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<TITLE>Linux Gazette 65: The Answer Gang</TITLE>
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<H1><A NAME="answer">
<img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" alt="(?)"
border="0" align="middle">
<font color="#B03060">The Answer Gang</font>
<img src="../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif" alt="(!)"
border="0" align="middle">
</A></H1>
<BR>
<H4>By Jim Dennis, Ben Okopnik, Dan Wilder, Breen, Chris, and the Gang,
the Editors of Linux Gazette...
and You!
<br>Send questions (or interesting answers) to
<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com">linux-questions-only@ssc.com</a>
</H4>
<p><em><font color="#990000">There is no guarantee that your questions
here will <b>ever</b> be answered. You can be published anonymously
- just let us know!
</font></em></p>
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<H3>Contents:</H3>
<dl>
<dt><a href="#tag/greeting"
><strong>&para;: Greetings From Heather Stern</strong></A></dl>
<DL>
<!-- index_text begins -->
<dt><A HREF="tag/1.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>? --or--
<dd><A HREF="tag/1.html"
><strong>What's this word?</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/2.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Unable to Install Linux</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/3.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>DNS and telnet</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/4.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Help on LILO stopping at LI</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/5.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>How can you do a recursive search to find broken symbolic links?</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/6.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>BIOS passwords - Bane of my existance</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/7.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(!)" border="0"
></a>telecommunication in a hospital --or--
<dd><A HREF="tag/7.html"
><strong>Making the Connection</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/8.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(!)" border="0"
><strong>Setup of Microsoft Outlook Express 5 for Sending of Clear Text</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/9.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>icons</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/10.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Corrupt Tar Archive</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/11.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>masquerade in sendmail is broken.</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/12.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>neighbour table overflow</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/13.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>VIDEO CARD</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/14.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>fat versus inodes</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/15.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Installing Linux without cdrom</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/16.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(!)" border="0"
><strong>Installing RedHat 7.0 and a driver for the Chipset Cirrus CL-GD5436</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/17.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(!)" border="0"
><strong>cd-writing mini-howto</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/18.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>These has been bugging me for a while now --or--
<dd><A HREF="tag/18.html"
><strong>Reading the logs</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/19.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>Linux Newbie Frustration --or--
<dd><A HREF="tag/19.html"
><strong>So many users, So few POP accounts</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/20.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>script</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/21.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Linux Box on windows</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/22.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>HD bad clusters --or--
<dd><A HREF="tag/22.html"
><strong>Take a Breath!</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/23.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>about the adaptation.</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/24.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Changing the "login-sequence" in Linux?</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/25.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>Linux, X, Dell Video Card</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/26.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>sendmail</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/27.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>about a stubborn mount error</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/28.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
></a>Here is a very stupid question ... --or--
<dd><A HREF="tag/28.html"
><strong>How do I choose?</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="tag/29.html"
><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
alt="(?)" border="0"
><strong>I was wondering</strong></a>
<!-- index_text ends -->
</DL>
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<A NAME="tag/greeting"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/hbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(&para;) " border="0"
>Greetings from Heather Stern</H3>
<!-- begin hgreeting -->
<BLOCKQUOTE>
It's that stormy month of the year again, when people expect us to be silly
in print.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I feel silly for saying this but it seems like we have to every month:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><ol>
<li> There is no guarantee that questions will <EM>ever</EM> be answered,
especially if not related to Linux.
<li> HTML attachments drive us nuts...
</ol></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
ICANN expressed a desire to make a foolish mess of the entire internet.
I wrote "An Open Letter to ICANN" which has been published in <EM>Linux Journal</EM>
recently: <A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/articles/conversations/0022.html"
>http://www.linuxjournal.com/articles/conversations/0022.html</A>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
While we're thinking of messes, and Easter coming up, how about cute
fluffy bunnies? I cleaned up the ol' home office a bit. I think
Dust Puppy (<A HREF="http://www.userfriendly.org"
>http://www.userfriendly.org</A>) can find a girlfriend named
Dust Bunny if he tries hard enough.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
As you hopefully know by now this is a Linux magazine and we normally only
answer Linux questions. But, it's the silly month, so once again with
that <a href="tag/cardboard.html">cardboard box</a> thread that snuck in ...
