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<center><H3><font color="maroon">HELP WANTED : Article Ideas</font></H3></center>
<P>
<P> Send tech-support questions, Tips, answers and article ideas to The Answer Gang
&lt;<A HREF="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"
>linux-questions-only@ssc.com</A>&gt;. Other mail (including
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<!-- BEGIN HELP WANTED : Article Ideas -->
<UL>
<!-- index_text begins -->
<li><A HREF="#wanted/1"
><strong>dbman</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#wanted/2"
><strong>dial-up and DSL</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#wanted/3"
><strong>ssc, "Linux@Gazette" Request for assistance.</strong></a>
<!-- index_text ends -->
</UL>
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<P> <A NAME="wanted/1"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">dbman</FONT></H3>
Mon, 26 Nov 2001 22:18:58
<BR>Philippe (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?cc=philippe341@nerim.net&cc=linux@rodolf.com&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20help%20wanted%20%231">philippe341 from nerim.net</a>)
<P>
[with a bow to our translator Frank Rudolf] Any reader out there
inclined to help out, please mail Philippe, and copy us here
in The Answer Gang, <A HREF="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"
>linux-questions-only@ssc.com</A>. -- Heather
</P>
<P><STRONG>
----- Forwarded message from philippe -----
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
salut je recherche des personnes qui connaissent dbman ,j'ai quelques
problemes a installer les modifications , jesouhaite&eacute;galement
cr&eacute;er un forum sur ce logiciel
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Hi, I am looking for people who know dbman.
I have some problems installing the patches.
I would also like to create a forum about this software.
</P>
<!-- end 1 -->
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<P> <A NAME="wanted/2"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">dial-up and DSL</FONT></H3>
Wed, 12 Dec 2001 19:53:24 +0800
<BR>Henry Jesus S. Lastimosa Jr. (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?cc=henryjl@cebu.weblinq.com&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20help%20wanted%20%232">henryjl from cebu.weblinq.com</a>)
<blockquote><font color="#000066">Karl-Heinz gave this a shot but any of
our readers with more experience in this regard are welcome to join in
the fray, or even write up a longer article for the <EM>Gazette</EM>.
-- Heather</font></blockquote>
<P><STRONG>
guys,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
i wonder if u can answer this question it really keeps on bugging me
.... at present my company is connecting to the internet via DSL , is
there a way that i can configure my linux box with a dial-up account
from an ISP in case my DSL bugs down ?
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
it goes this way, i'll set up my linux box with DSL connection using
IP masq and fetchmail(for e-mail), in any circumstances that my DSL goes
down, i have to connect to an ISP which serves as a backup for my DSL.
how can this be done ? or can this be done ???
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
HELPP!!!!
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
thanks ,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
henry lastimosa
</STRONG></P>
<P>
I'm not familiar with DSL -- I assume it will use an ethernet adapter for the
network connection. Basically nothing much changes if it's pppoe or similar.
</P>
<P>
You can check the DSL connection by pinging relevant machines outside or
checking device status (ifconfig, cat <TT>/proc/***</TT>).
</P>
<P>
If this goes down you can/should disable the default routing over the DSL and
start up a ppp connection to your ISP. This will give you a new IP number and
a working ppp device. pppd will set the default routing for that ppp device.
</P>
<P>
If your box would be standalone and this would be only for the local machine
that's it. But you have masquerading and maybe firewall rules set for the IP
number with DSL -- which now won't work due to the IP number change.
</P>
<P>
You've got to setup the firewall/forwarding/masquerading rule again for the
new IP number (probably every time new if dynamic IP like usual with dial
up). After that it should work like before. You can even leave the DSL device
active (but not default route) and check if it's online again. Then change
back to DSL.
</P>
<P>
How to precisely setup the forwarding/masquerading for this I would be
interested myself. Especially for automatic dynamic IP adapttion.
</P>
<P>
K.-H.
</P>
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<P> <A NAME="wanted/3"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">ssc, "Linux@Gazette" Request for assistance.</FONT></H3>
Mon, 10 Dec 2001 17:33:49 +0800
<BR>k.s. Teo (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?cc=quality@magix.com.sg&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20help%20wanted%20%233">quality from magix.com.sg</a>)
<blockquote><font color="#000066">This reader clarified the initial email
so I merged the letters. Anyone who works in real estate, manages their
properties using free software, and feels inclined to tell us what you're
using, please let us know. It'd make a really great article!
-- Heather</font></blockquote>
<P>
Dear Editors,
</P>
<P>
To all Editors, should any of the Editors come across some application
software on "Property Maintenance" please let us know.
</P>
<P>
We are referring to an Application software to manage the Maintenance of a
high-rise Residential complex and its compound ( gardening, parking lots
allocation, electrical replacement, refuse disposal, building maintenance,
sport facilities book by residents, swimming pool, etc...etc.. ) (
apartment are owners occupied.)
</P>
<P>
We do not want custom program software, and would prefer existing &amp;
Tested application software.
