, which can be seen at
<A HREF="http://www.debian.org/logos/debianlogo-2.jpg">http://www.debian.org/logos/debianlogo-2.jpg</A>. As a majority of Debian
developers are not happy with the current logo, we are searching for a new
logo to replace the current one using a GIMP logo contest. Submission
information and other details are available at <A HREF="http://contest.gimp.org/">http://contest.gimp.org/</A>.
<P>
Debian would like to have two logos: one logo with a very liberal license
that everyone is free to use (for example on webpages, shirts, etc.), and
a more official logo with a restricted license which can only be used on
official Debian items (like CD's produced from the official ISO-images).
Please note both license are not finished yet.
<P>
The winning logo will be decided on by the Debian developers. Since there
are a lot of active developers it may take as long as 3-4 weeks after the
end of the contest to decide who the winner is.
<P>
For more information:<BR>
<A HREF="mailto:press@debian.org">press@debian.org</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
Invitation to Join Freedom of Choice Project
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 05:20:52 -0500<BR>
The Freedom of Choice Project is a co-operative effort between IACT and
James Capone, an IACT member as well as devoted user of Linux, who created
the entire project at his own Linux website. In the project's first week,
over 5000 people had participated in the Freedom of Choice consumer poll.
With help from IACT, James Capone now is expanding the poll to reach users
of _all_ platforms.
<P>
As you know, all computer users certainly are affected by an ongoing
problem in the computer market: Microsoft still maintains an exclusive
distributorship with PC makers such as Compaq, Dell, Gateway etc.. Those
companies pre-install or "bundle" MSFT software on the majority of new PCs
we buy. Once the MSFT software is pre-installed, we may decide to delete it
and then fight to get a refund, but that approach still won't get to the
root of the problem.
<P>
The Freedom of Choice project is our grass-roots, long-term solution. By
using the Internet as it was designed-- to bring together small groups like
ours into a larger, stronger and unique network-- we're going to defend the
fundamental right of consumers everywhere to choose any and all software
that is installed on the new computers they buy.
<P>
We want to give users of all platforms the chance to _send a direct
message_ to the PC makers, to demand that the companies fully respect every
consumer's right to choose.
<P>
For more information:<BR>
James Capone, <A HREF="mailto:linuxos@iname.com">linuxos@iname.com</A> <BR>
The Freedom of Choice Poll, <A HREF="http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/Linux/company.html">
http://www.angelfire.com/biz2/Linux/company.html</A> <BR>
Diane Gartner <A
HREF="mailto:dgwhiz@earthling.net">dgwhiz@earthling.net</A><BR>
IACT's Freedom of Choice page: <A HREF="http://pages.cthome.net/iact/iact-tell.html">
http://pages.cthome.net/iact/iact-tell.html</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
LinuxArchives.com
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Date: Fri, 05 Feb 1999 17:12:14 -0800<BR>
LinuxArchives.com has been launched at
<a href="http://www.linuxarchives.com/" eudora="autourl">www.linuxarchives.com</a>.
It is a software archive dedicated strictly to Linux software. The site is
organized into specific categories, and also features a search engine
that makes finding programs fast and easy. Most of the software is
submitted directly by the manufacturers and it updated frequently.
The site should be a valuable resource for Linux
users, and Aceweb Internet will be working to ensure that it
grows at a pace that is in step with the ever changing needs of the Linux
community.
<P>
For more information:<BR>
Tony Ferrara, <A HREF="mailto:tonyf@aceweb.net">tonyf@aceweb.net</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
Debian based CUTE 2000 Server exhibited
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 10:08:29 -0500<BR>
CUTE 2000, an all-in-one Linux based server was exhibited at the NET & COM
'99 show. It is based on Debian GNU/Linux, and includes software for
functions such as DNS, WWW, SMTP, FTP, SAMBA, NETATALK, DHCP and others.
<P>
For more information:<BR>
<A HREF="http://www.NikkeiBP.AsiaBizTech.com/Database/1999_Feb/08/Mor.02.gwif.html">
http://www.NikkeiBP.AsiaBizTech.com/Database/1999_Feb/08/Mor.02.gwif.html</A>
<BR>Debian, <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">http.//www.debian.org/</A>
GLUE: Groups of Linux Users Everywhere
<P>
GLUE has added a number of new benefits in recent months to attract new
groups, and is working hard to give our current member groups an
excellent level of service. New benefits include: special subscription
rate to the TPJ and LJ for registered GLUE LUG members, a set of the LJ
archive CD-ROMs, Red Hat Linux, and TCL Blast. GLUE also continues to very
graciously sponsored by Caldera Systems, with their Open Linux
distribution, and Enhanced Software Technologies, with their BRU Backup
and Restore Utilities. I'm working with Linux user groups to find out what
other ways GLUE can contribute, from web resources, to inviting other
vendors to particpate. The glue-list@ssc.com mailing list is available for
discussion among LUGs.
<P>
Linux Users can find a user group with our Group Locator pages, or post to
find or form one of their own. These listings pages are updated and
confirmed frequently, and are very comprehensive. Listing are free to all
groups, not just those registered for GLUE membership.
<P>
GLUE is a project of SSC Inc, publishers of Linux Journal. GLUE was
implemented to provide a world-wide member group for Linux User Groups.
GLUE member groups receive a subscription, materials for promoting and
developing their group, a way of advertising their group in a global
setting, list-serv and Linux Group location services, and discounts and
samples from SSC and Linux Journal. Other vendors also offer special
benefits or discounts to GLUE's member groups. Any LUG can have a free
listing in the Linux Group location section, and Linux users can post to
the site to find and form new groups in their area.
<P>
For more information:<BR>
<A HREF="http://www.ssc.com/glue/">http://www.ssc.com/glue/</A>
Clarica Grove, <A HREF="mailto:glue@ssc.com">glue@ssc.com</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
Linux Hardware Solutions to support Debian Project
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 12:51:21 -0500<BR>
Linux Hardware Solutions, Inc. a premier supplier of Linux systems and
service announce support for the Debian Project of Software in the Public
Interest, Inc.
<P>
The support comes in the form of a Linux Hardware Solution PS350RR-100
RAID rackmount server with 256 MB RAM attached to a dedicated colocation
connection at Mindspring Enterprises' data center in Atlanta, Georgia to
act as the new ftp.debian.org server.
<P>
For more information:<BR>
Linux Hardware Solutions, Inc., <A HREF="http://www.linux-hw.com/">
http://www.linux-hw.com/</A> <BR>
Debian GNU/Linux, <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">http://www.debian.org/</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
Subject: Dan Quayle or Linus Torvalds for President
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 14:52:40 -0700<BR>
Even If you sat out the 60s, missed the March On Washington, or the Windows
Refund Protest, you can still voice your vote for freedom--specifically,
the freedom to use the Open Source computer operating system, Linux.
As noted in this morning's Wall Street Journal, a young company called
Linuxcare is holding a just-for-fun election for the new Leader of the
Free World! Who would you choose: Bill Bradley, George Bush, Jr., Bill Gates,
Al Gore, Dan Quayle, or Linus Torvalds? You can cast your vote at
<A HREF="http://www.linuxcare.com/">http://www.linuxcare.com</A>, until "Super Tuesday," March 2, which also
happens to be the opening day of LinuxWorld--the world's largest
gathering of Linux users
(<A HREF="http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/">http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/</A>).
<P>
The results will be published in the Wall Street Journal on March
2, the day Linuxcare goes live.
<P>
Let the people decide -- in the democratic spirit that permeates
Open Source --Get Out The Vote (GOTV) for the leader of the FREE WORLD.
<font color="green"><H4>Linuxcare announced on March 2 that Linus
had won with 73% of the vote. No other candidate received more than 9%.</H4>
</font>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
Linux Links
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Open Source MS Windoze 9x Petition:
<A HREF="http://www.linuxresources.com/linuxreview/petition.html">
http://www.linuxresources.com/linuxreview/petition.html</A>
<P>
Brain Power, Jobs for Smart People:
<A HREF="http://www.bpower.com/">http://www.bpower.com/</A>
<P>
LinuxODBC: <A HREF="http://www.codebydesign.com/LinuxODBC">
http://www.codebydesign.com/LinuxODBC</A> <BR>
<P>
UNIX newbie site:
<A HREF="http://www.dicamp.univ.trieste.it/du96/unix/TOC.html">
http://www.dicamp.univ.trieste.it/du96/unix/TOC.html</A>
<P>
New Linux logos:
<A HREF="http://www-mddsp.enel.ucalgary.ca/People/adilger/logo/">
http://www-mddsp.enel.ucalgary.ca/People/adilger/logo/</A>
<P>
Compaq web page:
<A HREF="http://www.unix.digital.com/linux/">http://www.unix.digital.com/linux/</A>
<P>
The Linux Merchandsising FAQ for Germany:
<A HREF="mailto:http://www.reichmann.de/alex/lmf/index.html">
http://www.reichmann.de/alex/lmf/index.html</A>
<P>
Microsoft & new lawsuits:
<A HREF="http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/filters/bursts/0,3422,2213093,00.html">
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/filters/bursts/0,3422,2213093,00.html</A>
<P>
Vedova Linux, a
new Linux distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux:
<A HREF="http://www.vedovanet.bbk.org/linux/vedova">
http://www.vedovanet.bbk.org/linux/vedova</A>
<P>
CRN spot survey:
<A HREF="http://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?CRN19990118S0023">
http://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?CRN19990118S0023</A>
http://www.linuxresources.com/linuxreview/petition.html</A>
<P>
Ramblings on Apple and Linux:
<A HREF="http://www.osopinion.com/Opinions/EdMcKenna/EdMcKenna2.html">
http://www.osopinion.com/Opinions/EdMcKenna/EdMcKenna2.html</A>
<P>
IBM and Redhat: <A HREF="./redhat.txt">Red Hat Press Release</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
Xpresso Ltd Needs Programmers
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 10:28:00 -0500<BR>
I have a small company named Xpresso Ltd. This will hopefully produce a new
simple software system aimed at users of Windows.
The idea is to sell the Linux OS with the installation and set-up
completely
automatic. It will use one or more choices of graphical user shells (KDE as
first
default choice).
The latest Linux Kernel 2.0.xx will be used (and built specifically for
each
installation - with maths module if processor is without etc). The System
will
analyse the hardware and construct or select the correct X Windows drivers
and
install correct files ( /fstab etc). by examining the existing DOS/Windows
OS files
or running MSD.EXE or similar.
I have very little finance and am hoping to find programmers who will help
me on
a percentage basis. I shall be selling the product world-wide and hope
millions of
units will be sold. Can you possibly help me with details of any sources of
programmers for this work please? The main aims are simple, safe (stable)
and
visually attractive graphics. The user will do nothing except click GO.
Star Office
and other quality free programs (only the best) will be included. But only
the best.
To enable all Windows users to switch to Xpresso LINUX. A safe dual boot on
start up will enable the migration from Windows to Linux to proceed slowly,
at
each person's pace. Can you help please? I can e-mail a four page outline
of my
further plans for Linux if you are interested.
<P>
For more information:<BR>
Stephen Jackson, Xpresso Ltd,
<A HREF="mailto:xpresso@compuserve.com">xpresso@compuserve.com</A>
<a name="software"></a>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Software Announcements</font></H3></center>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
Vedova Linux
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 20:19:29 +0100 <BR>
New Linux Distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux
<P>
<A HREF="http://www.vedovanet.bbk.org/linux/vedova/">
http://www.vedovanet.bbk.org/linux/vedova/</A>
<P>
For more information:<BR>
Emanuele Vedova, <A
HREF="mailto:vedova@mail.omnitel.it">vedova@mail.omnitel.it</A><BR>
Vedova Computing, Como, Italy
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
Linux for Coldfire
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Friday, 28th February 1999<BR>
Greg Ungerer from Moreton Bay today announced the porting of the popular
Linux operating system to the Motorola Coldfire family of processors.
Source code for this Linux/Coldfire project is now available freely on
the net at: <BR>
<A HREF="http://www.moretonbay.com/coldfire/linux-coldfire.html">
http://www.moretonbay.com/coldfire/linux-coldfire.html</A>
<P>
The Linux/Coldfire project is a port of a recent Linux kernel and, as
with all ports of Linux, this is free software under the GNU Public
License. The code is based on the recent stable linux kernel version
2.0.33 and it includes the uC-linux patches applied. The libc, libm and
user applications also come from the uC-linux work.
<P>
What's a ColdFire?<BR>
ColdFire is the newest family of microprocessors from Motorola. First
released in 1994, ColdFire embodies a revolutionary variable-length RISC
architecture that is designed to meet the requirements of the embedded
consumer market. <BR>
<A HREF="http://www.mot.com/SPS/HPESD/prod/coldfire/cf_roadmap.html">
http://www.mot.com/SPS/HPESD/prod/coldfire/cf_roadmap.html</A>
<P>
For more information:<BR>
Moreton Bay,
<A HREF="http://www.moretonbay.com/">http://www.moretonbay.com/</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
SFS SOFTWARE RELEASES DOCFATHER PROFESSIONAL 2.2
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Schmalkalden Germany. February 1, 1999 <BR>
SFS SOFTWARE announces the release of DocFather Professional 2.2, their
fast, easy to navigate online and offline search engine for any web site or
web-based documentation.
DocFather provides webmasters, publishers and developers alike with an
excellent utility to make their Web Sites, HTML documentation or
internet/intranet contents searchable.
<P>
DocFather is top-rated and able to run on any Java-supported operating
system like Linux. The nextcoming
DocFather Office Edition is capable to index Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word and
Excel, HTML and all text-based files.
<P>
Availability and Pricing
<P>
There are several DocFather licenses available. The product can be ordered
on-line at the SFS SOFTWARE web site, or through its US-based partner
Proactive International:
<P>
Internet License: $ 349.00<BR>
Intranet License: $ 990.00<BR>
CD-ROM Publishing License for 10,000 CD-ROM: $ 1,990.00
<P>
A fully-functional demo version of DocFather is available for free download
at <A HREF="http://www.sfs-software.com/">http://www.sfs-software.com/</A>
<P>
For more information:<BR>
SFS Software, <A
HREF="mailto:info@sfs-software.com">info@sfs-software.com</A><BR>
Proactive International, LLC,
<A HREF="http://www.proactive-intl.com/">http://www.proactive-intl.com</A>,
<A HREF="mailto:info@proactive-intl.com">info@proactive-intl.com</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
Product Release of the MIMER DBMS for Linux
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Date: Wed, 03 Feb 1999 13:11:58 +0100<BR>
Sysdeco Mimer AB in Uppsala, Sweden, has now released its DBMS MIMER for
Linux. A complete developer version of MIMER 8 for Linux is now available
for free download from the company's Web site at <A
HREF="http://www.mimer.com/">http://www.mimer.com</A>. Full support
agreements are available for MIMER 8 on Linux.
<P>
The release of MIMER for Linux is identical to that implemented across a
wide range of platforms, including many other UNIX platforms (e.g. IBM, HP
and Sun), Windows NT, Windows 95/98 and OpenVMS. In addition to offering
MIMER 8 run-time licences for Linux on very competitive terms, Sysdeo Mimer
also offers Linux customers the opportunity to sign a support agreement,
which provides telephone support and free software updates.
<P>
For more information: <BR>
Sysdeco Mimer AB, <A HREF="mailto:info@mimer.se">info@mimer.se</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
PartitionMagic 4.0
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 22:14:27 GMT+2<BR>
Recently released in the United States, PartitionMagic 4.0 - touted as the
easiest way to create, resize and move harddisk partitions on the fly
without destroying data - is now available in South Africa through
accredited PowerQuest software distributor, OS/2 Express SA.
<P>
PartitionMagic 4.0 offers complete support for FAT16, FAT32, FAT32X, NTFS,
HPFS and Linux ext2 partitions. PartitionMagic continues to convert from
FAT16 to FAT32 and vice versa, and from FAT to NTFS and HPFS.
<P>
PartitionMagic 4.0 is available from OS/2 Express SA for R459. An upgrade
from earlier versions is available for R289 including VAT.
<P>
Additionally graphics / boxshots may be found at :
<A HREF="ftp://ftp.powerquest.com/pub/Intl/graphics/PartitionMagic/PM4.x/">
ftp://ftp.powerquest.com/pub/Intl/graphics/PartitionMagic/PM4.x/ </A>
<P>
For more information:<BR>
<A HREF="mailto:os2express@icon.co.za">os2express@icon.co.za</A> <BR>
<A HREF="http://www.os2.co.za/software/">http://www.os2.co.za/software/</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
LyX-1.0.0 released
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Date: Tue, 02 Feb 1999 21:58:22 +0200<BR>
LyX is an advanced open source document processor running on many Unix
platforms. It is called a "document processor", because unlike standard
word processors, LyX encourages an approach to writing based on the
structure of your documents, not their appearance. LyX lets you
concentrate on writing, leaving details of visual layout to the software.
LyX automates formatting according to predefined rule sets, yielding
consistency throughout even the most complex documents. LyX produces high
quality, professional output -- using LaTeX, an open source, industrial
strength typesetting engine, in the background.
<P>
LyX has undergone a quantum leap in functionality over the past 18 months.
This release offers extensive control over fonts, margins, headers/footers,
spacing/indents, justification, bullet types in multilevel lists, a
sophisticated table editor, a version control interface for collaborative
projects -- the list goes on and on. LyX 1.0 includes many standard formats
and templates such as for letters, articles, books, overheads, even
Hollywood scripts. Work continues on a growing library of "plug-in" formats
and templates, in the best open-source tradition.
<P>
LyX runs on standard Unix platforms, including Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD,
Solaris, IRIX, HP-UX, AIX, ... even OS/2 and Cygnus/Win32 (somewhat
experimentally), and provides native support for PostScript(tm) fonts
and figures.
<P>
The main LyX site is
<A HREF="ftp://ftp.lyx.org/pub/lyx/">ftp://ftp.lyx.org/pub/lyx/</A>
<P>
For more information:<BR>
LyX Home Page: <A HREF="http://www.lyx.org/">http://www.lyx.org/</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
Raima's Velocis 2.1 Now Available on Linux
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1999 14:33:59 -0800 <BR>
Raima Corporation has just released Velocis Database Server version 2.1
for the Linux platform. Velocis is an embedded client/server database
engine which now provides robust new interfaces for several popular
development environments. These include an interface to Rogue Wave
Software's DBTools.h++, a JDBC driver, Delphi Data Aware Components and
support for the Perl DBI standard. Velocis 2.1 extends its SQL support
with scrollable cursors and customized comparison functions and
introduces a powerful new database utility, dbrepair.
<P>
Please see the following announcement to learn more about Velocis 2.1.
<P>
A free trial download is available
from <A HREF="http://www.raima.com/download/product_list.cfm">
http://www.raima.com/download/product_list.cfm</A>
<P>
Raima Corporation, <A HREF="http://www.raima.com/">http://www.raima.com</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
SFS Software SITEFORUM Database Exchange
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Schmalkalden Germany. February 8, 1999 <BR>
SITEFORUM Database Exchange is a "100% pure Java" solution, which is
capable to import and
export your existing data, stored in any JDBC/ODBC-compatible database
into another JDBC-/ODBC-
compatible database. (i.e. Sybase to Oracle). The software allows you to
create, delete and modify tables and columns . In addition to that you are
able to modify the content, field types and attributes. The integrated SQL
interface enables you to make queries to the database using SQL commands The
results will be displayed in a fine-designed grid component. SITEFORUM
Database Exchange lets you import and export databases from any location on the
internet, the built-in proxy support enables you to work even behind a proxy
or firewall. The new product of SFS SOFTWARE offers an attractive, intuitive
and easy-to-use interface.
SITEFORUM Database Exchange runs on about 30 java-supporting operating
systems like Linux.
<P>
Availability and Pricing:<BR>
A fully-functional evaluation version SITEFORUM Database Exchange can be
downloaded from the SFS SOFTWARE web site at <A
HREF="http://www.sfs-software.com/">http://www.sfs-software.com/</A>.
The product is can be ordered using our secure online shop at
http://www.sfs-software.com/shop/.
<P>
SITEFORUM Database Exchange - Single User License - US$ 495.00 <BR>
SITEFORUM Database Exchange - 5 User License - US$ 1,990.00
<P>
For more information:<BR>
SFS Software, <A
HREF="http://www.sfs-software.com/">http://www.sfs-software.com/</A>,
<A HREF="mailto:info@sfs-software.com">info@sfs-software.com</A> <BR>
Proactive International,
<A
HREF="http://www.proactive-intl.com/">http://www.proactive-intl.com/</A>,
<A HREF="mailto:info@proactive-intl.com">info@proactive-intl.com</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
Linuxcare Supports Business 24x7
</font>
</H3>
<P>
Date: 22 Feb 99 18:15:11 -0800<BR>
<P>
SAN FRANCISCO, February 22, 1999=97Linuxcare, Inc. (www.
linuxcare.com), the first company to offer a complete solution for Linux
technical support, consulting, education, and product certification to
Fortune 1000 companies, announced today the launch of 24x7 enterprise-
class support programs, including a state-of-the-art call center and
business-oriented service level agreements.
<P>
Linuxcare's state-of-the-art call center will feature advanced computer-
telephony integration (CTI), so that all requests are received centrally
and tracked, thus delivering speedier and more accurate customer
responses. In addition, all Linuxcare technical support engineers can
instantly access and update the largest shared database of worldwide
Linux resources and expertise. The database includes all open and
solved customer issues, all Linux documentation, articles, mailing
lists and news group archives, Howtos, FAQs and more.
<P>
Linuxcare supports all major distributions of Linux on all major
platforms, allowing its customers the flexibility to choose options
that best fit their needs.
<P>
For more information:<BR>
Linuxcare, Inc., <A
HREF="http://www.linuxcare.com/">http://www.linuxcare.com/</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
NetReality reads, understands, organizes, and
presents the Web in virtual reality
</font>
</H3>
<P>
EDMONTON, ALBERTA--February 23, 1999-- Bittco Solutions today
released the first downloadable exemplar of its powerful neural-net
foundation technology. NetReality reads, understands, organizes, and
presents Web content in VR. NetReality harnesses the vast amounts of
information available on the World Wide Web. Unlike current technologies,
which seem to increase the problem of information overload, NetReality
automatically acquires, reads and organizes information, presenting
web sites, documents, searches and bookmark files in an intuitive,
personalized VR landscape. This unique and powerful form of presentation
enables users to quickly locate, correlate, and apply information on
the Web to tasks at hand.
<P>
UNIQUE BUSINESS PROPOSITION - Bittco licenses its neuralVR
technology to third parties for inclusion in products like web
servers, browsers, search engines, document management solutions,
news readers, and email. We have blown away all the traditional
barriers to acquiring our technology, emphasizes Managing Partner,
Terry Harrison, Our business approach supports low-cost/low risk
acquisition vs. development. Interested software producers can embed
this technology on a sizzling time-to-market schedule by licensing the
Bittco advanced engineering, core and customization.
<P>
PRE-RELEASE VERSIONS of NetReality (TM) for all common operating
systems will be available for download from Bittco's Web site at
<A HREF="http://www.bittco.com/">http://www.bittco.com/</A> in the next few weeks beginning today with a
version for all Linux users.
<P>
For more information:<BR>
Bittco Solutions Ltd.,
Dean Bittner,
<A HREF="mailto:dean@bittco.com">dean@bittco.com</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
Linuxcare and DELL Systems
</font>
</H3>
<P>
SAN FRANCISCO, February 26, 1999-Linuxcare, Inc - the first company to
provide a complete solution for Linux technical support to Fortune 1000
companies - announced today that it will provide comprehensive global
support for selected Dell Precision(tm) WorkStations, PowerEdge=AE
servers and OptiPlex business desktop PCs running any variant of the
Linux operating system.
<P>
Dell will include a free Linuxcare Silver Support Incident Coupon with
every PowerEdge server that ships with Linux, starting March 1, 1999. Each
coupon can be redeemed for Web or email-based technical support from
Linuxcare. The Linuxcare Silver Service Level provides for resolution to,
or a report on the customer's problem, within one business day. Linuxcare
defines a technical support incident as a single identified customer issue
or problem.
<P>
Linuxcare, Inc., <A
HREF="http://www.linuxcare.com/">http://www.linuxcare.com/</A><BR>
Dell Computer Corporation,
<A HREF="http://www.dell.com/">http://www.dell.com/</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
Spectra Logic
</font>
</H3>
<P>
SAN JOSE, Calif., Mar. 1, 1999 - Spectra Logic Corp. today announced that
the company's Alexandria Backup and Archival Librarian(tm) software is the
first major backup software to support "hot" backup of Oracle8 and Oracle
Applications on the Linux operating system (OS). Alexandria 4.50 provides
Linux users with extensive backup and recovery tools that until now have
only been available in large corporate data centers.
<P>
Alexandria 4.50 supports backup of Oracle databases without taking the
database offline via its Comprehensive Online Backup and Restore Agent
(COBRA), the industry's fastest and most reliable Oracle backup/restore
engine. In Oracle production environments, COBRA automatically discovers
Oracle databases, including new tablespaces and datafiles, and puts the
tablespaces into backup mode. Once the tablespaces are in backup mode and
the datafiles are backed up, the tablespaces are taken out of backup mode.
<P>
Availability<BR>
Alexandria 4.50 with support for Oracle on Linux is available today for Red
Hat Linux, Version 5.2. Additional Oracle on Linux support is planned for
Caldera, SuSE and Turbo Linux OSes. A single-user version of Alexandria is
available free for 45 days and can be downloaded from
<A HREF="http://www.spectralogic.com">http://www.spectralogic.com/</A>. At the end of
the 45-day trial period, the hot Oracle backup module can be purchased
directly from Spectra Logic.
<P>
For more information:<BR>
Spectra Logic, <A HREF="mailto:alexandria@spectralogic.com">
alexandria@spectralogic.com</A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!--================================================================-->
<center>Published in <i>Linux Gazette</i> Issue 38, March 1999</center>
<P> <HR> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
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<P><HR><P>
<h5>This page written and maintained by the Editor of <I>Linux Gazette</I>,
<A HREF="mailto: gazette@ssc.com">gazette@ssc.com</A><BR>
Copyright &copy; 1999 Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc. </H5>
<P>
<!-- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -->
<H4>"The Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"</H4>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -->
<center>
<H1><A NAME="answer">
<img src="./../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" alt="(?)"
border="0" align="middle">
<font color="#B03060">The Answer Guy</font>
<img src="./../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif" alt="(!)"
border="0" align="middle">
</A></H1>
<BR>
<H4>By James T. Dennis,
<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com">linux-questions-only@ssc.com</a><BR>
Starshine Technical Services,
<A HREF="http://www.starshine.org/">http://www.starshine.org/</A>
</H4>
</center>
<p><hr><p>
<H3>Contents:</H3>
<p><a href="#tag/greeting"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" alt="(!)" border="0"
align="middle"><strong>Greetings From Jim Dennis</strong></A></p>
<DL>
<!-- index_text begins -->
<dt><A HREF="#tag/1"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>hmm. --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/1"
><strong>
FTP Only Access: Trickier than it Seems
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/2"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>Why can I only login as root? --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/2"
><strong>
Another "No Login" Problem
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/3"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(!)" border="0"
><strong>
A Reader Answers: What is the TCP/IP SACK feature?
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/4"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>
Unable to Open Console: After "Custom" Install
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/5"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>
&quot;Integrating&quot; Linux/sendmail with MS Exchange
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/6"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>Win 95 computer/NT server environment --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/6"
><strong>
Shell Scripting: Getting Host and User Names
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/7"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>Bad Sectors in my HDD --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/7"
><strong>
More on: Bad Sectors
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/8"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>Please upgrade your Internet Explorer --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/8"
><strong>
The Presumption!
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/9"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>linux --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/9"
><strong>
Mysterious Message: Subject: Linux
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/10"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>Diamond Multimedia Modems --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/10"
><strong>
Reader Comments: Diamond WinModems:
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/11"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>About a OPL-3 ( Yamaha driver for sound) (sorry for bad english...) --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/11"
><strong>
OPL-3 Sound Drivers
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/12"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Question from an old friend.</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/14"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>[Q]: Winmodem under Linux</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/16"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>how to fix a bad cluster on hd --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/16"
><strong>
More Bad Clusters
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/17"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>proxy & router combination --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/17"
><strong>
Proxying over PPP
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/18"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>help with partitions --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/18"
><strong>
Installing on a Big Drive: More on the 1023 Cylinder Limit
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/19"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>Linux 5.2 Loadlin.exe, where do I get it? --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/19"
><strong>
Finding LOADLIN.EXE ... and Linux Loader for Win '9x
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/21"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>help with partitions --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/21"
><strong>
Partitioning Mini-HOWTO
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/22"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(!)" border="0"
><strong>True modems</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/23"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>Is it possible to run Debian on 4 MB? --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/23"
><strong>
Low Memory Installation
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/24"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>win95->wingate ; linux->? --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/24"
><strong>
Drop-in Replacement for "WinGate"
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/26"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Jim Dennis: Re: Gimp on RH5.1</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/28"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>xntpd --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/28"
><strong>
How 'ntpdate' finds IP addresses?
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/29"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Sportys</strong></a><dt><A HREF="#tag/30"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>souncards</strong></a><dt><A HREF="#tag/31"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>Great Job !!! --or--
<dd><A HREF="#tag/31"
><strong>
Linux as a Loghost (Syslog Server)
</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/32"
><img src="./../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Telnetd and pausing</strong></a><!-- index_text ends -->
</DL>
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/greeting"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<H3 align="left"><img src="./../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(!) " border="0"
>Greetings from Jim Dennis</H3>
<!-- begin greeting -->
<p>
I have some exciting news.
</p><p>
I'm now working for Linuxcare (<a href="http://www.linuxcare.com"
>http://www.linuxcare.com</a>) --- the Linux support company.
</p><p>
What does this mean for Linux Gazette readers of &quot;The
Answer Guy?&quot; I think it means some very good things.
</p><p>
Of course you might be concerned. Does this mean that
I'll be more "corporate?" Will Linuxcare come to
own &quot;The Answer Guy&quot; column? Will I answer all the
good questions with: "Hey, pay for that answer from
..."
</p><p>
I don't think so! I've been running a quiet little
sole proprietorship consulting service for the entire
time that I've been writing for LG. My consulting
service specialized in support and training of Linux
sysadmins. I've generally avoided "selling" my services
through this column --- and I won't start now.
</p><p>
Linuxcare has no intention of exerting any editorial
control over, and has no connection to the Linux Gazette
&quot;Answer Guy.&quot; I might put in a disclaimer to that effect
in future issues.
</p><p>
However, the "good things" in this are:
</p><blockquote>
I can focus on technical issues rather than
worrying about billing and sales of my consulting
services. (Avoiding those is what kept
Starshine Technical Services "small" and "quiet").
</blockquote><blockquote>
Fellow techs at Linuxcare and the systems lab that
we'll be setting up will allow me to learn all the
latest and coolest stuff. My home network is
pretty big, for a *home* network (four servers
five desktop systems, and four laptops --- all on
two or three ethernet segments (depending one
what I'm doing at any given time). However,
Linuxcare will be able to do *much* more.
</blockquote><blockquote>
In the past I've "shooed off" some classes of
questions --- particularly regarding X Windows
configuration and similar items. I'm a self-admitted
"curses curmudgeon" and prefer to stay out of X when
I can. Surrounded by younger techs, many of whom are
more enamored of the modern GUIs --- I'll soak up
quite a bit of knowlege on these topics by osmosis.
</blockquote><p>
For those times when I'm actually on the phones --- I'll
probably get quite a lot of LG done. I spent years in
technical support at places like Quarterdeck and Symantec's
Peter Norton Group. I can do phone support while reading
netnews, and writing e-mail.
</p><p>
So, for my loyal fans (I know there are a few of you --
I met one on the Caltrain the other day; "Hi, John"),
Don't worry. Be happy. Another Linux hobbyist can do what
he loves and support himself doing it.
</p><p>
(BTW: Linuxcare is hiring. If you are in the SF Bay Area
and have a couple years of extensive and technical Linux
expertise --- check out their web site).
</p><p>
What does this mean for my other projects?
</p><p>
I'll be giving my tutorial on "Linux Security for
System Administrators" at LinuxWorld Expo by the time you
read this (9:00am Monday, March 1st). If that is successful
I may be giving similar (and updated) talks at future Linux
events. (LinuxWorld has already inquired about my availability
for their next show). For any of you that are going to
LinuxWorld Expo in San Jose, CA --- drop by Linuxcare's
booth and meet me.
</p><p>
I'm still working on my book (&quot;Linux Systems Administration&quot;
--- though the work is going a bit slower than I, my publishers
and my co-author would like. The goods news there is that my
co-author, M, is really taking charge of the scheduling
and development of the manuscript. Also the couple of hours
a day that I spend on the train with my laptop (from Campbell
up into SF city and back) will help keep me focused on this
and stop me from drifting e-mail, netnews, and slashdot as
I'm wont to do from home.
</p><p>
I'm still teaching one class (weekly on Saturdays)
at Mission College (Unix Shell Programming). I hope to
continue doing that for the foreseeable future as well.
My students were worried for the first couple of classes
(as I was adjusting the level of discussion to their
background). However, they seem to be catching on at this
point and we have several more weeks to show them all the
really cool things you can do with a Unix/Linux shell.
(Yes, we've told them all about getting copies of Linux and/or
FreeBSD to play with at home and at their offices. The
school lab current runs on Sun Solaris systems --- though
Linux is being installed in some of the college's new labs.
</p><p>
I'm really surprised at how busy I've gotten this year. I
was supposed to just work on the book and let Heather support
me (mostly). (Incidentally, Heather has resigned from her
full-time position and may be interested in quality, Bay Area
offers in the near future).
</p><p>
So, enough of all this "chaos manor" stuff. Let's go
on to this month's selection of technical questions...
</p>
<!-- end greeting -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/1"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 1 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>FTP Only Access: Trickier than it Seems</H3>
<p><strong>From chris on Fri, 29 Jan 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
FTP Only Access: Trickier than it Seems
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
i was recently reading your article in the december issue of
linuxgazzette regarding setting up users for FTP access only.
<em>[titled "<a href="../issue35/tag/ftproot.html"
>FTP Login as 'root' --- Don't!</a> -- Heather]</em>
i ran into this problem about a month ago and putting a <tt>*</tt> in front
of the password entry in the <TT>/etc/passwd</TT> file fixed the problem.
no telnet/login access, but ftp access. is there something i dont
know that prevents this from being a simple solution?
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
chris.
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
"Starring out" the password field (the one between
the second and third colons on that users line in
<TT>/etc/passwd</TT>) should also prevent FTP access (unless
your FTP daemon uses some other form of account
management and authentication).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Locking out the "shell" field (the last one) by
setting it to <TT>/bin/false</TT> (if <TT>/bin/false</TT> is actually
a compiled binary --- NOT the traditional shell script)
or to a simple compiled program that does a '<TT>printf()</TT>' or
'<TT>write()</TT>' and an '<TT>exit()</TT>') will prevent telnet access.
However it might not prevent '<tt>rsh</tt>' and it certainly
won't limit the user "just" to FTP.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The clever user can post all sorts of <tt>.forward</tt>, <tt>.procmail</tt>
and other files to his or her home directory (using
FTP) and these "magic" files can be used to run arbitrary
commands (generally under that user's ID) on behalf of
the user. Thus I could post a <tt>.forward</tt> file that
"forwarded" my mail through a program (using the piping
feature that most installations of '<tt>sendmail</tt>' are
configured to support). My program can issue
commands like '<tt>chsh</tt>' (to change my shell to something
that I can use).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
There are many "magic" files. I can use FTP to create
a <tt>.ssh</tt> directory and put in the <tt>.ssh/authorized_keys</tt>
which will then let me '<tt>ssh</tt>' into the system (if you're
running an ssh daemon). Not only are there many of these
--- but more of them are added as we create new
protocols and services.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
So, you really need to do more than just set their
shell to '<TT>/usr/local/bin/noshell</TT>' or '<tt>goaway</tt>'
or '<TT>/bin/sync</TT>' That's why I suggest using a replacement
to the standard old BSD FTP daemon. Go read the article again for that.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 1 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/2"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 2 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Another "No Login" Problem</H3>
<p><strong>From Spiros Alexiou on Fri, 29 Jan 1999
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
Thanks for your help.
