...making Linux just a little more fun!

December 2004 (#109):


The Mailbag


HELP WANTED : Article Ideas
Submit comments about articles, or articles themselves (after reading our guidelines) to The Editors of Linux Gazette, and technical answers and tips about Linux to The Answer Gang.


GTK in Mandrake, Theme change?

Fri Nov 26 02:43:41 PST 2004
Jimmy O'Regan (The LG Answer Gang)

Mandrake sucks. I get a mess of warnings any time I start a Gtk app because of the weird stuff they've done with their theme.

[Heather] I can give you my DarkGems gtk theme, would you like it? I carefully mucked with it till it looked good on gimp and some other gtk apps that eluded correct behavior under some themes.

I have plenty of themes, it's that Mandrake is set up to look for their own theme, and I can't get it to stop. My GTK package is libgtk+-x11-2.0_0-2.5.2-0.1gpw.

[Heather] ohhh. I might be able to help you with that sometime. If we do, then we can make a nice tip out of it.
Or if one of you readers knows the right answer, we'll cheerfully pub what you send us after Jimmy improves his life with GTK :) -- Heather

I think it's compiled in.

I've been through the fscking mess of a config layout they have several times and can't get it to stop looking for that bloody theme.

[Heather] You cant just move their theme to another name and copy your theme into the name it's reaching for? </hack type=cheap>

No. :(

I'm waiting for my Ubuntu cds to arrive :)


problem in sendmail.cf

Thu, 17 Jun 2004 11:20:38 +0530
vignesh (vignesh.raj from samsung.com)

Hai

I have seen ur page for the sendmail configuaration and goes fine ,

And i have tried to configure the sendmail as u said , but i have some problem regarding the configuration .

Iam trying to configure it as SMTP AUTH client for the mailserver,But its giving error msg as DNS:service unavailable , i don't understand what is missing in the configuration.and one more things is its not alaising the username to the mailid .

can u pls help me regarding in this

warm regards
vignesh


GENERAL MAIL


Re: Setting the Clock on Linux in issue 108

Thu, 18 Nov 2004 22:11:55 -0500
Suramya Tomar (security from suramya.com)
Reply by William Park

Hi, Firstly I would like to congratulate you on a nicely written article. I found it very useful.

In addition to the ways you have pointed out in your article there is another method we can use to sync linux clocks to a central server. I am talking about using rdate (http://freshmeat.net/projects/rdate).

On the website:

"The rdate utility retrieves the date and time from another machine on your network, using the protocol described in RFC 868. If you run rdate as root, it will set your machine's local time to the time of the machine that you queried."

I use the following command to sync my computers clock every day:

/usr/sbin/rdate -s tick.greyware.com

Thought I should share this with you.

Thanks,
Suramya

'rdate' is just another program using port 37 (Time protocol) which is what RFC-868 is about. I think 'netdate' is more prevalent. In fact, you can use shell script, because the server returns number of second since Jan 1, 1900, in 32-bit number. So:
    sec=`nc time.nist.gov 37 | od -A n -t xC | tr -d ' '`
    date --date="1970-1-1 0:0:$((0x$sec - 2208988800)) GMT"
where 2208988800 is to make it relative to Jan 1, 1970.
I find that there could be an extra 32-bit number for microseconds. So, if you change the script to:
    set -- `nc time.nist.gov 37 | od -An -txC`
    date -u --set="1970-01-01 0:0:$((0x$1$2$3$4 - 2208988800))"
you will use only the seconds.
You are encouraged to use UDP side of things. The shell script has no choice but to use TCP, because knowing when to exit 'nc' is a hassle.


I hate to disagree...

Thu, 18 Nov 2004 15:36:44 -0500
Brendan (endosquid from endosquid.com)
Ok, I admit it. http://linuxgazette.net/108/lg_mail.html has a serious glitch... -- Heather

but...

"[sic] folks. Debian's actual command (to do mass upgrades without breaking holds or allowing package removals for apps that changed drastically) is: apt-get upgrade dist -- Heather"

The command is:

apt-get dist-upgrade

I know, because I do it everyday.

I did attempt to correct a typo. I replaced it with a worse one. It was late, and my vim went one way, my hand another. At least as far as I can tell. Either that or I was on some amazing grade of sleep deprivation. -- Heather
[Kapil] You should avoid doing this for more reasons than one!
1. Since there are only three versions of Debian at any given time you will reach the top of the charts in exactly two days! Once you already run "unstable" (or "testing" for that matter), running:
apt-get update; apt-get upgrade
should do the trick.
I do have to say, that 'upgrade' will not help you if they drastically rearrange a package. And, if you do it habitually you may not notice that. I don't recommend upgrades where you don't pay attention to such details.
The package that came to mind a long while back was vim. With merely 'upgrade' Debian would have been glad to leave me in its older style of package splits. If only it could be told to offer the same care when a package changes its config files under the hood. -- Heather
2. There is more to life than keeping up with the Joneses...
[Jimmy] Yeah, of course. There's keeping up with the Smitheseseses.[1]
[1] Why yes, I am quite drunk. Why do you ask? :)

The real way in which I was wrong is that neither 'upgrade' nor 'dist-upgrade' keywords break holds, and I claimed that the latter does. D'oh!

