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<H2>January 2002, Issue 74 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Published by <I>Linux Journal</I></H2> 

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<H1><font color="#BB0000">Table of Contents:</font></H1>




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<UL>
	<LI>  <a HREF="lg_mail.html">The MailBag</A> 
	<LI>  <a HREF="lg_tips.html">More 2-Cent Tips</A> 
	<LI>  <a HREF="lg_answer.html">The Answer Gang</A> 
	<LI>  <a HREF="lg_bytes.html">News Bytes</A> 
	<LI>  <a HREF="arndt.html">Micro web server: how to save CPU time and hard disk space</A> , <EM>by Matthias Arndt</EM>
	<LI>  <a HREF="fillil.html">Fil &amp; Lil</A> , <EM>by ESC Technologies</EM>
	<LI>  <a HREF="okopnik.html">Installing Software from Source</A> , <EM>by Ben Okopnik</EM>
	<LI>  <a HREF="orr.html">The Foolish Things We Do With Our Computers</A> , <EM>by Mike "Iron" Orr</EM>
	<LI>  <a HREF="orr2.html">LG's Funniest Moments, part 1</A> , <EM>by Mike "Iron" Orr</EM>
	<LI>  <a HREF="orr3.html">The Cute Game 'Cuyo'</A> , <EM>by Mike "Iron" Orr</EM>
	<LI>  <a HREF="qubism.html">Qubism</A> , <EM>by Jon "Sir Flakey" Harsem</EM>
	<LI>  <a HREF="spiel.html">Writing Documentation, Part II: LaTeX with latex2html</A> , <EM>by Christoph Spiel</EM>
	<LI>  <a HREF="tougher.html">Linux Socket Programming In C++</A> , <EM>by Rob Tougher</EM>
	<LI>  <a HREF="zhaoway.html">Play with the Lovely Netcat</A> , <EM>by zhaoway</EM>
	<LI>  <a HREF="lg_backpage.html">The Back Page</A> 
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<H3 ALIGN="center"><EM>Linux Gazette</EM> Staff and The Answer Gang</H3>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<STRONG>Editor:</STRONG> Michael Orr<BR>
<STRONG>Technical Editor:</STRONG> Heather Stern<BR>
<STRONG>Senior Contributing Editor:</STRONG> Jim Dennis<BR>
<STRONG>Contributing Editors:</STRONG>
Ben Okopnik, Dan Wilder, Don Marti
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<H1><A NAME="wanted"><IMG ALIGN=MIDDLE ALT="" SRC="../gx/mailbox.gif">
The Mailbag</A></H1> <BR>
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<center><H3><font color="maroon">HELP WANTED : Article Ideas</font></H3></center>
<P>
<P> Send tech-support questions, Tips, answers and article ideas to The Answer Gang
&lt;<A HREF="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"
	>linux-questions-only@ssc.com</A>&gt;.  Other mail (including
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<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->

<!-- BEGIN HELP WANTED : Article Ideas -->

<UL>
<!-- index_text begins -->
<li><A HREF="#wanted/1"
	><strong>dbman</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#wanted/2"
	><strong>dial-up and DSL</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#wanted/3"
	><strong>ssc,  "Linux@Gazette"   Request for assistance.</strong></a>
<!-- index_text ends -->
</UL>
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<P> <A NAME="wanted/1"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">dbman</FONT></H3>
Mon, 26 Nov 2001 22:18:58
<BR>Philippe (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?cc=philippe341@nerim.net&cc=linux@rodolf.com&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20help%20wanted%20%231">philippe341 from nerim.net</a>)

<P>
[with a bow to our translator Frank Rudolf]  Any reader out there
inclined to help out, please mail Philippe, and copy us here
in The Answer Gang, <A HREF="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com"
	>linux-questions-only@ssc.com</A>. -- Heather
</P>
<P><STRONG>
----- Forwarded message from philippe -----
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
salut je recherche des personnes qui connaissent dbman ,j'ai quelques
problemes a installer les modifications , jesouhaite&eacute;galement
cr&eacute;er un forum sur ce logiciel
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Hi, I am looking for people who know dbman.
I have some problems installing the patches.
I would also like to create a forum about this software.
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="wanted/2"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">dial-up and DSL</FONT></H3>
Wed, 12 Dec 2001 19:53:24 +0800
<BR>Henry Jesus S. Lastimosa Jr. (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?cc=henryjl@cebu.weblinq.com&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20help%20wanted%20%232">henryjl from cebu.weblinq.com</a>)



<blockquote><font color="#000066">Karl-Heinz gave this a shot but any of 
our readers with more experience in this regard are welcome to join in 
the fray, or even write up a longer article for the <EM>Gazette</EM>.
 -- Heather</font></blockquote>
<P><STRONG>
guys,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
i wonder if u can answer this question it really keeps on bugging me
.... at present my company is connecting to the internet via DSL , is
there a way that i can configure my linux box with a dial-up account
from an ISP in case my DSL bugs down ?
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
it goes this way, i'll set up my linux box with DSL connection using
IP masq and fetchmail(for e-mail), in any circumstances that my DSL goes
down, i have to connect to an ISP which serves as a backup for my DSL.
how can this be done ? or can this be done ???
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
HELPP!!!!
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
thanks ,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
henry lastimosa
</STRONG></P>
<P>
I'm not familiar with DSL -- I assume it will use an ethernet adapter for the
network connection. Basically nothing much changes if it's pppoe or similar.
</P>
<P>
You can check the DSL connection by pinging relevant machines outside or
checking device status (ifconfig, cat <TT>/proc/***</TT>).
</P>
<P>
If this goes down you can/should disable the default routing over the DSL and
start up a ppp connection to your ISP. This will give you a new IP number and
a working ppp device. pppd will set the default routing for that ppp device.
</P>
<P>
If your box would be standalone and this would be only for the local machine
that's it. But you have masquerading and maybe firewall rules set for the IP
number with DSL -- which now won't work due to the IP number change.
</P>
<P>
You've got to setup the firewall/forwarding/masquerading rule again for the
new IP number (probably every time new if dynamic IP like usual with dial
up). After that it should work like before. You can even leave the DSL device
active (but not default route) and check if it's online again. Then change
back to DSL.
</P>
<P>
How to precisely setup the forwarding/masquerading for this I would be
interested myself. Especially for automatic dynamic IP adapttion.
</P>
<P>
K.-H.
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="wanted/3"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">ssc,  "Linux@Gazette"   Request for assistance.</FONT></H3>
Mon, 10 Dec 2001 17:33:49 +0800
<BR>k.s. Teo (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?cc=quality@magix.com.sg&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20help%20wanted%20%233">quality from magix.com.sg</a>)


<blockquote><font color="#000066">This reader clarified the initial email 
so I merged the letters.  Anyone who works in real estate, manages their
properties using free software, and feels inclined to tell us what you're
using, please let us know.  It'd make a really great article!
 -- Heather</font></blockquote>
<P>
Dear Editors,
</P>
<P>
To all Editors, should any of the Editors come across some application
software on  "Property Maintenance" please let us know.
</P>
<P>
We are referring to an Application software to manage the Maintenance of a
high-rise Residential complex and its compound ( gardening, parking lots
allocation, electrical replacement, refuse disposal, building maintenance,
sport facilities book by residents,  swimming pool,  etc...etc..  )    (
apartment are owners occupied.)
</P>
<P>
We do not want  custom program software, and would prefer  existing &amp;
Tested application software.
</P>
<P>
We appreciate your assistance.
</P>
<P>
Yours sincerely,
<br>K.S. Teo
<br>Hotel Quality Source Co.
</P>

<!-- end 3 -->
<a name="mailbag"></a>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="maroon">GENERAL MAIL</font></H3></center>
<P> <HR> <P>
<!--====================================================================-->

<!-- BEGIN GENERAL MAIL -->

<UL>
<!-- index_text begins -->
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/1"
	><strong>Comment on Dennis Field article. Why Linux is not winning the battle of the desktops.</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/2"
	><strong>To Dennis Field</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/3"
	><strong>What must Linux vendors do?</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/4"
	><strong>Link Update Request</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/5"
	><strong>Your "Cleaning up the MBR" instructions</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/6"
	><strong>what now?</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/7"
	><strong>Copying linux to a new disk</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#mailbag/7a"
	><strong>Free software appreciation</strong></a>
<!-- index_text ends -->
</UL>
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<P> <A NAME="mailbag/1"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Comment on Dennis Field article. Why Linux is not winning the battle of the desktops.</FONT></H3>
Thu, 6 Dec 2001 08:34:37 -0800 (PST)
<BR>Javier Isassi (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20mailbag%20%231">j_isassi from yahoo.com</a>)


<!-- sig -->

<P><STRONG>
Greeting fellow Linux Lovers.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
The follwing comments are in reqard of an article published in your
December issue of the linux gazette entitled
"Why Linux is not winning the battle of the desktops"
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Let me start by saying:
There's no such battle.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
&lt;Wry look&gt; That pretty much sums up my take on the whole thing. As soon as
I saw that article, I figured that it was going to draw a fair bit of
flamage; I'm pleasantly surprised to see that the responses have been
generally well-reasoned.
</P>
<P>
Besides - a rout is not a battle. &lt;grin&gt; We're not battling anyone, just
taking a pleasant little walk in the park. If outdated businesses happen to
fall by the wayside because they've stepped on their own shoelaces, why,
&lt;insert innocent look here&gt; what do <EM>we</EM> have to do with it? &lt;blink, blink&gt;
</P>
<P>
-- Ben Okopnik
</P>
<P>
Oh, the battle exists, but only in the minds of the mainstream media who
invented it.  For them Linux won't "win" until there's no longer a need
for an underdog OS to support.  -- Jim Dennis
</P>
<P>
Moreover, the article was focused on one particular distro.  If it were
me, I would choose one of the major distros that I thought came from a big
enough company to provide the basic features I needed to support the type
of hardware I intended to run it on, then add the applications for the
ecommerce (or whatever it happened to be) part of it later.  I don't see
any reason why the author was bound to use the same distro as had been
chosen to run on the desktop machines in the business office environment.
</P>
<P>
Also, in the case of somewhat specialized hardware such as a laptop, as
mentioned here in the past, there are a few web sites which cover Linux on
laptops pretty thoroughly - he didn't mention looking at those sites to
iron out the difficulties.
</P>
<P>
Back in the days of RH4.2, I recall having trouble installing to a desktop
486 machine I had.  I tried <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</A> and RH without success.  Then I went to
Slakware and was able to get it installed.  Those were the early days of
hardware auto-detection and automated installs.  At the time, Slakware was
still very much a manual install, and so avoided the problems that the
other distros were encountering.  What I'm trying to say is that instead
of banging ones head against the wall with one distro, it pays to try
others.  It was more work, but I had a functional Linux box, which
included X.
</P>
<P>
-- John Karns
</P>
<P><STRONG>
While developers of the multi-flavored Linux arena are working towards
making Linux easier to run and configure it is accepted, well understood
and furthermore ADVIRTISED that Linux is not the choice of the
neofite moron trying to learn how to use a computer (AKA Windows user)
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Furthermore the subsequent remarks towards making Linux a more "friendly" OS
are also off the mark.
Let's mention a few.
</STRONG></P>
<h4>"Make Linux idiot proof"</h4>
<P><STRONG>
There's already an idiot proof OS. Is called MAC OS, not Windows. Is
robust and more secure than Linux and Windows put together. Drawback,
you can't jack with it. Main reason Linux exist: "An OS that you can
jack with it"
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Or, to quote a UNIX old hand, Doug Gwyn:
</P>
<P><BLOCKQuote>
"UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because
that would also stop you from doing clever things."
</BLOCKQuote></P>
<P>
However, specialist distros of Linux, designed to do only one thing
well, do exist (routers are very popular variants, as are rescue disks).
Companies sell special eqwipment for special purposes, which sometimes
have a free OS under the hood.  For instance, the thinkNIC
(<A HREF="http://www.thinknic.com/thinknic"
	>http://www.thinknic.com/thinknic</A>) is a bookend PC with no 
hard disk, designed primarily for playing solitaire and web surfing.  
People who can't spell "OS" can't tell it's Linux; they just know they 
have to stuff its CD in there when they turn it on.  -- Heather
</P>
<h4>"Give Linux users better customer service"</h4>
<P><STRONG>
I worked in the customer service dept at Dell Computer for over 3 years.
The number one reason people called could be nailed in one single
sentence: "I was jacking with my system and things went wrong, can you
change my diapers and fix my system?"
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
What kind of numbskull with pour money to support a staff to hear customers
rebuilding the kernels or installing modules they code and compile? What
is it that you are supporting? Coding? Linking and running? Unlike the
wint-tel world where you have "parties" (vendors) providing you with
software there are no "parties" in the OSC (Open Source Community) because
NOBODY is paying for it.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
First define the customers, then you can define the service.  Companies
that couldn't do the first, went early to the "dot bomb."   There are
companies making okay money by selling "professional services" aka
rebuilding things and coding.   Ship a pretty darn good product and
excellent manual, and you still get calls, but more of them will be off
the far ends of the bell curve... asking to do things that are complex,
or completely beyond the scope (ok so now that I have Linux you guys can
help me build my own TiVo before my 90 days are up?) or people who think
that "ordinary" things like making sure the monitor is on are non-obvious
and should have been in the book.  Honest.  I've been there too! (4+ years
in MSwin and antivirus tech support.)
</P>
<P>
However, the same team that can, as you put it, change diapers may not
be terribly good at wreaking deep kernel magic, and vice versa.
</P>
<P>
But I wouldn't say NOBODY is paying for things;  We could hardly have so
many boxed products in their third or fourth major revision, if that
were the case.  Imagine telling folks back in '94 that Linux was going
to be on endcaps at Fry's, taking up half aisles, and random PCI cards
would proudly stamp themselves "linux compatible".  Hah!  They'd have
sent for the little white men. -- Heather
</P>
<P><STRONG>
Anybody who believes that because they dished out 40 bucks at staples
for a copy of Mandrake they are "entitled" to ANYTHING, the soon realized
otherwise.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Entitled to keep the manual inside that box on the shelf and read it
until it is happily dog-eared.  If you're the sort who understands
things without needing manuals, you don't need boxed Linux anyway.
If you're not sure where your A: is (oh!  the floppy!  why didn' ya
SAY so!) then that "90 days install support" may be valuable in helping
you use the quickstart guides.
</P>
<P>
It's the job of the folks who design the box to set the expectations of
the customer who will pick up and buy that box. -- Heather
</P>
<P><STRONG>
To recap.  Linux off the shelf is a poor example of a vanilla robust
desktop OS.  And proud of it.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
We're not vanilla.  We're mint chocolate chip, the other favorite flavor.
Strawberries cost extra, low fat options available, etc. -- Heather
</P>
<P><STRONG>
If all you want to do is browse the web and read your email get an iMAC.
If alll you want is someone else read your email and browse your system
get Windows with Outlook.  For anything else...Linux.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
cheers.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Javier Isassi.
</STRONG></P>

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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">(no subject)</FONT></H3>
Mon, 3 Dec 2001 14:39:22 +0100
<BR>Ian Carr-de Avelon (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20mailbag%20%232">ian from emit.pl</a>)


<P><STRONG>
In LG-73 Mr Field again argues, that to win the battle of the Desktop
Linux "vendors" need to provide a much higher level of support. The battle
for my desktop was won by Linux years years ago, but it may well be that
the battle for Mr Field's desktop is not worth winning at the moment.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
There is a famous quote (anyone know from who?) that "users must be made
to believe that it is not the administrator's job to make them happy,
it is the administrator's job is to make sure the system works. Then the
system will work and the users will be happy most of the time. If users
believe that the administrator has to make them happy, they will never
be happy and the system will never work." This is not about whether
users have a right to happiness, it is just a practical point that if
the technically able staff in an organisation don't have the status to
refuse to attempt to deliver what they know they cannot deliver, they
will deliver nothing.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I wonder whether Mr Field's book shop sells books in foreign languages. If
he sold a book in Russian and the client could not read it, because
they didn't know the language, would he as "vendor" feel that he
was  failing to provide customer support? How could he expect to sell
books to customers  who could not read at all? Obviously he could not,
he relies on schools and parents and the customer themselves to put in
a huge effort to be able to use the products he sells. Maybe he should
make use of his bookstore to purchase some books on Linux and take the
time to learn Linux at a realistic rate. I'm not against Linux users
helping each other for free, nor am I against people who need assistance
paying a company for that if they can afford to. However when Mr Field
suggests, that if what he paid for the distribution could never finance
the open ended unlimited support he would like, that they could at least
encourage their knowledgeable users to spend 10 hours sorting him out
for a chance at a 5$ hat, we see what kind of person we are dealing
with. Maybe he should start offering 5$ hats to customers who will give
free Russian lessons so he can sell books in Russian.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
If you believe that a knowledgeable person could solve your problems in
10 hours, and that that would be good use of their time, please pay them
for that 10 hours. If someone is prepared to give 10 hours to making Linux
better, please let them decide for themselves what they will do in that
10 hours. If Linux can be difficult to install, that may put some people
off, but I can't see Linux users working 10 hours for a baseball cap as a
way to encourage people to become  Linux users. Linux users of the world
unite, you have nothing to loose but the chance of a 5$ baseball cap.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
When efforts are going to made it is only reasonable that those providing
the resources decide what they should be used for.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Yours
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Ian
</STRONG></P>
<HR width="10%" align="center">
<blockquote><font color="#000066">... to which Mike replied, and Ian 
responded ...</font></blockquote>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
In LG-73 Mr Field again argues, that to win the battle of the Desktop
Linux "vendors" need to provide a much higher level of support. The battle
for my desktop was won by Linux years years ago, but it may well be that
the battle for Mr Field's desktop is not worth winning at the moment.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
There are two sides to this issue,
</STRONG></P>
<P>
No, there are many sides to the issue, because Xfree86-GNU-Linux is not
a simple vendor &amp; client product. Mr Field's basic argument is exactly
that he paid Linux for a CD and it didn't work out, so Linux should get
its act together. We all understand that there are a whole series of
groups here: open source developers (Linus, FSF, LDP, Xfree86), the
distribution, the satisfied users and dissatisfied non-users like
Mr Field. Each has their own motivations and it can't be accepted that
we all go down together at the battle of Mr Field's desktop. (actually
laptop, but lets keep this clean).
</P>
<P><STRONG>
However, I think what Dennis is saying is that a
higher level of vendor support is necessary for Linux to be a viable
alternative in many retail and other workplace situations.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
I accept this, but the response to the article has to be a) how people
in the situation can realisticly use Linux as it is, and b) consideration
by knowledgeable people of how resources which can be made available
can best be put to use. If we allow the complaint to undermine our
confidence in Linux, as a system we have proven in use ourselves, and accept
that we should apply our selves not as we do, but as Mr Field thinks best,
then we will have allowed Mr Field to become toxic to us.
</P>
<P><STRONG>
This is also
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
known as "enterprise-level" support, and any company that switches a
vital component of their business (such as their inventory system) to a
new application will make sure the support is available, either from the
vendor or in-house.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
I have no problem with this, but I don't expect enterprises to get this
level of support for the price of a Linux-CD or a hat. This initial
problem relates to getting Linux installed on a single specific PC.
Do you think that if the distribution sent someone round and made
Linux work on this PC, that Mr Field would soon have his inventory
system working under Linux? My guess is that he will run straight into
another problem and another. Solving problems and accepting that
this modem or that scanner does not work and will have to wait for
a development or you to learn more, is the reality of using Linux.
It may even be that if the installation goes too easily, you have lost
an important chance to learn and have gained an unrealistic expectation
of how things will go with the whole system.
</P>
<P><STRONG>
"Not worth winning": perhaps, perhaps not.  It may not be the vendor's
"responsibility" to provide the support; but on the other hand, if they
want those customers, they will provide the support.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
If the vendor says "we will provide support" they have a duty to do that
(however you quantify support), but it can't be accepted that Linux
users have a responsibility to provide the support which a vendor
promised. If the cost of a Linux CD plus the cost of the support
Mr Fields needs is an attractive one to Mr Fields' employers, let
the vendor make the sale and Linux can advance; but don't lets
have high-maintenance users and vendors using us all to meet unrealistic
expectations for a baseball hat or two.
</P>
<P><STRONG>
Giving up on those
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
customers means they will be stuck with a commercial OS that only works
at all for them simply because they happen to be included in the OS
company's marketing target.  If the OS company decides his business (and
that of everybody like him) is insufficiently significant to their [the
OS company's] bottom line, the next version of the OS may be
incompatible with what he needs, and then he'll be up the river.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Who ever produces the software they use, it takes effort. The fact that
a commercial organisation (two if we count the Linux vendor) can benefit
is not in itself sufficient reason to work 10 hours for a baseball
cap IMHO.
</P>
<P>
Yours
Ian
</P>
<HR width="10%" align="center">
<blockquote><font color="#000066">Mike made an effort to forward the
conversation to Dennis, the thread continued, and some of the conversation
never made it to me.  But here's the tail end of it...
 -- Heather</font></blockquote>
<P><STRONG>
Until such time as we can get all the people who are
currently running their small businesses and home offices with Windows to
take several years of graduate courses in Linux, then there is no point
in even trying to compete with Microsoft.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Either they learn enough to use Linux as it is available now, or Linux
has to be out of the box ready, or they can't use it. I'm not saying how
it should be, or it would be nice if it was.
Learning to use Linux is something it is easy to give pointers to. Making
Linux more out of the box ready is generally more difficult and there are
several ways of going. If you go in the direction of writing clever
scripts which detect the hardware and set the configuration, then <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/">SuSE</A>
and Red-hat are about as good as you can get with the resources anyone
has available. If they are not good enough for you, maybe you will get
lucky with the next release, or the same release on a different PC,
but there are no miracle distributions just round the corner.
You suggest that users could sort themselves out if there was a web forum.
In fact there is lots of help on the Internet, database of laptops with
Linux, almost every package has its own web site and mailing list.
I recently installed <A HREF="http://www.slackware.org/">Slackware</A> 8.0 on a Tulip PC and found problems like
the address in Netscape being displayed black on black. I worked out
a way round and emailed XFree86. In order get the information to someone who may
be able use it and  avoid every distribution which has the same Xfree86
version having to have someone reinvent the same wheel, I had to understand
quite a lot about how the Linux system operates just to make a decent
bug report.
The other way to to make Linux out of the box is to supply preinstalled
systems, even with remote administration, or be a Linux based ASP and let the
customer use your Linux via the Internet.
</P>
<P><STRONG>
But I guess <A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A> and SUSE
and <A HREF="http://www.caldera.com/">Caldera</A> don't care about selling to the small business market.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
These are top companies at what they do. Would you write off Ford because
their cars take 20 hours (personal tuition) to learn to drive?
</P>
<P><STRONG>
The
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
only thing I don't understand is why does IBM provide all that
information about their products? Surely IBM's customers could just
figure it out for themselves if their computer doesn't work?
</STRONG></P>
<P>
IBM has all that information to hand and the costs of putting it onto
the net are less than having someone to pick up the phone to say
"hello this is IBM, anybody who knows anything is too busy to talk right
now."
</P>
<P>
Yours
Ian
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="mailbag/3"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">What must Linux vendors do?</FONT></H3>
Mon, 3 Dec 2001 10:58:23 -0800
<BR>Dan Wilder (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20mailbag%20%233">The Answer Gang</a>)

<P><STRONG>
[ ... ] if the technically able staff in an organisation don't
have the status to refuse to attempt to deliver what they know
they cannot deliver, they will deliver nothing.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
This is elegantly put, and certainly true of situations far beyond
the intended context of the discussion.  I like it!
</P>
<P>
--
Dan Wilder
</P>


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<P> <A NAME="mailbag/4"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Link Update Request</FONT></H3>
Thu, 6 Dec 2001 11:15:23 -0800
<BR>StuffIt Web Evengelist (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?cc=evangelist@aladdinsys.com&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20mailbag%20%234">evangelist from aladdinsys.com</a>)

<P><STRONG>
Hello there,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
During a recent surf of your site, <A HREF="http://www.medasys-lille.com"
	>http://www.medasys-lille.com</A>, we
noticed that at the following URL(s):
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><BLOCKQuote>
<A HREF="http://www.medasys-lille.com/webalizer/VersionR04/default.htm"
	>http://www.medasys-lille.com/webalizer/VersionR04/default.htm</A>
</BLOCKQuote></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
...you offer users help on how to handle downloaded files and you recommend
rarsoft.com to handle downloaded files such as .zip, .rar, etc.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Hmm, are you sure you have the right people?  I went there and I didn't
see a <EM>Linux Gazette</EM> mirror site.  -- Heather
</P>
<P><STRONG>
We'd like you to consider including a link to StuffIt, or even replacing
your existing recommendations with one for StuffIt.
&lt;<A HREF="http://www.stuffit.com/stuffit/win/&gt"
	>http://www.stuffit.com/stuffit/win/&gt</A>;
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Why?
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Because:
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><BLOCKQuote>
The competitors are not "free", but shareware, meaning your users will get
a nagged to purchase every single time they download a file from the
Internet. With StuffIt, unregistered users are only nagged when they create
archives, NEVER when they open them.
</BLOCKQuote></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
StuffIt is the only product available on all the platforms your users may
use. (Available for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and Solaris.)
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
StuffIt handles more formats &lt;<A HREF="http://www.stuffit.com/stuffit/formats.html&gt"
	>http://www.stuffit.com/stuffit/formats.html&gt</A>;
than any competing product and is the only product which handles the
popular .sit format, which means your users have a better chance of
accessing a file with StuffIt than with any other utility.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
As the number one compression utility in the retail channel for Windows,
StuffIt has proven itself as the compression utility of choice where it
counts, on the street.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
So do your users a favor and refer them to StuffIt
&lt;<A HREF="http://www.stuffit.com/stuffit/win/&gt"
	>http://www.stuffit.com/stuffit/win/&gt</A>;, in your FAQ's, and on any pages that
offer .zip, .sit, or other supported file types for download.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
If that sounds good, but you're wondering what might be in it for you? We
have an answer! If you respond to this email to let us know that you have
added a link to StuffIt to your web site, we will gladly offer you a choice
of a free registered copy of StuffIt in any platform you would like - OR -
a free t-shirt (black) that says ".sit happens!". (T-shirts are in limited
supply so act quickly if you want one!)
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Please let us know if you have any questions and especially if you'd like
to collect on some free software or logoware.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Sincerely,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Eric Kopf
<br>StuffIt Web Evangelist
</STRONG></P>
<P>
We don't offer .zip or .zit files, only .tar.gz.  -- Mike
</P>
<P>
Aren't you supposed to use "squeeze" for that last one? Or does "pop"
provide the same functionality? -- Ben Okopnik
</P>
<P>
We don't offer .rar either and infoZIP is free enough for most of our
users.
</P>
<P>
I regret to note that I have trouble using Aladdin's "stuffit for Linux"
to reliably unpack .sit files meant for Macs (I was trying to get at
some PICT resources that fit a theme I'm messing with, I wanted to see
if GIMP would load them.  All but the text files unpacked to zero bytes
length).  I assume that the Linux version is allowed to fall behind the
Mac version and it shows.  It just doesn't win points for me if Aladdin's
app doesn't work with their own Stuff 
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/unsmily.gif" ALT=":(" 
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">
</P>
<P>
As for free. "only nagged when they create" isn't very free.  Most shareware
I have encountered never nagged anyone at all except in the documentation.
(Including the about box, of course, so you know how to get ahold of the
author.)  Most Linux utilities don't even need a postcard.  For some of our,
ahem, more evangelistic types, free means we know how it works under the
hood (academic papers ok, code preferred), and for the more vehement among
those, it includes the right to make derivatives that stay free in the same
sense.  You really have to be careful about the difference between "0 dollars
and no sales tax" and "freedom of assembly" 
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)" 
		height="24" width="20" align="middle"> around here.
</P>
<P>
I don't think we have any serious all-in-one decompressor libraries... and
why should we?  The individual ones work fine, and we have lots of shiny
front ends for the itty bitty command line apps or to call our .so APIs.
mc is my personal favorite, but some of my friends like GUItar.  -- Heather
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="mailbag/5"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Your "Cleaning up the MBR" instructions</FONT></H3>
Thu, 13 Dec 2001 10:21:54 -0800
<BR>Ben Okopnik (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20mailbag%20%235">The Answer Gang</a>)


<P><STRONG>
Hi Ben,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I have a laptop that was turned into a doorstop when I tried to reinstall
the original image after experimenting with Mandrake 8.1 (really needs
more of a machine than that laptop is).  Every attempt at fdisk seemed to
work but attempting to boot the machine froze with "LI" and a blinking
cursor on the screen.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I tried your instructions using Tom's root-boot, and got nowhere but an
error message stating that <TT>/dev/zero</TT> was an invalid option for if in dd
(I'm sorry, I had already tried the assembler version before I thought
of the fact you might like the actual text of the error. . .duh!!).
</STRONG></P>
<P>
No big deal, although I would have been curious to see the error. If it
does say something like that, however, it's possible that "dd" is somewhat
broken in <A HREF="http://www.toms.net/rb/">Tom's rootboot</A>; several of the "adaptations" of programs (most of
them seem to have been rewritten in "lua") are, to some degree. For
instance, the "chroot" in Tom's doesn't let me spawn a shell, which I
consider broken behavior.
</P>
<P>
However, it's not a problem: any method by which you can write 512 nulls to
the beginning of "<TT>/dev/hda</TT>" will do.
</P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br># If you just don't care about what's on the HD...
<br>x="\0"; for n in 1 2 3 4; do x=$x$x$x$x; done; printf $x$x &gt; /dev/hda
<br>
<br># A nicer way to do it
<br>x="\0"; for n in 1 2 3 4; do x=$x$x$x$x; done; printf $x$x &gt; nada
<br>dd if=nada of=/dev/hda bs=512 count=1
</font></code></blockquote>
<P><STRONG>
Anyhow, your DOS-based "debug" method appears to have worked. . .I was
able to put a bootable DOS partition on the box again.  Thanks for
having alternatives; you might want to dig into the Linux solution a
little further. FYI, this is a Toshiba 7000CT pII-266 with 4GB HDD
and 64M in case you were wondering.  Thanks <EM>very</EM> much for having
this resource "out there!"
</STRONG></P>
<P>
You're welcome, Dan. I get fairly regular mail thanking me for this one,
which is certainly nice; it's even better to get one with a bug report
included. Thanks!
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="mailbag/6"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">what now?</FONT></H3>
Sat, 8 Dec 2001 15:46:01 -0800
<BR>Thomas P. Rowland (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20mailbag%20%236">thomas.p.rowland from mail.sprint.com</a>)

<P><STRONG>
Jim,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
You've been around the block a couple of times. I've been Linuxing since
'94(<A HREF="http://www.slackware.org/">Slackware</A>).
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Anyhow, how can the Linux community stem the tide? Voluteer time to
local schools to build networks? Online tutorials?
I don't know the answer. But I'd like to help.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
I don't believe that this is a "Linux" problem.  Linux has been
a solution for some, may be the solution for many, and offers hope
for everyone.
</P>
<P>
I don't think of the situation as an inrushing tide to be stemmed.
However, if I accept that analogy, then we are not on the shore; we are
riding our own waves.  Since we have already set sail a mere tide
will not sink us.  Other currents may run the S.S. Penguin aground,
a gail may capsize us, or we might find ourselves becalmed (resting
in our laurels?) and adrift.
</P>
<P>
As for how we can make Linux a better solution for a broader range
of users, that's a bigger question.  I would hate to sound like a
communist but one slogan that comes to mind is:
</P>
<BLOCKQuote>
From each as he or she is able, to each as he or she needs.
</BLOCKQuote>
<P>
No single effort will do.  This is not about defeating Microsoft,
nor even about undermining commercial and proprietary software as
an industry.  It's about providing alternatives.
</P>
<P>
So, what can each of us do?  I can contribute through technical
support writing, by teaching and informed advocacy.  Linus, Alan
Cox, et al contribute through coding (and project management, and
technical vision).  The <A HREF="http://www.kde.org/">KDE</A> and <A HREF="http://www.gnome.org/">GNOME</A> teams contribue through a
different level of coding (user space applications framework rather
than core kernel work).  The FSF provides the tool chain and the
utility set that fit between the kernel and the application space.
</P>
<P>
Perhaps you could help wire up your school.  However, that is not
a Linux effort.  You should not volunteer with your local school
board specifically to push a Linux aggenda.  First it should be
"your" school, in the sense that you are involved in it.  If, from
the vantage of understanding *it's* needs, you believe that Linux
is the best available solution to <EM>some</EM> of their problems, then
you can propose it.
</P>
<P>
If you can create an online tutorial; that's great.  Better, if you
can improve an existing one.
</P>
<P>
For example there is the GBDirect sponsored "Open Source Training"
effort at: <A HREF="http://www.opensourcetraining.co.uk"
	>http://www.opensourcetraining.co.uk</A>  which offers
curricula for the professional trainer under licensing terms that
are very close to the <A HREF="http://www.linuxdoc.org/">Linux Documentation Project</A> (LDP) free documentation license.  (In other
words we are all granted royalty free license to copy, modify and
present the materials; though publication/distribution of derivative
works must be approved by the author).
</P>
<P>
There is a whole section of the dmoz (<A HREF="http://www.dmoz.org"
	>http://www.dmoz.org</A> and Google's
<A HREF="http://directory.google.com"
	>http://directory.google.com</A> ) directory devoted to training:
</P>
<BLOCKQuote>
<A HREF="http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Operating_Systems/Linux/Support/Training"
	>http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Operating_Systems/Linux/Support/Training</A>
</BLOCKQuote>
<P>
... so there's already a body of work to which we can contribute.
</P>
<P>
Of course online training only works for people who are exceptionally
self-motivated.  It also requires a persistence and a special mindset.
Let's face it, most people can't benefit as readily by simply "reading
up on it" as through more interactive means.  A good instructor can
teach more and more quickly than most people would learn on their own.
</P>
<P>
Otherwise the LDP (<A HREF="http://www.linuxdoc.org"
	>http://www.linuxdoc.org</A> ) and a computer with a 'net
connection would be all anyone needed.  (Arguably that's all that most
of us <EM>needed</EM> to get started; but the point is that it's not enough to
attract many other people to Linux).
</P>
<P>
So, those who are comfortable with public presentation and excel in
the materials, might contribute by teaching.
</P>
<P>
Linux and other open source systems (such as <A HREF="http://www.freebsd.org/">FreeBSD</A> and its ilk)
are grass roots projects.  They are the reaction of some programmers
to the state of the industry.  A true grass roots movement is not about
grandstanding.  It's about regular people doing what is right for them.
</P>
<P>
(This is not to say that Linux and the "open source movement" faces
no real threats.  The SSSCA, DMCA, and UCITA laws certainly pose
great risks to fundamental liberties for programmers and users of
all software.  I wish I could claim that this was just an American
problem --- but it isn't.  These (proposed) laws are evidence that
the U.S. legislature has been almost completely subverted by commercial
interests and that only the barest whisper of lip service to our
constitution and our Bill of Rights, remains.  It remains to be seen
how far the injustice will go and what measures may be necessary to
stem <EM>that</EM> tide).
</P>
<P><STRONG>
Regards,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
PS Very good article on the briar patch!
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Paul Rowland   Architecture and Engineering
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Thanks -- Jim Dennis
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="mailbag/7"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Copying linux to a new disk</FONT></H3>
Thu, 20 Dec 2001 16:30:05 +0800
<BR>Gregory J Smith (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20mailbag%20%237">greg.smith from mi-services.com</a>)

<P>
G'Day from Australia!
</P>
<P>
Love your Gazette.  I have a couple of Linux systems at home.
</P>
<P>
[his question, trimmed like an xmas tree.]
</P>
<P>
Cheers,  Merry Xmas
</P>
<HR width="10%" align="center"><P>
Please ignore my question sent previously - followed your advice and
found info in a mini-HOWTO.  Will try soon and post some question about
it.  Fingers crossed.
</P>
<P>
Greg Smith
</P>
<P>
Thanks, Greg, we hope that HOWTO works out for you.  But if not, let us
know! -- Heather
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="mailbag/7a"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Free software appreciation</FONT></H3>
Mon, 31 Dec 2001 09:16:26 -0800
<BR>Bryan Henderson (<a
href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=Re:+Free+software+appreciation">bryanh from giraffe-data.com</a>)

<P> Mike Orr writes in the December issue about one of the 
<A HREF="../issue73/orr2.html">dangers</A> every
free software developer faces: lack of appreciation from users.  His
point is a good one, but the article was inspired by the resignation
of Christoph Pfisterer from the Fink project, which doesn't really
illustrate the point.

<P> Mike writes, "A developer is resigning from a free software project
because of the unappreciative demands of its users."  I know that
issue pretty well, and it interests me, so I read the 
<A HREF="http://www.geocrawler.com/lists/3/SourceForge/11114/125/7038861/">
resignation letter</A> and
the references linked from the letter, and I discovered that this is
not a case of unappreciative users.

<P> This is a case of an arrogant developer who doesn't appreciate the
situation of his users.  Two of his references for why he is resigning
are bug reports that look pretty polite and appreciative to me, but
Pfisterer flames the user for being to lazy and stupid to solve the
problem himself.  He also seems to take personal offense at the
suggestion that his work may be defective.

<P> There's nothing the user community can do to keep a prima donna like
this working on free software.

<P> The other references have to do with beneficiaries of Fink not giving
sufficient credit to the people who worked on Fink.  But those appear
to be genuine misunderstandings and disagreements over how much credit
Fink deserves.

<P> From the facts available, I believe Pfisterer is new to supporting
software used by the masses, and in time he will mellow and start
contributing to free software again.