I am attaching a small file with more info.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
It looks to me like the root of the problem is that the RH graphical
tool does NOT encrypt the user account passwords, though root
for example is encrypted. So either I missed something in the RH
documentation, it is missing, or there is a bug, if what I think is
right(please let me know).
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
If that is the case, I need to either run some additional tool that
will encrypt the passwords or else remove the users and create the
accounts by adduser
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Please let me know if this sheds some light
<br>Spiros Alexiou
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
P.S. do you have IP for ssc.com? My other mailer does not know that
address
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
It would be very unwise to attempt to mail your message
to an IP address. Internet mail processing using
a different sort of DNS resource record than other
TCP/IP protocols --- is uses MX records. If your mailer
can properly pass the mail to a "smarthost" and can't
properly handle the requisite MX resolution then you
just shouldn't use it (or you should get it "fixed").
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
<!-- ::<BlockQuote>
Another <A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A> "No Login" Problem
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
</BlockQuote>:: -->
<FONT COLOR="#000099"><EM>
<BR>&gt;I have RH 5.0 (2.0.32). Using their graphic tool, I created two
<BR>&gt;<TT>/home</TT> accounts, me and guest, assigned UID and GID's and set
<BR>&gt;passwords. The problem is, I can only log in as root. I looked for
<BR>&gt;.nologin files, there seem to be none. I am attaching my
<BR>&gt;<TT>/etc/fstab</TT> files. Thus, at the linux prompt If I try to login as
<BR>&gt;any of these two users,
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000099"><EM>
<BR>&gt;I am denied entry(back to the prompt). This is not an issue of
<BR>&gt;case sensitive.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000099"><EM>
<BR>&gt;Any ideas of what I am doing wrong?
<BR>&gt;Sincerely, S.Alexiou
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<blockquote><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG
SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
I have NO idea. I've gotten a rash of different reports of
this sort. All involve Red Hat usually right after new
installations --- no login from console, no login over
telnet, no login as root, no login as anyone other than
root.
</EM></FONT></blockquote>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
Nice to know I'm not alone...
</STRONG></P>
<blockquote><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG
SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
Unfortunately all of these cases, so far, are being reported
to me incompletely. Only sparse details ahve been provided
(as above). I've mailed off troubleshooting suggestions and
recieved no followup to explain them.
</EM></FONT></blockquote>
<blockquote><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
So, I don't get it.
</EM></FONT></blockquote>
<blockquote><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
You said you used their graphical tool to create two
new accounts. One was named "guest" and the other
was some sort of user name for yourself.
</EM></FONT></blockquote>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
Yes, since I use the PC as a workstation and do not care about having
other users, using it as a web server etc, the second account was the
shortest possible account I could think of, "me"
</STRONG></P>
<blockquote><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG
SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
You also said you set the passwords for these two accounts.
</EM></FONT></blockquote>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
Yes, I did (see below)
</STRONG></P>
<blockquote><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG
SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
Let's try this: edit your passwd file. I personally
prefer to use vipw for that --- but Red Hat 5.0 had a
broken '<tt>vipw</tt>' command (immediate segfault) and my fresh
installation of 5.2 also has a broken 'vipw' command
(needed to add a symlink from <TT>/bin/vi</TT> to <TT>/usr/bin/vi</TT>
--- GRRR!). So, just use your favorite editor and
keep a rescue floppy handy in case you reboot the system
with a corrupt <TT>/etc/passwd</TT> file.
</EM></FONT></blockquote>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
Wait, do I need a rescue disk? My hard disk are IDE, not SCSI and I
am supposed to only need to RH boot diskette. right? If I do need a
resue disk, can I create it without reinstalling? At any rate, I try
to be very careful when I edit root stuff, but it's better to be safe..
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Here is my <TT>/etc/passwd</TT> file
</STRONG></P>
<pre><strong>&gt; root:hASh-OMitTed:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
&gt; bin:*:1:1:bin:/bin:
&gt; daemon:*:2:2:daemon:/sbin:
&gt; postgres:!!:100:101:PostreSQL Server:/var/lib/pgsql:/bin/bash
&gt; me:notencrypted:500:500:Red Hat Linux User,,,,:/home/me:/bin/bash
&gt; guest:sanitized:501:501:Red Hat Linux User,,,,:/home/guest:/bin/bash
</strong></pre>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Incredible. It's amazing to think that this
tool is that bad!
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
You will notice that the root password is encrypted , while the me
and guest passwords are not. Actually the root and me have the same
password But I do not recall any warnings about that in the RH graphic
user creation. BTW, for the record, I did at one point reinstall
and created the same guest and me accounts I had created originally,
but I was unable to login as anything but root even with the original
installation Also, for the record, I do have some problems with my
XF86Config, but unless you believe this to be important( should not,
as the graphic tool showed no problems), I may bother you another time
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
height="24" width="20" align="middle"> Finally the UID and GID were assigned by the graphic tool, I just
acepted what was there. Let me also add, that when I looked at the
corresponding <TT>/etc/passwd</TT> file in a large AIX machine
(I was just a user,
not administrator) all I could see of course were ! for password field,
but other than that the password file looks ok to me.
</STRONG></P>
<blockquote><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG
SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
Try setting the account
passwords to something simple like just "<tt>x</tt>" --- and
use the <TT>/bin/passwd</TT> command, not any sort of curses
or GUI front end. Consider removing '<tt>linuxconf</tt>'
(for troubleshooting).
</EM></FONT></blockquote>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
Haven't done ths yet. I am not sure what troubleshooting I would
do to remove linuxconf.
</STRONG></P>
<blockquote><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG
SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
If you're using shadow passwords try running <tt>pwunconv</tt>
and if you're not, try running <tt>pwconv</tt> (to convert
your passwd file to or from shadow format).
</EM></FONT></blockquote>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
Will try that. Just please let me know, if you also think that
the problem is that the guest and me passwords are not encrypted.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Please, let me know if you figure out what's doing it.
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
Umm! I don't know what sort of GUI user admin tool
this is --- but don't use it to set initial passwords!
Just go to a root shell prompt and issue the command:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote><Code>
passwd me
</Code></BlockQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... and set the initial password for that account
using the traditional old terminal command for the
purpose. Then do the same for your personal account.
Then report the bug to whoever maintains the tool you
were using.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<A NAME="tag/3"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 3 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(!) " border="0"
>A Reader Answers: What is the TCP/IP SACK feature?</H3>
<p><strong>From Tom Kludy on Thu, 04 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
A Reader Answers: What is the TCP/IP SACK feature?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG
SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
What is the TCP/IP SACK feature? What does it do?
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<blockquote><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
SACK = Selective ACKnowledgement. It is an extension to TCP/IP
which allows you to acknowledge reception of specific packets.
(read on)
</STRONG></blockquote>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG
SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
Why do we need/want it?
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<blockquote><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
When sending a group of packets across a network, you need the
receiver to acknowledge those packets that are received. TCP
without SACK simply acknowledges the last packet that was
received. (Actually, the ACK has the number of the next packet
requested, but that's neither here nor there). However, with TCP
there are usually several packets in transit between the source
and destination at any one time. That means that the source will
not recognize that the destination has dropped a packet until it
sees the same ACK several times (4, I think) or until a timeout
has passed. It then resends the packet that has been dropped.
</STRONG></blockquote>
<blockquote><STRONG>
Let's say that there is are 10 packets in route between the source
and destination. Along the line, packets 1,2,3, and 4 are
received, and ACKed. Packet 5 is dropped, but all other packets
are delivered successfully (6,7,8,etc). The receiver will ACK 5
upon receiving 4, 6, 7, 8, etc. But since there are 10 packets in
transit between source and destination, the receiver won't see the
repeating ACKs until it has sent all packets up to about packet 25
(since, at the same time the receiver should be receiving packet
5, the sender is sending packet 15 (5+10), plus the 10 packet
delay until the sender gets the ACK).
</STRONG></blockquote>
<blockquote><STRONG>
At this point, the sender finally knows that packet 5 has been
dropped, and resends it. But it doesn't know that the receiver
has successfully received packets 6 through 25. So, it must wait
until the receiver gets the new packet 5, and returns "ACK 26",
before it knows where to restart. It will take 20
packet-transmission times to get this ACK (or, one whole
round-trip-time). As you can guess, this slows things down
considerably. SACK allows the receiver to say "I've missed packet
5, but I've received packets 6-25". This allows a much quicker
transmission restart, since the source knows within a 1/2
round-trip-time where to resume transmission (instead of a whole
round-trip-time).
</STRONG></blockquote>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG
SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
It the Linux implementation any better or worse than others? (Or
is it some feature where you pretty much either have it or you
don't and there is no "better" or "worse")?
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<blockquote><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
I think it falls under "there is no better or worse", except that
if the underlying TCP implementation is more efficient, then SACK
might help even more..
</STRONG></blockquote>
<blockquote><STRONG>
Hope I have answered the answer guy
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
Please note that this is
all from memory, as I haven't dealt with this in quite a while.
</STRONG></blockquote>
<blockquote><STRONG>
-Tom Kludy
</STRONG></blockquote>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Yes. Your answer was perfect. I'm forwarding
it to my editors as is.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
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<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/4"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 4 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Unable to Open Console: After "Custom" Install</H3>
<p><strong>From Bob Miller on Thu, 04 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
More on: Unable to Open Console: After "Custom" Install
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
This sounds more like the kernel is being told to use the wrong
partition for root than a package problem.
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
That would be in the category of &quot;There's no <TT>/dev/</TT>
directory with the proper <tt>tty*</tt> nodes available.&quot;
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Either of these would cause the problem. As I recall
I recommended booting from floppy, checking the
filesystem that he was trying to mount as root. If
that is inconsistent with his kernel's '<tt>rdev</tt>' or his
<TT>/etc/lilo.conf</TT> parameters --- it would explain the problem
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Another, more convoluted possibility is that he has
a problem with his '<tt>initrd</tt>' image (if he's using
an initial RAMDisk to store and load some of his
critical device drivers).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Hopefully he's worked it out. I realize my response
might not have been all that clear. Sometimes I have
to beat it back and forth with a correspondent a couple
of times before I "get it" --- sometimes that has more to
do with sleep deprivation than with technical background or
communications failures.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<A NAME="tag/5"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 5 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>&quot;Integrating&quot; Linux/sendmail with MS Exchange</H3>
<p><strong>From Kevin Harrison on Fri, 05 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
&quot;Integrating&quot; Linux/sendmail with MS Exchange
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
jim;
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Kia Ora from Auckland , New Zealand
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I have inherited a box with Linux installed on it and we wish to integrate
the linux email (using <tt>sendmail</tt>) with the dreaded
ms-exchange which runs
on NT....the main reason is so that LAN clients can receive email
notifications from jobs that will run on the linux box.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Are there any quick guides out there on this procedure..
<br>thanks mate
<br>Kevin Harrison, Downunder
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
There should be no special work in this regard.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Let's assume that your domain was "<tt>downunder.nz</tt>"
and that you MS Exchange server is configured as
the primary "<tt>MX</tt>" host for that domain (meaning that
all outside mail to "foo@downunder.nz" gets directed
to it). Let's say your Linux system is named <tt>penguin</tt>.
So you can create an <tt>MX</tt> record for <tt>penguin.downunder.nz</tt>
and mail to foo@penguin.downunder.nz will go to the
Linux system rather than the MS Exchange server (which
we'll call "<tt>msnail</tt>" --- &lt;g&gt;for "MS Nt mAIL"&lt;/g&gt
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=";)"
height="24" width="20" align="middle">.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Now mail coming <EM>from</EM> penguin, to <A HREF="mailto:foo@downunder.nz"
>foo@downunder.nz</A> will
go automatically to <tt>msnail.downunder.nz</tt> where MS Exchange
will mangle it.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
A better approach is to point your primary <tt>MX</tt> record to
<tt>penguin</tt>. Penguin can then have a large aliases file for all
of the users and accounts that exist in your domain ---
directing the mail to the more specific hosts on which those
users get their mail. Thus all the MS Outlook and MS Mail
users could get their mail from <tt>msnail</tt>, while your Linux
users can get theirs directly from <tt>penguin</tt> (either via
POP/IMAP or by logging in to their shell account and reading
mail with '<tt>elm</tt>', '<tt>pine</tt>', '<tt>mutt</tt>',
or any mailer they like.
You heavy volume mail users who are using MS Outlook can
still get their mail directly from <tt>penguin</tt> (via POP).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The main advantages to this approach:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote>
Your Linux system probably has a much higher
stability and capacity than NT on comparable
hardware. So your high volume mail users
won't be bringing down the system for everyone
else. (It's very hard to flood a modern Linux
system with just e-mail).
</BlockQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You have simple remote configuration and management
of your mail routing (telnet in and edit your
<TT>/etc/aliases</TT> file, then run '<tt>newaliases</tt>').
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You can easily create "magic accounts" like
"info@downunder.nz" which feed into autoresponder
scripts (presumably in the simple procmail
scripting language).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You have no licensing constraints, costs or
restrictions. If you want to add a hundred
new e-mail users, or a thousand --- you just
create the accounts on penguin and have your
account holders point their favorite mail readers
(Netscape Communicator, Pegasus, Eudora, even
MS Outlook) at it.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You have relatively easy and <EM>free</EM> access to
a number of evolving anti-spam systems (such as
the RBL (real-time blackhole list). I haven't
heard of any patches or modules for MS Exchange
to enable RBL support --- and I suspect that
MS would only provide such services on a fee-driven
subscription basis (rather than as a community
service, like Paul Vixie is doing with the RBL).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The difference between these two approaches:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote>
In the first case we set up a different <tt>MX</tt> record
for <tt>penguin</tt>. Anyone who needed to send mail <EM>to</EM> an
account on that system needed to use the full name:
foo@penguin.downunder.nz. Mail to
foo@downunder.nz
would go to the <tt>msnail</tt> host. You might have some
options for autoforwarding from the MS box --- but
you'd have to talk to your MS wizards on how to do
it. It probably involves filling in some GUI dialog
somewhere (requiring you to work at its console) and
its probably subject to MS pricing and licensing ---
i.e. you're paying extra for each account.
</BlockQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
In the second case we reverse that: Mail defaults
to landing on <tt>penguin</tt>. The further routing from
there is trivial (since <tt>sendmail</tt>, <tt>aliases</tt> and
<tt>.forward</tt> files have been used by the majority of
the Internet for over 20 years).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
In summary: MS Exchange can recieve SMTP (Internet mail)
so there is no trick to "integrating" them with '<tt>sendmail</tt>'
'<tt>qmail</tt>' or other Internet MTAs (mail transport agents).
I've heard some people complain about MS Exchange's
behavior (generating mail with "ugly" <tt>WINMAIL.DAT</tt>
attachments that the rest of the net doesn't care for),
compliance (subtle ways that it doesn't conform to the
RFCs and implementation conventions of other systems ---
but these might be argued as a "failure to be bug
compatible" --- so those are moot), performance (more than
100 "normal" e-mail accounts, or 50 "heavy users" will
probably require considerable hardware under NT --- while
an old 386 or 486 can handle those loads under Linux), and
robustness (my household POP server has been up for over
a 125 days; I have no idea why I rebooted it 4 months ago
but I know it wasn't for any real problem --- maybe it was
when I was rewiring and cleaning out the server closet).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
So, what have you tried so far? What sorts of problems
are you encountering?
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 5 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/6"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 6 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Shell Scripting: Getting Host and User Names</H3>
<p><strong>From Darby Gilbert on Sat, 06 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
Shell Scripting: Getting Host and User Names
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
I am trying to write a batch file that will pick up the computer
name for the naming convention. On NT 4.0 computers, it is no
problem. Is there a way to write a batch file that will pick up
the computer name and/or user name from the computer so that it
will use it to name a file that is produced from the batch file?
I have been trying all sorts of different things and also
searching the web trying to find answers when I came accross your
page. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Darby Gilbert
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Under Linux these (simple interpreted text programs)
are called shell scripts (they are technically not
"batch files" though the concept is the same).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
To get the current "computer name" use the '<tt>hostname</tt>'
command. To assign that to a shell or environment
variable use a command like:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote><Code>
THISHOST=$(hostname)
</Code></BlockQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... for the short version (in foo.example.org this
command returns just "foo"). You can use:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
THISHOST=$(hostname -f)
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
or:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
THISHOST=$(hostname --long)
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... to get the "full" or "long" name (the host.domain
string).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
To get information about the current user (the one
running the script) we use the 'id' command. Now,
if we just use the command with no options it gives us
output like:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<blockquote><pre> uid=500(jimd) gid=100(users)
groups=100(users),10(wheel),11(test),17(staff),
60(web),40(game)
</pre></blockquote>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
(except that it's all on one line). This is informative
for interactive use --- but far too ugly for elegant script
parsing. So we use options to get just what we want:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<pre><BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote>
USERNAME=$(id -un)
UID=$(id -u)
PRIMARYGROUP=$(id -gn)
PRIMARYGID=$(id -g)
GROUPLIST=$(id -Gn)
GIDLIST=$(id -G)
</BlockQuote></BLOCKQUOTE></pre>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
In other words '<TT>/usr/bin/id</TT>' takes options <tt>-u</tt> (user)
<tt>-g</tt> (primary group), <tt>-G</tt> (list of groups) and <tt>-n</tt>
(names, not numeric IDs).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
So you could construct a crude e-mail address for your
user by using:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
MYEMAIL="`id -un`@`hostname -f`"
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... here I've used "backticks" (accent characters) which are
the more common form of the "command substitution operator."
Normally I use the <tt>$()</tt> form which is easier to read and
nestable. I use it here only to demonstrate that they are
the same (under <tt>bash</tt> and recent Korn shells at any rate).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Here's a simple shell script that takes your list of
groups and walks through them one at a time:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>#!/bin/bash
<BR>GLIST=$(<TT>/usr/bin/id</TT> -Gn)
<BR>set -- $GLIST
<BR>while [ "$1" ]; do
<br> echo $1
<br> shift
<br>done
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
In this case I use a special form of the '<tt>set</tt>' built-in
command: which resets my list of command line arguments
to the value specified. I could do that with just:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote><code>
set $GLIST
</code></BlockQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... which sets <tt>$1</tt> to the first string in <tt>$GLIST</tt>
and <tt>$2</tt> to the next one, etc. That would be pretty safe in this case
(since I've never seen anyone create a group name starting
with a dash). However it is better shell scripting practice
to use the <tt>set</tt>'s <tt>--</tt> ("dash, dash") option which signifies
the end of all <EM>options</EM> to the '<tt>set</tt>' command forcing it to
consider the rest of the command line items to be
"arguments" (rather than options).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
This is probably a bit confusing if you don't know about the
'<tt>set</tt>' command. Under bash and Korn shell (at least) you can
use command like <tt>set -o noclobber</tt> (or <tt>set -C</tt>) to prevent the
overwriting of existing files with shell redirection
operators and <tt>set -o noglob</tt> (<tt>set -f</tt>) to disable filename
expansion (the conversion by the shell of <tt>*.txt</tt> into a list
of files that match that pattern). There are many other
features supported by the typical Unix shell (Bourne family).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
This discussion has focused entirely on Bourne shells.
I don't use csh/tcsh much and don't recommend it for
scripting (in which I'm in good company; see:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><dl>
<dt>Csh Programming Considered Harmful
<DD><TT>
<A HREF="http://www.faqs.org/faqs/unix-faq/shell/csh-whynot/index.html"
>http://www.faqs.org/faqs/unix-faq/shell/csh-whynot/index.html</a></TT>
</dl></BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 6 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/7"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 7 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>More on: Bad Sectors</H3>
<p><strong>From Fadel on Sat, 06 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
More on: Bad Sectors
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Dear sir,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I have bad sectors in my HDD about 35 sectors, so I can't use it,
how can I use it agine? Note: My HDD is 3.2 GB and I use windows
98
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
yours,
<br>Fadel
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Too Bad. If Windows '98 can't work around the bad
sectors you'll just after to repace the drive or replace
your OS. If the first sector on your track zero is one
of the bad ones then the drive is useless.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Why are you sending this to me, anyway. Call your
drive's manufacturer or your retailer!
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 7 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/8"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 8 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>The Presumption!</H3>
<p><strong>(Claiming to be) From Microsoft Internet Explorer Support on Sat, 06 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
The Presumption!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Microsoft Corporation
1 Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052
USA
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Dear Sir/Madam
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
As an user of the Microsoft Internet
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
^^^^
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
--- some MS Word spell-checker or "Wizard"
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
suggested this? In the literate world
we use "a user --- since the term "user"
is pronounced with a leading consonant
sound "y" as in "yoozer"
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I'm not a "yoozer" of Microsoft Internet Explorer
or any other MS product.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Explorer, Microsoft Corporation provides
you with this upgrade for your web browser.
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
You're providing me with SPAM. My web browsers are
Lynx and Netscape Navigator (for Linux).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
It will fix some bugs found in your Internet
Explorer. To install the upgrade, please save
the attached file (ie0199.exe) in some folder
and run it.
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
It might fix some bugs in YOUR Internet Explorer.
My methods of exploring the Internet go way beyond
web browsing and use a variety of tools and protcols.
The Web is not the Internet and MS Internet Explorer
isn't even a blip on my radar.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
For more information, please visit our
web site at www.microsoft.com/ie/
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
To comply with California State Law please don't
send any more unsolicited e-mail to this address.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
(There was a law recently enacted in my state of residence
which requires advertising to display the "ADV:" tag
on the subject line. I'm collecting violations of this
law to forward to my state attorney general's office.
I don't consider it to be an effective deterrent to
SPAM --- but they should enforce it if they're going to
pass it).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<hr width="40%">
<p><em>Interestingly enough, this message (and another reply to
it from our site) bounced. It can be reasonably suspected that
the true originator of the message was not Microsoft, but someone
trying to convince users of their products, to "upgrade" to an
infected or malicious copy. </em></p>
<p><em>As such, it's really much worse than
"SPAM" although it ia similar, in that it preys on people who
know less about their internet environment, and are willing to
take unwise risks with their assets. These folks are also least
likely to be able to take effective action to correct the problems
that result. </em></p>
<p><em>Don't get snookered -- nobody should be mailing you
a binary without some sort of authentication so you can determine
where it came from, and hat it has survived its ride through the
mail. FTP is really better for anything of reasonable size anyway.</em></p>
<!-- end 8 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/9"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 9 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Mysterious Message: Subject: Linux</H3>
<p><strong>From THerbic on Sat, 06 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
Mysterious Message: Subject: Linux
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
integrated e-mail, messaging, voice mail, faxing capabilities
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Yep. Linux has integrated mail, messaging, voice mail
and faxing capabilities. They all work and you
integrate them with shell, Perl, TCL/Tk and/or CGI
scripts.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 9 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/10"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 10 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Reader Comments: Diamond WinModems:</H3>
<p><strong>From Joseph on Sat, 06 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
Reader Comments: Diamond WinModems:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Greetings, O Guy of Many Answers!
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
After buying a modem and not having any luck with it under Linux
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
(a dual-boot Win98 and <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</A> 2.0 system), I checked around
on the Diamond Multimedia Website. After searching for "linux,"
I was eventually referred to a nice FAQ on Traditional,
Controllerless (WinModem), and Software Modems by Diamond.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
This brought to my attention that I had bought a WinModem by
mistake. I was able to push my now-useless modem off on
relatives who were buying a computer, and I instead followed
the guide and bought a Diamond SupraExpress ISA (non-voice)
modem. I set it up manually with the jumpers on the card as
com3 and put it in. Windows kind of gawked at it at first, but
using the CD to install it instead of Windows default drivers
(as I can recall; this was a while ago), it was OK in Windows.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I installed the new modem just before leaving the country
(and my computer) behind for a semester, so I can't say exactly how
well it worked, as I was unable to try it out. However, upon
booting into Linux, I was greeted with a new detection: ttySx
(where x is some number I've now long forgotten). By this, I believe
that it is functioning and happy, however, as I said, I was unable
to test it before leaving.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
As I have been scanning around, I have found people with problems with
Diamond modems who were wondering if they are WinModems. As I found
the Diamond guide rather helpful, I thought I'd pass it along to
you, for review and further distribution.
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
> For the curious, that's <CODE>
<A HREF="http://www.diamondmm.com/products/white-papers/communications/c-less_paper.html"
>http://www.diamondmm.com/products/white-papers/communications/c-less_paper.html</A>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
You can alternately find it under the "Support"-&gt;"FAQ" selection at the
top of the main page. A word of warning, however. After reading the
last issue of Linux Gazette, I have found that the PCI version of
the Diamond SupraExpress modem does not work with Linux. I cannot
verify this, but the quote was quoting <A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A>. (2-Cent Tips)
Hope this clearifies things somewhat.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
-Joseph
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
I still say: GET EXTERNAL MODEMS!
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
(That was always safe until recently since nobody
and really messed up RS232C so bad that you couldn't
get your modem to work with Linux. With the recent
advent of USB and the impending release of USB modems
this will not be true for much longer. However,
Linux may support USB before there are any significant
number of USB modems on the market --- so we might
squeak in).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Other than that, thanks for the pointer. I hope some
of our readers find it and learn from it.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
WinModems: &quot;JUST SAY NO!&quot;
(or &quot;RMA&quot; --- return merchandise authorization)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 10 -->
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<A NAME="tag/11"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 11 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>OPL-3 Sound Drivers</H3>
<p><strong>From Jeferson Oliveira Andeluz on Sat, 06 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
OPL-3 Sound Drivers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
My name is Jeferson, I live in Sao Paulo, the biggest city of
Brazil...
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I seek for all web sites for this driver and I can't find one to
make a download for this driver...
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Please, if you know how can I give this driver, tell me, because
my pc doesn't have any sound and it's very boring....
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Some OPL-3 sound drivers are included in the
mainstream Linux kernel sources. You just select
them at compile time (<tt>cd /usr/src/linux; make menuconfig</tt>)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You can test your sound drives by finding a <tt>.wav</tt>, <tt>.mod</tt>,
<tt>.au</tt> or other sound files and issuing the '<tt>play</tt>' command
on them. (The '<tt>play</tt>' command is part of the '<tt>sox</tt>'
(sound exchange) package). This ships with most general
distributions --- though you might not have installed it.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Here's a command to find all of these sound files on
a typical Linux system:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
locate / | egrep "\.(au|mod|wav)$"
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... you can do a sanity check on those with a similar
command:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
locate / | egrep "\.(au|mod|wav)$" | xargs file
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... the '<tt>file</tt>' command will identify them as some form
of audio file if there contents match their filename
extensions.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Here's a sneaky little script I call 'ftype' that
filters a list of filenames based on the type reported
by the '<tt>file</tt>' command:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<blockquote><pre>#!/bin/sh
## This uses the 'file' command to filter out filenames whose
## contents don't match our spec
##
while read i ; do
file "$i" | grep -q "$*" &amp;&amp; echo "$i"
done
</pre></blockquote>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You'd call this with a command like:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><CODE><BlockQuote>
locate <TT>/</TT> | egrep "\.(au|mod|wav)$" | ftype audio
</BlockQuote></CODE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... so you could play every sound on your system
with a command like:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><CODE><BlockQuote>
locate <TT>/</TT> | egrep "\.(au|mod|wav)$" | ftype audio | xargs -l play
</BlockQuote></CODE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
(scary!)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I've talked about sound card support before:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><dl>
<dt>The Answer Guy 34: Finding Soundcard Support
<dd><A HREF="http://www.ssc.com/lg/issue34/tag/sound.html"
>http://www.ssc.com/lg/issue34/tag/sound.html</A>
</dl>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
So, check those links and see if that helps.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Thanks for your hear me...
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I'll wait for your reply....
Jeferson
</STRONG></P>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 11 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/12"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 12 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Question from an old friend.</H3>
<p><strong>From Gregg Q Reynante on Fri, 05 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
Hi Jim,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
It's me, Regina's husband. Haven't had the opportunity to write
'til now. Here's my question?
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I'm trying to install RH 5.2 on a Pentium 133. Here's the catch.
I have a WD SCSI 2.1 Gig HD using an Adaptec 1542CF (ISA) card.
Because of the other hardware and/or motherboard of the system, I
need to set the SCSI card to non-default settings. During the
Linux install, it's fine until it asks for SCSI devices. When I
send it to autoprobe the 1542, it tells me it's not there. In the
past I've used the SCSI card &amp; drive in default mode and
successfully installed RH 5.1 This is an upgrade from my 486
machine, so I don't want to go back.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Any suggestions?
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
First disable any BIOS/Setup "PnP" (plug and pray) features
that your system is trying to foist on you.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
If autoprobing doesn't work try passing the
kernel a hint. In the bootparam(7) man pages you'll
find details on many supported parameters. Look for
something like:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote><Code>
aha1542=iobase[,buson,busoff[,dmaspeed]]
</Code></BlockQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
and fill in the parameters. I might use:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote><code>
aha1542=0x320
</code></BlockQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... for example.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You might have to start your <A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A> installation in
"expert" mode so that it will prompt you for these
parameters.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Another possibility is that you have to cut a
custom kernel and put that on your RH installation/boot
floppy. This isn't too tough and it is documented
in their manual. The boot floppies used by Red Hat
are just MS-DOS formatted floppies with an MS-DOS
filesystem and a copy of the <tt>SYSLINUX</tt> boot loader.
There is a <tt>SYSLINUX.CFG</tt> file which is a bit like a
<tt>lilo.conf</tt> file on an installed system. You should have
to touch that (if you just replace the <tt>VMLINUZ</tt> file
with one of the same name).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
A Red Hat <tt>boot.img</tt> file that I have here as 24K available
on it. That's not much room --- but it might be enough for a
kernel with an extra SCSI driver built straight into it.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
And yes, I've lowered the transfer rate to 5.0, enabled sync &amp;
parity checking on the card. I've even installed DOS, so I know it
works (or at least runs). I'm ready to turn it into an MS machine
if I can't get this up &amp; running soon.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
TIA,
Gregg
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
My first guess would be that there is some PCI/PnP
sort of thing that's inteferring with your auto-detection.
So we bypass that with "expert" mode and tell it precisely
where our card is. We also disable PnP since that often
doesn't play well with ISA cards (like the 1542CF).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 12 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/14"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 14 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>[Q]: Winmodem under Linux</H3>
<p><strong>From urryk on Sun, 07 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
Hi, James!
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Whether there is any possibility to use the US Robotics Winmodem
in Linux?
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I know that this incompatible device, but it is possible to
somebody it was possible it to win. Thank you for advice.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Yury with best wishes.
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
You know that this device in incompatible with Linux
but you're asking me if there is any possibility of
using it with Linux.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Yes, it is currently incompatible. This is largely
because the manufacturer (of the chipset used by this
modem) will not release the programming specifications
to the public.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
So, yes there is a possibility of getting use out of
it under Linux. First, convince Rockwell Peripherals
International (or whatever their real corporate name
is) to release the specs. Then find someone who is
willing to write a driver to those specs. (You might
even convince Rockwell of the value in writing their
own Linux driver and releasing the sources to that).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I'll admit that this is only a slim possibility.
I'm sure that other Linux enthusiasts (and Mac users,
and others) have requested similar support for other
non-MS-Windows systems. My advice is threefold:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote>
DON'T BUY WINMODEMS, WINPRINTERS OR ANY OTHER
OS-Specific Devices! (I wouldn't buy a
piece of hardware that was supported exclusively
under Linux either).
</BlockQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
DON'T BUY INTERNAL MODEMS!
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Get rid of the piece of junk you've already
got. Get an RMA. Get on a phone and scorch
the ears of everyone in the organizations that
sold, manufactured and distributed this defective
useless slag to you. Make it so expensive to
deal with your complaints that they'll clearly
understand the false economy in selling these
things. (And be polite through the whole process).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 14 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/16"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 16 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>More Bad Clusters</H3>
<p><strong>From Rik on Fri, 05 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
More Bad Clusters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Hi,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Do you know how to fix a bad cluster on my hard disk cause I have
one and now I can't convert it to FAT32. I've got a Fujitsu U-DMA
1,7 GB HD I hope you can help me.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Thanks in advance
Greetingz
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Is this some kind of joke? I keep getting questions
about fixing bad clusters, marking them as bad,
unmarking them from being bad and the like. Worse, these
questions seem to come from MS Windows users who seem
to have <EM>no</EM> interest in LINUX whatsoever.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
No! I don't know how to force your machine to let you
install a FAT32 filesystem on it. I don't care how that's
done --- I use <tt>ext2</tt> filesystems and they can tolerate
and manage bad sectors (or ignore them at your peril) with
no problem (just remember to use the <tt>-c</tt> parameters to
<tt>mke2fs</tt> and <tt>e2fsck</tt>).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Please, go find a Windows Answer Guy. If you just sent
me blind e-mail and don't understand why I'm babbling about
this non-MS stuff go read some back issues of the
Linux Gazette: <A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com"
>http://www.linuxgazette.com</A>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
(as you should see in my .sig)
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 16 -->
<hr width="40%">
<!-- begin 15 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>how to fix a bad cluster on hd</H3>
<p><strong>From Rik on Sun, 07 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
Hi,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I'm sorry but I looked at altavista for bad clusters on how to fix
them and there was this message board with your e-mail adress. so
that's why I sended my message to you. sorry it would not happen
again.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Greetingz
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
I don't object to getting question (on the topics
that are relevant to Linux Gazette). However, it is
irritating when those people who find my messages in
Alta Vista don't <EM>read what I said</EM>.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I've never said that I could "fix bad clusters" ---
so anything you read that was by me didn't say that.
Indeed it almost certainly said almost exactly the same
thing I told you.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Noting that this Alta Vista record made reference to
linuxgazette.com you have to follow up and look at
the "Linux Gazette's" web pages (where you'll find
it's own search feature --- which should should
have made it obvious who I am and what I do).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I use Yahoo! and Alta Vista (and Deja News and Google
and others) extensively. I occasionally even send
messages to people who I find therein. However, I
do that as a last resort.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Also when contacting someone for the first time, courtesy
demands that you introduce yourself. Nothing elaborate
but something like:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<table width="80%" border="1"><tr><td>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote>
Answer Guy,
</BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE>
I was searching Alta Vista looking for ways
to solve the problems I'm having with bad blocks
and Windows '98 on my new/old/whatever hard
drive.
</BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE>
I found the following message from you:
</BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote><BLOCKQUOTE>
...[SHORT quote/excerpt]...
</BlockQuote></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
</td></tr></table>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... and then you can go on to ask your question.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
That's only common courtesy --- which is unfortunately
all too uncommon these days.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
So, if you ever have questions about Linux --- including
questions about how to make it work with NT, '9x, MacOS,
or other systems, feel free to send them to me. Please
search through the appropriate newsgroups, mailing lists
HOWTOs, FAQs, and try the search feature on
<A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com"
>http://www.linuxgazette.com</A> to see if I've answered this
question before (or especially if any of our other
contributors have written feature articles or 2-cent
tips or other material on the subject).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
For problems with a piece of equipment --- talk to your
retailer or its manufacturer first. For problems which
don't relate to Linux --- look for forums that focus on
the one at hand. When dealing with Microsoft products
remember the level of support you've been getting before
purchasing any more of them.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 15 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/17"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 17 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Proxying over PPP</H3>
<p><strong>From prashant on Thu, 11 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
Proxying over PPP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Hi Answerguy,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I am using <A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A> Linux.And I want to install a proxy server.