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
And finally, something I've been messing with that makes us all continue
to look foolish for using Linux. How can we call ourselves a desktop
system when all the word processors suck? Oh yeah. We don't. We just
call it an operating system, apps are for distros. Well, they still need
to work on it.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The first thing you may wonder is why would Ms. My Box Is More Productive
Without Producticity Software even care, anyway? Well, it so happens
that a friend of mine, who isn't computer oriented in the slightest,
wanted a resum&eacute; and of course since we're close, she asks me. No
problem, I think. It's just an <tt>rpm -i</tt> or an <tt>apt-get install</tt>
away. Right.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<p>For a more positive view, see <A HREF="tag/7.html"
>Tony's telecommunications article</a> this issue.</p>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Don't believe me, eh? Well let's start at the top. WordPerfect is time
bomb ware. Their idea of "for personal use" includes dying at 90 days
so you have to go get a registration key, allegedly free. In my old
shareware days I always avoided timebombs. You never know if they might
also try to take your documents with them or something. It's a shame
because I always liked their DOS software. I may buy it someday, when
I need it for myself, after all, with my consulting biz I guess I don't
count as personal use anyway. But I resist - my principles don't call
for supporting time bombs. Grr.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I tried StarOffice a few months ago. It shows many of the worst features
of having originally been a port from the windows version via some translation
library. Its "everything lives inside the Staroffice Window" mold was
one of the GUI features I was glad to get away from when I left Windows
behind, and its printer configuration is evil and broken. Okay, when it
finally works it's rather cool to have numerous Avery papers selectable
in the dialog so you can do labels and index cards. But, it's actually
<EM>easier</EM> to set up a printer with plain old lpr and magicfilter. Yuck.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Applix might be okay. I dunno, I was in a hurry, and wanted something
a bit smaller. I guess I just hate the idea that I have to download a
whole suite just to get one part.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
I think I have LyX installed, I try that. I do. It doesn't do a number
of things that need doing. I tried to do spring margins and it has its
own ideas how wide to make the table. This will never work.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The SIAG people have loose parts. Their word processor is called Pathetic
Writer. I tried it... and they're right. If I recall correctly Wordpad
has more features. Sigh.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
How about Abiword? Those abisuite guys have their head on straight, let's
try it. So happens Terry already has it on his box since we put Progeny
on his desk. He tries to use it for one page reports and growls at it
because it can't deal with tabs very well. Hmmm... anyway, just an ssh
session over there and access it via X, right? Wrong! It whines that
a font is missing. That's insane. Betel has the most complete font
collection in the house, since it's setup to be our TTF font server...
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Fine. Install it locally. (I have to get the whole suite. Oh well. Get
a soda, come back.) One <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/">SuSE</A> style rpm i
coming up! (wave magic
wand) uh, this doesn't load at all, even to pop up with the complaint.
No error message in the xterm window, nothing. Fume.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Well, let's try the K office then. Kword coming up. Installs sweet enough.
Even runs. (Yay!) Can't do tables even though it has buttons for it. Now, we
are talking about everyone's favorite use for spring margins, putting
the dates of your last employ all the way to the right, and since almost
nothing has proper spring margins, can't do it without tables. At least
it does those long beautiful bars, which I had figured would need tables.
Even when I use just plain white space to push things to the end, the
thing is iffy about whether they show up over there. If I change the
font anywhere on the line its metrics are a scramble and things fall off
entirely.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
On the bright side, its preview feature generates very clean Postscript,
not yet encapsulated. So, being the programmer type that I am, I let Kword
do what it could, and improved the rest in text mode, previewing directly
in ghostview.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
One shouldn't have to be a programmer to whip together a friend's job
hunting paperwork. It takes us back to the old days, when a CP/M box
could be a decent terminal for a brighter Postscript printer, if you
slipped it a sneaky enough program.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Oddly enough if I had just thrown it together in HTML it would have been
pretty quick. But that would have been in a plain old text editor too --
since the state of the art in WYSIWYG editors for HTML is about the same.
Bluefish and August seem to have them beat all over the place. I think
I like Bluefish better, it has a feel very similar to HTMLedPro which I
used when I used to live more closely with that other operating system.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
If the Dot Com Fallout has made your company foolishly let you go, at
least the Linux world has room for you. You can check out <EM>Linux Journal</EM>'s
Career Center (<A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/employ"
>http://www.linuxjournal.com/employ</A>), Geekfinder
(<A HREF="http://www.geekfinder.com"
>http://www.geekfinder.com</A>), the Sysadmin's Guild (SAGE) Job Center
(<A HREF="http://www.usenix.org/sage/jobs/sage-jobs.html"
>http://www.usenix.org/sage/jobs/sage-jobs.html</A>), or pay attention to
your local area papers for when major high tech Job Fairs are in your area,
so you can go to them. There are also some really generic job sites like
Dice.Com (<A HREF="http://www.dice.com"
>http://www.dice.com</A>) or MonsterBoard (<A HREF="http://www.monsterboard.com"
>http://www.monsterboard.com</A>).
If you hate the corporate mold, check out some of the project offers at
SourceXchange (<A HREF="http://www.sourcexchange.com"
>http://www.sourcexchange.com</A>)
or Collab.Net (<A HREF="http://www.collab.net"
>http://www.collab.net</A>). Or put up your consulting shingle
by listing yourself at Linuxports (<A HREF="http://www.linuxports.com"
>http://www.linuxports.com</A>) and getting
listed into a few search engines.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Me, I don't have to worry about getting into search engines, do I?
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=";D"
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
Have a happy April!
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<!-- end hgreeting -->
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<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
<H5 align="center">This page edited and maintained by the Editors
of <I>Linux Gazette</I>
<a href="http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html"
>Copyright &copy;</a> 2001
<BR>Published in issue 65 of <I>Linux Gazette</I> April 2001</H5>
<H6 ALIGN="center">HTML script maintained by
<A HREF="mailto:star@starshine.org">Heather Stern</a> of
Starshine Technical Services,
<A HREF="http://www.starshine.org/">http://www.starshine.org/</A>
</H6>
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