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1365 lines
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<TITLE>Linux Gazette Mailbag LG #62</TITLE></HEAD><BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000"
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<IMG ALT="" SRC="../gx/navbar/left.jpg" WIDTH="14" HEIGHT="45" BORDER="0" ALIGN="bottom"><A HREF="index.html"><IMG ALT="[ Table of Contents ]" SRC="../gx/navbar/toc.jpg" WIDTH="220" HEIGHT="45" BORDER="0" ALIGN="bottom" ></A><A HREF="../index.html"><IMG ALT="[ Front Page ]" SRC="../gx/navbar/frontpage.jpg" WIDTH="137" HEIGHT="45" BORDER="0" ALIGN="bottom"></A><A HREF="../faq/index.html"><IMG ALT="[ FAQ ]" SRC="./../gx/navbar/faq.jpg"WIDTH="62" HEIGHT="45" BORDER="0" ALIGN="bottom"></A><A HREF="lg_bytes62.html"><IMG ALT="[ Next ]" SRC="../gx/navbar/next.jpg" WIDTH="15" HEIGHT="45" BORDER="0" ALIGN="bottom" ></A><IMG ALT="" SRC="../gx/navbar/right.jpg" WIDTH="15" HEIGHT="45" ALIGN="bottom">
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<!-- HELP WANTED SECTION ================================================== -->
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<center>
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<table width="100%" cellpadding=7><tr><td>
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<H2><a NAME="mail"><IMG SRC="../gx/mailbox.gif" ALIGN=MIDDLE ALT=" ">
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The Mailbag!</a> </H2>
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Write the Gazette at <A HREF="mailto:gazette@ssc.com">gazette@ssc.com</A>
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</td><td>
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<H3>Contents:</H3>
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<ul>
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<li><a HREF="#help">Help Wanted -- Article Ideas</a>
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<li><a HREF="#gaz">General Mail</a>
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<li><a HREF="#gaz">Gazette Matters</a>
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</ul>
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</td></tr></table>
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</center>
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<!-- BEGIN wanted -->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<!-- =================================================================== -->
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<center><H3><font color="maroon">HELP WANTED --
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Article Ideas</font></H3></center>
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<P>
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<P> Send tech-support questions, answers and article ideas to The Answer Gang
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<<A HREF="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com">linux-questions-only@ssc.com</A>>. Other mail (including
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questions or comments about the <EM>Gazette</EM> itself) should go to
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<<A HREF="mailto:gazette@ssc.com">gazette@ssc.com</A>>. All material
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sent to either of these addresses will be considered for publication in the
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next issue. <EM>Please send answers to the original querent too, so that s/he
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can get the answer without waiting for the next issue.</EM>
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<P> Unanswered questions might appear here. Questions with
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answers--or answers only--appear in The Answer Gang, 2-Cent Tips, or here,
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depending on their content. There is no guarantee that questions will
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<em>ever</em> be answered, especially if not related to Linux.
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<P> <STRONG>Before asking a question, please check the
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<A HREF=../faq/index.html><I>Linux Gazette</I> FAQ</A> to see if it has been
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answered there.</STRONG>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<!--====================================================================-->
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<!-- BEGIN HELP WANTED -->
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<UL>
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<!-- index_text begins -->
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<li><A HREF="#wanted/1"
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><strong>Firewall access...</strong></a>
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<li><A HREF="#wanted/2"
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><strong>Mandrake Linux and Cable modems</strong></a>
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<li><A HREF="#wanted/3"
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><strong>Trying to build a crash course for myself...</strong></a>
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<li><A HREF="#wanted/4"
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><strong>reading tapes from another operating system</strong></a>
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<li><A HREF="#wanted/5"
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><strong>Memory mystery</strong></a>
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<!-- index_text ends -->
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</UL>
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<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
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<P> <A NAME="wanted/1"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
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<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
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<FONT COLOR="navy">Firewall access...</FONT></H3>
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Thu, 11 Jan 2001 11:35:01 +1300
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<BR>Gavin Lowe<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (glowe from csi.co.nz)</a>
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<!-- sig -->
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<P><STRONG>
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Hi all,
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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I have a webserver on our internal LAN that I would like to make accessible
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to the Internet. I have setup a firewall (RH6.2) using ipchains to allow
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Internet access from my LAN through an ADSL connection.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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The firewall has two NIC's, one for the external (Internet) connection and
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one for the internal (LAN) connection. The adsl modem/router is setup to
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NAT the static IP of the router to the IP of the internal server.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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i.e.
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</STRONG></P>
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<pre><strong>-->static IP [ADSL modem/router] 1.2.3.4 ----> 1.2.3.5 [ Firewall ]
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10.11.12.13 ---> LAN ( webserver=10.11.12.20)
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NAT static IP:443 -> 10.11.12.20:443
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</strong></pre>
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<P><STRONG>
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I know attempts to access the internal server via the static IP are getting
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to my firewall and being accepted by the input rule, but I don't know what
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I need to do from there on in to get the request to the LAN ?
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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On the firewall if I issue the following:
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</STRONG></P>
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<pre><strong>ipchains -C input -p tcp -i eth1 -s <internet address> 443 -d 10.11.12.20 443
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</strong></pre>
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<P><STRONG>
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it is accepted.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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If I issue the following:
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</STRONG></P>
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<pre><strong>ipchains -C forward -p tcp -i eth1 -s <internet address> 443 -d 10.11.12.20 443
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</strong></pre>
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<P><STRONG>
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it is accepted.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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If I issue the following:
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</STRONG></P>
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<pre><strong>ipchains -C output -p tcp -i eth1 -s <internet address> 443 -d 10.11.12.20 443
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</strong></pre>
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<P><STRONG>
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it is accepted.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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Do I need to bridge the two NIC's on the firewall ?
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Do I just put in some routing entries ?
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DO I have to do anything more to the forward and/or output rule to get the
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packets through ?
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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As you've probably concluded by now I new to ipchains, although I have read
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many of firewall/ipchains/bridge HOWTOs, so any help would be gratefully
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accepted
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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Thanks
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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Gavin.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P>
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This is a tiny sample <TT>-</TT> a number of other home/SOHO packet filtering and
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defensive firewall questions are in the queue to be answered. But it would
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be really nice to see an article for ipchains... or especially, the new
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netfilters, since they are a bit different... which is aimed for readers
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who are not already network administrators. <TT>--</TT> Heather.