I have a modem can configure ppp over that.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
But i want that proxy to do the following functions:
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><ol>
<li>It should optimize my ppp connection.
(<tt>webproxy-1.3</tt> does provides this)
<li>As this webproxy doesn't handle cache.A cache manager
'Squid' must be installed.
<li>Also it doesn't supports many protocols. So
I want a router linked it
</ol></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I dont know how i am going to do this please help me.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
yours
<br>Prashant Deshpande.
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Your list mixes needs with conclusions. I don't
recommend that when doing "requirements analysis" as
you'll probably end up with some inappropriate constraints.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
If I understand it correctly you want to "optimize"
your PPP connection in the sense that you want to
minimize the traffic flowing over it, and the latency
between requests and responses.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I'm not familiar with a package named "<tt>webproxy-1.3</tt>" --- but
any caching/proxy will tend to lessen the traffic depending
on your usage patterns and the co-operation of the sites
that you access over these protocols. Squid is probably the
most advanced caching proxying available --- and it's
designed to peer with other ICP (Internet Caching Protocol)
servers, (potentially minimizing traffic over other links,
further out on the Internet, beyond your PPP link while also
minimizing latency).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I don't understand item three at all. What doesn't support
many protcocols? Squid supports a number of protocols
(all those that are amenable to caching, that I can think
of). Also the conclusion: "So I want a router linked it"
is completely bogus. A <EM>router</EM> does <EM>routing</EM>, a
proxy does proxying and caching. These functions operate
at different (though sometimes blurred) levels in the
OSI reference model.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
If you use your Linux system as a "gateway" to the Internet
for any systems other than itself (if it has an ethernet
and a PPP link or any other combination of two or more
non-loopback interfaces) than it probably <EM>is</EM> acting as a
router.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
So, let's step back from the constraints implied by these
extraneous comments and focus on what you want.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You could do some protocol analysis on your PPP link to
determine what protocols are consuming which percentages
of the bandwidth; and to determine the average latency
among various protocols. This would help you focus on
which protocols are likely to benefit the most from
caching. It's also possible you might find other ways
to help improve your utilization.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Without going into gory details of using '<tt>tcpdump</tt>' and
performing data analysis on that we can suggest that you
start with the basics.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Run a caching nameserver on your PPP/router. This should
immediately improve response time and reduce bandwidth
utilization by obviating the need to forward/route DNS
queries across the link. Make sure to configure the
<TT>/etc/resolv.conf</TT> (or its equivalent on your non-Unix
systems) to actually use your caching nameserver. That
includes the <tt>resolv.conf</tt> on the router/gateway itself!
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Install Squid and configure your web browsers and any
gopher, WAIS, or other supported clients to use it. That
should help with those web sites that don't egregiously
prevent caching. Note that some sites use HTTP headers
(Pragmas) to eliminate or minimize caching of their pages.
This is often done by "advertising" supported sites as part
of their "imprint" accounting and to support their high
traffic claims (to their customers). That is BAD for the
Internet as a whole (since it forces every link between
those sites and all of their clients to carry redundant
traffic). Oh well! There goes the neighborhood!
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
After you've taken these two steps (and provided your
caching proxy/router with LOTS of disk space and memory) you
should monitor the line performance (informally) to see if
that meets your needs. You've probably gained 80-90% of the
potential efficiency gains already --- so additional work
will have diminishing returns.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You can install DeleGate for FTP proxying (I don't know how
to make "normal" FTP clients talk to Squid's FTP proxying
--- but they can be configured to use DeleGate as you'd use
any SOCKS proxy, and you can "manually" traverse a DeleGate
FTP or telnet proxy in a way that's conceptually similar to
the old TIS FWTK (though completely different, and much
cleaner, in syntax).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
That's probably about as far as you can go with simple
proxying. From there you'll have to change the mixture of
protocols you run, and/or optimize the way you work. For
example if you have e-mail flowing over that PPP link you
might reconfigure that to "Hold" (as "expensive") and queue
it for delivery during off peak hours.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You might even reconfigure your e-mail and any netnews
traffic (both outgoing and incoming) to go through UUCP.
UUCP allows you to "grade" your traffic, and to schedule the
delivery and receipt. This can include file transfers as
well as mail and news. Naturally you'd have to arrange for
some ISP to provide your UUCP batching for you. There are
still some ISPs that specialize in this, and there are still
some co-operative arrangements available in some localities.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
These techniques have a very steep learning curve. No one
has been providing WYSI new front ends to make the
configuration of UUCP links as easy as common PPP scenarios
are today. Also there are very few ISPs with the expertise
and interest to provide these services. In addition the
entire discussion is moot if you aren't carrying netnews,
email, or file-transfer traffic over your link (if you don't
read netnews, you've arranged ISP POP accounts on the other
side of your link and your file transfers can't be scheduled
and automated with UUCP).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Another option is to look at your work and access patterns.
If you know that you're going to want to read "Linux Weekly
News" every Thursday morning when you come in, create a <tt>cron</tt>
job to '<tt>wget</tt>' or do a '<tt>lynx -traversal</tt>' of
<A HREF="http://www.lwn.net"
>http://www.lwn.net</A> every Thursday morning at 3:00am (before
you come in, but still in the "dead of the night). The LWN
crew seems to consistently have that up by about midnight
(U.S. Mountain time). You could have similar daily jobs for
your "Dilbert" fix (<A HREF="http://www.unitedmedia.com/dilbert"
>http://www.unitedmedia.com/dilbert</A>)
etc.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
There are some tricks you can do to minimize the amount of
your bandwidth you devote to downloading advertising and
graphics. One method is to use Lynx (which doesn't download
<EM>any</EM> graphics by default, and therefore filters out most
banner ads). Another is to create your own "localhost"
aliases for some sites like "<tt>click.net</tt>" --- sites which are
used exclusively to serve banner ads that are embedded in
the HTML of the sites you visit. Of course, the
advertisers, web site maintainers (like Yahoo!) and
click.net itself might complain that you are "depriving"
them of revenue by viewing these advertiser supported pages
while filtering out the advertsing.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
If a statistically significant number of users employ these
strategies then we'll see a resulting "arms race" to force
the advertisments down your throat. They'll increasingly
"mix" the advertising and content as inextricably as
possible --- meaning that text browsers and search engines
will become useless.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
It's a pity that more of us don't consider the implications
of advertiser supported media on our lives. Your broadcast
news, TV, radio, newspapers and other periodical
publications are all completely funded by advertising and
therefore fundamentally suspect in regards to content and
focus. Its not a "conspiracy" theory --- merely and
economic fact. You get what was paid for. Since you didn't
"pay for" the content that you're receiving through
traditional media (and increasingly for Internet "content")
--- you have little or no say in what's provided over them.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You have obscure indirect effects by your selection of
products and services and somewhat more by complaint (to
government and regulatory bodies and to sponsors). It's all
very "negative" (in a philosophical sense). It's a pity we
haven't come up with a better way to do things --- though
the Internet's netnews, mailing lists, and the personally
and "activist" run and maintained web sites continue to be a
"ray of hope."
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
In any event: That's about all there is to caching
and proxying for small sites over PPP and other
low-bandwidth links. Larger internetwork sites might
benefit from more elaborate ICP arrangments (peering
among departmental Squid servers and creating a whole
caching hierarchy).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Remember that this is not a magic bullet.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
It's possible that your usage patterns actually won't
benefit from caching or proxying. If everyone on your
network is always visiting <EM>different</EM> sites, and they only
visit sites that change frequently --- then the cache will
be a waste of your systems memory and disk space.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Best of luck!
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
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<A NAME="tag/18"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 18 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Installing on a Big Drive: More on the 1023 Cylinder Limit</H3>
<p><strong>From ariel lh on Fri, 12 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
Installing on a Big Drive: More on the 1023 Cylinder Limit
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Hi!, i have a 6.4Gb Western Digital HDD partitioned with EZ-Drive
(version 9.03w) into 4 partitions (3 of 1.95Gb and one 117Mb). The
first one has MS-Windows and the other 3 partitions are
empty. I've read lots of info about installing linux on large HDD,
because it has to be installed below the 1024 cylinders.... i must
tell you that i don't understand anything about this nor
partitions. How would i know is i can install linux in any of the
other partitions?
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Thanks
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Linux doesn't have to be installed below the 1023 cylinder
boundary. It doesn't have to be installed on the first
or second hard drive. Linux can be installed in many
different ways across all sorts of devices. (Indeed
its possible to install Linux on a remote hard drive
and to a boot over the network mounting the root filesystem
via NFS).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
There are two rules regarding a Linux installation:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><ol>
<li>The kernel must get loaded (by a supported
system into a sufficient block of memory)
<li>The kernel must be able to access a root filesystem
somewhere.
</ol></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The first requirement is generally thought to mean that
you must install Linux where a typical PC BIOS can "find"
it. Thus the commonly repeated "1024 cylinder" problem.
Old BIOS' couldn't access beyond the 1024th cylinder
(numbered 0 through 1023, naturally). This was a BIOS
limitation and it applies to all operating systems.
However, some of them (like NT and OS/2) get around that
by using a "protected mode" (32-bit) boot loader. This
generally requires that these systems create a small
1 or two Mb mini-partition. Linux doesn't require
this.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The most commonly used boot loader for Linux (LILO)
is a small real mode program. It therefore must work
with the BIOS to load a Linux kernel. Another common
loader is Syslinux. This installs a suitable boot loader
into an MS-DOS (FAT) formatted floppy. Yet another
option is <tt>LOADLIN.EXE</tt>, a DOS program for loading Linux
(from a common DOS batch file, or from the DOS <tt>CONFIG.SYS</tt>
--- via a <tt>SHELL=</tt> or <tt>INSTALL=</tt> directive).
<tt>LOADLIN.EXE</tt> is
currently included with a newer package called <tt>Linux_Load95</tt>
--- which is a Win '9x loader.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The easiest way to address the situation you've described
is to use <tt>LOADLIN.EXE</tt> --- let it load your kernel.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You can do your initial installation by booting off of
a CD (assuming you get one of the distributions that's
shipped on a bootable CD --- which would be approximately
all of them within the last couple of years). After the
installation is complete (most distributions don't offer
direct <tt>LOADLIN.EXE</tt> support) --- you'd copy your Linux
kernel to some directory under one of your DOS/Windows
filesystems. Then you boot into MS-DOS (Win '9x "Safe
Mode") and install <tt>LOADLIN</tt>.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Please search back issues of Linux Gazette for
more details on that.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 18 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/19"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 19 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Finding LOADLIN.EXE ... and Linux Loader for Win '9x</H3>
<p><strong>From Mstrmasn34 on Fri, 12 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
Finding LOADLIN.EXE ... and Linux Loader for Win '9x
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Hey Answer Guy! , alternatively,
Dear Mr. Answer Guy:
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I have recently installed RedHat Linux 5.2. I boot Win 98, to
which I am new. I am not comfortable with relying on a Linux boot
disk to get to Linux. I intend to emphase Linux in my computer
experience. Currently I rely on DOS/WIN for familiarity.
<tt>Loadlin.exe</tt> did not come with the McMillan version of 5.2 I
purchased.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Where can I reliably download the latest version of <tt>Loadlin.exe</tt>
(and related necessaries? Also, do I need LILO if I use Loadlin?
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
The package should be on those CDs somewhere. However,
you should also be able to find it in the the Linux
Loader for Win '95:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><DL><DT>
Linux_Load95
<DD><A HREF="http://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/utils/dos/linux_load95.lsm"
>http://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/utils/dos/linux_load95.lsm</A>
</DL></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... The LSM (Linux software map) file for this package
claims that it includes <tt>LOADLIN.EXE</tt> (version 1.6).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
That should work just fine.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 19 -->
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<A NAME="tag/21"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 21 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Partitioning Mini-HOWTO</H3>
<p><strong>From ariel lh on Fri, 12 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
Partitioning Mini-HOWTO
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Sorry for bothering you again but it seems that the "<tt>boot failed</tt>"
message was just a bad diskette. I accesed the setup main menu and it
asked me to configure the keyboard and i did, then i goes to: "partition
your HD", when i go to the partitioning menu i detects my HDD when i
press enter i get the message: "<tt>fatal error: bad logical partition</tt>".
What should i do?, in the installation howto it says the partitioning
option is for when my disk is not partitioned and it also says that if i
already created a linux native and one linux swap disk partition i can
skip the partitioning process.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
In case i don't have to run the partitioning menu, how do i configure my
existing partitions into linux native an linux swap partitions?
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
So, you're trying to install some distribution of Linux.
You don't mention which distribution so I'll guess it might
be <A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A>. You don't mention
what source you're trying to
install from so I'd guess CD-ROM. You don't specify which
platform so I'll guess it's some sort of PC.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Note: there are many distributions of Linux and many of them
can be installed from any of many sources (from CD, floppy,
MS-DOS hard drive partition, over FTP, NFS, or SMB/Samba --
from a copy stored on some Windows, OS/2 or other type of
server). When posting questions to mailing lists and
newsgroups you'll want to include a bit more detail.
Remember that your readers don't know anything about your
situation.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Now, to your problem. The setup/installation program you're
using is offering to launch a program to partition one of
your hard drives --- to reserve one or more regions of the
disk space for use by Linux and mark them as such.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The exact dialogs and menus offered by this installation
program depend completely on which distribution you're using.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Normally they will launch a program called '<tt>fdisk</tt>'. There
are many programs called '<tt>fdisk</tt>' --- including the
<tt>FDISK.COM</tt>
(or <tt>FDISK.EXE</tt>) from MS-DOS, and those from OS/2, NT, other
versions of Unix, and just about any other operating system
available for the platform). Under Linux there are several
versions of '<tt>fdisk</tt>' to choose from. Most distributions
include the old "shell mode" '<tt>fdisk</tt>' and some also give you
options to run a "friendlier" full-screen (curses based)
program called '<tt>cfdisk</tt>'.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Recent versions of Red Hat will offer to make many of
the partitioning decisions for you --- using a program
they call "Disk Druid." You supply it with the sizes and
types of filesystems and swap spaces you want and it makes
a corresponding set of partitions. It's a nice idea ---
but I never use it personally (I've been working with
micro-computers of one sort or another for almost 20 years).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Given that I don't know anything about your system I
really don't know what is giving this error message.
I presume that there is some gibberish in your partition
table (specifically it sounds like some bogus enty in
one of the extents --- the "logical" partitions inside
of one of the extended partition tables.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Let's give a tiny bit of background here:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote>
The first first addressable sector on a
PC hard drive is called the MBR. This is
512 bytes long and consists of two parts
--- a boot loader (a small program) and
the primary partition table.
</BlockQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The primary partition table is 66 bytes
long. This provides room for four partition
table entries of 16 bytes each, and a two
byte "signature" (magic number) that indicates
that this MBR/partition table has been
initialized.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
When any version of '<tt>fdisk</tt>' first reads
the MBR for a given drive it is supposed
to look for the "signature" (0xAA55 hex,
or is it 0x55AA, I never remember that).
If the last couple of bytes in the MBR don't
match the signature then fdisk is supposed to
assume that the drive has completely unitialized
--- so that it won't attempt to interpret whatever
random noise it finds therein (left there by the
manufacturer's testing and/or production processes)
as any sort of existing partition table.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Notice that there are only FOUR entries available
on this table. So, if we are to have more than
four filesystems/partitions on a drive we need
some way to represent them. Thus there is a
convention/standard that allows us to use ONE
of those entries to point to an "extended"
partition table. This essentially daisy chains
from the boot sector to another sector. In the
extended partition tables (there can be more
than one --- since you can have about a dozen
total) we have a whole sector, but only the last
66 bytes are used (the rest is normally "zero'd"
out).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Getting back to your error message. If you don't have
anything else installed on that hard drive you can ignore
the error message and use fdisk to create your new
partitions. If it won't "let you in" there could be other
problems. I'd just boot on a rescue floppy (there should
be one included on whatever CD you have, some where ---
or you can get Tom's RTBT from <A HREF="http://www.toms.net/rb"
>http://www.toms.net/rb</A>),
and "zero out" the MBR with a command like:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote><Code>
dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/zero count=1 bs=512
</Code></BlockQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... assuming that you're using your first IDE hard drive.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Note: DON'T DO THIS IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE ON THIS
DRIVE!
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
(You'll render any MS-DOS, Windows or other data on the
drive inaccessible!).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
If that still doesn't work, or if you have existing data
on the drive that you want to keep --- then we'll have to
work harder.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
First: if '<tt>fdisk</tt>' won't let you access the drive, even
after you've "zero'd out" the MBR then you probably have
some sort of unsupported drive/controller. It may be that
you have a very large HD and a version of the kernel and
'<tt>fdisk</tt>' that doesn't support the huge newer drives.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
There are some amazing convolutions that we've gone through
in the design of PC peripherals over the years. These
10Gb hard disks that you can pick up for a couple hundred
dollars are unimaginably expansive compared to the first
10Mb hard drive that I ever owned (about 12 years ago).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
In the early days MSDOS had a 32Mb limit on it's hard drive
filesystems. The BIOS under which MSDOS ran had a rather
odd set of limits relating to the largest hard drive that
was possible --- it addressed drives in CHS (cylinder, head,
sector) format. Early ST-506 (MFM and RLL) hard drives
typically had 17 to 23 sectors per track, maybe 5 or so
heads and a few hundred cylinders.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The BIOS packed the cylinder/track and sector addresses into
two bytes --- leaving 10 bits for the "cylinder" and only 6
bits for the sector. So you you could have up to 64 sectors
(zero through 63) and 1024 cylinders. They did provide
a full byte for the head. (This seems silly since a
hard drive with 256 heads --- 128 platters would be about as
tall as your desk, but I presume that it was "convenient"
for the programmer due to how these parameters would be
used with the controller.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Back then the CPU was involved in relatively low level
details of head positioning --- so we used to tune the
"interleave" on hard drives based on the relative speed of
our components, so that logically "adjacent" sectors were
actually physically separated, allowing the processing of
one sector to account for the constant rotation velocity of
the disk platter under the head --- meaning that the "next"
sector was usually under the head after the last one was
processed.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I'm going into these gory details for a point. Modern
equipment is far more sophisticated. A modern hard
drive has its own processor and cache. The micro controller
processes going on in a typical cheap IDE or any SCSI drive
that you'd use today take about the same computing power
as the first PC that I ever used. They also typically
<EM>have</EM> more memory than early PCs where capable of
addressing.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Despite all these differences the fundamental interfaces
and BIOS code (particularly the limitation on CHS
addressing) still apply today. To get around this
we've going through IDE, EIDE, and the newer Ultra-DMA
(or ATA, ATA-2, and ATA-3) interface specifications.
At each stage these drives use "tricks" to allow us
to access more data. Usually these "tricks" provide
some level of "backward compatability" --- but they
often require some software upgrades nonetheless.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Instead of CHS addressing we now normally use LBA (linear
block addressing). This basically takes the C, H, and S
values, multiples them together and calculates a new disk
block address based on the total. That's a "linear block
address." However a bit of arithmetic should reveal that
256 (max. heads) * 64 (max sectors per track) * 1024 (max
cylinders) * 512 (bytes per track) and then devided by about
a billion bytes per Gigabyte gives a limit of 8Gb. So we
see that LBA doesn't get us past about 8.4Gb (you'll get
inconsistent numbers based on whether a given manufacture
counts megabytes as 1000 kilobytes or 1024K, and whether
they count a gigabyte as 1000Mb or 1024Mb).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The point is that older versions of Linux (and DOS,
Windows, NT, and everything else) won't be able
to access the full extent of some drives. It's also
possible for your CMOS/BIOS settings to interfere with
the proper detection of your drive's capacity. So,
sometimes you have to use various sorts of "expert mode"
or sfdisk options to bypass these sorts of problems.
More likely you need to have a kernel which is updated for
your situation.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I must admit that I have yet to install any of these
HUGE disk drives. I just picked up a 10.x Gb IDE drive
for less than $200 (US) and plan to install it in my
wife's computer (freeing up a couple of 4Gb SCSI drives
for my web server and mail hosts). I haven't had to
do anything special on any of the other systems I've
worked with --- so I don't know what sort of problem
you're having.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You can try '<tt>cfdisk</tt>' or '<tt>sfdisk</tt>' (prepare a rescue floppy
and either copy one of these unto it or unto another
diskette). If any of these work --- you can <EM>THEN</EM> bypass
the portion of the setup/installation program where it
asks is you have already partitioned your disk.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Note that you must have at least one ext2 filesystem and one
"swap" partition for Red Hat --- and most other Linux
distributions. This is not a constraint of Linux --- it's
possible to install Linux on MSDOS/FAT, minix, xiafs or
other filesystems it you work at it. You can even install
Linux to boot across a network. However, these are exotic
options and most <EM>distributions</EM> don't have setup programs
that can cope with them.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Clearly you don't want to "fight" with your first
installation by trying to be exotic.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Thanks again
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
If none of this works then I suggest reading more of the
FAQs, Mini-HOWTOs etc. Also you can look for a local users
group and ask around.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Some (like both the Silicon Valley LUG, and the Bay Area LUG
(*) that I belong to) have regular "installfests" where you
can bring your system into some cafeteria or auditorium and
work with volunteers (like me) to get things installed and
configured. There are "swap meets" (public vendor shows)
which invite the CABAL (coalition of Bay Area Linux) user
groups to set up tables and hang out. (Yes, we do this for
free --- all we get is free admission to the show and the
occasional free CDs, T-shirts or whatnot from some vendors).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><dl>
<dt>Silicon Valley Linux Users Group
<dd><A HREF="http://www.svlug.org"
>http://www.svlug.org</A>
<dt>Bay Area Linux Users Group
<dd><A HREF="http://www.balug.org"
>http://www.balug.org</A>
</dl></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The <A HREF="http://www.freebsd.org/">FreeBSD</A> users also have these events (and join us
at some of the "swap meets" --- though they call them
"installoramas" or something like that).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
If you don't have any "installfests" or "installoramas" in
your area, you might still find some LUG member or local
Linux enthusiast to help. If all else fails you can hire a
consultant to come in, help you install this and show you
how things work. (That's the sort of consulting I
specialize in --- one-on-one tutorial work; usually in
person).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
It used to be possible to call a 900 number (run by
Yggdrasil, makers of the first CD Linux distribution). You
can look at <A HREF="http://www.yggdrasil.com"
>http://www.yggdrasil.com</A> for details.
(Yggdrasil is the "tree of life" in Norse mythology. I have
no idea how that relates to Finnish folklore or if it is
intended as a reference to Linus' ethnic background at all.
But it is a cool name --- particularly for fans fo the old
Marvel superhero "Thor"). I don't know if Adam Richter,
founder of Yggdrasil is still in the Linux superhero
business --- but someone, somewhere will probably be
providing "per incident" phone support eventually.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
(If I gathered a group of reliable and interested Linuxers
I'd consider doing it myself. I don't because I'd hate to
be "on call" all the time and I'd hate even more to have
paying customers get a recording saying "Jim is off on a
date with his wife, Heather ... call back later!").
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<hr width="40%">
<p><em>Funny he should mention this, since as of publication time
he has just joined a new startup, <strong>LinuxCare</strong>,
specializing in corporate support for Linux. More details
about this new company can be found at their home page,
<a href="http://www.linuxcare.com/">http://www.linuxcare.com</a>.
</em></p>
<!-- end 21 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/22"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 22 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(!) " border="0"
>True modems</H3>
<p><strong>From Mark F. Johnson on Fri, 15 Jan 1999
</strong></p>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Quick note:
Staples (a local office supply store) sells the Zoom 56k external (without
serial cable) for just under $90.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- end 22 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/23"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 23 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Low Memory Installation</H3>
<p><strong>From Martin Skj<6B>ldebrand on Sun, 17 Jan 1999
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
HI again,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Many thanks for you fast reply. And apologies if you got two messages
- I forgot to remove your e-mail adress in the second one.
</STRONG></P>
<!-- ::<BlockQuote>
Low Memory Installation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
</BlockQuote>:: -->
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000099"><EM>
Hi,
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000099"><EM>
I'm trying to install <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</A>
from floppies on my spare lap-top.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000099"><EM>
It's an old machine, an Compaq Contura 486/ 25 with 4 MB RAM and 80 MB
HDD.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000099"><EM>
The installation goes well (mostly - it complains that the swap space
cannot be initialized but it still is used, swapon during startup
later on goes well). But after rebooting I get various memory errors.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000099"><EM>
The latest being '<tt>bash fork: Cannot allocate memory</tt>'
when trying to do anything on the machine.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<blockquote><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG
SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
This sounds more like there is a disk error (bad block
or some such) that's somewhere in the area where you're
trying to create your swap partition.
</em></font></blockquote>
<blockquote><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
That would explain both the initialization failure (which
I presume is an error message from the installation
script's '<tt>mkswap</tt>' routine) and the bash errors.
</em></font></blockquote>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000099"><EM><IMG
SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
I've read and re-read the floppy install on low-memory systems. I've
expanded the swap space to about 20 MB (should be enough) but it still
complains about the memory problem.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<blockquote><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG
SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
If the error is near the beginning of the swap
file/partition --- then you'll keep getting it now matter
how much disk space you <EM>add</EM> to the partition.
</em></font></blockquote>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
Adding swap space sorted out a few error messages I got in the first
attempts. But you suggestion solves the problem of it not going away.
I partitioned the drive with the option of checking for bad blocks (I
think I did this the last time. I've rerun the install one time too
many. Is there a difference between this and <tt>mkswap -c</tt>?).
</STRONG></P>
<blockquote><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG
SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
Try invoking the mkswap command (which should be somewhere
in your startup files) with the <tt>-c</tt> option (to check for
bad blocks).
</em></font></blockquote>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
I'll boot off of a start disk and run it as root, then. I suppose you
meant that. (As I can't get in on the system to do <em>anything</em>
meaningful at all as the only reaction I get is the error message).
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
Any ideas? Is it possible to run Debian on a 4 MB RAM machine?
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<blockquote><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG
SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
I don't know. That's cutting it pretty thin. I
certainly wouldn't use '<tt>bash</tt>' on a 4Mb system --- '<tt>bash</tt>'
is hardly a lightweight shell. Try '<tt>ash</tt>' --- which is a
simpler and smaller shell that's designed for use on
rescue floppies, etc.
</em></font></blockquote>
<blockquote><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
You'll certainly want to compile a custom trimmed kernel
(on another system) for use in such a constrained
setting. I wouldn't think that the Contura's were so
old that you can't find additional memory for them.
Bumping that up to 8 or 16 Mb will make a huge
difference in what you can do with that laptop.
</em></font></blockquote>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
Yeah, I've had the thought myself - but Compaq memory usually is
extremely overpriced. Especially for older machines. At least IMHO.
</STRONG><P>
<P><STRONG>
Again, thanks for your suggestions and your fast reply. I'll look into
it.
</STRONG><P>
<P><STRONG>
Cheers,
</STRONG><P>
<P><STRONG>
Martin Skj<6B>ldebrand
<br>Sys admin, archaeologist, web designer
</STRONG><P>
<!-- end 23 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/24"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 24 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Drop-in Replacement for "WinGate"</H3>
<p><strong>From Paul A Pick on Mon, 22 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
Drop-in Replacement for "WinGate"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Hiya,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I have a win95/redhat5.2 dual boot system, which I use as a proxy
server for one win95 client machine (as my system has the net
connection).
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Under win95, I use wingate for my proxy software... so my client's
system is setup expecting things to be wingate-like on my
system. The problem comes with the recent addition of redhat5.2. I
want my linux box to be a transparent plug-in replacement for the
win95/wingate config but I haven't really found the proxy software
to do this.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
So... my question is: are you aware of proxy software for linux
which can behave like wingate? So far, I've seen squid (monstrous
overkill) for ftp/http and then I have to add 'portfwd' (?) to map
dns/pop and then there was another app for socks (req'd for
telnet). All of this makes me want to run wingate via wine (which
I will try soon, actually). [ Of course, I could just buy another
system to do ipmasq/ipchains...
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":-)"
height="24" width="20" align="middle"> ]
Anyway... have I missed an obvious solution?
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":-)"
height="24" width="20" align="middle"> Thanks, - Paul
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
I don't know what sort of proxying WinGate does. So
I can't address the issue of a transparent, drop-in
replacement for it.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Squid may be "monstrous overkill" for your situation.
However, it will probably provide the key features you
need and it doesn't take appreciably more memory, CPU,
or (non-cache) disk space than any other proxying system.
<A HREF="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</A> can also be
configured to act as a caching proxy web server.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You could get the SOCKS RPMs from any
<A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A> "contrib"
site/mirror. WinGate probably implements the SOCKS
protocols (which govern how client software traverses
a proxy; how it relays it's service requests through the
proxy). There are also a couple of other SOCKS
compatible proxy server packages for Linux including
DeleGate, and Dante (find them both on Freshmeat
at <A HREF="http://www.freshmeat.net"
>http://www.freshmeat.net</A>).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You don't have to add ipportfw or autofw (or tcprelay or
udprelay, or any of its cousins). These are all small
utilities that can listen on a given TCP/UDP port and
relay traffic to another system. They are more
useful to virtual host <EM>servers</EM> on a private net.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Consider the following scenario:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<blockquote><pre>
/^^^^^^^^^^^\ ______
| Internet | ---| fw |------ (Internet LAN)
\___________/ ~~+~~~ 192.168.1.*
|
+--- (servers)
192.168.2.*
</pre></blockquote>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
In this simple diagram we show a gateway/router/firewall
(running Linux). It has three interfaces. One leads to the
Internet. Let's think of that as ppp0 though it doesn't
matter what sort of IP interface we use. Another leads to
our internal LAN (let's call it eth0) and the other leads
to a small segment with one or more <EM>different types</EM> of
servers.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
We use <tt>192.168.1.*</tt> addresses (one of the RFC1918 "reserved
net" address blocks) on the internal LAN. We use another
RFC1918 on the other (we can use any of the <tt>192.168.x.*</tt>
addresses and we can subnet them in whatever fashion we like).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
But wait! We can't run an Internet server on an RFC1918
address! No router on the Internet will have valid routes
to any of those addresses. True enough.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
However, we do have <EM>one</EM> valid, real Internet address
(direct routable IP address or DRIP). We might not want
to run a web server, DNS server, mail relay or other service
on our router (due to security, administrative, or capacity
considerations). So we put ipportfw to relay connections
to our router's web, DNS, or SMTP ports to one or more
machines on the bastion segment. This makes '<tt>fw</tt>' (our
firewall/router) "appear" to be a multi-service host
--- though it is only running a simple set of
port forwarders. (Actually you really wouldn't <EM>need</EM> to
have a third segment --- you could port forward or relay
into hosts on your internal LAN. However, I wouldn't
recommend that --- since any attacker that subverts one
of those servers through the relayed connection can then
attack <EM>all</EM> of your other systems --- rather than
being isolated to one segment).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Note: I've never actually done this. However, that's what
the IP, TCP, and UDP port forwarding utilities seem to be
for.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
However, this doesn't seem to meet your needs. You want
to support the clients on your LAN in their access to
public services out on the net. You don't seem to have
any need to provide services ("virtual" or "relayed" or
whatever) to the 'net.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
So, you can use proxying. You can run a caching web
server proxy (like Squid and/or Apache or even the old
CERN web server). You can also run a caching name server
on your gateway system. This is handy since your
gateway (<tt>fw</tt>) has routes to your internal LAN and to the
net. So it can reply to DNS request by your internal
clients and make them of the outside world.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You can also use IP masquerading (using the ipfwadm command
for your 2.0.x kernels and the newer, snazzier, ipchains
command for 2.2). This is basically an alternative to
proxying. You can think if IP masquerading (a particular
form of "Network Address Translation" or NAT) as a
"transparent, transport layer proxying" method. If you
have a proxy server in place, and all of your client
software supports the proxy (through the SOCKS protocol)
then you don't need NAT/IP masquerading.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
It's possible to use them together (so your SOCKSified
clients talk to the proxying servers on your system, and
anything else still goes through the NAT system. It's
possible to do this with just one router --- and it's
even useful for some cases. For example, using some
services is difficult and someone unreliable through a
masquerading router.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Protocols like FTP pass IP addresses <EM>in band</EM> (as part of
the data/payload of the control connection --- to be used to
establish a series of data connection from the server back
to the client). This is trivial for programs to support at
an applications layer and very difficult to do at the
transport layer (from "under the hood"). It's like
cartography --- making a map by walking around in the forest
takes a lot of work --- doing it from a higher level is much
handier.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
So, try one of the SOCKS compatible server packages.
If that gives you any trouble try a command like:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
ipfwadm -F -a acc -m -S 192.168.0.0/16
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
... one your fw system. This will add (<tt>-a</tt>) a rule
to the forwarding (<tt>-F</tt>) table in the kernel to accept
(acc) for masquerading (<tt>-m</tt>) any packages with a source
address (<tt>-S</tt>) from any of the <tt>192.168.x.*</tt> ranges (to
anywhere).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The reason we don't have to be explicit about destinations
and interfaces is because the determination of which packets
are presented to the which packet filtering tables is done
by the kernel's routing table. Teh filtering tables decide
which ones to drop, accept, reject and "re-write"
(masquerade). So that's all given.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
If we add the following two rules:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BlockQuote><code>
ipfwadm -F -a acc -m -S 172.16.0.0/12
<br>ipfwadm -F -a acc -m -S 10.0.0.0/8
</code></BlockQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
we've configured our system to gleefully masquerade IP
packets from ANY RFC1918 address --- so you can use any
of them for any of your intenal LANs, segments, etc.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I personally doubt that WinGate will work properly
under <A HREF="http://www.winehq.com/">WINE</A> ---
and it seems very unlikely that it would
give decent performance or stability.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 24 -->
<hr width="40%">
<!-- begin 27 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Drop-in Replacement for "WinGate"</H3>
<p><strong>From Paul A Pick on Tue, 23 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
Drop-in Replacement for "WinGate"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000099"><EM>
<BR>&gt;[M]y question is: are you aware of proxy software for linux
<BR>&gt;which can behave like wingate?
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
There are also a couple of other SOCKS
compatible proxy server packages for Linux including
DeleGate, and Dante (find them both on Freshmeat
at <A HREF="http://www.freshmeat.net"
>http://www.freshmeat.net</A>).
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
There ya go. I had never heard of freshmeat... (sorry guys)
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I just downloaded delegate and it looks to be <em>exactly</em> what I
was looking for... it seems to be available only as source
(for linux) but compiled no problem at all. I'll try configuring
it in the next coupla days.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Interestingly, delegate (according to the documentation, at least)
runs under windows as well. This means that I could chuck wingate
(if I wanted to) and have a very consistent interface to my client.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
[ illustration of ipportfw snipped ]
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
Note: I've never actually done this. However, that's what
the IP, TCP, and UDP port forwarding utilities seem to be
for.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Yes, but I was trying to twist them to my own ends anyway.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
You can also use IP masquerading (using the ipfwadm command
for your 2.0.x kernels and the newer, snazzier, ipchains
command for 2.2).
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Alas, my win95 interface and my linux interface must be consistent.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I don't want to think about the client system's net access should I
decide to play half-life, for instance.
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
In both cases the clients can point to your server/gateway
as their default route. It just shouldn't be a problem.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG
SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0" >
I personally doubt that WinGate will work properly
under <A HREF="http://www.winehq.com/">WINE</A>
--- and it seems very unlikely that it would
give decent performance or stability.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I gave it a shot and it didn't fire up at all. It encountered a
fatal error in 'kernel32' or some such. I wasn't too interested
in performance (my load average is generally 0.00) but stability
would be an issue. A 'moot' issue, as it turns out.