If you're gonna throw tomatoes, let's try to completely dunk the target, shall we?

/me enjoys another big glass of tomato juice...


Linux Master Boot Record

Fri, 19 Nov 2004 11:23:37 -0800 (PST)
Didi (didi from dancephotos.ch)

Ciao Ben,

thank you for the the description of

"dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512 count=1"

it almost saved my life.

[Ben] Ciao, Didi -
Glad you found it helpful! I appreciate your note... even though it was sent to a very old (and nearly unread) address of mine and thus took a long time to come to light.
(Didi's comment refers to my "Clearing out the Master Boot Record" article back in LG#63, which many people have found helpful over time; I keep receiving grateful comments on it even now, years later. It's very gratifying to know that I've been able to help so many folks with it. The reason I'm making this reply a public one is for the new readers of LG who may not be aware of this useful technique; the article can be found at http://linuxgazette.net/issue63/okopnik.html .)


Perl One-Liner of the Month

Sat, 06 Nov 2004 08:11:03 +0000
Hans Wennborg (hawe from bigfoot.com)
Reply by Jimmy O'Regan

Thanks for a good e-zine!

Thanks for reading it.

Just wanted to tell you that I miss Ben Okopnik's Perl One-Liner of the Month imensely! Those articles were what made me start loving Perl.

Will they return?

Well, that's up to Ben, but we did have a mini 1LotM in the Linux Laundrette: http://linuxgazette.net/108/lg_laundrette.html#laundrette.moreandmore

Woomert and Frink only get a brief cameo, but the one-liners are there.

[Ben] Hi, Hans -
Thanks for the compliment! For the moment, I've written Woomert and Frink into a blind alley; I think I need to put that particular story aside, to be revised at another time (I mean, what kind of a Perl one-liner can save an alien civilization, and from what threat??? Those guys get themselves into the craziest predicaments...) and write another one, not quite that deep.
POLOTM isn't dead, just resting... but it's notes like yours that can get me motivated to start it rolling again. Look for Woomert and Frink in the future issues of LG. :)


thanks for -Great- article

Sat, 6 Nov 2004 08:13:08 -0500
BellyOfTheBeast (swroomjnu from admin.state.ak.us)
Reply by Ben Okopnik

Ben O's review of the Averatec laptop is exactly what I'd like to see more of. It is accurate about the important things and gets right to the point. Far and away the best laptop review I've even seen. Thanks very much; I look forward to reading others as they become available.

-BA

Thanks, BA - reader's compliments make for great author motivation. The laptop reviews will continue happening (although I may skip a month in between), and will only terminate on EXIT_SUCCESS - or factors beyond my control. I definitely need a backup laptop, and will be "processing" more of them.


GAZETTE MATTERS


LG 97 typo

Tue, 23 Dec 2003 14:07:36 +0000
Francis Daly (francis from daoine.org)

Hi there,

(I got this address from http://linuxgazette.net/authors/okopnik.html)

I enjoyed your article in the recent LG issue -- thanks. There appears to be a minor typo in:

http://linuxgazette.net/issue97/misc/okopnik/mirrors.tmpl

which is propogated to the content at:

http://linuxgazette.net/mirrors.html

A patch below fixes it.

All the best,

See attached mirrors.diff.txt


Stephen Bint.......for Gianfranco..and with thanks to his friends.

Thu, 4 Nov 2004 22:25:30 -0500
Ann Morgan (ann_morgan from iinet.net.au)
[This is in response to an item in issue 101]

Hello,

I came across your question about Stephen quite by accident, and thought that, although there has been a response, I would take a moment to post a personal reply.

We do not actually know the date of Stephen's death...........February 27th was the day on which he was found by a farmer on Exmoor. The ensuing inquest concluded that it was 'Death by misadventure'...Hypothermia being the cause. Thank you for caring enough to question his whereabouts............I know many people will miss him and mourn his death.

He was my son.

Sincerely,

Ann Morgan

...............

'That man is a success who lived well, laughed often and loved much: who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of children: who has filled his niche and accomplished his task: who leaves the world a better place than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem or a rescued soul; who never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to express it; who looked for the best in others and gave the best he had.'

-- Robert Louis Stevenson.

...............

Thank you, Ann. Stephen was a man who held to his principles, and we can only respect him for that.
Readers, think kindly of your family this season, even those you don't deal well with or haven't seen in years. Look for the finer qualities in people around you. The winter may be cold - but don't forget to care.


This page edited and maintained by the Editors of Linux Gazette
HTML script maintained by Heather Stern of Starshine Technical Services, http://www.starshine.org/

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

More 2 Cent Tips!

See also: The Answer Gang's Knowledge Base and the LG Search Engine


Adding custom headers in Thunderbird

Brian Bilbrey (bilbrey from orbdesigns.com)
Answered By Jimmy O'Regan, Ben Okopnik

I'd whined several times about lack of success in setting an X-gazette-tag header in Mozilla Thunderbird. The answer lies in the user.js file, every one of the tens of Google hits I tracked down promised me. But I'd do each one as specified, and no joy in Mudville.