</P>
<P>
We appreciate your assistance.
</P>
<P>
Yours sincerely,
<br>K.S. Teo
<br>Hotel Quality Source Co.
</P>
<!-- end 3 -->
<a name="mailbag"></a>
<P> <hr> <P>
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<center><H3><font color="maroon">GENERAL MAIL</font></H3></center>
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<!-- BEGIN GENERAL MAIL -->
<UL>
<!-- index_text begins -->
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/1"
><strong>Comment on Dennis Field article. Why Linux is not winning the battle of the desktops.</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/2"
><strong>To Dennis Field</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/3"
><strong>What must Linux vendors do?</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/4"
><strong>Link Update Request</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/5"
><strong>Your "Cleaning up the MBR" instructions</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/6"
><strong>what now?</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/7"
><strong>Copying linux to a new disk</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/7a"
><strong>Free software appreciation</strong></a>
<!-- index_text ends -->
</UL>
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<P> <A NAME="mailbag/1"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Comment on Dennis Field article. Why Linux is not winning the battle of the desktops.</FONT></H3>
Thu, 6 Dec 2001 08:34:37 -0800 (PST)
<BR>Javier Isassi (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20mailbag%20%231">j_isassi from yahoo.com</a>)
<!-- sig -->
<P><STRONG>
Greeting fellow Linux Lovers.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
The follwing comments are in reqard of an article published in your
December issue of the linux gazette entitled
"Why Linux is not winning the battle of the desktops"
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Let me start by saying:
There's no such battle.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
&lt;Wry look&gt; That pretty much sums up my take on the whole thing. As soon as
I saw that article, I figured that it was going to draw a fair bit of
flamage; I'm pleasantly surprised to see that the responses have been
generally well-reasoned.
</P>
<P>
Besides - a rout is not a battle. &lt;grin&gt; We're not battling anyone, just
taking a pleasant little walk in the park. If outdated businesses happen to
fall by the wayside because they've stepped on their own shoelaces, why,
&lt;insert innocent look here&gt; what do <EM>we</EM> have to do with it? &lt;blink, blink&gt;
</P>
<P>
-- Ben Okopnik
</P>
<P>
Oh, the battle exists, but only in the minds of the mainstream media who
invented it. For them Linux won't "win" until there's no longer a need
for an underdog OS to support. -- Jim Dennis
</P>
<P>
Moreover, the article was focused on one particular distro. If it were
me, I would choose one of the major distros that I thought came from a big
enough company to provide the basic features I needed to support the type
of hardware I intended to run it on, then add the applications for the
ecommerce (or whatever it happened to be) part of it later. I don't see
any reason why the author was bound to use the same distro as had been
chosen to run on the desktop machines in the business office environment.
</P>
<P>
Also, in the case of somewhat specialized hardware such as a laptop, as
mentioned here in the past, there are a few web sites which cover Linux on
laptops pretty thoroughly - he didn't mention looking at those sites to
iron out the difficulties.
</P>
<P>
Back in the days of RH4.2, I recall having trouble installing to a desktop
486 machine I had. I tried <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</A> and RH without success. Then I went to
Slakware and was able to get it installed. Those were the early days of
hardware auto-detection and automated installs. At the time, Slakware was
still very much a manual install, and so avoided the problems that the
other distros were encountering. What I'm trying to say is that instead
of banging ones head against the wall with one distro, it pays to try
others. It was more work, but I had a functional Linux box, which
included X.
</P>
<P>
-- John Karns
</P>
<P><STRONG>
While developers of the multi-flavored Linux arena are working towards
making Linux easier to run and configure it is accepted, well understood
and furthermore ADVIRTISED that Linux is not the choice of the
neofite moron trying to learn how to use a computer (AKA Windows user)
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Furthermore the subsequent remarks towards making Linux a more "friendly" OS
are also off the mark.
Let's mention a few.
</STRONG></P>
<h4>"Make Linux idiot proof"</h4>
<P><STRONG>
There's already an idiot proof OS. Is called MAC OS, not Windows. Is
robust and more secure than Linux and Windows put together. Drawback,
you can't jack with it. Main reason Linux exist: "An OS that you can
jack with it"
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Or, to quote a UNIX old hand, Doug Gwyn:
</P>
<P><BLOCKQuote>
"UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because
that would also stop you from doing clever things."
</BLOCKQuote></P>
<P>
However, specialist distros of Linux, designed to do only one thing
well, do exist (routers are very popular variants, as are rescue disks).
Companies sell special eqwipment for special purposes, which sometimes
have a free OS under the hood. For instance, the thinkNIC
(<A HREF="http://www.thinknic.com/thinknic"
>http://www.thinknic.com/thinknic</A>) is a bookend PC with no
hard disk, designed primarily for playing solitaire and web surfing.
People who can't spell "OS" can't tell it's Linux; they just know they
have to stuff its CD in there when they turn it on. -- Heather
</P>
<h4>"Give Linux users better customer service"</h4>
<P><STRONG>
I worked in the customer service dept at Dell Computer for over 3 years.