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Presumably WinGate is Win32s (or such). WINE only
has very limited and preliminary support for Win32s.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I expect that the moment that WINE has reverse
engineered reasonable support for the Win32s APIs
we'll see a new Win32X out of Redmond and a suite
of compilers that generate the new code by default
--- to minimize the compatibility and interoperation.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Thanks for the info. Would you like to know how the delegate
configurations go?
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Sure. You could submit an article or review to
the Linux Gazette.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 27 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/26"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 26 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Jim Dennis: Re: Gimp on RH5.1</H3>
<p><strong>From Rene Travera on Mon, 22 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
Hello,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I have a problem trying to run The Gimp on RH5.1, I get the
next messages:
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><code>
gimp: error in loading shared libraries
<br>: undefined symbol: __register_frame_info
</code></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Can anybody tell me how to solve this?
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Thanks a lot.
Rene Tavera
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
It sounds like you don't have the proper library
installed (or that your <tt>ld.so.cache</tt> hasn't been updated
to find it).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Try running the '<tt>ldconfig</tt>' command (just '<tt>ldconfig</tt>'
and <tt>[Enter]</tt> --- no arguments). If that doesn't help then
my guess would be that you need to install the Gtk libraries.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Did you install this with an RPM, from a tarball, or
from sources? Did you just try to copy the GIMP
binary from another system?
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 26 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/28"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 28 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>How 'ntpdate' finds IP addresses?</H3>
<p><strong>From Pete O'Donnell on Tue, 23 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
How 'ntpdate' finds IP addresses?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
In an article on setting system clocks to atomic clock time, you referred to
the following line:
</STRONG></P>
<PRE><STRONG><code>
/usr/sbin/ntpdate -s ntp.ucsd.edu ns.scruz.net ntp1.cs.wisc.edu
</code></STRONG></PRE>
<P><STRONG>
Do these 3 servers have entries in the <TT>/etc/ntp.conf</TT> file or
is there some sort of host file set up on your machine? How does the
<tt>xntpd</tt> daemon find the corresponding IPs. Let me know.
Thanks answer guy.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
-Pete O'Donnell
<br>LiveNetworking
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
The <TT>/etc/ntp.conf</TT> file is used by xntpd --- not be
by the ntpdate command. The '<tt>ntpdate</tt>' command finds
IP addresses that correspond to these host names in
the same way that any other Unix utility or application
does. Almost all Unix utilities that do any sort of
network operation are linked against a set of "resolver"
libraries. The "resolver" libraries differ a bit
among systems --- but most of them look in the <TT>/etc/hosts</TT>
file, for a hostname match (grabbing an IP address from
there if they find one) and then read the <TT>/etc/resolv.conf</TT>
file for a list of nameservers (DNS). In other cases
your resolver libraries might make requests (RPCs?) of
one or more NIS (YP) servers in your NIS domain, and
newer configurations --- using glibc's modular NSS (name
services switching) as controlled by <TT>/etc/nsswitch.conf</TT>
might query LDAP, NDS (Novell) or other backend
directory/name services systems for their mapping.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
(Under libc5 there was a <TT>/etc/hosts.conf</TT> that gave more
limited and less extensible control over which name services
were/are queried and in which order).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Read the man pages for those files (<TT>/etc/hosts</TT>,
<TT>/etc/nsswitch.conf</TT>, <TT>/etc/hosts.conf</TT> and
<TT>/etc/resolv.conf</TT>) for some details. You can also look at
<A HREF="http://www.openldap.org"
>http://www.openldap.org</A> for some cool info about future
use/deployment of LDAP.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 28 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/29"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 29 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Sportys</H3>
<p><strong>From CC on Tue, 16 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
Hi
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
My 4 year old 28.8 sporty has performed perfectly, it
was a little cheaper but I don't know why you "diss" em.
Still keeps up with the so called 56.6s, I dunno' I scored man.
<br>CC
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
The Sportster is simply not rated for the duty
cycles that would be imposed by use on a BBS or
ISP terminal server. I've managed a couple of
large BBS systems over the years (the 100 line
Symantec BBS a few years ago, and the 40 line
McAfee BBS --- expanded to about 60 by the time
I left).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Sportsters are a consumer/commodity product.
They're suitable for a few hours use per day
--- but they get unreliable when receiving calls
and staying "live" for weeks on end (which is
what happens at busy BBS' and ISPs).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Another problem I personally have with them is the
physical shape. They are not "stackable" and
the case design doesn't lend itself to good cooling.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I've found (for high density applications) that
placing the couriers on their sides (not stacked
"up" but arrayed like books) and placing some additional
fans on the racks helps keep them cool and makes them
MUCH more reliable.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I like "baker's" wire racks for these installations, about
as sturdy as 19" racks and <EM>much</EM> cheaper --- they just
don't look as "cool". One nice thing about baker's racks;
you can pack them in pretty close to the walls and to
one another (side to side) --- and (since they are on
large locking wheels) still maintain fairly easy access to
the back panels (to get at the wiring nest).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I realize these factors exhibit a "big installation"
(glass house) bias. For my own home modems I have a
couple of 28.8 Practical Peripherals (the "flat pack"
model, not the hideous "brick") and a Zyxel. I just
bought the Zyxel for some time when I get around to
playing with vgetty's DTMF and voice modem support
features (eventually).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I don't remember the context in which I "dis'd" the
Sportsters --- but I'm not surprised I did. I've
never been impressed with them. It's a personal
bias. BBS Sysops often are extremely biased about their
modems; I'm only moderately so.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 29 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/30"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 30 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>soundcards</H3>
<p><strong>From Oxy Amigo on Mon, 15 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
I have a Mediavision PAS16, a ALS100+ and a SoundBlaster Live!, can i
put, at the same time the tree on Linux <A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A> 5.2? I just want 6
analog audio inputs.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Thanks.
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
I doubt that it's possible. Many sound cards take up
two IRQs and one or two DMA channels. You probably
don't have six available IRQs and 3 to six available
DMA channels.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
If you can configure all of the hardware to co-exist
(setting all of the various I/O port, IRQ, DMA channel
addresses uniquely for all of them) then you can probably
get Linux to concurrently access them. (You might have
to do some kernel patches or play some games with obscure
kernel boot parameters, module command line options,
and module load order and/or driver autoprobing order.
I don't know --- I'm not a C programmer).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
If you looked around a bit you might find a professional
sound mixing subsystem that you can interface to your
PC to give you six or more high fidelity audio inputs.
I'm not an audiophile, nor a sound engineer either.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
One of the guys at SVLUG has set up a portable MBone
multimedia broadcast system which seems to be capable
of three video/audio feeds (I'm not sure if that's
switched or concurrent, though I'm now curious enough
to ask).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Have you tried to do this? What sorts of problems
did you bump into? What is it that you're actually
trying to do? (What intended application leads to your
your requirements)?
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 30 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/31"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 31 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Linux as a Loghost (Syslog Server)</H3>
<p><strong>From Ravi Shah on Thu, 25 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
Linux as a Loghost (Syslog Server)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG>
Thanks a lot. It works. Do you have any book you are writing
specifally for Linux and does include most of the questions that
you have been answering for quite a while ? I would be very much
interested in your book if you have one out or writing one.
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
As a matter of fact I am writing a book for Linux
system administrators. My co-author is taking over
quite a bit of the load (smoothing out the sectional
organization and the transitions between core content
elements).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I hope to have it done RSN (&quot;real soon now&quot;(TM)).
(It should be &quot;Linux Systems Administration&quot; from
Macmillan Computer Publishing).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I'm glad that helped. Incidentally, if you try to
use the -m option on some of your Linux clients ---
to force them to periodically generate "heartbeat"
or "timestamp" messages, you should be aware that this
feature was broken until fairly recently. (It used to
work, years ago, then stopped working in later releases
and the author/maintainer assured me that it should be
working if you get the latest copy --- I don't have the
details handy --- but it shouldn't be too hard to dig up).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Thanks again for your great help. Ravi
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
[In response to]:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000099"><EM><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
<BR>&gt;Dear Answerguy :
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000099"><EM><BlockQuote>
<BR>&gt;This has been one of the best support for Linux is out there that
<BR>&gt;I know of by searching for my question about syslog. This is one
<BR>&gt;of the better site I have seen in a long time.
</BlockQuote></EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
I hope to provide even better support through
my new employer: LinuxCare (commercial Linux support).
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
However, I'll be continuing to volunteer time through
LG as well.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000099"><EM>
<BR>&gt;Here is my quesion and your help will be greatly appreciated !!
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000099"><EM>
<BR>&gt;I am running Redhat 5.0 distribution of Linux on Dell Pentium 166,
<BR>&gt;and it works fine with dual boot of NT.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000099"><EM>
<BR>&gt;I would like to use this machine to be a syslog server for Cisco
<BR>&gt;routers since we are major ISP. I have setup local7 facility to
<BR>&gt;logged the debug messages, but Linux is not logging any debug
<BR>&gt;messages from Cisco router. I have issued service timestamp
<BR>&gt;commands from cisco router, and it does not work !! Similar
<BR>&gt;setting works fine in Solaris, but not in Linux !! Help.. Thanks.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<Pre><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
NAME
sysklogd - Linux system logging utilities.
SYNOPSIS
syslogd [ -d ] [ -f config file ] [ -h ] [ -l hostlist ]
[ -m interval ] [ -n ] [ -p socket ] [ -r ]
[ -s domainlist ] [ -v ]
-r This option will enable the facility to receive
message from the network using an internet domain
socket with the syslog service (see services(5)).
The default is to not receive any messages from the
network.
This option is introduced in version 1.3 of the
</EM></FONT></STRONG></Pre>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
Basically the older version of the syslog daemon
would accept syslog messages by default --- from any
machine that could get the right packets routed to
them.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
However there was a buffer overflow (bug) a few years
ago which brought attention to the fact that very few
systems need to act as remote loghosts (and that there
is no sense in leaving the rest vulnerable to remote
attacks through this service.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
So the default was changed and now (which any recent version
of syslogd (klogd) you have to add this parameter to your
start script (or inittab entry) to force it to allow
reception and logging from other systems.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
I still recommend that you put the log host behind a
set of packet filters (Cisco IOS "access control lists")
to ensure that spurious and hostile log messages can't
reach your loghost.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 31 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<A NAME="tag/32"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 32 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>Telnetd and pausing</H3>
<p><strong>From Clive Flint on Thu, 25 Feb 1999
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
Hi,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I have made a Linux server using a Tulip dt5/100 machine with 40Mb
Memory, a 16Mb swap file and a 1Gb hard disk.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I have a problem that when I try to telnet into the machine it
doesn't respond for about 30-40 seconds. Once it has responded
then it will talk quite normally.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
If I then start another telnet session on my pc it again pauses
for the 30-40 seconds. Is there any reason and is there anything
that can be done.
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
This is a classic problem. TCP Wrappers (<TT>/sbin/tcpd</TT>)
is attempting to check the consistency of your name
and IP address using its "double reverse DNS lookup."
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I've described this before but the short form is:
tcpd does a reverse lookup to associate a name with
your IP address. It then does a forward lookup on
that purported name and scans the responses for your
IP address. A properly maintained domain will have
consistent forward and reverse mappings.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The reason Wietse Venema (author of TCP Wrappers) does
this is to allow you to use host and domain names in
your <TT>/etc/hosts.allow</TT> and <TT>/etc/hosts.deny</TT> files while
reducing the risks inherent in that.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Consider the case of someone who controls any reverse DNS
domain (that is anyone who "owns" or has subverted any
nameserver to which a range of IP address <TT>PTR</TT> records as
been delegated). It is trivial for them to return <EM>any</EM>
name they like in response to reverse DNS requests.
However, it would be non-trivial for an outsider to
modify your forward DNS zones (and, if they could they could
use "man-in-the-middle" attacks against most common
prototols to disrupt your system in many creative ways).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
So, tcpd uses a "double reverse" method.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The easy solution for real IP addresses which have been
properly delegated to you by your ISP or through the IANA
(or your national address registry) is to simply update
your reverse zone maps to match the forward ones.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The reason this only affect the initial connections,
and that it only affects a limited set of services is
because tcpd is only active for those services which are
listed in the <TT>/etc/inetd.conf</TT> as being launched by <tt>tcpd</tt>
with lines like:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<blockquote><pre>ftp stream tcp nowait root /usr/sbin/tcpd in.ftpd
</pre></blockquote>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
(You'd see similar affects from programs that are
linked with "<tt>libwrap</tt>" --- a compiler library which
implements the same set of host access checks as
TCP Wrappers).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The reason your web services aren't affected is because
they aren't launched through <tt>inetd</tt> and they aren't
compiled with <tt>libwrap</tt>. (And they don't do these
double reverse lookups).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<Pre><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>ip numbers
192.9.200.1 clive.clara.net (linux server)
192.9.200.100 cef1 (winnt machine)
192.9.200.101 clivemob (win98 machine)
</STRONG></Pre>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
I believe you should be using RFC1918 addresses
for these systems since the real address for
<tt>clive.net</tt> seem to cluster in the <tt>195.8.69.*</tt> range
and a reverse lookup of <tt>192.9.200.0</tt> suggests that
those are not assigned at this time.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I'm assuming that you've just "picked these out of a
hat" --- that they haven't been delegated to you. This
also suggests that you're using masquerading or a
set of applications proxies (such as SOCKS, DeleGate,
Danta, etc) to access the 'net.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
You could configure your nameserver for "split" DNS
or you could configure an internal nameserver (used
by all your internal systems). Another technique is
to simply put the appropriate entries in your <TT>/etc/hosts</TT>
file. This will bypass DNS (and reverse DNS) queries
for most services. The '<TT>gethostbyaddr()</TT>' library
function will find the IP address and name in the
<TT>/etc/hosts</TT> file first (under most common configurations).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
(That might fail if you've changed your <TT>/etc/hosts.conf</TT>
(libc5) or <TT>/etc/nsswitch.conf</TT> (glibc). However, it's
incredibly unlikely that you've touched either of
those files).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
The server is running dhcp service and that works fine. If I web
to it it responds immediately with no delay.
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Like I said --- this only affects TCP wrapped services
(and others that would do similar consistency checks.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Any help would be gratefully received.
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Try adding the appropriate IP addresses to the <TT>/etc/hosts</TT>
files on the involved servers.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- sig -->
<!-- end 32 -->
<H4>"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- QUICK TIPS SECTION ================================================== -->
<center>
<H1><A NAME="tips"><IMG ALIGN=MIDDLE ALT="" SRC="../gx/twocent.gif">
More 2&#162; Tips!</A></H1> <BR>
Send Linux Tips and Tricks to <A HREF="mailto:gazette@ssc.com">
gazette@ssc.com
</A></center>
<p><hr><p>
<H3>New Tips:</H3>
<ul>
<li><a HREF="./lg_tips38.html#veldwijk">
Multiple booting.
</a>
<li><a HREF="./lg_tips38.html#kahn">
Spell checking an single word
</a>
<li><a HREF="./lg_tips38.html#narendra">
Keyboard Macros in Emacs
</a>
</ul>
<H3>Answers to Previous Questions:</H3>
<ul>
<li><a HREF="./lg_tips38.html#fonteyne">
Re: A question please: two modems
</a>
<li><a HREF="./lg_tips38.html#zoltan">
Re: Boot SCSI with IDE Disk Too
</a>
<li><a HREF="./lg_tips38.html#avelon">
Supra SupraSonic Int Modem with Linux
</a>
<li><a HREF="./lg_tips38.html#poplawski">
Supra SupraSonic Int Modem with Linux
</a>
<li><a HREF="./lg_tips38.html#brower">
From .02 Tips issue 36: SupraExpress Modem
</a>
<li><a HREF="./lg_tips38.html#winkler">
MIDI question
</a>
</ul>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!--================================================================-->
<a name="veldwijk"></a>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<font color="navy">
Multiple booting.
</font> </H3>
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 07:04:20 -0500<BR>
From: "Richard E. Veldwijk", <A HREF="mailto:veldwijk@UU.NET">
veldwijk@UU.NET</A> <BR>
<P>
As I've got kids and kids tend to play games, I have to have Micro$oft
products on my machine. As I use OS/2 and Linux myself, here's a nice
tip: Install OS/2's boot manager. If you have OS/2 installation
floppies, you can run an OS/2 FDISK and install the boot manager, even
without installing OS/2 itself.
<P>
On my machine, I have two primary C-partitions. The 1st is DOS 6.2, the
2nd is WIN98. I created these with Partition Magic and the OS/2 boot
manager will take care of hiding and unhiding of these partitions.
The 3rd option is Linux, where LILO is loaded from the Linux partition,
instead of the MBR, so it doesn't interfere with M$ crap. Last option
is, needless to say, OS/2 itself. This works really good!
One drawback: Only the last booted C-partition is visible. If you need
to access the other, you'll have to hide one and unhide the other.
<P>
--<BR>
Richard E. Veldwijk
<P> <hr> <P>
<!--================================================================-->
<a name="kahn"></a>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<font color="navy">
Spell checking an single word
</font> </H3>
Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1999 01:01:43 -0500 (EST)<BR>
From: "Ben 'The Con Man' Kahn", <A HREF="mailto:xkahn@cybersites.com">
xkahn@cybersites.com</A>
<P>
Many times I want to spell check a single word while I'm using an
application which doesn't support ispell. I created a small tcsh alias
which can check a single word from the command line. Here is the alias:
<PRE>
alias spell 'set j=`mktemp /tmp/spell.XXXXXX`; rm -f ${j}*; echo \!:1 >
${j}; ispell ${j}; cat ${j}; rm -f ${j}*; unset j'
</pre>
Please note that the inner quotes are back quotes. This makes the
command run and assigns the output to a variable. I have no idea how to
do this in bash. :^/
<P>
--<BR>
Benjamin Kahn
<P> <hr> <P>
<!--================================================================-->
<a name="narendra"></a>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<font color="navy">
Keyboard Macros in Emacs
</font> </H3>
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 19:09:16 +0500<BR>
From: Vishwas Narendra, <A HREF="mailto:vishen@md2.vsnl.net.in">
vishen@md2.vsnl.net.in</A>
<P>
This is my $0.02 tip on how to use Emacs for programming with a bit
of lesser work for your fingers. Emacs has something known as
keyboard
macros. To create a keyboard macro type `C-x (' when you're editing
any
file(let's say a C source file). Now when the minibuffer says `Defining
kbd macro' type in whatever you want to automate. Take for example you
want to automate the line :
<P><TT>int main(int argc, char
**argv)</TT>
<BR><TT>{</TT>
<BR>&nbsp;
<BR>Once you've finished typing this type `C-x )', emacs should say
`Keyboard
macro defined'. Now you must name your macro, so that you can call it
later.
Just type `M-x name-last-kbd-macro'. It then prompts for the name. In
our
example, let's call this as `main-type' or something like that. Now
open
your .emacs file. When the .emacs file is open, come to the end of the
file and type `M-x insert-kbd-macro'. When it asks for the name of the
macro to insert type in the macro name you had given last time. And
emacs
automatically inserts the Lisp code for your macro.
<P>Now in order to call the macro you must use `M-x &lt;macro-name>'.
But
this doesn't do much good because the whole idea of macros is to
decrease
your typing and this makes it worse. This problem is overcome by
using
keyboard mapping. The next step is to map the macro to one of the
function
keys.
<P>Depending on whether you need the macro in all modes or not you can
use the functions global-set-key or define-key.
<P>1. Here is an example for the global-set-key which you can add to the
end
of the .emacs file:
<P><TT>(global-set-key "\C-cm" 'main-type)</TT>
<P>Now the next time you reload emacs, when you type C-c m the whole
code (not really, just this one line) gets typed for you. Please note
here that it is a bad idea to use keys that have already been
mapped. The most preferable combination is Control C + &lt;yourkey>.
<P>2. If you want the keys to be mapped only in the cc-mode, then place the
following code in your c-mode-common-hook:
<P><TT>(define-key c-mode-base-map "\C-cm" 'main-type)</TT>
<P>The only problem with the first method is that since you have
only
limited keys on the keyboard, they get used up very quickly. Moreover,
when you're editing something like a html file, you wouldn't
wan't emacs to spew out characters like `int main' etc.
<BR>&nbsp;
<P><B>PS to gurus</B>: Please note that I myself am a beginner in
emacs.
I've used it for only six months now. If there is any mistake in what
I've
written, please don't hesitate to write to me.
<P>
--<BR>
Vishwas
<P> <hr> <P>
<!--================================================================-->
<H4><font color="maroon">
Tips in the following section are answers to questions printed in the Mail
Bag column of previous issues.
</font></H4>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!--================================================================-->
<a name="fonteyne"></a>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
ANSWER: <font color="navy">
Re: A question please: two modems
</font> </H3>
Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 17:56:21 +0100<BR>
From: Christophe Fonteyne, <A HREF="mailto:christophe.fonteyne@lu.gmeds.com">
christophe.fonteyne@lu.gmeds.com</A>
<P>
It is impossible to connect two modems over a telephone line at a speed
of 56 Kbps.
The reason for that is that the maximum traffic over a telephone line is
64 Kbps.
In order to obtain that speed, both parties need to have a didgital
connection. When you dial up to your provider at 56 Kbps, you're not
dialling to an analogue modem, like you have yourself, but insteed,
you're dialling an ISDN modem...ie digital.
Therefore you cannot have the full 64 Kbps, but only 56 Kbps (loosing 8
KBPS).
Now if you set up a connection between 2 anaolgue modems, you will loose
twice the 8 Kbps, leaving you with a maximum transfer rate of 48 Kbps.
This is only when the lines are in optimal condition, which is rarely
the case. Also, make sure the transfer rate of your serial ports is set
high enough (eg stty 57600 ).
<P>
--<BR>
Christophe
<P> <hr> <P>
<!--================================================================-->
<a name="zoltan"></a>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
ANSWER: <font color="navy">
Re: Boot SCSI with IDE Disk Too
</font> </H3>
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 21:54:40 +0100<BR>
From: "B&ouml;sz&ouml;rm&eacute;nyi Zolt&aacute;n", <A HREF="mailto:zboszor@mol.hu">zboszor@mol.hu</A>
<P>
A local ISP tried to install LILO in a machine that has both
IDE (three disks) and SCSI, and for him the only variation
that worked was when there was no primary master IDE disk,
one of the IDE disks was the slave on the primary controller.
<P>
The BIOS of course allowed to boot from SCSI but LILO
complained all the time that /dev/sda in not the first disk
until the above setting.
<P>
After installing LILO the primary slave could be jumpered
as master but not recommended.
<P>
--<BR>
Zoltan Boszormenyi
<P> <hr> <P>
<!--================================================================-->
<a name="avelon"></a>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
ANSWER: <font color="navy">
Question in lg-37
</font> </H3>
Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1999 10:52:04 +0100<BR>
From: Ian Carr-de Avelon, <A HREF="mailto:ian@emit.pl">
ian@emit.pl></A>
<P>
A reaction to:
<blockquote> <font color="navy">
I have two 3com modems v90's one is internal "3com v90 voice" and the
other is External 3com v90 .... I am using each one with a Linux
System and have them connected to each others by a telephone line ....
my problem is that I don't get the 56 speed that v90 should have. I
get 33 or some thing like that... is there a way to tune up the modems
in Linux operating systems? Thanks a lot.
</font></blockquote>
Unfortunately this is nothing to do with Linux, so normal folks can't meddle
with it, as they could if it were something in Linux. The "56K" speed is
possible only in one direction, and relies on there being a digital connection
to the phone system at the faster sending end. To get 56K in one direction
you will need to change one end to ISDN and purchase suitable equipment
for that end Eg. USR Courier-I. Depending on the cost of ISDN where you
are, you may be better looking at ISDN at both ends as equipment for
straight digital ISDN is much cheaper.
<P>
--<BR>
Ian
<P> <hr> <P>
<!--================================================================-->
<a name="poplawski"></a>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
ANSWER: <font color="navy">
Supra SupraSonic Int Modem with Linux
</font> </H3>
Date: Mon, 08 Feb 1999 09:58:51 PST<BR>
From: "tom poplawski", <A HREF="mailto:tom_poplawski@hotmail.com">
tom_poplawski@hotmail.com</A>
<P>
I have seen the Red Hat page and this about Supra Modems and Linux. I am
writing this from my Linux box connected to the Internet with my diamond
SupraSonic II modem. I am using Red Hat 5.2 and made no changes at all
to get this modem working. I haven't tried using both modems at once -
yet! At first glance it appears Linux has recognized the other modem as
well. I haven't been able to tell why Red Hat says it won't work but it
may need some configuration as a Plug and Play board that Linux can't
provide. I did use it first in another plug and play operating system
before Linux.
<P>
--<BR>
Tom
<P> <hr> <P>
<!--================================================================-->
<a name="brower"></a>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
ANSWER: <font color="navy">
From .02 Tips issue 36: SupraExpress Modem
</font> </H3>
Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 09:48:10 -0500<BR>
From: "Brower, William", <A HREF="mailto:wbrower@indiana.edu">
wbrower@indiana.edu </A>
<P>
Richard wrote:
<blockquote> <font color="navy">
I have a PII (350MHz) running with an AGP ATI 3DRage graphics card
(which works fine) and a Sound Blaster 16 PnP (which
also works fine). But, I can't get my internal SupraExpress 56k
modem to work.
</font></blockquote>
Your modem sounded familiar from a past search I had done, so I went to
Red Hat's www site (http://www.redhat.com/) and followed the
support | hardware link. You will find this reference in the modem
category:
<P>
Modems that require software drivers for compression, error correction,
high-speed operation, etc.
PCI Memory Mapped Modems (these do not act like serial ports)
Internal SupraExpress 56k & also the Internal SupraSonic 56k
<P>
It appears that your modem is inherently not compatible with Linux. I
use an inexpensive clone modem called the E-Tech Bullet, pc336rvp
model - paid $28 for it and it operates with no problems at all. Good
luck in finding a compatible modem!
<P>
--<BR>
Bill
<P> <hr> <P>
<!--================================================================-->
<a name="winkler"></a>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
ANSWER: <font color="navy">
MIDI question
</font> </H3>
Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 18:47:56 -0500<BR>
From: Paul Winkler, <A HREF="mailto:zarmzarm@erols.com">
zarmzarm@erols.com</A>
<P>
Subject: Idea for an article
<blockquote> <font color="navy">
How about a primer on how to set up one's sound card to do true MIDI?
</font></blockquote>
<P>
Good idea, big topic.
<blockquote> <font color="navy">
I have an Ensoniq AudioPCI card and have been successful in getting it
to play WAV files via the audio
out port and also simulated MIDI using TIMIDITY.
</font></blockquote>
That is all the card is capable of. The AudioPCI _does_not_have_ a
hardware midi synth of any kind!
<blockquote> <font color="navy">
But I can't figure out how to get TRUE MIDI rendering like I get with
the same card in Windows 95.
</font></blockquote>
You've been fooled, I'm afraid. Under Win95, the AudioPCI uses a
software synth (which is what TiMidity is!). Check your system
resources while playing MIDI... CPU usage should go up.
<P>
If you really want / need a card that really has built-in wavetable
synthesis, make sure you get one that stores the samples in ROM, not
RAM. If the samples go in RAM, you need software to load them at boot
time. This software is provided by the manufacturer and guess what... it
won't run on Linux.
<P>
I have a Turtle Beach Malibu which has a 2MB ROM sample set which sounds
OK. The other snag is I've hardly found any Linux apps which work with
it! (Jazz++ sequencer works.).
<P>
--<BR>
Paul
<P> <hr> <P>
<!--================================================================-->
<center>Published in <I>Linux Gazette</I> Issue 38, March 1999</center>
<P> <hr> <P>
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<h5>This page maintained by the Editor of <I>Linux Gazette</I>,
<A HREF="mailto: gazette@ssc.com">gazette@ssc.com</A><BR>
Copyright &copy; 1999 Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc. </H5>
<P>
<H4>
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--===================================================================-->
<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">Adding a Second IDE Hard Drive to Your System</font></H1>
<H4>By <A HREF="mailto:thegrendel@theriver.com">Mendel Leo Cooper</A></H4>
</center>
<P> <HR> <P>
<FONT SIZE=2 COLOR=#000000>
Consider the advantages of adding a second drive to your system. True,
replacing your present drive with a new, low cost, high capacity one
would seem a better alternative, but... If you can pick up a used 1.3
gig drive for a coupla bucks at a flea market or you local computer
dealer (he might have accepted it as a trade-in), then this is indeed
the cheapest way to upgrade your storage capacity. If you are planning
to update the kernel on a production system, but are afraid of breaking
some of your apps, then it is a simple matter to copy your entire ~/,
/etc, and /usr directories to the second drive, where they would remain
pristine and untouched by the upgrade. If a few hundred megs would tide
you over for a few months, until you finish paying off your new patio
or gambling debts, then save those bucks until next year, when 20 gig
IDE drives will be a loss leader at your local "Five 'n Dime".
</FONT>
<BR><BR><BR><BR>
<H5>
<OL>
<LI>The physical mount.
<PRE>
Copy down the specs from the label on the drive.
Make sure it's jumpered as "slave".
Mount the drive in a spare drive bay, securing it with several screws.
Attach an IDE cable from the IDE port on the motherboard.
</PRE>
<LI>Update the BIOS with the info for the new drive.
<PRE>
It may autodetect, but don't count on it. Check the BIOS settings to make
certain. Setting the 'LBA' option not necessary.
</PRE>
<LI>Partitioning.
<PRE>
Boot up Linux and partition the new drive:
As root, fdisk /dev/hdb.
[primary partition, Linux native]
</PRE>
<LI>Format the new drive.
<PRE>
mke2fs -cv /dev/hdb1
[verbose output and check for bad blocks]
</PRE>
<LI>Create a mount point.
<PRE>
Decide where you will be mounting it and create a mount point.
For example, if you will mount it as /mnt/drive2, as root,
cd /mnt
mkdir drive2
chmod 777 drive 2
[makes the new drive accessible to ordinary users.]
</PRE>
<LI>Testing.
<PRE>
As root, mount -t ext2 /dev/hdb1 /mnt/drive2.
If no error messages, cd /mnt/drive2, and try creating a directory and
writing a couple of files.
If it works, hurray!
Continue to the final steps.
</PRE>
<LI>Modify /etc/fstab.
<PRE>
Add the following line to /etc/fstab:
/dev/hdb1 /mnt/drive2 ext2 defaults 1 1
</PRE>
<LI>Reboot and see if the new drive automounts.
</OL>
</H5>
<BR><BR><BR>
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR=#000000>
The <A
HREF="http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/mini/Hard-Disk-Upgrade.html">Hard-Disk-Upgrade
miniHOWTO</A>, by <A HREF="mailto:an@ottawa.com"> Yves Bellefeuille</A>
contains some of the above info, but in a somewhat different context. In
any case, the author of this article figured out how to do it mostly by
<I>trial and error</I> and read the miniHOWTO after the fact.
</FONT>
<!--===================================================================-->
<P> <hr> <P>
<center><H5>Copyright &copy; 1999, Mendel Leo Cooper <BR>
Published in Issue 38 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, March 1999</H5></center>
<!--===================================================================-->
<P> <hr> <P>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--===================================================================-->
<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">Compiling Programs on Linux</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:jpollman@imcnet.net">JC Pollman</a></H4>
</center>
<P> <HR> <P>
<div STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><font color="#000000">So you are a linux
newbie and want to get your hands dirty. Most of you, myself included,
are not programmers, but that does not mean we can not enjoy the benefits
of open source, and even contribute to the cause. It also means that we
are at a distinct disadvantage when compiling goes wrong. Compiling is
usually very simple: nothing to get worried about and certainly nothing
as hard as programming, but it is not a 100% guaranteed event. What follows
is a beginner's guide to compiling. It is meant to be a 90% solution for
people starting out with linux.</font></div>
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">Sooner, or later, everyone will download
a program in source code and try to compile it. Even if you are avid follower
of Red Hat or Debian, you will eventually find a program that is either
too old, or too new, to find a precompiled binary. The bad news is that
the code will not always compile no matter what you do - remember, most
linux programs are beta at best. The good news is that the percentage of
programs that compile without problems has increased significantly over
the past five years, and that there are things you can do to "fix" code
that will not compile without being a programmer.
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><b>After you download</b>: you now have
some sort of tarball on your disk. First you must uncompress it and untar
it to a directory. By convention, most people untar programs to the directory:
/usr/src. This keeps everything in one place so you can clean it after
time, as well as keep track of which version of the program you have compiled.
You will need to be root to use this directory. The linux tar program can
uncompress and untar a file at the same time if the file was compressed
using gzip. If you have a file named: filename.tar.gz, you can cd to the
/usr/src directory and type:
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; tar -xzvf /{path
to file}/{filename.tar.gz} <font color="#FF0000">[Enter]</font></i>
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">and it will uncompress and untar. Here
is a quick explanation of the flags:
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; x - untar the file
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; z - uncompress the file
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; v - verbose - so you can see what is happening
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; f - what follows is the file you want to untar
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">If you used Netscape to download the file,
you might get an error. Sometimes Netscape will uncompress the file for
you. So if you try to untar it as listed above you might see:
<div STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"></div>
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; gzip: stdin: not in
gzip format
<div STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; tar: Child returned
status 1</div>
<div STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; tar: Error exit delayed
from previous errors</div>
<div STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"></div>
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">Try the same command, but leave out the
z. So it looks like this:
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; tar -xvf /{path
to file}/{filename.tar.gz} <font color="#FF0000">[Enter]</font></i>
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">Instead of gzip, many files are using
bzip2 for the compression, so your file will look like: the-program.tar.bz2.
The z flag for tar will not work. The easiest way to untar the file is
to type: bunzip2 the-program.tar.bz2. This will give you the file: the-program.tar,
which you can untar using:
<div STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"></div>
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; tar -xvf /{path
to file}/{filename.tar.gz} <font color="#FF0000">[Enter]</font></i>
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><b>After untaring</b>: cd to the directory
that was created when you untared the program. Look at the files in the
directory: ls. You have to read the README and INSTALL files. Do not think
you will get the slightest bit of help from anyone if you do not read these
files. There is a reason why RTFM is one of the most common expressions
on the net. The README and INSTALL files should tell you how to compile
and install the program.
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">To compile, you issue the "make" command.
In order for "make" to start compiling, it must have a file named: Makefile
(you could issue "make" options on the command line, but that is beyond
the scope of this article.) There are three common ways to start the compile:
simple, Imake, and configure.
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><b>Simple compile</b>: If you see is a
file called Makefile - no Imake or configure files, you are going to use
this method to compile. This method of compiling has the most problems
because nothing is configured to your computer. Often times the README
and INSTALL files will tell you to edit some files so it will compile.
Usually you can then type:
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; make <font color="#FF0000">[Enter]</font></i>
<div STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; make install <font color="#FF0000">[Enter]</font></i></div>
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">and if all goes well, you can now run
the program.
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><b>Imake</b>: If you ls the directory
and there is an Imake file and no Makefile, you use this method. This is
an older way to setup the compiling. Basically, you type:
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; xmkmf <font color="#FF0000">[Enter]</font></i>
<div STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; make <font color="#FF0000">[Enter]</font></i></div>
<div STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; make install <font color="#FF0000">[Enter]</font></i></div>
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><b>Configure</b>: Use this method of compiling
if there is a file named configure in the directory. This is the easiest
way to compile and probably has the highest chance of compiling correctly.
Essentially it checks your entire system for every possible library and
support file to ensure you can compile the program, and then creates the
Makefiles with the correct information. To compile, type:
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ./configure <font color="#FF0000">[Enter]</font></i>
<div STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; make <font color="#FF0000">[Enter]</font></i></div>
<div STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; make install <font color="#FF0000">[Enter]</font></i></div>
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">Notice the ./ in front of the first command.