Tonight, I googled again, and about 6 links into the process, I found something close to the answer via a link from about.com. In my user.js file (found in my setup at ~/.thunderbird/*default/user.js) I put in these two lines:

// insert X-gazette-tag header
user_pref("mail.compose.other.header", "X-gazette-tag");
[Ben] This works in Mozilla as well, although the file there is "prefs.js". Searching the Web for the above header confirms that you cannot set a default value for the header...
[Jimmy] No, there's a user.js as well. That's what I'm using, and it worked last time.
[Ben] Odd. My version doesn't have one - I searched with "find".

if user.js doesn't exist, put it in the same directory as prefs.js. Moz* is in charge of prefs.js and may/will overwrite any changes in that file. Additionally, order of loading has user.js last, and settings in user.js will override prefs.js settings.

[Ben] Ah - I didn't realize that.

Note that this does not automatically create the header in every message, nor apparently is there a way to set a default value for the header (which would make the first part a lie, eh?)

[Ben] ...however, you can add a plugin that will allow you to do that and a lot more header-related stuff - which reputedly works for Mozilla and Thunderbird:
http://mnenhy.mozdev.org

That was ONE of the things I tried that didn't meet my needs. It turns out that it does a lot of header VIEW customization, but not new composition headers, from about two hours of playing with it, trying to get to the point I wanted.

[Ben] Hmph. Might be worth tossing into Bugzilla as a wishlist item; seems like it's something a lot of folks could use, given how much discussion there is about it on the Web.

But when I'm sending to TAG, I can select from "To:", "Cc:" "Bcc:" ... "X-gazette-tag", and add a value for that header. This is the first test, let's see if it works.

[Jimmy] And indeed it does. Probably works in Mozilla Mail too.

References


Cygwin from a CD

Jimmy O'Regan (The LG Answer Gang)

I tried running cygwin from a CD, and it mostly works (X doesn't, but Perl, Python and most of the usual tools do). The only thing that needs to be done is that a few entries need to be added to the registry (these can be safely deleted when done), because Cygwin doesn't have an /etc/fstab.

This file should be put on the CD. To add the entries, just double click!

See attached cyg-cd.reg.txt


Gentoo tip: CUPS printing error

Mike Orr (LG Contributing Editor)

If your CUPS printing suddenly stops working with the error:

lp: error - scheduler not responding!

try deleting the printer in the web interface and re-adding it. According to Gentoo forum posts, glibc had an unexpected API change and that broke Gentoo's configuration. You probably installed some unrelated software that upgraded glibc. You may have to re-emerge glibc, cupsd, and turboprint, but I didn't.

Curiously, I was still able to do the "Print Test Page" from the web interface, although others said they couldn't.

In an ideal world, dependencies would prevent this kind of problem from happening. But it's impossible for maintainers to know what incompatibilities might appear in third-party libraries in the future.

Here are the forum posts:
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=144236&highlight=cups+glibc
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?p=1274761#1274761


KDE logout action

Mike Orr (LG Contributing Editor)

I found the KDE option to change it back to showing the login screen after logging out instead of shutting down (../106/orr.html). It's KDE Control Center -> Session Manager -> Login as different user.


Mouse acceleration with Linux/X

Dave Blackburn (blackburn from acm.org)
Answered By Ben Okopnik, Thomas Adam, Jason Creighton

How can I adjust the "base" ratio between mouse motion and cursor motion on the screen?

I have successfully used xset. It works well for me. My problem is that the "base" ratio (e.g. with xset m 1 10) is too high (fast).

[Ben] I'm not sure what you mean by a "base ratio", Dave; I've found that I prefer a different "xset m" setting for different computer/mouse combinations, but have never come up with an absolute "rate" to reflect that preference. Whenever I set up a new machine, I twiddle this for a minute or two, set it in my ~/.xinitrc, and forget about it from there on.

I mean the mouse speed (i.e. ratio between mouse movement and cursor movement) without using: xset -- the initial mouse speed provided by X as if e.g. xset 1 10 were active.

[Ben] Ah - I was misled by the word "ratio", which implied to me that you were using "xset" with some fraction as a parameter (the man page specifies that you can do this.) Now I get what you mean.
I usually use "xset m" with a single parameter (which specifies "acceleration" only); I find that this works well for pretty much every machine out there. Once you start using more than that, you're off into /Terra Incognita/: some meeces will respond in odd ways to "threshold" tweaks.

I am using both RH 9.0 and Fedora 2 on a laptop. With RH 9.0, the "base" ratio is fairly slow. With Fedora 2 the ratio is quite a bit faster.

[Ben] I presume the two of them use somewhat different mouse drivers.

Using RH 9.0, I apply xset m 3 20 getting a pleasant result. Using Fedora 2, the "base" ratio is too fast for me.

Doing an Internet search, I found many explanations for xset.

[Ben] The man page for it is quite informative as well.