The number one reason people called could be nailed in one single
sentence: "I was jacking with my system and things went wrong, can you
change my diapers and fix my system?"
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
What kind of numbskull with pour money to support a staff to hear customers
rebuilding the kernels or installing modules they code and compile? What
is it that you are supporting? Coding? Linking and running? Unlike the
wint-tel world where you have "parties" (vendors) providing you with
software there are no "parties" in the OSC (Open Source Community) because
NOBODY is paying for it.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
First define the customers, then you can define the service. Companies
that couldn't do the first, went early to the "dot bomb." There are
companies making okay money by selling "professional services" aka
rebuilding things and coding. Ship a pretty darn good product and
excellent manual, and you still get calls, but more of them will be off
the far ends of the bell curve... asking to do things that are complex,
or completely beyond the scope (ok so now that I have Linux you guys can
help me build my own TiVo before my 90 days are up?) or people who think
that "ordinary" things like making sure the monitor is on are non-obvious
and should have been in the book. Honest. I've been there too! (4+ years
in MSwin and antivirus tech support.)
</P>
<P>
However, the same team that can, as you put it, change diapers may not
be terribly good at wreaking deep kernel magic, and vice versa.
</P>
<P>
But I wouldn't say NOBODY is paying for things; We could hardly have so
many boxed products in their third or fourth major revision, if that
were the case. Imagine telling folks back in '94 that Linux was going
to be on endcaps at Fry's, taking up half aisles, and random PCI cards
would proudly stamp themselves "linux compatible". Hah! They'd have
sent for the little white men. -- Heather
</P>
<P><STRONG>
Anybody who believes that because they dished out 40 bucks at staples
for a copy of Mandrake they are "entitled" to ANYTHING, the soon realized
otherwise.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Entitled to keep the manual inside that box on the shelf and read it
until it is happily dog-eared. If you're the sort who understands
things without needing manuals, you don't need boxed Linux anyway.
If you're not sure where your A: is (oh! the floppy! why didn' ya
SAY so!) then that "90 days install support" may be valuable in helping
you use the quickstart guides.
</P>
<P>
It's the job of the folks who design the box to set the expectations of
the customer who will pick up and buy that box. -- Heather
</P>
<P><STRONG>
To recap. Linux off the shelf is a poor example of a vanilla robust
desktop OS. And proud of it.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
We're not vanilla. We're mint chocolate chip, the other favorite flavor.
Strawberries cost extra, low fat options available, etc. -- Heather
</P>
<P><STRONG>
If all you want to do is browse the web and read your email get an iMAC.
If alll you want is someone else read your email and browse your system
get Windows with Outlook. For anything else...Linux.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
cheers.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Javier Isassi.
</STRONG></P>
<!-- end 1 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<P> <A NAME="mailbag/2"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">(no subject)</FONT></H3>
Mon, 3 Dec 2001 14:39:22 +0100
<BR>Ian Carr-de Avelon (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20mailbag%20%232">ian from emit.pl</a>)
<P><STRONG>
In LG-73 Mr Field again argues, that to win the battle of the Desktop
Linux "vendors" need to provide a much higher level of support. The battle
for my desktop was won by Linux years years ago, but it may well be that
the battle for Mr Field's desktop is not worth winning at the moment.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
There is a famous quote (anyone know from who?) that "users must be made
to believe that it is not the administrator's job to make them happy,
it is the administrator's job is to make sure the system works. Then the
system will work and the users will be happy most of the time. If users
believe that the administrator has to make them happy, they will never
be happy and the system will never work." This is not about whether
users have a right to happiness, it is just a practical point that if
the technically able staff in an organisation don't have the status to
refuse to attempt to deliver what they know they cannot deliver, they
will deliver nothing.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I wonder whether Mr Field's book shop sells books in foreign languages. If
he sold a book in Russian and the client could not read it, because
they didn't know the language, would he as "vendor" feel that he
was failing to provide customer support? How could he expect to sell
books to customers who could not read at all? Obviously he could not,
he relies on schools and parents and the customer themselves to put in
a huge effort to be able to use the products he sells. Maybe he should
make use of his bookstore to purchase some books on Linux and take the
time to learn Linux at a realistic rate. I'm not against Linux users
helping each other for free, nor am I against people who need assistance
paying a company for that if they can afford to. However when Mr Field
suggests, that if what he paid for the distribution could never finance
the open ended unlimited support he would like, that they could at least
encourage their knowledgeable users to spend 10 hours sorting him out
for a chance at a 5$ hat, we see what kind of person we are dealing
with. Maybe he should start offering 5$ hats to customers who will give
free Russian lessons so he can sell books in Russian.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
If you believe that a knowledgeable person could solve your problems in
10 hours, and that that would be good use of their time, please pay them
for that 10 hours. If someone is prepared to give 10 hours to making Linux
better, please let them decide for themselves what they will do in that
10 hours. If Linux can be difficult to install, that may put some people
off, but I can't see Linux users working 10 hours for a baseball cap as a
way to encourage people to become Linux users. Linux users of the world
unite, you have nothing to loose but the chance of a 5$ baseball cap.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
When efforts are going to made it is only reasonable that those providing
the resources decide what they should be used for.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Yours
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Ian
</STRONG></P>
<HR width="10%" align="center">
<blockquote><font color="#000066">... to which Mike replied, and Ian
responded ...</font></blockquote>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
In LG-73 Mr Field again argues, that to win the battle of the Desktop
Linux "vendors" need to provide a much higher level of support. The battle
for my desktop was won by Linux years years ago, but it may well be that
the battle for Mr Field's desktop is not worth winning at the moment.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
There are two sides to this issue,
</STRONG></P>
<P>
No, there are many sides to the issue, because Xfree86-GNU-Linux is not
a simple vendor &amp; client product. Mr Field's basic argument is exactly
that he paid Linux for a CD and it didn't work out, so Linux should get
its act together. We all understand that there are a whole series of
groups here: open source developers (Linus, FSF, LDP, Xfree86), the
distribution, the satisfied users and dissatisfied non-users like
Mr Field. Each has their own motivations and it can't be accepted that
we all go down together at the battle of Mr Field's desktop. (actually
laptop, but lets keep this clean).