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</P>
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<!-- sig -->
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<!-- end 1 -->
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<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
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<P> <A NAME="wanted/2"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
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<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
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<FONT COLOR="navy">Mandrake Linux and Cable modems</FONT></H3>
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Sun, 31 Dec 2000 19:49:03 -0000
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<BR>Ian Garvie<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (ig011a0002 from blueyonder.co.uk)</a>
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<!-- sig -->
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<P><STRONG>
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I am running a home peer to peer net work of 3 PS's running Win98 and
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internet sharing to access the internet through my cable modem (Telewest
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Blueyonder). On the PC that acts as the gateway to the internet, I have two
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removable drives, one runs win98 (obviously...lol) and the other is running
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Mandrake 7.1. What I would like to do is to Dump Win98 from the gateway PC
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and go over to Linux completely, while the other two PC's will continue to
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run win98. Now what I want to be able to do is have a similar set-up to my
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win98 network, where the three PC's all have access the internet.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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Have you a complete numpties' guide to doing this, bearing in mind that I
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have little or no Linux experience. i.e. the definitive guide to getting
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cable modems to run under Mandrake 7.1.
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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Many thanks
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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Ian Garvie
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</STRONG></P>
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<P>
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There is a quiet little utility called Masqdialer which is supposed to be for
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exactly this purpose. However, I've never used it, though I've been tempted
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to give masqmailer a try ... that's a mailer that might be good for people
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on dialups, because it's smart about whether you're online, and via what ISP.
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</P>
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<P>
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An article on either of these, or the general case of a sometimes-disconnected
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setup, would be a good read for newbies and old hands alike.
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</P>
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<!-- sig -->
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<!-- end 2 -->
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<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
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<P> <A NAME="wanted/3"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
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<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
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<FONT COLOR="navy">Trying to build a crash course for myself...</FONT></H3>
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Sat, 27 Jan 2001 20:06:50 -0600
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<BR>Matt Cherwin<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (cherwinmr16 from uwwvax.uww.edu)</a>
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<!-- sig -->
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<P><STRONG>
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Hi there. As you probably gathered from the subject header, I'm a fairly new
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Linux user--I used it for a few months a while back with a RH 6.0 install,
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but ended up back in MSFT land when I had trouble replacing my NIC. In any
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event, I just installed Mandrake 7.2, and I've been doing pretty well getting
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the system to do everything I need/want it to do over the last several days.
|
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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HOWEVER: I'm using it almost exclusively inside X/<A HREF="http://www.kde.org/">KDE</A>, and I'm well aware
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that I'm really not learning anything about how to properly
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setup/use/maintain a Linux system. So I've been browsing about the web, IRC
|
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channels, newsgroups, etc., and reading pretty much any documentation that's
|
|
aimed at new users. The problem is that just reading everything doesn't teach
|
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one all that much when it comes to actually trying to use the system.
|
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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|
What all this buildup is leading to is: what would you recommend as practical
|
|
projects to undertake as learning exercises for a fairly new user? At the
|
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risk of sounding immodest, I'm quite comfortable and conversant with
|
|
computers and computing in general, hardware setup, programming, etc.--but
|
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only in a MSFT world. I'm not terrifically afraid of breaking my
|
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system--everything is well backed-up, and I've been working with Windows
|
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products for long enough that the prospect of reformat/reinstall isn't even
|
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vaguely daunting. I just don't know what it is I should be <TT>-trying-</TT> to do
|
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such that succeeding in the endeavor would involve gaining understanding of
|
|
the system.
|
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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|
Sincerely,
|
|
Matt "sorry for the SPAM" Cherwin
|
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</STRONG></P>
|
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<P>
|
|
Better answers than "read back issues of the Gazette" will be published, if
|
|
you copy them to <A HREF="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"
|
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>linux-questions-only@ssc.com</A>.
|
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</P>
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|
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<!-- sig -->
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|
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<!-- end 3 -->
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<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
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<P> <A NAME="wanted/4"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
|
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<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
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<FONT COLOR="navy">reading tapes from another operating system</FONT></H3>
|
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1 Jan 01 22:36:56 CST
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<BR>Layton Davis<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (laytond from usa.net)</a>
|
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|
|
|
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<!-- sig -->
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<P><STRONG>
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Thanks for taking time to answer questions.
|
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</STRONG></P>
|
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<P><STRONG>
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|
I have some tapes (1/4" cartrage <TT>-</TT> 120MB format) that I would like to make
|
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copies of. Now, I know that they were made on an AS/400, But as I see it; data
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is data <TT>-</TT> if I can figure out what format it is in.
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
The hardware is an AMD-K6/II 500 with an Adaptec AIC-7850 narrow SCSI
|
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controler connected to the PCI bus. There are 3 devices connected to this SCSI
|
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controler. 1 TANDBERG SLR1 150MB tape drive (device ID 6 <TT>/dev/st1</TT>). 1 TANDBERG
|
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SLR2 525MB tape drive (device ID 0 <TT>/dev/st0</TT>) and 1 philips CDD 2600 (device ID
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4 <TT>/dev/scd0</TT>) which is at the end of the cable with the termination jumper
|
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installed.
|
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</STRONG></P>
|
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<P><STRONG>
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|
The software is a heavily modified RedHat 5.0. The kernel version is 2.2.15
|
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(with the needed network utility updates) gcc(egcs)2.95. With all the updates
|
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I figured that the old mt command probably didn't support the current IOCTLS
|
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on the st driver <TT>-</TT> so I deleted it and got the source code for mt-st v. 0.6
|
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(the old one was 0.4)
|
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</STRONG></P>
|
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<P><STRONG>
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At this point I can create tapes under linux and read them back reliably.
|
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however, This is all working with default settings.
|
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</STRONG></P>
|
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<P><STRONG>
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|
Now for the interesting part. when I try to read a tape created on my as/400
|
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(the same drive that is now in my linux machine as st0) I get the complaint
|
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st0: Incorrect block size.
|
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the mt status command shows Tape Block Size = 512, Density code 0x11(525 tape)
|
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Begining of tape and Write Protect.
