"Linux Gazette...making Linux just a little more fun!"

Answers to these questions should be sent directly to the e-mail address of the inquirer with or without a copy to [email protected]. Answers that are copied to LG will be printed in the next issue in the Tips column.

Before asking a question, please check the Linux Gazette FAQ to see if it has been answered there.

Mon, 1 Mar 1999 14:28:50 -0800
From: Vijaya Kittu <[email protected]>
Subject: Visual Basic for Linux ???

I'm looking for a good and easy "Basic" Language Port (such as VB in Windoze) on X-Windows.

If any one is using any Visual Development tool, kindly send comments back to me.

Fri, 29 Oct 1999 16:22:22 +0200
From: <[email protected]>
Subject: connecting SPARC and 386 for printing purposes

having a SPARCstation 10/20 with Redhat 5.1/SPARC working fine on it, I wanted to connenct a printer to the system. Since the parallel port is not supported under S/Linux, I wanted to connect my SPARC with a cheap 386. The 386 is working under MS-DOS.

I bought an ethernet card for my 386, and connected the in-board ethernet card on the SPARC with the ethernetcard on the 386. The cable is twisted-pair, since only two computers are to be connected.

If I turn on both computers, I can start a testing program for the ethernet card on the 386. It will wait for any external signal. When booting the SPARC (the 386 sensing for any action), the SPARC checks for 'eth0' but finds no other computer on the other side.

Questions: (1) how can I let my 386 tell to the SPARC he is there? (2) How can I make the 386 accessible (that is: the parallel printer port) from the SPARC?

Thanks in advance for any help!!

Sat, 30 Oct 1999 21:19:01 +0200
From: Dr. Bodo Zimmermann DD-260 <[email protected]>
Subject: problems with tcp/ip in kernel 2.2.x

I have found problems with ftp aund telnet (tn3270, x3270) in the kernel 2.2.5 and 2.2.10 when connecting to IBM mainframes (VM/ESA). I cannot tranfer any data!

There are no problems at all with a kernels 2.0.x

Whom may I address?

Sat, 30 Oct 1999 23:25:05 EDT
From: Richard Monte <[email protected]>
Subject: Running MS applications on Linux?

I was wondering if I can run my MS applications on Linux? What would I need?

If I can, what are the advantages and/or disadvantages of doing so?

Are there any legal issues related to running MS applications on a non-Windows OS?

-Rick

Sun, 31 Oct 1999 12:54:24 +0100 (MET)
From: Mika Numminen <[email protected]>
Subject: Hmmm.... don't know how to categorize this..

I usually log into my machine with SSH from home (no concole access) and I was wondering if there is a way to have processes still running after I log out. For instance an ftp-session loading an ISO, etc..

Mon, 1 Nov 1999 18:53:32 -0600
From: lordj <[email protected]>
Subject: linux sound problems

I run sndconfig and the friggin thing just fails. it finds my card and then sets up the irqs and all that rot, and then when it trys to play the sound sample i get the failure "don't know what to do with CONFIG CTL002b/4886122 ... error parsing file" and stuff like that. what is wrong with it?

Tue, 02 Nov 1999 18:21:51 +0800
From: Zon Hisham Bin Zainal Abidin <[email protected]>
Subject: Telnet 110 fails

Now that my LILO is back (up and running), it's time for something else.

I have 6-7 pcs in the office on LAN. I am on RH6.0 and the rest on W98. I am trying to configure my pc as the email server for this small LAN.

I have managed to correctly setup DNS. A remote PC can resolve the DNS server correctly. Then I went into Linuxconf and setup the Email server portion. My Linux PC by the way is named svr and the domain is cma.com

We are using Netscape as the email client. I entered svr.cma.com as the Incoming and Outgoing mail servers. Netscape client can sent email but were unable to receive (email) with the message: "Netscape's network connection was refused by the server svr.cma.com The server may not be accepting connections or may be busy. Try connecting again later."

I did a telnet svr.cma.com 110 with a "Unable to connect to remote host" message. But a telnet svr.cma.com 25 is ok. That explaint why sending is OK but not receiving rite?

How do I fix this?

rgds.

Tue, 02 Nov 1999 20:53:57 +0000
From: Anatoli B. Titarev <[email protected]>
Subject: HELP with LT Win Modem and SB 16 Sound Blaster wanted!

I am a new Linux Red Hat 6.0 user.

I cannot connect to the Internet (still using Winows 98). My LT Win Modem connected to com3 is not working under Linux. (Someone wrote that trying to config Win modems for Linux is waste of time, is it true?)

Connection: 8, parity - none, stopbit - 1. I told the 'modemtool' to use to use the serial port to which my modem is connected. I removed the word 'lock' in /etc/ppp/options file.

I get 'modem is busy' in kppp configuration program or 'mode is locked' errors in other programs.

I also have a problem with SB 16 sound blaster. 'sndconfig' program doesn't help!

I am looking for anybody who can help me to make my modem and sound blaster working with Linux.

Please help!!!

Tue, 2 Nov 1999 16:09:01 -0600
From: smita narla <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: your mail

hello, I'm doing a general survey on the testing techniques used in open source.I've a questionnaire with some 12 questions.Since you are a developer can you answer this questionnaire.I'm doin this for one of my class projects and i need to send the questionnaire to some 200 developers.Can you send me the addresses of some other developers ?

I'll be glad if u can send me some questions to improve my questionnaire.

Thank you smita

The Editor sent some suggestions, and Smita responded:

Hello, thanks for your response. i 've ghone to the sites u have mentioned in you previous mail. i got some info but not exactly what i'm looking for. i need some nice multiple choice questions for my Survey of testing techniques in open source.Some of the questions I've found are:

2. When ever you make a minor release do you make a complete regression tests and test for the bugs fixed in this released ?

3. For every major/minor release do you make tests for the bugs you fix ?

4. Will there a any test planning carried parallel to development of coding ?

5. What will be the acceptance criteria for the source you releasing (based on the test results) ?

6. Are you satisfied that test you are planning to execute will cover all the required conditions.

But i dont think they will serve the exact purpose. Ineed some real good multiple choice questions (which are easy to answer with out much thiking from the developers point of view).