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<li><A HREF="#gaz/2"
	><strong>Unsubscribe to newsletters?</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#gaz/3"
	><strong>Re: A querry</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#gaz/4"
	><strong>New TAG FAQ & KB</strong></a>
<!-- index_text ends -->
</UL>
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<P> <A NAME="gaz/2"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Unsubscribe to newsletters?</FONT></H3>
Thu, 20 Dec 2001 09:02:24 -0800
<BR><em>anonymous</em> (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20gazette%20matters%20%232">address withheld</a>)


<P><STRONG>
Please take me off the mailing list for your newsletters or tell me how I
can unsubscribe.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Go to <A HREF="http://www.ssc.com/mailman/listinfo/LISTNAME"
	>http://www.ssc.com/mailman/listinfo/LISTNAME</A>
and you will have an opportunity to unsubscribe.  If you don't remember your
password, there's a section where you can have it mailed back to you.
</P>
<P>
-- Mike Orr
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="gaz/3"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Re: A querry</FONT></H3>
Sun, 2 Dec 2001 10:28:25 -0800
<BR>dinesh (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20gazette%20matters%20%233">dinesh from neline.com</a>)


<!-- sig -->

<P><STRONG>
Dear Sir,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Can you help me if I have a querry pertaining to Linux ? How can I ask
questions, if there is any forum or something, kindly let me know.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
See The Answer Gang FAQ at <A HREF="../tag/members-faq.html"
	>http://www.linuxgazette.com/tag/members-faq.html</A>
-- Mike Orr
</P>

<!-- end 3 -->
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<P> <A NAME="gaz/4"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/envelope.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">New TAG FAQ & KB</FONT></H3>
Thu, 27 Dec 2001 14:45:22 -0800
<BR>Mike, Ben, and Chris (<a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%20gazette%20matters%20%234"><em>Linux Gazette</em> Editors</a>)

<P>
The latest TAG FAQ and KB are up.  A big round of applause to Ben Okopnik and
Chris Gianakopoulos for bringing these up to date!!!
</P>
<P>
<A HREF="../tag/members-faq.html"
	>http://www.linuxgazette.com/tag/members-faq.html</A>
<A HREF="../tag/kb.html"
	>http://www.linuxgazette.com/tag/kb.html</A>
</P>
<P>
-- Mike Orr
</P>
<P>
&lt;twisting toe shyly in the sand&gt; Shucks. 'Twern't nothin'... err, I lie. It
was a hell of a lot of work, and a BIG chunk of it done by Chris this month
while I was dealing with Real Life and wrestling with the various relevant
meta-issues involved in the production. <EM>YAY</EM>, Chris!
</P>
<P>
&lt;Grin&gt; All made worthwhile by seeing the result, though - and it's going to
get even bigger, and be a better resource for the community. Mike, whose
oversight is just as much of a contribution as any, deserves a big hand
too.
</P>
<P>
Good to be working on this with both of you guys.
-- Ben
</P>
<P>
Thanks for that recognition!  It's fun to be part of the
Linux Gazette.  I also thank everyone for the encourgement that you all
have given me for the past two years with respect to Linux stuff.
</P>
<P>
Have a good set of holidays -- all of you! -- Chris G.
</P>

<!-- end 4 -->
<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 &copy;</a> 2002
<BR>Published in issue 74 of <I>Linux Gazette</I> January 2002</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 *** -->
<center>
<H1><A NAME="tips"><IMG ALIGN=MIDDLE ALT="" SRC="../gx/twocent.jpg">
More 2&cent; Tips!</A></H1> <BR>
<!-- BEGIN tips -->

Send Linux Tips and Tricks to <A HREF="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com">linux-questions-only@ssc.com</A></center>
</center>
<UL>
<!-- index_text begins -->
<li><A HREF="#tips/1"
	><strong>Setting up ipchains when using ftp: Problem Solved</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/2"
	><strong>Installing tulip.o in 6.2 (Question #8 - Dec)</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/3"
	><strong>[LG 72] 2c Tips #3</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/4"
	><strong>Recovering from MySQL table problems</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/5"
	><strong>passwd disabling</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/6"
	><strong>Re: HTML/CSS question</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/7"
	><strong>Linux equivalent for Active Directory?</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/8"
	><strong>Browse email</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/9"
	><strong>Sophisticated excluding backup</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/10"
	><strong>Kernel versions</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/11"
	><strong>Printing big text</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/12"
	><strong>Print Info</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/13"
	><strong>Setting numlock</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/14"
	><strong>Re: Setting up IP Masquerading</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/15"
	><strong>List tweaks</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/16"
	><strong>linux software</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/17"
	><strong>Tux the Penguin</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/18"
	><strong>ftp macro variables</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/19"
	><strong>Help... (Gnome)</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/20"
	><strong>Windows Shares</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/21"
	><strong>linux telnet question</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/22"
	><strong>Implementation of a little ToDo list</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/23"
	><strong>bind: Address already in use</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/24"
	><strong>Setting up a web-based archive for a mailing list</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/25"
	><strong>Boot Screen</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/26"
	><strong>whitepaper on CFS?</strong></a>
<li><A HREF="#tips/27"
	><strong>Linux Journal WNN Tech Tips</strong></a>
	<ul><li>Running an X program on a remote display
	    <li>Replicating a Debian system
	    <li>Color inkjet printers
	    <li>How to include attachments when forwarding mail from mutt
	<li>Subscribe to 
	<A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=NS-subscribe&file=newsletter"
		><I>Linux Journal's</I> Weekly News Notes</A> (weekly e-mail newsletter)
	</ul>
<!-- index_text ends -->
</UL>
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<P> <A NAME="tips/1"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Setting up ipchains when using ftp: Problem Solved</FONT></H3>
Fri, 21 Dec 2001 22:55:37 -0600
<BR>Chris Gianakopoulos (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%231">The Answer Gang</a>)

<P>
Hello Gang,
</P>
<P>
I figured out why my ftp client, on my Windows95 machine, did not appear to
work using my Linux machine with IP masquerading.  I had to type the
following command on my Linux machine that was doing the masquerading:
</P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>insmod ip_masq_ftp
</font></code></blockquote>
<P>
I found this information at the URL:
</P>
<P><BLOCKQuote>
<A HREF="http://netfilter.samba.org/ipchains/HOWTO-7.html"
	>http://netfilter.samba.org/ipchains/HOWTO-7.html</A>
</BLOCKQuote></P>
<P>
It had all kinds of other stuff for using ipchains.
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="tips/2"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Installing tulip.o in 6.2 (Question #8 - Dec)</FONT></H3>
Mon, 10 Dec 2001 15:08:34 -0700
<BR>Jeff Craig (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?cc=craig@cs.montana.edu&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%232">craig from cs.montana.edu</a>)

<P>
I've actually had direct experience with this problem.  Newer Linksys
cards don't work with the Kernel module that was included in the 2.2
Kernel tree.  I was helping friends install Linux on their machines, and
had to do some scrambling of my own.
</P>
<P>
What I did to solve to problem was to download the latest 2.4 tree onto
their windows partitions, then perform the <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</A> install, unpack to
tree to <TT>/usr/src/linux</TT> and recompile (a person should always compile
their own kernels IMO).  The card worked beautifully after that.
</P>

<!-- end 2 -->
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<P> <A NAME="tips/3"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">[LG 72] 2c Tips #3</FONT></H3>
Sat, 15 Dec 2001 03:13:24 -0500
<BR>Greg Messer (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?cc=greg@escape.net&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%233">greg from cscape.net</a>)

<P>
I think Carlos needs to use:
</P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>force user = someuser
<br>force group = somegroup
</font></code></blockquote>
<P>
in his smb.conf file on a per share basis
</P>
<P>
That way any samba user who access to that share can write to any other
user's files.
</P>

<!-- end 3 -->
<!--     .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.     -->
<P> <A NAME="tips/4"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Recovering from MySQL table problems</FONT></H3>
Thu, 13 Dec 2001 09:26:05 -0800
<BR>Mike Orr (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%234"><em>Linux Gazette</em> Editor</a>)

<P>
Somebody on another list had a problem with MySQL losing tables.  Since the
answer is good for troubleshooting various MySQL table problems, I'm
submitting it as a 2-Cent Tip.
</P>
<P>
I've never seen MySQL lose tables without a specific DROP command.
First, be sure you're looking in the correct database?
</P>
<ol>
<li> Look in the MySQL data directory (maybe <TT>/var/lib/mysql</TT>).  There
should be one subdirectory for each database, containing three files
for each table (tablename.MYD, tablename.MYI, tablename.frm).
Do the file sizes look plausable or are they "really small"?
<li> Check file ownership/permissions.  The user the MySQL server is
running under must have read/write access to all data files, and
read/write/execute access for directories.

<blockquote><pre>cd /var/lib/mysql
chown -R mysql.mysql /var/lib/mysql
	# Or 'nobody' or whoever the MySQL server runs as.
chmod -R u+rwX /var/lib/mysql
	# Or 'ug+rwX' or 'ugo+rwX' for less security.
mysqladmin -u root -pPASSWORD flush-tables
</pre></blockquote>
Something on your system may have reset the ownership to root.root.  If
MySQL doesn't have read access, I think it <EM>will</EM> say the table doesn't
exist.
<li> Do a MySQLdb query of "SELECT DATABASE();".  Does it return the
correct name?
<li> Use the 'mysql' interactive utility.  Do "USE mydatabase",
"SHOW DATABASES;", "SHOW TABLES;", etc.  If it can't find the tables, none
of MySQL can.
<li> Do you have two copies of MySQL installed and two data directories?
Maybe it's looking in the wrong directory.  Run "mysqld --help" and it
will tell you where it thinks the data directory is.
</ol>

<!-- end 4 -->
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<P> <A NAME="tips/5"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">passwd disabling</FONT></H3>
Fri, 30 Nov 2001 17:11:42 -0700
<BR>Eric Larson (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?cc=thelarsons@mindspring.com&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%235">thelarsons from mindspring.com</a>)

<P>
I recently read an article from your site: "SysAdmin: User
Administration: Disabling Accounts-From Glenn Jonsson on 05 Aug 1998"
</P>
<P>
It spoke of placing an * in the password field of the <TT>/etc/passwd</TT> file.
This doesn't restrict the account on my system(Solaris 
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT="8)" 
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">.  Could you
have meant placing the * as the first character in the password field of
/etc/shadow.
</P>
<P>
thanks for any feedback
</P>
<P>
Eric
</P>

<P>
<em>
Definitely.  That trick only works when placed in the passwd field which
is actually going to be </EM>used<EM> ... and since most Linux systems now
support shadow files, that means <TT>/etc/shadow.</TT>   In 1998 those were a
bit less common.  -- Heather
</em>
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="tips/6"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Re: HTML/CSS question</FONT></H3>
Mon, 3 Dec 2001 10:20:24 -0500 (EST)
<BR>Larry Kollar (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?cc=lkollar@despammed.com&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%236">lkollar from despammed.com</a>)

<P><STRONG>
I am currently trying to write html which will insert page breaks
for printing, which is [CSS2 and] not implemented in mozilla.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Is any anyone aware of any solutions to this using HTML/CSS1
</STRONG></P>
<P>
I don't think so, but if your HTML qualifies as well-formed XML, you could use XSLT (XML stylesheet and transformation language) to transform it into something that can be printed. The W3C spec at www.w3c.org does a pretty good job of describing the language.
</P>
<P>
If your source is valid (i.e. passes through an SGML parser without complaints from the parser), you can use DSSSL to convert it to a printable format. The beginnings of some how-to docs are at <A HREF="http://www.mulberrytech.com/dsssl/dsssldoc"
	>http://www.mulberrytech.com/dsssl/dsssldoc</A>
</P>
<P>
If I had to do this, I would use Sablotron (a free XSLT processor from www.gingerall.com) and write a stylesheet to transform XHTML to groff for printing. It's not as convenient as printing directly from Mozilla, but much more flexible and easier to control.
</P>
<P>
Hope this helps,
</P>
<P>
-- Larry "Dirt Road" Kollar
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="tips/7"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Linux equivalent for Active Directory?</FONT></H3>
Wed, 5 Dec 2001 16:01:59 -0500
<BR>Rick Holbert (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?cc=holbert.13@osu.edu&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%237">holbert.13 from osu.edu</a>)

<P>
Craig,
</P>
<P>
Take a look at the latest version of Samba.  Samba makes a linux box look
like an NT file and print server.  The latest beta version of Samba has
Active Directory support.
</P>
<P>
The Samba url is <A HREF="http://www.samba.org"
	>http://www.samba.org</A>
</P>
<P>
Good Luck!
Rick
</P>

<!-- end 7 -->
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<P> <A NAME="tips/8"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Browse email</FONT></H3>
Wed, 5 Dec 2001 16:35:04 -0500 (EST)
<BR>Chuck Peters (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?cc=cp#ccil.org&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%238">cp from ccil.org</a>)


<P><STRONG>
Mark E. Nosal asked:
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I've been asked to provide our LAN clients with web access to their email.
Our present NOS is dare I say it, NT4 w/Exchange 5.5.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I refuse to install IIS to use OWA (w/exception to being fired that is).
I've downloaded <A HREF="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</A> for wintel, printed all the "how to's" and plan to
be enlightened.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I've been to <A HREF="http://horde.org/imp"
	>http://horde.org/imp</A>;  (per advise of
another). They offer imap &amp; pop3 web mail access.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
The problem is I haven't any Apache knowledge, and limited mail knowledge in
general. I used your search engine (in addition to other Linux based sites)
but I haven't found what I need.
Would you please clue me so I may tackle this task and hopefully justify
bringing Linux in-house. One small step for penguin......
</STRONG></P>
<P>
We use IMP here at CCIL at <A HREF="http://webmail.ccil.org"
	>http://webmail.ccil.org</A>.  If you use <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</A>, it
simplifies the install process.  Although we did have a problem on the
last security update of IMP that broke it.  We just set it up on another
box until we had time to fix it in a couple of days.  CCIL is a
non-profit freenet and all volunteer work for the techs anyway, we have a
part time paid Executive Director as of 2 months ago.
</P>
<P>
Chuck
</P>
<P>
There are <EM>lots</EM> of webmail apps;  Debian definitely makes some of them
easier to install (aeromail comes to mind).  Most distros come with Apache
set up alright for a single domain... a lot of webmail apps are perl based
or PHP based.  If you don't like IMP and its fellow apps in The Horde, you
could try Squirrelmail (<A HREF="http://www.squirrelmail.org"
	>http://www.squirrelmail.org</A>) or Phorecast
(<A HREF="http://phorecast.org"
	>http://phorecast.org</A>) both of which have been updated recently...
or type "webmail" into the search gadget at 
<A HREF="http://www.freshmeat.net/">Freshmeat</A> and see what suits
your fancy.
</P>
<P>
For a recent client of mine, his tastes were simple and we found ourselves 
very happy with 
<a href="http://www.openwebmail.org/">OpenWebMail</a>.  
However, it doesn't do IMAP, just POP. -- Heather
</P>

<!-- end 8 -->
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<P> <A NAME="tips/9"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Sophisticated excluding backup</FONT></H3>
Sat, 10 Nov 2001 23:38:47 +0100
<BR>Matthias Posseldt (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%239">The Answer Gang</a>)

<P>
In issue 72 (November 2001) we published Ben's
2c Tip about sophisticated excluding backups
(<A HREF="../issue72/lg_tips72.html#tips/12"
	>http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue72/lg_tips72.html#tips/12</A>)
</P>
<P>
... in which he comments to Matthias:
</P>
<P><STRONG><BLOCKQuote>
- and, heck, since you're putting yours up, I might as well add mine to
the list.
</BLOCKQuote></STRONG></P>
<P>
Arggh, just figured out a major/minor/whatever bug in the date string.
Here comes a fixed version.
</P>
<P>
Ciao, Matthias
</P>
<p align="center">See attached <tt><a href="misc/tips/mpbackup.sh.txt">mpbackup.sh.txt</a></tt></p>
<p align="center">See attached <tt><a href="misc/tips/evaluate_file.sh.txt">evaluate_file.sh.txt</a></tt></p>

<!-- end 9 -->
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<P> <A NAME="tips/10"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Kernel versions</FONT></H3>
Tue, 6 Nov 2001 01:03:25 -0800
<BR>Mike Orr &amp; Heather Stern (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2310"><em>Linux Gazette</em> Editors</a>)

<P>
<A HREF="http://asimov.lib.uaa.alaska.edu/linux-kernel/archive/2001-Week-41/0920.html"
	>http://asimov.lib.uaa.alaska.edu/linux-kernel/archive/2001-Week-41/0920.html</A>
</P>
<P>
Do not use kernel 2.4.11, especially on <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/">SuSE</A>  Instead, use any earlier
or later versions. -- Mike
</P>
<P>
2.4.11 had a nasty error which Linus almost immediately regretted...
many of the 2.4.x series have had significant improvements while
occasionally mangling something rather ordinary (e.g.  loop.c, needed for
loopback mounting, didn't work in 2.4.14 ... I check my fresh-cut CDs that
way, argh... it appears that unnecessary "deactivate_page" lines were the
culprit.  I can't say I discovered that on my own, but it seemed to work,
anyway).
</P>
<P>
The kernel maintainers are still fussing over having a working virtual memory
handler - Andrea Arcangeli with a new one which Linus accepted, while Alan
Cox and Rik Van Riel worked towards improving (some might say repairing)
the original VM.  Although Alan eventually agreed that Andrea has an ok
design, the new VM's <EM>very</EM> new vintage and limited comments in the code
still have a few people favoring Rik's VM, and Rik continuing to improve it.
Keep watch at the current "Kernel Traffic" summaries
<A HREF="http://kt.zork.net/kernel-traffic/latest.html"
	>http://kt.zork.net/kernel-traffic/latest.html</A>
</P>
<P>
... if the linux-kernel mailing list itself is too much to wade through,  As
of press time the current kernel of the 2.4 series is 2.4,17 with some
18-pre's already posted.  -- Heather
</P>

<!-- end 10 -->
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<P> <A NAME="tips/11"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Printing big text</FONT></H3>
Wed, 21 Nov 2001 12:06:58 -0500
<BR>Ben Okopnik (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2311">The Answer Gang</a>)
<br>Julio Cartaya (<A HREF="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2311&cc=jcartaya@home.com">jcartaya@home.com</A>)

<P>
OK, so Answer Gang discussions get me thinking - even if it's a question I
asked first. 
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)" 
		height="24" width="20" align="middle"> Heck, in some circles, thinking's not only acceptable,
people actually do it regularly! And nobody laughs at'em, either.
</P>
<P>
Anyway... my question was "how do you print a sign ('Welcome!', for
example) big enough to cover a sheet of paper without using a GUI?" In
effect, I wanted some utility that would work like this:
</P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>printbig -size 1024x768 'Welcome!'
</font></code></blockquote>
<P>
Well, the closest thing was a TeX solution by Karl-Heinz... great stuff for
those that know TeX (which I find obscure, complex, and just Too Darn Big
for the occasional dinky little "fancy printing" jobs I need to do), but I
was looking for something simpler still. Then, I remembered a set of tools
that came with a tarball I'd downloaded a while ago, "libungif-4.1.0" (I
would imagine it's been through a few versions since then, but it worked
for me).
</P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>echo 'Welcome!'|text2gif -c 128 0 0|gifrsize -s 12 &gt; welcome.gif
</font></code></blockquote>
<P>
This gives a rather blocky-looking output, with the text magnified 12X
(think of the Courier font at about 150 points or so) and a red foreground
(the color is optionally set by the "-c R G B" switch.) For much more
flexibility in conversion - anti-aliasing, blurring, drawing boxes around
the text, convolving, embossing, and many, many other options, try using
"convert" (part of the ImageMagick utilities) after the "text2gif" has done
its job:
</P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>echo 'Welcome!'|text2gif|convert -monochrome -geometry 800x200 gif:- welcome.jpg
</font></code></blockquote>
<P>
This one gives a beautiful "lace fringe" effect to a softly rendered
black-and-white picture of the text, as if the letters were covered in snow
and edged with frost. Note that "convert" has also changed the format into
JPG; this is a much faster output option than GIFs.
</P>
<P>
Ben Okopnik
</P>
<HR width="10%" align="center">
<P>
Perhaps this could help: the file attached, 
<a href="misc/tips/poster.tgz">poster.tgz</a>, 
contains the
sources for a program that allows you to use a regular printer to print
arbitrarily large posters, assuming the starting picture has sufficient
detail.
</P>
<P>
Best wishes,
Julio
</P>

<blockquote><font color="#000066">I repackaged it so all files were at the 
same level, rather than making you all have to open a second tarball.  
DOS and MSwin readers can use his pre-compiled executable.
 -- Heather</font></blockquote>

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<P> <A NAME="tips/12"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Print Info</FONT></H3>
Thu, 6 Dec 2001 20:38:08 -0500 (COT)
<BR>John Karns, Heather Stern (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2312">The Answer Gang</a>)

<P><STRONG>
We have just switched our network from a Novell server to a <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/">SuSE</A> Linux
server. However, one of the most missed features was the ability to
receive a pop-up indicating that a print job sent to the network printer
had successfully completed.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
We would like to do the following:
</STRONG></P>
<strong>
<ol>
<li> Notify the workstation when a print job, sent to the network printer,
arrives.
<li> Print a type or cover page identifying the origin of the print job.
(We have many a stack of papers on the printer waiting for the owner!)
</ol>
</strong>
<P><STRONG>
Alan Whiteman
</STRONG></P>
<P>
You don't mention any specifics about how your handling our print
requests, etc.  Assuming that you're using samba and that you're running
MSW clients, you can run winpopup on the client, and send a msg to it
using smbclient with the appropriate command line option - see the
smbclient man page.  Sorry I can't give specifics, as really haven't set
up samba to do much printing.  It would probably involve writing one or
two bash or perl scripts.  -- John Karns
</P>
<P>
The sheets announcing what user has the print job are called "burst
pages" in the UNIX world.  In 'lpr' you would take "sh" out of the
printcap entry, and (if you like these seperators <EM>after</EM> the print job)
maybe add "hl".  For the notification you'd have to abuse the print
accounting system, I think... have that shell script send email, that'd
be the easiest.  But, there are other print spooling systems, all of
them much newer. I'd look at a lot of stuff at <A HREF="http://www.linuxprinting.org"
	>http://www.linuxprinting.org</A>
before working too hard. -- Heather
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="tips/13"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">OT: PC XT Keyboards</FONT></H3>
Thu, 6 Dec 2001 20:40:38 -0500 (COT)
<BR>John Karns, Ben Okopnik (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2313">The Answer Gang</a>)

<P>
Mike Orr asked:
</P>
<P><STRONG><BLOCKQuote>
PS. How do you get Linux to leave Num Lock on by default?  I have it set on in
the BIOS startup, but Linux turns it off.
</BLOCKQuote></STRONG></P>
<P>
I believe it's specific to your distro.  On <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/">SuSE</A>, there is a parm in
<TT>/etc/rc.config</TT> to handle it.  -- John Karns
</P>
<P>
"setleds" is what I've used in the past. -- Ben Okopnik
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="tips/14"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Re: Setting up IP Masquerading</FONT></H3>
Fri, 7 Dec 2001 10:14:33 -0800
<BR>Mike Orr (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2314"><em>Linux Gazette</em> Editor</a>)


<blockquote><font color="#001F3F">Can somebody who uses DHCP modify this script so that it can be used in both
static and dynamic situations?
 -- Mike</font></blockquote>
<P>
If you can't get your IP Masquerading working, try this "simple" script.  If
it works from the command line, put it in your boot sequence somewhere or
reference it in your startup scripts (see "man init").
</P>
<P>
Remember to set the variables at the top of the script.
</P>
<P>
It works on kernels 2.4 and 2.2 only, using iptables on 2.4 and ipchains on
2.2.  Your kernel must have the appropriate firewall/masquerading/forwarding
compilation options enabled.
</P>
<P>
It tries to allow all connections initiated by the internal network, while
prohibiting connections to the internal network from outside.  This is
minimal security, you can add iptables/ipchains commands to block certain
ports on the gateway if you wish.
</P>
<P>
For FTP, IRC, RealAudio, etc, you may have to load additional modules.
</P>
<P>
This script assumes you have a static IP.  If you have a dynamic IP (DHCP),
you'll need to determine your current public IP and plug it in.  You can run
ifconfig to see the "inet addr:" manually, or modify this script to
automatically determine the current IP.
</P>
<P>
See the iptables/ipchains manual pages for more information, and the
firewalling/masquerading HOWTOs.
</P>
<P>
The 'xx' function displays each command line as it's run.
</P>
<p align="center">See attached <tt><a href="misc/tips/ipmasq.sh.txt">ipmasq.sh.txt</a></tt></p>

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<P> <A NAME="tips/15"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">List tweaks</FONT></H3>
Tue, 4 Dec 2001 09:05:26 -0800
<BR>Dan Wilder (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2315">The Answer Gang</a>)

<P>
Chuck Peters asked:
</P>
<P><STRONG>
Hi,
<br>We are using mailman for our freenet support, CCIL Help Desk Team
&lt;<A HREF="mailto:help@ccil.org"
	>help@ccil.org</A>&gt;, and often the users reply to only the 
individual who
originally answered the question.  As much as I don't want to munge the
header with a reply-to it would be be better than our problem of users not
replying to the list.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I took a quick look at the msg_footer and Python's string formatting
rules, but its not giving me the clues to figure out how you are changing
the reply-to to the list and the user, or the header containing "Original
question from: user".  How did you do that?
</STRONG></P>
<P>
A wrapper.  I'd threatened to post details, and since
you ask, I'll do so.
</P>
<P>
It was a quick hack.  Improvements and generalizations
happily accepted.
</P>
<P>
The list begins by delivering to a procmail recipe.  In
/etc/aliases:
</P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>linux-questions-only:
<br>  "|/usr/bin/procmail -m /etc/procmailrcs/linux-questions-only"
</font></code></blockquote>
<P>
Because of the location and ownership of the procmailrc,
mail is delivered as the user which owns the procmail
recipe <TT>/etc/procmailrcs/linux-questions-only.</TT>  In our case
we have it owned by "list" which has permission to write to
the temporary directory <TT>/var/lib/mailman/tmp/.</TT>
</P>
<P>
After several procmail recipes irrelevant to the present thread,
the final delivering recipe says:
</P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>:0
<br>|  /usr/lib/mailman/localbin/hdrs.sh
</font></code></blockquote>
<P>
If you don't need procmail and you can deal with Sendmail's smrsh,
or if you're using exim, postfix, qmail, mmdf, etc, you could deliver
directly to hdrs.sh over <TT>/etc/aliases.</TT>
</P>
<P>
Next, hdrs.sh:
</P>
<p align="center">See attached <tt><a href="misc/tips/hdrs.sh.txt">hdrs.sh.txt</a></tt></p>
<p>and then, hdrs.py:</p>
<p align="center">See attached <tt><a href="misc/tips/hdrs.py.txt">hdrs.py.txt</a></tt></p>
<P>
The data file <TT>/var/lib/mailman/localdata/linux-questions-only</TT>
is generated by script run from a cron job:
</P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>#!/bin/sh
<br>
<br>/usr/lib/mailman/bin/list_members linux-questions-only &gt;/var/lib/mailman/localdata/linux-questions-only
</font></code></blockquote>
<P>
The membership of the list doesn't change very fast, so we
run this nightly.
</P>
<P>
An' that's it.
</P>
<P>
--
Dan Wilder
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="tips/16"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">linux software</FONT></H3>
Fri, 2 Nov 2001 19:21:43 -0600
<BR>dwane boyle (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?cc=crystalgroup@hotmail.com&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2316">crystalgroup from hotmail.com</a>)

<P><STRONG>
my queston can linux run on a rs6000 ibm workstation
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Yes.  That is a PowerPC architecture. Check distributions which offer
PowerPC support for more details, but I've definitely seen it mentioned
in <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</A>, Yellow Dog Linux, and Rock Linux.
</P>
<P>
-- Heather Stern
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="tips/17"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Tux the Penguin</FONT></H3>
Fri, 21 Dec 2001 09:24:01 -0800
<BR>Mike Orr, Ben Okopnik, and Heather Stern 
(<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2317"><em>Linux Gazette</em> Editors</a>)


<!-- sig -->

<P><STRONG>
Hardy Boehm asked:
<br>
This may be a stupid question which already
was answerd a million times, but I was
unable to find an answer on the net.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
When I gave her a stuffed Tux as a present,
my Girlfriend asked me, what it's sex is?
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Can you help me on this???
</STRONG></P>
<P>
&lt;patiently&gt; It's obvious. Geek, of course. -- Ben Okopnik
</P>
<P>
Four out of five sexist computer nerds surveyed agree Tux is male.
-- Mike Orr
</P>
<P>
That might refer to Linus' original comment that penguins are happy
because they have just stuffed themselves full of herring or have been
hanging out with lady penguins.  We only <EM>know</EM> that Tux is 
stuffed full of herring, but we can assume Tux hangs out with lady 
penguins.  -- Heather
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="tips/18"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">ftp macro variables</FONT></H3>
Sun, 16 Dec 2001 16:07:57 -0500
<BR>Faber Fedor (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2318">The Answer Gang</a>)


<P><STRONG>jonesrf1 asked:
<br>I am trying to write an ftp macro to run automatically in .netrc.
macro is nammed init as in
</STRONG></P>
<P><strong><code>
macdef init
</code></strong></P>
<P><STRONG>
The macro should get the current date as in
</STRONG></P>
<P><strong><code>
!pre=`date '+%m%d'`
</code></strong></P>
<P>
Is that ! supposed to be there?
</P>
<P><STRONG>
and use that date to retrieve a set of files as in
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><CODE>
cd /var/spool/fax
mget  pre*
</CODE></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
where the files are named 1215somethingorother
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I can't get the variable pre to be recognized by mget
mget uses <EM> instead of 1215</EM>    ie current date*
</STRONG></P>
<P>
I would think you'd need to do
</P>
<P><code>
mget $pre*
</P></code>
<P><STRONG>
Any ideas? Any place to find help on ftp macro? I have tried web search
</STRONG></P>
<P>
I always use the expect programming language
(<A HREF="http://members.cotse.com/dlf/man/expect/index.html"
	>http://members.cotse.com/dlf/man/expect/index.html</A>)
when I need to do an "ftp macro".
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="tips/19"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Help... (Gnome)</FONT></H3>
29 Nov 2001 23:41:15 +0000
<BR>mike martin (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2319">The Answer Gang</a>)

<P><STRONG>
I don't know where to start.  I have used (and been frustrated by) Windows
for a long time.  Linux seem to be a blessing from above.  However, the
practical matter is that some things don't work as advertised.  There are so
many, I don't know where to begin.  Lets start with the Genome Calendar.  I
am running Redhat 6.0 and using the Gnome desktop.  I have read the
instructions about the Calendar application, but when I set an appointment
it never notifies me of it's passing.  I leave the user logged in and the
application running and minimized on the desktop.  The date and time of the
appointment comes and goes and nothing happens.  Additionally I don't know
where to look for further help.  Can you suggest something?
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Thank you...
Larry Gilson
</STRONG></P>
<P>
First off RH6 is really old (2 and half years)
Cant really comment on gnomecal, but you may want to upgrade gnome (its
worth it) and try evolution <A HREF="http://www.ximian.com"
	>http://www.ximian.com</A>
you can upgrade gnome fairly painlessly from there as well
</P>

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<P> <A NAME="tips/20"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Windows Shares</FONT></H3>
30 Oct 2001 15:05:31 +0000
<BR>mike martin (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2320">The Answer Gang</a>)

<P><STRONG>
I am new to Linux and need to get a network involving a Windows2000 box up
and running.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I have a windows share which has the "everybody full control" permission set
on a windows box on my network.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I can "see" the share on my linux box and can read all data in the share as a
normal user. However as a normal user I am totally unable to write to the
windows share.  I do have write access as root 
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)" 
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I have tried using mount with the -o rw options also the chown, chgrp and
chmod commands.  All meet with failure.  The mounted share just will not
allow me to alter its permissions so that as a normal user I can write to it.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Do you have any suggestions,  I would really appreciate any assistance you
can give, this problem has been driving me batty for weeks!
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Best Regards
<br>Bevan
</STRONG></P>
<P>
I know that when I was using samba with NT, if you put uid=(any user
uid) that user will be able to write, you may be able to make it work
using gid - never had chance to try it out
</P>

<!-- end 20 -->
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<P> <A NAME="tips/21"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">linux telnet question</FONT></H3>
Wed, 14 Nov 2001 12:35:02 -0800
<BR>Dan Wilder, Heather Stern, John Karns (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2321">The Answer Gang</a>)

<P>
votecrosby asked:
</P>
<P><STRONG>
I have a problem that occurs with telnet on my linux machines. the only fix
for it i've found is to reload it. telnet will work fine for a few months,
and then the same problem recurs.  the issues is that when i try and telnet
into the machines, i get the first part of the prompt
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><code>
<A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A> Linux rlease 6.0 (Hedwig)
<br>Kernal 2.2.5-15 on a i 586
</code></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
followed by:
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><code>
/usr/bin/login: no such file or directory
</code></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
of course, that directory doesn't exist when telnet is working either, so i
can't see what the problem is.  i have a hacker that's been plauging me,
someone in korea, and i am pretty certain that he's responsible for this
issue, but thus far i haven't been able to keep him out nor keep telnet
running.  any suggestions on how to make it work again without reloading
the OS would be appreciated.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
My first suggestion would be to turn off telnetd permanently.   The
thing's a horrible security risk, and nobody should use it any more
except within a network containing only trusted hosts.
</P>
<P>
Instead, use Openssh (<A HREF="http://www.openssh.org"
	>http://www.openssh.org</A>) which may be available
as .rpms for your Red Hat, someplace.
</P>
<P>
Get OpenSSH-2.9.9p1 or later.
</P>
<P>
If not available, you can build it from source.  You'll need to
build OpenSSL and zlib first, as openssh depends on libraries
from these.
</P>
<P>
<A HREF="http://www.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/zlib"
	>http://www.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/zlib</A>
</P>
<P>
<A HREF="http://www.openssl.org"
	>http://www.openssl.org</A>
</P>
<P>
<A HREF="http://www.openssh.com"
	>http://www.openssh.com</A>
</P>
<P>
There's a W*ndows openssh client:
</P>
<P><BLOCKQuote>
<A HREF="http://www.networksimplicity.com/openssh"
	>http://www.networksimplicity.com/openssh</A>
</BLOCKQuote></P>
<P>
which I have not personally tried.  It requires the cygwin.dll
libraries, which are a pretty fair-sized download.  There's also
a small open-source standalone ssh client, putty.exe,
</P>
<P>
<A HREF="http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html"
	>http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html</A>
</P>
<P>
-- Dan Wilder
</P>
<P>
It's certainly worth your while to download putty's scp program
too.  Even if you continue to use telnet in some places, putty is
a better telnet client than the one that comes with MSwin. -- Heather
</P>
<P>
If someone has cracked your system and messed with <TT>/usr/bin/login</TT> (it's a
binary file rather than a directory - on my <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/">SuSE</A>7.1 system, it's
<TT>/bin/login</TT>) then it would be worth your while, even mandatory to reload
the OS.  There's no way to tell to what degree your system has been
compromised, and what kinds of trojan horse binaries may have been
planted.
</P>
<P>
If you're going to stick with RH6.0, then after re-installing you should
visit the RH site and update all the rpm's which were updated for security
fixes.  After that install a firewall and <TT>/</TT> or some security programs such
as tripwire, port sentry, etc.  Consult the security HowTo(s) for more
info.
</P>
<P>
-- John Karns
</P>
<P>
Also, <A HREF="http://www.linuxsecurity.org"
	>http://www.linuxsecurity.org</A> is well worth an extended visit. --
Heather
</P>

<!-- end 21 -->
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<P> <A NAME="tips/22"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Implementation of a little ToDo list</FONT></H3>
Sat, Nov 03, 2001 at 12:37:20PM +0100
<BR>Matthias Arndt (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2322">The Answer Gang</a>)

<P>
Many users want to keep a little of reminder information for
themselves.
</P>
<P>
Take me for example. Sometimes I want to remind myself of installing a
software package, compiling some code, playing a particular game or
simply to do my homework.
</P>
<P>
What I want is a little reminder display at login.
</P>
<P>
I' m working most of the time in X so I put the following line in my
.xinitrc file BEFORE launching the window manager.
</P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>test -f ~/.ToDo &amp;&amp; xmessage -center -file ~/.ToDo -buttons Discard:0,Keep:1 &amp;&amp; rm ~/.ToDo
</font></code></blockquote>
<P>
This one checks if the reminder file ($HOME/.ToDo) exists. If yes, the
file is displayed with the xmessage command centered on the screen
giving the choice of either discard it or to keep it. If I want to
keep it, I click on "Keep", if not, the rm command will remove it.
</P>
<P>
To be able to edit the file, I use two methods. First of all I have a
shortcut to my favourite editor loading the ToDo file in my
window managers menu.
</P>
<P>
Second I have the following lines at the very end of my .xinitrc file:
</P>

<blockquote><pre>if [ ! -f ~/.ToDo ]; then
    xmessage "Create TODO list?" -center -buttons yes:0,no:1 &amp;&amp; xjed ~/.ToDo
fi
</pre></blockquote>
<P>
This block asks me at session end if I want to create a TODO file but
only when this file is non existent. Substitute xjed with your
favourite text editor.
</P>
<P>
Using the console? Simply put the following line in your .profile or
.bash_profile file:
</P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>test -f ~/.ToDo &amp;&amp; cat ~/.ToDo
</font></code></blockquote>
<P>
This will simply type the ToDo file on your console at login. With a
little more of shell programming you can achieve a deletion of the
ToDo file at logout as well.
</P>
<P>
Experiment a while with these - it is a nifty feature and you do not
need any extra software. Simply Linux standard packages that come with
all Linux distros.
</P>

<!-- end 22 -->
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<P> <A NAME="tips/23"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">bind: Address already in use</FONT></H3>
Thu, 20 Dec 2001 16:35:50 -0500
<BR>Faber Fedor (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2323">The Answer Gang</a>)


<P><STRONG>
Harjit Gill asked:
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I am having a bit of a problem with suse linux 7.2. My problem is on the
xconsole I get an error message stating the below:
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><BLOCKQuote>
inetd[838] smtp/tcp (2): bind: Address already in use
</BLOCKQuote></STRONG></P>
<P>
The process inetd (process id 83
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT="8)" 
		height="24" width="20" align="middle"> tried to run some SMTP protocol
program (that also uses TCP) but the address that the SMTP program wants
is already in use by someone else.
</P>
<P>
My guess is you're running an email program like sendmail and also
running another SMTP program (read: mail) from inside of inetd.  Check
to see what's uncommented in <TT>/etc/inetd.conf</TT>, cross reference that with
<TT>/etc/services</TT> and see if anything uses port 25 (which is listed in
<TT>/etc/services</TT>).
</P>

<!-- end 23 -->
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<P> <A NAME="tips/24"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Setting up a web-based archive for a mailing list</FONT></H3>
Tue, 06 Nov 2001 11:01:13 +0200 (EET)
<BR>Peter Georgiev (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?cc=peterg@mail.bg&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2324">peterg from mail.bg</a>)

<P>
Hiya everyone at the Gazette,
</P>
<P>
Great job again with Issue 72. I especially liked "PDF Service with
Samba" by John Bright.
</P>
<P>
Well I'd like to comment on "Setting Up a Web-based Archive for a Mailing
List" by Lawrence Teo.
</P>
<P>
Let's assume we've already set the mailing list as described in the
previous article -- "A Quick and Easy Way to Set Up a Mailing List" and
also compiled and installed hypermail. So we're at item 2.2. -- Creating
a dummy account, which IMHO has some drawbacks.
</P>
<P>
Well suppose our project has about 20 researchers enlisted in the
mail-list. They also want to share file attachments via e-mail e.g.
drawing charts, spreadsheets, tarballs of source code, whatever. So our
mail traffic is pretty high. It will soon result with a dummy user mbox
several hundred Mbytes of size which will keep growing. Hypermail has to
parse the whole mbox to re-index the archive. On P200 128MB RAM it takes
30 sec to parse a 5 MB mbox and 2 min to parse a 25 MB mbox. Suppose you
have a 500 MB mbox and cron starts hypermail every 2 min -- despite
hypermail's locking mechanism soon you will end with an endless queue of
hypermail processes waiting to be executed or if you switch locking off --
even bring the box down to it's knees.
</P>
<P>
Well all the above may be a bit too far from the real-world situation,
neither have I tested it thourougly.
However there is a way to go around it and it's actually easier to setup.
</P>
<P>
What we have to do is as follows:
</p>
<ol>
<li> <TT>/path/to/hypermail -v &gt; /path/to/projarch.conf</TT>

<br>
This command will dump a sample config file for hypermail which we'll
have to edit. It's pretty self-explanatory so I won't discuss it in
detail.
However look at the "mbox =" option. It sets the mbox to read messages
in from. Giving this option a value of NONE will set hypermail to read
messages from standard input.
<li> Open <TT>/etc/aliases</TT> in your favorite editor and create an alias for
projarch (this we shall use for our archiving purposes)

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>projarch:  "|/path/to/hypermail -c /path/to/projarch.conf"
</font></code></blockquote>

This will pipe each incoming message for <A HREF="mailto:projarch@mybox.example.com"
	>projarch@mybox.example.com</A>
into hypermail. Save <TT>/etc/aliases</TT> and issue the

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>/usr/bin/newaliases
</font></code></blockquote>

command. Do not forget to set the output directory for hypermail
archives somewhere under the web server document root (Option "dir ="
in <TT>/path/to/projarch.conf</TT>). Create the output directory e.g.