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
If I try to change the block size <TT>-</TT> I first do a rewind(as per the tandberg
|
|
manual) then I do a setblk 32768 (does the same thing with setblk 512) and the
|
|
response is:
|
|
st0: Error with sense data: [valid=0] Info fld=0x0, Current st09:00 sense key
|
|
Illegal request
|
|
aditional sense indicates End-of-partition/medium detected.
|
|
When I follow the procedure on the tape I made under linux and use a block
|
|
size of 512 everything works fine. What am I missing?
|
|
PS although IBM provides no documentation their tape file listing program
|
|
seems to indicate that the block size might be 32768 bytes.
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
Layton
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
We have a lot of good people, but not so many with AIX experience. If any
|
|
of you with experience in an IBM/Linux heterogenous environment ... or who
|
|
know about what tapes are <EM>really</EM> saying when they do this... have some
|
|
good hints for Layton, send them to <A HREF="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"
|
|
>linux-questions-only@ssc.com</A>.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
PS. A big thank-you to the answer guy for some of his answers a year or two
|
|
ago that have gotten me this far. Especially on the SCSI termination which I
|
|
should have remembered from my macintosh days (only 10 years ago).
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
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<P>
|
|
You're welcome, of course!
|
|
</P>
|
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<P><STRONG>
|
|
PPS. I hope USA.net sends a plain text version of this since I am not at work
|
|
where I have an e-mail account that will let me specify what I want to send.
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
It came through fine.
|
|
</P>
|
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|
|
<!-- end 4 -->
|
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<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|
<P> <A NAME="wanted/5"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
|
|
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
|
|
<FONT COLOR="navy">Memory mystery</FONT></H3>
|
|
Fri, 05 Jan 2001 13:05:24 -0600
|
|
<BR>Jan Jakubik<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (jakub008 from umn.edu)</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
setup:
|
|
mainboard PC Chips M807, kernel 2.2.15 (Mandrake 7.1), memory 2 stick of
|
|
128MB PC100
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
If I put insert only one memory stick BIOS finds correctly 128MB but
|
|
Linux only 64MB. After addition append = "mem=128M" to lilo.conf Linux
|
|
finds 64MB again. If I insert 2 memory sticks BIOS finds correctly 128MB
|
|
but Linux only 15MB! After addition of append= "mem=256M" to lilo.conf
|
|
Linux finds 64MB. Any suggetion? BTW Win98 see always correct RAM size.
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
Thanks Jan Jakubik
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Someone with a good memory
|
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
|
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle"> can slip us a tip in the right direction
|
|
by mailing <A HREF="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"
|
|
>linux-questions-only@ssc.com</A>.
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- end 5 -->
|
|
<a name="mailbag"></a>
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
<!-- =================================================================== -->
|
|
<center><H3><font color="maroon">GENERAL MAIL</font></H3></center>
|
|
|
|
<P> <HR> <P>
|
|
<!--====================================================================-->
|
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|
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<!-- BEGIN GENERAL MAIL -->
|
|
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<!-- index_text begins -->
|
|
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/1"
|
|
><strong>The cardboard box.</strong></a>
|
|
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/2"
|
|
><strong>Happy New Year !!! - huh ?</strong></a>
|
|
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/3"
|
|
><strong>Hi</strong></a>
|
|
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/4"
|
|
><strong>RE: "What's a smoothwall?" from issue 61 TAG</strong></a>
|
|
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/5"
|
|
><strong>e-mail thread on 'su not working' in gazette</strong></a>
|
|
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/6"
|
|
><strong>Monitor goes blank</strong></a>
|
|
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/7"
|
|
><strong>Will Windows or Linux be "The Road Not Taken"?</strong></a>
|
|
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/8"
|
|
><strong>1000 thanks!</strong></a>
|
|
<!-- index_text ends -->
|
|
</UL>
|
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|
<P> <A NAME="mailbag/1"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
|
|
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
|
|
<FONT COLOR="navy">The cardboard box.</FONT></H3>
|
|
Sat, 27 Jan 2001 08:40:58 -0600
|
|
<BR>Nathan & Dolyn Walther<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (jwalther from prairie.lakes.com)</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
on 29 mar 2000 the question was asked who invented the cardboard box.
|
|
The answer is Robert Gair.
|
|
I found this information at
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.europen.be/basics/understand/und6_types.html"
|
|
>http://www.europen.be/basics/understand/und6_types.html</A>
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
I am doing research for a School speech on the inventer of the cardboard
|
|
box. (this is no joke)
|
|
Your website is great and I will visit often. I am glad I found you.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
|
|
[Heather] You're doubly lucky as well; one of the Gang decided to
|
|
answer it, and it was sufficiently amusing that we published it even
|
|
though it's off topic. If you end up with any questions about
|
|
a free computer operating system whose mascot is a cute penguin,
|
|
don't hesitate to ask.
|
|
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
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|
<!-- end 1 -->
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|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
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<P> <A NAME="mailbag/2"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
|
|
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
|
|
<FONT COLOR="navy">Happy New Year !!! - huh ?</FONT></H3>
|
|
Fri, 26 Jan 2001 12:32:06 +0100
|
|
<BR>Wilf<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (wbr from free.fr)</a>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
Heya Heather,
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
better late than ...
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Happy New Year and all best wishes to you and all of Linux Gazette !
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Yours linuxely,
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Wilf (French/English => German translations)
|
|
</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">Hi</FONT></H3>
|
|
Wed, 24 Jan 2001 14:20:45 -0800
|
|
<BR><EM>anonymous</EM><a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"></a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
On Wed, Jan 24, 2001 at 10:47:23AM <TT>-0700</TT>, Spicer wrote:
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P><STRONG><BLOCKQuote>
|
|
I just ran across a link to one of your messages and was wondering... do I
|
|
just ask you a question?
|
|
</BLOCKQuote></STRONG></P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
If it's related to Linux technical support, yes. There are about ten
|
|
people in The Answer Gang, and if any of us feel qualified to respond,
|
|
we'll e-mail you back. Then, the question and answers will be considered
|
|
for publication in the next issue of Linux Gazette. The submission
|
|
address is <A HREF="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"
|
|
>linux-questions-only@ssc.com</A>.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
We'd appreciate it if you'd peruse a few back issues of Linux Gazette
|
|
first to see if your question has already been answered. (The LG
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com/search.html"
|
|
>search engine</A>
|
|
is useful for this.)