I'll be glad if you could help with some nice questions and some mailing lists of open source developers.

thank you, smita

Wed, 3 Nov 1999 00:14:11 +0100
From: cabotzen <[email protected]>
Subject: a problem

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

Hello i'm french and i love linux, but i try to install it on a notebook with win98, i have a samsung's notebook. After i have installed all the paquages, the instalation stopped when it wanted to reconize the mouse and i can't continue the instalation. CAN YOU HELP ME PLEASE. Good buy

Tue, 2 Nov 1999 18:14:44 -0500
From: Paul Nathaniel (NOL1NXP) <[email protected]>
Subject: Linux command questions

fsck /usr: What does this command do? What is its NT equivalent.

What is this command: cat /etc/passwd; and what is it's NT equivalent?

Wed, 03 Nov 1999 07:44:42 CST
From: Jim Bradley <[email protected]>
Subject: slowwwww ftp and partition problem

I have encountered two problems with linux (Mandrake 6.1) that I haven't figured out how to overcome.

The first problem is the logon speed for ftp. I have 3 desktops and a laptop that I have networked with 100 Mbps ethernet. 2 of the 3 desktops are dual booted with OS/2 and linux, the remaining desktop and the laptop are linux only. If I try to connect to ftpd on linux with an ftp client on either OS/2 or linux, there is an approximately 3-5 minute wait before a logon prompt is returned. This is clearly not running properly! I can use a linux client to an OS/2 ftpd, and promptly get the logon prompt. I've tried "renice" at both -20 and +20 using KDE's task manager. What do I need to do to speed this up?

The second problem is: I have one machine with an 8 Gb drive partitioned into a 2Gb,6Gb, and 128k swap. Mandrake 6.1 is installed on the 2Gb partition, hda1. The 6Gb partition, hda3, is an ext2 partition. After linux boots, the 6Gb partition is mounted to /mnt/hda3. The problem that I've encountered is that when copying files to /mnt/hda3, it is the first partition that fills up, not the second. What's happening here? I was using kdisk to monitor the disk size when mirroring another site to /mnt/hda3, and it wasn't the correct partition that enlarged. After this occurred, totally filling the smaller partition, I could no longer umount the partition, either, getting a message "device is busy."

Any help to solve either of these problems??

Wed, 3 Nov 1999 10:49:32 -0600
From: Hunter, Kevin <[email protected]>
Subject: LinNeighborHood

Thu, 28 Oct 1999 14:54:48 +0100
From: Network Desktop User <[email protected] >
Subject: Linneighbourhood
Hi, sorry to bother you with inconsequential mail but I think you of all people should know this !! I'm looking for some software called Linneighbourhood. It's a network neighbourhood browser for Linux. I have scoured the net for it but to no avail !! Can you help??

http://www.bnro.de/~schmidjo/

From: Graeme Wood <[email protected]>:

Wed, 03 Nov 1999 10:14:02 -0800
From: Chuck Newman <[email protected]>
Subject: Linux Communications

Is there a Linux based communications program similar to pcAnywhere or Carbon Copy? I need remote PC control. Don't need to transfer files.

Mon, 08 Nov 1999 16:18:50 -0500
From: Sunshine Smith <[email protected]>
Subject: Installing RH6.0

I am trying to install RH 6.0 on a Thinkpad 760ED, unfortunately the cdrom (Teac 44E) does not appear on the supported cdrom drives, does anyone have any ideas other than buying an external (supported) cdrom drive.

Thank you

Tue, 09 Nov 1999 10:36:19 +0200
From: Lucian Hanga <[email protected]>
Subject: about ESS Solo 1

ESS Solo 1. Unfortunately I have one !!!! If smbd. kwon how to make it works !!!! Please email me !!!!!!

10x

Wed, 10 Nov 1999 16:54:20 -0000
From: Ben Huckel <[email protected]>
Subject: Virtual Terminals in windows

Can you offer any advice....? I am currently considering a project for my third year project of a bsc(hons) in computer science which would implement virtual terminals for windows 95/8...... Do you know if there is any info on this sort of thing, has it already been done? Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thu, 11 Nov 1999 00:06:50 +0000
From: Nadeem Oozeer <[email protected]>
Subject: SDRAM Problem

I've got a PII with 128MB SDRAM PC100, with 8MB AGP onboard, running windows and Linux Red Hat 6.0. I've been told that the AGP uses 8MB from the SDRAM that's why on windows I get 120MB in system. On Linux however, I get only 64MB of RAM in /etc/meminfo .... How can I get all the 128 MB ? I've tried append in lilo.comf, but it freezes my PC with strange codes ?

Thu, 11 Nov 1999 12:22:57 +0800
From: Brian <[email protected]>
Subject: How to set the Linux as a router!

I would like to set a single PC as a router by using Redhat 6.0. However, I find difficulties in finding the related topics in books or journals. Can you tell me how I can find the related topics? Thanks!

Best regards, Yvonne.

Thu, 11 Nov 1999 13:47:55 -0600
From: anthony <[email protected]>
Subject: Looking for open-source programmers

I need to start somewhere, so I'll start here. I am trying to find programmers interested in developing a new piece of software. I thought I would give Linux Open License types the first shot at it. We are looking for this solution for our small company, but are willing to share it to help defray development costs.

Can you help direct me? Or am I spinning my wheels?

The initial write up on the proposed application is attached. I know this isn't the normal way to develop software, but I wanted to give it a try.

Anthony O'Krongly, Dir. of I.T.

[If you just want to throw a project idea out and see if anybody is interested in helping, I'll put it in the Mailbag. (Which I'm doing now. :)

If it's a critical piece of software for your company and needs to be completed "soon" and with "professional quality", you might have a look at www.cosource.com and www.sourcexchange.com instead. They act as auction brokers between those willing to pay to help get open-source software developed and those who wish to work on such projects.

The GNU Gnats program may partially meet your requirements. It allows one to keep track of "job requests" in several categories, and to see which ones have been followed up on and what needs to be done with the remaining ones. The Tkgnats program is a GUI front-end. Perhaps this could link into your ordering and accounting system somehow. -Ed.]