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>/var/www/html/projarch
</font></code></blockquote>

and give the user sendmail runs under (usually user mail) write access
to it.

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>chown mail:apache /var/www/html/projarch; chmod 750 /var/www/html/projarch
</font></code></blockquote>

Pay attention to possible values of the "dir =" option in the config
file (man hmrc). Using substitution cookies, you can tell hypermail to
archive messages in different directories by the date they were
received.

<li> Test hypermail sending a message to your mailing-list. If sendmail
bounces it back with an error message like:

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>sh: hypermail not available for sendmail programs
<br>554 5.0.0 |"/path/to/hypermail"... Service unavailable
</font></code></blockquote>

it means sendmail uses smrsh (Sendmail restricted shell) to execute
binaries. In this case do the following:


<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>ln -s /path/to/hypermail /etc/smrsh/hypermail;
</font></code></blockquote>

Then restart sendmail


<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>/etc/init.d/sendmail restart
</font></code></blockquote>

Test hypermail again sending a message to the mailing list and
pointing your web browser to:

<BLOCKQuote>
<A HREF="http://mybox.example.com/projarch"
	>http://mybox.example.com/projarch</A>
</BLOCKQuote>

It should be all set up.
</ol>
<P>
With this setup of hypermail we do not have to create a dummy user --
hence no multi-Mbyte mbox to parse. We process messages one by one
straight as they arrive and update the web archive this very instant - so
we don't need no cron job, and we don't need extra setup of <A HREF="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</A>.
</P>
<P>
No need to mention you will need root access to the system but you will
need it in the first place -- setting up the mailing list. And note
your environment paths may differ from above examples depending on the
distribution you use, which is well explained in the original article.
</P>
<P>
Hope this helps,
<br>Peter
</P>

<!-- end 24 -->
<!--     .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.     -->
<P> <A NAME="tips/25"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Boot Screen</FONT></H3>
Mon, 10 Dec 2001 17:34:25 +0530
<BR>Sayamindu Dasgupta (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?cc=unmadindu@Softhome.net&subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2325">unmadindu from Softhome.net</a>)

<P>
Joseph Adamo asked:
</P>
<P><STRONG>
I just bought  Linux-Mandrake 8.0 and i have it dual booted to my  Windows
2000.  Linux has a boot up screen menu.  The default is Linux , i would
like to know how to change the order default so i can change it to Windows
2000 or  DOS 6.22, etc.
</STRONG></P>
<P>
Hi
</P>
<P>
here's what to do
</P>
<P>
login as root
open up <TT>/etc/lilo.conf</TT> in ur favourite text editor
u'll find a line like this
</P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>default=linux
</font></code></blockquote>
<P>
just cange it to dos (or whatever it might be..and u'r done)
oopss.i forgot, run
</P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>lilo -v
</font></code></blockquote>
<P>
after saving the changes in ur file
and if some idiotic winblows antivirus complains abt a changed mbr after
that, don't pay any attention to that
</P>
<P>
cheers
<br>Sayamindu
</P>
<P><em>
Of course, if you have such an antivirus program, you may want to
temporarily disable it, or otherwise advise it that you are deliberately
updating the MBR.  Otherwise you risk getting it put back the way it
was... -- Heather
</em></P>

<!-- end 25 -->
<!--     .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.     -->
<P> <A NAME="tips/26"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">whitepaper on CFS?</FONT></H3>
Thu, 13 Dec 2001 19:11:20 +0100 (MET)
<BR>Karl-Heinz Herrmann (<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com?subject=%20Re%3A%20%5BLG%2074%5D%202c%20Tips%20%2326">The Answer Gang</a>)


<P>
moka asked:
</P>
<P><STRONG>
I wonder if one can dig up a short of whitepaper on
crypto file systems(also AES perhaps).
</STRONG></P>
<P>
AES (Advanced Encrytption standard) is the new encryption standard after DES
and the US government finally decided to use the Rijndael algorithm.
This is available with a "free" license and open source.
</P>
<P>
"AES" in google, third link from top:
</P>
<BLOCKQuote>
<A HREF="http://csrc.nist.gov/encryption/aes"
	>http://csrc.nist.gov/encryption/aes</A>
</BLOCKQuote>
<P>
which is the official US gov site anouncing Rijndael as chosen AES algorithm
along with details on the algorithm, links to source and executables as well
as links to the Rijndael developers and more material.
</P>
<P><STRONG>
I have been
unable to point a friend  who is interested in such
security issues  to a  document that addresses not the
technical details, but the whys and in broad terms hows
</STRONG></P>
<P>
On the Crypto File system for Linux:
</P>
<BLOCKQuote>
put "crypto File system" in the search filed of www.google.com and the 4th
link from top will be www.crypto.com/papers/cfs.pdf
which seems to be exactly what you are looking for -- not very hard though.
</BLOCKQuote>
<P><STRONG>
Thanks,
</STRONG></P>
<P>
If you would at least use a search engine first you would be more welcome.
</P>

<!-- end 26 -->
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<P> <A NAME="tips/27"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A> <P>
<H3><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/lil2cent.gif">
<FONT COLOR="navy">Linux Journal WNN Tech Tips</FONT></H3>


<h4 align="center"
	>Running an X program on a remote display</h4>
<p>
Use <tt>ssh -n</tt> to run an X program from one computer on another.  
</p><p>
For example,

</p><p><code>
ssh -n frodo gimp &amp;

</code></p><p>
will run the GIMP on the host frodo, but display locally.

</p><p>
Using ssh for this is much easier and more secure than setting it up
in X manually.
</p>


<HR width="10%" align="center">
<h4 align="center"
	>Replicating a Debian system</h4>

<p>
How many times have you installed some cool software on one of the
systems at your office, gotten used to running it, then one day tried
to run it from a different system only to find it wasn't there?

</p><p>
Now there's an answer. Jablicator for Debian:
</p>
<blockquote>
<a href="http://packages.debian.org/testing/admin/jablicator.html"
	>http://packages.debian.org/testing/admin/jablicator.html</a>
</blockquote>

</p><p>automatically
builds a package file based on your current software load. Apt-get
that package on all your other hosts, and they'll keep in sync.
</p>

<HR width="10%" align="center">
<h4 align="center"
	>Color inkjet printers</h4>

<p>
Color inkjet printers vary widely in their support under Linux.
Vendors make these family-oriented units as dumb as possible to keep
the cost down. (Think of a color inkjet printer as an in-home display
unit to sell you color inkjet cartridges.) As in a Winmodem, all the
decisions get made in the driver, and some vendors offer decent
drivers for Linux while others don't.

</p><p>
You might find the same printer gives you photo-quality prints from a
proprietary OS and a faded, blurry image under Linux. Visit
LinuxPrinting.org:
</p>
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.linuxprinting.org"
	>http://www.linuxprinting.org</a>
</blockquote>

</p><p> for up-to-date reports on printers and
drivers, so you don't get stuck taking your printer back.

</p><p>
For business or even home office use, a reconditioned laser printer
with network interface is less hassle than a parallel port inkjet and
much cheaper per page.  Unless you really want color.
</p>

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
Your Editor had to replace his color printer recently, and I got an
Epson Stylus C80 based on the evaluations of the Linux Printing site.
It works great from the Gimp with the Gimp Print driver, once I realized
the latest Debian Gimp package is "gimp1.2" rather than "gimp".  Still
not working with LPRng/Ghostscript, but that's a configuration issue rather
than a capability issue.  My current Debian Ghostscript works fine with 
my laser printer but doesn't contain the Gimp Print driver for the C80.
I tried installing a binary version of Ghostscript with that driver, but
that screwed up my LPRng configuration and my other printing.  So I can't
print directly from Netscape.  For now, I'm just opening pictures a second
time in the Gimp, which is time-consuming but it works.  -Iron.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>


<HR width="10%" align="center">

<h4 align="center"
	>How to include attachments when forwarding mail from mutt</h4>

<p>
Mutt doesn't forward messages with MIME attachments by default. To
give yourself the ability to include MIME attachments when forwarding
a message, set mime_fwd in .muttrc. In our humble opinion this is the
most useful setting; it allows you not to include attachments by
default but to include them when you want.

</p><p><code>
set mime_fwd=ask-no
</code></p>



<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 &copy;</a> 2002
<BR>Published in issue 74 of <I>Linux Gazette</I> January 2002</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 *** -->
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -->
<center>
<H1><A NAME="answer">
	<img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" alt="(?)" 
		border="0" align="middle">
	<font color="#B03060">The Answer Gang</font>
	<img src="../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif" alt="(!)" 
		border="0" align="middle">
</A></H1> 
<BR>
<H4>By Jim Dennis, Ben Okopnik, Dan Wilder, Breen, Chris, and the Gang,
	the Editors of Linux Gazette... 
	and You!
<br>Send questions (or interesting answers) to
	<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com">linux-questions-only@ssc.com</a>
</H4>
<p><em><font color="#990000">There is no guarantee</font></em> 
	that your questions here will <b>ever</b> be answered.  
	<em><font color="#990000">Readers at confidential sites</font></em> 
	must provide permission to publish.  However, 
	<em><font color="#990000">you can be published anonymously</font></em>
	- just let us know!
</p>
<p>TAG <a href="tag/bios.html">Member bios</a>
     | <a href="../tag/members-faq.html">FAQ</a>
     | <a href="../tag/kb.html">Knowledge base</a></p>
</center>
<!-- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -->
<p><hr><p>
<H3>Contents:</H3>
<dl>
<dt><a href="#tag/greeting"
	><strong>&para;: Greetings From Heather Stern</strong></A></dl>

<DL>
<!-- index_text begins -->
<dt><A HREF="#tag/1"
	><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
	  alt="(?)" border="0"
	><strong>Control-Left = go left one word doesn't work in X</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/2"
	><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
	  alt="(?)" border="0"
	><strong>Hi Gazzete (Squid)</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/3"
	><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
	  alt="(?)" border="0"
	><strong>DHCP to DNS</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/4"
	><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
	  alt="(?)" border="0"
	><strong>printing the timestamp of a given file</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/5"
	><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
	  alt="(?)" border="0"
	><strong>SQL on the internet</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/6"
	><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
	  alt="(?)" border="0"
	><strong>pseudo-chroot</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/7"
	><img src="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
	  alt="(!)" border="0"
	><strong>Getting volume label for CD</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/8"
	><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
	  alt="(?)" border="0"
	><strong>linux book</strong></a>
<dt><A HREF="#tag/9"
	><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
	  alt="(?)" border="0"
	><strong>random crashes - how to prepare bug report?</strong></a>
<!-- index_text ends -->
</DL>
<!--     .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.     -->
<A NAME="tag/greeting"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/hbubble.gif" 
	height="50" width="60" alt="(&para;) " border="0"
	>Greetings from Heather Stern</H3>
<!-- begin hgreeting -->
<p>
Hi folks.  I've been having such fun this season.  The only thing sad for me 
is, I still haven't gotten around to updating my workstation.  I did update
my laptop tho.  Debian Testing is coming along nicely.
</p><p>
Okay, I'll make the Peeve of the Month quick.  First a big hand to most of
our querents for using real subject lines!  Some of you still need to work
on it tho.  However, abuse of Quoted Printable when you only have plain 
English messages jumps back into number one.  Our foreign messages are up,
so maybe half the people who did this really had a romance language to defend.  
</p><p>
We've got some very good general information this month which I hope you'll
find tasty.
</p><p>
Before I take on this years "New Years Resolution"  (21" diagonal sound good?)
I suppose I'd better finish setting up last years... I've got a color inkjet
here, a nice little Epson Stylus.  Of course if I want it to work under most
circumstances I have to recompile Ghostscript with gimp-print extensions,
which means adding a half dozen -devel rpms, and... and... you know, this is
a real pain.  I don't even see that one of the fancier print environments
would help.  Aaaargh.
</p><p>
And to think I was ragging on word processors last year.  I have to say 
they've gotten much better.  They crash less often than Netscape (well, ok,
that isn't saying much for some folks, but I got NS to be pretty stable a 
while ago.  Leaving JS off seems to help a lot).  Documents are getting to
be kinda usable.  I saw a freshmeat app pushing to be a desktop publishing
program.  What I really wonder is when someone is going to write the 
"obvious" wrapper around the GIMP or ImageMagick to do all those old 
"Print Shop Deluxe" kind of things in a fairly slick way.  Of course I'm
bucking for The GIMP, because it's supposed to make my color printer happy...
</p><p>
Well, enjoy your bit of the bubbly, <em>try</em> not to blow up anything 
when you set off your OpenGL firecrackers, and don't get run over, it's
bad for your health.  I won't be at LWE New York, I've been travelling way
too much lately, but if you're going, consider writing a show review for
the <em>Gazette</em>, okay?
</p><p>
See ya!
</p>

<!-- end hgreeting -->
<!--     .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.     -->
<A NAME="tag/1"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 1 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" 
	height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
	>Control-Left = go left one word doesn't work in X</H3>


<p><strong>From Jay Christnach 
</strong></p> 

<p align="right"><strong>Answered By  Ben Okopnik, Dan Wilder, John Karns, Mike Orr, Karl-Heinz Herrman
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
I already spent hours trying to fix this annoying problem:
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><BLOCKQuote>
I don't even know if this normally works, but pressing the control and
left-arrow keys simultaneosly should move the cursor one word back.
</BLOCKQuote></STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben]
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Nope, this doesn't normally work - because there's no such thing as
"normally". The kind of functionality you're talking about is specific to a
given piece of software, or, in several window managers, might even be a
sequence that is caught and handled by the WM itself.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [John K] 
In the case of many versions of fvwm2, ctrl-arrow key combos move the
mouse cursor.  However, it seems that it no longer holds true as of fvwm2
ver 2.3.31 or so (or maybe it was changed by <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/">SuSE</A>).
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
When you ask this kind of a question, you always need to specify which
application you're using. In Unix, one of the guiding principles is "don't
set policy; provide mechanisms." Unlike other OS's GUIs, there's no single
common interface (unless the window manager - <A HREF="http://www.kde.org/">KDE</A> and Gnome are good
examples - enforces one.)
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
Is this a problem in the xkb symbols? Is this a functionality that has to
be provided by the applications and they simply don't have this shortcut?
I don't know anymore where to look to fix this.
Thanks for your help.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Dan] 
This is functionality that has to be provided by the application.
</blockQuote>
<HR width="10%" align="left"><P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
Thanks for answering and trying to help
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Well I asked a friend if this keyboard shortcut would work on his Linux box
(Mandrake KDE) and he tried several applications and found that even xvi
provides this kb shortcut.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
Err... Jay? Did you <em>read</em>  our answers? Like, the content, not just the
envelope? I'll repeat it again, just in case Dan's one-line statement <EM>and</EM>
my longer explanation weren't clear:
</blockQuote>

<h4 align="center"><br>It's application specific.
</h4>
<blockQuote>
There's no magic file, or download, or anything else that you can install
that will make that combination work in every editor. Whatever the author
of that piece of software decided to put in as the "jump-word" key combo,
that's what you get.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
To correct your misconception, above: it's not "even xvi provides". The
correct version reads "xvi is at least one editor that provides". What
"xvi" provides bears <em>no</em>  relation to what an author of another editor
might use.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
I asked him to send me a copy of his
<TT>/usr/lib/X11/xkb</TT> directory. I suspected there were a missing Keyboard Symbol
in my xkb config (I hacked it for being able to use dead-circumflexes and
diaeresis for my sf keyboard, those were missing in the files which came
with my debian distro)
I use the Gnome Desktop (ximian) and sawfish window manager. I'm pretty
shure that Abi-Word usually is able to handle the CTRL-Cursor thing. (It is
nearly a copy of MS Word).
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
Huh? That makes no sense. It's written for a different OS... with a
different programming interface... everything, except the types of files
that it can open is different from MS Word... and you expect the keystrokes
to be the same? They might be - it's not an unusual key combo for the job -
but expecting it is just plain silly.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
Also in most text-widgets I am able to select the
entire line with shift-Home or Shift-End which is consistent to
ctrl-Shift-Cursor for selecting words and I think this is an accepted
standard or at least should be.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
Ah, <EM>there's</EM> the problem: "accepted standard or at least should be." I
knew there had to be a root cause of all this somewhere, and I'm glad we
discovered it so early - it could get really bad if left to grow and spread
unchecked. Here, let me excise that for you...
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
"Accepted standard" begs the question of "accepted by whom?" "By me" is not
a valid answer; neither is "by MS Windows users." "Should be" according to
you is obviously not a "should be" according to software authors. Since
you're not one (that's a guess, but a fairly informed one), you  don't get
to decide what "should be". If the editors that exist don't suit you,
you're always welcome to write one of your own - including whatever
keystrokes you decide it should have.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike] 
This is a bit harsh.  The reason KDE and Gnome exist is because ppl see
the importance of adhering to cross-platform user-interface standards.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
There is a standard for word processors/text editors (regarding how they
treat the arrow keys and select/cut/paste operations) that was
originally set by MacWrite years and years back, because ppl who tried
it found it very intuitive to use and remember.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
&lt;wince&gt; OK, here's a seemingly minor niggle that's got a hidden kicker to
it: the definition of the word "standard". As you're using it here, it
means "what a lot of folks have been using for a while". What it means to
me is "a defined set of specifications." Confuting the two leads to...
well, MS Windows is an example. The querent's original assumption is
another.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
In a way, I find myself agreeing with a minor premise of Jay's: I would
<em>like</em>  it if there was such a thing as an "editor keystroke standard" - to
be exact, if there were several of them, each one a well-thought out,
coherent, non-internally-conflicting set of keystrokes. Then, you could
have a "flagship" implementation for each - Emacs, vi, MSWord, whatever -
and all the other editors could then use, say, a library that simply
eliminated the whole bloody job of writing a command parser. Now, throw in
a couple of editors like the old "PE3" from DOS (gosh, I <em>loved</em>  that
thing! I <EM>miss</EM> it...) where you could actually modify the "keydefs" file
any way you wanted to - including building macros to be assigned to
specific key combos - and you'd have the world covered.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
All that... yeah, sure... BUT.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
I'm not a software developer. I don't consider myself as having the right
to moan and groan about the issue without being able to make a material
contribution - which, again, would only become a contribution in the full
sense of the word if it passed the "community acceptance test". The only
thing I can do, IM!NSHO, is to put in the time testing the available
editors (I've installed and run <em>every</em>  editor available with <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</A>, other
than obvious clones, plus a number of others) to see how well they suit me.
If they don't, I don't use them - but I don't complain about them, either;
they obviously suit other people to a tee.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Had the querent asked STL "I'm looking for an editor that has the same
keystrokes as the ETAOINSHRDLU editor - do you folks know of any?", I could
have probably found something that would help him - and would have been
glad to; I <em>like</em>  being able to help people. As it was, I found the fact
that he completely ignored my and Dan's original responses, and the
attitude of "well, <EM>real</EM> editors all have this!", irritating.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
BTW - I wasn't aware that it was MacWrite that used those keydefs
originally. Interesting nybble of info.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike] 
It has been widely
duplicated in MS Word and practically all Mac and Windows word
processors and text editors ever since.  Even the DOS edit command
recognized the sense of this scheme and was compatible with at least
part of it (shift-arrow extends the selection, ctrl-arrow moves by
words, shift-ctrl-arrow does both).  However, part of the paradigm
(ctrl-Z/X/C/V for undo/cut/copy/paste) was adopted by everything except
DOS edit and MS Works.  (Of course, Mac had to use the clover key
["command key"] because there was no ctrl key on the Mac keyboard at the
time, a stupid unnecessary attempt to improve on standards without
offering anything better, and some programs like Netscape 4 use alt
instead of ctrl, but modifier-key exceptions are easy enough to learn.)
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
&lt;grin&gt; Control-Meta-Hyper-Super-Shift-Top-Front-X? According to The Jargon
File, all of the above were modifiers - <EM>at the same time</EM> - on the LISP
machines' keyboards at MIT (does it surprise anyone that this influenced
the design of Emacs?) "Ten-finger typist", indeed...
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike] 
In the Unix world, applying this standard wholesale is a bit difficult.
It's fine for graphical programs that imitate Windows/Mac programs.  But
vi and emacs have existing standards that conflict with these.  Also,
ctrl-C is very commonly used in Unix to mean "abort this program".
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Also on Unix, you have the problem that when logging in under various
circumstances, the terminal type gets out of sync and the non-typewriter
keys become inaccessible (insert/delete, pgup/pgdown, and sometimes even
backspace).  Thus, you must have alphabetic or ctrl-letter keys to
perform these actions as an emergency fallback.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Also, vi and emacs typists will say they are more efficient
because they never have to take their hands off the typewriter keys.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
If your editor you write now survives
the process of acceptance by the Linux community - i.e., a significant
number of folks start using it - then, <EM>ta-daa!</EM> You've just become one of
the folks who decide what "should be". See how easy that was?
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
&lt;sigh&gt; Pardon me if I sound a bit ascerbic... but, over time, I've grown
rather tired of people who are perfectly willing to use the software that
other people have spent thousands of hours writing - <EM>and</EM> complain about
it. To me, that smacks of - uh, no, <EM>defines</EM> - ingratitude.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike] 
This is certainly correct, not just for the current situation but in
general.  However, what's really happening here is a clash of worldviews,
which cause two topics that don't have anything to do with each other to
conflict.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
JAY: All programs should stick to the established Windows/Mac standard
re the arrow keys, a standard that has proved itself valuable.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
BEN: Don't you realize that any change you suggest to a program requires
<EM>HOURS OF WORK</EM> by <EM>UNPAID VOLUNTEERS</EM>?  Why is it <EM>their</EM> obligation to
code things to <EM>your</EM> specifications?
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
MIKE: The issue that's falling off the table is, is the Windows/Mac
arrow-key standard a good one we should generally adopt, working around
conflicts with existing applications as much as feasable?  I say yes.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
If I had any say, my input would be "yes, as one of the standards". One of
the reasons I really like using the editor in Midnight Commander is that it
follows that set of keydefs pretty closely. Now that I've had to grit my
teeth and <EM>really</EM> learn to work with "vi" ("VIM", actually), I find that I
like the functionality - and learning only a small subset of the keystrokes
(plus being able to look up all the others via the help facility) is highly
feasible. Those are the two that I've settled on, and they cover the entire
range of what I need in editors.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Pretty-text editors (word processors) are an entirely different kettle of
fish. I've found that 99.9% of the time, I don't need them; in Windows, I
used to use them because Notepad was <em>so</em>  bad (although GTEdit came very
close to Unix functionality), but with Linux, I have <EM>choices</EM>.  The
one-in-a-thousand times when I do need that - making up a sign with large
lettering, for example[1] - either HTML (yechhh) or KWord suffice.  I'll be
the first to admit that fancy WP stuff is still not a Known Science under
Linux.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
[1] This seems like such an obvious lacuna that I wonder: is it me? Am I
missing something obvious? There <em>must</em>  be some quickie LaTeX thing you can
whip up, or something of the sort; I just can't believe that a gap like
that would exist in Unix, where a part of the philosophy seems to be "small
tools that will roll into and eventually fill every crack". E.g. - I want
to print a sign on an 8.5x11 sheet that says "Welcome!" in letters large
enough to pretty much cover the sheet. Can anyone think of a simple way,
using Unix-native (i.e., not fancy modern GUI) tools?
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [K.-H.] 
This requires you to type everything in vi 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=";-)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">
 cut-paste with mouse is surely
a fancy GUI method, isn't it?
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
Nope; I've got "gpm" running. 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">
 Seriously - I meant exactly the type of
solution you're suggesting, and I thank you for relieving my sense of
frustration. I just <EM>knew</EM> that there had to be something of the sort -
although I could wish that it was easier, something like
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><pre>echo 'Welcome!'|makebig --pagesize A4 --stretch-percent 90x90|lpr
</pre></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [K.-H.] 
Would be nice yes, but even TeX has some idea what a scientific paper should
look like. One has to "switch off" lots of things to get something out of the
normal scope.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
I would imagine that a knowledgeable TeXnician could write a macro that
could work that way. I don't know that I want to get into TeX in that much
detail (my previous forays into it left me covered in cold sweat), but I'll
play around with the bits that you've suggested.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [K.-H.] 
A TeX Macro, even one which chooses the font size automatically is certainly
possible. On the other hand this is possible with plain <em>postscript</em> .
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Have a look at  <A HREF="http://www.red-bean.com/~bwf/software/cdlabelgen"
	>http://www.red-bean.com/~bwf/software/cdlabelgen</A>
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Thats a perl script which uses a postscript template for creating cdlabels.
On the backside the postscript itself scales the fontsize down if the lines
would be too long otherwise. It should be possible to go that way with lots
more direct control -- but I've never learned the programming language
postscript, never appealed to me as a convenient one 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=";-)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">
. But it seems to be
"turing complete" and I know at least one postscript file which prints a
mandelbrot picture -- by <EM>calculating</EM> it. Takes ages on your stock 66MHz
printer if it comes out at all.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
Thank you again!
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [K.-H.] 
Hmm..... sorry no oneliner. At least not if you would like the comments.
Will require any standard TeX installation (like tetex 0.X, 1.X),
dvips should be included with tetex, gv would be nice but gs alone will do.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
You need file HugeTexttestTeX.tex containing:
</blockQuote>
<p align="center">See attached <tt><a href="misc/tag/HugeTexttestTeX.tex.txt">HugeTexttestTeX.tex.txt</a></tt></p>
<blockQuote>
then run:
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><pre>  &gt; tex HugeTexttestTeX
This is TeX, Version 3.14159 (C version 6.1)
(HugeTexttestTeX.tex
Babel &lt;v3.6h&gt; and hyphenation patterns for american, german, ngerman,
loaded.[1] )
Output written on HugeTexttestTeX.dvi (1 page, 268 bytes).
Transcript written on HugeTexttestTeX.log.

  &gt; dvips -T 11in,8.5in  HugeTexttestTeX
This is dvipsk 5.58f Copyright 1986, 1994 Radical Eye Software
' TeX output 2001.11.20:1824' -&gt; HugeTexttestTeX.ps
&lt;tex.pro&gt;&lt;8r.enc&gt;&lt;texps.pro&gt;. [1]

  &gt;  gv HugeTexttestTeX
</pre></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
The vertical spacing/centering caused me a little trouble there. Whats
actually happening in that line starting with the "$" is:
</blockQuote>

<blockQuote><ul>
<LI>switch to mathematical mode (seems to cancel most of the predefined
  spacings which we don't want fo a sign

<LI>use a vcenter box (only valid in math mode.....) to center vertically

<LI>give it "glue" to center with (\vfil)

<LI>center the line content horizontally

<LI>choose my huge font and put the Text there

<LI>... closing the "brackets"
</ul></blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Anyway -- nicely centered  "Welcome!" on a landscape letter page. How to get
rid of the pagenumber is left as an exercise, I would recommend ther TeXbook
by Donal E. Knuth to get the details.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
One could also increase the letterspacing in TeX so it would exactly fill the
line instead of adding space left and right of the text -- that's definitely
beyond any M$-word I know of. QuarkExpress has a <EM>very</EM> good control of
things like that though.....
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><pre>$\vcenter to \vsize{\vfil\hbox to \hsize{\Myfont W e l c o m e !}\vfil}$
</pre></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
The spaces help in word too, but they won't stretch as far as here and adding
some more spaces will be necessary and they will never add up to the exactly
same linewidth.....
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Try that instead:
</blockQuote>
<p align="center">See attached <tt><a href="misc/tag/portrait-large-text.tex.txt">portrait-large-text.tex.txt</a></tt></p>
<blockQuote>
this time it's not landscape so you can just use:
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><pre>tex file[.tex]
dvips -t letter file[.dvi]
gv file[.ps]
</pre></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
One could also become very fancy and write a TeX macro which calculates the
width of a given text and scales <em>that</em>  to pagewith by increasing the
fontsize.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Also in LaTeX there are nice scaling/rotating features which make more
sophisticated stuff possible.
Using a GUI drawing program to make little eps files which are then scaled
comes to my mind.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike] 
Of course, we'll have to compromise with ctrl-C and ctrl-Z, but emacs
(for instance) already makes its own compromises in that regard.
(ctrl-Z it emulates; ctrl-C it hijacks for another purpose, but provides
a related command "ctrl-X ctrl-C" that does a safe exit).
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
If that sounds
like I'm saying that you  have to earn the right to complain, you're right.
Only the fishermen who bring home the fish get braggin' rights; only those
who've put in the effort get to grouse about the results. Anything else is
whining.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Here is something you <em>can</em>  do to contribute instead of complaining, even
if you're not a programmer. Join a list (if one exists) for a given piece
of software and put your dearest wish on the "wish list" - there usually is
one - and if the author likes your idea, it just might get implemented. If
you find an actual bug in the software and report it in detail, most
authors would be grateful.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike] 
Ben is right.  Many distributions have the README files in a standard
place (<TT>/usr/share/doc/PACKAGE/*</TT> on Debian, <TT>/usr/doc/packages/PACKAGE/*</TT>
on SuSE).  Look at the READMEs for the offending programs and find the
place to report wishlist items.  It may be a mailing list or a bug
tracking system.  You can also see whether anybody else has also
requested the same thing.  If you know enough programming to provide a
patch, so much the better.  If you don't, do you know enough programming
to provide even a few technical details?  Those details make the maintainer's
job easier, and may even convince them to provide the enhancement if
they wouldn't otherwise.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
No, I am no programmer. But I know what it takes to write a program. I have
some knowledge of programming and wrote a few small programs. Also I am not
really complaining, I only thought this thing wouldn't work on my computer
whereas it works on other machines which are configured differently.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
That's why both Dan and I said "application-specific", right off the bat.
It's not you, it's not your computer, and your friends can't do it any
better. 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">

</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
I really would like to contribute to the development and debugging,
enhancing of Linux apps. Unfortunately my wife already complains that I
spent too much time in front of the screen and I don't have the time to do
better because of my studies.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
As Mike and I have mentioned, there are many other ways to contribute -
some of which take only a little time and effort. Sending in a detailed bug
report, or adding your favorite item to a wishlist - which may just be the
request that tips the scales - are all good things. Writing up and sending
in an article about your battle with the different key-handling mechanisms,
even though it was a frustrating and eventually bootless experience, would
be another good thing.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike] 
Yes, that would be a very good article.  Would you like to write up your
experiences, Jay, and contrast the keystroke handling of various Unix
applications with non-Unix ones, and explain how the differences impact
the usability of each system?
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Let us know if you want to, so we can hold off publishing the Answer
Gang thread that's been accumulating.  We also can send you a tarball of
the existing messages if that would help provide material for the
article.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
I think however that it would be a good idea to have a standard for
keybindings.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
As I'd said previously, I agree - with the caveat that it should not be
_a_ standard, but rather a choice of standards, plus an implementation that
lets you build your own.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
The people contributing to the Gnome project are discussing
about it on their mailing list and I hope that if they find a good
compromise that developers will accept that standard (not only for
Gnome-Apps) .
Thanks again for all of your answers.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
Yes, you too can participate. Complaints about how things "should be",
without a significant contribution of your own, are... tacky.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
If you had a clue I would be very thankful.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
We have lots of clues - for which I'm certainly very thankful. In fact, we
often have to employ a clue-by-four to drive them home; there are plenty of
times that several of us have found that to be necessary...
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
oh yes I forgot: the Linux Gazette is by far the best Linux magazine,
compared to the magazines I can find in bookshops in lu. I consider
downloading every issue automatically with wget from now on.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike] 
Thanks.  You can also use the FTP files; then you only have to download
one file per issue (plus the base-new file).
</blockQuote>
<HR width="10%" align="left"><P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
This will also be the last time I will bother you with my word-jumping
problem. I solved the problem by trying another window-manager, I now
use enlightenment and the ctrl-cursor combo now works in x-emacs, lyx,
mozilla, abiword and probably many other apps. You're still right that
it of course is application dependent as long as you consider the
window-manager as an application.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
Or even if you don't. All that a WM can do, in that regard, is either
intercept keystrokes before they get to the app or not; it cannot make an
application accept keystrokes that it was not programmed to accept, or make
it perform any functions on those keystrokes that were not programmed in.
&lt;Checking several apps&gt; It works for me, in several of the apps that you
named, under "icewm" (my usual WM) and "twm" (the "baseline" WM - does the
minimum necessary to be a WM and nothing more) - but not in a number of
other apps ("xedit", "gvim", "flipbook", etc.) It seems that most widgets
and toolkits, especially the newer ones, do indeed support the selection
method, but, again, it's a per-application thing.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Obviously, whatever WM you were using before was intercepting your
"Ctrl-cursor" keystrokes (which would prevent them from being seen by the
application). Clearly, "Enlightenment" doesn't do that, at least not by
default - I'm not very familiar with it, but I seem to remember a
configuration panel in it which allows you to capture specific key combos.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
If you like I will try different WMs and report which ones do that
trick. This feels much better now 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":-)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">

</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
ciao
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
That would be great - especially if you could dig a little bit into the
configuration dialogs and see if the "intercept mechanism" can be enabled
or disabled. In "icewm", for example, I can completely disable "keystroke
grabbing" by tapping the scroll lock key, even though I have several
"Ctrl-Alt-" combos defined in my "keys" file.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [K.-H.] 
That's neat. I was was just getting used to kde2 (soming along with SuSE per
default) when I found out that I can switch off most key-grabs but <EM>not</EM>
one specific key grab -- Ctrl-Tab. It does some win-like switching between
app-windows.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
Yep; that kind of behavior (defaults that can't be disabled, <EM>tons</EM> of
"pre-made decisions" of that sort that are either difficult or impossible
to change, etc.), plus the fact that it is a huge resource hog, are the
things that completely turned me off KDE/KDE2. I'm sure that some people
love it; in my opinion, it comes closest to the feel of the MSWindows GUI,
more so with every release. Me, I want a WM to do the basics, give me just
a touch of pretty stuff (window ornamentation, toolbar clock, APM display,
etc.) with the ability to turn it all off if I want to - and have a
reasonably small memory and CPU footprint. Over the years, I've tried
pretty much every major WM, and none of the others suit me quite as well.
Besides, Marko Macek (the author) has been reading my mind 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">
 - when I
first started using "icewm", I had a few grumbles about some of the
features (or the lack of them), and he's fixed every one.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [K.-H.] 
Now I'm an xemacs user and want that key for switching the buffers in xemacs
so fvwm2 is my window manager again 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=";-)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">

There I can define the grabs I want and switch off <em>any</em>  of the default ones
if necessary.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
I'm aware that I could switch xemacs to a different key, but then just the
idea that I actually coul find no option to switch that off <EM>at all</EM> was
enough to get me "unfriendly" with kde.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
Yep. Give'em their due, though: they certainly have quite a large number of
people enthralled, and a number of the "K suite" apps are rather nice.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [K.-H.] 
icewm's feature to toggle them is quite nice. Mybe I'll have a look at that
one sometime soon.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
&lt;rubbing hands&gt; The subversion of the innocents continues apace. My plan
for world domination will soon be complete...
</blockQuote>

<!-- end 1 -->
<!--     .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.     -->
<A NAME="tag/2"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 2 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" 
	height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
	>Hi Gazzete (Squid)</H3>


<p><strong>From Cybernetica Aduanal 
</strong></p> 
<p align="right"><strong>Answered By  Thomas Adam
<p></strong></p>

<!-- sig -->

<blockQuote>
&lt;PLEASE USE AN APPROPRIATE SUBJECT NEXT TIME, WHICH IS
RELIVANT TO THE QUESTION YOU ARE ASKING&gt;
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	>
Hi Gazzete:
Hi again, write you for help to work with the squid,
I need to control
access to this program, i have been used the ACL
(access control list)
and put the status in "Deny"  to avoid that a list
that i make stay in
of the access to the squid. But this continuos
accessing, what a can
do..?
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Thomas]
It is strange actually, since in my LWM article next
month, I'll be writing about the use of Squid and
SquidGuard 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":-)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">
 ........
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
How is your proxy server set up?? Are you using an
external filtering program such as SquidGuard to
filter your acl's too???
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
If you are just using "<TT>/etc/squid.conf</TT>" then you need
to make sure that you do the following under the
appropriate section:
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote><ol>
<LI>Under the ACL section, you should have defined your
ACL in a format such as this:

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>acl aclname acltype "file"
</font></code></blockquote>
making sure that "file" contains one URL per line.

<br>This has told squid that the "file" contains websites
to which you either want to allow access to or deny
access to.

<br>But there is one final step to implement this...