Also, I found the suggestion that I could modify xorg.conf (in /etc/X11) by adding a line like:

Option "Resolution" "500"

in section:

Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Mouse0"

This seemed like the answer I was looking for. However, when trying different values for Resolution, I observed no change in the "base" rate.

[Ben] I'm not familiar with "xorg.conf", but I've learned from personal experience that, while the "Resolution" option used to work in XF86Config, it does not in XF86Config-4.

This info is helpful. This is what I experienced.

Do one of you know how I can slow down the mouse when running Fedora 2?

[Ben] Find the value of "xset m" that you like and add it to your "~/.xinitrc" or "~/.xsession".

I use xset in ~/.xinitrc.

It seems that xset can only be used to speed up the mouse.

[Thomas] Err, no. xset is used to control the mouse threshold speed which means you can either increase or decrease it. One other option you have is that you might be using an incorrect mouse protocol for your configured mouse.

I want to slow the mouse down. In connection with slowing the mouse, I will use xset to control the higher speed.

Since the "Resolution" option doesn't work in XF86Config-4, perhaps it's also unavailable in the X.org release.

[Ben] That would be my best guess. From /usr/share/doc/xserver-xfree86/README.mouse (note the obvious escape clause):
5.3 Resolution
The following option will set the mouse device resolution to N counts per inch, if possible:
Option "Resolution" "N"
Not all mice and OSs can support this option. This option can be set in the XF86Setup program.

Perhaps there is a workaround?

[Jason] Quoting from the xset manpage:
       m       The  m  option  controls  the  mouse  parameters.   The
               parameters for the mouse are `acceleration' and
               `threshold'.  The acceleration can be specified as an
               integer, or as  a  simple fraction.  The mouse, or
               whatever pointer the machine is connected to, will go
               `acceleration' times as fast when it travels more than
               `threshold' pixels in a  short  time.   This way,  the
               mouse can be used for precise alignment when it is moved
               slowly, yet it can be set to travel across the screen in
               a flick of the  wrist when  desired.   One or both
               parameters for the m option can be omitted, but if only
               one is given, it will be interpreted as the acceleration.
               If no parameters  or  the flag 'default' is used, the
               system defaults will be set.
The key to an ugly workaround is the fact that you can specify the acceleration as a simple fraction. Thus:
xset m 1/2 1
...will cut the speed in half. But you lose any acceleration features because you're using it to hack the mouse speed to where you want it. But if that doesn't bother you, this method is one option.
[Ben] The fractional specification may work for you. Conversely, as Thomas suggested, the two distros may be using two different mouse drivers (compare the '"Option" "Device"' and '"Option" "Protocol"' lines in their X config files); if that's the case, then simply choose the one that works best for you, and do the final tweaking with "xset" from there.


Upgrading Quota

Breman (012832161 from mobitel.com.kh)
Question by Breman (012832161 from mobitel.com.kh)
Answered By Thomas Adam

Dear Thomas,

[Thomas] Hello, Breman -

May I ask you some questions below:

[Thomas] By all means. I've Cc'ed The Answer Gang on this, since I assume this is where you got my e-mail address. If you don't want this published, let me know.

I have installed SuSe Linux 6.4 as a mail server. The current version of quota is 2.11 - what is the latest version? where can I get it?

[Thomas] Quota support is kernel and user-land. Therefore I can only assume that you are referring to the userland tools. Currently the version is at 3.12, available here:
http://puzzle.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/linuxquota/quota-3.12.tar.gz

- How to update to the old version? please give me steps.

[Thomas] It's a case of removing the old quota tools and installing the new one. There's a number of ways you can do this. The INSTALL file within the tar file tells you all, and it should just be a simple matter of:
./configure && make && su -c 'make install'
Note that by default, this will install into /usr/local/* -- if "/usr/local/bin" is not in your $PATH, before "/usr/bin" and you still have the old quota-tools installed, this will conflict. If, however, /usr/local/bin is listed before /usr/bin in your $PATH then this should not be a problem. But you should make sure you remove the old quota-tools, regardless.

Thanks for your quick response and it helped me a lots.


Tip: ls -l, AIX style

Jimmy O'Regan (The LG Answer Gang)
Answered By Bradley Chapman, Kapil Hari Paranjape

On a certain other Linux site, I saw an unanswered question about getting the time format of ls -l to have a leading zero on single digit dates, like AIX does, instead of padding with a space as GNU ls does.

I was not aware of this (before I went to the man page), but GNU ls will format the date any way you like, if you use the --time-style switch. To use 'date' style formatting, you prefix it with a '+'.

So, AIX-style ls -l is:

ls -l --time-style=+"%b %d %H:%M"
[Brad] Does ls support any environment variables to do this? Something like
export TIME="%b %d %H:%M"
ls -l
or do you have to use an alias in your ~/.*rc files?
[Kapil] According to "info ls":
You can specify the default value of the `--time-style' option with the environment variable `TIME_STYLE'...
So the correct environment variable is TIME_STYLE not TIME.
Kapil.