Thu, 11 Nov 1999 19:41:36 -0000
From: ggg <[email protected]>
Subject: help please

please can you help me im new to remote booting i have got the hardware one network card with a boot rom and one with out so im fine on the hardware side but how do i configure linux for remote booting i am new to linux so i really have not got the foggiest.

Thu, 11 Nov 1999 17:20:41 -0800
From: Johnny Lam <[email protected]>
Subject: hi

Hi, i'm very new to Linux but i got a question, it may sound silly but pls help me with it. I've just install linux 6.1 as a server, but for some reason i can't get the x-window to work, can u pls tell me how i can use x-window as a server? thank you very much

Thu, 11 Nov 1999 20:51:35 -0500
From: Gary R. Cook <[email protected]>
Subject: X-windows application for communicating over /dev/ttyS1 (COM2)

Does anyone know where I can find a utility (with source code) that uses an xterm window for communicating with a remote asynchronous device over /dev/ttyS1?

Thanks!!

Sat, 13 Nov 1999 03:18:19 +1100
From: Greg W <[email protected]>
Subject: Hello

I am sure you get swamped with questions, now that I have acknowledged that, I feel better about asking if you know, or know someone who can point me to a good working example for ipchains for a machine that is standalone, I have 64 IPs all routed through a PC, this PC is not Linux based, so I dont want MASQ or ppp examples

A straight up script to disallow spoofing, and everything else besides the "normal" services (i can easily add or remove as necesarry)

All examples seen so far dont work because they are based on like I said, MASQ or ppp0 being present.

Sat, 13 Nov 1999 20:42:18 -0500
From: zak <[email protected]>
Subject: Apollo P-1200 Inkjet Printer

Today I purchased an Apollo P-1200 inkjet printer at the local drug store (yes, drug store!), the main attraction being it cost $90 *before* a $50 rebate! This is supposed to be a new 'low-end' printer, using H-P technology. The downside is that the CD that came with it only covers installation for 'doze. Has any other LG reader purchased one of these? If so, where can I find an appropriate Linux driver for it? I tried the http://www.myapollo.com site, but all that's there is also 'doze stuff. If anyone knows the nearest this thing is with any H-P driver, that would also be useful. I mainly use a printer for printouts of txt and html documents, and with Corel Word Perfect 8.0 for Linux. Thanks in advance for any assistance. Zak

Sun, 14 Nov 1999 02:43:43 -0000
From: George Christofi <[email protected]>
Subject: Getting linux to authenticate to nt domains.

I want to get linux to authenticate to my NT network. As a newbie, I am stunned by the complexity of the whole Linux thing. I find it easier and more reliable to do things with NT Server. I am not thick (just MCSE qualified), but cannot see how to get it to perform this seemingly simple task.

Sun, 14 Nov 1999 12:40:36 -0800
From: Kenneth MacCallum <[email protected]>
Subject: Linux memory woes

Hi, I've just installed Red Hat 6.0 and it's not detecting all of my memory. I tried typing linux mem=64M at the LILO prompt as recommended but then the boot-up fails. As it is it only detects 14M or so of my 64M.

I had a look in my bios, and I noticed a line saying that there is a memory hole at 15M. I'm guessing that this is causing Linux to not see memory above this, but I don't know why this "hole" is there. I had a look in my motherboard manual (PC Chips M577) but it didn't mention anything useful. This hole doesn't seem to upset Windows; is there anything I can do to get Linux to work too?

I also tried swapping my DIMMs around, thinking that if the hole was due to a bad DIMM it might move up to 47M (?) but it doesn't.

I've been searching about the web for some insight but I've had no luck so far.

Can you help?

Mon, 15 Nov 1999 12:12:50 -0500
From: Bruce Kramer <[email protected]>
Subject:

Editor, I'm looking for some help in the Detroit, MI area. I have a son, 16 yrs old - junior in high school, presently enrolled in some special projects at school. One of which is to learn Linux. He recently removed Windows from our home computer to install Linux. After attempting this for four weeks now he is frustrated and ready to give up. Rather than giving up and going back to Windows I thought that it might be possible to find someone in our area who could help get Linux up and operating on our computer. Any suggestions?

[Look at www.linuxjournal.com under "User Groups (GLUE)" and see if there are any contacts in your area. -Ed.]

Mon, 15 Nov 1999 22:00:36 -0500
From: Pierce C. Barnard <[email protected]>
Subject: Looking for the Korn shell

Hi, I recently obtained Redhat V6.0 and I found out to my dismay, that it does not have the Korn shell with it. Does anybody know where I can find a copy of it? Thanks.

Wed, 17 Nov 1999 19:16:38 +0800
From: Yvonne Chung <[email protected]>
Subject: How to set a PC as a router with Linux6.0?

Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to set a single PC as a router by using Redhat 6.0. However, I find difficulties in finding the related topics in books or journals. Can you tell me how I can find the related topics? Thanks!

Best regards, Yvonne. --

Wed, 17 Nov 1999 13:03:37 +0100
From: Harold Konijnenberg <[email protected]>
Subject: ipop3d/imap server problem

Problem with IMAP/Ipop3d server

I have a problem with getting the Ipop3d/Imap server to work. I use the Imap 4.5 package on my Red Hat 6.1 system. After installing RH 6.1 and configuring the system all services like Samba, Apache, FTP, telnet are working fine. But now I want to add a pop3 server. I checked my /etc/services file and Imap and pop3 services are enabled here. in the /etc/inetd.conf file the imap and pop3 services are not enabled, so i uncomment de following lines

#pop-3   stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/sbin/tcpd ipop3d
#imap    stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/sbin/tcpd imapd

After uncommenting these lines in the inetd.conf file i kill the inetd proces to reload /etc/inetd.conf with the following command:

killall -HUP inetd

When i try to telnet in to the linux box now by: telnet 192.168.1.254 (my linux box) i can't connect. FTP'ing into the linux box gives a problem with the in.ftpd daemon.

When i restore the original /etc/inetd.conf all problems are disappeared and eveything works fine again.