<li> Having defined the ACL we now need to tell Squid
what to do with it, thus:

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>http_access deny "aclname" localhost (or IP address)
</font></code></blockquote>
What the above says is that it will deny access to
"aclname" if the request comes from the localhost (or
a suitable other IP address specified).
</ol>
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
I hope this helps to solve your problem.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Should you get stuck, let me (us) know and we'll see
what we can do 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":-)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">

</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
--Thomas Adam
</blockQuote>

<!-- end 2 -->
<!--                 ...............................                 -->
<HR WIDTH="40%" ALIGN="center">
<!-- begin 3 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" 
	height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
	>proxy</H3>


<p><strong>From Dadi 
</strong></p> 

<p align="right"><strong>Answered By  Jim Dennis, Mike Orr
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
Hello,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I connect to the web thru a LAN and recently the only way I can do that
is thru a proxy (which is also the gateway) at 8080 port. What do I need
to set up (can I?) to get it work with lynx, ftp and any browser? I can
configure Konqueror and any browser with the proxy and the port, but
I need a general connection (that will work with any program, without
any further seting to the program). If I have an antivirus (let's say)
that updates thru the web, it won't work. I hope I was clear enough.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Thanks in advance, Dadi
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [JimD]
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Under UNIX and Linux most HTTP capable programs (such as lynx, wget
and curl) will honor the value of the http_proxy environment variable.
(curl might require that to be HTTP_PROXY, I'm not sure).  So the
following settings to your .*profile/.login or env scripts:
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br> 	http_proxy=http://yourproxy.yourdomain:8080/
<br>	HTTP_PROXY="$http_proxy"
<br>	export http_proxy HTTP_PROXY
</font></code></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
Should work for most browsers and other HTTP capable programs.
I have no idea whether your anti-virus update package would
honor this environment setting.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Some sites use transparent proxying.  You can read about one
approach to providing this at:
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote><DL><DT>
Transparent Proxying with Squid Mini-HOWTO:
<DD><A HREF="http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/TransparentProxy.html"
	>http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/TransparentProxy.html</A>
</DL></blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Iron] 
Do set both HTTP_PROXY and http_proxy.  Some programs use one and other
programs use the other.  I think lynx uses the lower-case version.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
There's also FTP_PROXY and ftp_proxy if your proxy server provides that
(squid does).
</blockQuote>

<!-- end 3 -->
<!--     .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.     -->
<A NAME="tag/3"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 10 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" 
	height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
	>DHCP to DNS</H3>


<p><strong>From Michael Majetich 
</strong></p> 


<p align="right"><strong>Answered By  Heather Stern
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	>
Hello again!
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I posted the question below a week ago.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	>
I remind you (or inform you, if you've never read the top of our web pages)
that The Answer Gang does not quarantee that we will or can answer you.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<em>IF</em> any amongst the Gang do, though, we also can't guarantee that it will
be in a timely manner.  The longest anyone who HAS gotten an answer waited
was <EM>months</EM> ... I think it might have been over a year ... because back in
issue 36 Jim went through his entire backlog.  We weren't the "Gang" yet,
and a full backlog check isn't likely to ever happen again.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Somehow lucky for you, you got me in a good mood even though you make
this annoying assumption that we'd give you instant feedback.  Often that
wouldn't be enough - in fact it would encourage me to shuffle your mail
away, since as an editor here I see ALL the TAG mail, and have to go through
it in much detail later - but I see an opportunity to get some useful data
to everyone else out there too.  So you win the "Answer Gang" lotto and I'll
give it a shot.  You get a slight roasting for free.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Sadly for you, I still use Bind8, and so any tech I know to sync dhcp with
bind (very little;  DHCP's not my specialty anyway and my own network
presently does use static IPs) might not be as useful.  Not that this sort
of lack of knowledge has ever stopped me before 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">

</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	>
Can anybody at least point me someplace to get the answer
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
[HOWTO use search engines effectively]
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
However in going to the Google! Linux area (<A HREF="http://www.google.com/linux"
	>http://www.google.com/linux</A>
and make sure NOT to put the slash at the end) ... giving it the keywords:
<tt>bind9 dhcp</tt>
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
...the second item might be useful, as he's discussing doing something
like that and gives some parts as a study example:
<A HREF="http://www.asp.ogi.edu/people/paja/linux/dns"
	>http://www.asp.ogi.edu/people/paja/linux/dns</A>
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
[FAQ item # infinity]
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Q.  I need a fast answer for my problem &lt;foo&gt;, and I didn't find it here.
Time's running out for me!  What am I gonna DO?
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
A.  If you need a timely reply from someone who specifically knows a topic,
I recommend hiring a paid consultant on that topic.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Generically, you may be able to find them by visiting the Consultants HOWTO
in the LinuxDoc project:
<A HREF="http://www.linuxdoc.org/LDP/lcg/html"
	>http://www.linuxdoc.org/LDP/lcg/html</A>
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
That howto is maintained by the folks at LinuxPorts; they also have searches
into it at:
<A HREF="http://www.linuxports.com"
	>http://www.linuxports.com</A>
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
That's pretty decent for finding individuals as well as companies of varying
size, just in case you have any prejudice against mega-consultant houses.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Specifically, any companies who commercially maintain code related to the
programs you are using, may offer "professional services".  It is worth
checking their sites for further documentation first though.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
[Now for the good stuff, answers from the real world, that might be able to
lead you in the right direction.  Though the direction you eventually choose
may not be where you were heading when you began.]
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	>
I have a "Mixed" network of linux and microcrap
so this would be a big help.  I would rather not use fixed IPs.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	>
I can certainly sympathize with that;  another possibility is to use
network address translation (sometimes called NAT) and the private, reserved
address ranges.  Under RFC 1918 (I used
<A HREF="http://asg.web.cmu.edu/rfc/rfc1918.html"
	>http://asg.web.cmu.edu/rfc/rfc1918.html</A> but there are mirrors everywhere)
these ranges are:
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>     192.168.0.0     -   192.168.255.255 (192.168/16 prefix)
</font></code></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
readable by the rest of us less netmask-aligned sorts as:
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>     192.168.*.*
</font></code></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
although a lot of people wimp out and only use 192.168.0.* or 192.168.1.*,
you can do some pretty cool stuff by using more of them, or avoid possible
collisions with other nets coming in by using s third octet value other than
1 or 0.
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>     172.16.0.0      -   172.31.255.255  (172.16/12 prefix)
</font></code></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
aka
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>     172.[16-31].*.*
</font></code></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
For some reason a lot of people forget about this one entirely.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
and the possibly infamous "10 net":
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>     10.0.0.0        -   10.255.255.255  (10/8 prefix)
</font></code></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
aka
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>     10.*.*.*
</font></code></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
where again, a wide tendency to use 0 or 1 sometimes leads people to
unnecessary collisions.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
That is, you could use static IPs for machines which are not going to move
around a lot, without having to request more from your provider.  This does
not negate some good uses for DHCP though:
</blockQuote>

<blockQuote><ol>
<LI>it's much easier to renumber a zillion MSwin boxes if they all just use
   dhcp.  Note renumbering is far less needed with private addresses.  Note
   if they all come on at the same time there will be a broadcast storm
   while the busy server hands out everybody's addresses.


<LI>You may want laptops to only use a limited range of IP addresses.  Your
   laptop users may not be up to setting their static IP settings to match
   your office, and then away to something else for other sites they'll be
   visiting.
</ol></blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
However, you do not really need to tie bind to dhcp unless the machines
need to be able to be addressed in the DNS by name.  In other words, if
they are providing services of some sort.  Most companies of any notable
size think it's a bad idea to let their individual desktops be addressed
by the outside world anyway.  But the <EM>inside</EM> world... well, you could
be using split DNS I suppose.  That is, the DNS your inside folk see for
your domain is a more complete version, which is not shown to the outside
world.  Outsiders only see the usual obvious things like your web server
a few mail servers, and of course, an outside-world nameserver or three.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	>
This is my first post.  I assume that this question has been asked 1000 times
already, but I can't find a resonable answer on the web.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
How do you get the dhcpd to update BIND9.  I am running <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/">SuSE</A>7.3 with the
servers on the same machine.  In dhcpd.conf I've made the ddns-hostname(tried
both name and IP) , domain, update-style(ad-hoc) entries.  In Bind I've
allowed update from localnet, and localhost.  Nothing happens. both start
with no errors that I can see.  What am I missing?
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
--
Mike Majetich
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<DL><DT><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	>
Bind (aka named) and DHCP are maintained by the Internet Software Consortium.
<DD><A HREF="http://www.isc.org"
	>http://www.isc.org</A>
</DL>
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
They have consulting.  They point at a book, "DHCP" by Ted Lemon and Ralph
E. Droms.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Although I will mention that the <A HREF="http://www.openbsd.org/">OpenBSD</A> folk also heartily recommend
"DNS and Bind" by Paul Albitz and Cricket Liu, as being an excellent intro
to the topic.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
In my personal involvements in the community, I also know that Nominum did
a bunch of coding in the Bind9 project.  They're a big commercial creature,
and it so happens they are one of the entities offered at ISC as your
possible consultant:
<A HREF="http://www.nominum.com"
	>http://www.nominum.com</A>
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
The other one -- if you're in Europe somewhere it's probably closer to you --
is Mind:
<A HREF="http://mind.be"
	>http://mind.be</A>
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
If you go "the enterprise route" then purchasing your support contract through
ISC supports their efforts, bandwidth use, etc. towards these really rather
cool projects.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
For just general DNS questions I find that the very best web based resource
is "Ask Mr.DNS" - although Acme Byte and Wire was bought up, the new owners
have graciously allowed his to continue doing that, and the archives stay
online:
<A HREF="http://www.acmebw.com/askmrdns"
	>http://www.acmebw.com/askmrdns</A>
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Cool, he's got a category just for dynamic updates such as you're asking
after...
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Best of luck, happy holidays.  If things work for you, please feel free to
let us know, or even to write up an article for us.  If you did that, then
the next time someone asks this sort of thing, we can point them at your
successful efforts 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">

</blockQuote>

<!-- end 10 -->
<!--     .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.     -->
<A NAME="tag/4"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 4 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" 
	height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
	>printing the timestamp of a given file</H3>


<p><strong>From Matthias Arndt 
</strong></p> 


<p align="right"><strong>Answered By  Dan Wilder
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
Dear Editor,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I was looking for a solution to extract the timestamp of a file with plain
shell methods. So I browsed through a book and found the command cut.
</STRONG></P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>ls -l &lt;some filename&gt; | cut -b44-55
</font></code></blockquote>
<P><STRONG>
does the job pretty well and simply prints the timestamp of the given file.
It works with the GNU ls. If the output of your ls -l command differs,
you'll need to adjust the positions after the -b switch.
It even works with a list of filenames but this would only print the
timestamps not the corresponding filenames.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
cheers,
<br>Matthias
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
However "ls" produces dates in two different formats,
according to the age of the file:
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><pre>ls -l host.conf
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root           26 Sep 25  1995 host.conf

ls -l passwd
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root         1179 Nov 12 17:10 passwd
</pre></blockquote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
The fields are correct in their width. The output should be ok in any case
as long as ls doesn't format the long version with other field widths.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote><BLOCKQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
OK, but annoyingly different in its format, according to the age
of the file.  That works for human readers, but causes complications
for machine readers.
</BLOCKQuote></blockQuote>
<blockQuote><BLOCKQuote>
I use this sort of thing in web page scripting, where the output
will be parsed by other programs, and it saves me time in writing
those other programs.
</BLOCKQuote></blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
A slight elaboration allows consistent formatted output. As a shell
script:
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>#!/bin/sh
<br>date -d "$(/bin/ls -l $1 | cut -b44-55)" +"%b-%d-%Y"
</font></code></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
I use "<TT>/bin/ls</TT>" to evade the likelyhood that "ls" may be an alias.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
I guess in most cases ls will not point to a much different binary.
But it is more consistent.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote><BLOCKQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
Also works for me, who normally makes "ls" an alias for something
or other that changes with time.
</BLOCKQuote></blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	>
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><pre>mylittledatescript host.conf
Sep-25-1995

mylittledatescript passwd
Nov-12-2001
</pre></blockquote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
Nifty! The whole script is much better than my quick'n'dirty solution.
But it doesn't work on my machine.
</STRONG></P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>$ ./filedate filedate
<br>date: ung?ltiges Datum Dez  6 22:22'
</font></code></blockquote>
<P><STRONG><CODE>
which translates to "invalid date Dec ...." and stands for an error
</CODE></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Very strange....
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote><BLOCKQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
Araugh.  "date" seems to change what it'll accept as input with
each version ... hopefully it'll stabilize some day.
</BLOCKQuote></blockQuote>
<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>date --version
<br>date (GNU sh-utils) 2.0.11
</font></code></blockquote>
<blockQuote><BLOCKQuote>
My little script will no doubt need modification if your
version of date is different from the above.
</BLOCKQuote></blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
The "date" command does a great job of formatting a wide range
of inputs.  The "+" string to the date command offers many different
output formats.  See "man date".
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
I didn't have the idea to pipe the output through date as well because the
simple date field from ls is sufficient for me. This adds new perspectives
however.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
A variation allows printing the Discordian date of a file using "ddate"
which is much fussier about its input than "date":
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><pre>#!/bin/sh
ddate $(date -d "$(/bin/ls -l $1 | cut -b44-55)" +"%d %m %Y")

mylittledatescript passwd
Sweetmorn, The Aftermath 24, 3167 YOLD
</pre></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
"ddate" also has formatting options.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
This notation does not make any sense to me. I don't need it now.
But for someone who likes this sort of output, it might be handy.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
many thanks,
<br>Matthias
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote><BLOCKQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
A distraction, joke or diversion:
<A HREF="http://www.kbuxton.com/discordia"
	>http://www.kbuxton.com/discordia</A>
</BLOCKQuote></blockQuote>

<!-- end 4 -->
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<A NAME="tag/5"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 5 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" 
	height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
	>SQL on the internet</H3>


<p><strong>From Fabiano Bonin 
</strong></p> 

<p align="right"><strong>Answered By  Jim Dennis
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
I have a Linux box connected to internet, and a NT box in my intranet.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
My NT box is running SQL server (port 1433) and i want that people outside
can access this port through the Linux port.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Example:
- In the SQL Server client, i put the address of my Linux box (real IP) and
the connection is forwarded to my local NT box.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Is there some way?
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
First, please realize that this is a reckless way to expose your
database server.  If you accomplish this, you will be wholly dependent
on the SQL server's own robustness for the integrity of your data.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
At first it sounds like you want a port forwarder.  With IP Masquerading
it's possible for you to "hide" your NT box on an RFC1918 reserved
IP address (such as any from the 192.168.0.0/16 block of class C nets)
behind a Linux box (which, naturally has both an internal address <EM>and</EM>
some sort of DRIP -- directly routable IP).  You'd then configure any of
several port forwarding utilities to simply forward packets that arrive
on the DRIP TCP port 1433 to the internal NT port 1433.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Normally, the portforwarder would only change the destination IP address.
The source (return) address would remain unmodified.  Thus the NT box
would attempt to route response packets as normal.  The Linux box,
NATurally would be configured as the default router for the NT box so
it's return packets would then be routed appropriately after they arrive
at the Linux system.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
NATurally, the Linux box must be configured to <em>do</em> routing, usually
with a command like:
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote><BLOCKQuote><code>
'echo 1 &gt; /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward'
</code></BLOCKQuote></blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
... though many distributions may hide the ugly details by offering
some friendlier interface.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
This all sounds easy enough.  However you have also said that
you want to configure the MS SQL Server to simply accept addresses
that appear to be from the Linux gateway.  In the example I gave,
the Linux gateway is transparent (more like a router).  So the SQLServer
connections "appear" to come from some public address on the Internet.
Arguably this is what most people would prefer, since they can then
configure the SQLServer to selectively allow or deny access to specific
blocks of public IP addresses.  (Also, it's easier that way).
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
You could write a proxy.  This sort of proxy could be written in
PERL, Python, C, Java or just about any language that offers lower-level
access than awk and the shell.  It would accept connections on the
DRIP/interface TCP port 1433, initiate new connections on the internal
IP address, and relay the application level data from one to the other
and vice versa.  It could be blocking (only one connection at a time)
or non-blocking (handling multiple concurrent connections).  If it was
written to be called via inetd, and non-blocking, then one child/proxy
process would be started for each connection (and the code would be
much simpler, though the latency and overhead would be higher).  If
it was written to run "standalone" it could use any of several models
of threading and/or forking (process spawning) to handle concurrent
connections, lower latency and (possibly) lower it's memory footprint.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
The disadvantage of writing a proxy is that you might have to know a bit
about the application's protocol.  In particular it might be that the
MS SQL Server networking protocol uses additional "ephemeral" or
"negotiated" TCP ports.  In other words, there might be traffic on
ports other than the TCP 1433 port.  I don't know the details.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
It's possible that a simple "plug-gw" proxy might work (plug-gw was
part of the TIS, Trusted Information Systems, FWTK, firewall toolkit).
TIS was eventually absorbed by McAfee Associates (later Network Assoc.
Inc).  Although the sources are freely available *for non-commercial
and internal use*, TIS FWTK is not "free software" (no derivative
works, limitations on re-distribution, consultants are not allowed
to install it for customers, etc).
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
However, there are tools <EM>like</EM> plug-gw.  The most notable is
probably the Juniper FWTK from Obtuse Systems (<A HREF="http://www.obtuse.com"
	>http://www.obtuse.com</A> ).
That is currently distributed under a BSDish license.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
I don't know much about the MS SQL Server or the net/wire protocol
that it uses.  However, there is a free (GPL) package by David Muse
called SQLRelay (<A HREF="http://www.firstworks.com/sqlrelay.html"
	>http://www.firstworks.com/sqlrelay.html</A> ) which
incoporates quite a bit of knowlege about it and various other
SQL servers.  SQL relay is probably overkill for what you want,
but it might give you the information you need, and a small subset
of its features might do the trick for you.
</blockQuote>

<!-- end 5 -->
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<A NAME="tag/6"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 6 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" 
	height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
	>pseudo-chroot</H3>


<p><strong>From Faber Fedor 
</strong></p> 

<p align="right"><strong>Answered By  Mike "Iron" Orr, Heather Stern
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
Hi guys (and Heather)!
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Is there a way to chroot a user such that they can't travel out of heir
home dir but without having to copy a bunch of binaries to their home
dirs?
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I'd like to restrict my users to not being able to see into <TT>/bin</TT>, <TT>/etc</TT>,
and most importantly <TT>/home/httpd</TT> without jumping through hoops.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Iron] 
For <TT>/home/httpd</TT>, set the ownership and permissions so the webserver
process has read access, the person who maintains the content has
read/write access, and nobody else has any access.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
The standard <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</A> setup is for the webserver to run as user
'www-data', group 'www-data', and the HTML directory (<TT>/var/www</TT>) is:
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><pre>drwxrwsr-x   11 root     www-data     1024 Nov 12 17:25 /var/www/
</pre></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
Unix comes with a catchall user 'nobody', group 'nogroup', for processes
that shouldn't have any privileges.  But in that case, you'd either have
to make <TT>/home/httpd</TT> world-readable (which is what you said you don't
want), or owned by 'nobody' or group 'nogroup' (which is bad because
'nobody' should never own any files, although some sysadmins disagree).
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Chroot requires you to copy the binaries, as you say.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
The 'bind' filesystem in recent 2.4 kernels allows you to make a
directory appear to be in two different locations, and the shadow
location <EM>can</EM> be inside a chroot jail.  Or so some documentation I saw
a few months ago said.  That may or may not be more convenient than
copying binaries and shared libraries.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Why don't you want your users reading files in <TT>/bin</TT> and <TT>/etc?</TT>  Normally
it's only a few senstitive files that need to be protected (those
containing passwords).  For each case, you'll need to think of a
strategy that allows the user to do their work without being able to
read the password.  For programs, make the file world-executable but
not world-readable (mode -rwxrwx--x).
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
To prevent users from listing the files in <TT>/bin</TT> (to discover commands
they didn't know existed), but still allow them to run or list programs
whose names they know, make the directry itself world-executable but not
world-readable (mode -rwxrwx--x).
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
To prevent users from reading sensitive files in <TT>/etc</TT>, arrange to have
the program run as a different user or group, and give only that
user/group access to the configuration file(s).  But that means making
the program setuid or setgid, so that it will run under its own
permissions rather than the user's, but set[ug]id itself is a security risk.
Relatively speaking, setgid is safer than setuid.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
As an alternative to setuid, you can arrange for the programs to run
via 'sudo' or 'super', two proxy programs that do something like suid
but in a safer and more configurable way.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
It's probably a bad idea to make <TT>/etc</TT> non-world-readable.  Numerous
standard programs would break.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Heather] 
Hmm, if most of your users don't need to access the web server, and you
aren't offering home based web access...  www.example.org/~username ...
then you <EM>could</EM> simply run the web daemon in a more complete than usual
chroot, and only give members of the webmaster team accounts within its
jail.  You'd need more than one ssh running... one per jail, and one for
the top... but it can be very effective.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Each "child jail" can have much more limited <TT>/etc</TT> contents and a seriously
stripped binaries tree, as well as only having the user accounts that
match its purpose.  The top can house your syslog, as there's an easy option
for reading multiple <TT>/dev/log</TT> nodes.  I think you get up to 19 extras.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
The trick works especially well if combined with some of the recent
"chroot as a one way trip" patches being offered out there.  These nearly
always prevent double chrooting, so you'll need to tweak the trapped
daemons to be ok with not being able to chroot any further.   The patches
keep changing too, so I haven't settled on a preferred one yet.
</blockQuote>

<!-- end 6 -->
<!--     .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.     -->
<A NAME="tag/7"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 7 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif" 
	height="50" width="60" alt="(!) " border="0"
	>Getting volume label for CD</H3>


<p><strong>
Useful scripts and tidbits from Ernesto Hernandez-Novich, Michael Blum,
Richard A. Bray
</strong></p> 

<p align="right"><strong>Answered By  Ben Okopnik, Mike Ellis
</strong></p>

<blockquote><em><font color="#000066"
>It can be argued that there are some dangers in posting code blocks
which are not actually correct.  However, I think the thought processes
revealed in deciding which tricks to use or not while reading data
"closer to the metal" than shells normally go is valuable in and of
itself.
 -- Heather</font></em></blockquote>
<P><STRONG>
Greetings from Venezuela.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Someone asked that on a mailing-list I suscribe to; I gave the short-short
answer that happens to be in the CD-ROM HOWTO at www.linuxdoc.org. Later
I answered with code that gives you the label and some more... &lt;g&gt;
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Check out and feel free to reproduce the code sample at
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
<A HREF="http://www.kitiara.org/Lists-Archives/caracas-pm-list-0109/msg00000.html"
	>http://www.kitiara.org/Lists-Archives/caracas-pm-list-0109/msg00000.html</A>
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
Good stuff. Thank you! I've modified it a tiny bit by adding
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><pre>die "Usage: ", $0 =~ m{([^/]*)$}, " &lt;iso_file|cd_device&gt;\n"
        unless @ARGV &amp;&amp; -e $ARGV[0];
</pre></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
at the beginning - just in case I forget how to use it - and modified the
"open" to check the return value in case of problems:
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><pre>open CD, $ARGV[0] or die "Can't open $ARGV[0]: $!\n";
</pre></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
It's great otherwise - I've already got it stowed away as "iso9660info" in
my "<TT>/usr/local/bin</TT>". 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">

</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ernesto] 
If your spanish is rusty, the paragraph above the Perl code reads more
or less like:
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><BLOCKQuote>
'Nevertheless, before someone asks "How can I find out who prepared
the CD? When? For what company? Does it belong to a multiple-CD set?
Which one on the set is it?", and since I know <em>that</em>  isn't in the
HOWTO, allow me to present a small fragment of (hopefully useful) code.
BTW, the comments along de Volume Descriptor are nothing but the
appropiate mkisofs options needed to fill the values while creating
the ISO image.'
</BLOCKQuote></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
If that sounds harsh is because someone <em>suggested</em>  that I didn't know
jack about the ISO-9660 filesystem and was quoting HOWTO's to get
credit &lt;g&gt; (go figure). And so I made a pun at the end of the message,
but only works in spanish.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
Didn't sound harsh to me - I certainly give (and get!) credit for quoting
HOWTOs. The trick is knowing which <em>ones</em>  to quote, and which part.
Besides, why does it matter where you got the answer as long as it's right?
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ernesto] 
BTW, feel free to announce the Venezuelan Linux User's Group mailing
list in future installments of LinuxGazette. It's specially well
suited for spanish-speaking Linux users, who can suscribe to l-linux
emailing <A HREF="mailto:majordomo@linux.org.ve"
	>majordomo@linux.org.ve</A>; we have our archives available for
browsing in <A HREF="http://www.linux.org.ve/archivo"
	>http://www.linux.org.ve/archivo</A> complete with a searching
form working over three years worth of messages.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Keep up the good work!
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Heather] 
Thanks.  We are definitely seeing an increase in spanish requests and
I'm sure our readers will find your list handy.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
----
He certainly wasn't the only reader helping out...
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Michael Blum] 
I just came across in your November issue a question on reading the
volume label from a CD. If it's in ISO9660 format, which includes the
Joliet type CD your reader was burning, it's actually pretty easy to
write a command line tool to read the label.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Here's a bash shell script:
</STRONG></P>
<p align="center">See attached <tt><a href="misc/tag/blum-rd_label.bash.txt">blum-rd_label.bash.txt</a></tt></p>
<P><STRONG>
Note that the parameter is the device file for the CD, e.g. <TT>/dev/hdc</TT>,
and that the CD does not have to be mounted. You need to be 'root' to
run the script.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Here's a C program to do the same thing. I've used this program under
both Linux &amp; IBM's AIX.
</STRONG></P>
<p align="center">See attached <tt><a href="misc/tag/blum-rd_label.c.txt">blum-rd_label.c.txt</a></tt></p>
<P><STRONG>
The only real advantage of the C program is that when compiled the
executable can be made suid to root, allowing you to run the program as
a non-root user. Just as with the shell script the parameter is the
device file for the CD, and the CD does not have to be mounted.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Hope you find this useful! Thanks for your publication - I've learned a
lot from it over the years.
</STRONG></P>
<HR width="10%" align="left"><P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Richard A. Bray] 
I finally broke down and read the iso9660 format instead of sleeping the
other night.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Here are the basic commands to get the data. It will clean it up later to
make sure there is a disk in the drive first, and that no errors have
occurred. It should run dd only once to load the CD header into a file.
Then report the results out of that.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I don't know what formats will be compatible with this, but it seemed to
work fine on all of my Windoze CDs and even my <A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A> install CD. I guess
I will have to check and make sure that it will work with UDF format someday.
</STRONG></P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>[root@winserver bin]# cat cdinfo
</font></code></blockquote>
<p align="center">See attached <tt><a href="misc/tag/bray-cdinfo.sh.txt">bray-cdinfo.sh.txt</a></tt></p>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
&lt;wince&gt; This is not a good idea. You're hitting the hardware device over
and over when you could do it all in one read:
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><pre>#!/bin/sh
# Make sure that a block device was specified
[ -b "$1" ] &amp;&amp; { printf "Usage: ${0##*/} &lt;cd_device&gt;\n"; }

# Read the entire header
data=`dd if=$1 ibs=863 skip=32769 count=1 2&gt;/dev/null`
</pre></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
Now you can let your CD go back to sleep, and extract whatever pieces you
wanted from the variable:
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><pre>echo "FSTYPE: ${data:0:5}"
echo "OSTYPE: ${data:6:32}"
...
...
</pre></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
This also lets you cut out the temporary variables.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike] 
Ben's suggestions got me wondering - did all those clever tricks really
work?  Unfortunately not, because the CD header format includes a lot of
NUL characters (ASCII 0) which bash treats as "end of variable".
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben]
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>ben@Baldur:~$ a="`dd if=/dev/hdc ibs=1 skip=32808 count=863 2&gt;/dev/null`"
<br>ben@Baldur:~$ expr length "$a"
<br>863
</font></code></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
Works for me, Mike. The problem may be that you're not quoting the string -
or, quoting the individual chunks (<em>not</em>  quoting them is what I use to get
rid of the extra whitespace.) I didn't experiment with this all that much,
but I tested the solution that I suggested, at least for the first few
variables:
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><pre>#!/bin/sh

data="`dd if=/dev/hdc ibs=1024 skip=32 count=1 2&gt;/dev/null`"

echo "FSTYPE    :" ${data:1:5}
echo "OSTYPE    :" ${data:8:32}
echo "CDNAME    :" ${data:40:32}

</pre></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
provides the output:
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><pre>ben@Baldur:~$ ./cdinf
FSTYPE    : CD00
OSTYPE    : LINUX
CDNAME    : LNX
</pre></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike] 
Here's my version of the CD volume label extractor... the handling of non-UTC
timezones is wrong, but otherwise it seems to work OK...
</blockQuote>
<p align="center">See attached <tt><a href="misc/tag/ellis-cdlabel_extractor.bash.txt">ellis-cdlabel_extractor.bash.txt</a></tt></p>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
&lt;gazes admiringly at the data = dd stuff piped through tr line&gt;
That <em>is</em> a cute trick, though. &lt;stuffing it away in my own toolbox&gt;
Thanks!
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
An even cheaper way to fold that whitespace: don't quote the variable.
"bash" will swallow anything that is defined as the first two characters
of $IFS - and that happens to be spaces and tabs.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike] 
One problem with eating spaces. I need those for the offsets to work. 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">

</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
That's why you only do that when printing out the individual variables, not
for the entire string. The program flow is "get string -&gt; grab chunks via
offsets -&gt; print w/o spaces."
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
Now all I am missing is the cd serial number that Windoze generates. I
can't seem to find how to compute that. I may just checksum the first 32K
of the drive and use that.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
I seem to vaguely remember Windows showing some weird number. Are you sure
it's not stored in the CD header itself? Note that I'm not saying that it
is; I'm just wondering.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
OK. Here is my current version of the script. I added error checking to
properly return errors if no media or of wrong type.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Thanks to Ben and Mike.
</STRONG></P>
<p align="center">See attached <tt><a href="misc/tag/bray-smart_cd_labelreader.sh.txt">bray-smart_cd_labelreader.sh.txt</a></tt></p>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben]
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote><CODE>
dd if=$1 bs 1 skip=32768 count 2048 &gt;/tmp/cdinfo$$ 2&gt;/dev/null
</CODE></blockQuote>
<blockQuote><CODE>
[ ... ]
</CODE></blockQuote>
<blockQuote><CODE>
data=`cat /tmp/cdinfo$$ |tr '[\\000-\\037]' '.*'`
</CODE></blockQuote>
<blockQuote><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> []
Why'd you go and do that? 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">
 The file creation is completely unnecessary,
and will leave junk in "<TT>/tmp</TT>" if your script crashes for any reason. If
you want to use that mechanism, simply do it on the fly, like Mike did:
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>data=`dd if=$1 bs=1024 skip=32 count=1 2&gt;/dev/null|tr '[\000-\037]' '.'`
</font></code></blockquote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
Well, that is because the pipe to tr will always set $? to 0. Then I
wouldn't be able to test for failure of dd. Sorry, but that's the rub.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
[ -z "$data" ] &amp;&amp; { printf "Oops, read failed.\n"; exit; }
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>

	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">
 I think this would be even better. What we <em>really</em>  care about is that
we have data in $data, right? Best to test the end result - although
intermediate tests, in addition to the final one, certainly don't hurt.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
If I
want to use tr to trap for weird characters, then I will have to store the
data somewhere. I suppose it is possible for it to crash before reaching
the rm -f <TT>/tmp/cdinfo$$</TT> line but, if that does happen I probably have
something seriously wrong with tr.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I suppose I could stuff the data in a variable from dd and then echo it to
tr, that would work wouldn't it?
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
Well, Mike's contention was that you would lose anything past a null when
just assigning it that way. I didn't do any rigorous testing, but I'm
willing to believe - "\0"s being the way strings are normally terminated.
The one header that I tested didn't chop off short, but it may not have
contained any nulls.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
BTW, Mike - that "tr" function could stand a bit of twiddling. 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">
 The extra
'\'s in your "first list" convert backslashes to '.'s; the '*' in your
"second list", as the second character, has the "truncated second list"
effect - i.e., all matches other than backslashes will be converted to
asterisks. That's probably not what you wanted.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike] 
Well spotted!  Gets that's what you get for lazy quoting (well,  it doesn't
<EM>usually</EM> cause any nasty problems!)
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
Thanks! Just a matter of clean code. Although printing out an unquoted
"$data" has a <em>very</em>  interesting result: it shows the header with all the
control chars converted to stars... and immediately followed by a listing
of the current dir. Why is only the last asterisk interpolated? &lt;shrug&gt;
These are the questions that try men's souls.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
I usually try to make sure that my code doesn't do anything that I
didn't tell it to do, like hanging out in seedy bars with suspicious
characters and drinking till all hours. Gotta watch that stuff, or - bam! -
it'll grab your credit card and be buying drinks all around.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
As well, since all of the data is in the first K, it's not necessary to
grab a 2K block; and since the numbers divide neatly by 1024, it's more
effective to have "dd" reading it a K - rather than a byte - at a time.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike] 
Also a good point,  although I'd go one stage further since the CD block
size is standardised as 2K,  it's probably most clear (and quickest...?)
to use
</blockQuote>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>data=`dd if=$1 bs=2048 skip=16 count=1 2&gt;/dev/null|tr '[\000-\037]' '.'`
</font></code></blockquote>
<blockQuote>
although I concede that it does read a lot more than is strictly necessary.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
Yes...  The drivers "probably" optimize the command, but it would be
better to use the correct size blocks.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Thanks for the tr tips. I've never used tr before. I guess I'll have to
actually read the man page.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
&lt;grin&gt; "When you have learned to snatch the error code from the trap frame,
grasshoppa, it will be time for you to leave." Good luck with your coding.
</blockQuote>

<!-- end 7 -->
<!--     .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.     -->
<A NAME="tag/8"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 8 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" 
	height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
	>linux book</H3>


<p><strong>From P.Sreekanth Reddy 
</strong></p> 

<p align="right"><strong>Answered By  Thomas Adam, Karl-Heinz Herrmann, Mike "Iron" Orr, Chuck Peters
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
Dear sir,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I am new for Linux operating system in fact i am new to computer field. I know about windows. Please suggest me one good, basic, which eaches easily about linux operating system  and a book for operating system concepts.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
thank you, sir
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
P.Sreekanth Reddy
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
India.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Thomas Adam] 
Hello,
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
This is a very common question among people new to
Linux. But this question is very broad. There is a
whole plethora of books to choose from.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
The one which got me started was called "Running
Linux" which is published by the leading book
publishers of Linux material --- "O'Reilly". Take a
look at the following website:
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote><BLOCKQuote>
<A HREF="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/runux3"
	>http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/runux3</A>
</BLOCKQuote></blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
To give you more information.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
If you could perhaps be a little more specific as to
what you think you will be using Linux for, then maybe
we here at TAG can tailor our answers to suit your
needs.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
In the meantime, I hope that helps,
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [K.-H.] 
this is a rather broad question. Since you say you've some windows experience
I assume you've got some computer and you probably need "Linux" and some idea
what to do with it.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Do you already have a Linux distribution? Did you already install it and want
help with "what now"? At what step do you need help?
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
There are lots of books on Unix in general and Linux specifically. If you are
looking for downloadable and/or online versions have a look at:
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote><BLOCKQuote>
<A HREF="http://www.linuxdoc.org/guides.html"
	>http://www.linuxdoc.org/guides.html</A>
</BLOCKQuote></blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
especially Linux administrators guide. That one helped me a lot at the
beginning.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
There are several companies or groups putting together packs (distributions)
of kernel, OS programs and application programs which can be easily
installed.
Some have their own manuals (printed or online) for their specific setup.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Tell us more and we could help you more on your specific problem....
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Chuck] 
A basic book designed to help Windows users become productive on Linux
ASAP is Everyday Linux.  Its available online at <A HREF="http://EverydayLinux.com"
	>http://EverydayLinux.com</A>.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
I should note I am a bit biased as I know the authors well and I own the
domain.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Heather] 
One of my local LUGs received a copy of "A 12 Step Guide To Curing Your
Windows Addiction".  It was given away as a door prize at my local LUG,
but I think it was pretty decent.  Since you say you know about Windows,
it may help more than some books which might assume you have a bit more
computer knowledge already.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Way back in the dusty ages when I didn't know UNIX, I learned most of
the good stuff to get me up to speed in Mark Sobell's books.  "A
Practical Guide To The Linux System" should help you get a little more
hands-on experience.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Of course, Jim did co-author a book, "Linux System Administration"
pubbed under the New Riders imprint... it's split half and half, theory
and practical matters, but as some of the intended audience are execs
and other managerial sorts who may not deal with the nuts and bolts,
maybe it will help you too.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Iron] 
Go to the new Linux Gazette Knowledge Base
<A HREF="../tag/kb.html"
	>http://www.linuxgazette.com/tag/kb.html</A>
and scroll down to "How can I get help on Linux?"  There are a few books
listed.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Jim Dennis has also mentioned books in his Answer Gang answers, and the
"Greetings from Heather Stern" entry (the first entry in each The Answer
Gang column) also occasionally mentions books.  I would point you to a
specific URL, but searching for "linux books jim dennis" brings up 24 pages
of entries in the search engine, so it would take a while to evaluate all
the pages.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
You know - I'm just <EM>loving</EM> this. This is exactly how I foresaw this
resource being used, a simple place we could point querents.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Major-league case of warmfuzzies here, as I go back to pounding the topic
list...
</blockQuote>

<!-- end 8 -->
<!--     .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.     -->
<A NAME="tag/9"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
<!-- begin 9 -->
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" 
	height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
	>random crashes - how to prepare bug report?</H3>


<p><strong>From N.P.Strickland 
</strong></p> 

<p align="right"><strong>Answered By  Thomas Adam, Mike Ellis, Ben Okopnik, Huibert Alblas
</strong></p>
<P><STRONG>
Hi,
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
My linux machine is crashing randomly once every couple of days - it
freezes up and will not respond to anything (including ctrl-alt-del,
or ping from another machine) except the on/off switch.  The load on
the machine is light, and the work it is doing is not particularly
unusual.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
1) Can anyone suggest how I could gather useful information about what is
going on?
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I put a line like this in <TT>/etc/syslog.conf:</TT>
</STRONG></P>

<blockquote><code><font color="#000033"><br>  *.debug;mail.none;authpriv.none;cron.none  /var/log/messages
</font></code></blockquote>
<P><STRONG>
As far as I understand it, this should get all possible debugging
information out of syslogd, although I'm not completely clear whether
any more could be squeezed out of klogd.  In any case, I'm not getting
any messages around the time of a crash.  I've also turned on all the
logging options that I can find in the processes that I am running,
without any helpful effect.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Thomas] 
Have you added any memory to your machine recently??
This has been known to "crash" machines randomly.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
What programs do you have running on default?? Perhaps
you could send me (us) an output of the "pstree"
command so that we can see which process is linked to
what.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike] 
Quite right,  Thomas.  If you have two or more memory modules (DIMMs
probably) in your machine,  try removing one of them if you can.  If the
fault goes appears to go away,  try putting the module back in and see if
the fault re-appears.  If the fault never goes away,  replace the first
module and removing another and try again.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
As you're running a 2.4 kernel,  make sure you have plenty of swap.  Sadly
the 2.4 kernels aren't as good as the older 2.2 and making maximum use of
swap,  with the result that you are now strongly recommended to...
look at <A HREF="../issue62/lg_tips62.html#tips/12"
	>http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue62/lg_tips62.html#tips/12</A> if you
need help.  I haven't heard tales of this causing random lock-ups,  but you
never know!
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Halb] 
Yes, the early 2.4 kernels had 'some' trouble with swap space.
But at the time of 2.4.9 a completely new ( build from scratch ) VM was
introduced by Andrea Arcangeli, and incorperated by Linus since 2.4.10.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote><DL><DT>
You can read a good story on:
<DD><A HREF="http://www.byte.com/documents/s=1436/byt20011024s0002/1029_moshe.html"
	>http://www.byte.com/documents/s=1436/byt20011024s0002/1029_moshe.html</A>
</DL></blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
It is an interresting, not too long story.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [JimD]
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
However, if you're using the new tmpfs, it might be wise to
err on the side of generosity when allocating swap space.  Using
tmpfs, your <TT>/tmp</TT> (and/or <TT>/var/tmp</TT> or other designated directories)
can be sharing space with your swap (kernel VM paging).
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Still, one or two swap partitions of 127Mb should be plenty for
most situations.  I still like to keep my swap partitions smaller
than 127Mb (the historical limit was 128, but cylinder boundaries
usually round "up").  I also recommend putting one swap partition
on each physical drive (spindle) to allow the kernel to balance
the load across them (small performance gain, but neglible cost
on modern hard disks).
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
2) If I can get any usable information about the problem, does anyone
know where I should send it?
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Thomas] 
Here, to both me and the rest of TAG.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
If I knew that it was a kernel problem, I'd try the linux-kernel
mailing list.  But that looks pretty intimidating, so I'd want to be
sure I knew what I was talking about first!  Also, I guess that some
kind of hardware problem is more likely.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Thomas] 
I'm still edging my bets on memory...if it is a Kernel
problem  then you could try to re-compile it using the
latest stable release.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
I'm using <A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A> 7.2, which includes the 2.4.7-10 kernel, on a
machine with an Intel Pentium 4 CPU running at 1.5 GHz and 512M of
RAM.  Crashes occur even when I am not running X and no users are
logged on.  The main process that I am running is the Jakarta Tomcat
web server, which runs a Java servlet, which runs the symbolic
mathematics program Maple as an external process.  As far as I can
tell from the logs, when the last crash occurred, there had been no
request to the web server for some time.  It's just possible that a
request triggered the crash, which prevented the request from being
logged, but I doubt it.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Neil Strickland
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Thomas] 
I might also suggest that you run the "strace"
commands on processes you think might be crashing.
That will then tell you where and how...if nothing
else.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
I'm pretty much of the same mind as Thomas on this one; Linux is pretty
much bullet-proof, what tends to cause crashes of this sort is hardware -
and that critical path doesn't include too many things, particularly when
the key word is "random". Memory would be the first thing I'd suspect (and
would test by replacement); the hard drive would be the second. I've
<em>heard</em>  of wonky motherboards causing problems, but have never experienced
it myself. I've seen a power supply cause funky behavior before - even
though that was on a non-Linux system, it would be much the same - and...
that's pretty much it.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
"strace", in my opinion, is not something you can run on a production
system. It's great for troubleshooting, but running a web server under it?
I just tried running "thttpd" under it, and it took approximately 30
seconds just to connect to the localhost - and about 15 more to cd into a
directory. Not feasible.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Thomas] 
Hum, perhaps I wasn;t too clear on that point. What I
meant was that he should run strace on only one
process which he thinks <EM>might</EM> be causing the crash.
Hence the reason why I initially asked for his
"pstree" output.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
But I agree, strace is not that good when trying to
analyse a "labour intensive" program such as a
webserver, but then I fail to see the need as to why
one would want to run "strace" on such a program
anyway....afterall, <A HREF="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</A> is stable enough 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":-)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">