You still need to have the '+', so it's

export TIME_STYLE=+"%b %d %H:%M"
ls -l


POP3 for Yahoo Mail

Breman (012832161 from mobitel.com.kh)
Question by Breman (012832161 from mobitel.com.kh)
Answered By Thomas Adam, Kapil Hari Paranjape

- What is pop3/smtp of yahoo mail?

[Thomas] There isn't any freely available as yahoo removed that service. That said, you can "emulate" it using a program called 'yahoopops' available here:
http://yahoopops.sourceforge.net
[Kapil] There is also fetchyahoo at http://fetchyahoo.twizzler.org
Also available as a Debian package under "testing".


DHCP Relay

Bill P (#hants IRC Channel)
17:09 < billp> /usr/local/sbin/dhcrelay -i xl0 -i xl2 -i ed2 dhcpserver
17:09 < billp> I knew it was something simple
17:11 <@Dee> what is it then? :)
17:11 < billp> How you forward dhcp serive across differenent interfaces on ones firewall
17:11 < billp> dhcp services*
17:11 * Wicket sniffs billp
17:13 < billp> So I have a dhcp server running on a hostname "dhcpserver", and it sends lease offers to networks it is not actully connected to, via connected interfaces on the firewall
17:14 < billp> So, a Linux firewall connecting a subnet with a dhcp server to two subnets without dhcp servers, would go something like:
17:14 < billp> /usr/sbin/dhcrelay -i eth0 -i eth1 -i eth2 dhcpserver
17:16 < billp> where dhcpserver is the hostname of your dhcp server. Dead useful, especially for having untrusted network segments, like an open-access wireless one
17:16 <@Dee> i see

This page edited and maintained by the Editors of Linux Gazette
HTML script maintained by Heather Stern of Starshine Technical Services, http://www.starshine.org/

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

The Answer Gang

Linux Gazette 109: The Answer Gang (TWDT) The Answer Gang 109:
LINUX GAZETTE
...making Linux just a little more fun!
(?) The Answer Gang (!)
By Jim Dennis, Karl-Heinz Herrmann, Breen, Chris, and... (meet the Gang) ... the Editors of Linux Gazette... and You!


We have guidelines for asking and answering questions. Linux questions only, please.
We make no guarantees about answers, but you can be anonymous on request.
See also: The Answer Gang's Knowledge Base and the LG Search Engine



Contents:

¶: Greetings From Heather Stern
(?)Laptop review: Averatec 5400 series
(?)Linux boots from RAMdisk,
(?)Help --or--
Quota needs update, help!
a place for everything and everything in its place...

(¶) Greetings from Heather Stern

Greetings, dear readers, and welcome once again to the world of The Answer Gang.

A world, I note, which has changed quite a bit in the last year. Last December it was like the Gazette was under a sort of shadow - our crew handled the transition to our new site with all the energy we could muster, but there's only so much life we few who run this could pour in - we had to wait for you readers to rediscover us.

We were already a great team, but the effort bound us together in a way that's really rather hard to describe... except that I like the results. We learn from each other on the lists as much as we ever did, but it's more than that, we're closer as friends I think, and we back each other up on things. We don't always agree (you put 20 plus curmudgeonly and very smart people in a room together and watch the fun. Oh? You say that's your typical holiday party? You see what I mean then) and at times Real Life(tm) mugs one or another of us ... and we really are different people, in what can take us down or carry us forward ... but we try to do more for each other.

It brings me great joy this year to still be bringing Linux Gazette to your browser's doorstep. I have to admit that for awhile even my own enthusiasm was failing; in past years I had done it for simply knowing Jim's "Answer Guy" pages would look far better when I put my hand to them. For awhile I had done it just for knowing there were uncounted readers out there looking for our good bits every month. In my own harder times I did it simply because I had promised to, I couldn't let you people down, and what little energy I could gain from knowing I was getting at least one job done right was very much a boost to me. The ordeals we put ourselves through here have given me strength in my friendships and renewed hope for a lot of little things in my life, Linux just one of them. The world has turned again, and I'm glad to know that you people are out there, still reading this, telling your newbie friends that their Linux troubles are solvable, we can Make Linux Just A Little More Fun and even get a giggle now and then.

That's part of what has seriously changed the face of LG though. The kind of people who were Linux newbies 5 years ago are not the same today. For one thing those people aren't newbies, but they still like to read about Linux and expand their knowledge even further. But the people who even thought about Linux then have a smorgasboard of choices now - and the newbies of today are in many cases less technical - you can buy "a linux box" at Wal-Mart, on special at CompUSA, you might be leaping ship from the (amazing to me, why does Microsoft saw off its own foot like this??) myriad flavors of MSwin to be found nowadays. Whether or not they ever caught a virus, the crashes and the pain they encounter when they dare to change their hardware are just as stumping to them as the box of Red Hat or SuSE on the store shelves. If they're going to get their hands dirty anyway... they may as well try this Linux thing on for size.

It won't fit all of them.