I can't figure out what is the problem. I know that the problem starts when changing the /etc/inetd.conf file, so perhaps its some kind of security issue???

Any help is very welcome,

Thu, 18 Nov 1999 17:06:03 IST
From: nayab shaikh <[email protected]>
Subject: How to configure isdn on linux

Hi friends,

Can anybody of you guide how to configure isdn on linux.I have Red Hat linux 6.0 server installed on my computer.I have a 56.6 kbps ext modem ....also is RADIUS is possible with it.(remote athentication dial in user service)....

Waiting for your reply...

Nayab

Sat, 20 Nov 1999 12:22:12 +0530
From: Sivaraman Manivasagam <[email protected]>
Subject: Regd Lexmark Printer Drivers

I've recently installed Redhat Linux 5.2 am having a problem installing my Lexmark Optra E ( PS Support ) Laser Printer .I have been to the Lexmark site and there are no drivers for Linux.Any help in this matter would be appreciated.

Kindly mail to : [email protected]
a copy to : [email protected]

Sat, 20 Nov 1999 19:24:56 -0500
From: GZukoff <[email protected]>
Subject: None

I have stumbled upon your website and was exterely pleased!!! I am a newbie to Linux but have been interested in alternate OS's for about 18 months after trying (in vain) to install FreeBSD. I have downloaded and am installing Corel Linux 1.0 and was hoping you wil be doing a write up regarding it son. I am anxious to see how it stacks up against the other Linux releases.

Sat, 20 Nov 1999 22:33:04 -0500
From: outofstep <[email protected]>
Subject: xwindows display problems?

i recently installed redhat 6.1,, i have a voodoo banshee 2 graphics card, and i get ditorted pixels on the screen when i scroll and move windows... is there a driver update or something i need to fix this? please help. so far i love linux, and this is my only problem :)

Sat, 20 Nov 1999 21:27:52 -0700 (MST)
From: <[email protected]>
Subject: Question

Hi

I hope this is the right address to right to with a Linux question.

I have a lot of Joliet format CD's made with DirectCD in Windows. Linux can read the CD's, but on files with long names (Over 20 characters or so) the filesize is dramatically misreported. 6-7 meg files are listed as 2-3 meg files. Linux can't see it all, and this of course means the file is pretty much corrupt and of no use in Linux. The CD's are readable fine in Windows, but not Linux. I've searched high and low and can find no answer to this problem. I hope you can help.

Thanks

Steve - [email protected]

angry fruit salad (n.)

A bad visual-interface design that uses too many colors. (This term derives, of course, from the bizarre day-glo colors found in canned fruit salad.) Too often one sees similar effects from interface designers using color window systems such as X; there is a tendency to create displays that are flashy and attention-getting but uncomfortable for long-term use.

JARGON FILE, VERSION 4.1.4

Thu, 18 Nov 1999 21:47:28 -0500
From: Edith & Steve Dolesch <[email protected]>
Subject: Fw: Disability Features.

I just need to know if Linux has disability features like Windows (all versions)? I'm a disabled person and use StickyKeys to write with one hand if needed and the Numeric Pad to move the mouse cursor.

[The Linux Access-HOWTO explains the capabilities Linux systems have for people with disabilities. It says that X-windows has a StickKeys feature, and the FVWM window manager can be controlled without a mouse. -Ed.]

Tue, 23 Nov 1999 10:30:53 +0800
From: ZHOUKM <[email protected]>
Subject: winNT+MSproxy+linux question

My PC is in a WindowsNT-based LAN which has a MSproxy system, under win9x session in order to connect to internet I have to login the WinNT domain, and Of course the win9x is equiped with msproxy client. A linux system is also installed in my machine, but how to visit the internet?

Thank you

Mon, 22 Nov 1999 21:55:00 EST
From: <[email protected]>
Subject: do you know the USB(network adapter 10T) can run under linux?

Do you know the Universal serial bus with ehternet 's network adapter can work under Linux? or where we can down load driver?

hope to get your reply and help

Mon, 22 Nov 1999 21:10:13 -0800
From: Yunfei Deng <[email protected]>
Subject: Setup network printer

I have RedHat 6.1 installed, but need to figure out how to use the network printer. The network printer is shared on a NT domain which is available to use if I login in NT. Any tip is welcome.

Tue, 23 Nov 1999 11:16:44 -0600
From: Carlos Alarcon <[email protected]>
Subject: Hi!!! I have a big problem

I just bought a new computer. It has an "on-board" video card, Intel 810 chipset. I couldn't configure X to work with this type of card. First, I let Linux probed, it failed. Then I looked at the list, of course, it wasn't there. Then I tried an unlisted card and configured it as a general svga, it still failed. What to do now?

Tue, 23 Nov 1999 21:09:22 PST
From: Edgar Henry <[email protected]>
Subject: Accessing previous partition (path 16 and 32)

I am trying to install redhat linux 6.0 on my PC which is dual booting on Windows 98 and windows NT and has a patition of Path 16 and 32. When I try to install Redhat Linux choosing the workstation its automatically installing and I cannot access my data anymore using the windows 98 or NT since it is not recognizing the partition.

It is possible for me to get my data from my previous windows.

Thank you very much

Wed, 24 Nov 1999 02:57:15 -0800
From: kevin hartman <[email protected]>
Subject: Direct Cable Connection between Win95 and Linux, by Thomas P. Smyth

Would you happen to have a current e-mail address for Thomas P. Smyth, author of Direct Cable Connection between Win95 and Linux?

Sat, 30 Oct 1999 17:47:57 +0100
From: Andy D Williams <[email protected]>
Subject: a complaint about issue 47

Hello

I am a regular reader of your gazette magazine who is using windows 95. I download and extract your magazine onto a local disk for reading at my pleasure and I find it very useful and informative about installing and use of linux. I intend to move over to a unix like system permanently sometime in the future and prefer to read your magazine on my windows hard disk while I'm learning to get to grips with linux.