</blockQuote>
<HR width="10%" align="left"><P><STRONG>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> 
Thanks again for all your help.
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike &amp; Ben] 
You're welcome.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	>
Memory would be the first thing I'd suspect (and would test by replacement);
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I downloaded memtest86 (from <A HREF="http://www.teresaudio.com/memtest86"
	>http://www.teresaudio.com/memtest86</A>) and
ran through its default tests twice (that took about 40 minutes - I
haven't yet tried the additional tests, which are supposed to take
four or five hours, altogether).  Nothing came up.  Do you think
that's reliable, or would you test by replacement anyway?
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote><CODE>
.
</CODE></blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike] 
The problem may be an intermittent fault:  if the tests take 40 minutes and
the machine usually runs for (say) 4 days,  you've effectively given it
less than a 1% chance of finding the problem [40/(4*24*60)].  I'd still
seriously consider a test by replacement and/or removal of DIMMs.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
My rule of memory testing, for many years now, has been "a minimum of 24
hours - 48 is better - and hit it with freeze spray at the end." For a
system that needs to be up and running, however, "shotgunning" (wholesale
replacement of suspect hardware) is what offers the highest chance of quick
resolution.
</blockQuote>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	>
the hard drive would be the second
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
I've seen a power supply cause funky behavior before
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
These don't sound like easy things to test 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/unsmily.gif" ALT=":-("
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">
.  Do you have any
suggestions?
</STRONG></P>
<blockQuote><CODE>
.
</CODE></blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike] 
They aren't,  sadly.  Testing by replacement is really the best option for
these sorts of problems,  but beware,  we had a machine here with a dodgy
PSU recently which cost us a lot more than a new PSU )-: By the time we'd
tracked down the problem we had...
</blockQuote>

<blockQuote><ul>
<LI>three suspect hard-drives
<LI>two suspect 128M DIMMs
<LI>two suspect motherboards
<LI>two suspect PIII processors
<LI>one suspect network card
<LI>one suspect video card
<LI>one suspect CD-ROM drive
<LI>one suspect floppy drive
<LI>one suspect keyboard
<LI>one suspect mouse
<LI>and a partridge in a pear tree
</ul></blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
The whole lot had to be disposed of because we had used the faulty PSU with
them,  and the fault was that it generated occasional over-volt spikes
during power-up.  These potentially weakened any or all of the other
components in the system rendering them unsuitable for mission-critical
applications (we actually purchased a cheap case,  marked all the bits as
suspect and built them into a gash machine for playing with).
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
In your case,  try cloning the hard-drive and replacing that.  You can use
dd to clone the drive - dd if=/dev/current_hard_disc of=/dev/new_hard_disc
bs=4096 - assuming the hard-drives are the same size.  Don't use the
partitions,  though - <TT>/dev/hda</TT> and <TT>/dev/hdc</TT> will work,  <TT>/dev/hda1</TT> and
<TT>/dev/hdc1</TT> won't since the partition table and MBR won't be copied.  Using
the raw devices will also copy any other partitions if you've got them.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
&lt;Ding/&gt;  One bright idea that has just occurred to me - are you using any
external devices?  If,  for example,  you've got an external SCSI scanner
on the same chain as your internal SCSI discs,  a dodgy connection or
termination could potentially cause random crashes.  It might also be
worthwhile checking any USB or fireware devices you've got connected.  I
doubt serial or parallel devices would cause a problem,  but it might be
worth checking just in case.  Internal connections are also suspect - a
CD-ROM drive on the same IDE chain as your boot disc might cause
problems:  you might even like to remove it completely if you don't use it
often.  Any PCI cards are also candidates for suspicion - make sure they're
all plugged in fully.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Let us know how you get on!
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Cheers,
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Mike.
</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben] 
Unfortunately, all my best suggestions come down to the above two. I used
to look for noise in power supply output with an oscilloscope -
interestingly enough, it was a fairly reliable method of sussing out the
problematic ones - but I suspect that it's not a common skill today.
There are a number of HDD testers out there, all hiding behind the
innocuous guise of disk performance measurement tools... but
Professor Moriarty is not fooled. 
	<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
		height="24" width="20" align="middle">

</blockQuote>
<blockQuote>
Seriously, if running one of those (e.g., "bonnie++") for a few hours
doesn't make your HDD fall over and lie there twitching, you're probably
all right on that score.
</blockQuote>

<!-- end 9 -->
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<center>
<table cellpadding=7><tr><td>
<IMG SRC="../gx/bytes.gif" border=1  ALT="News Bytes">
</td><td>
<H3>Contents:</H3>
<ul>
<li><a HREF="#leg">Legislation and More Legislation</a>
<li><a HREF="#links">Linux Links</a>
<li><a HREF="#conferences">Conferences and Events</a>
<li><a HREF="#general">News in General</a>
<li><a HREF="#distro">Distro News</A>
<li><a HREF="#commercial">Software and Product News</a>
</ul>
</td></tr></table>

<STRONG>Selected and formatted by  <A HREF="mailto:michael.conry@softhome.net">Michael Conry</A></STRONG>
</center>


<P> Submitters, send your News Bytes items in 
<FONT SIZE="+2"><STRONG>PLAIN TEXT</STRONG></FONT>
format.  Other formats may be rejected without reading.  You have been
warned!  A one- or two-paragraph summary plus URL gets you a better
announcement than an entire press release.


<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->

<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
January 2002 <I>Linux Journal</I>
</font>
</H3>

<IMG ALT="[issue 93 cover image]"   SRC="misc/bytes/lj-cover93.png" WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=268 
ALIGN="left" HSPACE="20">

The December issue of <A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/"><I>Linux
Journal</I></A> is on newsstands now.
This issue focuses on networking, has an interview with
Costa Rica's Minister of Technology (they use Linux!), and has that great 
picture of Linux-on-a-wristwatch on the cover (it's a prototype).  Click 
<A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=NS-lj-issues/issue93&file=index">here</A>
to view the table of contents, or 
<A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/subscribe/">here</A> 
to subscribe.

<P>
<FONT COLOR="green">All articles through December 1999 are available for
public reading at 
<A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/magazine.php">http://www.linuxjournal.com/magazine.php</A></FONT>.  
Recent articles are available on-line for subscribers only at 
<A HREF="http://interactive.linuxjournal.com">http://interactive.linuxjournal.com/</A>.  

<BR CLEAR="all">



<a name="leg"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Legislation and More Legislation</font></H3></center>

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Sklyarov's Charges Dropped
</FONT>
</H3> 

<a href="http://www.eff.org/Cases/US_v_Sklyarov/20011213_eff_pr.html">
Good news</a>
for all those following the story of Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov.
It looks like Dmitry will not have to face charges under the DMCA
for speaking publicly in the US about software
to circumvent Adobe e-book encryption. The press release from the US
Attorney's Office can be found 
<a href="http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2001-12-14-001-20-PS">
here</a>. Basically, the  
<a href="http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/can/press/assets/applets/2001_12_13_sklyarov.pdf">
agreement</a> 
means that charges against Dmitry will be postponed for one year, or until
the case against 
<a href="http://www.elcomsoft.com/">
Elcomsoft</a> (Dmitry's employers during the development of the contested
technology) concludes, whichever is longer. During that time, Dmitry can
return to Russia (as he did, happy news for both himself and his family). He will be
"prohibited from violating any laws" (aren't we all!), and will have to
testify truthfully in the US case against Elcomsoft (to do otherwise would
be perjury). If he fulfills these obligations, then at the end of the
deferment the charges will be dropped permanently.
<p>
Although this development is welcome, and has made headlines throughout the
computer press (e.g.
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/23403.html">
in The Register</a>,
<a href="http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,49122,00.html">
in Wired</a>
and
<a href="http://www.planetpdf.com/mainpage.asp?WebPageID=1794">
in Planet PDF</a>
) as well as in the mainstream press
(e.g. 
<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001/12/13/russian-programmer.htm">
in USA Today</a>), this story is far from over.
Richard Stallman was quick to 
<a href="http://www.lwn.net/daily/rms-dmitry.php3">
comment</a>
on the initial news (which was somewhat confused: it appeared the charges
had been unconditionally dropped), cautioning that the DMCA was still a
real threat to freedom. He also made a renewed call for active resistance
and protest against the DMCA and its supporters. Later, under the
impression that a plea bargain had been made, Stallman was quite
<a href="http://www.lwn.net/daily/rms-dmitry2.php3">
critical</a>
of Dmitry, accusing him as a defector. Following clarifications Stallman
<a href="http://www.lwn.net/daily/rms-dmitry2.php3">
apologised</a>
for earlier comments (which many felt were unwarranted, though well
intentioned). 
Indeed, there seemed to be generally quite a lot of confusion surrounding
the whole affair, apparently due to som unclear issuings from the State
Attorney's Office. 
Some clarifying statements from Dmitry, his employer, and
the defence team can be found 
<a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/weblog/view/wlg/983">
here</a>.
<p>
At the end of the whole episode, what has come out as the
most important point is that the DMCA is still there. The US DOJ case
against Elcomsoft should be a crucial test of the legality and
applicability of this law, but as RMS keeps pointing out, it is important
to follow every avenue and opportunity available in the fight for freedom
(hopefully that is not too melodramatic!).
The Electronic Frontier Foundation have an excellent page of 
<a href="http://www.eff.org/Cases/US_v_Sklyarov/">
resources</a> on the Sklyarov case (and other DMCA related matters). 
Be sure to keep informed.

<hr noshade width="20%">

<P> 
In other news, reported by The Register, it appears that
copyright-enforcement happy Adobe is in
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23454.html">
hot water</a>
itself. A judge issued an injunction for Adobe to stop selling InDesign, its
Quark-killer program, 
pending trial. Trio Systems has sued Adobe, claiming Adobe illegally used Trio's
code in InDesign.

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">MS Links
</FONT>
</H3> 


<P> Christian Loweth mailed us a link to his website:
<a href="http://www.geocities.com/cloweth/">
The Microsoft Collection</a>.
This site contains quotes and links from many sources which address
Microsoft's role in respect to monopoly activities, consumer privacy, legal
issues, internet, systems interoperability, web standards, corporate ethics
and more. This is probably of some interest given the legal negotiations
Microsoft is involved in at the moment.
<P> 
The recent Microsoft Antitrust settlement is still a bone of contention.
Nine dissenting states and certain industry groupings are
<a href="http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article/0,,3_936241,00.html">
holding out</a>
for more punitive conditions, such as forcing MS to opensource Internet
Explorer.  Among the involved industry figures is Red Hat CEO Matthew
Szulik who
<a href="http://judiciary.senate.gov/te121201f-szulik.htm">
recently testified</a> 
before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee on the settlement.
He argued that the 9 dissident states' remedies were more appropriate and
potentially effective than the current arrangement. The Register has given a
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23280.html">
lengthy analysis</a> 
of the various remedies, but as John Lettice vividly wrote, the dissenting
states `...probably <i>are</i> just flinging themselves in front of a
speeding train'.
Certainly, Microsoft is 
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23380.html">
pulling no punches</a>
in defending the position of the original settlement.
<p>
An interesting commentary on the proposed settlement can be found in
Lawrence Lessig's 
<a href="http://judiciary.senate.gov/te121201f-lessig.htm">
testimony</a> 
before the Senate Committee hearing. Lessig's main focus is on the
inadequate enforcement provisions. He also makes the point that Microsoft
is not the only enemy of competition out there (very true) and he even has
some kind words on the .NET strategy. This is worth reading.
<p>
There was also a Slashdot
<a href="http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/12/14/1547232&mode=nested">
discussion</a> 
of these issues which included a useful link to some Linuxplanet
<a href="http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/opinions/3952/1/">
advice</a> 
for those who want to register their opinion on this matter (there is a 60
day comment period from Nov. 28).


<hr noshade width="20%">
<P> 
A more recent cause of concern regarding Microsoft's intentions is the
<a href="http://cryptome.org/ms-drm-os.htm">
patent claim</a> [cryptome.org]
that it has been granted for a `Digital rights management operating
system'. This is an operating system which has certain features to make it
easier to protect `rights-managed data'. For example (taken from patent
abstract) if you are running a trusted program using such data, no
untrusted programs will be allowed to run. There are various other features
along the same general idea.
This story was
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23387.html">
reported</a> 
by The Register, following the Cryptome.org publication of the patent
claim. Operation of the scheme would require a database of the particulars
of users PC's:
<blockquote>
"the content provider would have to maintain a registry of each
subscriber's DRMOS identity or delegate that function to a trusted third
party,"
</blockquote>
<P>
Seth Johnson of the 
<a href="http://realmeasures.dyndns.org/C-FIT/">
Committee for Independent Technology</a> (C-FIT) posted a very bleak 
<a href="http://www.aful.org/pipermail/patents/2001-December/002562.html">
assessment</a>
of the situation to the 
<a href="http://www.aful.org/">aful.org</a> software patents 
<a href="http://www.aful.org/mailman/listinfo/patents">
mailing list</a> 
(also
<a href="http://realmeasures.dyndns.org/C-FIT/Release/MS%20DRM%20OS.htm">
here</a>). The MS DRMOS is seen as a large part in an overall movement to
deprive the public of the power to work with and control information, with
the ultimate aim of rendering them nothing more than passive consumers.
This contribution builds on an earlier (and also pessimistic)
<a href="http://davenet.userland.com/2001/11/06/youreFreeToThink">
article</a> by David Winer which speculated on the nature of the deal
done between Microsoft and the DOJ.
Certainly, a patent on a DRMOS is worrying, in particular with legislation
like the SSSCA 
<a href="http://www.darwinmag.com/read/swiftkick/column.html?ArticleID=206">
doing the rounds</a>
which could make such technology mandatory.


<a name="links"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Linux Links</font></H3></center>

<A HREF="http://www.linuxfocus.org/">LinuxFocus</A> articles:

<br>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://linuxfocus.org/English/January2002/article132.shtml">QCAD: Technical drawing with Linux</a><br></li>
<li><a href="http://linuxfocus.org/English/January2002/article222.shtml">Running applications remote with X11</a><br></li>
<li><a href="http://linuxfocus.org/English/January2002/article224.shtml">Developing Gnome applications with Python (part 2)</a><br></li>
<li><a href="http://linuxfocus.org/English/January2002/article225.shtml">Chrooting All Services in Linux</a><br></li>
<li><a href="http://linuxfocus.org/English/January2002/article226.shtml">MySQL and Perl, the marriage of convenience</a><br></li>
<li><a href="http://linuxfocus.org/English/January2002/article227.shtml">Writing CDs with Linux</a><br></li>
<li><a href="http://linuxfocus.org/English/January2002/article228.shtml">Linux System Administration - A User's Guide (Book Review)</a><br></li>
</ul>


<p>
<a href="http://www.thedukeofurl.org/">The Duke of URL</a> has 
a
<a href="http://www.thedukeofurl.org/reviews/systems/pogoalturaxp">
review</a>  of the
Pogo Linux Altura Athlon XP Workstation.  Sadly, this is the Duke's last
article, because <A HREF="http://www.thedukeofurl.org/">the site is going
+down</A>.
Another victim of the it's-so-much-work-and-I'm-not-getting-paid-for-it
+syndrome.
We'll miss the "concise and
accurate information on Linux hardware and software" on the site.  For now, the
archives are available.  Contact the Duke (<A
+HREF="mailto:pat@thedukeofurl.org">Pat</A>)
if you want to make a $$ contribution toward putting the archive on CD-ROM, or
+if you
can donate webspace to host the archive.



<p>
<a href="http://www.google.com/">
Google</a>'s relaunched usenet archive received recent press both in an
<a href="http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,49016,00.html">
article</a> in Wired and in a
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/23343.html">
story</a> on The Register. In particular there is a Google 
<a href="http://www.google.com/googlegroups/archive_announce_20.html">
archive</a> of historic announcements including Linus and his pet project,
Tim Berners-Lee's announcement of what would become WWW, Microsoft's
first mention in the media, and so on. Good nostalgia, especially at this
time of year.


<P>
NewsForge have a
<a href="http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=01/12/02/2246230&mode=nocomment">
story</a> on Ximian's release of Evolution 1.0. Also covers the release of Ximian's
proprietary MS Exchange client for Linux. Although some may have qualms
about Ximian releasing such a proprietary extension, there are compelling
reasons for this course of action, not least of which is staying in
business! In any case, it should be a good asset to Linux users who are
forced to operate in a MS Exchange environment. Story also covered
<a href="http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2001-12-03-006-20-NW-GN-SW">
here</a>
and
<a href="http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/opinions/3930/1/">
here</a>.


<P>
Caf.Netgod.net have a
<a href="http://caf.netgod.net/ps2linux.html">
review</a> 
of Linux on Playstation 2 (
<a href="http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/12/04/0254229&mode=nested">
courtesy</a>
Slashdot).

<P>
<a href="http://oreillynet.com/">
O'Reilly Net</a>
have some pieces which might be of interest, including
<ul>
    <li> 
    An
    <a href="http://oreillynet.com/pub/a/dotnet/2001/12/03/myservices.html">
    article</a> on
    using Python and XML with Microsoft .NET My Services to create a request
    for the simple .NET Contacts service using Python and XML on Linux. 
    </li>
    <li> 
    An
    <a href="http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2001/11/29/UserModeLinux.html">
    article</a>  on
    system failure and recovery practice
    using User-Mode Linux (UML). 
    By using UML virtual machines, rather than your real system you can emulate
    horrible system failures in total safety (like cd'ing to / and typing 'rm
    -rf *'). Also can be used to practice more realistic recovery manoeuvers.
    </li>
    <li>
    A
    <a href="http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2001/12/06/FreeBSD_Basics.html">
    guide</a>
    to setting up Procmail to keep your mail under control
    </li>
    <li>
    A 
    <a href="http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2001/12/14/rootkit.html">
    guide</a>
    to understanding rootkits.
    </li>
    <li>
    <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/wirelesscommnet/chapter/ch03.html">
    Sample chapter</a>
    from Building Wireless Community Networks
    </li>
</ul>


<P> 
The following links found on
<a href="http://lwn.net/">
Linux Weekly News</a> are worth checking out:
<ul>
<li>
LWN 
<a href="http://lwn.net/2001/1220/">
summarizes</a> 
their 
<a href="http://lwn.net/2001/features/Timeline/">
2001 timeline</a>
(especially timely given that it is Linux's 10th anniversary)
</li>
<li>
LWN
<a href="http://lwn.net/2001/1220/dists.php3">
summary</a> 
of Linux distribution activity during the first half of 2001.
</li>
<li>
LPRng 
<a href="http://www.lprng.com/PrintingCookbook/">
printing cookbook</a>.  On-line set of printing tips.
</li>
</ul>

<p>
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/">
The Register</a> have the following links
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/23154.html">
Story</a>
about 
<a href="telnet://towel.blinkenlights.nl">
Star Wars over telnet</a>
also, via your browser 
<a href="http://www.asciimation.co.nz">
using java</a>.
</li>
<li>
USA 
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/23200.html">
gives AES the official yes</a>, 256-bit encryption standard formally approved.
</li>
<li>
Microsoft Hotmail 
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/23348.html">
still runs on U**x</a>. 
</li>
<li>
Chinese 
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/23307.html">
take sip of Linux tea</a>.
</li>
</ul>



<P>Newsforge recently took a 
<a href="http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=01/12/05/1259245&mode=thread">
look</a> at whether one of the biggest problems with Linux usability is
that the people teaching newbies are just too good. Interesting reading.
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23245.html">
Also at</a> The Register.


<p>
<a href="http://www.slashdot.org/">
Slashdot</a> have the following links worth noting
<ul>
<li>
linux-kernel 
<a href="http://kerneltrap.org/article.php?sid=398">
message thread</a>
that was originally about indentation in the
kernel source files, but led into other philosophical topics about
programming. 
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://slashdot.org/articles/01/12/05/1432206.shtml">
Comment</a> on HP's Blade plans and Linux (also 
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/53/23178.html">
at The Register</a>).
</li> 
<li>
Why free software is 
<a href="http://news.independent.co.uk/digital/features/story.jsp?story=109188">
a hard sell</a>. 
`Perhaps Linux shouldn't be regarded as an operating system at all, but more
as a sophisticated multi-player game with a large number of enthusiastic
players. You can lose yourself in Linux for hours, tweaking here, updating
there. It's great fun if you like that sort of thing.'
</li>
</ul>



<P>
Linux Journal 
<a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=5650">
article</a> 
on perceptions of Linux among undergraduate sysadmin
students.






<a name="conferences"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Upcoming conferences and events</font></H3></center>

<P> Listings courtesy <EM>Linux Journal</EM>.  See <EM>LJ</EM>'s
<A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/events.php">Events</A> page for the
latest goings-on.


<!-- *** BEGIN events table [this line needed by Linux Gazette events.py *** -->

<table cellpadding=5 border=0 width=100%>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr> 

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Consumer Electronics Show (CEA)</b><BR>      
        <td valign=top>January 1-11, 2002<BR>Las Vegas, NV<BR>
        <a href="http://www.cesweb.org/" target="_blank">
        http://www.cesweb.org/</A><BR>
        </td></tr>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Bioinformatics Technology Conference (O'Reilly)</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>January 28-31, 2002<BR>Tucson, AZ<BR>    
        <a href="http://conferences.oreilly.com/biocon/" target="_blank">
        http://conferences.oreilly.com/biocon/</A><BR>
        </td></tr>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>COMNET Conference & Expo (IDG)</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>January 28-31, 2002<BR>Washington, DC<BR>
        <a href="http://www.comnetexpo.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.comnetexpo.com/</A><BR>
        </td></tr>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>LinuxWorld Conference & Expo (IDG)</b><BR>   
        <td valign=top>January 30 - February 1, 2002<BR>New York, NY<BR>        
        <a href="http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/</A><BR>
        </td></tr>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>The Tenth Annual Python Conference ("Python10")</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>February 4-7, 2002<BR>Alexandria, Virginia<BR>
        <a href="http://www.python10.org/" target="_blank">
        http://www.python10.com/</A><BR>
        </td></tr>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Australian Linux Conference</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>February 6-9, 2002<BR>Brisbane, Australia<BR>
        <a href="http://www.linux.org.au/conf/" target="_blank">
        http://www.linux.org.au/conf/</A><BR>
        </td></tr>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Internet Appliance Workshop</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>February 19-21, 2002<BR>San Jose, CA<BR>         
        <a href="http://www.netapplianceconf.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.netapplianceconf.com/</A><BR>
        </td></tr>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Internet World Wireless East (Penton)</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>February 20-22, 2002<BR>New York, NY<BR>                 
        <a href="http://www.internetworld.com/events/weast2002/" target="_blank"
>
        http://www.internetworld.com/events/weast2002/</A><BR>
        </td></tr>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Intel Developer Forum (Key3Media)</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>February 25-28, 2002<BR>San Francisco, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://www.intel94.com/idf/index2.asp" target="_blank">
        http://www.intel94.com/idf/index2.asp</A><BR>
        </td></tr>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>COMDEX (Key3Media)</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>March 5-7, 2002<BR>Chicago, IL<BR>        <a href="http://www.key3media.com/comdex/chicago2002/" target="_blank">
        http://www.key3media.com/comdex/chicago2002/</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>BioIT World Conference & Expo (IDG)</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>March 12-14, 2002<BR>Boston, MA<BR>
        <a href="http://www.bioitworld.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.bioitworld.com/</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Embedded Systems Conference (CMP)</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>March 12-16, 2002<BR>San Francisco, CA<BR>       
        <a href="http://www.esconline.com/sf/" target="_blank">
        http://www.esconline.com/sf/</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>CeBIT (Hannover Fairs)</b><BR>        <td valign=top>March 14-22, 2002<BR>Hannover, Germany<BR>
        <a href="http://www.cebit.de/" target="_blank">
        http://www.cebit.de/</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>COMDEX (Key3Media)</b><BR>   
        <td valign=top>March 19-21, 2002<BR>Vancouver, BC<BR>           
        <a href="http://www.key3media.com/comdex/vancouver2002/" target="_blank"
>
        http://www.key3media.com/comdex/vancouver2002/</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>FOSE</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>March 19-21, 2002<BR>Washington, DC<BR>
        <a href="http://www.fose.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.fose.com/</A><BR>    

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>SANS 2002 (SANS Institute)</b><BR>   
        <td valign=top>April 7-9, 2002<BR>Orlando, FL<BR>
        <a href="http://www.sans.org/newlook/home.htm" target="_blank">
        http://www.sans.org/newlook/home.htm</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>LinuxWorld Conference & Expo Malaysia (IDG)</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>April 9-11, 2002<BR>Malaysia<BR>
        <A HREF="http://www.idgexpoasia.com/" TARGET="_blank">
        http://www.idgexpoasia.com/</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>LinuxWorld Conference & Expo Dublin (IDG)</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>April 9-11, 2002<BR>Dublin, Ireland<BR>
        <BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Internet World Spring (Penton)</b><BR>       
        <td valign=top>April 22-24, 2002<BR>Los Angeles, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://www.internetworld.com/events/spring2002/" target="_blank
">
        http://www.internetworld.com/events/spring2002/</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference (O'Reilly)</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>April 22-25, 2002<BR>Santa Clara, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://conferences.oreillynet.com/etcon2002/" target="_blank">
        http://conferences.oreillynet.com/etcon2002/</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Software Development Conference & Expo (CMP)</b><BR> 
        <td valign=top>April 22-26, 2002<BR>San Jose, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://www.sdexpo.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.sdexpo.com/</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Federal Open Source Conference & Expo (IDG)</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>April 24-26, 2002<BR>Washington, DC<BR>
        <a href="http://www.idgworldexpo.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.idgworldexpo.com/</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Networld + Interop (Key3Media)</b><BR>       
        <td valign=top>May 7-9, 2002<BR>Las Vegas, NV<BR>
        <a href="http://www.key3media.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.key3media.com/</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Strictly e-Business Solutions Expo (Cygnus Expositions)</b><BR>      
        <td valign=top>May 8-9, 2002<BR>Minneapolis, MN<BR>
 8-9, 2002<BR>Minneapolis, MN<BR>
        <b>PC Expo (CMP)</b><BR>        
        <td valign=top>June 25-27, 2002<BR>New York, NY<BR>
        <a href="http://www.techxny.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.techxny.com/</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>USENIX Securty Symposium (USENIX)</b><BR>    
        <td valign=top>August 5-9, 2002<BR>San Francisco, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://www.usenix.org/events/sec02/" target="_blank">
        http://www.usenix.org/events/sec02/</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>LinuxWorld Conference & Expo (IDG)</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>August 12-15, 2002<BR>San Francisco, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://www.linuxworldexpo.com" target="_blank">
        http://www.linuxworldexpo.com</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>LinuxWorld Conference & Expo Australia (IDG)</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>August 14 - 16, 2002<BR>Australia<BR>
        <a href="http://www.idgexpoasia.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.idgexpoasia.com/</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Communications Design Conference (CMP)</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>September 23-26, 2002<BR>San Jose, California<BR>
        <a href="http://www.commdesignconference.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.commdesignconference.com/</A><BR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Software Development Conference (CMP)</b><BR>
        <td valign=top>November 18-22, 2002<BR>Boston, MA<BR>
        <a href="http://www.sdexpo.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.sdexpo.com/</A><BR>
        
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

</table>
<!-- *** END events table [this line needed by Linux Gazette events.py *** -->







<a name="general"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">News in General</font></H3></center>



<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Linux and Viruses
</FONT>
</H3> 
<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">Vnunet.com</a> ran a recent 
<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/News/1127347">
article</a> reporting that Linux would be the next virus target (in the
mould of the various email worms currently circulating the Windows world).
It featured quotes from representatives of Trend Micro and McAfee which
were surely well intentioned but at times sounded a little suspect. For
example, did you know that
`In fact it's probably easier to write a virus for Linux because it's open
source and the code is available.'
As Don Marti 
<a href="http://www.ssc.com/pipermail/atc/2001-December/000003.html">
commented</a>
in his Aspiring to Crudeness newsletter:
`How many damn "The Linux viruses are coming! Virus checkers are still
relevant!" articles are we going to have to read until even the Mainstream
Media starts ignoring the anti-virus vendors?.'
Don also links to a good 
<a href="http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/#virus">
article</a> by Rick Moen explaining why Linux is not such a likely target
as some people believe. Roaring penguin also have a 
<a href="http://www.roaringpenguin.com/mimedefang/anti-virus.html">
page</a>
covering various myths regarding Linux and viruses, which specifically
addresses points raised in the vnunet.com article.
<p>
Perhaps the most imminent impact of viruses on Linux lies in the fact that
if the current rash of virus outbreaks continues, it seems likely that many
more security conscious customers will
<a href="http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=01/12/05/1229211&mode=thread">
seek alternatives</a> to the current market leaders. Secure (or at least
more secure) software is bad news for anti-virus software makers.


<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Quake 2 Source Code Released Under the GPL
</FONT>
</H3> 

John Carmack has released the 
<a href="ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/source/quake2.zip">
sources</a>
to the fabled action shoot-em-up
game: Quake 2.
From Carmack's .plan file at id Software (idsoftware.com)
<blockquote>
`However, all in all this may spur the development of many new (free) Linux
games and may encourage some hackers who are not "just" coders (musicians,
graphics artists, and others) to create new games by creating, compiling
and plugging in new data sets.'
</blockquote>
Fine sentiments indeed.




<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Practical PostgreSQL PDF Now Available
</FONT>
</H3> 

<p>
<a href="http://www.commandprompt.com">
Command Prompt</a>,
a developer of Linux and PostgreSQL custom development and
managed services solutions, has announced the pre-production release of
Pratical PostgreSQL.  Practical PostgreSQL is a publication co-produced
between Command Prompt, Inc. and O'Reilly & Associates covering the
PostgreSQL ORDBMS.  You may retrieve a pre-production PDF from the
following URL:
<a href="http://www.postgresql.info/practicalpostgresql.pdf">
http://www.postgresql.info/practicalpostgresql.pdf</a> 


<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Special Event of Linux User Club India
</FONT>
</H3> 

<P> 
Gitesh Trivedi mailed to point out that
the Linux User Group of India is arranging an event for its users.
The subject of the day is System Administration on Linux. It will be held
on
13th January,2002.
10.00 A.M to 6.00 P.M at
26,Jagganathpark,Nr.Malav,
Talav,Jivarajpark,
             Ahmedabad-380051 Gujarat INDIA.
Further details
<a href="http://www25.brinkster.com/iluci/meetings.htm">
here</a>.

<a name="distro"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Distro News</font></H3></center>

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Mandrake
</FONT>
</H3> 

<P> Linux Today 
<a href="http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2001-12-03-011-20-PR-EL-MD">
report</a> 
the availability of Mandrake
Linux 8.1 for Intel Itanium Architecture. The Itanium 64-bit
architecture is a high-performance platform commonly used for
servers.
<p>
<hr width="20%" noshade>
<p>
<P>
The Register recently 
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23436.html">
reviewed</a> 
Mandrake 8.1, from the point of view of ease of install, and found it 
"easier than Win-XP". Overall, a very positive endorsement of the distro
(particularly following the ordeal which ensued during an earlier Red Hat
install).
<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">SuSE
</FONT>
</H3> 


<P>
<a href="http://www.suse.de/en/">
SuSE Linux</a>, 
has announced a version of "SuSE Linux Firewall on CD" 
available for "Virtual Private Networks" (VPN).

<hr noshade width="20%">


<P>
SuSE Linux,
has announced the availability of 
<a href="http://www.suse.de/en/products/suse_business/sles/dev_sparc/index.html">
SuSE Linux 7.3 for Sun Microsystems' SPARC architecture</a>.
The new version is available for download.  SuSE provides  Linux Kernel
2.2.20 for deployment in Sun4c and Sun4m series 32-bit machines and Kernel
2.4.14 for Sun4u series 64-bit systems. Among other features, Kernel 2.4.14
offers an extended range of drivers and USB support for new UltraSPARC
models. SuSE Linux 7.3 for SPARC is based on the program library glibc
2.2.4 and includes XFree86 4.1.0.

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Yellow Dog
</FONT>
</H3> 
TuxPPC.com have a 
<a href="http://www.tuxppc.org/articles.php?single=733+index=0">
report</a> on Yellow Dog Linux and future directions the distribution could
take (courtesy Linux Today).


<a name="commercial"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Software and Product News</font></H3></center>

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Opera 6.0 for Linux Technology Preview
</FONT>
</H3> 


<P>
<a href="http://www.opera.com">
Opera Software</a>
has released Opera 6.0 for Linux, Technology Preview 2 (TP) 
<a href="http://www.opera.com/download/get.cgi?custom=yes&opsys=4&language=5&version">
for download</a>
with new features, including the ability to display non-Roman characters, a
completely new and customizable user interface, as well as a range of
different improvements that increases the speed and enjoyment of Linux
users' browsing sessions. 


<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns Now Available for Linux
</FONT>
</H3> 

<P>
<a href="http://www.timegatestudios.com">
TimeGate Studios</a>
and 
<a href="http://www.lokigames.com">
Loki Software</a>
have announced that the fantasy and real-time strategy game, 
<a href="http://www.kohan.net">
Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns</a>, 
shipped for the Linux platform on Saturday, August 25.
<P> Kohan has an MSRP of $49.95 (USD) and is now available for order from the 
<a href="http://www.lokigames.com/orders/">
Loki webstore</a>.
A listing of 
<a href="http://www.lokigames.com/orders/resellers.php3">
resellers</a>
is also available.
Linux gamers are welcome to sample Kohan by downloading the free demo at  
<a href="http://www.lokigames.com/products/demos.php3">
http://www.lokigames.com/products/demos.php3</a>

<hr noshade width="20%">

<P>Proving again that good taste is no substitute for good 
gameplay, developer 
<a href="http://www.gopostal.com">
Running With Scissors</a> 
announced that they will join forces with Loki Software to bring the
long-awaited Linux version of POSTAL PLUS to Windows-weary gameplayers,
everywhere.


<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">OpenFly
</FONT>
</H3> 

<P> 
Jim Watkins mailed to draw our attention to
<a href="http://www.openfly.org.uk">
OpenFly</a>:
an open souce game engine for Flight Simulator toolkit that
is Linux Compatible.  He says "this looks like an awesome project and would be
linux's first true Combat Flight Simulator".




<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">McObject Linux-based Benchmark Paper
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P> 
<a href="http://www.mcobject.com">
McObject's</a>
have released a new 
<a href="http://www.mcobject.com/memorybenchmark.pdf">
white paper</a> (pdf):
"Main Memory vs. RAM-Disk Databases: A Linux-based Comparison". This paper
addresses performance and availability implications of different approaches
to database management in embedded systems running on Linux. It looks at
databases running in embedded applications on hard-disks, on ram-disks, and
in memory only operation.
<P> McObject's benchmark tests the company's MMDB against a widely used embedded
database, which is used in both traditional (disk-based) and RAM-disk modes.
Deployment on RAM-disk boosts the traditional database's performance by as
much as 74 percent, but still lags the memory-only database in this test
(performed on Red Hat Linux version 6.2).



<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">VMware
</FONT>
</H3> 


<P>
<a href="http://www.vmware.com">
VMware</a> 
has 
<a href="http://www.vmware.com/news/releases/ws3.html">
announced</a> the
launch of VMware Workstation 3.0.
VMware Workstation enables multiple operating systems to run on physical
computers in secure, transportable, high-performance virtual computers.
Workstation 3.0 provides support for the latest operating systems including
Microsoft Windows XP and the latest Linux distributions, supports
additional peripheral devices, and provides significant enhancements in
networking and overall performance.

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Tommy Hilfiger is Dressing Up Linux and Other IBM News
</FONT>
</H3> 

<P>
<a href="http://www.ibm.com">
IBM</a>
have announced that Tommy Hilfiger has turned to IBM and Linux for an
e-business infrastructure designed to expand the company's reach to its
specialty retailers, factories and employees.
<P> Tommy Hilfiger is creating three innovative new web portals using IBM
eServer xSeries running Linux, IBM eServer iSeries running Java, DB2
Universal Database and a suite of software products from IBM Business
Partner eOneGroup.

<hr noshade width="20%">

<P>IBM has started shipping its first Eclipse-based tool for Linux --
the WebSphere Studio Application Developer for Linux beta.
This follows IBM's earlier announced strategy, when it donated $40 million
of software -- codenamed 
<a href="http://www.eclipse.org">
Eclipse</a>
--
to the new independent open-source community.  Developers working on
WebSphere Studio and other Eclipse-based tools use a common,
easy-to-use interface that provides a consistent "look and feel,"
regardless of vendor, which cuts training costs for customers. Eclipse
will also enable customers to integrate business processes used to
create electronic-business applications, such as those for Web
services.  150 software vendors, including IBM, Red Hat,
TogetherSoft and others are already 
<a href="http://www.ibm.com/software/ad/workbench">
working together</a>
on Eclipse
software.   
<a href="http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/download/category.jsp?s=s&cat=ad&source=sd">
Downloads here</a>.



<hr noshade width="20%">

<P> As part of an initiative to stimulate the development of new Linux
solutions specifically for the 
<a href="http://www.ibm.com/smallbusiness">
small and medium business</a>
market, 
<a href="http://www.ibm.com">
IBM</a>
is
announcing a "virtual Linux server" for independent software vendors.  The
<a href="http://www.ibm.com/eserver/iseries">
eServer iSeries</a>
Linux "Test Drive" uses IBM's mainframe-inspired
partitioning technology to give software vendors internet access to their
own iSeries server, where they can write, port and test Linux applications
for eServer iSeries.  IBM believes Linux running on eServer iSeries is a
combination that can reduce cost and complexity by consolidating onto a
single, easy-to-manage, mainframe-class server.