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Also, if you have any Linux tips that might be helpful for other readers,
|
|
please send them in too. Both beginner and advanced tips are appreciated,
|
|
because we have a wide variety of readers.
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- 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">RE: "What's a smoothwall?" from issue 61 TAG</FONT></H3>
|
|
Tue, 02 Jan 2001 22:33:09 -0500
|
|
<BR>Brian Coyle<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (brianc from magicnet.net)</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
RE: <A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue61/lg_answer61.html#tag/36"
|
|
>http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue61/lg_answer61.html#tag/36</A>
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Mike Orr asked "What's a smoothwall?"
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Smoothwall is a browser administered, Linux-based, open-source, ppp
|
|
firewall and router appliance. It's targeted at older 386 and 486
|
|
systems gathering dust in a closet.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
See <A HREF="http://sourceforge.net/projects/smoothwall"
|
|
>http://sourceforge.net/projects/smoothwall</A>
|
|
<TT>-or-</TT> <A HREF="http://www.smoothwall.org"
|
|
>http://www.smoothwall.org</A>
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
The sourceforge page has links to the mailing lists and forums
|
|
where Jim Watkins' original question about diald on the smoothwall
|
|
has been discussed and answered many times...
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
BTW- Smoothwall would make a great subject for an upcoming
|
|
Linux Journal article!
|
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
|
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
"Take a look at one's desktop config. That'll give you an idea where
|
|
they are with Linux." <TT>-</TT> an unidentified O'Reilly author @ ALS 2000.
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- end 4 -->
|
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|
<P> <A NAME="mailbag/5"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
|
|
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
|
|
<FONT COLOR="navy">e-mail thread on 'su not working' in gazette</FONT></H3>
|
|
Mon, 15 Jan 2001 22:53:57 +0100 (CET)
|
|
<BR>Etienne Posthumus<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (ep from epoz.org)</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
Way back in time the editor wrote:
|
|
"Regarding the e-mails: they're still worth printing because they may help
|
|
somebody else."
|
|
from: <A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue47/lg_mail47.html"
|
|
>http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue47/lg_mail47.html</A>
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
And by jove, they did. Thanks a bunch, it has lifted a weight from my
|
|
shoulders, I had the same problem.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Glad the archives ares still up.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Regards
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Etienne Posthumus
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- 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">Monitor goes blank</FONT></H3>
|
|
Wed, 03 Jan 2001 15:56:04 +0200
|
|
<BR>Marius Andreiana<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (mandreiana from rdsnet.ro)</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
Thanks for your help!
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
--
|
|
Marius Andreiana
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- end 6 -->
|
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|
<P> <A NAME="mailbag/7"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
|
|
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
|
|
<FONT COLOR="navy">Will Windows or Linux be "The Road Not Taken"?</FONT></H3>
|
|
Sun, 28 Jan 2001 00:33:33 -0500
|
|
<BR>Terrell Phillips<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (terphs from bellsouth.net)</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
The Answer Gang,
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Hello! My name is Terrell Phillips and as a "newbie", I've been learning
|
|
Linux via KeyStone Learning Systems video training series.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
I sincerely hope that my ongoing Linux training will not have been in vain
|
|
as I can find no postings for any entry-level workstation jobs here in
|
|
Atlanta for newbies. Even if I were to have attained my RHCE, the only
|
|
Linux jobs I've seen posted on the Internet require a working UNIX
|
|
background foremost.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Attending my local Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts user group meetings, it seems
|
|
that advanced users attending the meetings are not thrilled at the prospect
|
|
of helping newbies acquire initial work experience, but rather give every
|
|
impression that somehow Linux will blossom someday into the corporate world.
|
|
Apple Computer made the same mistakes early on by marketing their OS to new
|
|
users and user groups as the best choice for getting work done efficiently.
|
|
Later, Apple began boasting that their platform was the best and most rapid
|
|
developer for cross-platform apps. But there was just one little problem.
|
|
Apple didn't want anyone especially new users to know upfront. No
|
|
instructor-led training programs for software development were/are in place,
|
|
nor did Apple partners care to offer the same. And you could count the
|
|
non-graphics jobs using Apple Computers on one finger.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
The point is, that unless the entire Linux community decides to truly help
|
|
their own, "newbies" will retreat back to using Microsoft for careers. A
|
|
mature forest of Linux trees lacking little new tree saplings growing all
|
|
around them won't be a forest for long.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
It is a very smart move on the part of the various Windows user groups to
|
|
see to it that their "newbies" find entry work quickly.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Tonight, I have set my Linux notes printed off various websites along with
|
|
my training videos aside in favor of learning Visual Basic, MS Access 2000
|
|
and SQL. With some training and initiative on my part, I can find
|
|
entry-level work in a Windows world.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
I wish I had better news.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Sincerely,
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Terrell Phillips
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- end 7 -->
|
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|
<P> <A NAME="mailbag/8"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
|
|
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
|
|
<FONT COLOR="navy">1000 thanks!</FONT></H3>
|
|
Sun, 21 Jan 2001 07:04:41 -0800 (PST)
|
|
<BR>Uwe Dippel<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (udippel from yahoo.com)</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
Dear answerguy,
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
I am incredibly happy that I could save one of my Linux-installs with
|
|
the help of an answer you gave to one of those people before (retrieved
|
|
with a search-engine) on lost root-passwords!!
|
|
All the other stuff that I had found before didn't make it ('linux
|
|
single' always ended at the login-prompt!) and the rest said 'new
|
|
install'.
|
|
Now I have the task to find out, who had tempered with the machine
|
|
across the network (Internet), because I have been using this password
|
|
for ages, I'm a sysadministrator and have clearly never had too many
|
|
drinks since I had logged on successfully the last time! <TT>-</TT> The machine
|
|
is a server behind closed doors ...!!
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Have a drink on me!