So onto the complaint! How can I read your magazine if your tar.gz files won't extract onto my hard disk! Why won't they extract or why won't issue 47 extract? Your issue 47 tar.gz appears to be using a dos/windows reserved system name for a directory or filename! the lg/issue47/aux directory can't be created on my windows disks because aux is one of those names. Assuming you or your contributors have used dos and windows in the past why didn't they know about these names in dos and windows?

Are you trying to stop windows users from learning about linux?

I have been able to read your excellent magazine from issue 1 to issue 46 without any problems and would like to continue until and after I am no longer using windows as my primary operating system.

Thank you very much

Andy Williams

[Argh, I forgot aux is a reserved devide name under DOS/Windows. This was corrected in early November. (The directory name is now misc.)

I also corrected a link to a program listing in JC Pollman's and Bill Mote's article Backup for the Home Network. If you were unable to view these files earlier, please try again now. Apologies to the authors of an excellent article which is being widely read, judging from the number of messages I received about this link.

Starting in issue 47, I have been moving all program listings into their own text files rather than keeping them inline as part of the HTML. This will hopefully be a convenience for readers who wish to run the programs or borrow code from them. --Ed.]

Fri, 12 Nov 1999 10:05:43 +0100
From: Joachim Krieger <[email protected]>
Subject: AW: Duplicate messages, unreadable listings, Pollman article

[The following are excerpts from a larger conversation. The issue is, after there's been a correction to the LG FTP files, how does one tell whether the file(s) s/he has are the old ones or the new ones? If the file date at the main FTP site is newer, obviously the user has an old file. But if the user's program or a mirror site touched the file, its modification date could be misleadingly recent. -Ed.]

Is there any criteria that allows to distinguish the old issue47 from the new one ? ( beside the file-date/time )

OK - I got the fix and offer it on our server. ( http://www.the45er/lg resp. ftp://ftp.the45er.de/pub/lg )

Not your - but my problem is, that the .gz-file carries date/time-stamp of my download - and that's Nov 11.

Assume: Someone has an old version - including the problems you've fixed. This person is looking for the fixed file. Question: does this person have to download 'lg-issue47.tar.gz' and unpack it

• to find out he/she got the same (old) stuff
• or he/she got that, whats wanted.

The Linux Gazette Editor wrote:

I'm not sure how to deal with that situation. I'll put it in the Mailbag and see if somebody can come up with a solution. It might be worth adding a changelog to the README, but that won't help you decide whether the file you have is the old one or the new one. I could link the new file to a different filename (lg-issue47-fixed-nov-2.tar.gz), but that would cause too much clutter in the directory and may not be welcomed by the mirrors.

It seems like this is what the modification date is for, and if some programs aren't preserving it on downloads, the solution is to fix those programs or figure out how to work around them (e.g., set up an alias with the correct command-line options to preserve the timestamp); otherwise, you'll have even more problems later with other files, trying to figure out what is up to date and what isn't.

Joachim responded:

maybe one solution could be an aditianal note apended to one of the files - or a new file with that. The result should be a different filesize of the newly created tar.gz.

Perhaps publishing the size of the old - and the size of the new file may help.

[Readers, would this be helpful? Or exactly what information would be most helpful to you? -Ed.]

Fri, 05 Nov 1999 09:57:04 -0500
From: Darren and Kristen Morin <[email protected]>
Subject: Excellent job!

Yeah, THIS is the kind of content I like to read.

Hello my name is Darren and I have been a linux user for about two years. While I may be past the point of out-and-out newbie, I'm certainly NOT a Guru. The articles in the Nov.99 issue are excellent1 It is almost like you folks were picking my brains, because these were the kinds of issues on my mind right now, especially the features on security and running unix as a home user. More features like this, please!

Keep up the great job folks. I don't know if you get many encouraging letters, considering this as one of them.

Bye for now

Mon, 1 Nov 1999 23:19:07 -0800 (PST)
From: Heather <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: New format: My 2 cents

Sorry, not to offend, but I really don't like the new Answer Guy format! I prefer to read it in "The Whole Damn Thing" format.

TWDT is always available but please, read onward...

I find that I can pick out the things that interest me much easier if I can scan the message contents as well as just the titles. I usually just use the down arrow and pagedown keys to browse through the articles.

November's style *not* a new format; this is a special edition. People have been asking for the titles to be indexed, and it was clear that some i of them did not spot the "Index to Past Answers" gadgets found at the bottoms of the single messages (see October issue, any message, footer).

There were a great many messages this month, but they will be published in December's issue, in the same format that October's was.

I understand that the new format is more search engine friendly so maybe a compromise is in order. How about a complete page in TWDT format for each primary topic. That way those of us that like to scan a whole series can do so without having to bounce back and forth between individual articles and the index and the associated page reload delays.

Not mentioned before is that cooking the TWDT version is a normal part of my submission at the end of the month... Mike, this sounds like a request to normally link that in at the Answer Guy Index level.

Of course this returns us to torturing the search engines as it would hit on TWDT.lg_answerNN.html for every amazing topic in linuxdom. (Because we get a wide variety of questions each month, and so few search engines search for the keywords being anywhere near each other.) I'm not at all sure I favor this. This is why it hasn't been linked in even though my submits have included TWDT format subfiles for a long time. Mike, Jim, any opinions?

However, Rob, to address what you really seem to be asking for: No. Sorry. I am *not* going to republish the whole of the past answer guy messages in TWDT format by the topics I selected. It's weird enough that I only picked one classification each, when several of them fit more than one. Several of them are superseded long ago by changes in Linux itself. It's an *index* ... that means it does *not* contain anything but pointers. Since it doesn't point to any new content, it would be a waste of time better spent on the newer messages. Please bear in mind I do this work for LG on a volunteer basis. I have consulting work to do as well, and would like to limit the time I spend on this.

As a side note, I usually read the Gazette on my work machine which is that other OS :-( which complicates the process of reading the tar.gz version.

-Rob-

That question is answered in the FAQ. WinZIP for "that other system" handles tar, gzip, or tgz files without complaint. If you insist on doing it the hard way I believe tar and gzip might have been ported as commandline utilities, but you'll have to go find them yourself, perhaps at winfiles.com.

I hope you enjoy next month's column.