<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Project Management Software for Linux
</FONT>
</H3> 

<P> The Project Management Software AUX RDP for Linux has been developed
by SYSI GmbH Software Systeme.
AUX RDP is a multiuser software tool for planning and control schedules,
resources, costs, results and risks with numerous text and graphic reports.
Additionally, AUX RDP includes a generator of Web-based Project Information
System for creating project information within Intranet/Internet automatically.
AUX RDP is available as Shareware and can be downloaded at 
<a href="http://www.sysi-software.de">
http://www.sysi-software.de</a>.

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Linux System Administration Course
</FONT>
</H3> 

<P> 
<a href="http://www.trainingetc.com/">
Training etc</a>
wish to publicise their
<a href="http://www.trainingetc.com/linuxsa.html">
Linux system administration course</a> 
This course equips participants with the tools to insure the well 
being of a LINUX system. Lab sessions include the installation, 
troubleshooting, and maintenance of a LINUX system


<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Texas Instruments, RidgeRun and DSP
</FONT>
</H3> 

<P>Extending a joint commitment to enable the
rapid development of real-time applications, 
<a href="http://www.ti.com">
Texas Instruments</a>
and
<a href="http://www.ridgerun.com">
RidgeRun</a>
have announced the
availability of an end-to-end embedded Linux  development suite for TI's
new system-level 
<a href="http://www.dspvillage.ti.com/c547xa">
digital signal processors</a>
(DSPs). The
combination of the RidgeRun DSPLinux operating system and Board Support
Package (BSP) with TI's power-efficient, programmable DSPs should "reduce cost,
power consumption and board space by 40 percent for designers of real-time
embedded applications".  





























<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
<P> <hr> <P> 
<H5 ALIGN=center>
Copyright &copy; 2002, Michael Conry and 
the Editors of <A HREF="mailto:gazette@ssc.com"><I>Linux Gazette</I></A>.<BR>
Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR>
Published in Issue 74 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, January 2002</H5>
<!-- *** END copyright *** -->


<H4 ALIGN="center">
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>

<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--===================================================================-->

<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">Micro web server: how to save CPU time and hard disk space</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:marndt@asmsoftware.de">Matthias Arndt</a></H4>
</center>
<P> <HR> <P>  

<!-- END header -->




<h2>Introduction</h2>

<p>
A personal web server. Today, almost any Linux user has one.  Some folks do really
serve content with them; others use it for development of PHP or CGI programs.
Others like me just have it to read the documentation via the browser and to
play with it.
I decided that running the Apache web server is
overkill for my personal applications. Currently I have access to a CGI and
PHP capable provider so I do not need support for these on my own machine. Just plain
serving of files without having to run a huge Apache binary in background.
</p>

<p>
As a result, I decided to drop running my own Apache web server in favor of
having a simple micro web server that only answers requests when there are any.
It saves me some disk space and RAM, although that wasn't really a significant factor
since my computer has plenty of capacity.  Mostly
I wanted to play around with new software and nifty small but usable solutions.
</p>

<h2>What do I exactly want to do with my web server?</h2>

<p>
Just a few ordinary things, nothing involving PHP or CGI:
</p>

<ul>
  <li>serving a few static files and downloads to my friends</li>
  <li>read my package documentation through http</li>
</ul>

<p>
This leads to another important thing: at least some sort of directory indexing
must be supported by the web server.  That is, if the final URL component is a directory,
redirect to that directory (add the final slash), then serve up the index.html in that
directory.  (The redirect is important so that relative links on the page will function
correctly.)  Although this can be done with automated scripts run by cronjobs.
But I prefer a simple builtin solution.  It doesn't have to be as complex as the
Apache indexing function although that one is very nice indeed.
</p>

<p>
In short: I can use almost any web server that supports the http protocol but it doesn't need many fancy features.
</p>

<h2>Do I need extensive configuration?</h2>

<p>
In fact no. All of these can be accomplished by symlinking external pieces into the web server's root directory.
No need for "Alias" directives or other complicated options. Just the web server root and I'm happy. Perhaps customizing the port the web server listens on.
</p>

<p>
But nothing more. A simple command line like this one should be sufficient for my purpose: "binary /path/to/webserver/root".
</p>

<h2>Standalone server or called via TCP wrapper?</h2>

<p>
I decided to use a TCP wrapper solution. The web server binary gets only called when there really is a request. No need to mess around
with init scripts. Just a simple line in /etc/inetd.conf and off we go.
</p>

<p>
However such a solution is not very performant. In fact, if you plan to have more than a few sporadic accesses to your server, go for a
standalone server that runs all the time.
</p>

<h2>micro_httpd</h2>

<p>
Beside a few really awkward solutions ( there are web servers written in Java, bash or awk out there), I decided to go for a compilable
solution.
</p>

<p>
I found a web server called micro_httpd at <A HREF="http://www.acme.com/software/micro_httpd/">http://www.acme.com/software/micro_httpd/</A>.
This one is written in plain C, takes just around 150 lines of code and does exactly what I want. Runnable from TCP wrapper, no CGI nor PHP, plain serving of files with indexing capability.
</p>

<p>
I just added a few more mime types in the code and it worked out of the box.
</p>

<p>
Grab the sources of micro_http and unpack them.
<ol>
<li>tar xvzf micro_http.tar.gz
<li>cd micro_httpd
<li>rework the source the file if needed, tweak the #define directives to suite your needs
<li>make
<li>su -c "make install"
</ol>
And now you should have a binary called micro_httpd in /usr/local/sbin/.
</p>
<p>
Become root and edit /etc/initd.conf with your favorite editor.
Add a line
<pre>
http    stream  tcp     nowait  wwwrun  /usr/sbin/tcpd  /usr/local/sbin/micro_httpd /var/httpd/wwwroot/
</pre>
to it and restart the Internet super-server inetd.
</p>
<p>
On my SuSE 7.2 Linux, I type "/etc/init.d/inetd restart" as root.
</p>

<p>
Make sure to substitute "/var/httpd/wwwroot/ in the example above with the correct path to your new document root.
</p>

<p>
Substitute the wwwrun with any valid user account, preferably one that has almost no rights on the system for security reasons.
</p>

<p>
Now try it out: put a few html files in your new WWW root and make them readable by the user account specified.
Then point your favorite browser to http://localhost/. You should get either an automated index or your index.html file.
</p>

<p>
Got this far? Great, your small and micro web server is up and running.
</p>

<p>
<b>Note:</b>The TCP wrapper does log all connects to the server to /var/log/messages. But don't expect a complete Apache-style log from it.
Just plain lines like this: 
<pre>
micro_httpd[886]: connect from x.x.x.x (x.x.x.x)
</pre>
However with knowledge of the http protocol and the code it should be possible to code an advanced logging facility. I leave that one up to you.
</p>

<p>
In general, any web server that can be run from inetd can be setup like this one. So look around at <a href="http://freshmeat.net/">Freshmeat</a>.
</p>

<h2>Conclusion</h2>

<p>
If your needs are as simple as that, it takes a few minutes to switch from Apache to such a minimalistic solution.
</p>

<p>
It works pretty good although I'm aware that this solution will fail if there are too many requests. For a simple personal web server
without heavy traffic it should be sufficient.
</p>

<p>
At least I'm a bit happier now. Decide - perhaps such a solution would suit your needs as well?
</p>

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
	[There's also Tux, a micro web server in a Linux kernel module.  It works similar
	to micro_http, and can chain to a bulkier web server for URLs it can't handle
	(e.g., CGI scripts).  But note that Tux and micro_http serve different niches.
	Tux is for high-traffic sites that serve lots of simple files (e.g., images) and
	must keep per-request overhead low to avoid overloading the system.  micro_http
	via inetd is for sites with light web traffic, where the greater overhead of running
	a separate process for each request is overshadowed by the 
	</EM>no overhead at all<EM> when there are no requests.  Of course, both 
	micro_http and Tux serve a third niche: nifty small usable solutions you can play
	with.  Or as LG contributing editor Dan Wilder would say, "small sharp tools that
	each do one thing well in the honorable UNIX toolbox tradition."
	
	<P> For more information about Tux, see 
	<A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/tux/TUX-2.1-Manual/">Red Hat's Tux 2.1 manual</A>.
	I  thought Tux was in the standard kernel but I can't find it in 2.4.17, so you'll
	have to look around for it.
	-Iron.]
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>




<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->
<SPACER TYPE="vertical" SIZE="30">
<P> 
<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Matthias Arndt</H4>
<EM>I'm a Linux enthusiast from northern Germany.
I like plain old fifties rock'n'roll music, writing
stories and publishing in the Linux Gazette, of course.
Currently I'm studying computer science in conjunction with
economics.</EM>

<!-- *** END bio *** -->

<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
<P> <hr> <!-- P --> 
<H5 ALIGN=center>

Copyright &copy; 2002, Matthias Arndt.<BR>
Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR> 
Published in Issue 74 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, January 2002</H5>
<!-- *** END copyright *** -->


<H4 ALIGN="center">
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>

<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--===================================================================-->

<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">Fil &amp; Lil</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:webmaster@whatisnew.com">ESC Technologies</a></H4>
</center>
<P> <HR> <P>  

<!-- END header -->




<P>
<IMG ALT="[cartoon]" SRC="misc/fillil/fillil2001December26.png" 
	WIDTH="600" HEIGHT="250">
<BR CLEAR="all">

<P>
<IMG ALT="[cartoon]" SRC="misc/fillil/fillil2001December27.png" 
	WIDTH="444" HEIGHT="245">
<BR CLEAR="all">

<P>
<IMG ALT="[cartoon]" SRC="misc/fillil/fillil2001December28.png" 
	WIDTH="600" HEIGHT="250">
<BR CLEAR="all">

<P>
<IMG ALT="[cartoon]" SRC="misc/fillil/fillil2001December30.png" 
	WIDTH="600" HEIGHT="250">
<BR CLEAR="all">

<P>
<IMG ALT="[cartoon]" SRC="misc/fillil/fillil2002January2.png" 
	WIDTH="414" HEIGHT="241">
<BR CLEAR="all">

<P> <STRONG>Who are Fil & Lil Tux?</STRONG><BR>
They are evolving characters! Fil Tux is a Linux Zealot trying to indoctrinate Lil Tux. 

<P> <STRONG>When did Fil & Lil Tux begin?</STRONG><BR>
Concept was created December 18, 2001. The first cartoon appeared on whatisnew.com December 26, 2001.

<P> Would you like to use Fil & Lil on your website? Go for it! All we ask is
that you link back to their home page:
<A HREF="http://www.whatisnew.com/fillil/index.cfm">http://www.whatisnew.com/fillil/index.cfm</A>

<H3>ESC's Lora Heiny writes:</H3>

The first cartoon is a play on the marketing of OS and how the
users react. Windows 95/98 is archaic and users are in the dark about OS
options. Windows XP is primary and attracts basic users. Linux users see
things as black and white, such as, "there should be Linux on every desktop".

<P> Here's a little brief on the characters in the cartoon:

<P>
<STRONG>Fil</STRONG>
<PRE>
Age: 39
Eats: Fish & chips
Favorite TV show: Hawaii Five-0
Favorite cartoon: Batman
Favorite comedian: Groucho Marx
Favorite Marx quote: "You know I could just rent you out as a decoy for duck hunters?"
</PRE>

<STRONG>Lil</STRONG>
<PRE>
Age: 29
Eats: bird seed
Pets: AJ & Gracie (fictitious dogs on <A HREF="http://whatisnew.com">whatisnew.com</A>)
Lil wants to know why people use Linux and what Linux is all about.
Lil's quote: We're not cartoonists. We were just sitting around the table,
Fil started making jokes, and I started writing them down.
</PRE>

<P> Now to more serious stuff:

<P> Fil and Lil are combinations of people we know, customers, distributors,
and manufacturers. ESC Technologies operates computer information websites,
in addition to being a system builder and component supplier. We like Linux
and thought the community needed a chuckle or two.

<P> Layne Heiny, VP ESC Technologies R&D, comes up with most of the jokes and
draws Fil & Lil.  Loren Heiny, Founder <A HREF="http://MyEmailStatus.com">MyEmailStatus.com</A>, also comes up with jokes and funny
scenarios.

<P> Lora Heiny, General partner ESC Technologies, draws the background and
layout for the cartoon. I edit and delete the REALLY bad jokes.


<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
<P> <hr> <!-- P --> 
<H5 ALIGN=center>

Copyright &copy; 2002, ESC Technologies.<BR>
Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR> 
Published in Issue 74 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, January 2002</H5>
<!-- *** END copyright *** -->


<H4 ALIGN="center">
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>

<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--===================================================================-->

<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">Installing Software from Source<BR>
-or-<BR>
What Do I Do with this file.tar.gz Thing?</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:ben-fuzzybear@yahoo.com">Ben Okopnik</a></H4>
</center>
<P> <HR> <P>  

<!-- END header -->




The other day, I decided to download "cuyo" (see Mike Orr's 
<A HREF="orr3.html">review</A> in this
issue), a new game that had been mentioned on the Answer Gang admin list.
When I went to the website, however, I found only a source tarball instead
of a package - even though the e-mail had mentioned an available Debian
archive. No big deal, I thought - I've done this before...
</P>

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
	[The cuyo .deb is in the Debian Unstable distribution.  But this
	article applies to any program you want to install that's either not in your
	distribution, or where the distribution's version is old or inadequate.  -Iron.]
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

For those who don't know, a tarball is a "tar"red and usually "gzip"ped
list of source files that can be compiled to produce a program; the
filename of a tarball is usually either "progfile-1.23.tgz" or
"progfile-1.23.tar.gz", with "progfile" being the name of the program and
"1.23" (obviously, the numbers can be almost anything) standing for the
version. When you install a package - whether RPM, DEB, or whatever your
distro uses - you're simply placing the libraries, documentation, and the
precompiled binary or binaries in the directories where they belong.
Compiling the source is the part that normally gets done for you by the
package maintainer.

<P>
After downloading the tarball to my "/home/ben/TGZs" subdirectory, one I'd
created specifically for the purpose of storing downloaded tarballs, I put
a copy of it in "/tmp", where I would be compiling the sources. Note that
some folks prefer to do it in "~/tmp", a directory under their home; the
reasoning there is that "/tmp" usually gets wiped on bootup, and a compile
that goes REALLY wrong could lock your machine... which would require a
reboot (oops!) I can't fault their thinking, but continue to be the
dangerous daredevil that I am - I trust my Linux. :)
</P>

The file was called "cuyo-1.03.tar.gz" - so, the appropriate bit of magic
which turns it back into useful files is
<P><PRE>tar xvzf cuyo-1.03.tar.gz
</PRE></P>
<P>
This created a directory called "cuyo-1.03" right there in "/tmp".
</P>

(OK, so that's not exactly how I did it; I looked inside the tarball with
Midnight Commander, opened "/tmp" in my second pane, and hit "F5" to copy
out the compressed directory. I'm spelling it out here for those folks who
want to or have to do it manually.)

<P>
Note that some program authors are not that "polite" about making up their
tarballs: sometimes, untarring one dumps the entire list of files in the
current directory. What a mess, especially if it's in your home directory!
Several dozen files intermixed with yours; a bunch of directories, too -
and it gets much worse if some of these have the same name as your files
(not that yours will be overwritten, but it's still a mess) or your
directories (stuff will get dumped into them which you would have to then
fish out.) How rude! This is why I like to peek into tarballs and copy,
instead of just wholesale untarring. For those who don't use Midnight
Commander or another file manager that's capable of looking inside a
tarball, just do
</P>

<P><PRE>tar tvf &lt;filename&gt;
</PRE></P>
<P>
This will show you the contents of it - and if everything isn't prefixed
with a directory name, beware! Well, not really: all you have to do is
create a directory (if you make it the same as the tarball "progname", you
won't lose track of what it is, later) and untar the file inside it.
</P>

<P><PRE>mkdir rudeprogram-6.66
tar xvf rudeprogram-6.66.tgz -C rudeprogram-6.66
</PRE></P>
<P>
Now, all of the files from the "rudeprogram" tarball will be extracted to
the specified subdirectory.
</P>

Fortunately, the author of "cuyo" is a polite fellow (as most authors are),
and "cuyo" was tarred up in a subdir of its own. Inside it, there was the
list of files, including the ones that you should always check out prior to
starting operations: "README" and "INSTALL". The first is usually the
author's instructions, recommendations, etc. The second is fairly standard
- it's a file that explains the operation of "configure", an extremely cool
program usually created by "autoconf" that will check out your system and
correctly (well, usually) set up the Makefile, which is what we need to
compile the program. The huge advantage of this is that, if the author was
careful in writing his program, "configure" will create the correct
Makefile on any version of Unix - and perhaps even other OSs.

<P>
Allow me to digress for a moment: some programs are so simple that they do
not require "configure", and simply come with a Makefile (these may be
capitalized or all lower-case). Others are simpler yet - all you see is a
single "progfile.c", or "progfile.cc". With these, compilation consists of
simply running "make" in the first case, or "cc progfile.c -o progfile" in
the second.
</P>

Anyway - I ran "configure" in the "cuyo" subdir; it chewed on my system for
a while, which is its job, and built me a Makefile. Wasn't that nice of it?
:) There was a bit of a problem, though: "configure" prints out messages as
it runs, and warns you in case of failures (usually by stopping and
printing an error.) The message that it gave me - without stopping, however
- was

<P>
<P><PRE>checking the Qt meta object compiler... (cached) failure 
configure: warning: Your Qt installation seems to be broken!
</PRE></P></P>

Hmm. Well, it built the makefile, anyway. Usually, the non-fatal errors
just mean that you won't get some of the features of the program, but it
will still compile. Well, let's try it.

<P>
I then ran "make" - just by typing "make" on the command line, which by
default reads the "Makefile" (or "makefile"), and follows the commands
specified in target "all" and, ...
</P>

Ooops. It failed.

<P>
It was at this point that I decided to write this article. I hadn't been
thinking of doing that; I actually had lot s of work to do this month - but
I believe that installing from tarballs is a skill that is necessary for
any Linux user, and my thought here was to document the process, including
troubleshooting installations that go wrong. It's something I struggled
with in my early Linux days, and I'd like to save others at least a bit of
that pain. :)
</P>

So. We go bravely on. When I say that it failed, exactly what did I see?
Well, a "make" should run without errors. Sometimes - often - you'll get
warnings, which are not the same thing; your libraries may be slightly
different, or perhaps your compiler is a bit more strict about declarations
- but these are usually not fatal. The errors that drop you out of a
compile without finishing it - those are the ones that we have to fix. So,
here's what it all looked like:

<P>
<P><PRE>Baldur:/tmp/cuyo-1.03$ make
make all-recursive 
make[1]: Entering directory `/tmp/cuyo-1.03'
Making all in src 
make[2]: Entering directory `/tmp/cuyo-1.03/src' 
c++ -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I. -I.. -DPKGDATADIR=\"/usr/local/share/cuyo\" 
	-Wall -ansi -pedantic -c bildchenptr.cpp
In file included from bildchenptr.h:21, 
	from bildchenptr.cpp:18: 
inkompatibel.h:13: qglobal.h: No such file or directory
make[2]: ** [bildchenptr.o] Error 1 
make[2]: Leaving directory `/tmp/cuyo-1.03/src'
make[1]: [all-recursive] Error 1 
make[1]: Leaving directory `/tmp/cuyo-1.03'
make:  * [all-recursive-am] Error 2 
Baldur:/tmp/cuyo-1.03$
</PRE></P></P>

The error begins at the line that starts with "In file included...", and
ends with (at least the part we want) "...qglobal.h: No such file or
directory". OK - we're missing a header file. I took a quick look through
the source tree of "cuyo", just to make sure that the author didn't forget
to include one of his own files (yeah, it happens) - nope. Must be one of
mine - that is, his program must be looking for a file that comes with a
library which I need to have on my system for his program to compile. Hmm.
Which one? Whichever one contains "qglobal.h", of course.

<P>
On my system, I have set up several scripts to help me with standard
installation tasks. One of these is "pkgf" - it finds whatever file I'm
looking for in the entire Debian distro, and tells me in what package that
file exists (this is not the same as "dpkg -S &lt;file&gt;", which does that for
installed packages only.) If you use Debian, you can get the same
functionality by downloading the current "Packages.gz" from
<A HREF="ftp://ftp.debian.org">&lt;ftp://ftp.debian.org&gt;</A> and "zgrep"ping through it for the name of the file
- or, just go to <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/Packages">&lt;http://www.debian.org/Packages&gt;</A> and use their search
utility. The point is to find which package contains "qglobal.h" and
install it.
</P>

<P><PRE>pkgf "qglobal.h" 
usr/include/qt/qglobal.h 	devel/libqt-dev 
				devel/libqt3-emb-dev 
				devel/libqt3-dev 
				devel/libqt-emb-dev
</PRE></P>
<P>
Well, well - it looks like I have a choice of packages. OK, "libqt3-dev"
looks like the latest thing:
</P>

<P><PRE>apt-get install libqt3-dev
</PRE></P>
<P>
The installation went fairly quickly, and... I got the same error when I
re-ran "make". And so would you. So, <B>don't do that</B>. The thing to remember
here (and I knew that I would get the error - I did this to make a point)
is that you already ran "./ configure": the old (broken) values are still
in the Makefile, as well as in several other files, so, rather than wasting
time and trying to find out where they may be:
</P>

<P><PRE>ben@Baldur:/tmp/cuyo-1.03$ cd ..
ben@Baldur:/tmp$ rm -rf cuyo-1.03 
ben@Baldur:/tmp$ tar xvzf ~/TGZs/cuyo-1.03.tar.gz -C . 
ben@Baldur:/tmp$ cd cuyo-1.03
</PRE></P>
<P>
In other words, I just blew away the entire "cuyo" directory and replaced
it with a fresh copy of the source. This is a good rule of thumb in
general: when in doubt, go back to the original sources. Believe it or not,
I learned that trick from a boat mechanic who did extraordinarily good
work. The way Kenny phrased it was "whack it back to the stuff that you
know is good, then build it up from there." I've never seen his advice go
wrong; admittedly, clients tend to scream when you tell them that you have
to throw away the piece of garbage software that they have right now and
replace from the ground up... but after a while, the word spreads: "Hey,
this guy's work is good." You might lose some jobs that way - I know I do -
but, like Kenny, I'm not willing to have my name on a piece of garbage.
</P>

I know, I know - I'm talking about things that are more generalized than
just a plain old tarball install. The thing is, the philosophy of how you
do things has to come from somewhere - and it's best if you figure out how
you're going to do things before you actually do them, overall methodology
as well as job specifics. OK, so, back to the main question - did it work
or not???

<P>
<P><PRE>ben@Baldur:/tmp/cuyo-1.03$ ./configure
&lt;No errors&gt;
ben@Baldur:/tmp/cuyo-1.03$ make
&lt;lots of output elided&gt; 
make[2]: Leaving directory `/tmp/cuyo-1.03/src'
Making all in data 
make[2]: Entering directory `/tmp/cuyo-1.03/data'
make[2]: Nothing to be done for `all'. 
make[2]: Leaving directory `/tmp/cuyo-1.03/data'
Making all in docs 
make[2]: Entering directory `/tmp/cuyo-1.03/docs'
make[2]: Nothing to be done for `all'. 
make[2]: Leaving directory `/tmp/cuyo-1.03/docs' 
make[2]: Entering directory `/tmp/cuyo-1.03' 
make[2]: Nothing to be done for `all-am'. 
make[2]: Leaving directory `/tmp/cuyo-1.03' 
make[1]: Leaving directory `/tmp/cuyo-1.03' 
ben@Baldur:/tmp/cuyo-1.03$
</PRE></P></P>

Ta-daaa!!! No errors - and when I enter the "cuyo-1.03/src" directory,
there's a very nice-looking executable called "cuyo" sitting in there. At
this point, if I wanted to continue the installation (rather than just
testing the game to see if I like it), I would type

<P>
<P><PRE>make install
</PRE></P></P>

This would read the Makefile and execute all the commands under the
"install" target which would most likely install the executable[s], the man
pages, and the documentation. However, I tend to play with the program
first, and see if I like it - most tarball makefiles do not include an
"uninstall" target (which I think is a shame; that would make tarball
packages almost as easy to install and remove as it is, say, RPMs or DEBs.)

<P>
To recap the entire tarball install:
</P>

<P><PRE>1) Check if it contains a directory or just (how rude!) scattered files
2) Untar into a directory under "/tmp" or "~/tmp"
3) Run "configure" if it exists.
4) Run "make", or "cc" if it's just a plain single "file.c" or "file.cc"
5) Run "make install" if the result is what you wanted.
</PRE></P>
<P>
That's pretty much it. Note that I did not discuss security anywhere in
here (do you really trust the author of this tarball or package? You're not
logged in as root while playing with that binary, right?), nor many of the
other issues that pertain to system administration; these issues are very
important and highly pertinent, but outside the scope of this short
article. The wise system administrator - and that, my dear home Linux user,
is <I>you</I>; there isn't anyone else for your machine! - will read much, think
deeply, and consider wisely. 
</P>

Good luck, and may all your dependencies end up being resolved ones. :)

<P>
Ben Okopnik
</P>

</BODY></HTML>




<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->
<SPACER TYPE="vertical" SIZE="30">
<P> 
<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Ben Okopnik</H4>
<EM>A cyberjack-of-all-trades, Ben wanders the world in his 38' sailboat, building
networks and hacking on hardware and software whenever he runs out of cruising
money. He's been playing and working with computers since the Elder Days
(anybody remember the Elf II?), and isn't about to stop any time soon.</EM>


<!-- *** END bio *** -->

<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
<P> <hr> <!-- P --> 
<H5 ALIGN=center>

Copyright &copy; 2002, Ben Okopnik.<BR>
Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR> 
Published in Issue 74 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, January 2002</H5>
<!-- *** END copyright *** -->


<H4 ALIGN="center">
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>

<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--===================================================================-->

<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">The Foolish Things We Do With Our Computers</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com">Mike "Iron" Orr</a></H4>
</center>
<P> <HR> <P>  

<!-- END header -->

The submissions to this column have slowed down.  There's only one this month.

<H2>Video Memory</H2>

By <A HREF="mailto:zhoupp@yahoo.com">John Joe</A>

<P> I read  "The Foolish Things We Do To Our Computers" and I
have a story of my own.

<P> I have a Trident 9680 display card, bought in 1996.
Recently, uncertain
parts of the screen were blurred in both M$ Windows
and Debian/Linux. When I
screen capture, some pixels' values are wrong. this
makes me think the
monitor is OK. If refresh, they may be clear, they may
not. Finally I
decided to buy a new old card, a fake S3 card and the
screen is OK. the S3
card has 1M memory. I try to add 1M from the 9680
card. I used a screwdriver
to get memory from 9680 and failed. I'd never added
display memory before. I
feared i might destroy display memory. The fake S3 had
difficulty when probed by
XFree86, so I plugged the 9680 back in. This time the screen is
OK!

<P> I guess that when the screwdriver touched the display
memory on 9680, static
electric charge on it might be released.





<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->
<SPACER TYPE="vertical" SIZE="30">
<P>
<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Mike Orr</H4>
<EM>Mike ("Iron") is the Editor of <I>Linux Gazette</I>.  You can read what he has
to say in the Back Page column in this issue.  He has been a Linux enthusiast
since 1991 and a Debian user since 1995.  He is SSC's web technical
coordinator, which means he gets to write a lot of Python scripts.
Non-computer interests include Ska/Oi! music and the international language
Esperanto.  The nickname Iron was given to him in college--short for Iron Orr,
hahaha.</EM>

<!-- *** END bio *** -->

<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
<P> <hr> <!-- P --> 
<H5 ALIGN=center>

Copyright &copy; 2002, Mike "Iron" Orr.<BR>
Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR> 
Published in Issue 74 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, January 2002</H5>
<!-- *** END copyright *** -->


<H4 ALIGN="center">
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>

<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--===================================================================-->

<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">LG's Funniest Moments, part 1</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com">Mike "Iron" Orr</a></H4>
</center>
<P> <HR> <P>  

<!-- END header -->




<P> To begin the new year, I'm starting a new series "LG's Funniest Moments".
It's a look back at the most hilarious quotes and images from the back issues,
as well as a kind of rough timeline of LG milestones.  (Maybe next year
we'll make a <EM>real</EM> timeline....)  This month, we'll look at issues
#1 - 11, July 1995 - September 1996.

<P> John Fisk -- LG's illustrious founder, editor of issues #1 - 8, 
originator of the Weekend Mechanic column, and all-around swell guy -- 
introduced the two 
<A HREF="../issue01to08/gazette_toc.html">LG slogans</A>/goals/mission 
statements all the way back in issue #8 or earlier:
<EM><STRONG>Making Linux just a little bit more fun</STRONG></EM>, and 
<EM><STRONG>Sharing ideas and discoveries</STRONG></EM>.

<P> In 
<A HREF="../issue01to08/linux_gazette.html">issue #1</A>,
John explained, 
"So what <EM>is</EM> the Linux Gazette?"</A>.  He answered,
'Primarily writings, ramblings, and other stuff...
and then playing around with things until they either worked or broke 
(fortunately, mostly the former :-), Linux finally began to make sense to me.  
If you're in the same boat... keep paddling!"

<P> 
<A HREF="../issue01to08/linux_gazette.aug.html">Issue #2</A>
showed the first hint of the LG FTP files, although it took several issues to
find a host for the archive.  Also, commenting on the formats LG would be
available in, John remarks,
"And if ANYONE broaches the subject of a PostScript file...   No."

<P> Typical of John's writing style is 
<A HREF="../issue01to08/linux_gazette.aug.html#tar_tricks">this quote</A>:

<BLOCKQUOTE>
Whereas UN*X barely belches when you innocently type in
<PRE>
	su
	cd / ; rm -rf *
</PRE>
just because your smart aleck roommate told you it'd help clean out some unnecessary 
files.
</BLOCKQUOTE>


<P> <A HREF="../issue01to08/linux_gazette.sep.html">Issue #3</A> saw the
inauguration of the first LG FAQ, the first Mailbag and the first 2-Cent Tips.
A few quotes:

<UL>

<LI> <A HREF="../issue01to08/linux_gazette.sep.html#tips">2-Cent Tip</A>:
"Well, you're <EM>really</EM> getting tired of having your LINUX BOX referred 
to as WussyCakes just because your techno-dweebe buddies got on when you 
weren't around and changed your hostname and you can't figure out how to get 
it back."  John shows you how to change your hostname back to
SuperBadHombreLINUXBox.

<LI> <A HREF="../issue01to08/linux_gazette.sep.html#fvwm">FVWM article</A>:
"As most of you know, the fvwm program stands for F.... Virtual Window Manager. 
The meaning of the 'F...' has apparently been lost somewhere in antiquity with 
no original manuscripts extant to shed light on its true meaning. Still, if you 
read the docs, there have been suggestions that it might stand for 'Feeble, 
Fun, Fantastic, ...'. Who knows."
[See what you learn when you read "LG's Funniest Moments"?  I bet you never
thought about what the "F" stands for.]

<LI> <A HREF="../issue01to08/linux_gazette.sep.html">Another gem of a hint</A>: 
"Practice safe X."  

</UL>

<P> <A HREF="../issue01to08/linux_gazette.nov.html">Issue #5</A> says LG is now
freely available for mirroring.  It also gives an indication of how much
reader participation was already going into building the Gazette:
"Well, I've had so much mail recently, and so many great suggestions and such
that this month's LG is "dedicated" to those of you that have written."

<P> <A HREF="../issue09/index.html">Issue #9</A> was the issue that John
Fisk turned LG over to SSC, and Marjorie Richardson became the editor, a 
position she would hold for almost three years.  (I'm LG's third editor.)
During that time, she gave herself successive promotions, from mere Editor to 
Overseer, and finally to Ruler of the Gazette.  (By the way, now is the time to
give SSC a bit of recognition.  People wondered whether LG would remain free.
Five years later, it still is.)  

<P> Issue #9 also shows the inauguration of the TWDT files.  John Fisk
published LG with the entire issue in one HTML file.  Margie found it more
convenient to put each article in a separate file.  However, LG's
most-requested feature immediately became a return to the one-file format.
Margie finally threw up her hands and said, "OK, here's The Whole Damn Thing",
and TWDT became a parallel file in each issue.  Nowadays, we don't say "damn"
because of a controversy that erupted a couple years later, but you'll have to
wait till a future "LG's Funniest Moments" to read about <EM>that</EM>.  So we
euphemize it to "TWDT" and "the all-in-one file".  

<P> Margie's first issue also introduced much of the artwork and formatting
styles that LG is still using.  However, the logo was different.  It looked
like this: 
<IMG ALT="[old LG logo]" SRC="../gx/banner.gif" WIDTH="593" HEIGHT="112" 
  VSPACE="10">

<P> <A HREF="../issue11/index.html">Issue #11</A>, October 1996, has nice
binder rings on the left side of the title page, some of the common artwork
icons we occasionally recycle (the penguin reading the newspaper, the
Weekend Mechanic looking under the hood of his car), John Fisk's first
<A HREF="../issue11/wkndmech.html">Weekend Mechanic</A> column and Michael 
Hammel's first <A HREF="../issue11/gm.html">Graphics Muse</A> column.  #11 also
started what has become a Halloween tradition: changing the slogan from
"Making Linux just a little more fun!" to "Making Linux just a little less
scary!", with a jack-o'lantern image.

<P> Not to be missed are
<A HREF="../issue11/lg_tips11.html#emacs">Rick Bronson's thumbs-up
signature</A>, and 
<A HREF="../issue11/lg_tips11.html#vi">John R Potter's 2-Cent Tip</A> that
begins, " I thought you might
be interested in my favorite vi trick, which is not a vi trick at all."

<P> Next month, I'll look at the next ten issues or so.  See you then.




<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->
<SPACER TYPE="vertical" SIZE="30">
<P>
<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Mike Orr</H4>
<EM> Mike ("Iron") is the Editor of <I>Linux Gazette</I>.  You can read what he
has to say in the Back Page column in this issue.  He has been a Linux
enthusiast since 1991 and a Debian user since 1995.  He is SSC's web technical
coordinator, which means he gets to write a lot of Python scripts.
Non-computer interests include Ska/Oi! music and the international language
Esperanto.  The nickname Iron was given to him in college--short for Iron Orr,
hahaha.</EM>

<!-- *** END bio *** -->

<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
<P> <hr> <!-- P --> 
<H5 ALIGN=center>

Copyright &copy; 2002, Mike "Iron" Orr.<BR>
Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR> 
Published in Issue 74 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, January 2002</H5>
<!-- *** END copyright *** -->


<H4 ALIGN="center">
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>

<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--===================================================================-->

<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">The Cute Game 'Cuyo'</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com">Mike "Iron" Orr</a></H4>
</center>
<P> <HR> <P>  

<!-- END header -->




<P> A new game appeared in Debian this month, and it's so cute I 
have to write about it.  Here's the Debian description:

<BLOCKQUOTE>
Description: Tetris-like game with very impressive effects.
 Cuyo, named after a Spanish possessive pronoun, shares
 with Tetris that things fall down and how to navigate them.
 When enough "of the same type" come "together", they explode.
 The goal of each level is to blow special "stones" away, you
 start with. But what "of the same type" and "together" means,
 varies with the levels. If you hear someone shout that a dragon
 is always burning his elephants, so that he is not able to blow
 the volcano away, there a good chances to find Cuyo on his screen.
 WARNING: It is known to successfully get many people away from
 more important things to do.
</BLOCKQUOTE>

<H2>Level 1 screenshots</H2>

<P>
<IMG ALT="[screenshot]" SRC="misc/orr3/1.png" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="10" BORDER="2">

<P> The object is to join like colors together.  They don't all have to be in a
straight line, they just have to be next to each other.
<BR>
<IMG ALT="[screenshot]" SRC="misc/orr3/3.png" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="10" BORDER="2">

<P> When you get enough like colors joined, they disappear with a
"poof"!  
<BR>
<IMG ALT="[screenshot]" SRC="misc/orr3/4.png" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="10" BORDER="2">

<P> You also get these gray little Pac-Man ghosties, of unknown purpose.
<BR>
<IMG ALT="[screenshot]" SRC="misc/orr3/6.png" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="10" BORDER="2">

<P> When one side gets the bottom row taken out, the bottom row slides over from
the other side.  In the previous panel, the grass has already slid right, which
is why there are two layers of grass.  Now in the next panel, the second row of
grass has slid up, and a row of ghosties is sliding right, to go underneath it.
<BR>
<IMG ALT="[screenshot]" SRC="misc/orr3/7.png" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="10" BORDER="2">

<H2>Level 2 screenshots</H2>

The same principles apply here but the theme is different.  
<BR>

<IMG ALT="[screenshot]" SRC="misc/orr3/8.png" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="10" BORDER="2">
<IMG ALT="[screenshot]" SRC="misc/orr3/10.png" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="10" BORDER="2">
<IMG ALT="[screenshot]" SRC="misc/orr3/11.png" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="10" BORDER="2">


<H2>Other comments</H2>

Get the package from Debian Unstable or download the source from the original
site: <A HREF="http://www.karimmi.de/cuyo/">http://www.karimmi.de/cuyo/</A>.
Poor Ben tried to install from source and and found he was missing some QT
library files, as you can read about in <A HREF="okopnik.html">his article</A>.

<P> Ben wasn't happy about the fact that the window isn't resizable.  This
caused him problems when an 800x600 window took over his 800x600 screen and he
couldn't reach for his taskbar.  To me, the problem is insignificant since my
screen is 1152x864.  

<P> I hope the next version has even more cool themes!