That's the thing about a world of choices. vi versus emacs debate fans the world over know that when it comes down to someone being a power user, the fact they've learned all the deep magics is worth a lot more than what type of filesystem runs under the hood or what some geek thinks is an 'operating system'. If the system operates, that's what they like. And that's good. I made the choice to stick with Gazette the way that gave it its power, a monthly source of good knowledge and fun. It's been worth it, and I thank all of you, of whatever age, country, newness to linux or being such an old hat that "Red Hat" upstart's a whippersnapper, for joining us every month. Send us your tips and good stories. Have a great time with Linux.

So it's the holidays now, and I'm giving you folks out there the same thing I give my dear friends and family every year, however rich or poor I might be. Presence.


(?) Laptop review: Averatec 5400 series

From Rick

Answered By: Ben Okopnik

Hi Ben,

Good article. My experience with laptops have had varied results. By that I mean, in many cases it has more to do with the distribution of Linux as it does with the hardware. I have a Compaq Presario 915ca (the specs on this can be easily looked up). The only upgrade is to 512MB of RAM. In any event, I am currently running WinXP and 3 different versions of Linux (I am a bit of an OS junkie!) using a 3rd party boot loader.

Xandros recognizes everything out of the box, even the WinModem! I had

(!) [Ben] "Out of the box" functioning is nice to have, but I don't expect it - and once you don't, all distros become essentially equal. There is no difference between, e.g. the kernel used in Mandrake and the one in Debian beyond possibly compilation choices and maybe a patch or two - which I can also get and use at need. There's certainly no difference in the standard toolkit, and there's no real difference in configuration - the tools may vary, but the end result is the same. I'm expert enough with Linux to do the configuration myself, so that issue does not obtain.
Admittedly, this is more difficult than tossing in a different distro and seeing if it works - but it carries the near certainty that if something can be made to work, and I take the time to do so, it will work, regardless of the distro. In my experience with multiple distros, Debian is one of the more easily configurable ones (the only "tool" required being a text editor), and so I use, and will be using, Debian and possibly its derivatives (e.g., Knoppix or Morphix) for this testing.
You may be assured that if I can make Debian work on a given laptop, then any other distro can also be convinced to do so. It may take more or less work, but it's doable. On the other hand, if I'm unable to make it work, that fact will not be conclusive. :)

(?) to mess with the /etc/fstab file a bit to get my 80GB USB hard drive working properly, but overall Xandros works well on this machine.

I guess the point of my email here is, sometimes it's just as important to find the right distro as it is the right hardware. I recently tried to install Linux on a friends new laptop. I went through about 10 different distros (including Fedora Core 2, Ubuntu, and even tested with Knoppix, which is Debian based and with great hardware detection!). Everything failed! ... ie: no mouse, it crashed the X server, etc. Finally I tried SuSE 9.1 and it just worked. Yes, I had to install the Nvidia drivers, and I never did manage to get his built-in wireless to work!

(!) [Ben] That can be a valid strategy if you don't have a lot of expertise to rely on, and it's nice that it's available. It is, however, not the only strategy, nor is it one that I prefer.

(?) (sometime it seems the hardware manufactures engineer "anti-Linux" into their products!)

(!) [Ben] As much as a frustrating experience with hardware can make you lean in the direction of that belief, I have to believe that it's false at its core. PC OEMs are in the business of selling hardware; I can't think of an argument convincing enough to make them purposely chase customers away.

(?) Yes, I agree with you. However, the vast majority of users do not know how to recompile a kernel, nor do they want to know. I would say that people like you account for a very small percentage of computer users. Most of my friends think I am some kind of computer wizard, but in reality, I am nowhere near that. Everything is relative, isn't it? I am probably in the top 10% of computer users from a knowledge point of view, and you are likely in the top 1%.

(!) [Ben] I'm afraid you missed the point I was trying to make, Rick - I guess I didn't state it clearly enough. In essence, if I can get a laptop working well under Linux, whatever the distro, then it's at least possible and in fact not too difficult - you may have noticed in the article that I'll simply stop trying once it's consumed a certain amount of time (a few hours at most.) If I can't do it at all (as was the case with the HP 5000 I'd picked up from Staples), then it gets blackballed. In both cases, a report of the experience becomes useful and doable, whereas testing every laptop against a dozen distros is out of the realm of possibility.

(?) As for the comment about hardware manufacturers purposely engineering anti-Linux products, I was just being facetious.

(!) [Ben] I understood that, but wanted to use your comment to clarify my view of the situation; I've heard a lot of people grumbling about it as if they believed it.
(?) As for aviation, well I am only 43, but I took up flying when I was 16. I am not currently flying, as things got all f&*^%$d up for me after 9/11. It's a rather long story.
(!) [Ben] Yeah. I've heard of a number of pilots who were affected... and you've probably heard about the recent TSA alien flight training/citizenship verification rule. That's going to shaft a LOT of pilots - and the damned thing is as confusing as can be imagined, and a couple of miles beyond that. AOPA is fighting the good fight, but there's a lot of fear in the air - and about it.