* Heather Stern, HTML Editor for "The Answer Guy"

[I'm currently doing a lot of "under the hood" work on how the Gazette is linked together. That is, writing scripts to auto-generate the links and update them, rather than placing the links by hand. Once this is complete, we can look at adding links to make The Answer Guy more readable. But first, we have to get used to the new Answer Guy format for a couple issues, so we can see what is working well and what isn't. -Ed.]

Tue, 16 Nov 1999 10:08:03 +0100
From: marco masini <[email protected]>
Subject: "great ideas" ??? :-))

Hi guy How are U? U make a good work with linux gazette

Why U don't create an "index" by word (analitical index is better? :-) ) ?

I' m looking for emacs but I don't know how to find something about it on your pages.

Bye

PS. I apologize for my englis

[There is a search engine at the main site. Starting this issue there is a "Search" link near the top of both the Table of Contents and the Front Page.

I typed "emacs" into the search dialog and got lots of links back. -Ed.]

Mon, 15 Nov 1999 11:43:26 -0800
From: Guillermo Schimmel
Subject: Re: I can't access ftp.ssc.com

I can't access ftp.ssc.com anymore. Is my problem or the server is down?

[The server has PARANOID turned on, which means your (the client's) forward and reverse DNS names must match or it won't allow access. Could that be the problem?

I asked our sysadmin if we could turn off the PARANOID feature, since the files are public anyway. However, he was adamant that it's a necessary security measure. -Ed.]

Sun, 31 Oct 1999 10:21:14 +0100
From: Paul Dunne <[email protected]>
Subject: to MIME or not to MIME?

I can't take issue with your plea for writers-in to stop using HTML. But I do take exception to this:

And if your mailer splits long lines by putting an "=" at the end of the line and moving the last character or two to the next line, please try to turn that feature off. Also some mailers turn punctuation and foreign characters into "" and "=E9" and the like. I can't reformat those, since I don't know what the original character was! -Ed. P.S. This the first time ever I have resorted to blinking text, which I usually despise. I understand some mailers don't allow you to turn off this obnoxious "multimedia" formatting. But if you can, please do so.

If your mailer can't understand MIME, and translate a so-encoded document it back into proper text when appropriate, then your mailer is broken, and you need either to fix it, or get another that isn't broken. It really is as simple as that.

[I use mutt, which is supposed to be one of the most MIME-capable mailreaders around. -Ed.]

You can use any extensions you want, as long as you configure your webserver to use the text/plain MIME type for them. It's the mime type that the browser uses to decide whether or not to display a file, not the extension. Only when the web server doesn't provide a MIME type does the browser try to guess at it using the extension.

Also, regarding your request to turn off quoted printable characters (, etc.), my question is: why? It's a lot better than leaving the original 8-bit characters in, which may display very differently on your screen than the author of the email intended, or may be control characters which will screw up your terminal settings. Quoted printable characters (and also the ='s at the end of a line) are part of the MIME standard and should be converted back by any MIME compliant mail reader.

HTML email is even better, because it allows you to include international characters in a platform independent way (quoted printable is not platform independent). If I were you, I'd upgrade to an email reader that will handle all these things, such as Netscape Messenger.

31 Oct 1999 14:00:10 -0800
From: Stephen R. Savitzky <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Filename extensions for web program listings

You [the LG Editor] write:

My question is, which filename extensions are safe to use so that they'll show up properly as text files in the browsers? I'm wavering between using a language-specific extension (.c, .sh, .pl, .py, etc.) vs putting .txt at the end of all of them (or .sh.txt, etc.) What about listings that don't have an extension on the source file? They display as text on my browser, but do they display properly on yours?

The correct solution is to use the correct language-specific extensions, and to configure your server to give files with those extensions the MIME type "text/plain". This means that the browser doesn't need to guess (and guess wrong, in most cases) about what type the file really is.

Language-specific extensions would be the most ideal, because they offer the possibility of syntax highlighting if the browser supports it. (Does any browser support this?) However, I know I've tried to view files on other sites that I know perfectly well are text-readable, but the browser insists on downloading them rather than viewing them because it doesn't recognize the type. (Of course, that's better than the corollary, where it tries to view .tar.gz or .mp3 files as text.)

All browsers should use the type supplied by the server in the headers; only if the server fails to provide a "Content-Type:" header is the browser permitted to guess. If your server is Apache, for example, you can perform the extension-to-type mapping in a ".htaccess" file in the directory containing the listings -- see the Apache documentation for details.

Syntax highlighting can be done by providing two versions of the file, one in plain text and the other (with, e.g., a ".c.html" extension) in HTML as generated by a clever highlighting programm that you run once, on the server side. Again, nothing is left up to the browser; it's all done on the server.

From: Rich Brown <[email protected]>:

My suggestion is xxxxx.c.txt, yyyyy.sh.txt, zzzzz.pl.txt, and so on.

Keep up the great work. LG is one of my prime resources.

From: Anthony E. Greene <[email protected]>:

I'd say no extensions should be used. Most web servers default to text/plain when sending unknown files to browsers. I've never seen a browser that supports highlighting, so language-specific extensions are of limited utility.

From: <[email protected]>:

What about listings that don't have an extension on the source file? They display as text on my browser, but do they display properly on yours?

Not easily (am using StarOffice-5.1a).

Language-specific extensions would be the most ideal, because they offer the possibility of syntax highlighting if the browser supports it. (Does any browser support this?)

[...]

The answer to both objections is an easy-to-use, GUI, Mime setup program. The other side of this is that so many software packages ignore the system (and user for that matter) mailcap and mime-type files in favor of their own.

No extension should not be an option. Without an extension there is *no* handle to decide what to do with the file. Add ".txt" to these.

Where an extension is already present, leave it, but provide an alternative of the same filename + ".txt". Thus "foo.c" would be available both as "foo.ads" and "foo.ads.txt".

Hope this helps,
== Buz :)

From: walt <[email protected]>

use the .txt extension

and if you really feal froggy, call it ".text" so the point and click crowd doesn't get confused.