</P>
<P><STRONG>
However, I think what Dennis is saying is that a
higher level of vendor support is necessary for Linux to be a viable
alternative in many retail and other workplace situations.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
I accept this, but the response to the article has to be a) how people
in the situation can realisticly use Linux as it is, and b) consideration
by knowledgeable people of how resources which can be made available
can best be put to use. If we allow the complaint to undermine our
confidence in Linux, as a system we have proven in use ourselves, and accept
that we should apply our selves not as we do, but as Mr Field thinks best,
then we will have allowed Mr Field to become toxic to us.
</P>
<P><STRONG>
This is also
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
known as "enterprise-level" support, and any company that switches a
vital component of their business (such as their inventory system) to a
new application will make sure the support is available, either from the
vendor or in-house.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
I have no problem with this, but I don't expect enterprises to get this
level of support for the price of a Linux-CD or a hat. This initial
problem relates to getting Linux installed on a single specific PC.
Do you think that if the distribution sent someone round and made
Linux work on this PC, that Mr Field would soon have his inventory
system working under Linux? My guess is that he will run straight into
another problem and another. Solving problems and accepting that
this modem or that scanner does not work and will have to wait for
a development or you to learn more, is the reality of using Linux.
It may even be that if the installation goes too easily, you have lost
an important chance to learn and have gained an unrealistic expectation
of how things will go with the whole system.
</P>
<P><STRONG>
"Not worth winning": perhaps, perhaps not. It may not be the vendor's
"responsibility" to provide the support; but on the other hand, if they
want those customers, they will provide the support.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
If the vendor says "we will provide support" they have a duty to do that
(however you quantify support), but it can't be accepted that Linux
users have a responsibility to provide the support which a vendor
promised. If the cost of a Linux CD plus the cost of the support
Mr Fields needs is an attractive one to Mr Fields' employers, let
the vendor make the sale and Linux can advance; but don't lets
have high-maintenance users and vendors using us all to meet unrealistic
expectations for a baseball hat or two.
</P>
<P><STRONG>
Giving up on those
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
customers means they will be stuck with a commercial OS that only works
at all for them simply because they happen to be included in the OS
company's marketing target. If the OS company decides his business (and
that of everybody like him) is insufficiently significant to their [the
OS company's] bottom line, the next version of the OS may be
incompatible with what he needs, and then he'll be up the river.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Who ever produces the software they use, it takes effort. The fact that
a commercial organisation (two if we count the Linux vendor) can benefit
is not in itself sufficient reason to work 10 hours for a baseball
cap IMHO.
</P>
<P>
Yours
Ian
</P>
<HR width="10%" align="center">
<blockquote><font color="#000066">Mike made an effort to forward the
conversation to Dennis, the thread continued, and some of the conversation
never made it to me. But here's the tail end of it...
-- Heather</font></blockquote>
<P><STRONG>
Until such time as we can get all the people who are
currently running their small businesses and home offices with Windows to
take several years of graduate courses in Linux, then there is no point
in even trying to compete with Microsoft.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Either they learn enough to use Linux as it is available now, or Linux
has to be out of the box ready, or they can't use it. I'm not saying how
it should be, or it would be nice if it was.
Learning to use Linux is something it is easy to give pointers to. Making
Linux more out of the box ready is generally more difficult and there are
several ways of going. If you go in the direction of writing clever
scripts which detect the hardware and set the configuration, then <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/">SuSE</A>
and Red-hat are about as good as you can get with the resources anyone
has available. If they are not good enough for you, maybe you will get
lucky with the next release, or the same release on a different PC,
but there are no miracle distributions just round the corner.
You suggest that users could sort themselves out if there was a web forum.