When you type a command, you shell looks for the files in your path. It
does not start looking in your current directory, so if ./ (which means:
current directory) is not in your path, even though ls can see the file,
your shell can not it. The shell can execute make because it is usually
in /usr/bin which is in your path. To see your path, type:
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm"><i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; echo $PATH <font color="#FF0000">[Enter]</font></i>
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">If things go wrong:
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">The most common cause of not compiling
is missing files. Almost all programs rely on support programs/files/libraries.
If they are missing, the program can not compile. The README/INSTALL files
should have told you which files, and which version of the files, you need
to compile the program. Note: the wrong version will kill you just as much
as not having it at all. Usually you will know if this is the problem because
the error statement at the end of the compile will tell you it can not
find a certain file. Note: sometimes you have the file, but it is not where
the Makefile says it is. Use your linux distribution install program, e.g.
rpm, and check to see if you have the missing file. If not, go get it.
If you do have it, and it is the correct version, check the Makefile to
see where it thinks the file is. Example: say the file moc is in /usr/local/bin,
but the Makefile says: moc=/opt/bin/moc. Then just edit the Makefile (with
vi or whatever you use for text editing) and change where moc is located.
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">The next most common problem is missing
include files. Most of the files in the program source directory have lines
near the top that look something like this:
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #include &lt;gtk/gtk.h>
<div STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #include &lt;netinet/in.h></div>
<div STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #include &lt;arpa/inet.h></div>
<div STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; #include &lt;stdlib.h</div>
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">These "h" files (or headder files) must
exist on your computer. As a minimum, check that you have the kernel headder
files by: ls /usr/include/linux. If you have installed libraries, like
gtk, make sure you have also installed the devel files for them as well.
Sometimes having multiple versions of the same library can cause problems
as each version could put its header files in different places and you
will not know which files the compile will use.
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">If you have made all the necessary changes
to the Makefiles and have all the libraries and include files and it still
will not compile do the following IN ORDER:
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">1. If you downloaded the program from
a site other than the home site for this program, go to the home site and
see if there is a newer version available.
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">2. Go to <a href="http://www.dejanews.com/">www.dejanews.com</a>
and search for your program. It is very likely that others have had the
same problem and posted solutions.
<p>3. If all else fails, email the author. Most program authors are very
interested in improving their program and bug reports/suggested improvements
are usually well received (remember: this is linux, not commercial software.)
Note: your bug report had better say something more than "it did not compile"!
I usually email the last 10, or so, lines from the xterm compile window
so the author can see exactly where it died. If I really like the program,
I will email the author after every new version and give him/her as much
useable feedback as I can. Please note: programmers are humans too - they
go on two week vacations, change jobs and locations, and some even have
to go to class once in a while, so do not expect an immediate reply.
<p STYLE="margin-bottom: 0.00cm">Lastly, there are some programs that have
unique compile setups: qt and the kernel come immediately to mind. To compile
them, I will beat the horse one last time: read the README and INSTALL
files!
<br>&nbsp;
<!--===================================================================-->
<P> <hr> <P>
<center><H5>Copyright &copy; 1999, JC Pollman <BR>
Published in Issue 38 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, March 1999</H5></center>
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<!-- =============================================================
These pages are designed by Michael J. Hammel. Permission to
use all graphics and other content is granted provided you give
me (or the original authors/artists) credit for the work and this
copyright notice is not removed.
(c)1997, 1998 Michael J. Hammel (mjhammel@graphics-muse.org)
============================================================= !--><!-- The Button box as a client side imagemap --><map NAME="nav-main"><area SHAPE="rect" HREF="#mews" coords="10,10 170,40"><area SHAPE="rect" HREF="#webwonderings" coords="0,55 175,85"><area SHAPE="rect" HREF="#musings" coords="75,115 170,145"><area SHAPE="rect" HREF="#resources" coords="5,170 110,195"></map>
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<td ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=CENTER NOSAVE>
<br><b><font size=+1>muse:</font></b>
<ol>
<li>
<i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>v; to become absorbed in
thought&nbsp;</font></font></i></li>
<li>
<i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>n; [ fr. Any of the nine
sister goddesses of learning and the arts in Greek Mythology ]: a source
of inspiration</font></font></i></li>
</ol>
<center><font size=-2>&copy; 1999 by <a href="mailto:mjhammel@graphics-muse.org">mjh</a></font></center>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
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<td VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="65%" NOSAVE>
<br><img SRC="../gx/hammel/w.gif" ALT="W" height=28 width=36 align=BOTTOM><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>elcome
to the Graphics Muse! Why a "muse"? Well, except for the sisters aspect,
the above definitions are pretty much the way I'd describe my own interest
in computer graphics: it keeps me deep in thought and it is a daily source
of inspiration.&nbsp;</font></font>
<center>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>[<a href="#mews">Graphics
Mews</a>][<a href="#webwonderings">WebWonderings</a>][<a href="#musings">Musings</a>][<a href="#rsrc">Resources</a>]</font></font></center>
<p><img SRC="../gx/hammel/t.gif" ALT="T" height=28 width=26><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>his
column is dedicated to the use, creation, distribution, and discussion
of computer graphics tools for Linux systems.</font></font></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table BORDER=0 COLS=2 WIDTH="100%" NOSAVE >
<tr NOSAVE>
<td ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP NOSAVE><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>You'll
notice a few minor changes to this months column.&nbsp; First, I've got
a sponsor:&nbsp; <a href="http://www.softpro.com">SoftPro Books</a> is
providing books for me to do book reviews.&nbsp; In exchange, I'll be linking
the book covers to their site so you can order them.&nbsp; Their sponsorship
allows me to do more book reviews than normal since otherwise I'd have
to purchase the books.&nbsp; And that gets expensive.&nbsp; So if you think
the book being reviewed is for you, please consider purchasing it from
SoftPro Books.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Second, I've signed up for
Associate/Affiliate programs with <b><font color="#CC6600">Amazon.com</font></b>
and <b><font color="#CC6600">fatbrain.com</font></b>, respectively.&nbsp;
If you're considering buying some other books online, I'd appreciate it
if you visited their site via these links.&nbsp; If you buy books via these
links I get a small stipend, which over the long term I can use to buy
equipement.&nbsp; Right now I'm trying to get some cash together to get
a TV card so I can do an article on software for those beasts.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>In this months column you'll
find:</font></font>
<ul>
<li>
A review of Jennifer Niederst's book Web Design In A Nutshell</li>
<li>
Information on accessing non-keyboard characters in X</li>
</ul>
<center><table BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=5 COLS=2 WIDTH="100%" NOSAVE >
<tr NOSAVE>
<td ALIGN=CENTER NOSAVE><a href="http://www.clbooks.com/home.html?from=CJK692"><img SRC="./gx/hammel/cla_small.gif" HSPACE=10 BORDER=0 height=22 width=100 align=CENTER></a></td>
<td ALIGN=CENTER NOSAVE><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/thegraphicsmuse"><img SRC="./gx/hammel/amazon-logo.gif" BORDER=0 height=29 width=90></a>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-2>Associate</font></font></td>
</tr>
</table></center>
</td>
<td ALIGN=CENTER VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="220" NOSAVE>
<table BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=4 COLS=1 NOSAVE >
<tr NOSAVE>
<td ALIGN=CENTER VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="219" NOSAVE><img SRC="./gx/hammel/artistsguide.jpg" height=140 width=110></td>
</tr>
<tr NOSAVE>
<td NOSAVE><b><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica">The Artists' Guide to the
Gimp</font></i></b>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Available online from <a href="http://www1.clbooks.com/asp/bookinfo/bookinfo.asp?theisbn=1578310113&from=CJK692">
fatbrain.com</a>,
<a href="http://www.softpro.com/softpro/1-57831-011-3.html">SoftPro
Books</a> and <a href="http://search.borders.com/fcgi-bin/db2www/search/search.d2w/Details?&mediaType=Book&prodID=51315727">Borders
Books</a>.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>In Denver, try the <a href="http://www.tatteredcover.com/cgi-bin/bookfind.pl?lit_ttl=Gimp&Id=733947.13300&refer=list&page=book&isbn=1-57831-011-3&str=1">Tattered
Cover </a>bookstore.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Also, check out the associated
web site, <a href="http://www.thegimp.com">TheGimp.com</a>, sponsored by
SSC, Inc. and edited by The Graphics Muse - <b><font color="#993300">Michael
J. Hammel</font></b>.</font></font></td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="mews"></a><img SRC="../gx/hammel/mews.jpg" height=50 width=245>
<table BORDER=0 COLS=3 WIDTH="100%" NOSAVE >
<tr NOSAVE>
<td ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="140" NOSAVE>
<table BORDER CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=2 COLS=1 WIDTH="100%" HEIGHT="100%" BGCOLOR="#FE992B" NOSAVE >
<tr>
<td><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Other Announcements:</font></font></b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mews.html#metro-x">Metro
Link support for Rendition / Nvidia cards</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mews.html#clickable-imagemap-release">Release
0.3 of a clickable imagemap plug-in for the Gimp</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr NOSAVE>
<td NOSAVE><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mews.html#giram">Giram
0.0.6</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr NOSAVE>
<td ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP NOSAVE><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mews.html#tgif">tgif
4.0.13</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr NOSAVE>
<td NOSAVE><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mews.html#sketch">Sketch
0.5.3</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mews.html#kuickshow">KuickShow
0.6.3</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mews.html#wmtune">wmtune
for bttv 1.0</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mews.html#freedraft">FREEdraft
0.3.6</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mews.html#grass">GRASS
5.0 beta</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mews.html#w3c-vector-graphics">W3C
aims to streamline vector graphics</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mews.html#netscape-flash-plugin">Netscape
Flash Plugin 0.4.3</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mews.html#video-server">Video
Server 0.5.4</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mews.html#poorman-cam">Poor
Man's Cam 1.1</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mews.html#gilt">GILT
0.1.0</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mews.html#zope">Zope
1.10pr1</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mews.html#gview">gView
0.1.0</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr NOSAVE>
<td ALIGN=CENTER NOSAVE><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>&lt;
<a href="mews.html">More
Mews</a> ></font></font></td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
<td WIDTH="1" NOSAVE></td>
<td ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP NOSAVE>
<table BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=3 COLS=1 WIDTH="100%" NOSAVE >
<tr NOSAVE>
<td NOSAVE><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><b>Disclaimer</b>:
Before I get too far into this I should note that any of the news items
I post in this section are just that - news. Either I happened to run across
them via some mailing list I was on, via some Usenet newsgroup, or via
email from someone. I'm not necessarily endorsing these products (some
of which may be commercial), I'm just letting you know I'd heard about
them in the past month.</font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<hr NOSHADE WIDTH="100%"></td>
</tr>
</table>
<b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>XawTV 2.34</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Gerd Knorr&nbsp;</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>XawTV is a simple Xaw-based
TV program which uses the bttv driver or video4linux. It contains various
command-line utilities for grabbing images and avi movies, for tuning in
TV stations, etc. A grabber driver for vic and a radio application (needs
KDE) for the boards with radio support are included as well.&nbsp; Changes:
15 bpp problems fixed, NTSC-HRC support added, driver updates (sync up
with bttv 0.6.1, msp3400 nicam changes).</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.in-berlin.de/User/kraxel/xawtv.html">http://www.in-berlin.de/User/kraxel/xawtv.html</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>Random Quotes:</font></font></b>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Seen on the <a href="http://www.mostang.com/sane/">SANE</a>
web site (in the legend explaining the supported scanner list):</font></font>
<blockquote><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>"<b>stable</b>"
means someone is pulling your leg.</font></font></blockquote>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="65%">
<br><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>"When I read a book about
computers, they're written by Martians, for Martians.&nbsp; They don't
know how to spell out a word.&nbsp; Everything has to be three letters.&nbsp;
This drives me batty.&nbsp; In fact, when I rule the world, there will
be a glossary at the bottom of every page and every photograph in every
computer publication that says exactly what these abbreviations are."</font></font></i>
<blockquote><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Harold Feinstein,
as quoted from the February 1999 issue of <a href="http://www.peimag.com">PEI
Magazine.</a></font></font></blockquote>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>Tech Soft America Announces
support for Linux Operating System in HOOPS 3D Graphics System v4.41</font></font></b>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Tech Soft America (TSA),
developer of the popular HOOPS 3D Graphics System today announced support
for the Linux Operating System in their 4.41 release.&nbsp; This announcement
further expands HOOPS' already extensive platform coverage and will enable
high-end 3D applications to be built for Linux using HOOPS - a robust graphics
development component with a proven track record in the CAD/CAM/CAE GIS
and Geophysical application markets.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.newsalert.com/bin/story?StoryId=CnTohubKbytaYnZy&FQ=Linux&SymHdl=1&Nav=na-search-&StoryTitle=Linux">Complete
announcement.</a></font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.hoops3d.com/">Hoops3D
Web site.</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>FreeWRL 0.1.8</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>John A. Stewart (CRC Canada)</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>FreeWRL is a free VRML browser
for Linux. It aims to be fully VRML97 compliant, complete with scripting
in Perl, Java and Javascript, and EAI. It is written mostly in Perl, with
some C for library interfaces &amp; rendering and uses OpenGL (Mesa) for
graphics.&nbsp; The current versions are still alpha-stage and there are
several pieces missing (especially certain field types in EAI etc) but
it is quite usable in various types of worlds.&nbsp; Changes: Some bugs
fixed. New maintainer - John Stewart - CRC Canada</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://debra.dgbt.crc.ca/~luigi/FreeWRL/">http://debra.dgbt.crc.ca/~luigi/FreeWRL/</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>ttmkfdir current</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>jpo</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>ttmkfdir is a tool to create
valid and complete fonts.dir files from TrueType fonts. It is very useful
when you plan to use a TrueType enabled font server that is based on the
X11R6 sample implementation (xfsft for instance). Great care has been taken
to correctly identify the encodings that a given TrueType font supports.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Changes: First freshmeat
announcement.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.darmstadt.gmd.de/~pommnitz/ttmkfdir.tar.gz">http://www.darmstadt.gmd.de/~pommnitz/ttmkfdir.tar.gz</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>xfsft 1.0.3</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>jpo</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>The Xfsft patches to X11R6
enable X11 servers (including XFree86) to use TrueType fonts and improves
on the way X11 handles international scalable fonts.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Changes: New in version 1.0.3
is support for international Type 1 and Speedo</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>fonts.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Download: <a href="ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/X11/fonts/xfsft-1.0.3.tar.gz">ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/X11/fonts/xfsft-1.0.3.tar.gz</a></font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Red Hat Packages: <a href="http://www.darmstadt.gmd.de/~pommnitz/XF86-xfsft/index.html">http://www.darmstadt.gmd.de/~pommnitz/XF86-xfsft/index.html</a></font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Homepage: <a href="http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/home/jec/programs/xfsft/">http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/home/jec/programs/xfsft/</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>Retardotracer 1.0.0</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Michael Leibowitz</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Retardotracer is a raytracer
written in C++ that raytraces both reverse and forwards for each polygon.
This allows it to accurately model some (and only some) things.&nbsp; It
works in parallel, which is kinda neat. Foo, Bar, and Baz are included.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Changes: This is the first
release.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~leibowit/retardotracer/">http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~leibowit/retardotracer/</a>
(only provides access to tarball)</font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>Dave Gnukem 0.4</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>David Joffe</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Dave Gnukem is a GPL'ed 2D
Scrolling platform game, similar to Duke Nukem 1. It includes a sprite
and level editor. The game and editor use GGI, and thus runs on the console
as well as in a window under X.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Changes: Added teleporters,
bananas, title screen image; Some cosmetic additions, bugfixes, structural
game-flow improvements, menu improvements, new sprite editor features,
full-screen mode in X.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/2018/djgame.html">http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/2018/djgame.html</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>TexturePaint 1.1</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Uwe Maurer</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>TexturePaint is a Gimp plugin
which displays a Quake I/II model in an openGL window and shows a texture
image mapped on the model. You can modify the texture image with GIMP and
view the result in the 3d window. You can also paint in the 3d view and
TexturePaint calculates the texture for you.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Changes: Autoconf , Support
for Quake I models</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://home.t-online.de/home/uwe_maurer/texpaint.htm">http://home.t-online.de/home/uwe_maurer/texpaint.htm</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>SGI announces the Open
Source release of GLX</font></font></b>
<blockquote><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>"GLX provides the
glue connecting OpenGL&reg; and the X Window System<sup>TM</sup> and is
required by any OpenGL implementation using X."</font></font></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>For the complete announcement,
go to <a href="http://www.sgi.com/software/opensource/glx/">http://www.sgi.com/software/opensource/glx/</a>.</font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>Linux and 3D Graphics
BoF @ LinuxWorld</font></font></b>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>John Leech is&nbsp; organizing
a BOF (Birds-of-a-Feather) session on Linux and 3D graphics at Linux World
Expo in March. The details:</font></font>
<blockquote><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Linux/3D BOF</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Wednesday, March 3, 1999</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>San Jose Convention Center</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Room A4&nbsp; 5:30-7 PM</font></font></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>If you have a topic to discuss,
please contact me about it in advance (email to <a href="mailto:lwbof@oddhack.engr.sgi.com">lwbof@oddhack.engr.sgi.com</a>).
Items already on the list:</font></font>
<ul>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Current status of OpenGL, and
GLX source code release (Jon Leech, Silicon Graphics)</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Direct rendering architecture
status (Frank LaMonica, Precision Insight)</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Darryll Strauss will be giving
a conference talk with an overview of the various OpenGL and Mesa projects
touching Linux at 2:30, and he will join us at the BOF to follow up.</font></font></li>
</ul>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Jon Leech</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>OpenGL Group</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Silicon Graphics</font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<p><!--
-- Did You Know Section
-->
<h2>
Did You Know?</h2>
<blockquote><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>...the Gimp was
mentioned in an article discussing alternatives to Photoshop in the February
1999 issue of <a href="http://www.peimag.com">PEI (Photo Electronic Imaging)
</a>magazine?</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>...holding the Control [CTRL]
key down while rotating [Gimp images and layers] locks it to 15 degree
increments.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Seth Burgess &lt;sjburges@gimp.org></font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>...the relatively new <a href="http://www.wacom.com">Wacom
Intuos</a> drawing tablets are reported to work with the Gimp now.&nbsp;
Take a look at <a href="http://www.gtk.org/~otaylor/xinput/">http://www.gtk.org/~otaylor/xinput/</a>
for help on setting up X Input (required for using tablets under the X
Window System) and <a href="http://levien.com/free/linux_intuos.html">http://levien.com/free/linux_intuos.html</a>
for information on the Intuos driver status.&nbsp; Seth Burgess says "Support
for tablets is improved in Gimp 1.1.x with a new "Ink" tool that is just
too much fun to play with.&nbsp; Of course 1.1.x is development, and crashes
semi-regularly, so use at your own risk."</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>...there is a TrueType for
XFree86 Mini-Howto at <a href="http://www.sfu.ca/~yzhang/linux/truetype/">http://www.sfu.ca/~yzhang/linux/truetype/</a>.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>...there is an interesting
article by Cecil Adams on the history of the ratios for TV and movie screens
at <a href="http://www.straightdope.com/columns/981120.html">http://www.straightdope.com/columns/981120.html</a>.</font></font>
<br>&nbsp;</blockquote>
<!--
-- Q and A Section
-->
<h2>
Q and A</h2>
<i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Q:&nbsp; Can I restore the
default values on a [Gimp plug-in] easily?&nbsp; If I experiment with various
bump map settings, for example, and I want to get back to defaults, how
do I do that without shutting GIMP down?</font></font></i>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>A:&nbsp; Some plug-ins have
Reset or Defaults buttons but many do not.&nbsp; There is no standard for
how plug-ins should behave for resetting to default values.</font></font>
<p><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Q:&nbsp; Can I have more
than 1 layers dialog open simultaneously, rather than switching from image
to image.&nbsp; This is annoying when I'm working on several multi-layer
images together.</font></font></i>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>A:&nbsp; No, its not possible.
But when you press Ctrl-L in an image the layers dialog shows the layers
of this image. So you can switch faster to other images than to use the
mouse.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Jens Finke &lt;<a href="mailto:pearl@darkride.net">pearl@darkride.net</a>></font></font>
<p><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Q:&nbsp; Someone mentioned
this recently, saying what map projection is required to get a map of Earth
correctly image mapped on to a sphere in POV-Ray, and even mentioning a
web site where such a map can be found.</font></font></i>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>A1:&nbsp; There is a collection
of bitmapped planet surfaces at the IMP website:</font></font>
<blockquote><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.imp.org/members/scene/test_a/scripta.html">http://www.imp.org/members/scene/test_a/scripta.html</a></font></font></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>There are also links to sources
and methods of projection.&nbsp; The maps here are not necessarily 'correct',
but I would be interested in knowing how to do the correction.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Nigel Stewart (<a href="mailto:nigels@eisa.net.au">nigels@eisa.net.au</a>)</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>A2:&nbsp; The maps at that
site [listed in A1 above] are certainly much nicer than the others I have
found, and they also appear to be the correct projection for POV's map_type
1.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Robert Sorenson</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mailto:zephyr@nerc.com">zephyr@nerc.com</a></font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>A3:&nbsp; For the most part
(+95% of maps) you should map them cyllindricly onto a sphere, and they
look great.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Simon de Vet</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://home.istar.ca/~sdevet">http://home.istar.ca/~sdevet</a></font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>A4:&nbsp; <a href="http://maps.jpl.nasa.gov/">http://maps.jpl.nasa.gov/&nbsp;</a>
(yes, Nasa, the space agency)</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Scott McDonald</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mailto:scott@urbandragons.com">scott@urbandragons.com</a></font></font>
<p><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Q: I am an "end user"
of my own Linux-based system, having recently graduated from that "other"
OS.&nbsp; I miss having the font selection I have on the other side of
my hard drive (my computer has a split personality).&nbsp; I have the new
WordPerfect 8 for Linux and the fonts are boring!&nbsp; I would like at
least one good blackletter, script, or classic type face (Goudy, Caslon,etc.)
but I don't know where to look or even if they are available for Linux.&nbsp;
Any ideas?&nbsp; Kinene Barzin &lt;<a href="mailto:KBarzin@compuserve.com">KBarzin@compuserve.com</a>></font></font></i>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>A:&nbsp; Linux, actually
the X Window System, uses Adobe Type 1 fonts by default.&nbsp; You're probably
used to True Type fonts.&nbsp; You <i>can</i> use both on your system,
but there are a few tricks to getting things to work.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>The easiest method is to
find Type 1 versions of the fonts you already have.&nbsp; I have found
that many of the font collections on CDs available from the local software
stores come with both True Type and Type 1 fonts.&nbsp; I just copy the
Type 1 fonts to a local directory and then tell the X server to include
this new directory.&nbsp; Take a look at the <b><font color="#006600">xset</font></b>
command, in particular the "fp" option.&nbsp; You'll also want to take
a look at the <a href="http://goblet.anu.edu.au/~m9305357/type1inst.html">Type1Inst</a>
script, which will configure the new directory so WordPerfect, the Gimp
and other tools can use the common Font name instead of the longer XLFD,
X Logical Font Description (that long name with all the dashes in it).</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Alternatively, you can use
the True Type fonts through the use of a Font Server.&nbsp; A Font server
is a separate program that talks to the X server and manages fonts for
the server.&nbsp; There are two fonts servers available that handle True
Type fonts:&nbsp; <b><font color="#006600">xfstt</font></b> and <b><font color="#006600">xfsft</font></b>
(similar names, but different programs).&nbsp; Look on <a href="http://www.freshmeat.net">freshmeat</a>
for where these can be downloaded. Font servers should be able to handle
both True Type and Type 1 fonts, but I've not tried to do mix them.&nbsp;
Using xset it should also be possible to mix local Type 1 fonts with those
managed using a font server.</font></font>
<br>&nbsp;
<p>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<h2>
Reader Mail</h2>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Cecile Hebert-Souche &lt;<a href="mailto:souche@atp6000.tuwien.ac.at">souche@atp6000.tuwien.ac.at</a>>
wrote to the Gimp-User mailing list:</font></font>
<blockquote><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>I see a lot of
posts regarding problems with font installation, I had a tip for those
who have bought applix : it comes with a wonderful fontmanager (applix/axdatas/fontmetrics/gallium/fontfm)
just start it as root and you can manage your fonts in a very easy way,
create subdirectories and activate them only on need, test fonts before
installing etc...</font></font></i></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><b><i><font color="#993300">'Muse</font></i></b>:&nbsp;
I tried this with my installation of Applix and sure enough, its a fine
font previewer.&nbsp; Certainly better than most of the other tools I have
for previewing fonts.&nbsp; I didn't try it for managing font directories
but it does appear to permit this.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mailto:whitenoise@fishnet.com">whitenoise@fishnet.com</a>
wrote:</font></font>
<blockquote><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>A Linux freak
of mine sent me your URL. Cool graphics (esp. like Angel).&nbsp; I do some
designing/putzing as well - mostly Photoshop - and I was curious where
you get the initial images of the women? The graphics I do are ok but I
always seem to get stuck finding GOOD images of women that I can reproduce
without spending money or getting sued for infringement. By GOOD pictures
of women, I mean head shots, eyes, lips, necklines, that type of thing.
Stock photography is one out (like Digital Stock) but I'd&nbsp; be curious
to hear your response.</font></font></i></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><b><i><font color="#993300">'Muse:</font></i></b>&nbsp;
Angel (and some of the others) were taken from one of <b><font color="#006600">Corel's
Super Ten Packs.</font></b>&nbsp; I did a short review of these in my November
1998 issue of my Graphics Muse colum.&nbsp; These are royalty free images
in fairly high resolutions.&nbsp; Maybe not quite good enough for print
media, but pretty close.&nbsp; And certainly less expensive (about $40)
than other stock image collections.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>However, I have the same
problem as you - its hard to find good photos of faces.&nbsp; The only
thing I can think of other than the stock photo collections is to hook
up with a decent photographer, perhaps a friend, acquaintance or maybe
a student at a local university who is looking for some way to showcase
their work.</font></font>
<blockquote><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Also, where did
you get the design pattern for a subject like Angel - you know, all those
brick like things? It almost looks like you selected a range and did a
lighting effect to get one side "sunny" and the other hidden in shadow.
Anyway, what you'd care to share I'd appreciate.</font></font></i></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><b><i><font color="#993300">'Muse:</font></i></b>&nbsp;
Its actually a combination of effects.&nbsp; I can't remember how I started
it but I think it was with a brick pattern that I fiddled with in the Gimp
plug-in called Gimpressionist.&nbsp; I think I used it as both a layer
and a layer mask, and I used it multiple times.&nbsp; This much I do remember:&nbsp;
it took quite some time to get that image just right.</font></font>
<blockquote><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>If you find time,
I'd appreciate your feedback. There aren't too&nbsp; many people who's
work I go ga-ga over but you stuff rocks pretty well.</font></font></i></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><b><i><font color="#993300">'Muse</font></i></b>:&nbsp;
Thanks.</font></font>
<blockquote><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>You ever heard
of Peter Lessing? He's a designer/photographer who's big on the female
form - not like www.gogogirls.com but more subdued and flattering. I think
you'd like his work.</font></font></i></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><i><font color="#993300">'Muse</font></i>:&nbsp;
Send me a URL if you have one.&nbsp; I do like looking at art work online.&nbsp;
It helps motivate me to do more work.&nbsp; I don't know if you like the
style, but you might take a look at http://www.sirius.com/~fenster/.&nbsp;
I don't know what this style is called - maybe Modern Gothic? - but I like
it.&nbsp; She's also done a fairly nice job in displaying the gallery.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Another guy I like is <b><font color="#006600">Tim
Umney</font></b>.&nbsp; He was featured in Issue #37 of <a href="http://www.designgraphics.com.au">Design
Graphics </a>(an Australian graphics design magazine focused on the use
of computers to do the artwork).&nbsp; He's a HR Giger fan and his work
shows it.&nbsp; Sort of has an X Files feel to it, too.&nbsp; It took some
searching, but I found his website at <a href="http://homepages.tig.com.au/~umney/">http://homepages.tig.com.au/~umney/</a>.</font></font>
<blockquote><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>I don't ask much,
do I? If what I've requested above isn't enough, could&nbsp; you toss in
a million dollars? Just throw that in as an attachment.</font></font></i></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><b><i><font color="#993300">'Muse</font></i></b>:&nbsp;
I use text based mail readers on Linux.&nbsp; So I don't do attachments.&nbsp;
:-)</font></font>
<blockquote><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Corel's a huge
outfit but they're not really the market leader in anything, maybe that's
why I never considered their photos/images before. Didn't even know they
offered them.</font></font></i></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><b><i><font color="#993300">'Muse</font></i></b>:&nbsp;
Corel is actually quite well known for their stock photo collection.&nbsp;
I learned about them by reading Design Graphics.&nbsp; You can get it at
most Barnes and Nobles or Borders bookstores.</font></font>
<blockquote><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>I'm surprised
some vendor (such as corel) hasn't come out with a "women only" photo collection,
or something similar. I would think there would be a market for such an
animal.</font></font></i></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><b><i><font color="#993300">'Muse</font></i></b>:&nbsp;
There is at least one SuperTen collection from Corel called "Women".&nbsp;
You can also order individual shots from their web site of stock photos.&nbsp;
There are a lot of photos of womens faces there.&nbsp; Check that issue
of the Graphics Muse column that I did the Corel SuperTen write up on -
I think it was somewhere between August and November of last year (but
I'm too lazy to go look for it right now).</font></font>
<blockquote><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Anything worth
doing always seems to take a long time. Have you looked into doing prints
or otherwise reselling them?</font></font></i></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><b><i><font color="#993300">'Muse</font></i></b>:&nbsp;
In the future, perhaps.&nbsp; I was thinking of making a series of images
for a calendar, but there are business problems with calendars:&nbsp; low
margins, high production costs, etc.&nbsp; None of the images (well, except
for the Linux Journal covers I did) are large enough to transfer to print
media very well.&nbsp; You need to make <i>very</i> large images if you
plan on printing them out in high quality gloss prints.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Jason Thomas Murray &lt;<a href="mailto:lather@electrografix.com">lather@electrografix.com</a>></font></font>
<blockquote><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Erm, I have been
wanting to make some basic CD jackets.</font></font></i></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<blockquote><tt><font size=-1>+----+----+</font></tt>
<br><tt><font size=-1>|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |</font></tt>
<br><tt><font size=-1>|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; |</font></tt>
<br><tt><font size=-1>+----+----+</font></tt>
<p><tt><font size=-1>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ^-- the fold.</font></tt></blockquote>
<i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>I was able to convert the
size into points fer LaTeX, but I wanna use the GIMP. Does anyone know
what dimensions I need to use for the image? It looks like the new GIMP
is going to have inches as an option for new image sizes, but not sure
I want to wait that long for the next stable.</font></font></i></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><b><i><font color="#993300">'Muse:</font></i></b>&nbsp;
Short answer:&nbsp; Measure the jacket you want to print on.&nbsp; Multiply
by the DPI your printer will be printing at and that gives you the dimensions
for the image you want to make.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Long answer:&nbsp; Go to
my Muse back issues and look for the discussion on DPI/LPI.&nbsp; Its not
hard to do the conversion from paper inches to pixels if you have the right
information, you just have to know what information to gather to do the
conversion.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.graphics-muse.org/linux.html">http://www.graphics-muse.org/linux.html</a>
- click on the "muse" button.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Nancy Mazur wrote to the
Gimp-User list:</font></font>
<blockquote><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>I've got a drawing
with a bit of text here and there, yet I'm not glad about the font I've
chosen initially, and now I'd like to set all of my text into another font.&nbsp;
How can I do this without having to delete my previous text, create new
text in new font, and reposition that new text as the old one used to be?</font></font></i></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><b><i><font color="#993300">'Muse</font></i></b>:&nbsp;
Well, it actually can be done, but its not easy.</font></font>
<blockquote><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Is there an easy
solution to this?&nbsp; Perhaps I keep on understanding Gimp's philosophy
in a wrong way.</font></font></i></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Christopher Curtis replied:</font></font>
<blockquote><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>The GIMP is a
bitmap tool.&nbsp; Once something is "done", it cannot be "undone" or "modified"
(Undo/Redo excepting).&nbsp; The text will have to be recreated.</font></font></i></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><b><i><font color="#993300">'Muse:</font></i></b>&nbsp;
This is true if the text has already been merged with other layers in the
image.&nbsp; If the image is one you just scanned in, then the text is
already part of the single layer you scanned in.&nbsp; In any case, the
text is a bitmap image, not a vector image.&nbsp; That means you just can't
edit the text.&nbsp; In a bitmapped image, its not really text - its just
a bunch of pixels that happened to be shaped like letters.</font></font>
<blockquote><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Some things you
may want to consider in the future is to put text on its own layer so that
it does not corrupt existing image data.&nbsp; This makes things slower
because it uses more memory, but is generally a good idea, especially for
things like text where lines are important.&nbsp; It is always possible
to have layers smaller than the image as well, and this may help speed-wise.</font></font></i></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><b><i><font color="#993300">'Muse</font></i></b>:&nbsp;
This is correct, and part of the solution to saving the old text.&nbsp;
What you can do to save the old text is to make a selection of that text,
float the selection and make that floating layer a new layer.&nbsp; Then
add two new layers:&nbsp; one "patch" layer that fills in the background
where the old text used to be and another that is the new text.&nbsp; Position
the layers so the original is at the bottom, the patch is right above it
and the new text above that.&nbsp; The old text layer can be anywhere -
just make sure its visibility has been turned off (click on the eye icon
in the layers dialog).</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>The most difficult part of
this technique is creating the patch.&nbsp; This is due to the fact that
the original image probably was not a solid color so creating the patch
requires multiple steps:</font></font>
<ol>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>create a solid patch that is
very near the original image background colors.</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>select a region of background
off the original image</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>paste into the patch</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>use the clone tool to copy from
the pasted region to the edges of the patch.</font></font></li>
</ol>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Its tricky, but you can do it
if the background was not too complex of a design.&nbsp; The more solid
the original background the better.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>All of this simply replaces
the old text with new text, but both "texts" end up as new layers in the
Gimp image.&nbsp; You need to save the file as an .xcf format file in order
to preserve the layers.&nbsp; Once you "flatten" the layers or "merge visible
layers" then the layer information is gone and you have a single bitmap
image (and if the old text layers visibility is turned off then the old
text goes away in the flattened image).</font></font>
<blockquote><i><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Another thing
to look at is the gDynText plugin.&nbsp; I don't know the URL offhand,
but you can find references to it from <a href="http://news.gimp.org">news.gimp.org
</a>and
from <a href="http://registry.gimp.org">registry.gimp.org</a>.&nbsp; Simply
download and untar the file, then type "gimptool --install gdyntext.c"
(if that's the source file name).&nbsp; You may want to read the README
that comes with it.</font></font></i></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><b><i><font color="#993300">'Muse</font></i></b>:&nbsp;
You can also, as a short cut, create a text file using vi (or some other
editor) and then copy/paste from that window into the stock Text Tool window.&nbsp;
Pasting this way will get you multi-line text, which you can't get if you
simply try to type newlines in the Text Tool's text input window.&nbsp;
Thats just an additional trick for getting multiline text into your image.</font></font>
<br>
<hr NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="webwonderings"></a><img SRC="../gx/hammel/webwonderings.jpg" height=57 width=246>
<h2>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica">Book Review:&nbsp; Web Design In a Nutshell</font></h2>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Author:&nbsp; Jennifer Niederst</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Publisher:&nbsp; O'Reilly</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Price: $24.95 from SoftPro
Books</font></font>
<p><a href="http://www.softpro.com/softpro/1-56592-515-7.html"><img SRC="./gx/hammel/web-design-cover.jpg" HSPACE=10 VSPACE=5 BORDER=0 height=208 width=140 align=RIGHT></a>
<br>Although I do a fair amount of web design, it has been quite some time
since I've picked up any references on HTML&nbsp;, JavaScript or general
web page layout.&nbsp; When it came time for this months Muse column I
find, as usual, I&nbsp;couldn't find something new to write up.&nbsp; It
then hit me that its been quite some time since I'd done any book reviews.