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Uwe
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- sig -->
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- end 8 -->
|
|
<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/1"
|
|
><strong>The Gazette</strong></a>
|
|
<li><A HREF="#gaz/2"
|
|
><strong>[hamren@sdu.se: "ls -lRat" does not work on FTP server]</strong></a>
|
|
<li><A HREF="#gaz/3"
|
|
><strong>Spammers harvesting Email addresses.</strong></a>
|
|
<li><A HREF="#gaz/4"
|
|
><strong>article - game presentation</strong></a>
|
|
<li><A HREF="#gaz/5"
|
|
><strong>LG</strong></a>
|
|
<li><A HREF="#gaz/6"
|
|
><strong>Security articles</strong></a>
|
|
<li><A HREF="#gaz/7"
|
|
><strong>Linux On Your Desktop @ Linux Gazette</strong></a>
|
|
<li><A HREF="#gaz/8"
|
|
><strong>Linux Gazette Logo</strong></a>
|
|
<!-- index_text ends -->
|
|
</UL>
|
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|
<P> <A NAME="gaz/1"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
|
|
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
|
|
<FONT COLOR="navy">The Gazette</FONT></H3>
|
|
Fri, 01 Dec 2000 09:37:19 -0800
|
|
<BR>John Labovitz<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (johnl from meer.net)</a>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
the gazette looks very nice <TT>--</TT> sort of a moderated discussion, i guess.
|
|
like a civilized slashdot, or an old letters to the editor section of a
|
|
magazine.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P><CODE>
|
|
john
|
|
</CODE></P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- end 1 -->
|
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|
<P> <A NAME="gaz/2"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
|
|
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
|
|
<FONT COLOR="navy">[hamren@sdu.se: "ls -lRat" does not work on FTP server]</FONT></H3>
|
|
Mon, 4 Dec 2000 08:56:08 -0800
|
|
<BR>gazette<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (gazette from ssc.com)</a>
|
|
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
We seem to have received notes from more than one site about ftp
|
|
being strange...
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Ferg (gferg from sgi.com)
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Hi -
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
I maintain the <A HREF="http://www.linuxdoc.org/">LDP</A> mirror(s) of the LG, and the last
|
|
couple of times I've run our 'mirror'based update
|
|
script, I received a number of errors, such as:
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote><pre> Too many files to delete, not actually deleting (3626 > 3278)
|
|
Too many directories to delete, not actually deleting (398 > 358)
|
|
</pre></blockquote>
|
|
<P>
|
|
I'm pretty sure I know how to correct that in the mirror
|
|
config file. More troublesome are these (from my last run):
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote><pre> Failure on 'RETR pub/lg/www_root/.glimpse-eye.jpg' command
|
|
Failed to get pub/lg/www_root/.glimpse-eye.jpg: 550
|
|
'pub/lg/www_root/.glimpse-eye.jpg': No such file or directory
|
|
Failed to get file 550 'pub/lg/www_root/.glimpse-eye.jpg': No such
|
|
file or directory
|
|
Failure on 'RETR pub/lg/www_root/404.html' command
|
|
Failed to get pub/lg/www_root/404.html: 550
|
|
'pub/lg/www_root/404.html':
|
|
No such file or directory
|
|
</pre></blockquote>
|
|
<P>
|
|
There are an enormous number of those errors.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Did anything change on the host site? Was there some massive
|
|
restructuring done to have caused this?
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Here are my configuration parms:
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote><pre> package=LG
|
|
site=ftp.ssc.com
|
|
comment=Linux Gazette
|
|
remote_dir=/pub/lg/www_root
|
|
local_dir=/public/html/LDP/LDP/LG
|
|
</pre></blockquote>
|
|
<P>
|
|
I hope you can help. Thanks in advance.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
best regardsm
|
|
--
|
|
Greg Ferguson
|
|
</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">Spammers harvesting Email addresses.</FONT></H3>
|
|
Tue, 5 Dec 2000 14:45:53 -0800
|
|
<BR>Ira Abramov<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (nospam-lgmirror-20000426 from ira.scso.com)</a>
|
|
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
[Ira Abramov is one of LG's mirrors.]
|
|
I have been getting spam to an address I gave you as a contact for an LG
|
|
mirror I was running, yet it was posted to a webpage without my
|
|
approval, and I have been getting a lot of Spam through it lately.
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
please remove nospam-lgmirror-20000426 at.the.site ira.scso.com from the mirrors
|
|
page at <A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com/mirrors.html"
|
|
>http://www.linuxgazette.com/mirrors.html</A>, as well as from your
|
|
lists. the correct contact from now on is
|
|
webmaster-nospam-lgmirror-20001205 at.the.site linux.org.il and they won't
|
|
appreciate spam either. I sugest you somehow cloak the mail addresses on
|
|
that page, remove the mailto: links or use some other mechanisms, but do
|
|
not leave the current situation broken like this.
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#006633"><EM>
|
|
[Heather] I actually tweaked the above so neither would turn into a hotlink.
|
|
Normally they would.
|
|
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
I have removed the link as you requested. Change visible at 5pm (UTC-0800).
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
In general, it's our policy to publish the contact addresses of the mirrors
|
|
because (1) we need the information and this is where we store it, and (2)
|
|
readers need to be able to contact a mirror if there's a problem using
|
|
it--that's why it's called a <EM>contact</EM> address. As for spam, I get it
|
|
too--30% of the messages to <A HREF="mailto:gazette@ssc.com"
|
|
>gazette@ssc.com</A> are spam.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
[Ira]
|
|
ok, possible ideas. instead of a mailto: link, put the address plain,
|
|
maybe even add a space before and after the @ sign. that way one can
|
|
still cut and paste it for an individual contact but not harvest it
|
|
automaticly with a robot... there are ways.
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
for the more advanced ways there are simply CGIs. see the following
|
|
address (which spammers aren't smart enough to handle)
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
<A HREF="http://scso.com/cgi-bin/m"
|
|
>http://scso.com/cgi-bin/m</A><A HREF="mailto:gazettenospam@dhtssc.com"
|
|
>gazettenospam@dhtssc.com</A>
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
the CGI that does this little magic looks like this:
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
|
|
<pre><strong>> cat /home/httpd/cgi-bin/m
|
|
#!/usr/bin/perl
|
|
$address=substr($ENV{'PATH_INFO'},1);
|
|
$address=~ s/nospam\@dht/\@/g;
|
|
print "Location: mailto:$address\n\n";
|
|
exit(0);
|
|
</strong></pre>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
4 lines of perl, and spammers never harvest those addresses (tested!)