In fact there is lots of help on the Internet, database of laptops with
Linux, almost every package has its own web site and mailing list.
I recently installed <A HREF="http://www.slackware.org/">Slackware</A> 8.0 on a Tulip PC and found problems like
the address in Netscape being displayed black on black. I worked out
a way round and emailed XFree86. In order get the information to someone who may
be able use it and avoid every distribution which has the same Xfree86
version having to have someone reinvent the same wheel, I had to understand
quite a lot about how the Linux system operates just to make a decent
bug report.
The other way to to make Linux out of the box is to supply preinstalled
systems, even with remote administration, or be a Linux based ASP and let the
customer use your Linux via the Internet.
</P>
<P><STRONG>
But I guess <A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A> and SUSE
and <A HREF="http://www.caldera.com/">Caldera</A> don't care about selling to the small business market.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
These are top companies at what they do. Would you write off Ford because
their cars take 20 hours (personal tuition) to learn to drive?
</P>
<P><STRONG>
The
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
only thing I don't understand is why does IBM provide all that
information about their products? Surely IBM's customers could just
figure it out for themselves if their computer doesn't work?
</STRONG></P>
<P>
IBM has all that information to hand and the costs of putting it onto
the net are less than having someone to pick up the phone to say
"hello this is IBM, anybody who knows anything is too busy to talk right
now."
</P>
<P>
Yours
Ian
</P>
<!-- end 2 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<P> <A NAME="mailbag/3"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">What must Linux vendors do?</FONT></H3>
Mon, 3 Dec 2001 10:58:23 -0800
<BR>Dan Wilder (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20mailbag%20%233">The Answer Gang</a>)
<P><STRONG>
[ ... ] if the technically able staff in an organisation don't
have the status to refuse to attempt to deliver what they know
they cannot deliver, they will deliver nothing.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
This is elegantly put, and certainly true of situations far beyond
the intended context of the discussion. I like it!
</P>
<P>
--
Dan Wilder
</P>
<!-- end 3 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<P> <A NAME="mailbag/4"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Link Update Request</FONT></H3>
Thu, 6 Dec 2001 11:15:23 -0800
<BR>StuffIt Web Evengelist (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?cc=evangelist@aladdinsys.com&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20mailbag%20%234">evangelist from aladdinsys.com</a>)
<P><STRONG>
Hello there,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
During a recent surf of your site, <A HREF="http://www.medasys-lille.com"
>http://www.medasys-lille.com</A>, we
noticed that at the following URL(s):
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><BLOCKQuote>
<A HREF="http://www.medasys-lille.com/webalizer/VersionR04/default.htm"
>http://www.medasys-lille.com/webalizer/VersionR04/default.htm</A>
</BLOCKQuote></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
...you offer users help on how to handle downloaded files and you recommend
rarsoft.com to handle downloaded files such as .zip, .rar, etc.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Hmm, are you sure you have the right people? I went there and I didn't
see a <EM>Linux Gazette</EM> mirror site. -- Heather
</P>
<P><STRONG>
We'd like you to consider including a link to StuffIt, or even replacing
your existing recommendations with one for StuffIt.
&lt;<A HREF="http://www.stuffit.com/stuffit/win/&gt"
>http://www.stuffit.com/stuffit/win/&gt</A>;
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Why?
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Because:
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><BLOCKQuote>
The competitors are not "free", but shareware, meaning your users will get
a nagged to purchase every single time they download a file from the
Internet. With StuffIt, unregistered users are only nagged when they create
archives, NEVER when they open them.
</BLOCKQuote></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
StuffIt is the only product available on all the platforms your users may
use. (Available for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and Solaris.)
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
StuffIt handles more formats &lt;<A HREF="http://www.stuffit.com/stuffit/formats.html&gt"
>http://www.stuffit.com/stuffit/formats.html&gt</A>;
than any competing product and is the only product which handles the
popular .sit format, which means your users have a better chance of
accessing a file with StuffIt than with any other utility.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
As the number one compression utility in the retail channel for Windows,
StuffIt has proven itself as the compression utility of choice where it
counts, on the street.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
So do your users a favor and refer them to StuffIt
&lt;<A HREF="http://www.stuffit.com/stuffit/win/&gt"
>http://www.stuffit.com/stuffit/win/&gt</A>;, in your FAQ's, and on any pages that
offer .zip, .sit, or other supported file types for download.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
If that sounds good, but you're wondering what might be in it for you? We
have an answer! If you respond to this email to let us know that you have
added a link to StuffIt to your web site, we will gladly offer you a choice
of a free registered copy of StuffIt in any platform you would like - OR -
a free t-shirt (black) that says ".sit happens!". (T-shirts are in limited
supply so act quickly if you want one!)
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Please let us know if you have any questions and especially if you'd like
to collect on some free software or logoware.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Sincerely,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Eric Kopf
<br>StuffIt Web Evangelist
</STRONG></P>
<P>
We don't offer .zip or .zit files, only .tar.gz. -- Mike
</P>
<P>
Aren't you supposed to use "squeeze" for that last one? Or does "pop"
provide the same functionality? -- Ben Okopnik
</P>
<P>
We don't offer .rar either and infoZIP is free enough for most of our
users.