<p>So off I went to visit SoftPro Books, my favorite local haunt here in
Denver for technical-oriented texts.&nbsp; I&nbsp;browsed the shelves for
a solid hour (it had, after all, been over a year since I'd last visited
them - I'd been Dallas all that time) for something new on graphics but
applicable to Linux.&nbsp; A few items looked promising but nothing stood
out as particularly motivating.&nbsp; I then moved over to the Web-based
texts.&nbsp; <b>Web Design In A Nutshell </b>by Jennifer Niederst caught
my eye, partly because of its familiar O'Reilly cover.&nbsp; Since I had
never done a review for Web Wonderings I thought this would be a good choice.
<p>The first problem I have when doing book reviews is to find one that
is applicable to Linux users.&nbsp; Keep in mind that although there are
plenty of administrative texts for Linux, there are relatively few that
are specific to Linux in other areas of computing.&nbsp; I&nbsp;scanned
the table of contents of Jennifer's text looking to see if there were any
glaring OS issues.&nbsp; There is mention of Shockwave and Flash under
one chapter heading, but other than that the five part, 27 chapter text
looked fairly platform inspecific.&nbsp; Thats a good sign for a text on
a subject that isn't supposed to care much about which platform its running
on.&nbsp; A quick chat with the SoftPro crew and I&nbsp;headed home with
the text.
<p>Once home I&nbsp;did a little deeper research.&nbsp; First, the 27 chapters
are broken into 5 parts (not including the appendices):&nbsp; The Web Environment,
HTML, Graphics, Mutlimedia and Interactivity, and Emerging Technologies.&nbsp;
Each chapter within these parts is fairly short and to the point - exactly
what you'd expect and need from a Nutshell reference.&nbsp; The opening
chapter, Designing for a Variety of Web Browsers, is a good lead in.&nbsp;
It talks about the various browsers out there, some less well known than
others, and includes a very helpful table showing feature support for many
of the different versions of Netscape, IE, and other browers.&nbsp; This
is followed in the next chapter with information on designing for various
display issues and includes graphical descriptions of the maximum and minimum
screen space available to both Netscape and IE&nbsp;users.&nbsp; A brief
list on making sites accessible (such as to speech synthesis software)
rounds out&nbsp; this chapter.
<p>The next chapter unveiled hidden platform specifics that I'd missed
on first glance - throughout the text there sprinkled pointers to tools
that can be used to deal with the current chapters topics.&nbsp; Unfortunately,
these pointers are decidedly MS and Mac oriented.&nbsp; The third chapter
goes beyond this by offering an introduction to accessing Unix systems
(as if they were so foriegn!).&nbsp; Despite these hidden annoyances, most
of the text is still platform inspecific.&nbsp; So you can just skip those
short tools sections.
<p>Through out the text there are tables and graphical descriptions mixed
in with the text.&nbsp; The tables are especially good.&nbsp; For example,
chapter 5 has a table showing relationships between common color names
(as defined by the X&nbsp;Window System), their RGB and Hex equivalents
<b>AND</b> the nearest Web safe color.&nbsp; This last bit is a new twist
on other tables like this that I've seen and is a nice bonus.&nbsp; Later
in the same chapter is a table showing the character codes used for displaying
various uncommon characters in HTML.
<p>Jennifer uses a nice guide when defining specific HTML tags - she shows
which of 5 browsers (with their various releases included) support that
tag.&nbsp; For example, the horizontal rule tag definition opens like this:
<br><img SRC="./gx/hammel/hr-example.jpg" VSPACE=10 height=82 width=580>
<br>In this case all the browsers support the &lt;hr> tag.&nbsp; If any
of them didn't, they would be grayed out.&nbsp; This makes it easy to find
which tags are browser specific and, therefore, which tags to avoid.
<p>Along with the tables, the graphical descriptions used in many parts
of the text are very useful.&nbsp; In one table in chapter 12, the appearance
of form elements is shown for 4 different browsers (2 versions each from
Netscape and IE).&nbsp; This visual explanation of the differences in implementations
is very helpful to anyone who has muddled through trying to create forms
that are usable to users of any browser.
<p>The section on graphics is disappointingly biased to MS and Mac platforms.&nbsp;
Although much of the information can be applied to the Gimp and other Linux
graphics tools, its an excersize for the reader to make the translation
from the tools Jennifer describes to their Linux counterparts.
<p>Unlike the graphics section, the audio and video chapters are less biased
in the fact that Jennifer talks more about file formats than specific applications
that use them.&nbsp; For the most part, Linux has tools that support most
of the common audio and video formats.&nbsp; At least for playing these
files, if not for creating them.&nbsp; And even then, the creation tools
are slowly coming to public availability.
<p>Two areas that are covered that I&nbsp;find quite useful are DHTML and
XML.&nbsp; I've looked at DHTML a little but have not yet begun to read
up on XML.&nbsp; The two short chapters on these subjects are good introductions
for someone who is familiar with HTML in general.
<p>This nice thing about O'Reilly's Nutshell series is that the are more
than a straight reference guide but not so boring as a full blown collegiate
text on the subject.&nbsp; Jennifer Niederst's text <b>Web Design In A
Nutshell i</b>s a fine example of this series and, despite some of the
biases toward MS and Mac applications, is well worth the price.
<br>
<hr NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<p><a NAME="musings"></a>
<table BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=3 COLS=2 NOSAVE >
<tr NOSAVE>
<td ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="245" NOSAVE><img SRC="../gx/hammel/musings.jpg" height=50 width=245></td>
<td NOSAVE></td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica">Accessing non-keyboard characters in X</font></h2>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>A question came up recently
on the Gimp-User mailing list that I found interesting, mostly since I
didn't know the answer:&nbsp; How do you access characters that are available
in a certain font but do not have a key stroke assigned to them?&nbsp;
For example, how do you get to the Copyright character if there is no Copyright
key?</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>It turns out you can configure
your X server to understand new keystrokes for these unattached characters.&nbsp;
The key, if you'll parden the pun , is to learn about xmodmap, the program
that maps of keys to characters for the X server.&nbsp; This program, which
should be available on every Linux distribution under /usr/X11R6/bin, allows
you to specify the keystroke to use to access extended characters in a
font.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Let's say you want to map
the copyright character to the 2 key with the Shift key held down.&nbsp;
Currently, this is mapped to the familiar "at" (@) character.&nbsp; If
you make a short text file with the following line in it(<a href="#alan">1</a>):</font></font>
<blockquote><tt><font size=-1>keysym 2 = 2 copyright</font></tt></blockquote>
<font size=-1><font face="Arial,Helvetica">and save the file, say named
</font><tt>temp.map</tt><font face="Arial,Helvetica">,
and then run</font></font>
<blockquote><tt><font size=-1>% xmodmap temp.map</font></tt></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>this will map the copyright
character to the shifted 2-key. Now fire up the GIMP and you will be able
to generate the copyright character when using a font which supports it.&nbsp;
To get your keyboard back to normal, edit the temp.map file:</font></font>
<blockquote><tt><font size=-1>keysym 2 = 2 at</font></tt></blockquote>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>and again run xmodmap.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Alternatively, you can use
a graphical interface to map lots of keys all at once.&nbsp; The <a href="http://www.jwz.org/xkeycaps/">xkeycaps</a>
tool, written by Jamie Zawinski of Mozilla/Netscape fame, gives you a graphical
display of your keyboard and allows you to map multiple characters to single
keys when those keys are used with various modifiers (such as CTRL or ALT).</font></font>
<center>
<p><a href="./gx/hammel/xkeycaps.jpg"><img SRC="./gx/hammel/xkeycaps-tn.jpg" BORDER=0 height=176 width=400></a>
<br><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>xkeycaps - click on image
for full size version</font></font></b></center>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>If you make one of your keys
be a <i>Mode_switch</i> key, you can add two more characters to pretty
much every key that produces a character.&nbsp; For people that use international
characters, but want to use the US keyboard layout, you can make a key
a <i>Multi_key</i> and do sequences like <i>Multi_key-`-e</i> to get an
e with a grave accent on it<a href="#lyle">(2</a>).</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Xkeycaps has to know about
your keyboards physical configuration, but fortunately its been around
for so long (since about 1991) and so many people have provided configurations
for so many keyboards that there is a good chance your keyboard will be
available.&nbsp; Even if its not, you can edit a configuration file in
order to add your keyboard to the list of keyboards.</font></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1></font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>I didn't have time to explore
this very useful application any further than this but plan when time permits.&nbsp;
For the most part I don't have a need to access any keys outside of those
available from my Dell keyboard.&nbsp; Still, occassionaly it would be
nice to have access to accent marks, copyright symbols and other symbols
for use in both my word processor as well as in the Gimp.</font></font>
<br>&nbsp;
<li>
<a NAME="alan"></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>This information
comes from <a href="mailto:a@alanho.student.princeton.edu">Alan</a> on
the Gimp-User mailing list.</font></font></li>
<li>
<a NAME="lyle"></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>This information
comes from <a href="mailto:lyle@ltaylor.users.xmission.com">Lyle</a> on
the Gimp-User mailing list.</font></font></li>
<br>
<hr NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="rsrc"></a><img SRC="../gx/hammel/resources.jpg" height=50 width=245>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>The following links are
just starting points for finding more information about computer graphics
and multimedia in general for Linux systems. If you have some application
specific information for me, I'll add them to my other pages or you can
contact the maintainer of some other web site. I'll consider adding other
general references here, but application or site specific information needs
to go into one of the following general references and not listed here.</font></font>
<br>&nbsp;
<table BORDER=0 COLS=2 WIDTH="100%" NOSAVE >
<tr NOSAVE>
<td NOSAVE><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Online Magazines
and News sources&nbsp;</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.news.com/">C|Net
Tech News</a></font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.eklektix.com/lwn/">Linux
Weekly News</a></font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://slashdot.org/">Slashdot.org</a></font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>General Web Sites&nbsp;</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.graphics-muse.org/linux.html">Linux
Graphics</a></font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.bright.net/~dlphilp/linux_soundapps.html">Linux
Sound/Midi Page</a></font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Some of the Mailing Lists
and Newsgroups I keep an eye on and where I get much of the information
in this column&nbsp;</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.gimp.org">The
Gimp User and Gimp Developer Mailing Lists</a>.&nbsp;</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.irtc.org">The
IRTC-L discussion list</a></font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="news:comp.graphics.rendering.raytracing">comp.graphics.rendering.raytracing</a></font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="news:comp.graphics.rendering.renderman">comp.graphics.rendering.renderman</a></font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="news:comp.graphics.api.opengl">comp.graphics.api.opengl</a></font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="news:comp.os.linux.announce">comp.os.linux.announce</a></font></font></td>
<td><img SRC="../gx/hammel/gmuse-2.jpg" HSPACE=10 BORDER=2 height=248 width=200></td>
</tr>
</table>
<a NAME="future"></a>
<h2>
Future Directions</h2>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Next month:&nbsp; No Muse since
I'll be out of contact for a while.&nbsp; But the Muse will be back in
May with, I hope, the first of a two parter on the X Windows System and
Themes.&nbsp; Maybe.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mailto:mjhammel@graphics-muse.org">Let
me know what you'd like to hear about!</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<div align=right><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>&copy; 1999
<a href="mailto:mjhammel@graphics-muse.org">Michael
J. Hammel</a></font></font></div>
<!--===================================================================-->
<P> <HR> <P>
<center><H4>Previous ``Graphics Muse'' Columns</H4></center>
<p>
<A HREF="../issue11/gm.html">Graphics Muse #1, November 1996</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue12/gm.html">Graphics Muse #2, December 1996</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue13/gm.html">Graphics Muse #3, January 1997</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue14/gm.html">Graphics Muse #4, February 1997</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue15/gm.html">Graphics Muse #5, March 1997</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue16/gm.html">Graphics Muse #6, April 1997</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue17/gm.html">Graphics Muse #7, May 1997</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue18/gm.html">Graphics Muse #8, June 1997</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue19/gm.html">Graphics Muse #9, July 1997</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue20/gm.html">Graphics Muse #10, August 1997</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue22/gm.html">Graphics Muse #11, October 1997</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue23/gm.html">Graphics Muse #12, December 1997</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue25/gm.html">Graphics Muse #13, February 1998</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue26/gm.html">Graphics Muse #14, March 1998</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue27/gm.html">Graphics Muse #15, April 1998</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue31/gm.html">Graphics Muse #16, August 1998</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue32/gm.html">Graphics Muse #17, September 1998</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue33/gm.html">Graphics Muse #18, October 1998</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue34/gm.html">Graphics Muse #19, November 1998</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue37/gm.html">Graphics Muse #20, February 1999</A><BR>
<!--===================================================================-->
<P> <hr> <P>
<center><H5>Copyright &copy; 1999, Michael J. Hammel <BR>
Published in Issue 38 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, March 1999</H5></center>
<!--===================================================================-->
<P> <hr> <P>
<A HREF="./index.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM SRC="../gx/indexnew.gif"
ALT="[ TABLE OF CONTENTS ]"></A>
<A HREF="../index.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM SRC="../gx/homenew.gif"
ALT="[ FRONT PAGE ]"></A>
<A HREF="./pollman.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/back2.gif"
ALT=" Back "></A>
<A HREF="./blanchard.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/fwd.gif" ALT=" Next "></A>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =============================================================
These pages are designed by Michael J. Hammel. Permission to
use all graphics and other content is granted provided you give
me (or the original authors/artists) credit for the work and this
copyright notice is not removed.
(c)1997, 1998 Michael J. Hammel (mjhammel@graphics-muse.org)
============================================================= !-->
<br><img SRC="../gx/hammel/mews.jpg" height=50 width=245>
<table WIDTH="100%" >
<tr>
<td ALIGN=RIGHT WIDTH="100%"><font size=-2>&copy; 1999 <a href="mailto:mjhammel@graphics-muse.org">Michael
J. Hammel</a></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR="#000000" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><img SRC="../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif" ALT="indent" align=LEFT></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table BORDER=0 COLS=3 WIDTH="100%" NOSAVE >
<tr NOSAVE>
<td ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="140" NOSAVE>
<table BORDER CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=2 COLS=1 WIDTH="100%" HEIGHT="100%" BGCOLOR="#FE992B" NOSAVE >
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="#metro-x">Metro
Link support for Rendition / Nvidia cards</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="#clickable-imagemap-release">Release
0.3 of a clickable imagemap plug-in for the Gimp</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr NOSAVE>
<td NOSAVE><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="#giram">Giram
0.0.6</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr NOSAVE>
<td ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP NOSAVE><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="#tgif">tgif
4.0.13</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="#sketch">Sketch
0.5.3</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="#kuickshow">KuickShow
0.6.3</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="#wmtune">wmtune
for bttv 1.0</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="#freedraft">FREEdraft
0.3.6</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="#grass">GRASS 5.0
beta</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="#w3c-vector-graphics">W3C
aims to streamline vector graphics</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="#netscape-flash-plugin">Netscape
Flash Plugin 0.4.3</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="#video-server">Video
Server 0.5.4</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="#poorman-cam">Poor
Man's Cam 1.1</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="#gilt">GILT 0.1.0</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="#zope">Zope 1.10pr1</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="#gview">gView 0.1.0</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
<td WIDTH="1" NOSAVE></td>
<td ALIGN=LEFT VALIGN=TOP NOSAVE>
<table BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=3 COLS=1 WIDTH="100%" NOSAVE >
<tr NOSAVE>
<td NOSAVE><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><b>Disclaimer</b>:
Before I get too far into this I should note that any of the news items
I post in this section are just that - news. Either I happened to run across
them via some mailing list I was on, via some Usenet newsgroup, or via
email from someone. I'm not necessarily endorsing these products (some
of which may be commercial), I'm just letting you know I'd heard about
them in the past month.</font></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<hr NOSHADE WIDTH="100%"></td>
</tr>
</table>
<a NAME="metro-x"></a><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>Metro
Link support for Rendition / Nvidia cards</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Colin Scott McDonald</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><i><font color="#CC6600">Metro-X</font></i>
for Linux/x86 has been updated to include new support for Nvidia Riva TNT
&amp; Riva 128 Chipsets, Rendition V2x00 chipsets, as well as improved
support for Permedia 2 based cards and Matrox G100/G200 chipsets. Current
owners of Metro-X version 4.3 can download the newest patch for free, new
customers can purchase Metro-X for $39.99.&nbsp;</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>For more information on Metro-X
and our other products for Linux, please visit our website at <a href="http://www.metrolink.com">http://www.metrolink.com</a></font></font></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="clickable-imagemap-release"></a><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>Release
0.3 of the Gimp plug-in for the creation of clickable imagemaps</font></font></b>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Available from: <a href="http://home-2.consunet.nl/~cb007736">http://home-2.consunet.nl/~cb007736</a></font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Some highlights from this
release:</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>You can now load a CSIM file
that was saved by this plug-in. Files saved by other programs may cause
problems. I haven't tested this yet.</font></font>
<ul>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Accelerators in menus</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Selection operations (move up/down,
delete, edit).</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Warning/error dialog for file
operations</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Map-name in title in main dialog</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>'target frame name' in area
settings.</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>JavaScript (onMouseover, onMouseout)
in area settings.</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Doubleclick on shape pops up
area settings dialog.</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Browse button in URL field in
area settings dialog.</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Fixed size of statusbar fields.</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Move to front/send to back</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Write image size in HTML file</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Deselect all if clicked in area
with no object.</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Implemented statusbar dimension
field</font></font></li>
<li>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Added 4 extra handles to rectangular
selection.</font></font></li>
</ul>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>The program was tested with
GTK 1.0.6 and Gimp 1.0.2.&nbsp; Compatibility with other versions is unknown.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Maurits Rijk</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="mailto:lpeek.mrijk@consunet.nl">lpeek.mrijk@consunet.nl</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="giram"></a><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>Giram
0.0.6</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>David Odin</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><i><font color="#CC6600">Giram</font></i>
Is Really A Modeller (or at least will be). It is written in GTK+ v1.1.x
(x>=7) and in an early stage of development. So far it can load and save
simple Persistance of Vision Scenes and some basic modelling tools are
already there. For now you can only use plane, sphere, box and csg objects,
with simple enough textures.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Download: <a href="ftp://ftp.minet.net/pub/giram/">ftp://ftp.minet.net/pub/giram/</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="tgif"></a><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>tgif
4.0.13</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Bill Cheng</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><i><font color="#CC6600">tgif</font></i>
is a vector-based draw tool, with the additional benefit of being sort
of a web-browser. That is, you can fetch drawings from a web server with
it, and you can make objects in your picture into hotlinks to other parts
of the drawing, or to other drawings accessible via http.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Changes: Various bugfixes,
better scrolling and zooming, new visible-grid function in slideshow.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://bourbon.cs.umd.edu:8001/tgif/">http://bourbon.cs.umd.edu:8001/tgif/</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="sketch"></a><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>Sketch
0.5.3</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Bernhard Herzog</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><i><font color="#CC6600">Sketch</font></i>
is a drawing program similar to CorelDraw or Adobe Illustrator. It is written
almost completely in python with some modules written in C, thus combining
the flexibility and power of Python with the speed of C. Advanced features
include gradient fills, clip masks, text along a path, blend groups, convert
text to curves, and more.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Changes: Rectangles may have
rounded corners now, an Illustrator export filter has been added and bezier
curves can be used as guides now.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Download: <a href="http://www.online.de/home/sketch/download.html">http://www.online.de/home/sketch/download.html</a></font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Homepage: <a href="http://www.online.de/home/sketch/">http://www.online.de/home/sketch/</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="kuickshow"></a><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>KuickShow
0.6.3</font></font></b>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>KuickShow is a fast, comfortable
and easy-to-use imagebrowser /-viewer for KDE. It is based on Imlib and
loads many imageformats pretty fast. KuickShow has a nice interface, that
allows you to browse large amounts of images in a short time. It can zoom,
mirror, rotate images, adjust brightness, contrast and gamma, auto-resize-to-fit
and can do a slideshow, of course.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Changes: Bugfixes, KDE 1.1
updates, stability improvements, and a few more filebrowser features.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Download:&nbsp; <a href="http://www.millenniumx.de/packages/kuickshow-0.6.3.tar.gz">http://www.millenniumx.de/packages/kuickshow-0.6.3.tar.gz</a></font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Homepage: <a href="http://www.millenniumx.de">http://www.millenniumx.de</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="wmtune"></a><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>wmtune
for bttv 1.0</font></font></b>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>wmtune-bttv is a radio tuner
window maker applet for all TV/radio cards supported by the Linux bttv
kernel driver. It includes presets, a timer for automatic switch on/off
and mixer support. Supports wmtune and kradio config files</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Changes: This is the initial
version.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Download: <a href="http://home.pages.de/~fionn/archive/wmtune-1.0_bttv.tar.bz2">http://home.pages.de/~fionn/archive/wmtune-1.0_bttv.tar.bz2</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="freedraft"></a><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>FREEdraft
0.3.6</font></font></b>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>FREEdraft is a 2D mechanical
cad project. It is being developed using Linux FREEdraft is likely to work
on most any other Unix/X system.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Changes: Updated for compatibility
with current library versions, bug fixes, and creeping featureism.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Homepage: <a href="http://pw2.netcom.com/~iamcliff/FREEdraft.html">http://pw2.netcom.com/~iamcliff/FREEdraft.html</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="grass"></a><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>GRASS
5.0 beta</font></font></b>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>GRASS (Geographic Resources
Analysis Support System) is a public-domain raster-based GIS, vector GIS,
image processing system, graphics production system, and spatial modeling
system.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Changes: GRASS 5.0beta represents
the first major change in GRASS functionality in several years, with the
most notable change being support for floating point and null values. GRASS
also now has a new and much easier to use windows interface based on Tcl/Tk.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Homepage: <a href="http://www.baylor.edu/~grass/">http://www.baylor.edu/~grass/</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="w3c-vector-graphics"></a><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>W3C
aims to streamline vector graphics</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>By Paul Festa</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Staff Writer, CNET News.com</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>C|Net report on work being
done at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) related to vector graphic format
proposals currently under consideration by that group.</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://news.com/News/Item/0,4,32346,00.html">http://news.com/News/Item/0,4,32346,00.html</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="netscape-flash-plugin"></a><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>Netscape
Flash Plugin 0.4.3</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Olivier Debon</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>The Flash Plugin is a Netscape
plugin that allows to view Flash files. Many commercial sites use this
format to make their site up. The Flash object also allows to navigate
through a site, therefore, without the right plugin it was impossible to
go further the "Get Shockwave" logo while running Netscape under Linux.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Homepage: <a href="http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Labyrinth/5084/flash.html">http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Labyrinth/5084/flash.html</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="video-server"></a><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>Video
Server 0.5.4</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Andrew Shuvalov</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Stony Brook Video Server
is the distributed video server application that provides indexing, searching
and video streaming in a convenient way to clients over the network. The
client may browse the complete list of movies, search closed captions and
play selected video from the beginning or from the point matching search
query.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Homepage:&nbsp; <a href="http://www.ecsl.cs.sunysb.edu/~andrew/VideoServer/videoserver/index/book1.html">http://www.ecsl.cs.sunysb.edu/~andrew/VideoServer/videoserver/index/book1.html</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="poorman-cam"></a><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>Poor
Man's Cam 1.1</font></font></b>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>PMCam is a program that allows
you to set up a webcam on a remote site through FTP and perl. It uses qcam
to grab the image, mogrify to do the conversion to JPEG, and Net::FTP in
perl to FTP the files to the server. The program's RC file should be configurable,
though to allow any camera or converison programs.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Homepage:&nbsp; <a href="http://ic.net/~craig/pmcam/">http://ic.net/~craig/pmcam/</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="gilt"></a><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>GILT
0.1.0</font></font></b>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>GILT is a vector drawing
program. It merges GIMP and openGL to be both usable and dependable. It
is currently in a pre alpha state, this means we are looking for programmers.
Current features multiple views and documents in one session layers and
guides-layers script and plugin-mechanisms planned and partially implemented
transparent object possible (due to openGL) Planed features loading of
postscript object database</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Homepage:&nbsp; <a href="http://www.vicksburg.com/~phoenix/main.html">http://www.vicksburg.com/~phoenix/main.html</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="zope"></a><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>Zope
1.10pr1</font></font></b>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Zope is a free, Open Source
web application platform used for building high-performance, dynamic web
sites. It contains a powerful and simple scripting object model and high-performance,
integrated object database.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Homepage:&nbsp; <a href="http://www.zope.org">http://www.zope.org</a></font></font>
<br>
<hr SIZE=1 NOSHADE WIDTH="100%">
<br><a NAME="gview"></a><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+1>gView
0.1.0</font></font></b>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Bruce Smith</font></font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>gView is a GTK/ImLib image
viewer with an interface similar to ACDSee.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1>Initial release.</font></font>
<br><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font size=-1><a href="http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Facilty/1468/sg/">http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Facilty/1468/sg/</a></font></font>
<table WIDTH="100%" >
<tr>
<td VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN="4" BGCOLOR="#000000" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><img SRC="../gx/hammel/cleardot.gif" ALT="indent" align=LEFT></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table WIDTH="100%" >
<tr>
<td ALIGN=RIGHT><font size=-2>&copy; 1999 by <a href="mailto:mjhammel@graphics-muse.org">Michael
J. Hammel</a></font></td>
</tr>
</table>
<H4>
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--===================================================================-->
<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">Linux Dialin Server Setup Guide</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:jgentry@swcp.com">Josh Gentry</a></H4>
</center>
<P> <HR> <P>
<B>Abstract</B>
<BR>v 1.3, 13 February 1999
<BR>This document is a step-by-step guide to setting up a Linux dialin
server which allows SLIP and PPP connections over a phone line.
<P><B>Copyright 1999 Josh Gentry</B>
<BR>I encourage redistribution of this document, non-commercial and commercial.&nbsp;
I would like to be notified of redistribution.&nbsp; You are NOT permitted
to alter the contents of this document, though I do not care about changes
in presentation.
<P><B>Acknowledgments</B>
<BR>Much of the information in this document was originally gleaned from
the following LDP HOWTOs: Linux Serial HOWTO
<BR>Linux Modem HOWTO
<BR>Linux Kernel HOWTO
<BR>Linux PPP HOWTO
<P>A great deal of information was found in Gert Doering's online documentation
for mgetty+sendfax. Additionally, the following online documents were valuable
in the configuration of AutoPPP in mgetty:
<BR><A HREF="http://members.bellatlantic.net/~mrdennis/mgetty.html">http://members.bellatlantic.net/~mrdennis/mgetty.html</A>,
Mick Dennis <A HREF="http://oh3tr.ele.tut.fi/~oh3fg/ppp/ppps.html">http://oh3tr.ele.tut.fi/~oh3fg/ppp/ppps.html</A>,
Kalevi Hautaniemi
<P>Much information on PAP was learned from Olaf Kirch's<A HREF="http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/LDP/nag/nag.html">
Linux Network Administrators' Guide</A> and the S.u.S.E. Support Data Base
(<A HREF="http://wi-pc44.fh-konstanz.de/support-db/sdb_e/kfr_17.html">http://wi-pc44.fh-konstanz.de/support-db/sdb_e/kfr_17.html</A>).
<P>The majority of the information in this document was originally gathered
for, or derived from the process of setting up a Linux RedHat 5.1 dialin
server for Mr. James Hart. He teaches at the Technical/Vocational Institute
in Albuquerque, NM. Tony Lucero was my partner on that project. Their help
and guidance were invaluable.
<P>Finally, a big thank you to all those who have aided in the development
of the Linux kernel and Linux applications. This document is my small contribution
to their effort.
<P><B>Disclaimer</B>
<BR>This document carries no explicit or implied warranty. Nor is there
any guarantee that the information contained in this document is accurate.
It is offered in the hopes of helping others, but you use it at your own
risk. The author will not be liable for any damages that occur as a result
of using this document.
<P><B>1 Introduction</B>
<P>A dialin server is a host equipped with a modem and phone line, that
allows other hosts with modems and phone lines to call and connect to it.
There are several reasons a person might want to do this; to use the resources
on the dialin server, or, if the dialin server is on a network, to use
the dialin server to access the network. Further, if this LAN is connected
to the Internet, the client may be able to access the Internet via the
dialin server.
<P><B>1.1 Raison d'&ecirc;tre</B>
<P>The majority of information needed to setup a Linux dialin server is
available in LDP HOWTOs. When I used these documents to setup such a server,
however, the fragmentary nature of the information was a major obstacle.
This document consolidates much of the needed information and presents
it as a step-by-step guide.
<P><B>1.2 This Document as Guide</B>
<P>Setting up a dialin server is a common project, but not a simple one.
This document attempts to rigorously set forth a step-by-step guide to
the process. It is likely, however, that you will need to reference additional
documents. The <A HREF="http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX.html">LDP
HOWTO</A>s listed above should be considered invaluable companions to this
document, and should be consulted in the order listed above. Furthermore,
do not neglect the documentation included with your getty and PPP packages.
<P><B>1.3 Clients and Servers</B>
<P>The protocols used to connect two hosts via a phone line are technically
peer-to-peer protocols; there is no real difference between the machine
that dials and the machine that is dialed into. Conceptually, however,
it is easier to think in client/server terms. "When you dial into a site
to establish a PPP connection, you are a client. The machine to which you
connect is the server." (<A HREF="http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/PPP-HOWTO.html">Linux
PPP HOWTO</A>, Hart) I will use this convention throughout the document.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Setting up a dialin server is the process of setting
up a machine to answer the phone, participate in the setup of a connection
with the client, and authenticate the client.
<P><B>1.4 Differences Between Linux Distributions</B>
<P>My experience is with RedHat Linux 5.1. I believe most of the information
in this document will apply to all distributions. Where I am aware of or
suspect differences between distributions, I will note it in the text.
<P><B>1.5 Software Packages Covered</B>
<P>Linux kernel v2.0.34--<A HREF="http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/INFO-SHEET.html">http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/INFO-SHEET.html</A>
<BR>mgetty+sendfax-<A HREF="http://www.leo.org/~doering/mgetty">http://www.leo.org/~doering/mgetty</A>
<BR>PPP-2.3.3-<A HREF="http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/network/serial/ppp/!INDEX">http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/network/serial/ppp/!INDEX</A>
<P><B>2 Modem Installation</B>
<P>For a host to be a dialin server, it must be physically possible to
dial into it. This requires that the host have at least one modem and phone
line. Modems are serial devices, therefor it is highly recommended that
you read the <A HREF="http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/Serial-HOWTO.html">Linux
Serial HOWTO</A>, as well as the <A HREF="http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/Modem-HOWTO.html">Linux
Modem HOWTO</A>.
<P><B>2.1 Modem Type</B>
<P>Plug-and -Play modems are not well supported by Linux. This means that
you want a jumperable modem, or an external modem. Start by asking your
vendor what brand they recommend.
<P><B>2.2 Ports</B>
<P>Serial ports, like all I/O ports, have an address.&nbsp; By default,
Linux initializes four serial devices.&nbsp; Some may be familiar with
these ports as Microsoft refers to them, COM 1-4.&nbsp; In Linux these
ports are referred to as ttyS0-ttyS3.&nbsp; For example, the port known
to Microsoft as COM 1, would be known to Linux as ttyS0.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Note that if you use use a port address other than
these four, you will have to initialize that port with "setserial."&nbsp;
See the "setserial" man page.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; External modems plug into external serial ports
(RS-232 ports) on your PC.&nbsp; These ports are automatically assigned
an address by Linux.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Internal modems plug into the internal PCI or ISA
slots of your PC.&nbsp; An internal modem is actually a modem and a serial
port.&nbsp; It carries its own, and it is the modem's serial port that
you plug into the internal slot.&nbsp; For these modems, you set the port
address on the modem.&nbsp; This is why you want a jumperable modem.&nbsp;
You use the jumpers to manually set address and IRQ.&nbsp; The prepriatorial
modem documentation should explain how to set the jumpers for port address
and IRQ.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Note, if your PC has two external serial (RS-232)
ports, as most PC's do, the Linux Modem HOW-TO recommends setting your
internal modem address to ttyS2 or higher.
<P><B>3 Kernel Support</B>
<P>This is the part of the process most likely to scare those new to Linux.
It scared me. Turns out not to be as difficult as you think, and if you
do make a mistake, you can usually just recompile your kernel again. You
should now read the <A HREF="http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/Kernel-HOWTO.html">Linux
Kernel HOWTO</A>.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There is an alternative to compiling
the PPP driver into the kernel.&nbsp; You can install the driver as a loadable
module.&nbsp; The advantages of this are that your kernel is smaller, and
it is not necessary to recompile.&nbsp; The PPP driver is linked to the
kernel and loaded into memory space only when it is needed.&nbsp; I believe
the argument for compiling the driver into the kernel is that PPP does
execute faster if it is compiled into the kernel.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; You can link the loadable module to the kernel by
recompiling the kernel as described below, but as Matt Kressel has pointed
out to me, if you have the "insmod" command installed on your system, it
is not neccessary to recompile.&nbsp; Issue the command "insmod ppp" to
install the PPP driver as a loadable module.&nbsp; I found that I had to
"insmod slhc" before I could successfully install PPP with "insmod ppp".&nbsp;
I am not sure why, but "insmod ppp" would not work without the slhc module.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The command "lsmod" lists the loadable modules currently
installed on the system.&nbsp; There is also a command for removing modules.&nbsp;
If these commands are installed on your system, then you should also have
the man pages.&nbsp; Do a "man insmod" for more information.
<P><B>3.1 Kernel and Source Code</B>
<P>The kernel is a binary, an executable program. Developers do not write
the kernel as an executable, they write code that is fed into a compiler,
and the compiler produces the executable from that source code.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; With Linux, you have the source code that is used
to produce the kernel executable. This means that you can customize your
kernel to include only the capabilities that you need, creating a leaner,
meaner kernel. Because of this, you can not assume that a kernel includes
support for specialized tasks, such as those required for networking. You
will have to check and see, and if your kernel does not contain the necessary
support, you will have to recompile your kernel.
<P><B>3.2 Recompiling the Kernel</B>
<P>To compile the kernel, you create a configuration file. You can check
your current configuration file to see if needed capabilities are already
compiled into your kernel.
<BR>Most dialin servers will be hosts on a LAN. This document assumes that
the host is already configured as part of the LAN. If this is not the case,
you should reference other documents at the LDP before continuing, such
as the Linux Network Administrators' Guide.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I prefer to use xconfig. It is a graphical tool
for viewing and modifying the kernel configuration file. It requires that
you have X-windows installed and running, and that you have Tk installed.
<BR>In xconfig you will find the options for SLIP and PPP support in the
category "Network devices." These have to be supported for a SLIP and PPP
dialin server.&nbsp; If the server will provide access to a network, the
kernel must include support for IP forwarding. In xconfig this is found
in the category "Network options."
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If you must recompile the kernel, it is highly recommended
that you read the <A HREF="http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/Kernel-HOWTO.html">Linux
Kernel HOWTO</A>. These are the basic steps:
<P>1.&nbsp; Make a copy of your present kernel in case of emergency
<BR>2.&nbsp; cd /usr/src/linux-(kernel version number)
<BR>3.&nbsp; Issue the command "make config". If you are running X-windows
you can try "make xconfig" to use a point-and-click interface for this
process.