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
where there's a will, there's a way... I love ssc for it's great
|
|
donation to the community, I just ask that you don't repay the kind
|
|
people mirroring you by exposing them to spam...
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
[Mike]
|
|
The trouble is, that requires a CGI script, so it won't run on the mirrors,
|
|
and it certainly won't work on the CD-ROM version.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Is it time to make all e-mail addresses non-clickable? Your Editor is
|
|
undecided.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#006633"><EM>
|
|
[Heather]
|
|
You don't want to make it easier for spammers (who use scripts and have
|
|
delusions of time on their hands) to get ahold of you than the people
|
|
who would have a legitimate reason to reach you. I suppose we could
|
|
have various mirrorNN.LocnCode kinds of addresses at SSC, where we
|
|
could attempt to pre-filter a bit. (are you getting worse than 30 % spam?)
|
|
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#006633"><EM>
|
|
That way you as mirror admin get
|
|
some possible defense, at least your actual address isn't exposed until
|
|
you reply, there is the backup that SSC learns about mirror problems
|
|
sometimes, and some people might actually feel we made it easier to
|
|
reach <EM>somebody</EM> in case of errors.
|
|
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
|
|
[Don Marti]
|
|
Hiding email addresses from spammers is letting spammers define the
|
|
terms of our conversation. I'm against it and don't participate in any
|
|
list that does this form of "cowardice by proxy" for me.
|
|
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#006633"><EM>
|
|
[Dan Wilder]
|
|
Though in less absolute terms than Don, I'll add my voice to those
|
|
not favoring cowardice by proxy.
|
|
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#006633"><EM>
|
|
Let 'em try and spam me. I'll either <TT>/dev/null</TT> their mail, or
|
|
hunt 'em down with a rusty bottle opener!
|
|
</EM></FONT></STRONG></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">article - game presentation</FONT></H3>
|
|
Wed, 06 Dec 2000 21:27:02 -0500
|
|
<BR>marius<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (marius from webdevgroup.com)</a>
|
|
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
It was all D&D back then, and Traveller.
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Never heard of these... I've started on ZX spectrum, with Dizzy being my
|
|
favourite(s)
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
NEVER HEARD OF?? I gotta publish this. The generational difference
|
|
between games. Do you mind if I publish this letter?
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
If you publish that I never heard of D&D and Traveller ? no, I don't
|
|
mind.
|
|
Maybe you write about these too. (are they still available ?)
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
I don't do gaming, so I don't know. Cc'ing a gaming friend.
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
Ogre, this guy is one of my correspondents for the Linux Gazette ezine.
|
|
He's too young to have heard of Dungeons & Dragons and Traveller, the
|
|
only role-playing games I ever had the least bit involvement with. Do
|
|
they still exist or are they long gone?
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#006633"><EM>
|
|
[Heather] There are an avid batch of Traveller players in my area
|
|
although I don't game with them, and D&D recently released a new edition.
|
|
Not only are they available, but you can find traveller players on IRC,
|
|
a lot of support software for D&D gamemasters... uh, well for some other
|
|
platform anyway. My traveller playing friend is famous for Penguin
|
|
Artillery.
|
|
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- end 4 -->
|
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|
<P> <A NAME="gaz/5"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
|
|
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
|
|
<FONT COLOR="navy">LG</FONT></H3>
|
|
Tue, 19 Dec 2000 11:22:22 +1100
|
|
<BR>BanDiDo<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (bandido from drinkordie.com)</a>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
After dropping you a mail about issue 60, I thought I was pen a few
|
|
lines on my venture in Linux and just why LG has made the transition
|
|
so painless.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
It is redundant of me to mention just how fantastic LG is? I can hear
|
|
you all muttering now
|
|
about stating the bleeding obvious. For me, the most curious thing is
|
|
to note the range of
|
|
interest, from the rank Linux newbie to input from individuals who
|
|
are quite clearly among
|
|
some of the knowledgeable to be found, and all receive the same warm
|
|
response (unless they
|
|
happen to be some poor Windoze momo with a Winmodem
|
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
|
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Anyway, I thought I would share my recent <EM>real</EM> plunge into Linux
|
|
and perhaps lend some cheer
|
|
to all the neophytes out their coming to terms with Windoze
|
|
withdrawal and faced with the murky
|
|
morass of Linux. I should mention I am not new to computers, I have
|
|
used a plethora of Uncle
|
|
Bill's offerings, and in all fairness, I am possibly the only person
|
|
in the world to never had
|
|
had any problems at all, I can count my 'Blue Screens of Death' on
|
|
one hand. Suffice to say, I
|
|
have no problems with MS, as a bit of a closet gamer, it serves it
|
|
purpose.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Linux on the other hand, was always something that I presumed was not
|
|
for me, I had once
|
|
upon a time installed some ancient <A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A>, and a mouldy <A HREF="http://www.slackware.org/">Slackware</A>,
|
|
both of which suffered a
|
|
format quite promptly. It just all seemed too complicated and of
|
|
limited appeal to where I was
|
|
at the time. I tend to spend a lot of time on the Net now, so about 2
|
|
weeks ago I decided to
|
|
have another look. I need to make it very clear, the sum total of my
|
|
Linux knowledge prior to
|
|
biting the bullet and trying it again, was the ability to type 'ls
|
|
<TT>-</TT> <TT>-la</TT>, uptime, rm and a few
|
|
other sundry commands that everyone anywhere normally picks up over
|
|
the years, in other words
|
|
it was all virgin territory. With that in mind, thus begins my
|
|
journey.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
A friend of mine mailed me Mandrake 7.2 (along with Storm, <A HREF="http://linux.corel.com/">Corel</A>,
|
|
Slackware 7.0, Redhat 6.0
|
|
and a bunch of other distros. I had once installed a prehistoric
|
|
Mandrake, so my victim was
|
|
preordained. My system is fairly standard, a PIII 850, 192mb ram,
|
|
Voodoo 3 3000, SB Live,
|
|
Adaptec 2940 + 2944, network card etc. I chose custom install, and
|
|
prepared myself for what I
|
|
was sure would be many hours of getting things to actually work
|
|
post-install. To say I was
|
|
impressed was an understatement, Mandrake install was easier and
|
|
clearer than anything Bill
|
|
Gates ever threw at me, and HW detection? every thing was 100% up and
|
|
running without any
|
|
intervention on my part. I am a console sort of person, and X is just
|
|
something I will use
|
|