From: Vrenios Alex <[email protected]>

First, I believe that I can "set" my text editor to be called up when a ".sh" or a ".csh" suffix is found. But that might be oo much of a pain for most people (even me) to do for every possible extension. Here's my recommendation:

Given mountfloppy.csh, a C shell script that mounds a floppy disk, use mountfloppy_csh.txt

Given convertIP.c, a C language program that converts an IP address from hex to dotted decimal or back, use convertIP_c.txt

The use of that underscore is visually descriptive, letting everyone know exctly what kind of file it is intended to be, which the dot-txt tells your OS which editor to bring up, for every one of these ascii files.

Are there any files that you are considering setting up that are -not- ascii text files? If not, maybe this will work. Good luck.

From: Jeff Rose <[email protected]>:

Subject: Filename extensions for web program listings ...

I'm enjoying reading this issue of LG on my Palm Vx after downloading your text version then using a small conversion util to format into PDBformat.

Anyway, I vote for the age-old '.txt' extention for filenames. Why re-invent the wheel? And the less formatting - the better. We have _plenty_ of utilities for conversion: but TEXT vs. PDF, etc., .txt is the painless route.

My $0.02.

From: Sylvia Wong <[email protected]>

Language specific extension wouldn't work coz it's too much hard work to change the mailcap to browse a few program listing. I prefer language extension + .txt. This way, when I want to save the file (I'm using Netscape), I could just delete the .txt and don't have to type a .pl or .c or whatever.

Does Windose handle files with 2 extensions well? (Or maybe we don't care about them at all as why would anyone read Linux Gazette using windose).

[I decided to go the *.sh.txt route, using a language-specific extension when one exists, but always ending in .txt. This should ensure the files can be both read and downloaded verbatim on the widest variety of web servers and browsers.

BTW, a lot of people do read the Gazette on Windows machines. -Ed.]

Thu, 04 Nov 1999 18:49:22 +0100
From: <AntonioM.=?iso-8859-1?Q?Mu=F1oz?=Crespo>
Subject: Spanish tranlations of Linux Gazette

Dear editor,

As you said in your reply to Mr. Offret currently there's no Spanish translations of Linux Gazette. However, the only Linux on-line magazine translated into Spanish is Linux Focus (ok, they're your competitors, but it's the only you can get in Spanish for free). There're also a number of Linux magazines in Spanish but, as far as I know, they're all printed editions and they're not free!. Here is a list:

• "Solo Linux"
• "Linux Actual"
• "Linux Journal" <-- Yes, it's published in Spanish since october or september '99!.

All of them are published by the same publisher "Prensa Tecnica". I don't know if you can get these magazines outside Spain.

Sat, 6 Nov 1999 14:49:51 -0500
From: Gerard Beekmans <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Compiling everything myself

Greetings, ladies and gentleusers. I would like to compile my own Linux system. Not just the kernel. Everything. I've got enough room and partitions on my disk(s) to do it. Do not tell me do buy a distribution. Until now, I've tried a lot of them - I count eleven on my shelf - I do not like one of them the way I would like a self-created one. I just need a place to start. All of the distributions must have started at some point or another - how did they do it? Please point to a location where info may be obtained. The LDP seem to provide _nothing_ concerned to this task. Every hint will be highly appreciated. I would also love to contribute documentation of the process to the Free Software community. Every reader is invited to answer via email.

I currently am writing a series or articles that do this exact same thing: building a new Linux distribution from scratch. Every program is built from source (though you do need a working Linux to get it initial working (eg: you need to have a running Linux + compiler to compile a compiler so you can install that on the new system and start compiling other things there).

There's one downside for you I'm afraid: I'm writing these articles for a Dutch/Belgium Ezine and therefore the articles are in Dutch (surprised? ;) But wait, there's a good side: I'm also in the process of translating these articles into English. I decided to start translating these articles a week or so ago and I haven't started doing so yet (the usual excuse; too busy with other things).

I'm also thinking of giving them to the LDP so they can be distributed as a HOWTO of some sort.

Another reason I haven't started this translation yet is because I don't know yet how usefull they would be (ie; if people actually are thinking of doing this besides me). The Dutch articles aren't done yet either because I got stuck after a while since I don't know 100% how to configure every program and things like that (building from scratch for me means also completely making your own sendmail.cf file and things like the ruleset's are just a bit over my head at the moment).

If you're interested picking up this project I'd be happy to start translating the articles I already have written and then continue finishing them with you (and possible other people who read this since I CC'ed it to LG aswell).

Hope to hear from you soon.

Wed, 10 Nov 1999 09:25:22 -0700
From: TJ Miller jr <[email protected]>
Subject: Will The Priests Please Refrain From Kicking The Heathens?

Listen my children, and ye shall receive news, of a troublesome plague that sweepeth across the Land of The Holy Penguin...

Allow me to confess the blight which lay upon my soul: I am cursed by professional necessity with an MCSE, but I want someday to hear the revelation, the revelation that a Microsoft certification is about as worthless, as worthless an ArcNet certification would be this very day. Verily, I further want to have the luxury of looking upon my MCSE and saying "there shalt not be further need to keepeth this foul brand upon my wretched soul..." Can I get an "Amen!?"

The problem remains that, in order to maketh a living, I have to prepareth my high-school aged disciples for the IT industry at large...and that necessitates teaching them the blasphemy that is Microsoft. (On a happy note, I finally got permission to get decent Linux curricula going - it will be out in January. Refer to http://linuxgazette.net/issue47/lg_mail47.html for more information, and pitch some more opinions at me - I'm about half-way down that page.)

But enough of the digression, my dear flock...let us kneel together, to meditate upon the source of my distress...

However, let's do it in plain English...because all kidding aside, we've got a growing and serious problem here:

While perusing the web for ideas about what would make a good set of Linux classes, I come across a disturbing trend, one that was once only an insignificant bother, but hath now become enough of a problem to warrant attention:

Linux Over-Zealotry.