</P>
<P>
I regret to note that I have trouble using Aladdin's "stuffit for Linux"
to reliably unpack .sit files meant for Macs (I was trying to get at
some PICT resources that fit a theme I'm messing with, I wanted to see
if GIMP would load them. All but the text files unpacked to zero bytes
length). I assume that the Linux version is allowed to fall behind the
Mac version and it shows. It just doesn't win points for me if Aladdin's
app doesn't work with their own Stuff
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/unsmily.gif" ALT=":("
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
</P>
<P>
As for free. "only nagged when they create" isn't very free. Most shareware
I have encountered never nagged anyone at all except in the documentation.
(Including the about box, of course, so you know how to get ahold of the
author.) Most Linux utilities don't even need a postcard. For some of our,
ahem, more evangelistic types, free means we know how it works under the
hood (academic papers ok, code preferred), and for the more vehement among
those, it includes the right to make derivatives that stay free in the same
sense. You really have to be careful about the difference between "0 dollars
and no sales tax" and "freedom of assembly"
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
height="24" width="20" align="middle"> around here.
</P>
<P>
I don't think we have any serious all-in-one decompressor libraries... and
why should we? The individual ones work fine, and we have lots of shiny
front ends for the itty bitty command line apps or to call our .so APIs.
mc is my personal favorite, but some of my friends like GUItar. -- Heather
</P>
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<P> <A NAME="mailbag/5"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Your "Cleaning up the MBR" instructions</FONT></H3>
Thu, 13 Dec 2001 10:21:54 -0800
<BR>Ben Okopnik (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20mailbag%20%235">The Answer Gang</a>)
<P><STRONG>
Hi Ben,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I have a laptop that was turned into a doorstop when I tried to reinstall
the original image after experimenting with Mandrake 8.1 (really needs
more of a machine than that laptop is). Every attempt at fdisk seemed to
work but attempting to boot the machine froze with "LI" and a blinking
cursor on the screen.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I tried your instructions using Tom's root-boot, and got nowhere but an
error message stating that <TT>/dev/zero</TT> was an invalid option for if in dd
(I'm sorry, I had already tried the assembler version before I thought
of the fact you might like the actual text of the error. . .duh!!).
</STRONG></P>
<P>
No big deal, although I would have been curious to see the error. If it
does say something like that, however, it's possible that "dd" is somewhat
broken in <A HREF="http://www.toms.net/rb/">Tom's rootboot</A>; several of the "adaptations" of programs (most of
them seem to have been rewritten in "lua") are, to some degree. For
instance, the "chroot" in Tom's doesn't let me spawn a shell, which I
consider broken behavior.
</P>
<P>
However, it's not a problem: any method by which you can write 512 nulls to
the beginning of "<TT>/dev/hda</TT>" will do.
</P>
<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br># If you just don't care about what's on the HD...
<br>x="\0"; for n in 1 2 3 4; do x=$x$x$x$x; done; printf $x$x &gt; /dev/hda
<br>
<br># A nicer way to do it
<br>x="\0"; for n in 1 2 3 4; do x=$x$x$x$x; done; printf $x$x &gt; nada
<br>dd if=nada of=/dev/hda bs=512 count=1
</font></code></blockquote>
<P><STRONG>
Anyhow, your DOS-based "debug" method appears to have worked. . .I was
able to put a bootable DOS partition on the box again. Thanks for
having alternatives; you might want to dig into the Linux solution a
little further. FYI, this is a Toshiba 7000CT pII-266 with 4GB HDD
and 64M in case you were wondering. Thanks <EM>very</EM> much for having
this resource "out there!"
</STRONG></P>
<P>
You're welcome, Dan. I get fairly regular mail thanking me for this one,
which is certainly nice; it's even better to get one with a bug report
included. Thanks!
</P>
<!-- end 5 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<P> <A NAME="mailbag/6"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">what now?</FONT></H3>
Sat, 8 Dec 2001 15:46:01 -0800
<BR>Thomas P. Rowland (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20mailbag%20%236">thomas.p.rowland from mail.sprint.com</a>)
<P><STRONG>
Jim,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
You've been around the block a couple of times. I've been Linuxing since
'94(<A HREF="http://www.slackware.org/">Slackware</A>).
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Anyhow, how can the Linux community stem the tide? Voluteer time to
local schools to build networks? Online tutorials?
I don't know the answer. But I'd like to help.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
I don't believe that this is a "Linux" problem. Linux has been
a solution for some, may be the solution for many, and offers hope
for everyone.
</P>
<P>
I don't think of the situation as an inrushing tide to be stemmed.
However, if I accept that analogy, then we are not on the shore; we are
riding our own waves. Since we have already set sail a mere tide
will not sink us. Other currents may run the S.S. Penguin aground,
a gail may capsize us, or we might find ourselves becalmed (resting
in our laurels?) and adrift.