when I am forced to, but once I booted up, a quick startx a boy was I
|
|
shocked, X 4.0 and <A HREF="http://www.kde.org/">KDE</A>2
|
|
all running with full 3d acceleration. I fired up Tux Racer as I was
|
|
checking things out, and
|
|
it bodes well, Linux has come a long way since I toyed with it. I
|
|
have a feeling either MS
|
|
will be forced to meet Linux head on one of these days, MS Linux
|
|
maybe? Since from what I see,
|
|
once the Linux community manages to implement anything akin to
|
|
DirectX and thus gain wide
|
|
support from the gaming industry, the Redmond Wunderkind will be on a
|
|
fast track to oblivion
|
|
if they don't have some contingency plans.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Ooops back to nub of it all. Ok so X was working, so I quickly exited
|
|
the session, to get as
|
|
far away from Netscape as I could. Like most people 'new' to Linux, I
|
|
was a little overwhelmed
|
|
at the sheer vastness of it all, and headed as fast as I could for
|
|
the most speedy route to
|
|
begin the learning process. Thank god for man pages, info pages,
|
|
HOWTOs and the like, I was
|
|
soon starting to feel like this was one mountain I could conquer.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Next up PPP, or was it? No, silly me used fdisk to partition
|
|
initially and I made Linux one
|
|
single partition didn't I. tsk tsk, well I wanted to learn more,
|
|
so.... REINSTALL, this time
|
|
with Mandrake's own tool, which in a word is awesome for the newer
|
|
users, result:
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote><pre>Filesystem 1k-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
|
|
/dev/hda5 489992 55987 408705 12% /
|
|
/dev/hda8 241116 1481 227187 1% /boot
|
|
/dev/hda10 2514172 150644 2235816 6% /home
|
|
/dev/hda1 7158976 5588472 1570504 78% /mnt/win_c
|
|
/dev/hdb1 6285144 1685608 4599536 27% /mnt/win_c2
|
|
/dev/hde1 8233232 12 8233220 0% /mnt/win_c3
|
|
/dev/hdg1 2498940 12 2498928 0% /mnt/win_c4
|
|
/dev/hdh1 2498936 418500 2080436 17% /mnt/win_c5
|
|
/dev/hda7 241116 170 228498 0% /tmp
|
|
/dev/hda11 7937796 3655320 3879248 49% /usr
|
|
/dev/hda9 489992 65081 399611 14% /var
|
|
/proc/bus/usb 489992 489992 0 100% /proc/bus/usb
|
|
</pre></blockquote>
|
|
<P>
|
|
I am happy with that (the Win drives are games + multiple backups),
|
|
so then on to PPP, unlike
|
|
many who have sad tales to tell, my small local ISP has a handy dandy
|
|
tar.gz file to set
|
|
things up, unpack, run, few quetions like pass, modem and such, type
|
|
<TT>./ppp-on</TT> and viola! Nice
|
|
some ISP's give a damn about their users... fantastic.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
After a day or two, I had devoured every HOTWO, I made life easier
|
|
for myself too with:
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote><pre>alias ht='cd /usr/share/doc/HOWTO/HTML/en;lynx index.html'
|
|
|
|
</pre></blockquote>
|
|
<P>
|
|
My little superhighway to fast help and my 1st ever alias, oh did I
|
|
mention Netscape sucks and
|
|
Lynx is sublime
|
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
|
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Now I was wanting some access to Linux information, time to search
|
|
the Web. I suppose I was
|
|
lucky within a minute of two, I came across the Linux documentation
|
|
Project and thus Linux
|
|
Gazette. After perusing the online issue, I knew where it need to be,
|
|
so FTP Mirror here we
|
|
come and some time later all 60 issues on my HDD.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Ever since for the last week or so, I have been wading through the
|
|
plethora of tips (Isn't
|
|
Heather just the living end eh?
|
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
|
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle"> I have managed to come to terms
|
|
with Linux file structure,
|
|
I have personalised bash and my environment to my liking, I have
|
|
edited most of my .rc files,
|
|
for example custom hdparm parameters, along with removing things like
|
|
telnet and ensuring ssh
|
|
is up and running. Almost everything I have learnt, is due to Linux
|
|
Gazette, it never ceases
|
|
to amaze me how much their is to learn. Only a few days ago, a friend
|
|
of mine who has been
|
|
using Linux for four years came over, to help me with a wine.conf
|
|
issue, and I ended up
|
|
teaching him a few things and minor commands he had never used nor
|
|
knew existed. It just goes
|
|
to show how extensive Linux is.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
I suppose the point of my taking the time to pen a few words, is to
|
|
reassure those new to
|
|
Linux that much of the rubbish that gets bandied about that Linux is
|
|
"hard" is in practice
|
|
misguided. Certainly some distros are not as user friendly as say
|
|
Mandrake or Red Hat to
|
|
install, and presume a certain working knowledge, but any Linux once
|
|
up and running, provided
|
|
you are have a passion for computers and an enquiring mind is most
|
|
certainly not rocket
|
|
science, in other words, if you are content to click a mouse, and
|
|
care nothing for what might
|
|
live beneath the hood, then perhaps you deserve nothing more than
|
|
Windoze.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
I fit the profile of a normal advanced Windoze user, I can edit
|
|
registry crap, trouble shoot
|
|
.dll problems and all that jazz, but I certainly cannot write one
|
|
line of code, thus I am sure
|
|
that many newer LG readers wil relate to my experiences as a new
|
|
Linux user. Sure I have had
|
|
to stop and run for a man page at times, and been totally stumped at
|
|
times, for example
|
|
getting Wine to work (which I use for one prog only) made me tear my
|
|
hair out, on the other
|
|
hand VMware was painless. At the end of the day, it is only by
|
|
overcoming problems that you
|
|
learn, and the sudden "ZAP" of revelation once you master some
|
|
problem makes it all
|
|
worthwhile, Linux certainly lights my fire, a tinkerers delight, and
|
|
I am sure that in the
|
|
future, when I look back on my 7 years of Windoze, and compare it to
|
|
the years of Linux to
|
|
come (or whatever LInux becomes) I will wonder why I never made the
|
|
change sooner. One thing I
|
|
know for certain, I will never be tempted to buy a Winmodem
|
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
|
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- end 5 -->
|
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|
<P> <A NAME="gaz/6"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
|
|
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
|
|
<FONT COLOR="navy">Security articles</FONT></H3>
|
|
Thu, 28 Dec 2000 09:54:31 -0800
|
|
<BR><EM>anonymous</EM><a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"></a>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
[A guest commentary from our News Bytes editor. I asked him to
|
|
summarize the controversy on <A HREF="http://www.slashdot.org/">Slashdot</A> regarding SSH/SSL vulnerabilities,
|
|
and to assess whether we need an article on it. <TT>-Mike]</TT>
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 16:55:56 +0000
|
|
Subject: Re: Late News Bytes additions
|
|
From: Michael Conry <A HREF="mailto:michael.conry@softhome.net"
|
|
>michael.conry@softhome.net</A>
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Hi Mike,
|
|
please find attached the ( <A HREF="../issue61/lg_bytes61.html"
|
|
>../issue61/lg_bytes61.html</A> )
|
|
news bytes 61 file.