<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->
<SPACER TYPE="vertical" SIZE="30">
<P>
<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Mike Orr</H4>
<EM> Mike ("Iron") is the Editor of <I>Linux Gazette</I>.  You can read what he
has to say in the Back Page column in this issue.  He has been a Linux
enthusiast since 1991 and a Debian user since 1995.  He is SSC's web technical
coordinator, which means he gets to write a lot of Python scripts.
Non-computer interests include Ska/Oi! music and the international language
Esperanto.  The nickname Iron was given to him in college--short for Iron Orr,
hahaha.</EM>

<!-- *** END bio *** -->

<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
<P> <hr> <!-- P --> 
<H5 ALIGN=center>

Copyright &copy; 2002, Mike "Iron" Orr.<BR>
Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR> 
Published in Issue 74 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, January 2002</H5>
<!-- *** END copyright *** -->


<H4 ALIGN="center">
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>

<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--===================================================================-->

<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">Qubism</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:sirflakey@core.org.au">Jon "Sir Flakey" Harsem</a></H4>
</center>
<P> <HR> <P>  

<!-- END header -->




<P>

<IMG ALT="[cartoon]" SRC="misc/qubism/qb-gingerisp-s.jpg" 
	WIDTH="600" HEIGHT="240">
<BR CLEAR="all">

<IMG ALT="[cartoon]" SRC="misc/qubism/qb-cat5-s.jpg" 
	WIDTH="600" HEIGHT="240">
<BR CLEAR="all">

<IMG ALT="[cartoon]" SRC="misc/qubism/qb-cpu-s.jpg" 
	WIDTH="600" HEIGHT="240">
<BR CLEAR="all">

<IMG ALT="[cartoon]" SRC="misc/qubism/qb-shareprice-s.jpg" 
	WIDTH="600" HEIGHT="240">
<BR CLEAR="all">



<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->
<SPACER TYPE="vertical" SIZE="30">
<P> 
<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Jon "SirFlakey" Harsem</H4>
<EM>Jon is the and creator of the Qubism cartoon strip and current
Editor-in-Chief of the 
<A HREF="http://www.core.org.au/">CORE</A> News Site.  
Somewhere along the early stages of
his life he picked up a pencil and started drawing on the wallpaper.  Now
his cartoons appear 5 days a week on-line, go figure. He confesses to
owning a Mac but swears it is for "personal use".</EM>

<!-- *** END bio *** -->

<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
<P> <hr> <!-- P --> 
<H5 ALIGN=center>

Copyright &copy; 2002, Jon "Sir Flakey" Harsem.<BR>
Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR> 
Published in Issue 74 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, January 2002</H5>
<!-- *** END copyright *** -->


<H4 ALIGN="center">
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>

<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--===================================================================-->

<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">Writing Documentation, Part II: LaTeX with latex2html</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:cspiel@hammersmith-consulting.com">Christoph Spiel</a></H4>
</center>
<P> <HR> <P>  

<!-- END header -->




<h3><a name="latex">LaTeX</a></h3>

<p>Let me first define what LaTeX is and what its primary goals are. LaTeX is
a huge add-on macro package for the TeX typesetting system developed by
Prof.&nbsp;Donald&nbsp;E.&nbsp;Knuth. If we are not overly picky, we mean
``TeX plus all LaTeX macros'' when we say ``LaTeX system'' or just ``LaTeX''.
LaTeX itself was written by Leslie Lamport, who found TeX to be very powerful,
but too difficult for everyday use. Therefore he modeled LaTeX after the
Scribe system. Scribe puts its emphasis on the logical structure of a document
instead of the physical markup. (For those readers proficient in HTML
tag&nbsp;<code>&lt;em&gt;</code> is an example logical markup and tab&nbsp;
<code>&lt;i&gt;</code> is the corresponding physical markup.)</p>

<p>LaTeX -- as plain TeX -- allows a normal computer user to
typeset documents with production-ready quality. It has been intended that a
LaTeX author prepares articles or even books on her local computer, then walk
over to the printer shop with a diskette to have the document printed on a
high-resolution phototypesetter, and finally have it bound as a book (...
shipped off the book to all bookstores in the alpha-quadrant, make millions
from it, and two years later win the Intergalactic Pulitzer Prize. -- OK, this
is a bit of a stretch).</p>

<p>In the next sections I will introduce very briefly to LaTeX, but I would
like to recommend the <em>Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX</em> to everyone
who wants to learn LaTeX. The 95-pages document is available for free on the
Net. Please see ``<a href="#further reading">Further Reading</a>'' for
details.</p>

<p>LaTeX gets installed by most current Linux distributions. You can check
whether it is available on your machine by asking</p>

<pre>
    latex --version
</pre>

<p>at the command line. My system responds with</p>

<pre>
    TeX (Web2C 7.3.1) 3.14159
    kpathsea version 3.3.1
    Copyright (C) 1999 D.E. Knuth.
    Kpathsea is copyright (C) 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
    There is NO warranty.  Redistribution of this software is
    covered by the terms of both the TeX copyright and
    the GNU General Public License.
    For more information about these matters, see the files
    named COPYING and the TeX source.
    Primary author of TeX: D.E. Knuth.
    Kpathsea written by Karl Berry and others.
</pre>

<h4><a name="overall document structure">Overall Document Structure</a></h4>

<p>Here is an example of a very short, yet complete LaTeX document:</p>

<pre>
    \documentclass{article}
    % preamble
</pre>

<pre>
    \pagestyle{empty}
</pre>

<pre>
    \begin{document}
    % body
    Here comes the text.
    \end{document}
</pre>

<p>Every LaTeX document consists of a preamble and a body. The preamble
reaches from the definition of the document's class, <code>
\documentclass[</code><em>options</em><code>]</code>{<em>class</em><code>}</code>,
up to, but excluding <code>\begin{document}</code>. The body is everything
from <code>\begin{document}</code> to <code>\end{document}</code>.</p>

<p>The preamble in the example features only one command, <code>
\pagestyle{empty}</code>, which instructs LaTeX to omit all page decorations
such as running heads or page numbers. The percent signs introduce comments
that extend to the ends of the respective lines.</p>

<h4><a name="syntax">Syntax</a></h4>

<dl>
<dt><strong><a name="item_Paragraphs">Paragraphs</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>Paragraphs are separated by one or more blank lines. The number of blank
lines does not influence the output; one is as good as many. The same holds
true for spaces (which separate words, but didn't you know that?): one hundred
spaces produce the same output as a single space. Newlines, this is
line-terminators, are counted as spaces, so are tabulator characters. 

<p>If we apply these simple rules to the three different versions of two
paragraphs that follow, we conclude that they all will be typeset the same. I
have added line numbers at the beginning of each line to point out empty
lines, which separate the paragraphs. The numbers are not part of the
text.</p>

<dl>
<dt><strong><a name="item_Version_A">Version A</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>
<pre>
    1    I am a short sentence in the first paragraph.
    2
    3    I'm the only sentence in the second paragraph.
</pre>
</dd>

<dt><strong><a name="item_Version_B">Version B</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>
<pre>
    1    I am a short sentence
    2    in the first paragraph.
    3
    4    I'm the
    5    only sentence
    6    in the second
    7    paragraph.
</pre>
</dd>

<dt><strong><a name="item_Version_C">Version C</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>
<pre>
    1    I   am   a   short    sentence   in   the  first paragraph.
    2
    3
    4    I'm the only sentence
    5        in the
    6            second paragraph.
</pre>
</dd>
</dl>
</dd>

<dt><strong><a name="item_Special_Characters">Special
Characters</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>Most non-alphanumeric characters carry a special meaning inside LaTeX.
This is one of the features that appalls LaTeX beginners. However, after some
time, the user is alert of their particular behavior. 

<p>I have collected the few most important special characters along with the
ways how to insert them literally into a text.</p>

<dl>
<dt><strong><a name="item_%5C">\</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>Introduce a command, like ``<code>\dots</code>'' or ``<code>\/</code>''. 

<p>Note that ``<code>\\</code>'' does not insert a single backslash character
into the text as many C-programmers might assume right now. The control
sequence&nbsp;``<code>\\</code>'' inserts a line break, whereas a literal
backslash is produced by ``<code>$\backslash$</code>''. To maximize the
confusion, ``<code>\&nbsp;</code> ''--this is a backslash followed by a blank 
space--is a command, too! It inserts a so-called control space, a space (more
precisely: exactly one space) that is never eaten up like ordinary spaces as
explained in section <a href="#item_paragraphs">``Paragraphs''</a>.</p>
</dd>

<dt><strong><a name="item_%7B%7D">{}</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>Group arguments together. 

<p>You get literal curly braces by quoting them with a backslash like this
``<code>\{</code>'' and ``<code>\}</code>''.</p>
</dd>

<dt><strong><a name="item_%25">%</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>Start a comment that reaches to the end of the line. 

<p>Comments extend up to and include the newline character at the end of a
line. Thus LaTeX comments differ from one-line comments in all general
programming languages, as those exclude the newline character. For the user
this means, he can mask a newline by ending a line with a comment.</p>

<pre>
    Hessenberg-%
    Triangular % &lt;- note space directly in front of the %-sign
    Reduction
</pre>

<p>is equivalent to</p>

<pre>
    Hessenberg-Triangular Reduction
</pre>

<p>To typeset a literal percent sign, use ``<code>\%</code>''.</p>
</dd>

<dt><strong><a name="item_%7E">~</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>Make an unbreakable space, like ``&amp;nbsp;'' in HTML.</dd>

<dt><strong><a name="item_%24math%24">$<em>math</em>$</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>Switch to math mode and back. 

<p>The sequence&nbsp;<em>math</em> is typeset inline in mathematical
typesetting mode. To get a literal dollar sign, use ``<code>\$</code>''.</p>
</dd>
</dl>

<p>The following table summarizes all ASCII characters that are treated
specially by LaTeX.  The rightmost column of the table suggests one or
more possible equivalent sequences to get the plain ASCII character into
the text.  As can be guessed from the entries for caret and twiddle,
<code>\char</code><em>code_number</em> inserts the ASCII character with
the decimal index&nbsp;<em>code_number</em> into a document.</p>

<BLOCKQUOTE>
    <CITE>
        ASCII characters that are special for LaTeX.  The right column
        denotes the strings (in LaTeX) which produce the ASCII
        characters in the middle column.
    </CITE>
</BLOCKQUOTE>

<table align="center" border="1" summary="The table provides a
conversion from ASCII characters to LaTeX.">

    <tr align="center">
        <th>Name</th>
        <th>ASCII</th>
        <th>LaTeX</th>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td>sharp</td>
        <td><code>#</code></td>
        <td><code>\#</code></td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td>dollar</td>
        <td><code>$</code></td>
        <td><code>\$</code></td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td>percent</td>
        <td><code>%</code></td>
        <td><code>\%</code></td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td>ampersand</td>
        <td><code>&amp;</code></td>
        <td><code>\&amp;</code></td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td>multiplication sign</td>
        <td><code>*</code></td>
        <td><code>*</code> or <code>$*$</code></td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td>minus sign</td>
        <td><code>-</code></td>
        <td><code>$-$</code></td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td>less-than sign</td>
        <td><code>&lt;</code></td>
        <td><code>$&lt;$</code></td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td>greater-than sign</td>
        <td><code>&gt;</code></td>
        <td><code>$&gt;$</code></td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td>backslash</td>
        <td><code>\</code></td>
        <td><code>$\backslash$</code></td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td>caret</td>
        <td><code>^</code></td>
        <td><code>\char94</code></td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td>underscore</td>
        <td><code>_</code></td>
        <td><code>\_</code></td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td>curly braces</td>
        <td><code>{</code>, <code>}</code></td>
        <td><code>\{</code>, <code>\}</code></td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td>vertical bar</td>
        <td><code>|</code></td>
        <td><code>$|$</code></td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td>twiddle</td>
        <td><code>~</code></td>
        <td><code>\char126</code></td>
    </tr>
</table>
</dd>

<dt><strong><a name="item_Commands">Commands</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>LaTeX commands usually start with a backslash
character&nbsp;``<code>\</code>'' and either extend from the backslash to the
next non-letter character (kind&nbsp;1) or consist of exactly one
non-alphanumeric character (kind&nbsp;2). So ``<code>\raggedleft</code>'' and
``<code>\makebox</code>'' are commands of kind&nbsp;1 whereas
``<code>\\</code>'' and ``<code>\"</code>'' are commands of kind&nbsp;2.
Arguments are passed to commands within curly braces&nbsp;``{'',&nbsp;``}''.
Empty arguments can be omitted. 

<p>Examples:</p>

<pre>
    \raggedleft{}                      % no argument
    \raggedleft                        % same as above
</pre>

<pre>
    \makebox{Text inside of a box.}    % single argument
</pre>

<pre>
    \parbox{160pt}{This text is
    typeset inside of a box.}          % two arguments
</pre>

<p>The number of arguments passed to a command is fixed. However, some
commands accept optional parameters. These are passed within square brackets
(``<code>[</code>'', ``<code>]</code>'') and usually precede the arguments
just as the options precede the arguments in most UN*X utility programs.</p>

<p>Example:</p>

<pre>
    \parbox[t]{10cm}{I am a top-aligned
    paragraph.} % one option, two arguments
</pre>

<p>Here <code>t</code> is the optional parameter.</p>

<p>Spaces that follow a type&nbsp;1 command name without arguments (like the
second ``<code>\raggedleft</code>'' above) are ``eaten''; they are not passed
on to the output.</p>
</dd>

<dt><strong><a name="item_Environments">Environments</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>Environments are pairs in the form 

<p><code>\begin{</code><em>environment</em><code>}</code></p>

<p><em>Text within the environment.</em></p>

<p><code>\end{</code><em>environment</em><code>}</code></p>

<p>An environment changes the appearance of the text within it. Environments
control the alignment, the width of the margins and many other things. Some
predefined environments are: <code>center</code>, <code>description</code>,
<code>enumerate</code>, <code>flushleft</code>, <code>flushright</code>,
<code>itemize</code>, <code>list</code>, <code>minipage</code>, <code>
quotation</code>, <code>quote</code>, <code>tabbing</code>, <code>
table</code>, <code>tabular</code>, <code>verbatim</code>, and <code>
verse</code>.</p>

<p>Environments do nest. For example, to get a quotation typeset flush against
the right margin, use the <code>flushright</code> environment and the <code>
quotation</code> environment.</p>

<pre>
    \begin{flushright}
        \begin{quotation}
            Letters are things,     \\
            not pictures of things. \\
            -- Eric Gill
        \end{quotation}
    \end{flushright}
</pre>

<p>An environment only affects text inside of it; it encapsulates all changes,
like a different indentation occurring within the environment. (Well -- unless
you happen to change a global variable, but I won't tell you how to do that,
so you're safe.)</p>
</dd>
</dl>

<h4><a name="sectioning">Sectioning</a></h4>

<p>LaTeX knows three or four heading levels depending on the <em>
documentclass</em>. Class <code>article</code> has three section levels,
whereas classes&nbsp;<code>book</code> and <code>report</code> feature
chapters as a fourth and topmost heading level.</p>

<p><code>\chapter{</code><em>heading</em><code>}</code> % only for class
<code>book</code> and <code>report</code></p>

<p><code>\section{</code><em>heading</em><code>}</code></p>

<p><code>\subsection{</code><em>heading</em><code>}</code></p>

<p><code>\subsubsection{</code><em>heading</em><code>}</code></p>

<p>Note that as in POD, discussed in <a href= 
"http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue73/spiel.html">Part&nbsp;I</a>, sectioning
commands act as separators. They do not group together text with a start
marker and an end marker, but their mere appearance groups the text. This will
be different in DocBook, as I shall show in next month's article.</p>

<h4><a name="lists">Lists</a></h4>

<p>LaTeX ships with three kinds of list-generating environments:</p>

<ul>
<li>itemized lists (sometimes also called ``bulleted lists''),</li>

<li>enumerated lists, and</li>

<li>description lists.</li>
</ul>

<p>They correspond to unnumbered lists, numbered lists, and definition lists
in HTML, or <code>=item *</code>, <code>=item 1</code>, <code>
=item</code>&nbsp;<em>term</em> lists in POD.</p>

<p>The items themselves are introduced with ``<code>\item</code>''. An item
can consist of more than one paragraph.</p>

<p>For description lists the optional parameter given to
``<code>\item</code>'' as in
``<code>\item[</code><em>term</em><code>]</code>'' specifies the <em>
term</em>. The text following
``<code>\item[</code><em>term</em><code>]</code>'' is <em>term</em>'s
definition.</p>

<p>Examples:</p>

<dl>
<dt><strong><a name="item_Itemized_List">Itemized List</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>
<pre>
    What emacs can do for you:
    \begin{itemize}
        \item Cut and paste blocks of text
        \item Fill or justify paragraphs
        \item Spell check documents
    \end{itemize}
</pre>
</dd>

<dt><strong><a name="item_Enumerated_List">Enumerated List</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>
<pre>
    Starting emacs for the first time
    \begin{enumerate}
        \item Start emacs from the command line:
</pre>

<pre>
        \texttt{\$ emacs}
</pre>

<pre>
        emacs will show you its startup screen and soon switch to a
        buffer called \texttt{*scratch*}.
</pre>

<pre>
        \item Hold down the Control~key and press~H.  You see a prompt
        at the bottom of the screen (or emacs window).
</pre>

<pre>
        \texttt{C-h (Type ? for further options)-}
</pre>

<pre>
        \item Press~T to start the emacs tutorial.
    \end{enumerate}
</pre>
</dd>

<dt><strong><a name="item_Description_List">Description List</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>
<pre>
    Some emacs commands:
    \begin{description}
        \item[C-x C-c] Quit emacs.
        \item[C-x f] Open a file.
        \item[C-x r k]
            Kill rectangle defined by mark and point, this is, by the
            active region.
    \end{description}
</pre>
</dd>
</dl>

<h4><a name="crossreferences">Cross-References</a></h4>

<p>All cross references need two parts: a pointer (the link) and a pointee
(the anchor). Anchors in LaTeX are inserted with <code>
\label{</code><em>anchor-name</em><code>}</code>. Every anchor is located in a
particular section and on a particular page. These two pieces of information
are retrieved with <code>\ref{</code><em>anchor-name</em><code>}</code> and
<code>\pageref{</code><em>anchor-name</em><code>}</code> at any place in the
document.</p>

<p>Example use of <code>\ref</code>:</p>

<pre>
    \section{Setup}\label{section:setup}
    ...
</pre>

<pre>
    \section{Summary}\label{section:summary}
    As has been pointed out in section~\ref{section:setup} `Setup', ...
</pre>

<p>Example use of <code>\pageref</code>:</p>

<pre>
    \section{Setup}\label{section:setup}
    The steel used in the sample chamber is alloyed with Ti (0.5\%),
    Cr (0.1\%), and Mn (0.1\%).\label{definition:chamber-alloy}
</pre>

<pre>
    \section{Experiments}\label{section:experiments}
    For sample chamber is made of stainless steel (see
    page~\pageref{definition:chamber-alloy} for the exact
    metallurgical composition), ...
</pre>

<h4><a name="defining your own commands and environments">Defining Your Own
Commands and Environments</a></h4>

<p>One of the major advantages of the LaTeX typesetting system is to allow the
user to define her own commands and environments. Say you want to mark up all
replaceable parameters in the description of a UN*X utility, like in</p>

<pre>
    cd directory
</pre>

<p>to be rendered as, for example,</p>

<p><strong>cd</strong>&nbsp;<em>directory</em></p>

<p>Here, <code>cd</code> is the utility's name, and <code>directory</code> is
the replaceable parameter.</p>

<p>Often utility names are typeset in bold face, and replaceable parameters in
italics. Thus, a good solution would be to write</p>

<pre>
    \utilityname{cd} \replaceable{directory}
</pre>

<p>where <code>\utilityname</code> and <code>\replaceable</code> switch fonts
to bold face and italics respectively. With the help of <code>
\utilityname</code> and <code>\replaceable</code> we can consistently mark up
further command lines:</p>

<pre>
    \utilityname{pushd} \replaceable{directory}
    \utilityname{ls} \replaceable{filename}
</pre>

<p>To define a new LaTeX command, use</p>

<p><code>
\newcommand{</code><em>command-name</em><code>}[</code><em>number-of-arguments</em><code>
]{</code><em>command-sequence</em><code>}</code></p>

<p>where <em>command-name</em> is the new command's name, <em>
number-of-arguments</em> is the number of arguments the new command takes (it
defaults to 0 if omitted), and <em>command-sequence</em> are the LaTeX
commands to execute when <em>command-name</em> is called.</p>

<p>For our example, define <code>\utilityname</code> and <code>
\replaceable</code> as:</p>

<pre>
    \newcommand{\utilityname}[1]{\textbf{#1}}
    \newcommand{\replaceable}[1]{\textit{#1}}
</pre>

<p>The predefined commands <code>\textbf</code> and <code>\textit</code>
switch fonts to text bold face (in contrary to math bold face) and text
italic. Arguments are referred to by <code>#</code><em>digit</em>, where <em>
digit</em> takes on values from 1 to 9.</p>

<p>To give you an impression of the usefulness of our newly defined commands,
suppose we would like to generate an index entry for each utility that is
mentioned in the text. Command <code>\index{</code><em>term</em><code>}</code>
puts <em>term</em> in the index. We only need to modify the definition of
<code>\utilityname</code> to</p>

<pre>
    \newcommand{\utilityname}[1]{\textbf{#1}\index{#1}}
</pre>

<p>and are done. (For the curious: index levels are separated with vertical
bars. So, we probably would prefer <code>\index{utility|#1}</code> as it
neatly groups all utilities together. See the documentation of <strong>
makeindex</strong> for details.)</p>

<p>New environments are defined with</p>

<p><code>
\newenvironment{</code><em>environment-name</em><code>}[</code><em>number-of-arguments</em><code>
]{</code><em>starting-sequence</em><code>}{</code><em>ending-sequence</em><code>
}</code></p>

<p>the only difference being that <code>\newenvironment</code> requires two
command sequences: one to open the environment, <em>starting-sequence</em>,
and one to close it, <em>ending-sequence</em>. Continuing the example of a
quotation typeset flush left against the page's margin, we define our own own
quotation environment:</p>

<pre>
    \newenvironment{myquotation}% Note: "%" masks newline
    {\begin{flushright}\begin{quotation}}%
    {\end{quotation}\end{flushright}}
</pre>

<p>which is then used like this:</p>

<pre>
    \begin{myquotation}
        Letters are things,     \\
        not pictures of things. \\
        -- Eric Gill
    \end{myquotation}
</pre>

<p>Neither commands, nor environments can be defined multiple times with
<code>\newcommand</code> or <code>\newenvironment</code>. These commands only
serve first time definition. Redefinitions are done with <code>
\renewcommand</code> and <code>\renewenvironment</code>, which take on the
same arguments as their first-time cousins.</p>

<h4><a name="inline markup">Inline Markup</a></h4>

<p>LaTeX offers an extremely rich set of inline markup. I restrict the
discussion to the same three inline markup changes which I discussed for
Perl's plain old documentation format: emphasis, italics, bold face, and
typewrite (code) font.</p>

<dl>
<dt><strong><a name="item_Emphasis_and_Italics">Emphasis and
Italics</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd><code>\textit{</code><em>argument</em><code>}</code> -- Typeset <em>
argument</em> in text italics. 

<p><code>\emph{</code><em>argument</em><code>}</code> -- Emphasize <em>
argument</em>. The default configuration switches to and from italics
depending on the current font setting. If the current font is upright, <code>
\emph</code> uses italics; if the current font is italics, it uses an upright
font. This way the emphasized parts of text always stand out.</p>

<p>Why have <code>\textit</code> and at the same time <code>\emph</code>?  The
commands express different requests.  <code>\textit</code> unconditionally
demands the argument to be typeset using an italics font.  Period.
<code>\emph</code> on the other hand asks for emphasizing its argument, however
the emphasizing may look like.  The default uses an italics font as explained
above, but <code>\emph</code> can be redefined to use a bold font, underlining,
or anything else the writer imagines for her preferred method of emphasizing.
The command name <code>emph</code> always catches the concept of emphasis and
hides the implementation.</p>
</dd>

<dt><strong><a name="item_Bold_Face">Bold Face</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd><code>\textbf{</code><em>argument</em><code>}</code> -- Typeset <em>
argument</em> in text bold face. 

<p>Based on <code>\textbf</code>, we can define our own logical markup
commands, like for example</p>

<pre>
    \newcommand{\important}[1]{\textbf{#1}}
</pre>
</dd>

<dt><strong><a name="item_Typewriter_Font">Typewriter Font</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd><code>\texttt{</code><em>argument</em><code>}</code> -- Typeset <em>
argument</em> in text typewriter font. 

<p>As with <code>\textbf</code>, <code>\texttt</code> can be wrapped into
user-defined commands:</p>

<pre>
    \newcommand{\sourcecode}[1]{\texttt{#1}}
</pre>
</dd>
</dl>

<h4><a name="latex tool chain">LaTeX Tool Chain</a></h4>

<p>LaTeX files usually carry the extension&nbsp;<em>tex</em>. LaTeX translates
these <em>tex</em>-files into so called device independent (<em>dvi</em>)
files. <em>dvi</em> files are a binary representation of the source. They can
be previewed to <strong>dvisvga</strong> on the console (given the terminal
supports high-resolution graphics), or, for example, <strong>xdvi</strong>
under the X11 windowing system. Often <em>dvi</em> files are converted to
Postscript with the <strong>dvips</strong> tool. If Portable Document Format
is desired, <strong>pdflatex</strong> transforms <em>tex</em> files into <em>
pdf</em> files in a single step.</p>

<h3><a name="latex2html">latex2html</a></h3>

<p>So far so good. LaTeX makes wonderfully looking Postscript documents, and
its <em>pdf</em> sibling does the same, but outputs Portable Document Format
files. Didn't we say we want HTML, too? Sure, we did! But LaTeX cannot help us
here; we need another tool: <strong>latex2html</strong>. This tool transforms
a LaTeX source file into a set of html files that are properly linked together
according to the source file's structure.</p>

<p>latex2html has a home page at <a href="http://www.latex2html.org">
http://www.latex2html.org</a> where it is available for download. It can also
be obtained from <a href="http://www.ctan.org">http://www.ctan.org</a> or
better one of its many mirrors. To see whether it is installed on your Linux
system, try</p>

<pre>
    latex2html --version
</pre>

<p>and you should get an answer like</p>

<pre>
    This is LaTeX2HTML Version 2K.1beta (1.57)
    by Nikos Drakos, Computer Based Learning Unit, University of Leeds.
</pre>

<p>What do I have to change to make my LaTeX document translatable with
latex2html? -- Good news: almost nothing! Just ensure that the packages <code>
html</code> and <code>makeindex</code> are referenced in the document's
preamble, this is, at least add</p>

<pre>
    \usepackage{html,makeidx}
</pre>

<p>to it. Now file&nbsp;<em>my_document.tex</em> can be translated to HTML
with the call</p>

<pre>
    latex2html my_document.tex
</pre>

<h4><a name="references revisited">References Revisited</a></h4>

<p>latex2html takes care of almost all issues that arise when a LaTeX file is
translated into a set of html files. However, references to other parts in the
document or other documents are conceptually different in printed
documentation and HTML. Consider the LaTeX snippet</p>

<pre>
    In the following, we summarize the findings
    using a cylindrical coordinate system.  See
    page~\pageref{definition:coordinate-system}
    for the definition of the coordinate system.
</pre>

<p>where LaTeX dutifully replaces <code>
\pageref{definition:coordinate-system}</code> with the page number on which
<code>\label{definition:coordinate-system}</code>, the anchor of the page
reference, occurs. Where is the problem? First, a set of html pages does not
have a rigid notion of a ``page&nbsp;number''. Second, latex2html does replace
<code>\pageref{definition:coordinate-system}</code> with a hyper-link to the
spot where <code>\label{definition:coordinate-system}</code> is rendered. The
link is a dark square for graphical browser or the marker ``<code>[*]</code>''
for text browsers. But the whole construct looks awkward -- almost distracting
and this is not latex2html's fault:</p>

<blockquote>In the following, we will summarize the findings using a
cylindrical coordinate system. See page&nbsp;<a href="#hyperreferences">
[*]</a> for the definition of the coordinate system.</blockquote>

<p>Latex2html needs our help! The paragraph, which contains the reference,
ought to be rephrased for the on-screen version, for example to:</p>

<pre>
    In the following, we will summarize the
    findings using a &lt;a&gt;cylindrical coordinate
    system&lt;/a&gt;.
</pre>

<p>where I have indicated the hyperlink with HTML anchor tags. To allow for
two different versions depending on the output format, latex2html defines the
<code>\hyperref</code> command.</p>

<p><code>\hyperref[</code><em>reference-type</em><code>]{</code><em>text for
html version</em><code>}{</code><em>pre-reference text for LaTeX
version</em><code>}{</code><em>post-reference text for LaTeX
version</em><code>}</code></p>

<p>The optional parameter&nbsp;<em>reference-type</em> selects the counter the
reference refers to:</p>

<dl>
<dt><strong><a name="item_%22ref%22">``<code>ref</code>''</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>Cross reference to a section number like <code>\ref</code> does. The
reference text is the section number (``4'', ``1.5.2'', ``3.4.2.1'',
etc.).</dd>

<dt><strong><a name="item_%22page%22_or_%22pageref%22">``<code>page</code>''
or ``<code>pageref</code>''</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>Reference to a page number like <code>\pageref</code> does. The reference
text is a page number (``25'', ``xxiii'', etc.).</dd>
</dl>

<p>Rewritten with <code>\hyperref</code> our example looks like this</p>

<pre>
    In the following, we will summarize the
    findings using a \hyperref[pageref]%
    {cylindrical coordinate system}% for HTML
    {cylindrical coordinate system.  See page~}% for LaTeX
    { for the definition of the coordinate system}% trailing text for LaTeX
    {definition:coordinate-system}.% label the reference refers to
</pre>

<p>LaTeX renders it to</p>

<blockquote>In the following, we will summarize the findings using a
cylindrical coordinate system. See page&nbsp;97 for the definition of the
coordinate system.</blockquote>

<p>and latex2html produces</p>

<blockquote>In the following, we will summarize the findings using a <a href= 
"#hyperreferences">cylindrical coordinate system</a>.</blockquote>

<p>from it.</p>

<h4><a name="hyperlinks">Hyperlinks</a></h4>

<p>A problem related to the one we have just encountered with references
happens when hyperlinks come into play. In the HTML version of the document
hyperlinks are essential; in the printed version, they are of little use:
Compare ``Click here'' with ``Press your pencil against this letter''?
Sometimes, however, the author really wants to include the target of the
hyperlink, an universal resource locator (URL), in the printed text.
latex2html defines two commands that exactly cater these needs.</p>

<p><code>\htmladdnormallink{</code><em>link
text</em><code>}{</code><em>universal resource locator</em><code>}</code></p>

<p><code>\htmladdnormallinkfoot{</code><em>link
text</em><code>}{</code><em>universal resource locator</em><code>}</code></p>

<p>Both commands generate the hyperlink &lt;a href = "<em>universal resource
locator</em>"&gt;<em>link text</em>&lt;/a&gt; in the HTML version. The first
only renders <em>link text</em> in the LaTeX version, suppressing <em>
universal resource locator</em> completely. The second adds a footnote
containing <em>universal resource locator</em>. The typical usage of these
commands is</p>

<blockquote>The text of this article can be downloaded from our
\htmladdnormallink{web site}{http://www.linux-gazette.org}.</blockquote>

<p>and</p>

<blockquote>The text of this article can be downloaded from our
\htmladdnormallinkfoot{web site}{http://www.linux-gazette.org}.</blockquote>

<p>where the LaTeX result of the first looks like this</p>

<blockquote>The text of this article can be downloaded from our web
site.</blockquote>

<p>for the second <code>web site</code> gets a footnote marker and a footnote
with the URL is placed at the bottom of the page. The HTML output will show up
both times as</p>

<blockquote>The text of this article can be downloaded from our <a href= 
"http://www.linux-gazette.org">web site</a>.</blockquote>

<h4><a name="format specific commands">Format Specific Commands</a></h4>

<p>As a last resort several commands and environments enable the writer to
divert her text between LaTeX and HTML versions of the document:</p>

<ul>
<li><code>\latex{</code><em>short text for LaTeX only</em><code>}</code></li>

<li><code>\html{</code><em>short text for HTML only</em><code>}</code></li>

<li><code>\latexhtml{</code><em>short text for LaTeX only</em> <code>
}{</code><em>short text for HTML only</em><code>}</code></li>

<li><code>\begin{latexonly}</code> <em>text for LaTeX only</em> <code>
\end{latexonly}</code></li>

<li><code>\begin{htmlonly}</code> <em>text for HTML only</em> <code>
\end{htmlonly}</code></li>
</ul>

<p>I recommend to use diversion of output only if no more specialized
latex2html command or environment can produce the desired markup, for
splitting always requires to keep both branches in sync.</p>

<h3><a name="pros and cons">latex2html Pros and Cons</a></h3>

<dl>
<dt><strong><a name="item_Pros">Pros</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>
<ul>
<li>Completely configurable through user-defined LaTeX commands and
environments</li>

<li>Extremely high-quality printed output</li>

<li>Handles tables and graphics (not shown in this article)</li>
</ul>
</dd>

<dt><strong><a name="item_Cons">Cons</a></strong><br>
</dt>

<dd>
<ul>
<li>``Impedance mismatch'' between LaTeX and HTML not completely compensated
by latex2html</li>

<li>Flat learning curve of LaTeX</li>
</ul>
</dd>
</dl>

<h3><a name="further reading">Further Reading</a></h3>

<ul>
<li>Tobias Oetiker, Hubert Partl, Irene Hyna, and Elisabeth Schlegl, <em>The
Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX</em>. Search for <code>lshort</code> on
your local Linux system, or use the search facilities at 
<A HREF="http://www.ctan.org/">www.ctan.org</A> for find
a mirror close to you.</li>

<li>Leslie Lamport, <em>LaTeX -- User's Guide and Reference Manual</em>,
Addison Wesley.</li>

<li>Donald E. Knuth, <em>The TeXbook</em>, Addison Wesley.</li>

<li>If you are lucky, your LaTeX comes bundled with a hypertext help pages,
<em>Hypertext Help with LaTeX</em>. My S.u.S.E. distribution has the entry
point installed at file:///usr/share/texmf/doc/latex/latex2e-html/ltx-2.html 

<p>For a beginner the hypertext pages can neither replace the <em>Short
Introduction</em>, nor Lamport's book. For the intermediate LaTeX user,
however, they are a valuable help in case printed documentation is out of
reach.</p>
</li>
</ul>

<p>Next month: DocBook</p>





<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->
<SPACER TYPE="vertical" SIZE="30">
<P> 
<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Christoph Spiel</H4>
<EM>Chris runs an Open Source Software consulting company in Upper Bavaria, Germany.
Despite being trained as a physicist -- he holds a PhD in physics from Munich
University of Technology -- his main interests revolve around numerics,
heterogenous programming environments, and software engineering.  He can be
reached at 
<A HREF="mailto:cspiel@hammersmith-consulting.com">cspiel@hammersmith-consulting.com</A>.</EM>

<!-- *** END bio *** -->

<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
<P> <hr> <!-- P --> 
<H5 ALIGN=center>

Copyright &copy; 2002, Christoph Spiel.<BR>
Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR> 
Published in Issue 74 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, January 2002</H5>
<!-- *** END copyright *** -->


<H4 ALIGN="center">
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>

<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--===================================================================-->

<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">Linux Socket Programming In C++</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:rtougher@yahoo.com">Rob Tougher</a></H4>
</center>
<P> <HR> <P>  

<!-- END header -->




<h2>Contents</h2>

<dl>
<dt><a href=#1>1. Introduction</a>
<dt><a href=#2>2. Overview of Client-Server Communications</a>
<dt><a href=#3>3. Implementing a Simple Server and Client</a>
<dd><a href=#3.1>3.1 Server - establishing a listening socket</a>
<dd><a href=#3.2>3.2 Client - connecting to the server</a>
<dd><a href=#3.3>3.3 Server - Accepting the client's connection attempt</a>
<dd><a href=#3.4>3.4 Client and Server - sending and receiving data</a>
<dt><a href=#4>4 Compiling and Testing Our Client and Server</a>
<dd><a href=#4.1>4.1 File list</a>
<dd><a href=#4.2>4.2 Compile and test</a>
<dt><a href=#5>5. Conclusion</a>
</dl>


<h2>1. Introduction</h2>
<a name=1></a>

<p>
Sockets are a mechanism for exchanging data between processes.
These processes can either be on the same machine, or on different machines
connected via a network. Once a socket connection is established, data
can be sent in both directions until one of the endpoints closes the
connection.
</p>

<p>
I needed to use sockets for a project I was working on, so I developed and refined
a few C++ classes to encapsulate the raw socket API calls. Generally, the 
application requesting the data is called the client, and the application
 servicing the request is called the server.
I created two primary classes, <b>ClientSocket</b> and <b>ServerSocket</b>, that the client
and server could use to exchange data.
</p>


<p>
The goal of this article is to teach you how to use the <b>ClientSocket</b> and <b>ServerSocket</b>
classes in your own applications. We will first briefly discuss client-server communications,
and then we will develop a simple example server and client that utilize these two classes.
</p>


<h2>2. Overview of Client-Server Communications</h2>
<a name=2></a>

<p>
Before we go jumping into code, we should briefly go over the set of steps
in a typical client-server connection. The following table outlines these steps:
</p>


<table width="400" cols=2 border=1>

<tr>
<td><b>Server</b></td>
<td><b>Client</b></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>1. Establish a listening socket and wait for connections from clients.</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>2. Create a client socket and attempt to connect to server.</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>3. Accept the client's connection attempt.</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
</tr>


<tr>
<td>4. Send and receive data.</td>
<td>4. Send and receive data.</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>5. Close the connection.</td>
<td>5. Close the connection.</td>
</tr>


</table>

<p>
That's basically it. First, the server creates a listening socket, and
waits for connection attempts from clients. The client creates a socket
on its side, and attempts to connect with the server. The server then
accepts the connection, and data exchange can begin. Once all data
has been passed through the socket connection, either endpoint can close
the connection.
</p>

<h2>3. Implementing a Simple Server and Client</h2>
<a name=3></a>

<p>
Now its time to dig into the code. In the following section we will create both a
client and a server that perform all of the steps outlined above in the overview.
We will implement these operations in the order they typically happen - i.e. first
we'll create the server portion that listens to the socket, next we'll create the
client portion that connects to the server, and so on. All of the code in this 
section can be found in <a href="misc/tougher/simple_server_main.cpp.txt">
simple_server_main.cpp</a> and
 <a href="misc/tougher/simple_client_main.cpp.txt">simple_client_main.cpp</a>.
</p>


If you would rather just examine and experiment with the source code yourself, jump to 
<a href=#4>this section</a>. It lists the files in the project, 
and discusses how to compile and test them.



<h3>3.1 Server - establishing a listening socket</h3>
<a name=3.1></a>

<p>
The first thing we need to do is create a simple server that listens
for incoming requests from clients. Here is the code required to
establish a server socket:
</p>


listing 1 : creating a server socket ( part of <a href="misc/tougher/simple_server_main.cpp.txt">
simple_server_main.cpp</a> )
<div class=listing>

<pre>
#include "ServerSocket.h"
#include "SocketException.h"
#include &lt;string&gt;

int main ( int argc, int argv[] )
{
  try
    {
      <b>// Create the server socket
      ServerSocket server ( 30000 );</b>

      // rest of code -
      // accept connection, handle request, etc...

    }
  catch ( SocketException& e )
    {
      std::cout << "Exception was caught:" << e.description() << "\nExiting.\n";
    }

  return 0;
}


</pre>

</div>


<p>
That's all there is to it. The constructor for the <b>ServerSocket</b> class
calls the necessary socket APIs to set up the listener socket. It hides the details
from you, so all you have to do is create an instance of this class to begin listening
on a local port.
</p>

<p>
Notice the try/catch block. The <b>ServerSocket</b> and  <b>ClientSocket</b> 
classes use the exception-handling feature of C++. 
If a class method fails for any reason, it throws an exception 
of type <b>SocketException</b>, which is defined in 
<a href="misc/tougher/SocketException.h.txt">SocketException.h</a>. 
Not handling this exception results in program
termination, so it is best to handle it. You can get the text of the error by calling 
<b>SocketException</b>'s <b>description()</b> method as shown above.
</p>



<h3>3.2 Client - connecting to the server</h3>
<a name=3.2></a>

<p>
The second step in a typical client-server connection is the client's 
responsibility - to attempt to connect to the server. This code is similar to the server
code you just saw:
</p>


listing 2 : creating a client socket ( part of <a href="misc/tougher/simple_client_main.cpp.txt">
simple_client_main.cpp</a> )
<div class=listing>
<pre>
#include "ClientSocket.h"
#include "SocketException.h"
#include &lt;iostream&gt;
#include &lt;string&gt;

int main ( int argc, int argv[] )
{
  try
    {
      <b>// Create the client socket
      ClientSocket client_socket ( "localhost", 30000 );</b>

      // rest of code -
      // send request, retrieve reply, etc...