</P>
<P>
As for how we can make Linux a better solution for a broader range
of users, that's a bigger question. I would hate to sound like a
communist but one slogan that comes to mind is:
</P>
<BLOCKQuote>
From each as he or she is able, to each as he or she needs.
</BLOCKQuote>
<P>
No single effort will do. This is not about defeating Microsoft,
nor even about undermining commercial and proprietary software as
an industry. It's about providing alternatives.
</P>
<P>
So, what can each of us do? I can contribute through technical
support writing, by teaching and informed advocacy. Linus, Alan
Cox, et al contribute through coding (and project management, and
technical vision). The <A HREF="http://www.kde.org/">KDE</A> and <A HREF="http://www.gnome.org/">GNOME</A> teams contribue through a
different level of coding (user space applications framework rather
than core kernel work). The FSF provides the tool chain and the
utility set that fit between the kernel and the application space.
</P>
<P>
Perhaps you could help wire up your school. However, that is not
a Linux effort. You should not volunteer with your local school
board specifically to push a Linux aggenda. First it should be
"your" school, in the sense that you are involved in it. If, from
the vantage of understanding *it's* needs, you believe that Linux
is the best available solution to <EM>some</EM> of their problems, then
you can propose it.
</P>
<P>
If you can create an online tutorial; that's great. Better, if you
can improve an existing one.
</P>
<P>
For example there is the GBDirect sponsored "Open Source Training"
effort at: <A HREF="http://www.opensourcetraining.co.uk"
>http://www.opensourcetraining.co.uk</A> which offers
curricula for the professional trainer under licensing terms that
are very close to the <A HREF="http://www.linuxdoc.org/">Linux Documentation Project</A> (LDP) free documentation license. (In other
words we are all granted royalty free license to copy, modify and
present the materials; though publication/distribution of derivative
works must be approved by the author).
</P>
<P>
There is a whole section of the dmoz (<A HREF="http://www.dmoz.org"
>http://www.dmoz.org</A> and Google's
<A HREF="http://directory.google.com"
>http://directory.google.com</A> ) directory devoted to training:
</P>
<BLOCKQuote>
<A HREF="http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Operating_Systems/Linux/Support/Training"
>http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Operating_Systems/Linux/Support/Training</A>
</BLOCKQuote>
<P>
... so there's already a body of work to which we can contribute.
</P>
<P>
Of course online training only works for people who are exceptionally
self-motivated. It also requires a persistence and a special mindset.
Let's face it, most people can't benefit as readily by simply "reading
up on it" as through more interactive means. A good instructor can
teach more and more quickly than most people would learn on their own.
</P>
<P>
Otherwise the LDP (<A HREF="http://www.linuxdoc.org"
>http://www.linuxdoc.org</A> ) and a computer with a 'net
connection would be all anyone needed. (Arguably that's all that most
of us <EM>needed</EM> to get started; but the point is that it's not enough to
attract many other people to Linux).
</P>
<P>
So, those who are comfortable with public presentation and excel in
the materials, might contribute by teaching.
</P>
<P>
Linux and other open source systems (such as <A HREF="http://www.freebsd.org/">FreeBSD</A> and its ilk)
are grass roots projects. They are the reaction of some programmers
to the state of the industry. A true grass roots movement is not about
grandstanding. It's about regular people doing what is right for them.
</P>
<P>
(This is not to say that Linux and the "open source movement" faces
no real threats. The SSSCA, DMCA, and UCITA laws certainly pose
great risks to fundamental liberties for programmers and users of
all software. I wish I could claim that this was just an American
problem --- but it isn't. These (proposed) laws are evidence that
the U.S. legislature has been almost completely subverted by commercial
interests and that only the barest whisper of lip service to our
constitution and our Bill of Rights, remains. It remains to be seen
how far the injustice will go and what measures may be necessary to
stem <EM>that</EM> tide).
</P>
<P><STRONG>
Regards,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
PS Very good article on the briar patch!
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Paul Rowland Architecture and Engineering
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Thanks -- Jim Dennis
</P>
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<P> <A NAME="mailbag/7"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Copying linux to a new disk</FONT></H3>
Thu, 20 Dec 2001 16:30:05 +0800
<BR>Gregory J Smith (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20mailbag%20%237">greg.smith from mi-services.com</a>)
<P>
G'Day from Australia!
</P>
<P>
Love your Gazette. I have a couple of Linux systems at home.
</P>
<P>
[his question, trimmed like an xmas tree.]
</P>
<P>
Cheers, Merry Xmas
</P>
<HR width="10%" align="center"><P>
Please ignore my question sent previously - followed your advice and
found info in a mini-HOWTO. Will try soon and post some question about
it. Fingers crossed.