|
|
I did go through the SSH issues, and summarised them briefly. I kind of
|
|
skirted around the SSL because it seemed less clear cut, and very much an
|
|
issue of implementation and protecting users from themselves. Most
|
|
discussion in the links focussed on SSH in any case.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
I would recommend, not an article on Holes in SSH, but rather an article on
|
|
security in general. Lots of contradictory messages on Slashdot indicate
|
|
that people still don't really understand what is going on or how exactly to
|
|
administer a public key system.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
The issues are not new, but are inherent in public key systems.
|
|
pgp,gnupg is the same (how can i be sure the key i think is yours is really
|
|
yours?). The biggest issue is probably users (lusers) ignoring warning
|
|
messages.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
The new dsniff software is probably worth commenting on also. I included a
|
|
link in my short discussion, but have not studied it. What could be very
|
|
interesting would be for an article to highlight how to use tools like this
|
|
to strengthen your system/network by scrutinising it and probing it. Focus
|
|
tends to be on how these tools allow malicious people to break other
|
|
people's systems.
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- end 6 -->
|
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|
<P> <A NAME="gaz/7"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
|
|
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
|
|
<FONT COLOR="navy">Linux On Your Desktop @ Linux Gazette</FONT></H3>
|
|
Sat, 6 Jan 2001 20:17:58 +0200 (IST)
|
|
<BR>Yotam Medini<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (ymedini from actcom.co.il)</a>
|
|
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
"Linux On Your Desktop" is an important article.
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|
But Linux-Gazette should `edit out' several English mistakes.
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|
Syntax and Spelling. This does not help Linux
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|
get a professional image.
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|
</STRONG></P>
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|
<P>
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|
[Mike]
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|
Linux Gazette is not a professional publication--it's a volunteer
|
|
publication. We do not have the resources to proofread and reword
|
|
every article. That would take 10-20 hours per issue. Would you
|
|
like to volunteer to proofread a few articles each issue? If you're
|
|
willing, it would certainly be welcome.
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|
</P>
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|
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|
<!-- end 7 -->
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<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
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<P> <A NAME="gaz/8"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
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|
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
|
|
<FONT COLOR="navy">Linux Gazette Logo</FONT></H3>
|
|
Sat, 20 Jan 2001 01:40:44 -0500
|
|
<BR>Richard Storey<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"> (richards from primerafinancialgroup.com)</a>
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|
|
|
<P><STRONG>
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|
It would be so nice if I could come to your index.html page and not have to
|
|
load a 40k logo. Wouldn't an 8k do nicely?
|
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":-)"
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|
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
|
|
</STRONG></P>
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|
<P>
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|
[Mike]
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|
We'll consider this for the next version of the Gazette, but most
|
|
requests have been asking for more graphics, not less. 8 K would get us
|
|
a logo that's just a bit bigger than the sponsorship logos are now.
|
|
Since our graphic designer put a lot of time into getting the shape and
|
|
color of the logo just right, I don't want to ask him to somehow manage
|
|
to keep the same look while squeezing the file down to a fifth of its
|
|
size. It is a jpg, which is the most efficient graphics format there
|
|
is.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
In any case, doesn't it just load once in your browser and then the
|
|
cached version is used thereafter?
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Thanks for your feedback.
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|
[Richard Storey]
|
|
Not knocking the great design of the logo, but aside from slow loading
|
|
it creates its motif doesn't match that of the rest of the site. As far
|
|
as graphics go, look at Yahoo. They've managed to keep their site just
|
|
ahead of text level, which I use most of the time anyway. There's a lot
|
|
to be said for a site which is designed cleanly, neatly, for fast load
|
|
times, but is rich because of its content rather than *eye-candy*.
|
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
|
|
[Heather]
|
|
You're quite welcome to visit us in lynx, the world's fastest browser,
|
|
since it wastes no time whatsoever on eyecandy ... unless you absolutely
|
|
insist on working at it. My normal surfing mode is lynx-ssl with zgv
|
|
wired into my MIME support, so I can see an occasional photo if I feel
|
|
like it.
|
|
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
|
|
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
|
|
We make a serious effort to be lynx clean around here anyway, since that's
|
|
how we produce the text version of the download.
|
|
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- end 8 -->
|
|
<!--startcut ======================================================= -->
|
|
<P> <hr> </p>
|
|
<!-- *** 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 ©</a> 2001
|
|
<BR>Published in issue 62 of <I>Linux Gazette</I> February 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>
|
|
<!-- *** END copyright *** -->
|
|
|
|
</BODY></HTML>
|
|
<!--endcut ========================================================= -->
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