(?) Linux boots from RAMdisk,

From keesan

Answered By: Kapil Hari Paranjape, Thomas Adam

I tried telling CMOS that there was no second drive because someone suggested that method to get linux to recognize a larger drive, but my drive is 3GB. I have DOS on a master drive and two linux partitions on the slave drive, with one linux in each, and RAMdisk and loop versions in DOS partitions.

I am able to mount the linux partitions when running from the RAMdisk or loop versions and then switch to run linux on them:

mount /dev/hdb1 /mnt

chroot /mnt

This puts hdb1 on / and I can then use linux on the ext2 partition.

(!) [Kapil] But this is essentially what most initrd-based start up procedures do anyway! So, though I haven't used BasixLinux, I would guess that the problem is with the start scripts on your ext2 partition in /etc/rcS.d or some such.

(?) This is a minor nuisance and I suppose I could put it in an rc file, or just use the smaller version unless I needed the larger one.

(!) [Kapil] The glass could also be half full! Given the variety of hardware that Linux runs on it is surprising that so many computers boot with it at all. :-)

(?) I am writing out of curiosity - why are so many computers difficult to boot with linux? Is there a better fix for this one? Is there a better fix for the other three besides installing Win98 DOS on them (and having to use a boot floppy to defragment the DOS partitions after that) or rebooting with a Win98 boot disk to go from DOS to linux?

I also have one Northgate 386 SX 20MHz 4.7MB RAM laptop which has no cursor in linux. Cirrus video, 256K video RAM, mono VGA. The cursor is plain white when used in color VGA. The computer in theory can output to a color monitor in 800x600 resolution.

(!) [Kapil] Is this with or without X? The question is not clear enough. Are you in graphics mode or text mode?
(!) [Thomas] The distinction here is whether he is running with Framebuffers or not. Framebuffers are pretty much standard and most monitors that are not of the dark age can handle them, assuming their VGAness is OK. That said, certain monitors can react badly to the Framebuffer modeline it has been given and blank out. In fact, I remember discussing this some time ago in LG:
http://linuxgazette.net/issue77/tag/2.html

(?) Does laptop video treat software cursors oddly? A cursor appears when I use a text editor. There is a cursor while booting to DOS and in DOS.

Another 386 with identical speed, RAM and video won't boot linux at all - the screen goes black and I need to reboot. What might cause this problem?

(!) [Kapil] Try booting with the additional option "vesafb=off". Some of the older hardware may not respond well to being switched to graphic mode.
(!) [Thomas] Again, that won't be enough. He'll need to tell it to not only ignore vesafb, but to ensure that the vag16 definitions are turned off. So at the boot prompt:
linux nofb video=vga16:off vesafb=off vga=normal
Ought to do it.

(?) Quota needs update, help!

a place for everything and everything in its place...

From Breman

Answered By: Thomas Adam, John Karns, Ben Okopnik

May I ask you some questions below:

I have installed SuSe Linux 6.4 as a mail server. The current version of quota is 2.11

(!) [Thomas] Quota support is kernel and user-land. Therefore I can only assume that you are referring to the userland tools. Currently the version is at 3.12, available here:
http://puzzle.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/linuxquota/quota-3.12.tar.gz

(?) How to update to the old version? please give me steps.

(!) [Thomas] It's a case of removing the old quota tools and installing the new one. There's a number of ways you can do this. The INSTALL file within the tar file tells you all, and it should just be a simple matter of:
./configure && make && su -c 'make install'
Note that by default, this will install into /usr/local/* -- if "/usr/local/bin" is not in your $PATH, before "/usr/bin" and you still have the old quota-tools installed, this will conflict. If, however, /usr/local/bin is listed before /usr/bin in your $PATH then this should not be a problem. But you should make sure you remove the old quota-tools, regardless.
(!) [John] That's the way I usually do it, too. But there is also something to be said for staying within the boundaries of the package management system, which in SuSE's case (as well as Red Hat and Mandrake, and probably a few others) is the rpm system.
(!) [Thomas] I disagree. Package management should be sufficiently advanced that if one doesn't want a particular package (or one wants to override it), then one can. This is where stow shines, for all the reasons outlined above. You are not tied down to having to install .rpm just because you can.
Of course, if you are compiling from source, for the odd program then this is not so much an issue as all of the libaries are linked (or should be) for the appropriate versions that exist on the system at the time.
(!) [John] Note: with such an old version of the distro as in the case of the querent, dealing with this issue may prove to be more trouble than it's worth, depending on how the package in question has evolved. I.E., in cases where there have been significant changes to the number of files involved, and / or their placement in the filesystem, then the process would likely involve fundamental changes to the rpm spec file, which may require a good understanding of the inner workings of the rpm system.
But for a more current version of an rpm based distro, the process would be much less problematic, and provide the advantage of keeping the rpm database "in sync" with the installed system, thus easing efforts concerning system maintenance regarding package management issues. It would entail something along the lines of replacing the 'make install' with 'rpmbuild --rebuild', after replacing the older package source files with those of the newer version.

(?) What is pop3/smtp of yahoo mail?