</P>
<P>
Greg Smith
</P>
<P>
Thanks, Greg, we hope that HOWTO works out for you. But if not, let us
know! -- Heather
</P>
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<P> <A NAME="mailbag/7a"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Free software appreciation</FONT></H3>
Mon, 31 Dec 2001 09:16:26 -0800
<BR>Bryan Henderson (<a
href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=Re:+Free+software+appreciation">bryanh from giraffe-data.com</a>)
<P> Mike Orr writes in the December issue about one of the
<A HREF="../issue73/orr2.html">dangers</A> every
free software developer faces: lack of appreciation from users. His
point is a good one, but the article was inspired by the resignation
of Christoph Pfisterer from the Fink project, which doesn't really
illustrate the point.
<P> Mike writes, "A developer is resigning from a free software project
because of the unappreciative demands of its users." I know that
issue pretty well, and it interests me, so I read the
<A HREF="http://www.geocrawler.com/lists/3/SourceForge/11114/125/7038861/">
resignation letter</A> and
the references linked from the letter, and I discovered that this is
not a case of unappreciative users.
<P> This is a case of an arrogant developer who doesn't appreciate the
situation of his users. Two of his references for why he is resigning
are bug reports that look pretty polite and appreciative to me, but
Pfisterer flames the user for being to lazy and stupid to solve the
problem himself. He also seems to take personal offense at the
suggestion that his work may be defective.
<P> There's nothing the user community can do to keep a prima donna like
this working on free software.
<P> The other references have to do with beneficiaries of Fink not giving
sufficient credit to the people who worked on Fink. But those appear
to be genuine misunderstandings and disagreements over how much credit
Fink deserves.
<P> From the facts available, I believe Pfisterer is new to supporting
software used by the masses, and in time he will mellow and start
contributing to free software again.
<!-- end 7 -->
<a name="gaz"></a>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="maroon">GAZETTE MATTERS</font></H3></center>
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->
<!-- BEGIN GAZETTE MATTERS -->
<UL>
<!-- index_text begins -->
<li><A HREF="#gaz/2"
><strong>Unsubscribe to newsletters?</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#gaz/3"
><strong>Re: A querry</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#gaz/4"
><strong>New TAG FAQ & KB</strong></a>
<!-- index_text ends -->
</UL>
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<P> <A NAME="gaz/2"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Unsubscribe to newsletters?</FONT></H3>
Thu, 20 Dec 2001 09:02:24 -0800
<BR><em>anonymous</em> (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20gazette%20matters%20%232">address withheld</a>)
<P><STRONG>
Please take me off the mailing list for your newsletters or tell me how I
can unsubscribe.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Go to <A HREF="http://www.ssc.com/mailman/listinfo/LISTNAME"
>http://www.ssc.com/mailman/listinfo/LISTNAME</A>
and you will have an opportunity to unsubscribe. If you don't remember your
password, there's a section where you can have it mailed back to you.
</P>
<P>
-- Mike Orr
</P>
<!-- end 2 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<P> <A NAME="gaz/3"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Re: A querry</FONT></H3>
Sun, 2 Dec 2001 10:28:25 -0800
<BR>dinesh (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20gazette%20matters%20%233">dinesh from neline.com</a>)
<!-- sig -->
<P><STRONG>
Dear Sir,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Can you help me if I have a querry pertaining to Linux ? How can I ask
questions, if there is any forum or something, kindly let me know.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
See The Answer Gang FAQ at <A HREF="../tag/members-faq.html"
>http://www.linuxgazette.com/tag/members-faq.html</A>
-- Mike Orr
</P>
<!-- end 3 -->
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
<P> <A NAME="gaz/4"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">New TAG FAQ & KB</FONT></H3>
Thu, 27 Dec 2001 14:45:22 -0800
<BR>Mike, Ben, and Chris (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20gazette%20matters%20%234"><em>Linux Gazette</em> Editors</a>)
<P>
The latest TAG FAQ and KB are up. A big round of applause to Ben Okopnik and
Chris Gianakopoulos for bringing these up to date!!!
</P>
<P>
<A HREF="../tag/members-faq.html"
>http://www.linuxgazette.com/tag/members-faq.html</A>
<A HREF="../tag/kb.html"
>http://www.linuxgazette.com/tag/kb.html</A>
</P>
<P>
-- Mike Orr
</P>
<P>
&lt;twisting toe shyly in the sand&gt; Shucks. 'Twern't nothin'... err, I lie. It
was a hell of a lot of work, and a BIG chunk of it done by Chris this month
while I was dealing with Real Life and wrestling with the various relevant
meta-issues involved in the production. <EM>YAY</EM>, Chris!
</P>
<P>
&lt;Grin&gt; All made worthwhile by seeing the result, though - and it's going to
get even bigger, and be a better resource for the community. Mike, whose
oversight is just as much of a contribution as any, deserves a big hand
too.
</P>
<P>
Good to be working on this with both of you guys.
-- Ben
</P>
<P>
Thanks for that recognition! It's fun to be part of the
Linux Gazette. I also thank everyone for the encourgement that you all
have given me for the past two years with respect to Linux stuff.
</P>
<P>
Have a good set of holidays -- all of you! -- Chris G.
</P>
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