<BR>4.&nbsp; Say "yes" to all the proper networking options: SLIP, PPP,
IP forwarding, etc (your LAN network configuration should already be configured).
<BR>5.&nbsp; Save and exit
<BR>6.&nbsp; Issue the command "make dep"
<BR>7.&nbsp; Issue the command "make clean"
<BR>8.&nbsp; Issue the command "make zImage"
<BR>9.&nbsp; cd /usr/src/linux-(kernel version number)/arch/i386/boot
<BR>10. cp zImage /vmlinuz (or wherever your kernel resides)
<BR>11. Issue the command "lilo"
<P>That should do it.&nbsp; The Linux Kernel HOWTO states that you should
be able to issue the command "make zlilo" after you have made the zImage,
and that making zlilo will copy and install the new kernel for you.&nbsp;
This did not work on my system, however.
<P><B>4 gettys</B>
<P>You will need a getty that can handle modem communications. Once started,
usually from inittab, the getty runs as a background process. Your modem
getty will be idle until the modem receives a call, at which point it will
"answer" the phone and negotiate the specifics of modem-to-modem communication
with the client. There are several gettys that can be used for this task.
<BR>This document covers the usage of mgetty. You can acquire the mgetty+sendfax
package and official documentation at Gert Doering's website, http://www.leo.org/~doering/mgetty.
It was included with RedHat 5.1 and lived in /sbin/mgetty and /etc/mgetty+sendfax.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Note that anytime you see something like "/sbin/mgetty"
that it is simply the path to the file. Files may be located in different
locations in the directory structure on different machines, and possibly
with different distributions. Therefor, the path to the file would be different.
You will need to verify the location of the necessary files on your system.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There are many options for mgetty that you can edit
to your desired configuration, most importantly in /etc/mgetty+sendfax/mgetty.config.
Refer to the mgetty documentation if you need to make changes to the default
settings. The default settings worked for us. If you wish to enable AutoPPP,
you will need to edit /etc/mgetty+sendfax/login.config. Detailed instructions
on that task appear later in this section.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; To start mgetty, edit /etc/inittab. Here is another
point where the serial and modem HOWTOs are helpful. You must tell mgetty
which serial port to monitor. In Linux these ports are numbered 0-3, and
named ttyS* for dialin. For a modem we installed on the third internal
port, we added this line to /etc/inittab:
<P>S2:2345:respawn:/sbin/mgetty ttyS2 -D /dev/ttyS2
<P>The option "-D" tells mgetty to expect data only, no faxes. After this
use the command "kill -1 1" to force initd to re-read inittab. This will
cause mgetty to be started.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Note that if you use a multi-port serial board,
those ports might be named differently than the four ports Linux initializes
by default. In his excellent document on mgetty and AutoPPP, Mick Dennis
reports naming the ports on his Cyclade Cyclom 16YeP as /dev/ttyC*.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Using the default settings, mgetty negotiates a
SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) connection and allows authentication
via /etc/passwd. This is a functional system that allows a user to login
to a shell account. If desired, a mechanism can be provided to allow users
to start pppd after logging in over there SLIP connection. First, make
sure that all users have permission to execute pppd by issuing the command:
<P>chmod u+s /usr/sbin/pppd
<P>Next, add this line to /etc/bashrc:
<P>alias ppp="exec /usr/sbin/pppd -detach"
<P>This way, after the user has logged in over the SLIP connection, they
can start pppd by typing "ppp." This procedure is taken from Robert Hart's
Linux PPP HOWTO.
<BR>Another option is to create a PPP account. The entry in /etc/passwd
might look like this:
<P>ppp:x:351:230:pppclient:/home/ppp:/usr/sbin/pppd
<P>When a user connects they simply login as "ppp." Once they provide the
password, pppd starts automatically.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For Microsoft clients to work with this setup, the
client must be configured to provide a terminal screen after connection.
This is not a default setting. These are the steps to do it in Windows
95:
<P>1. Click on My Computer
<BR>2. Click on Dial-Up Networking
<BR>3. Right-click on the icon for the connection
<BR>4. Click on Properties
<BR>5. Click on Configure
<BR>6. Click on Options
<BR>7. Click box next to "Bring up terminal window after dialing"
<P><B>4.1 AutoPPP and mgetty</B>
<P>Most Windows users will not like the requirement to use a login screen
after connecting to the server. It is possible for the system administrator
to remove this annoying extra step by using mgetty's ability to start pppd
upon initiating a connection. To do this, you enable AutoPPP.
<P><B>4.2 Compiling mgetty</B>
<P>Note:&nbsp; I have been told by several people, that when they chose
to install mgetty from their Redhat 5.2 distribution mgetty was automatically
compiled to include AutoPPP.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For AutoPPP to function, you must edit the makefile
before compiling. On or near line 110 you will need this:
<P>CFLAGS=-02 -Wall -pipe -DAUTO_PPP
<P>After that edit, compile mgetty according to the mgetty documentation
instructions.
<BR>Next, you edit /etc/mgetty+sendfax/login.config to look like this around
line 50:
<P>/AutoPPP/ - - /usr/sbin/pppd file /etc/ppp/options.server
<P>Once you have completed this configuration, mgetty will automatically
start pppd when it receives the LCP configure request. (For more on LCP
read the pppd man page.) The "file" option tells pppd to read the file
/etc/ppp/options.server instead of the default /etc/ppp/options. Since
pppd uses /etc/ppp/options for acting as a client or server by default
(remember, it is technically peer-to-peer), using this option helps keep
the desired options for acting as client or server separate.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Assuming that you have edited /etc/mgetty+sendfax/mgetty.config
to your preferences, you are done.&nbsp; Note that in every instance that
you change the options for a process, the process will have to be restarted
before the new options can take affect.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Note:&nbsp; If you wish to be able to dial out with
a modem that is being monitored by mgetty, you will need to pay attention
to what device your communications program uses.&nbsp; See <A HREF="http://www.leo.org/~doering/mgetty/mgetty_10.html#SEC10">http://www.leo.org/~doering/mgetty/mgetty_10.html#SEC10</A>
<P><B>5 PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol)</B>
<P>The Point-to-Point Protocol is the most popular protocol used for connecting
hosts by phone line.
<P><B>5.1 Compiling pppd</B>
<P>Adhere to the PPP package documentation. If you will be using shadow
passwords, you will need to use the following command:
<P>make HAS_SHADOW=1
<P>To use the MS-DNS option for Windows compatibility, and shadow, use:
<P>make USE_MS_DNS=1 HAS_SHADOW=1
<P>For more on this, see <A HREF="http://oh3tr.ele.tut.fi/~oh3fg/ppp/ppps.html">http://oh3tr.ele.tut.fi/~oh3fg/ppp/ppps.html.</A>
<P><B>5.2 Configuring pppd</B>
<P>PPP is configured by editing the options files read by pppd in /etc/ppp.
Remember that in this configuration pppd will read /etc/ppp/options.server
when it is started by mgetty. The most complete list of pppd options I
have found is in the pppd man page. If you do not use PAP or CHAP, your
file /etc/ppp/options.server might look like this:
<P>-detach
<BR>asyncmap 0
<BR>modem
<BR>crtscts
<BR>lock
<BR>proxyarp
<BR>ms-dns aa.bb.cc.dd
<BR>ms-dns ee.ff.gg.hh
<P>-detach-do not fork to become a background process
<BR>asyncmap 0-to allow pppd to work over a rlogin/telnet connection
<BR>modem-use the modem control lines
<BR>crtscts-use hardware flow control
<BR>lock-specifies that pppd use the UUCP-style lock on the serial device
<BR>proxyarp-adds an entry into the ARP table with the IP address of the
client and the IP address of the NIC
<BR>ms-dns-specifies the address of the DNS server to be used by Microsoft
clients (As far as I know, there is now equivelent option for non-Microsoft
clients.&nbsp; A Linux client must have the address of the DNS in /etc/hosts.)
<P><B>5.3 Configuring + PAP</B>
<P>PAP (Password Authentication Protocol) is one of the two protocols that
PPP uses to authenticate peers. The other is CHAP (Challenge Handshake
Authentication Protocol). CHAP is a more secure protocol, but is not as
widely supported as PAP. Thus, this document addresses the use of PAP,
only. For more information on both PAP and CHAP, see Olaf Kirch's Linux
Network Administrators' Guide.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Since PPP is technically a peer-to-peer protocol,
PAP allows two-way authentication. This means that not only the "server"
can request the "client" to authenticate itself, but the reverse is also
true. The "client" can require the "server" to authenticate itself. In
practice, this in not often done. Most PPP servers are not configured to
authenticate themselves to clients.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It is not difficult to configure your PPP server
to use PAP. To the /etc/ppp/options.server file above, simply add the following
entry:
<P>require-pap
<BR>refuse-chap
<P>With this configuration, pppd will check client login names and passwords
against the file /etc/ppp/pap-secrets. The client will be granted access
only if it matches an entry I /etc/ppp/pap-secrets. Example:
<P>#user&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; server&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; secret&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
addrs
<BR>jdoe&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
password&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; *
<P>If the "server" and "addrs" fields are filled in, then the client will
only be granted access if the login name and password are sent from the
designated server and IP address/fully qualified domain name.
<P><B>5.4 PAP using /etc/password</B>
<P>If you do not wish to create an entry in /etc/ppp/pap-secrets for each
client allowed PPP access, you can instruct pppd to check login names and
passwords against /etc/passwd instead of /etc/ppp/pap-secrets. Add the
option "login" to /etc/ppp/options.server. For this configuration, your
/etc/ppp/options.server file will look like this:
<P>-detach
<BR>asyncmap 0
<BR>modem
<BR>crtscts
<BR>lock
<BR>require-pap
<BR>refuse-chap
<BR>login
<BR>proxyarp
<BR>ms-dns aa.bb.cc.dd
<BR>ms-dns ee.ff.gg.hh
<P>If the "login" option is used, the file /etc/ppp/pap-secrets need not
exist. In fact, it might interfere with the proper functioning of PAP.
You can remove the file, or it can contain the following line:
<P>* * ""
<P>The advantage of maintaining /etc/ppp/pap-secrets with this line is
that it leaves you the option of denying PPP access to individual accounts
that have entries in /etc/passwd. To do so, below the above line, enter
the following line:
<P>username * -
<P>where "username" is the username of the account you wish to deny PPP
access. Example:
<P>#user&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; server&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
secret&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; addrs
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
""&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
*
<BR>jdoe&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
*
<P><B>5.5 IP Address Allocation with PPP</B>
<P>For PPP to work, the client must have an IP address. Most dialin clients
will not have their own IP address, so it is necessary to assign an IP
address to the serial port that the client connects through.
<BR>Earlier, we created a PPP options file that specifies the configuration
of PPP connections the server will provide, /etc/ppp/options.server. It
is also possible to create an options file that is specific to connections
made through a specified serial port. For example, to create a file for
ttyS2, your create the file /etc/ppp/options.ttyS2.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One of the options that can be defined in such a
file is IP address assigned to the port for PPP connections. This is the
format for this option:
<P>ii.jj.kk.ll:mm.nn.oo.pp
<P>The first IP address, from left to right, is the IP address of the server.
The second IP address is the IP address assigned to the serial port for
PPP connections.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Note, it is extremely important that you verify
that the IP address you assign to the serial port is a valid IP address
on your subnet, and that it is not assigned to any other device on the
network.
<P><B>6 Congratulations</B>
<P>You are done.
<BR>&nbsp;
<P>Feed back on this document is appreciated:&nbsp; email&nbsp; <A HREF="mailto:jgentry@swcp.com">jgentry@swcp.com</A>
<!--===================================================================-->
<P> <hr> <P>
<center><H5>Copyright &copy; 1999, Josh Gentry <BR>
Published in Issue 38 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, March 1999</H5></center>
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<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">Linux Installation Primer, Part Seven Version 1999.02.14</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:rjenkins@qni.com">Ron Jenkins</a></H4>
</center>
<P> <HR> <P>
<P><FONT SIZE=-1><B>Copyright </B><FONT FACE="Symbol">&Oacute;</FONT><FONT FACE="Courier New">
1998, 1999 by Ron Jenkins. This work is provided on an "as is" basis. The
author provides no warranty whatsoever, either express or implied, regarding
the work, including warranties with respect to its merchantability or fitness
for any particular purpose.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>The author welcomes corrections
and suggestions. He can be reached by electronic mail at <A HREF="mailto:rjenkins@qni.com">rjenkins@qni.com</A>,
or at his personal homepage: <A HREF="http://www.qni.com/~rjenkins/">http://www.qni.com/~rjenkins/</A>.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Corrections, as well as updated
versions of all of the author's works may be found at the URL listed above.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>NOTE: As you can see, I am moving
to a new ISP. Please bear with me as I get everything in working order.
The e-mail address is functional; the web site is semi operational, I will
add to it as I get the time.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>SPECIAL NOTE: Due to the quantity
of correspondence I receive, if you are submitting a question or request
for problem resolution, please see my homepage listed above for suggestions
on information to provide.</FONT></FONT>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Operating Systems Covered/Supported:</FONT></FONT></B>
<BR><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Slackware version 3.6</FONT></FONT></B>
<BR><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>RedHat version 5.1</FONT></FONT></B>
<BR><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Windows NT Server version
4.0</FONT></FONT></B>
<BR><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Windows NT Workstation version
4.0</FONT></FONT></B>
<P><B><I><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>I only test my columns
on the operating systems specified. I don?t have access to a MAC, I don?t
use Windows 95, and have no plans to use Windows 98. If someone would care
to provide equivalent instructions for any of the above operating systems,
I will be happy to include them in my documents.</FONT></FONT></I></B>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Part Seven: Internet Gateway
performance tuning and tips</FONT></FONT></B>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>In a continuation of last month's
column, we will look at some ideas, tips and tricks to improve the performance
of our Internet Gateway, as well as some advanced configuration options.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>As with each installment of this
series, there will be some operations required by each distribution that
may or may not be different in another. I will diverge from the generalized
information when necessary, as always.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>In this installment, I will cover
the following topics:</FONT></FONT>
<UL>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Overview of Performance tuning and
enhancement.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Techniques for performance enhancement.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>WAN connection upgrades.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Hardware upgrades.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Software upgrades.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Caching options.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>General tips and tricks.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>References.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Resources for further information.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>About the Author.</FONT></FONT></LI>
</UL>
<B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Assumptions applicable to this
column:</FONT></FONT></B>
<BR><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>It is assumed you have read
my previous installments in this series, if not, I suggest you review them
first if you find any of the terms or concepts here confusing.</FONT></FONT></B>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Also, throughout the article,
I shall use the term WAN connection and PPP connection interchangeably.</FONT></FONT></B>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Overview of Performance tuning
and enhancement:</FONT></FONT></B>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Performance enhancement, like
any other project, requires an analysis of the cost of the enhancement
versus the amount of improvement.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>What we will endeavor to accomplish
here is to improve the performance of our gateway, using a variety of techniques,
while keeping the additional cost as low as possible.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>For any method suggested here,
there will be a trade off. Some of the following suggestions may or may
not be applicable to your own unique situation.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Some of these techniques will
provide a real, measurable, and noticeable improvement, while others will
only become apparent through long term analysis, or examination of various
statistical reporting methods available to you. The ability to accurately
measure the performance of your gateway machine is essential to effective
tuning.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>As we go along and become familiar
with each technique, I will also introduce appropriate methods of measuring
these techniques, and therefore accurately measure the amount or percentage
of improvement.</FONT></FONT>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Techniques for performance
enhancement:</FONT></FONT></B>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Although some of the ideas and
techniques discussed here will be applicable to other types of machines,
such as file servers and workstations, the primary focus of this column
will be geared toward the specific enhancement of gateway machines.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>In the context of this assumption,
the following techniques, in descending order of importance will provide
the most improvement in the operation and speed of the gateway machine:</FONT></FONT>
<OL>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>WAN connection upgrades.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Hardware upgrades.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Software upgrades.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Caching options.</FONT></FONT></LI>
</OL>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Finally, I will discuss some general
tips and tricks for measuring the performance of your gateway, as well
as some ideas for areas of improvement.</FONT></FONT>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>WAN connection upgrades:</FONT></FONT></B>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>The single most effective method
for increasing the performance of your Internet Gateway is to upgrade the
speed of your connection to the Internet.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>This can take the form of a dedicated
or dialup connection in most cases. Some of the options you may want to
consider include:</FONT></FONT>
<UL>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Many ISP's offer "dual modem" service.
This is a technique whereby the two individual modem connections are "bound"
together using multi-link PPP. The performance enhancement is slightly
less than the sum of the two individual connections.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>56K modems, provided they are not
software modems, more commonly known as "WinModems," may be an option.
I have been told by one of my readers that the external models work well,
and if the internal model is NOT a soft modem as described above, it should
work as well. (Thanks go to Gerald McGlew for setting me straight on this
information.)</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Presently, an Integrated Services
Digital Network (ISDN) line, commonly known as a Basic Rate Interface,
or BRI, is one of the best ways to remarkably improve the performance of
your Gateway machine. In my area, an ISDN line, with unlimited usage, costs
about $80.00 per month. The cost for a dial up ISDN connection in my area
is about $50.00 total cost (line charge + ISP access) ~$130.00.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Another possibility would be a cable
modem, although I know very little about these devices, as they are not
available in my area, so I do not know how cost effective they are.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>In some areas of the country, Digital
Satellite Network systems are available. These work well, as long as you
have a clear path to the satellite. However, the satellite connection is
only unidirectional, meaning that it only moves FROM the remote station
TO your PC. This is called the downlink. A separate method of access is
required for the uplink, or your requests TO the remote network. This can
be anything from a simple modem to a dedicated connection.</FONT></FONT></LI>
</UL>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Measuring the performance of your
WAN connection -</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>There are several programs and
utilities that can help you here, one that I use quite a bit is a program
called netwatch, which is handy for general monitoring of your network
and the speed of your router (your Internet gateway.) This utility is not
provided as part of the normal distribution of RedHat, but is included
with Slackware 3.6. There is an RPM of an older version available at any
of the RedHat mirror sites, in the /powertools/ directory.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>For checking the real time condition
of your WAN connection, as well as the effectiveness of any compression
options you may be using, pppstats is very helpful. This utility should
be available on both Slackware and RedHat machines.</FONT></FONT>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Hardware upgrades:</FONT></FONT></B>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>To improve the performance of
your local network access, RAM and disk subsystems are king. Provided your
motherboard has sufficient cache to handle it, put as much RAM as you can
afford in your server and gateway machines.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Another crucial area is the disk
subsystem. Although there have been significant advances in ATA technology,
such as EIDE, UDMA, and so on, the standard for heavy, continuous use and
high performance is still the Small Computer Systems Interface, or SCSI
device.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>It is important to note that
IDE drives are SEQUENTIAL access devices, meaning each request for information
must "stand in line" and wait for it's turn. SCSI drives are CONCURRENT
access devices, meaning multiple requests can be serviced simultaneously.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>While the price differential
between IDE devices and comparable SCSI devices was prohibitive in the
past, at the preset time, the difference is negligible. Consider Ultra
(20MBS) drives a minimum, Ultra Wide (40MBS) drives better.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>A SCSI subsystem is comprised
of four basic parts</FONT></FONT>
<UL>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>the host adapter, or card that is
inserted in your PC and coordinates all communication between the SCSI
devices and your computer.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>The SCSI bus, upon which all the
data interchange takes place. Usually a 40 or 50 pin cable, depending on
the speed of the host.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>The SCSI devices, which may include
disks, scanners, tape drives, and many other devices. The number of devices
allowed on a given bus depends on the speed of the host as well, but is
not limited to four devices, like a comparable IDE bus.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>The termination devices. Like the
bus network we discussed in December, a SCSI bus requires termination at
both ends, just like a 10BASE2 coaxial network. The termination can be
active or passive, and may or may not require an additional device to be
attached, especially on external SCSI devices.</FONT></FONT></LI>
</UL>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>You may notice I do not mention
U2W devices here. The support for these devices, as far as I know, is still
in the development stage, so I would wait awhile on these devices. Besides,
they are waaaaay expensive!</FONT></FONT>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>NOTE: Unless you are planning
on implementing some of the caching techniques described below, a disk
subsystem upgrade will not provide a noticeable performance enhancement.</FONT></FONT></B>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Simple routing and masquerading
are done in the kernel, on the fly, causing minimal interaction with the
disk.</FONT></FONT></B>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>However, if the machine also
doubles as a file server, web server, or something other than just an Internet
Gateway, then it is worth considering.</FONT></FONT></B>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Software upgrades:</FONT></FONT></B>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>In the area of software enhancements,
here are some options to consider:</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>PPP Software - You may want to
consider upgrading your PPP software if your distribution does not contain
PPP version 2.3.0 or greater.&nbsp; This version contains support for the
demand dialing option, thus eliminating the need for diald or any such
extra stuff.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>It also supports a more robust
scripting method based on ppp-xx scripts, usually prepared at installation
time and requiring only some editing to make them functional. These files
are usually located in /etc/ppp and/or /usr/sbin.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Data Compression - A comprehensive
explanation of Data compression theory is beyond the scope of this article,
so briefly, here is an overview of compression methods and how they can
improve the apparent speed with which traffic flows through your WAN interface.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Van Jacobson (VJ) Compression
- This is enabled by default in most Linux distributions of the PPP daemon.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>BSD Compression (bsdcomp) - Another
compression scheme, usually disabled by default. You will be required to
load a module, or re-compile the kernel to include support for this.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Deflate Compression - Yet another
compression scheme, also disabled by default.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Any one of, and/or combination
of these compression schemes may or may not improve the apparent performance
of your PPP connection. To enable, disable, or adjust the parameters for
any or all of these compression schemes, see the pppd man pages. Experiment
with them, using netwatch to measure any speed changes, and pppstats to
measure the amount of compression.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>BIND - The Berkley Internet Name
Daemon (BIND), commonly called named, is the service responsible for hostname
to IP address translation on the Internet, most often referred to as Domain
Name Service, or DNS<B>**</B>.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>While it is impractical to run
your own full blown DNS server (unless of course you have your own domain,
and a block of assigned IP's,) It can be helpful to run what is known as
a "caching only" nameserver.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Whenever you request an object
on the Internet, whether it be a web page, ftp site, news server, or whatever,
you usually issue the request in the form of a hostname/path_to_object/
format. When your request goes out, it is handed off to the DNS server
specified in your resolv.conf file first.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Since the DNS system is hierarchical,
like an upside down pyramid, with the point on the bottom being the DNS
machine in your resolv.conf file, your DNS machine only knows about machines
local to it's own network<B>*</B>, in this case, your ISP's. This information
is contained in what are known as "zone" files, which are simply ASCII
text files that list information about a "zone" or domain in a standardized
format.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>If the request cannot be resolved
by this machine, it then consults the next higher machine in the pyramid,
as so on until ultimately, if necessary, the query reaches the "root.servers"
responsible for all the *.com, *.edu, *.net domains and so on.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Finally, at some point, after
much communication back and forth across the WAN connection, the hostname
you requested will be converted into an IP address, and sent back to your
computer.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Clearly, there's a significant
amount of communication going on in the background to let us meat based
computing devices do the "dub dub dub" deal.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>What a caching nameserver does
simply put, is to "remember" these name to IP resolutions for a period
of time, so the next time a particular object is requested, the nameserver
can service the request locally, without having to go outside the local
network. This is way cool for two reasons. It makes name resolution appear
much faster, and reduces traffic on the WAN.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>The downside to this is that
each initial, or "new" request will take slightly longer to return to your
computer. As I said before, everything is a trade off. Usually, the latency
is nominal. This technique is almost always a good idea.</FONT></FONT>
<DIR>
<DIR><B><I><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>* Well sort of. It is
possible for your ISP to be aware of other networks beyond the ones contained
in the root.servers file, but this is irrelevant in the scenario we are
discussing here.</FONT></FONT></I></B>
<P><B><I><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>** Actually, BIND is comprised
of a number of programs, each performing a specific function. The most
important piece of the puzzle is the resolver.</FONT></FONT></I></B></DIR>
</DIR>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Apache - The Apache http server
contains provisions for enabling some caching options, thus reducing WAN
traffic. Check the Apache documentation for more information.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Squid - This is a web proxy/caching
software suite that is infinitely configurable, and supports many services.
To find out more about Squid, and whether it is right for your particular
installation, see the resources section at the end of this document.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Leafnode - This is a replacement
for the Network News Transport Protocol (NNTP) server usually used in most
UNIX installations. It is small, easy to configure, and takes up a fraction
of the disk space of the normal Internet News (INN) software. The trade
off is that it does not scale well, and can really tie up your WAN connection
when it initially downloads the articles available from the newsgroups
you have selected (See the cron section of the General Tips and Tricks
for some ways to minimize this congestion.) To find out more about Leafnode,
and whether it is right for your particular installation, see the resources
section at the end of this document.</FONT></FONT>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Caching options:</FONT></FONT></B>
<UL>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Advantages of cache options - Whenever
you are able to store a document (such as a web page or news article,)
or a data object (such as a name to IP resolution,) locally, this allows
your gateway to service your request locally, thus reducing the amount
of traffic across your WAN (PPP) connection. This is a good thing, because
the apparent speed with which your request is serviced is greatly increased,
while the WAN connection is left available for other requests and tasks.
Additionally, if you have the disk space for it, spooling your own news
is a great idea as well. This allows local network access to your Usenet
spool, and keeps the download (usually called a fetch or suck because it
sucks up all your bandwidth,) on the local net, and off the WAN.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Disadvantages of cache options -
However, there is a tradeoff involved here. This type of caching works
best for documents and data that are considered "static" or infrequently
changed. Depending on the expiry parameter set for your caching service
(the amount of time a document or object resides locally on your machine
before it is considered "stale" and deleted,) you may find yourself looking
at "yesterday's news." This is primarily a concern in the web caching area,
less so in the news although your articles will not be refreshed in "real
time", and negligible in the nameserver.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Configuration of a caching only
name server - BIND may or may not be installed on your machine already,
depending on your choices at installation time. If your distribution does
not contain BIND version 8.1.x or greater, I strongly recommend you upgrade.
The 4.x.x version are no longer in development, and the added features
included in the 8.x.x version, such as dynamic zone transfers, and simplified
configuration, make it worth the upgrade. See the resources section for
the URL of the Internet Software Consortium (ISC) which develops and maintains
BIND.</FONT></FONT></LI>
</UL>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Slackware 3.6 - The Slackware distribution
will require you to do a little work to enable the nameserver. This is
really a good thing, because when you set it up yourself, you will be better
equipped with more of an understanding of how the process works, and therefore,
how to diagnose and correct problems when they develop.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>First, you will need a directory
called /var/named. If it is not already there, create it.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Next, you will need a file containing
listings of all the root servers, and a file that serves as your local
information, or "zone" file. These files should be named root.cache, and
127.0.0, respectively. Examples of these two files may be found in the
DNS-HOWTO, or the Cricket book listed in the resources section.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Finally, you will need a named.conf
file, which passes the start up options to BIND. For a caching nameserver,
it should look something like the following:</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>// Config file for caching only
name server</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>options {</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>directory "var/named";</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>//Uncomment the line below if
you are behind a</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>//firewall, and you can?t get
things to work:</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>// query-source port 53;</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>};</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>zone "." {</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>type hint;</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>file "root.cache";</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>};</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>zone "0.0.127.in-addr.arpa"
{</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>type master;</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>file "127.0.0";</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>};</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>// End Config file example</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Those of you who are familiar
with the C/C++ programming language will notice the similarity of the syntax
of the named.conf file.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Briefly, the first section delineates
the working directory, the second section tells the resolver where to look
for the root servers file, and the last section is your "zone" file. This
file should live in the /etc directory.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Finally, edit your resolv.conf
file on the gateway machine to point first to itself, then to your ISP
for name resolution:</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>search <A HREF="http://home.net/">home.net</A></FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>nameserver 127.0.0.1</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>nameserver &lt;your ISP primary
DNS></FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>nameserver &lt;your ISP secondary
DNS></FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Then finish up by pointing all
your <A HREF="http://home.net/">home.net</A> clients to the gateway for
resolution:</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>search <A HREF="http://home.net/">home.net</A></FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>nameserver 192.168.1.1</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>RedHat 5.x - when you install
the RPM, it automagically should install as a caching server. If not, then
see above for the required files and proper named.conf examples.</FONT></FONT>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>General tips and tricks:</FONT></FONT></B>
<UL>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Late night cron tricks - Cron (short
for chronometer,) is a more user friendly (supposedly ;-)) front end to
the at daemon. This daemon allows the unattended execution of scripts and
commands on precise days at specific times. This is very handy for automating
many of the drudge tasks inherent on a UNIX box, such as log rotation,
ftp jobs, or in our case, news and caching server functions. This information
is contained in files called crontab files. There may or may not be more
than one of these files present on your system, depending on how it was
set up at installation, and how many users you may have. This file or files
live in the /var/spool/cron/crontabs directory.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Automating function's with cron
- To edit, or add an entry in the crontab file, use the command - crontab
-e &lt;return>. Once the file is open, entries are made in the format &lt;minutes>
&lt;hours> &lt;days> &lt;weeks> &lt;months> commands. Null entries are
represented by an asterix (*). For an example, you will probably want to
schedule your leafnode newsfeeds, as well as any extensive cache downloads
in the early hours of the morning when you have the least amount of users
on the system. To start the newsfeed (fetch) every morning at 4:00 a.m.,
the entry would be:</FONT></FONT></LI>
</UL>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
0 4 * * * /usr/sbin/fetch</FONT></FONT>
<UL>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Calling scripts from cron - There
will be times when you want to execute a series of commands, or pass many
options to one or more commands, and entering them over and over at the
command line becomes a bummer. Enter shell programming. This is nothing
more than a file that contains a series of commands to be executed, then
exited after the last command is done. This is handy for any number of
things. Indeed, the unicom file from last month is a shell script. As an
example, say you wanted to remove your wtmp file, and create a new one
every hour. The script for this might look something like:</FONT></FONT></LI>
</UL>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>#!/bin/sh #all scripts should start
with your preferred shell</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>rm -f /var/log/wtmp #this removes
the old file</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>touch /var/log/wtmp #this creates
the new file</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>echo "wtmp cleaned" > /var/log/wtmp.log
#this just lets me know the script ran</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Shell scripts can be created
using any of the many text editors available on your Linux system. Let?s
say we named this file wtmpclean. To make it executable by the system,
simply issue the chmod command:</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>chmod +x wtmpclean</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>To call this script from cron,
and have it run every hour, your crontab entry would be something like:</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>0 * * * * /usr/sbin/wtmpclean</FONT></FONT>
<UL>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Browser cache settings - Netscape
has a feature that allows you to adjust the size and behavior of your browser?s
disk and memory cache. These are areas set aside on your disk and in RAM
to "keep" your most recently requested browser objects, like an html page,
a .gif or .jpg file, etc. To adjust these settings, from the Netscape menu
bar choose Edit/Preferences/Advanced/Cache, Subject to RAM and disk space
limitations, you can increase/decrease the size of your Disk and Memory
cache, and choose how frequently your browser will go out across the WAN
to compare the document in the cache to the document at it?s original location.
Keep in mind the limitations mentioned previously. This is probably best
set to "Once per session" unless you are trading stocks or something that
requires frequent updates.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Tweaking your modem - Most modems
have extra features available that may or may not improve the performance
and behavior of your modem. Check the manufacturer?s documentation and
experiment.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI>
<FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Data line conditioning - For a small
additional monthly charge, you can have the phone company "condition" your
line, or optimize it for data versus voice communications. This may or
may not be useful to you, it is usually most helpful if you are in a rural
area, or some other area that experiences excessive static or degradation
of line quality.</FONT></FONT></LI>
</UL>
<B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>References:</FONT></FONT></B>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Previous Columns:</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Parts 4,5, and 6.</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Other:</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Pppd man pages</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Cron man pages</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Leafnode man pages</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>PPP HOW-TO</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>SERIAL HOW-TO</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>DNS-HOWTO</FONT></FONT>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Resources for further information:</FONT></FONT></B>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Web Resources:</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1><A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">http://www.redhat.com/</A></FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1><A HREF="http://www.slackware.com/">http://www.slackware.com/</A></FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1><A HREF="http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/">http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/</A></FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1><A HREF="http://www.linuxresources.com/">http://www.linuxresources.com/</A></FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1><A HREF="http://metalab.unc.edu/">http://metalab.unc.edu/</A></FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1><A HREF="http://www.isc.org/">http://www.isc.org/</A></FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1><A HREF="http://www.apache.org/">http://www.apache.org/</A></FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Squid Software:</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1><A HREF="http://squid.nlanr.net/">http://squid.nlanr.net</A></FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Leafnode Software:</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1><A HREF="http://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de/~krasel/leafnode.html">http://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de/~krasel/leafnode.html</A></FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Netwatch software:</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1><A HREF="ftp://ftp.slctech.org/pub/">ftp://ftp.slctech.org/pub/</A></FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Newsgroups:</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>alt.unix.wizards</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>comp.security.unix</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>comp.unix.admin</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>alt.os.linux.slackware</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>comp.os.linux.networking</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>comp.os.linux.hardware</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>linux.redhat.misc</FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>Print Materials:</FONT></FONT>
<BR><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>DNS and BIND (The Cricket Book)
- 2<SUP>nd</SUP> edition (O?Reilly &amp; Associates)</FONT></FONT>
<P><B><FONT FACE="Courier New"><FONT SIZE=-1>As always, I?ve ran way long
this month. Look for the Advanced Services information next month.</FONT></FONT></B>
<P> <HR> <P>
<center><H4>Previous ``Linux Installation Primer'' Columns</H4></center>
<p>
<A HREF="../issue32/jenkins1.html">Linux Installation Primer #1, September
1998</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue33/jenkins2.html">Linux Installation Primer #2, October
1998</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue34/jenkins3.html">Linux Installation Primer #3, November
1998</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue35/jenkins4.html">Linux Installation Primer #4, December
1998</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue36/jenkins5.html">Linux Installation Primer #5, January
1999</A><BR>
<A HREF="../issue37/jenkins6.html">Linux Installation Primer #6, February
1999</A><BR>
<!--===================================================================-->
<P> <hr> <P>
<center><H5>Copyright &copy; 1999, Ron Jenkins <BR>
Published in Issue 38 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, March 1999</H5></center>
<!--===================================================================-->
<P> <hr> <P>
<A HREF="./index.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM SRC="../gx/indexnew.gif"
ALT="[ TABLE OF CONTENTS ]"></A>
<A HREF="../index.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM SRC="../gx/homenew.gif"
ALT="[ FRONT PAGE ]"></A>
<A HREF="./gentry.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/back2.gif"
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<P> <hr> <P>
<H4>
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--===================================================================-->
<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">PAP HOWTO</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:catfish@alltel.net">Terry Martin</a></H4>
</center>
<P> <HR> <P>
<P>
This Document is covered by the GPL and can be used in anyway seen fit from
the license.
<P>
This document is not intended to replace the ppp-howto it is intended to be
a primer as howto setup PAP for calling an ISP that refuses tech support
to a Linux user.
<P>
PAP=Password Authentication Protocol.
<P>
If your not sure if your ISP uses pap just bring minicom up and
atdt&lt;isp-number&gt; and wait for the modem to connect.
<P>
If you get login: or some variant of that your isp is not using pap and this
paper is not for you.
<P>
If you get a line or two of trash like:
<PRE>
{}{}{}{}{}}}}{{}{}}}{}{}{}{}[][][][][
</PRE>
You know it's looking for PAP or mschap.