I guess it began to demand notice (for me) during the badly-managed PCWeek NT vs. Linux security tests. Now, I believe that PCWeek made a huge mistake (they forgot an RPM patch), but, IMO, an honest one...could have happened to anyone. The reaction sickened me... zealots everywhere began screaming about how PCWeek was "Microsoft's Whore", and how they were suddenly a part of some huge conspiracy to quash Linux... I then begin to look about the various Linux forums, to see even more venom and flame, directed at anyone who dares to say that perhaps Microsoft does have software that will do certain things better than Linux.

I have a newsflash for the zealots: In some cases, NT is better than Linux. In Others, Linux is better than NT. It all depends on your specific needs and circumstances. Any real-world IT manager with more than three working brain cells will tell you the very same thing.

Now, what motivated me to write this was an article I noticed, which read:

"The people who complain about it not supporting 100% of games or whatever don't seem to get what the alternative is. It's easy to say Linux is better than a certain monoploy(sic) based OS but to put your money (ok it's free but nevermind) where your mouth is, is something else."

-James Rogers, recently in osOpinion

Now, if I owned a business, didn't know much about computers, and needed an OS that was compatible with all of the machines I have, the last thing I want to hear is: "Too bad you Microsoft scum!"

If I were Joe Six-Pack, wanting a decent OS at home to do my bills and send the occasional e-mail to mom with (and an OS with all the cool games for my kids, of course), the last thing I want to hear would be: "no way, d00d - you gotta conform to the Linux way or else! We don't support yer fave games, so deal with it!"

You notice a trend here (at least I hope you do...): I used regular, typical situations. If you want Microsoft's piece of The Market Pie, you're going to have to woo these exact types of people away from their MS-run boxes...

A Very Big Clue: You won't capture the heats and minds of MS users by calling them "sheeple". You won't do it by insulting their intelligence. You won't do it by shouting like a spoiled child whenever Linux gets bad press (no matter the reason.) And most importantly, you certainly won't lure them away form Microsoft by demanding that they do something the hard way, when for only $85 they can do it easier with (insert big, bad, monopoly OS product upgrade here.)

You also won't do it by letting others perform these same indecent act without nary a comment from members of the Linux community who happens to catch them in the act...

Now, it had always been (at least, used to always be) the case that Linux adapted to needs - someone needed a driver for (insert oddball peripheral item here), odds are that all he/she needed to do was ask, and there was more than likely a driver written for it by (insert friendly programmer's name here), and that it can be downloaded for free at (insert URL here).

If Linux wants a bigger market share, this is exactly what needs to continue happening....customer-focused, friendly service to the world community at large.

I recall - that there indeed is a perfect article for describing how we can advocate, and by extension make Linux a dominant OS in this world...I propose that we all read it at least once in our lifetimes: http://www.ssc.com/mirrors/LDP/HOWTO/mini/Advocacy.html

After all, if you want converts, you don't do it by kicking the heathens you want to proselytize...especially not in a consumer-driven market such as computer products.

There is one other note: If you see anyone misbehaving, thereby giving Linux a bad name, then go out of your way to show that person the light...and in the process showing the world at large that the Linux community won't tolerate childish behavior...which would make an ever better impression on the undecided and the unknowing.

Now go forth my precious flock, to spread peace and Open Source among the perilous world in which we live...

TJ Miller jr ([email protected]) is a secondary education teacher in the Utah ATE (read: Vocational Technologies) school system, specializing in the instruction of Unix, Networking, and (because they make me do it) that big, bad GUI-based OS we've all heard of. He putzes around with Linux far more than is considered healthy, but enjoys the outdoors enough to go hunting, skiing, hiking and fishing whenever weather and time permit.

Mon, 1 Nov 1999 13:35:49 +0800
From: Li Wei <[email protected]>
Subject: comment

the 47th issue is the most boring lg i ever read. in other lgs, i can always find some interesting articles.

[Which kinds of articles do you consider "interesting" and "boring"? -Ed.]

Thu, 11 Nov 1999 11:26:51 -0800 (PST)
From: Nicolas Chauvat <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Duplicate messages, unreadable listings, Pollman article

The [LG] FTP file for issue 47 is 2.6 MB. This is due to the large number of graphics. Next month will have fewer graphics to bring the file size down.

Graphics shouldn't be a problem. You have a lot more graphics in some web pages and the whole thing is much lighter than this. The problem is that most graphics are not compressed... well, they are, but not enough, or the image depth is to high. Just make the authors follow the basic rules of image making for the web and it will be fine, even if you have more graphics.

Use jpg for photos (lots of colors, no line or clear boundary)
Use gif for others (fewer colors, sharp boundaries)
Use png for either one.
Try with different compression levels (jpg) and different image depth/palette (gif).

There are programs out there that do that for you, i.e. take the image and output the same with the best compromise size/quality. I don't remember the names though, but they are probably listed on freshmeat or linuxberg.

Hope this helps,

-- Nicolas, Coordinator of the french translation of the Linux Gazette

Hi, I'm a deadly e-mail virus, please copy me into your .signature file to help me spread. :: Bonjour, je suis un dangereux virus. SVP copiez-moi dans votre fichier .signature pour m'aider =E0 me propager

[There's one of those pesky =E9's again. Wish I had a table to convert it to its Latin-1 equivalent. Must be an à. -Ed.]

31 Oct 1999 09:33:31 -0700
From: Eric Hanchrow <[email protected]>
Subject: Suggestion for TOC pages on the web

I'm looking at http://linuxgazette.net/issue47/index.html, and I see many bulleted items, each corresponding to one article in the current issue of Linux Gazette. It would make my life a tiny bit easier if each of those items showed me, not just the article's title, but the first few lines of the article itself. That way I could tell if I wanted to read the entire article. As it stands, I have to guess. This is especially true for the articles that appear to be regular features.

[There isn't enough room in our current table of contents layout for these lines. For the Mailbag, 2-Cent Tips and News Bytes, it wouldn't make sense because these columns consist of a lot of small items which are not related to each other, and thus, the first letter is not representative of them all. Also, it would mean a lot more manual editing to decide which lines to include.

Thanks for the suggestion, though, and I'm open to hearing any others you may have. -Ed.]

This page written and maintained by the Editor of the Linux Gazette.
Copyright © 1999, [email protected]
Published in Issue 48 of Linux Gazette, December 1999