    }
  catch ( SocketException& e )
    {
      std::cout << "Exception was caught:" << e.description() << "\n";
    }

  return 0;
}


</pre>
</div>


<p>
By simply creating an instance of the <b>ClientSocket</b> class, you create
a linux socket, and connect it to the host and port you pass to the constructor.
Like the <b>ServerSocket</b> class, if the constructor fails for any reason, an exception is thrown.
</p>

<h3>3.3 Server - accepting the client's connection attempt</h3>
<a name=3.3></a>

<p>
The next step of the client-server connection occurs within the server. It is the
responsibility of the server to accept the client's connection attempt, which opens
up a channel of communication between the two socket endpoints.
</p>

<p>
We have to add this functionality to our simple server. Here is the updated version:
</p>

listing 3 : accepting a client connection ( part of <a href="misc/tougher/simple_server_main.cpp.txt">
simple_server_main.cpp</a> )
<div class=listing>
<pre>
#include "ServerSocket.h"
#include "SocketException.h"
#include &lt;string&gt;

int main ( int argc, int argv[] )
{
  try
    {
      // Create the socket
      ServerSocket server ( 30000 );

      <b>while ( true )
	{
	  ServerSocket new_sock;
	  server.accept ( new_sock );</b>

	  // rest of code -
	  // read request, send reply, etc...

	<b>}</b>
    }
  catch ( SocketException& e )
    {
      std::cout << "Exception was caught:" << e.description() << "\nExiting.\n";
    }

  return 0;
}

</pre>
</div>


<p>
Accepting a connection just requires a call to the <b>accept</b> method. This method
accepts the connection attempt, and fills <b>new_sock</b> with the socket information about
the connection. We'll see how <b>new_sock</b> is used in the next section.
</p>

<h3>3.4 Client and Server - sending and receiving data</h3>
<a name=3.4></a>

<p>
Now that the server has accepted the client's connection request, it is
time to send data back and forth over the socket connection.
</p>

<p>
An advanced feature of C++ is the ability to overload operators - or simply, to make
an operator perform a certain operation. In the <b>ClientSocket</b> and <b>ServerSocket</b>
classes I overloaded the << and >> operators, so that when used, they wrote data
to and read data from the socket. Here is the updated version of the simple server:
</p>


listing 4 : a simple implementation of a server ( <a href="misc/tougher/simple_server_main.cpp.txt">
simple_server_main.cpp</a> )
<div class=listing>
<pre>
#include "ServerSocket.h"
#include "SocketException.h"
#include &lt;string&gt;

int main ( int argc, int argv[] )
{
  try
    {
      // Create the socket
      ServerSocket server ( 30000 );

      while ( true )
	{

	  ServerSocket new_sock;
	  server.accept ( new_sock );
<b>
	  try
	    {
	      while ( true )
		{
		  std::string data;
		  new_sock >> data;
		  new_sock << data;
		}
	    }
	  catch ( SocketException& ) {}
</b>
	}
    }
  catch ( SocketException& e )
    {
      std::cout << "Exception was caught:" << e.description() << "\nExiting.\n";
    }

  return 0;
}

</pre>
</div>

<p>
The <b>new_sock</b> variable contains all of our socket information, so we use it to
exchange data with the client. The line "new_sock >> data;" should be read as "read data
from new_sock, and place that data in our string variable 'data'." Similarly, the next line
sends the data in 'data' back through the socket to the client.
</p>

<p>
If you're paying attention, you'll notice that what we've created here is an echo server. 
Every piece of data that gets sent from the client to the server gets sent back 
to the client as is. We can write the client so that it sends a piece of data, 
and then prints out the server's response:
</p>



listing 5 : a simple implementation of a client ( <a href="misc/tougher/simple_client_main.cpp.txt">
simple_client_main.cpp</a> )
<div class=listing>
<pre>
#include "ClientSocket.h"
#include "SocketException.h"
#include &lt;iostream&gt;
#include &lt;string&gt;

int main ( int argc, int argv[] )
{
  try
    {

      ClientSocket client_socket ( "localhost", 30000 );
<b>
      std::string reply;
      try
	{
	  client_socket << "Test message.";
	  client_socket >> reply;
	}
      catch ( SocketException& ) {}

      std::cout << "We received this response from the server:\n\"" << reply << "\"\n";;
</b>
    }
  catch ( SocketException& e )
    {
      std::cout << "Exception was caught:" << e.description() << "\n";
    }

  return 0;
}
</pre>
</div>


<p>
We send the string "Test Message." to the server, read the response from the server,
and print out the response to std output.
</p>


<h2>4. Compiling and Testing Our Client And Server</h2>
<a name=4></a>

<p>
Now that we've gone over the basic usage of the <b>ClientSocket</b> and <b>ServerSocket</b>
classes, we can build the whole project and test it.
</p>

<h3>4.1 File list</h3>
<a name=4.1></a>

<p>
The following files make up our example:
</p>


<dl>
<dt>Miscellaneous:
<dd><a href="misc/tougher/Makefile.txt">Makefile</a> - the Makefile for this project
<dd><a href="misc/tougher/Socket.h.txt">Socket.h</a>, 
<a href="misc/tougher/Socket.cpp.txt">Socket.cpp</a> - the 
Socket class, which implements the raw socket API calls.
<dd><a href="misc/tougher/SocketException.h.txt">SocketException.h</a> - the SocketException class

<dt>Server:
<dd><a href="misc/tougher/simple_server_main.cpp.txt">simple_server_main.cpp</a> - main file
<dd><a href="misc/tougher/ServerSocket.h.txt">ServerSocket.h</a>, 
<a href="misc/tougher/ServerSocket.cpp.txt">ServerSocket.cpp</a> 
- the ServerSocket class

<dt>Client:
<dd><a href="misc/tougher/simple_client_main.cpp.txt">simple_client_main.cpp</a> - main file
<dd><a href="misc/tougher/ClientSocket.h.txt">ClientSocket.h</a>, 
<a href="misc/tougher/ClientSocket.cpp.txt">ClientSocket.cpp</a> 
- the ClientSocket class
</dl>


<h3>4.2 Compile and Test</h3>
<a name=4.2></a>

<p>
Compiling is simple. First save all of the project files into one subdirectory, then
type the following at your command prompt:
</p>

<div class=listing>
<pre>

prompt$ cd <i>directory_you_just_created</i>
prompt$ make

</pre>
</div>

<p>
This will compile all of the files in the project, and create the simple_server and
simple_client output files. To test these two output files, run the server in one
command prompt, and then run the client in another command prompt:
</p>


<div class=listing>
<pre>

<i>first prompt:</i>
prompt$ <b>./simple_server
running....</b>



<i>second prompt:</i>
prompt$ <b>./simple_client
We received this response from the server:
"Test message."</b>
prompt$
</pre>
</div>

<p>
The client will send data to the server, read the response, and print out 
the response to std output as shown above. You can run the client 
as many times as you want - the server will respond to each request.
</p>


<h2>5. Conclusion</h2>
<a name=5></a>
<p>
Sockets are a simple and efficient way to send data between processes. In this
article we've gone over socket communications, and developed an example
server and client. You should now be able to add socket communications to
your applications!
</p>



<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->
<SPACER TYPE="vertical" SIZE="30">
<P> 
<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Rob Tougher</H4>
<EM>Rob is a C++ software engineer in the NYC area.
When not coding on his favorite platform, you can
find Rob strolling on the beach with his girlfriend, Nicole,
and their dog, Halley.</EM>

<!-- *** END bio *** -->

<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
<P> <hr> <!-- P --> 
<H5 ALIGN=center>

Copyright &copy; 2002, Rob Tougher.<BR>
Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR> 
Published in Issue 74 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, January 2002</H5>
<!-- *** END copyright *** -->


<H4 ALIGN="center">
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>

<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--===================================================================-->

<center>
<H1><font color="maroon">Play with the Lovely Netcat:<BR>
Reinvent /usr/bin/yes</font></H1>
<H4>By <a href="mailto:zw@debian.org">zhaoway</a></H4>
</center>
<P> <HR> <P>  

<!-- END header -->




<h2>Netcat and Yescat</h2> <p> The first but secondary purpose of this
article is to introduce you this nifty networking tool:
<code>/usr/bin/netcat</code> which is well available from the Debian
GNU/Linux under the package name <code>netcat</code>. (The drill:
<code>apt-get install netcat</code> and you're done.) There are very
well written companion documentation by the anonymous software author,
and from which a well formatted Unix manual page by my fellow Debian
developers. Reading the companion documentation is really an
interesting experience. It would almost certainly reminds the gentle
reader that there is truly this kind of creature called Unix gurus
living somewhere at the large. That kind of <i>hackish</i> feeling,
think it, insists on and successful in being <i>anonymous</i>, after
written such an excellent piece of software. Only true Unix guru could
do that!

<p> Since the netcat documentation is of such excellent quality, I will
not duplicate it here.  (However, I recommend you read the netcat
documentation before reading this article.)
For those of you with
little patience, netcat could forward data stream from stdin to a
TCP or UDP socket, and from a TCP or UDP socket to stdout. Just like
the <code>cat</code> program to forward data from stdin to
stdout. According to unconfirmed sources, that's the origin of the
netcat program name.

<p> The second but primary purpose of this article is to show you how
tedious and clueless an article author (like me) can be,
introducing a piece of software which does not
have any graphical user interface, or any interactive help system. Ya
know, I would simply go crazy if I cannot capture a screenshot or two!

<p> So here we introduce the nutty yescat for a purpose which will
show itself later: <code>/usr/bin/yes</code>.  Nearly nobody even
noticed it. But it quietly lies there in a corner of
<code>/usr/bin</code> for so long that nearly none of us latecomers
to the Linux world ever noticed it in any of our Linux systems.
Its origin remains a mystery. Its popularity is just as
<code>/sbin/init</code>! What does it do? Lets' see for our own eyes:

<p>
<pre>
zw@q ~ % yes
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
</pre>

<p> Isn't it wonderful? ;-) (Press <CODE>ctrl-C</CODE> to stop the y's, otherwise
they'll march down the screen forever.)  It can even say <i>no</i> too!

<p>
<pre>
zw@q ~ % yes no
no
no
no
no
no
</pre>

<p> In the following sections we will develop two companion utilities
with which we will eventually reinvent <code>/usr/bin/yes</code> with
the help from <code>/usr/bin/netcat</code> of course! Lets' start the
journey now!

<h2>Hub and cable</h2>

<p> The hub (<a href="misc/zhaoway/hub.c.txt">hub.c</a>) and cable (<a
href="misc/zhaoway/cable.c.txt">cable.c</a>) utilities are certainly
inspired by netcat which could forward data stream from a socket to
stdout, and from stdin to a socket. Did I forget to recommend the
netcat companion documentation for you to read? ;-) Hub is designed to
be like a server, and cable is designed to be like a client. Instead
of forwarding data between stdin/stdout and a socket, hub and cable
forward and <i>multiplex</i> data from a socket to any other
sockets. That's where the names come from. They're just like Ethernet
hub and cable. Lets' see a screenshot. Yeah, screenshot! ;-)

<p>
<pre>
zw@q ~ % ./hub
lullaby internetworks lab: (server alike) hub $Revision: 1.2 $
Copyright (C) 2001  zhaoway &lt;zw@debian.org&gt;

Usage: hub [hub buffer size] [tcp port number] [number of hub ports]

o hub buffer size is in bytes. for example 10240.
o tcp port number is at least 1024 so i do not need to be root.
o number of hub ports is at least 2. happy.
zw@q ~ %
</pre>

<p> Hub will listen on a TCP port simulating a many port Ethernet
hub. Data come in from one hub port will be forwarded to other hub
ports. You could test the hub alone without cable using netcat. Note:
nc is the acronym for netcat.

<ol>
<li>Launch hub in the console A: <code>ConA % ./hub 10240 10000 2</code>
<li>From console B, connect a netcat: <code>ConB % nc localhost 10000</code>
<li>From console C, connect another netcat: <code>ConC % nc localhost 10000</code>
<li>Then you could type in ConC and read the output in ConB, vice versa.
</ol>

<p> Then there is cable:

<p>
<pre>
zw@q ~ % ./cable
lullaby internetworks lab: (client alike) cable $Revision: 1.2 $
Copyright (C) 2001  zhaoway &lt;zw@debian.org&gt;

Usage: cable [cable buffer size] [1st ip] [1st port] [2nd ip] [2nd port] ..

o cable buffer size is in bytes. for example 10240.
o ports should be listening or connection attempts will fail.
o number of ip addr and port pairs is at least 2.
zw@q ~ %
</pre>

<p> Cable is more or less like a shared Ethernet bus coaxial cable. It
forwards and multiplexes data between listening socket daemons. Let's
test it too.

<ol>
<li>Launch a netcat daemon in ConA: <code>ConA % nc -l -p 10000</code>
<li>Launch another netcat daemon in ConB: <code>ConB % nc -l -p 10001</code>
<li>Arrange the cable: <code>ConC % ./cable 10240 127.0.0.1 10000 127.0.0.1 10001</code>
<li>Then you could type in ConA and read the output from ConB, vice versa.
</ol>

<p> There are some interesting techniques used in developing hub and
cable. Notably the <code>select()</code> function call. But for now,
we will focus on our course to reinvent the <code>/usr/bin/yes</code>
first. ;-)

<h2>Reinvent the wheel</h2>

<p> It's not a very easy task to reinvent <code>/usr/bin/yes</code>
using netcat and hub and cable. I could only give a cheat answer. And
that's why I need to set the buffer size command line argument. But
anyway, let's begin!

<p> The main idea is as following. First we set up a three-port hub,
then we using cable to connect two hub port together, after that we
could using netcat to echo any character into the remain free hub
port. It's like the following diagram:

<p>
<pre>
            |            cable
           \|/        ,---------,
            |         |         |
            V         V         V
	,--[ ]-------[ ]-------[ ]--.
        |   A         B         C   |
        |       three-port hub      |
	`---------------------------'
</pre>

<p> Because the nature of the hub, data sent in from port A, will be
forwarded to port B and port C, since port B and C are connected by a
cable, the data come out of the hub will go right back in, and then
being multiplexed and forwarded to port A and circulating in the cable
loop to eternity. Eventually port A will receive infinite copies of the
original data sent in.

<p> Lets' construct the device.

<ol>
<li>In ConA, we launch the three-port hub: <code>ConA % ./hub 10240 10000 3</code>
<li>In ConB, we loop the cable: <code>ConB % ./cable 10240 127.0.0.1 10000 127.0.0.1 10000</code>
</ol>

<p> Now after we finished construction of our device, then we will
using netcat to finally finish our reinvention of <code>/usr/bin/yes</code>.

<p>
<pre>
ConC % echo "y" | nc localhost 10000
y
y
y
y
y
y
</pre>

<p> The tricky exercises left for the reader is: what if we change the
buffer size of both cable and hub from 10240 to 1? You could try and
see for yourself.

<p> Have fun and good luck!




<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->

<SPACER TYPE="vertical" SIZE="30">

<P> <H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">zhaoway</H4>

<EM>zhaoway lives in Nanjing, China. He divides his time among his
beautiful girlfriend, his old Pentium computer, and pure
mathematics. He wants to marry now, which means he needs money, ie., a
job. Feel free to help him come into the sweet cage of marriage by
providing him a job opportunity. He would be very thankful! He is also
another volunteer member of the <a href="http://www.debian.org">Debian
GNU/Linux</a> project.</EM>

<!-- *** END bio *** -->

<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
<P> <hr> <!-- P --> 
<H5 ALIGN=center>

Copyright &copy; 2002, zhaoway.<BR>
Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR> 
Published in Issue 74 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, January 2002</H5>
<!-- *** END copyright *** -->


<H4 ALIGN="center">
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
</H4>

<P> <hr> <P> 

<H1><font color="maroon">The Back Page</font></H1>

<ul>
<li><a HREF="#wacho">Wacko Freshmeat Entry of the Month</a>
<li><a HREF="#nottag">Not The Answer Gang</a>
<li><a HREF="#spam">World of Spam</a>
<li><a HREF="#joke">Russian Joke of the Month</a>
</ul>

<a name="wacko"></a>
<P> <hr> <P> 
<!--====================================================================-->

<center><H3><font color="maroon">Wacko Freshmeat Entry of the Month</font></H3></center>

<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--======================================================================-->
<P>
<H3 ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="green">PyDDR</FONT></H3>

<p align="right"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><strong>Contributed By Jim Dennis
</strong></FONT></p>

<PRE>
pyDDR 0.2.5<BR>
by theGREENzebra - Saturday, December 22nd 2001 00:39 EST 


  <P> About: PyDDR is a clone of DDR ("Dance Dance Revolution") written in 
  Python. The idea of DDR is simple. There's a mat with four 
  directional arrows, and the game scrolls arrows up the screen to the
  beat while playing a song. When the arrows reach the top of the screen 
  (not sooner and not later), the player hits the corresponding arrow on 
  the pad, and given that it's hit on time with the beat, points are scored. 
  Based on how well the dance is put together, s/he is graded at the end 
  of the song.

  <P> Changes: PyDDR now has working DDR mat support. STEP files can now 
  contain starting/ending markers to shorten a full-length MP3 into a 
  DDR-length song without modifying the file, and song and group names 
  are also displayed at the top of the playfield. A few bugfixes and 
  improvements were made regarding fonts, misses, and combos.
</PRE>

<P> This is a game written in Python 2.1 and using the Pygame package
 (which is a set of bindings between Python and the SDL game-development
 libraries).  

<P>  The thing that's wacky is that it's intended to be used with one of
 those DDR "dance mats."  These are little floor mats with four arrows
 arranged in a cross pattern (like old fashioned cursor keys before the
 advent of the "inverted T cursor/arrows" on PC keyboards).  You can
 "dance" on the mat, providing "step" input (timing and direction or
 foot placement) for the game.  It then awards points based on how 
 closely you follow the dance step (which it's displaying and scrolling
 to the tempo of some MPEG encoded music).

<P> You might have seen video games where kids where dance for a high 
 score.  I know that I saw lots of these in Japan, where it's apparently
 *very* popular.

<P> I suppose this is the most exciting non-violent, completely G-rated
 fun that's available for kids on the 'net.

<P> (Maybe the fact that *I* think it's "wacky" reveals too much about
 me!)









<a name="nottag"></a>
<P> <hr> <P> 
<!--====================================================================-->

<center><H3><font color="maroon">Not The Answer Gang</font></H3></center>


<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--======================================================================-->
<P>
<H3 ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="green">Esperanto</FONT></H3>

<p align="right"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><strong>Answered By Huibert Alblas, Ben Okopnik, Iron, Don Marti, <A HREF="mailto:untecoms@avtlg.ru">untecoms@avtlg.ru</A>
</strong></FONT></p>


<STRONG>
Huibert Alblas asks:<BR>
Ext3 and ext2 are compatible filesystems, you can mount ext3 filesystems
with an "only ext2" kernel, _but_ it has to be cleanly unounted (damn,
what is the correct past tense for that what I want to express?)
</STRONG>

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben]

<P>
"Has to have been cleanly unmounted." English can get very funky
sometimes... OTOH, Spanish isn't much better. Hey, Mike! Does Esperanto
suck just as much with tenses, or (being a designed language) did they
actually do something with this mess?

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Iron]

<P>
It would be the same in Esperanto.  (But see below.)

<P>
<EM>Ext2 kaj ext3 estas fajl-sistemoj kunlaborivaj.  Oni povas mauxnti
ext3-an fajlsistemon en koro "nur" ext2-a, *sed* gxi devas esti pure
malmauxntita.</EM>

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben]

<P>
Hey, that looks like code I've been writing lately! :) I don't think I've
ever seen written Esperanto before, other than single words or so - my
memory says I have but can't provide written proof. This is cool.

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Iron]

<P>
But it would be more natural to transform the sentance:
<PRE>
... *if* it has been cleanly unmounted == 
	oni povos ... *se* gxi estos pure malmauxntita.
	(-os : both clauses in future tense because of the "if")

... *only if* == *nur se*

... *if* one unmounted it cleanly first ==
	*se* oni jam malmauxntos gxin pure
	(literally: "already will mount")
</PRE>


There's no way around the fact that "has to be cleanly unmounted"
requires three verbs, with the last one being a past passive participle.
What Esperanto gives you is a complete set of active and passive
participles for all tenses.

<PRE>
mauxnti   = to mount (pronounced "mount-ee")
mauxntas  = I/you/we/they mount, (s)he mounts
mauxntis  = mounted
mauxntos  = will mount
mauxntu   = mount!  (imperative)
mauxntus  = would mount  (subjunctive, as in:
	If I had mounted ext3, my files wouldn't be ruined.
	Se mi mauxntus ext3'on, miaj fajloj ne estus ruinitaj.

	If I had been accustomed to mounting ext3, my files wouldn't be ruined.
	Se mi kutimus mauxnti ext3'on, miaj fajloj ne estus ruinitaj.
	(kutimi = to do something habitually)
</PRE>


<P> It's easier to explain the participles with "prezidi" (to preside):
<PRE>
prezidanto   = president  (he-who-is-presiding)
prezidinto   = former president   (he-who-was-presiding)
prezidonto   = president-elect    (he-who-will-preside)

prezidato    = subject   (he-who-is-presided-over)
prezidinto   = former subject   (he-who-was-presided-over)
prezidonto   = future subject   (he-who-will-be-presided-over)

Not officially a part of Esperanto, but you can get away with:

prezidunto   = (subjunctive: he-who-would-be-president [but he's not])
preziduto    = (subjunctive: he-who-would-be-presided-over [but he's not])


When you want to get away from tense:

prezidento   = President (no tense affiliation; a separate word root
                          ...but most verbs don't have an -ent counterpart)


gxi devas esti malmauntita == it must be unmounted (it must have been unmounted)

li devas esti malmauntinta gxin ==
	he must have unmounted it
	he was obligated to have unmounted it

li devus esti malmauxninta gxin ==
	he should have unmounted it   (subjunctive: but he didn't)


Unofficially, you can combine "esti malmauxntinta" into one verb: 
	malmauxntinti     (to have unmounted something)


Thus, 
	gxi devas malmauxntiti    (it must have been unmounted)
collapsing three verbs into two.

Or even:
	malmauxntintis    (is having unmounted something)

So these are equivalent:
	li estas malmauxntinta gxin
	li malmauxntintas gxin
	== he has unmounted it.

	li estis malmauxntinta gxin
	li malmauxntintis gxin
	== he had unmounted it.
</PRE>

But one normally tries to keep the verbs as simple as possible, and not
use participles unless necessary.  English and Spanish habitually say
"is doing", "was doing" when the participle isn't necessary: this is
*not* done in Esperanto.  Although if you do it, it's not "incorrect",
just weird.

<P> The unofficial forms aren't in the grammar books or used by the great
writers, so they aren't recommended for academic/professional use, but
because they are logical extensions of the grammar system, they aren't
"wrong" per se.  If enough people use them, eventually they will be
acknowledged in the Plena Vortaro (Complete Dictionary, literally
"full word-collection").

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben]

<P>
The implications behind all of that are fascinating, "great writers" and
"academic/professional use" particularly. Any estimates on how many
Esperanto speakers there are in the world?


<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Iron]

<P>
The only number I heard was that it's the same size as the smallest countries
in the United Nations.  I forget which those were.  I suppose we can say, a
bit smaller than Liechtenstein.  How big is Liechtenstein now?

<P> The difference is that Esperantists are scattered all over the world rather than
being concentrated in one country.  So for instance, you can take an around-the-world
trip and stay only at Esperanto-speaking lodgings using the Pasporta Servo 
("passport service", 
<A HREF="http://home.planet.nl/~lide/ps/ps_inf_en.htm">http://home.planet.nl/~lide/ps/ps_inf_en.htm</A>).  This gets
you the inside scoop on a country whose language you don't know, even if the
hosts don't understand your language.  

<P> "Great writers" was an exaggeration.  I meant the most respected Esperanto writers
and translators.  E-o's creator L L Zamenhof translated the Bible and Hamlet himself
before introducing the language, and wrote numerous original poems and proverbs.
(The regularities of the language make finding rhyming and metric pairs relatively
easy.)  

<P> "Famous" original works in Esperanto include _Metropoliteno_ by Vladimir Varankin,
written in the 1920s about the building of the Berlin and Moscow subways.  (The
author was either a loyal Soviet or submitted to Soviet censorship rules, so you
have to ignore the propaganda-speak in it.)  _Mr Tot Acxetas Mil Okulojn_ 
(Mr Tot Buys a Thousand Eyes), a humorous look at a travelling salesman with
comments about the invasion of privacy (Carnivore, PGP back doors, I *knew* we 
could tie this to Linux somehow!). _Kredu Min, Sinjorino!_ (Believe Me, Ma'am!).
etc.  Also the infamous _Knedu Min, Sinjorino!_ (Knead Me, Ma'am!), a dictionary of
"taboo and insulting expressions", whose title is a satire of the previous book.

<P> Most Esperanto books, however, are translations.  But whereas most
translations to English come from the top five big languages, translations to
Esperanto come from a wide variety of small languages.  Hungary and Bulgaria
were centers for Esperanto translation and academia during part of the 20th
century, and there was also significant activity in England and Germany before
WWII.  In the late 20th century, China produced a significant number of
children's books and translations of Chinese literature, due to government
sponsorship of Esperanto.  (The way the government is now sponsoring Linux
projects.)  Japan produces a science-fiction anthology series _Sferoj_
("spheres", but also a pun: "sferoj => science-fiction-pieces" analogous to
"negxeroj =&gt; snowflakes [units of snow]") containing sf from many countries,
sometimes translated, sometimes original.  Brazil, Finland and the Netherlands
have translators doing their own national works and also works from many other
countries.  There are also works that have been overlooked in English
translation; e.g., _Lirikaj Perloj de Al-Andalus_ (Lyric Pearls of
Al-Andalus_), "Spanish and Jewish lyric poetry from Spain during the Golden Age
of Islam".  And of course, the Koran is available, as well as Kempis'
_Imitation of Christ_, Confucian and Buddhist text and apologies, Spinoza,
Hillel, Descartes, etc.  

<P> An Esperanto bookstore in Emeryville, California, with several hundred titles:
<A HREF="http://esperanto-usa.org/">http://esperanto-usa.org/</A><BR>

My Esperanto page:
<A HREF="http://iron.cx/esperanto/index.en.html">http://iron.cx/esperanto/index.en.html</A><BR>

A variety of information:
<A HREF="http://www.esperanto.net/">http://www.esperanto.net/</A><BR>

The Linux Esperanto-HOWTO (in Esperanto):
<A HREF="http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Esperanto-HOWTO.html">http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Esperanto-HOWTO.html</A>

<H3>In another thread...</H3>

<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Iron]

<P>
Actually, around that time, my LG connections did put me in touch with
a Linux Esperantist in Vietnam.  The only other Linux Esperantist I know of.

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben]

<P>
Linux. Esperanto. In Vietnam. 

<P> Tell me, Mike - don't you ever get out of that rut and do <EM>anything</EM> out of the
ordinary? I mean, all that sounds so...  well... *common*. &lt;grin&gt;

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Don]

<P>
The Bay Area is crawling with them.  I'm one of the few local Linux
freaks I know who can't at least tell people how to reinstall LILO
in Esperanto.

<P>
<A HREF="http://www.pigdog.org/categories/esperanto.html">http://www.pigdog.org/categories/esperanto.html</A><BR>
<A HREF="http://crackmonkey.org/faq.html#ANSWER34">http://crackmonkey.org/faq.html#ANSWER34</A><BR>
<A HREF="http://www.deirdre.net/wedding_faq.html">http://www.deirdre.net/wedding_faq.html</A>

<P>
It even starts to get on people's nerves.
<A HREF="http://zork.net/pipermail/free-sklyarov/2001-July/000770.html">http://zork.net/pipermail/free-sklyarov/2001-July/000770.html</A>

<H3>Two weeks later, a letter from <A HREF="mailto:untecoms@avtlg.ru">untecoms@avtlg.ru</A></H3>

<STRONG>
Estimata samideano Majk!<BR>
/* Miaopinie Vi ne konas min, cxar mi ne skribis al Vi antawe...
Mallong-dire mi estas 36-jara programmisto el Rusio (urbo Volgograd)
kaj krome la Linux-sxatanto */<BR>
Mi deziregas gratuli Vin al la NovJar-festo kaj deziri al Vi bonan
farton, sukcesan kreadon kaj privatan felicxon!!!

<P>
Mi ankaw volas sekvi Vian konsilon pri plezur-faro al homoj, do mi
informas ke konstante legas artikolojn de la *gazette* rusigitajn far
Sergeo Skorohxodov (dissendolisto comp.soft.linux.gazette en
SUBSCRIBE.RU) kaj opinias tiun La Bona Afero! Unufraze: estu tiel plu!

<P>
  Amike, Dmitrij W. Vronskij (aka dww[RU])
</STRONG>

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
Esteemed fellow-Esperantist (= member-of-the-same-idea) Mike!<BR>
I don't think you know me since you've never written to me...  To make it short, I'm
a 36-year-old programmer in Volgograd, Russia, and also a big Linux fan.<BR>
I'd really like to wish you a Happy New Year, and hope things go well in your
personal affairs.<BR>
I also want to follow your advice about doing good for people (lit: doing pleasure to
people), therefore I inform (keep informed?) and constantly read articles in the
Gazette russified by Sergej Skorohodov (from the list comp.soft.linux.gazette at
SUBSCRIBE.RU) and think it's a Good Thing!  In a phrase: keep on truckin'!<BR>
Friendlily, Dmitrij W Vronskij (aka dww[RU])
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>


"Geniulo inventas, talentulo efikigas, stultulo uzas kaj ne dankas"<BR>
--Kozma Prutkov, fabela rusa filosofiulo

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
"A genius invents, a talented person produces, a stupid person uses but doesn't thank."<BR>
--Kozma Prutkov, fabled Russian philosopher
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>





<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--======================================================================-->
<P>
<H3 ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="green">More on Ben's reputation</FONT></H3>

<p align="right"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><strong>Answered By Ben Okopnik, Iron, Guy Milliron, Thomas Adam, Chris Gianakopoulos
</strong></FONT></p>

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben]

<P>
Heh. In my PC hardware classes, lo these many years past, I used to destroy
my students' MBRs for fun. Or wipe their CMOS... or crunch the DBR... or
even make loops in the File Allocation Table, making DOS/Win loop
infinitely as it tried to read, say, IO.SYS. All quickly fixable.

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Iron]

<P>
I knew it, I just knew it.  Never trust anybody who wears dark sunglasses, you
never know what they're hiding.  I knew that Ben Okopnik character was going
to be trouble.  Heather, call the FBI.

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben]

<P>
&lt;shrug&gt; No need to call them; I already offered to corrupt their machines a
long time ago (for a very reasonable fee, even!), but they told me they
were running Wind*ws and were well served in that area.

<P> If you have any contacts at the CIA, however, I'd be grateful.


<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Iron]

<P>

You don't already have contacts???  I thought for sure some of your KGB kronies
must be double agents.

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben]

<P>
They won't *share*. &lt;pout&gt;

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Guy]

<P>
*laugh*   Reminds me of a DOS based Fidonet software, Opus.  In 
the manual under requirements:

<OL>
<LI> Sunglasses
<LI> A Nerf Bat
</OL>

though completely optional in both cases, yet highly recommended.

<P> I can't believe I started in FidoNet when it was a meer 1000 nodes 
and left when it was just about to crest 32,000 nodes.

<P>--<BR>
Your mouse has moved. Windows must be restarted<BR>
for the change to take effect. Reboot now? [ OK ]

<H3>In another thread...</H3>

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Thomas]

<P>
Dear TAG,<BR>
Just thought I'd wish you all a merry christmas and a
happy new year!!

<P> I'd just like to apologise for my "attitude" while
answering some of the questions posted here. I have
been under a lot of duress and a heavy workload has
made me irratable.

<P> But as of next year, I'll be usual cherry self :-)
&lt;Ben....stop sniggering&gt; 
<IMG ALT=":)" SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" WIDTH="24" HEIGHT="24"> 


<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Chris]

<P>
No way do you have "attitude"!  You are easy going.

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Iron]

<P>
<EM>[Who never noticed Thomas being non-cheerful about anything.]</EM>

<P> I guess he'll have to try harder, if he wants ppl to talk about him
like we talk about Ben.

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben]

<P>
'Ey! I resemble that remark!



<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--======================================================================-->
<P>
<H3 ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="green">Uninstalling Linux</FONT></H3>

<p align="right"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><strong>Answered By Iron, Ben Okopnik, Mike Martin
</strong></FONT></p>

<STRONG>
How do you remove linux from the hard drive completely?
</STRONG>

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Iron]

<P>
Go to the LG search engine 
(<A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com/search.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/search.html</A>)
and search for "uninstalling" or "uninstall".  You'll find several
items.  Here's one of the better ones:
<A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue64/tag/29.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue64/tag/29.html</A>

<P> (Ben, we need an "uninstalling Linux" entry in the TAG FAQ.)

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben]

<P>
It's already there:
<A HREF="../tag/kb.html#uninstall">http://www.linuxgazette.com/tag/kb.html#uninstall</A>

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Mike]

<P>
Not to be too stroppy - but do we?
I would see this as more a question for whatever windows equivalents
there are to the answer gang.

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Iron]

<P>
It comes down to being a responsible OS.  Linux has gained lots of brownie
points by being the OS that's compatible with more systems than any other,
access a wider variety of filesystems and network protocols, has a less
buggy compiler and more sysadmin/developer support tools, etc.  In essence,
the one that saves the day for sysadmins/developers trying to work around 
the shortcomings in other systems.  Do we want to lose this good PR by not
recognizing that uninstalling Linux is just as legitimate as installing it,
and people may have good reasons to?  Perhaps they're a newbie trying Linux
out and got lost.  Perhaps they inherited a computer with Linux on it.
Whatever.  It's about making Linux into a system that "plays nice with others".
Or more correctly, enhancing the already-good job Linux does with this.
It's about being a responsible OS.  

<P> Now think about what help The Borg gives you if you want to uninstall it to
install Linux.  Is there any documentation in the Windoze manuals for this?
What about documentation on how to set up Windoze so that it can share the
system with Linux?  Of course not.  Nobody in their right mind would want to
uninstall The Borg.  It has all the features consumers are demanding, and it's
"innovative".  After all, The Borg had Plug-n-Play first!  

<P> Thus, it's a feather in Linux's cap to make sure the "uninstalling Linux"
entry is prominently displayed near the top of the FAQ.  It shows that we're
confident enough in the OS to help you uninstall it if you want to.  (You'll
be back...)  It gives newbies a safety valve in case they need to uninstall
Linux someday, they'll know where to look.  And finally again, it's a feature
Windows *doesn't* have.  

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben]

<P>
Uninstalling Linux works out to pretty much the same thing as uninstalling
Wind*ws - and Microsoft does indeed have an entry in their Knowledge Base
that describes how to do that (I found the link at Dell, while searching
for serial port loopback info. <shrug> Go figure.) In reality, we're
providing instruction for either one. Hmm, <EM>there's</EM> a different way of
looking at it...

<P>
I definitely agree with the above logic if not the fine details.



<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--======================================================================-->
<P>
<H3 ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="green">Exclamations</FONT></H3>

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Ben]

<P>
Hello!!! Your questions!!! have lots of randomly scattered exclamation!!!
points!!!, so they must!!! be very!!! important!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank
you!!!!!! for letting us know!!!!!!!!!!!

<H3>Later...</H3>

Wow, that's really exciting. Is there a reason that you're telling us about
this? I'm sure that if you wanted help, you would have provided a list of
exactly which errors you got (preferably by copying and pasting rather than
retyping), in which kernel version, which module(s), etc. As it is, - well,
my neigbor's favorite goldfish died a month ago, so I'm fresh out of
sympathy. &lt;shrug&gt; I guess that you *are* the only one with this problem...
at least you're the only one who _knows_ about any part of this that's a
problem. The rest of us are completely in the dark, due to lack of
information.
 
<STRONG>
5. No FTP
                 I connect to the web thru a LAN! It works!!! 
</STRONG>

Wow. More excitement. Now, if we only knew which particular "it" that
refers to... Web connection? FTP? Pouring milk into your breakfast cereal
without spilling any? Tune in for our next exciting episode, when our
mysterious guest reveals all!



<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--======================================================================-->
<P>
<H3 ALIGN="center"><FONT COLOR="green">Tux trivia</FONT></H3>

<p align="right"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><strong>Answered By Iron
</strong></FONT></p>

<STRONG>
When I gave her a stuffed Tux as a present,
my Girlfriend asked me, what it's sex is?
</STRONG>

<P>
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
	HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
	> [Iron]

<P>
Four out of five sexist computer nerds surveyed agree Tux is male.





<a name="spam"></a>
<P> <hr> <P> 
<!--====================================================================-->

<center><H3><font color="maroon">World of Spam</font></H3></center>

<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--======================================================================-->
<P>

From: supercow

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<HR NOSHADE WIDTH="80%"> <!--*********************** -->

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<P> Below is the result of your feedback form.  It was submitted by
TheNapsterOfPorn@XXXXX on Sunday, December 2, 2001

<P> Dear Sir or Madam: Imagine a place just like napster, but with people
trading porn instead of music?  


<HR NOSHADE WIDTH="80%"> <!--*********************** -->
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http://linuxcentral.com/linux/LDP/LDP/LG/copying.html
We thought there was substantial potential for making revenue for you by
placing banners or advertising on your site if you have a reasonable flow of
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<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
	[The LG </EM>copying<EM> page???  High traffic?  -Iron.]
	</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

<P> We operate on the pay per click method and checks are issued on the 5th of
each month.  Pay per Click means each time a surfer sees the banner ad on your
site and clicks though to the advertised site you are paid for the click.

<P> Advertising on your site increases the importance and prestige of your site.

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
	[It does?  Are you sure about that?  -Iron.]
	</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>


<HR NOSHADE WIDTH="80%"> <!--*********************** -->

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<HR NOSHADE WIDTH="80%"> <!--*********************** -->
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<HR NOSHADE WIDTH="80%"> <!--*********************** -->
 You have been selected as a potential candidate for a free listing
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 Registry

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<a name="joke"></a>
<P> <hr> <P> 
<!--====================================================================-->

<center><H3><font color="maroon">Russian Joke of the Month</font></H3></center>

<P> <HR> <P> 
<!--======================================================================-->

A newspaper boy in Soviet Russia announces his wares:

<UL>
<LI> There's no more "Truth"! (Pravda)
<LI> "Soviet Russia" is completely sold out!
<LI> All that's left is "Labor" for three kopecks!
</UL>

<CITE>--Ben Okopnik</CITE>





<HR> <!-- ************************************************************** -->

<P> Happy Linuxing!

<P> Mike ("Iron") Orr<br>
Editor, <A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com/"><i>Linux Gazette</i></A>, <A
HREF="mailto:gazette@ssc.com">gazette@ssc.com</a>
<BR CLEAR="all">

<!-- *** END Not Linux *** -->

<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
<P> <hr> <P> 
<H5 ALIGN=center>
Copyright &copy; 2002, the Editors of <I>Linux Gazette</I>.<BR>
Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR>
Published in Issue 74 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, January 2002</H5>
<!-- *** END copyright *** -->


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