<P>
I won't deal with MSChap since I don't have access to an ISP that uses
it and I wouldn't want to knowing the reliability of NT.
Now assuming your dealing with chap we need to figure out what version
of pppd your using. Type /usr/sbin/pppd --version and you will get the
version number, I'll cover versions 2.2.0-f and 2.3.5 in this doc as
thats what I'm familiar with.
<H3>pppd 2.2.0 version.</H3>
<P>
This section I will cover the setup and impletation of pap with older
distributions like RH 4.2 and Slackware 3.6 use this older version of the
pppd daemon.
<P>
I prefer pico for the new users as editors of choice for console. If you don't
have it look into getting the latest Pine release it's part of it.
<P>
You have to edit your ppp-on script if you have one if not I'll include
one here. You need to look into /usr/doc/pppd*/scripts for the ppp scripts,
at least thats where the defaults reside with RedHat.
<P>
Here's what my ppp-on looks like:<BR>
<P>
This is setup for your modem being on com2 in dos or /dev/ttyS1 in Linux.
You need to use ttySxx since the /dev/cua1 is now a defunct format with the
2.2.x kernels. If you plan to upgrade to kernel 2.2.x you need upgrade your
pppd to at least pppd-2.3.x to keep ppp working.
<PRE>
#!/bin/sh
TELEPHONE=&lt;your-isp-phonenumber&gt;
LOCAL_IP=0.0.0.0 # Local IP address if known. Dynamic = 0.0.0.0
REMOTE_IP=0.0.0.0 # Remote IP address if desired. Normally 0.0.0.0
NETMASK=255.255.255.0 # The proper netmask if needed
export TELEPHONE
DIALER_SCRIPT=/etc/ppp/ppp-on-dialer
exec /usr/sbin/pppd debug lock modem crtscts /dev/ttyS1 115200 \
asyncmap 20A0000 escape FF kdebug 0 $LOCAL_IP:$REMOTE_IP \
noipdefault netmask $NETMASK defaultroute connect $DIALER_SCRIPT \
+ua /etc/ppp/pap-secret
</PRE>
Thats what your ppp-on file will need to make pap work.
As you can see your login name and password are no longer included in this
file so that closes a security risk there.
<P>
Anyplace you see &lt;name&gt; always omit the &lt; &gt; and just use the
information needed.
<P>
Next you need to edit /etc/ppp/ppp-on-dialer to disable the looking for a
login and password lines.
<P>
Example:
<PRE>
#!/bin/sh
#
# This is part 2 of the ppp-on script. It will perform the connection
# protocol for the desired connection.
#
# This is the ppp-on-dialer for PAP with pppd-2.2.0
exec /usr/sbin/chat -v \
TIMEOUT 3 \
ABORT '\nBUSY\r' \
ABORT '\nNO ANSWER\r' \
ABORT '\nRINGING\r\n\r\nRINGING\r' \
'' \rAT \
'OK-+++\c-OK' ATH0 \
TIMEOUT 30 \
OK ATDT$TELEPHONE \
CONNECT '' \
</PRE>
Now we'll cover the password file setup and format.
This next part is easy all you need is a file named pap-secret
with the login name and password on separate lines.
<P>
i.e., pap-secret with pppd-2.2.0
<PRE>
greg
stinky1
</PRE>
After you make this file if it's not there. As root type
<PRE>
chmod -r pap-secret
</PRE>
Please don't forget the /etc/resolv.conf file for your DNS numbers.
<P>
I know I said this wasn't goin to be a ppp-howto but I'll include
/etc/resolv.conf just to save headaches and email as to why it don't it work.
<PRE>
domain &lt;your.isp.com&gt;
search &lt;your.isp.com&gt;
nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
</PRE>
Your /etc/resolv.conf should look something like this with the proper
information edited.
<P>
Put the ppp-on in /usr/sbin/ and put ppp-on-dialer in /etc/ppp with pap-secret
as root
<PRE>
cp ppp-on /usr/sbin/
cp ppp-on-dialer /etc/ppp
cp pap-secret /etc/ppp
</PRE>
Now all you should have to do is type ppp-on and you should get connected
to the net with Linux. Enjoy.
<P>
<H3>pppd-2.3.5</H3>
<P>
Seting up PAP with pppd-2.3.5 is as easy as pppd-2.2.0 just the syntax
has changed in the ppp-on script.
Please refer to the ppp-on-dialerand the resolv.conf in the above for it
so I don't have to repeat myself here.
<P>
Heres an example ppp-on script.
<PRE>
#!/bin/sh
TELEPHONE=&lt;you-isp-phone-number&gt;
LOCAL_IP=0.0.0.0 # Local IP address if known. Dynamic = 0.0.0.0
REMOTE_IP=0.0.0.0 # Remote IP address if desired. Normally 0.0.0.0
NETMASK=255.255.255.0 # The proper netmask if needed
export TELEPHONE
DIALER_SCRIPT=/etc/ppp/ppp-on-dialer
exec /usr/sbin/pppd debug lock modem crtscts /dev/cua1 115200 \
asyncmap 20A0000 escape FF kdebug 0 name catfish $LOCAL_IP:$REMOTE_IP \
noipdefault netmask $NETMASK defaultroute connect $DIALER_SCRIPT \
</PRE>
Thats about all there is to it for ppp-on with pppd-2.3.5 and PAP.
<P>
Now for the /etc/pap-secret file the syntax here has changed from the
earlier pppd-2.2.0 also.
<P>
All you need here now is a single line with your login name the interface
and your password.
<P>
So your pap-scret file would look like so.
<P>
I.E. pap-secret
<PRE>
&lt;loginname&gt; ppp0 &lt;password&gt;
</PRE>
Well thats all there is to it for the PAP howto, pretty basic stuff when
theres documents for it.
<P>
Enjoy and happy surfing.
Terry Martin aka catfish on newnet #alt.linux
catfish@alltel.net
<P>
If for some reason you can't get it to work or you find an error please
email me.
<!--===================================================================-->
<P> <hr> <P>
<center><H5>Copyright &copy; 1999, Terry Martin <BR>
Published in Issue 38 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, March 1999</H5></center>
<!--===================================================================-->
<P> <hr> <P>
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<H4>
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--===================================================================-->
<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">The Slashdot Effect, An Analysis of Three Internet Publications</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="http://ssadler.phy.bnl.gov/adler/adler">Stephen Adler</a></H4>
</center>
<P>
<hr width="60%">
<Blockquote>
<Blockquote>
<center><i>Abstract</i></center>
<br>
Apache httpd log files have been analyzed to show the <i>Slashdot
Effect</i>. This effect is known as the spontaneous high hit rate
upon a web server due to an announcement on a high volume news web
site. Three papers were published on the Internet and announced on the
high volume news web sites of slashdot.org, linuxtoday.org, and
freshmeat.org. The hit rate plots as a function of time are correlated
with the announcement times on these web sites. These correlations
clearly demonstrate the magnitude and significance of the
<i>Slashdot Effect</i>.
<p>
Author's note: Here
is an <a href="./adler2.html">Addendum</a> to this paper
which details the Slashdot effect on this paper.
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<hr width="60%">
<p>
Three papers were published on the Internet. One on October 20th, 1998
titled
<a href="http://ssadler.phy.bnl.gov/adler/fiw98/fiw98.html">
<i>Fall Internet World 98, A View From The Show Floor</i></a>,
one on November 14th, 1998 titled
<a href="http://ssadler.phy.bnl.gov/adler/OSS/OSS.html">
<i>Preserving the Information Ecosystem</i></a>,
and one on January 28th, 1999 titled
<a href="http://ssadler.phy.bnl.gov/adler/Stallman/Stallman.html">
<i>An Ode to Richard Stallman</i></a>. Soon
after these papers were published, Slashdot, Linux Today and Freshmeat
ran announcements in one form or other regarding the availability of
these papers. Within less than an hour, the hit rate to the system
hosting these papers surged. This surge in hit rate on the hosting web
server is known as the <i>Slashdot Effect</i>. The magnitude of the
hit surge varied with each posting since not all three web sites
posted the articles at the same time, if at all. What follows is a
brief case study of the <i>SlashDot Effect</i> for each of these
papers.
<p>
<hr width="80%">
<p>
<center>
<a href="./gx/adler/fullTime.jpg"><img src="./gx/adler/fullTimeSmall.jpg"></a>
</center>
<p>
To start, a plot of the hit rate in hits/minute is shown above for the
past 4 months during which the three papers were published on the
Internet. The time on the X axis is that of the Unix system time in
seconds since Jan 1st, 1970 scaled down by a factor of 1000. The width
of one bin of the histogram is show in a text field on the bottom
right of the plot. The first recorded hit was 27/Sep/1998:21:02:08,
and the last recorded hit was 31/Jan/1999:03:59:43. These two dates
set the two limits of the X axis time scale. The Y axis shows the
number of raw hits per minute averaged over the time of one bin
width. (In the case of the plot above, averaged over 902.39 minutes.)
The data is shown in raw hits/minute, since for each paper referenced
by a viewer on the Internet generated several hits. One needs to apply
a scale factor, which is the number of hits generated per paper, in
order to measure the number of readers of these publications. Since
the purpose of this paper is to show the <i>Slashdot Effect</i> and
not to try and measure the number of readers of the papers, this
scaling is not performed.
<p>
Vertical lines are drawn on the above plot to indicate the time of the
posting by the three web sites. The red lines indicate the
announcements by Slashdot, the green lines by Linux Today, and the
blue lines by Freshmeat. From this plot, one can see clear evidence of
the <i>Slashdot Effect</i>. What follows is a closer examination of
each one of these postings, since this full time view of the hit rate
to the server hides some detail of the this effect.
<p>
<hr width="80%">
<p>
<center>
<a href="./gx/adler/fiw98Zoom.jpg"><img src="./gx/adler/fiw98ZoomSmall.jpg"></a>
</center>
<p>
This plot above is a zoom in around the time of the announcement of the
Fall Internet World 98 paper. The paper was first announced around 8am
on the 20th of October and about 30 minutes later, the hit rate to the
server surged to well over a 100 hits/minute. This was when the author
first experienced the <i>Slashdot Effect</i>. Soon after, around 1pm
of the same day, Linux Today announced the article. One can see a
slight resurgence in the hit rate about 30 minutes after the Linux
Today announcement.
<p>
<hr width="80%">
<p>
<center>
<a href="./gx/adler/ossFull.jpg"><img src="./gx/adler/ossFullSmall.jpg"></a>
</center>
<p>
The plot above shows the hit rate to the same server during the time
that "Preserving the Information Ecosystem" was published and
announced on Linux Today and posted as a Freshmeat editorial. Linux
Today announced it on November 14th, and the Freshmeat editorial was
posted on Nov 21th. The announcement of this article on Linux Today
was only visible for about 12 hours on its front web page, where as
the article was visible on the front page of the Freshmeat web site
for several days. This is an indication as to why the Freshmeat
announcement generated more hits than that of the Linux Today
announcement.
<p>
<hr width="80%">
<p>
<center>
<a href="./gx/adler/rmsMoreZoom.jpg"><img src="./gx/adler/rmsMoreZoomSmall.jpg"></a>
</center>
<p>
The final plot above shows the <i>Slashdot Effect</i> with respect to
the last paper titled "An Ode to Richard Stallman". While the paper
was being written, notification of its existence was sent to members
of the LXNY group and to the general redhat mailing list. Therefore
the activity to the server started to increase before the Linux news
web sites announced this article. On Jan 28th, around 1pm, Linux Today
announced the article and published a text only version on their web site.
Slashdot followed with an announcement of the article and a hyper link
to the article at around 4pm. One can see the very impressive surge
in hits after the Slashdot announcement in which the hit rate went
from about 30 hits/minute up to over 250 hits/minute in about a 15
minute period.
<p>
<hr width="80%">
<p>
In conclusion, the term <i>Slashdot Effect</i> has been referenced
many times on sites around the Internet. With the publication of
articles related to Linux and the Open Source movement, and the
announcement of these articles to Linux related news web sites, one
has a chance of documenting, in a controlled environment, this
effect. The plots of the hit rate received by the hosting server
clearly shows the existence of the <i>Slashdot Effect</i>. This effect
varies in magnitude for different reasons. One reason being the
interest of the readership in the content of the article being
announced. Another reason being the form in which the article is
announced. For example, the article titled "an Ode to Richard
Stallman" was announced by Slashdot and Linux Today. Linux Today
published the text of the article on their own web site, thus keeping
many of the hits, by readers interested in this article, on their
server. This strongly dampens the surge in hit rate to the system
hosting the full article. On the other hand, Slashdot announced the
article via a hyper link to the server hosting the full article and
thus the local host received all the hits from Slashdot readers. The
purpose of this article is just to document the existence of the
<i>Slashdot Effect</i> and not to try and gauge which news web site
has the predominant reader-ship.
<!--===================================================================-->
<P> <hr> <P>
<center><H5>Copyright &copy; 1999, Stephen Adler <BR>
Published in Issue 38 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, March 1999</H5></center>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>
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<CENTER>
<H1>
<FONT COLOR="#800000">The Standard C Library for Linux</FONT></H1></CENTER>
<CENTER>
<H3>
<FONT COLOR="#000080">Part Four: &lt;ctype.h&gt; Character Handling</FONT></H3></CENTER>
<CENTER>
<H4>
By <A HREF="mailto:jrogers@u.washington.edu">James M. Rogers</A></H4></CENTER>
<HR>
<P>The last article was on &lt;stdio.h&gt; Input and Output.&nbsp; This article
is on &lt;ctype.h&gt; character handling.
<P>Character handling allows us to clasify characters as alpha, digit,
hexdigit, whitespace, printable, lowercase, uppercase, punctuation and
to map to and from the upper and lowercase alphabets.&nbsp; Most importantly
&lt;ctype.h&gt; implements these functions in a non-system dependent way.
<P>If you write your program assuming that every computer is an ASCII computer
you will have trouble porting your program to non ASCII machines. If you
write your character handling functions in terms of these functions your
program will be much more portable to other platforms.
<P>I am assuming a knowledge of c programming on the part of the reader.&nbsp;
There is no guarantee of accuracy in any of this information nor suitability
for any purpose.
<P>The program example that I will do this month will go thru the entire
8bit ASCII range and tell us to which classes any one chacter belongs.&nbsp;
The example is <A HREF="./rogers_example04c.txt">rogers_example04.c</A><TT>.</TT>
The output the program generates will be an html document and the run from
my system is <A HREF="./rogers_example04.html">rogers_example04.html</A>
.
<BR>This program can be used as a cgi-bin&nbsp; script and is a demonstration
of the flexibility of the c language.
<BR>&nbsp;
<P>As always, if you see an error in my documentation please tell me and
I will correct myself in a later document.&nbsp; See corrections at end
of the document to review corrections to the previous articles.
<P><B><FONT SIZE="+1">Character Handling</FONT></B>
<PRE>
#include &lt;ctype.h&gt;
int isalpha(int c);
int isalnum(int c);
int isdigit(int c);
int isxdigit(int c);
int iscntrl(int c);
int isspace(int c);
int ispunct(int c);
int isgraph(int c);
int isprint(int c);
int islower(int c);
int isupper(int c);
int tolower(int c);
int toupper(int c);
</PRE>
isalpha returns true if the character is in the range of A-Z or a-z.
<P>isalnum returns true if the character is in the range of A-Z or a-z
or 0-9.
<P>isdigit returns true if the character is in the range of 0-9.
<P>isxdigit returns true if the character is in the range of 0-9 or a-f
or A-F.
<P>iscntrl returns true if the character is in the set (FF, NL, CR, HT,
VT, BEL or BS).
<P>isspace returns true if the character is in the set (space, FF, NL,
CR, HT or VT).
<P>ispunct returns true if the character is a nonalnum, nonspace and noncntrl.
<P>isgraph returns true if the character isalnum or ispunct.
<P>isprint returns true if the character isspace or isgraph.
<P>islower returns true if the character is in the range of a-z.
<P>isupper returns true if the character is in the range of A-Z.
<P>tolower if isupper return the lowercase character otherwise return the
character.
<P>toupper if islower return the uppercase character otherwise return the
character.
<BR>&nbsp;
<P>
<HR>
<H4>
Bibilography:</H4>
<I>The ANSI C Programming Language, Second Edition</I>, Brian W. Kernighan,
Dennis M. Ritchie, Printice Hall Software Series, 1988
<P><I>The Standard C Library</I>, P. J. Plauger, Printice Hall P T R, 1992
<P><I>The Standard C Library, Parts 1, 2, and 3</I>, Chuck Allison, <I>C/C++
Users Journal</I>, January, February, March 1995
<P>CTYPE(3), BSD MANPAGE, <I>Linux Programmer's Manual</I>, 29 November
1993
<BR>
<HR>
<BR>&nbsp;
<CENTER>
<H4>
Previous "The Standard C Library for Linux" Articles</H4></CENTER>
<A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue24/rogers.html"><I>The Standard
C Library for Linux, Part One</I>, James M. Rogers, January 1998</A>
<BR><A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue31/rogers1.html"><I>The Standard
C Library for Linux, Part Two</I>, James M. Rogers, July 1998</A>
<BR><A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue32/rogers.html"><I>The Standard
C Library for Linux, Part Three</I>, James M. Rogers, August 1998</A>
<BR>
<!--===================================================================-->
<P> <hr> <P>
<center><H5>Copyright &copy; 1999, James M. Rogers <BR>
Published in Issue 38 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, March 1999</H5></center>
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</H4>
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<!--===================================================================-->
<font color="navy">A <I>Linux Journal</I> Preview</font>:
This article will appear in the April 1998 issue of <I>Linux
Journal</I> due out this month.
<P> <HR> <P>
<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">Windows/Linux Dual Boot</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:vince@control-escape.com">Vince Veselosky</a></H4>
</center>
<P> <HR> <P>
So you've heard great things about Linux: faster, cheaper,
more efficient, more stable. Sounds good. You'd like to try
it out, but probably have a lot of time and data invested in Windows
and can't afford to be down while figuring out how to use
Linux for your daily tasks.
Windows and Linux can live comfortably on the same computer, even on
the same hard drive. The choice of operating system can be made
when you power on. This is commonly called a ``dual boot''
configuration, and one of the most common questions among new Linux users
is how to set it up.
<p>
My system is a Pentium II 400MHz with 128MB of RAM and an 11GB EIDE
(actually Ultra-DMA 33 ATAPI, for you hardware gurus) hard drive.
The hard drive had Windows 95 ``C'' on one big FAT32-formatted
C: drive, which is a typical factory configuration. I tested installs
of Red Hat Linux 5.1 and SuSE Linux 5.2.
<p>
Before starting, there are two terms you need to be familiar with:
<i>partition</i> and <i>file system</i>. The disk can be divided into smaller, separate
pieces which can belong to different owners. For dual booting, Windows
will own some and Linux will own others. The word ``partition''
does not refer to the wall; it refers to the separated space. Thus,
we say Windows is installed ``on'' the first partition.
The <i>file system</i> is a method of organization. Your hard drive can
have different file systems. The operating system provides the <i>directory
tree</i> (also referred to as ``the file system'')
as a catalog of available files. Every operating system has its
own type of file system, and other operating systems often don't
know how to read it. Lucky for us, Linux is a versatile operating system
and it does understand the file system used by Windows 95 and Windows 98.
<p>
<h3>Making Room for Linux</h3>
<p>
Most factory-installed Windows installations take up all the space
on your hard drive, leaving no room for installing Linux. The first and
most difficult thing we must do is clear some space where Linux can be
installed. Linux needs to have partitions of its own, but Windows does
not have the ability to resize partitions. Ordinarily, this would mean
you would have to delete your existing partition (and everything on it)
to make room on the drive and then create partitions of smaller sizes
and reinstall. You can still do this, but there is a better way.
<p>
<h3>What You Need</h3>
<p>
Most Linux distributions come with a special tool to allow you
to resize or divide hard drive partitions. Called FIPS, the First
(non-destructive) Interactive Partition Splitter, it is normally found on
your Linux CD in a directory called /dosutils. You will also need a blank,
formatted floppy disk to use as a boot disk. For most older Windows
installations, that should be all. However, if you have Windows 98 or a
recent version of Windows 95 with a large hard drive (bigger than 2GB),
you may need some additional tools if you are using the FAT32 file system.
<p>
To check what type of file system Windows is using, open Windows
Explorer, right click on the C: drive and choose Properties. If
you see ``File System: FAT32'' on the General tab, you will
need some additional tools to support this newer file system.
<p>
<h3>FAT32 Support Requirements</h3>
<p>
To adjust your partitions, you will need version 2.0 or higher of FIPS.
If the version included with your Linux distribution is older than this,
the latest version is available for download from the FIPS home page
at http://www.igd.fhg.de/~aschaefe/fips/. If you want to share files
between Windows and Linux (a good idea), you will also need to
have version 2.0.34 or higher of the Linux kernel. Table 1 is a list of
Linux distributions known to support FAT32. If your distribution does
not include support, you will need to upgrade the kernel. Upgrading a
kernel is beyond the scope of this article, so check the
documentation included with your distribution or your distributor's
web site for information about how to do that.
<p>
<h3>Table 1. Distributions with FAT32 Support</h3>
<table>
<tr>
<td>Distribution:</td>
<td>Earliest Version with FAT32 support</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>Red Hat Linux:</td>
<td>Version 5.1 (kernel 2.0.34)</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>SuSE Linux:</td>
<td>Version 5.3 (kernel 2.0.35)</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>Debian GNU/Linux:</td>
<td>Version 2.0 (kernel 2.0.34)</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h3>Preparing Your Drive</h3>
<p>
Before you can resize your Windows partition, a few steps must
be taken to ensure that the process goes smoothly. First, delete any
files from your hard drive that are not being used; for example, any old
files in the C:\windows\temp folder, and then empty your recycle
bin. Next, check your file system for errors using Scandisk, and compact
your hard drive using Defrag. I'll assume you Windows users know
how to do this. When running Scandisk, be sure to check the box next to
``Automatically Fix Errors''. Defragmentation consolidates
all your data at the ``front'' of the drive to make room at
the ``back'' of the drive for your new partition.
<p>
When both are finished, it would be wise to note how much space is
available on the disk. If this number is less than the amount required
to load Linux (check your distribution's documentation for space
requirements), you'll need to delete more files or uninstall some
software to make room.
<p>
<h3>Using FIPS</h3>
<p>
Before using FIPS, you <i>must</i> read the FIPS.DOC text file
which accompanies the program. The use of the program is not entirely
obvious, and you may need the background information the documentation
provides. Also, while running FIPS you should carefully read all the
messages it displays. They will provide valuable information on the
steps you will need to take next. Most importantly, FIPS comes with no
warranty. Although it has been used safely many times, there is
always the chance it could damage the data on your hard drive. If
you value your data, <i>back it up</i> before you begin.
<p>
For safety, create a DOS or Windows boot disk to work from. To do
this, click Start <tt>-></tt> Settings
<tt>-></tt> Control
Panel. Double click ``Add/Remove Programs'' and select the
tab called Startup Disk. Press the button and follow the instructions.
<p>
Next, copy the working files for FIPS to the floppy. The files FIPS.EXE,
RESTORRB.EXE and ERRORS.TXT are mandatory. You may also want to copy
the documentation files included with FIPS. When your data is backed
up, restart your computer and boot from the new floppy.
<p>
When you arrive at the <tt>A:></tt> prompt, type
<tt>FIPS</tt> and press enter. A warning will appear
about using FIPS in multitasking environments like Windows. Since we
booted from a floppy, we are safe, so press enter. FIPS
will analyze your existing partitions. It may pause for a long time at
``Checking FAT'' and ``Searching for Free Space'';
this is perfectly normal, so just wait. The bigger your hard drive,
the longer it will take. When FIPS is done with its analysis, it will
display the results. You may get a warning of something being wrong with your
FAT. If you read the message carefully, you will find that this is normal
with large hard drives and will not prevent FIPS from working properly.
<p>
FIPS will then demonstrate how it plans to split the existing partition
and you will have the opportunity to make changes. Do <i>not</i> just press
enter. By default, FIPS will take <i>all</i> of the available
free space for the new partition it creates, leaving your Windows
partition with no free space at all. Windows will not run if it has no
free drive space, so you <i>must</i> adjust the partitions. Use the up
and down arrow keys to make large changes (ten cylinders at a time) and
the left and right arrow keys for small adjustments (one cylinder at a
time). The size of the existing partition is shown on the left and the
size of your new empty partition is on the right. In the middle is the
cylinder number where the split will take place. I left about 1500MB
for my own Windows partition. Adjust yours according to your needs,
but I would recommend using at least 1024MB for Windows.
<p>
When you are satisfied, press enter. FIPS displays
information on the new partitions and asks permission to write
it to disk. Your hard drive has not been altered at this point. You
may choose to write this configuration to disk or re-edit the
partition table. On my machine, when I chose to re-edit I received
an error message that said FIPS couldn't find some files it needed.
If this happens to you, just press
<tt>ctrl-alt-delete</tt> to reboot from
the floppy and start over. This did not cause me any trouble.
<p>
When you choose to write the new partitions, FIPS will offer to make
a backup of your existing boot sector--you should definitely do
this. The backup file it creates is only 1KB in size and will be
invaluable if anything goes wrong.
<p>
After FIPS completes its work, it will display another message stating
that you should run scandisk on your old partition. I found that Windows
will sometimes miscalculate the used and free space on your drive
after using FIPS, and Scandisk will correct this problem. If you choose
to restore your original partition scheme using the RESTORRB utility,
you should run Scandisk after this as well.
<p>
After FIPS was done, I received another error. This one said ``Memory
Allocation Error, Unable to Load COMMAND.COM''. If you see this, just
press <tt>ctrl-alt-delete</tt>
to reboot and all is well. This should not affect your hard drive.
<p>
Finally, you may want to run the Windows FDISK program from your
floppy. This is not necessary, since Linux has its own fdisk program
for manipulating partitions. You will find that your hard drive now
contains two ``Primary Partitions'' (or ``Primary DOS
Partitions''). The second one was created by FIPS out of the free
space on your drive. For Linux installation, delete this second partition,
freeing up the space for allocating Linux partitions. (Be careful not
to delete the first one, where Windows lives.)
<p>
<h3>Linux Install Tips for Large Drives</h3>
<p>
Once you've made room for Linux on your drive with FIPS, you should
be able to install Linux by following the steps in the installation
guide that accompanied your Linux distribution. Here are a few tips
that should help you with the areas where dual booting might make
a difference.
<p>
<h3>Planning your Partitions</h3>
<p>
Both the Red Hat and SuSE installation guides have excellent chapters
on how to divide up your hard drive for use by Linux. Personally,
I favor the ``Keep It Simple'' principle, especially for
beginners. I let Windows keep the first partition, create a second
for the entire Linux install, a third for Linux swap space and
the fourth for my /home directory (where data is kept). Having /home
on a separate partition will make things much easier, if you ever have
to reinstall Linux. The size of each partition will depend on your
individual situation, but this should suffice for most folks. However,
if your hard drive is larger than 8GB, there is something else to
think about--LILO.
<p>
<h3>Booting with LILO</h3>
<p>
The usual and recommended method to boot into Linux is using LILO (the
LInux LOader). LILO can install itself in your boot sector and allows
you to choose which operating system you would like at boot time.
Due to a technical limitation, LILO is unable to read data
from the hard drive past the 1024th cylinder--the 8GB mark for modern
LBA (Logical Block Addressing) hard drives.
<p>
Does this mean you can't use the rest of your drive? Not at all. What
it does mean is that your <i>boot partitions</i> must all live <i>below</i> the
8GB mark, that is, below cylinder 1024. Thus, if you want Windows to
use the first 9GB of your fancy new 18GB drive, you won't be able
to use LILO to boot Linux. Because of this limitation, Red Hat's Disk
Druid tool for partitioning the hard drive will not allow you to create
your Linux boot partition past cylinder 1024. You can still create
the partitions using fdisk, but Red Hat setup will not install LILO
if you do.
<p>
<h3>Booting from Floppy</h3>
<p>
It is possible to avoid the entire problem of the 8GB barrier by booting
from a floppy disk. Although this may sound inefficient, it actually
works quite well. The kernel loads into memory from the floppy
disk and never accesses the floppy again, so loading the kernel is
slower; but after that, the system runs the same as if it had booted
from the hard drive. The Linux kernel has no difficulty accessing
the end of large hard drives, so it can still reach all the files
of your Linux installation.
<p>
The setup program for your distribution will almost certainly ask you to
create a boot floppy during installation. Even if you don't plan to
boot from floppy regularly, you should definitely make a boot disk.
If for some reason LILO fails to install or becomes corrupted, you
will have no other way to access the files on your Linux installation.
<p>
<h3>Booting with Loadlin</h3>
<p>
Loadlin is a program that runs under DOS (or Windows 95 in MSDOS mode).
It can load the Linux kernel into memory from the DOS partition. Because
it loads the Linux kernel from the hard drive, there is still a possibility
the 8GB barrier could cause problems, but only if your Windows
partition is larger than 8GB and is almost full. That's not likely
at the time of this writing, but who knows--the next release of Windows
might take up that much space by itself.
<p>
Frankly, I wouldn't recommend Loadlin to Linux novices because it can
be difficult to configure correctly. If you simply must use it,
an excellent Loadlin + Win95 Mini-HOWTO document available from the
Linux Documentation Project should get you up and running.
<p>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p>
Giving Linux a try does not mean you have to buy a whole new computer
or even a new hard drive. With just a little extra effort, you can
run both Linux and Windows without losing any data or any productivity
while you learn Linux. I think you will find it is well worth
the effort.
<p><HR> <P>
<h3>Resources</h3>
<p>
The FIPS home page: http://www.igd.fhg.de/~aschaefe/fips/
<p>
The Linux Documentation Project: http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/
<p>
The Loadlin + Win95 Mini-HOWTO: http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/mini/Loadlin+Win95.html
<p>
The Linux + Win 95 Mini-HOWTO: http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/mini/Linux+Win95.html
<p>
Moving from MS Windows to Linux: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Grid/2272/
<P> <EM>Contact the author through his web site,
<A HREF="http://www.control-escape.com/">http://www.control-escape.com</A>.
<!--===================================================================-->
<P> <hr> <P>
<center><H5>Copyright &copy; 1999, Vince Veselosky <BR>
Published in Issue 38 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, March 1999</H5></center>
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<H5>Copyright &copy; 1999 Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc.<br>
For information regarding copying and distribution of this material see the
<A HREF="../copying.html">Copying License</A>.</H5>
</center>
<P> <hr> <P>
<H3>Contents:</H3>
<ul>
<li><a HREF="./lg_backpage38.html#authors">About This Month's Authors</a>
<li><a HREF="./lg_backpage38.html#notlinux">Not Linux</a>
</ul>
<a name="authors"></a>
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<center><H3><font color="maroon">About This Month's Authors</font></H3></center>
<P> <HR> <P>
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<P>
<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Eugene Blanchard</H4>
Eugene is an Instructor at the Southern Alberta Institute of
Technology in Calgary, Alberta, Canada where he teaches electronics,
digital, microprocessors, data communications, and operating
systems/networking in the Novell, Windows and Unix worlds. When he is not
spending quality time with his wonderful wife and 18 month old daughter
watching Barney videos, he can be found in front of his Linux box. His
hobbies are hiking, backpacking, bicycling and chess.
<P>
<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Jim Dennis</H4>
Jim is the proprietor of <A href="http://www.starshine.org">
Starshine Technical Services</A>.
His professional experience includes work in the technical
support, quality assurance, and information services (MIS)
departments of software companies like
<A href="http://www.quarterdeck.com"> Quarterdeck</A>,
<A href="http://www.symantec.com"> Symantec/
Peter Norton Group</A>, and
<A href="http://www.mcafee.com"> McAfee Associates</A> -- as well as
positions (field service rep) with smaller VAR's.
He's been using Linux since version 0.99p10 and is an active
participant on an ever-changing list of mailing lists and
newsgroups. He's just started collaborating on the 2nd Edition
for a book on Unix systems administration.
Jim is an avid science fiction fan -- and was
married at the World Science Fiction Convention in Anaheim.
<P>
<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Josh Gentry</H4>
Josh has this to say about himself, "My name is Josh Gentry. My successes in life stem from having great
family and friends. My failures, as far as I can tell, are unexplainable
abberations. Most importantly, I am wickedly handsome.
<P>
<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Michael J. Hammel</H4>
A Computer Science graduate of Texas Tech University, Michael J. Hammel,
mjhammel@graphics-muse.org, is an software developer specializing in X/Motif
living in Dallas, Texas (but calls Boulder, CO home for some reason).
His background includes everything from data
communications to GUI development to Interactive Cable systems, all based in
Unix. He has worked for companies such as Nortel, Dell Computer, and
Xi Graphics.
Michael writes the monthly Graphics Muse column in the Linux Gazette,
maintains the Graphics Muse Web site and theLinux Graphics mini-Howto, helps
administer the Internet Ray Tracing Competition (http://irtc.org) and
recently completed work on his new book "The Artist's Guide to the Gimp",
published by SSC, Inc. His outside interests include running, basketball,
Thai food, gardening, and dogs.
<P>
<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Ron Jenkins</H4>
Ron has over 20 years experience
in RF design, satellite systems, and UNIX/NT administration. He currently
resides in Central Missouri where he is pursuing his writing, helping folks
solve problems and find solutions, teaching, and generally having a dandy
time while looking for some telecommuting work. Ron is married and has
two stepchildren. Ron has begun to worry about referring to himself in
the third person.
<P>
<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Eric Kidd</H4>
Eric is a closet LISP bigot but still loves Unix anyway. He spends
most of his time writing free software (for a living and as a hobby) and
wishes he had more time to spend learning Go.
<P>
<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">James Rogers</H4>
James and Shala Rogers live on the Olympic Peninsula in the middle of
nowhere. James is a systems programmer for the University of Washington
Medical Centers, Harborview Medical Centers and the University of
Washington Physicians Network. He is a Health Level 7 Interface
programmer who is currently writing a GNU licensed HL7 interface. These
interfaces allow approximately 40 medical computer systems to
communicate with each other across the entire Seattle Metropolitan area.
<P>
<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Vince Veselosky</H4>
Vince is a computer consultant in the Atlanta, Georgia area,
working mostly in technical support for Microsoft operating systems. He has
made it his mission in life to master Linux before the year 2000. When
he's not working with computers, he's looking for a new girlfriend.
<a name="notlinux"></a>
<P> <hr> <P>
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<center><H3><font color="maroon">Not Linux</font></H3></center>
<P> <HR> <P>
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<P>
Thanks to all our authors, not just the ones above, but also those who wrote
giving us their tips and tricks and making suggestions. Thanks also to our
new mirror sites.
<P>
I've spent so much time at work lately, my dear husband says he doesn't
recognize me anymore! I'm hoping once this issue is up, the May issue of
<I>Linux Journal</I> is gone to layout, and Linux World is in the past, I
might have some time again to spend with Riley and other family members. My
daughter Shannon is coming to visit on March 11 and I am looking forward to
that.
<P>
I will be at Linux World on March 2 and 3. Hope to meet you there!
<P>
Have fun!
<P> <hr> <P>
<A HREF="http://www.ssc.com/ssc/Employees/Margie/margie.html">
Marjorie L. Richardson</A> <br>
Editor, <A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com/"><i>Linux Gazette</i></A>, <A
HREF="mailto:gazette@ssc.com">gazette@ssc.com</a>
<P> <HR> <P>
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<p><hr><p>
<I>Linux Gazette</I> Issue 38, March 1999,
<A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com/">http://www.linuxgazette.com</A><BR>
This page written and maintained by the Editor of <I>Linux Gazette</I>,
<A HREF="mailto:gazette@ssc.com"> gazette@ssc.com</A>
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