There isn't any freely available as yahoo removed that service. That said, you can "emulate" it using a program called 'yahoopops' available here:

http://yahoopops.sourceforge.net

(?) I have install in as default configure (usr/local/) and now I want to reinstall it in /usr/local/quota312 folder. How to uninstall it?

(!) [Thomas] Uninstalling compiled software can be hit and miss, since it depends whether the source makefile has an "uninstall" target in it, or not. So the first thing I would do, is for the source where you compiled your quota-tools, do:
cd /tmp/quota-tools/ && su -c 'make uninstall'
If that doesn't work, then the makefile probably doesn't support the feature, although it is worth looking at the makefile to see. The other option, if not, is to delete the files by hand. There are various tar and rm incantations to do that. But I would do it by hand, myself.
One other thing I will mention to you for the future is that if you find yourself compiling software from source a lot, I really do recommend you use stow [1,2]. It is a really useful piece of software and would have helped you here easily.
[1] http://linuxgazette.net/issue75/peda.html
[2] http://www.hantslug.org.uk/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?LinuxHints/KeepingTrack

(?) Thanks for your quick response. I try your uninstall connand but not success. I got the warning: "make: *** No rule to make target `uninstall'. Stop" I will delete it manually. Can we just install again without uninstall first?

(!) [Ben] There's a way to do it that I invented in a fit of desperation; it's a little manual but quite effective.

1. Run "make -n install > uninstall".
2. Edit the newly-created "uninstall" file and replace the "install" or "cp" commands with "rm", editing each line as necessary.
3. Run "sh uninstall".


This page edited and maintained by the Editors of Linux Gazette
Copyright © its authors, 2004
Published in issue 109 of Linux Gazette December 2004
HTML script maintained by Heather Stern of Starshine Technical Services, http://www.starshine.org/

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

News Bytes

By Michael Conry

News Bytes

Contents:

Selected and formatted by Michael Conry

Submitters, send your News Bytes items in PLAIN TEXT 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. Submit items to bytes@lists.linuxgazette.net


Legislation and More Legislation


 European Software Patents

The difficulties and delays dogging the European Union's attempts to agree on a software patent policy continued in November, this time to the benefit of anti-software-patent interests.

In September last year, the European Parliament (a directly elected body, with representatives from all European Union member states) voted to accept a directive on the "patentability of computer-implemented inventions". This directive was only accepted subject to a set of amendments that constituted real and substantial limits on the patentability of software. This fact was recognised both by gratified anti-software-patent campaigners and by chagrined patent attorneys.

However, following this initial success, May 2004 brought a setback as the European Council of Ministers (a body composed of ministerial representatives from EU member states' governments) instead moved to advance a directive that excluded the substantial amendments adopted by the Parliament. As well as disheartening Free Software advocates, this brought howls of protest from the Parliamentarians who (in a not untypical tug of war between the branches of EU administration) accused the Council of flying in the face of democracy. After May, the obstacles still standing between the Directive and its final ratification were for the Council to formally adopt the directive, and then for the directive to pass before Parliament once more. This brings us to the present day.

The directive has not yet found its way into parliament for an encore, but instead has floundered in the Council chamber. Poland, a new entrant into the EU (and apparently relatively undecided on this issue in May), has changed the position adopted by its representative in the summer Council meeting and now opposes the directive precisely because no effective limits are placed on the patentability of software.

This heroic about-turn by Poland, as well as similar pronouncements emanating from Austria should remind us that this fight is certainly still there to be won. The efforts of prominent Free and Open Software figures like Linus Torvalds, Michael Widenius, and Rasmus Lerdorf who have raised their voices to say "No to Software Patents" are welcome, especially as they provide an example to all of us that if we feel this issue is important then we should make our opinions known. Those supporting a future software industry stretched on a rack of software patents are certainly not shy about pushing their case. Truly, can we afford the luxury of silence? Wladyslaw Majewski, president of the Internet Society of Poland puts the point starkly:

"The questionable compromise that the EU Council reached in May was the biggest threat ever to our economic growth, and to our freedom of communication. The desire of the patent system and the patent departments of certain large corporations must never prevail over the interests of the economy and society at large."
( quoted in The Inquirer).


 Novell vs. Microsoft

During November, Slashdot highlighted and discussed a very illuminating article at Groklaw, written by a retired attorney. Written in the context of Novell's current anti-trust case against Microsoft, the article points out that quite apart from the interest stirred up by the substance of this particular case, this is also a great opportunity to store up ammunition for future legal adventures. The key to this opportunity is that the discovery process will, at least temporarily, move a lot of Microsoft material into the public eye. The trick is then to store it up for future use.


 Nmap

The Register and Security Focus have reported that Fyodor, the author of the port-scanning network security tool Nmap, has found that his software writing has brought him into surprisingly close terms with the FBI. Apparently the Feds have begun to look for access to his webserver logs in order to identify individuals or organisations downloading tools like Nmap.


 OSRM and Patent Risks

Open Source Risk Management has steered a somewhat controversial course since arriving on the scene offering to indemnify open source developers against hostile intellectual property lawsuits. In a bid to encourage use of its services, OSRM has at times appeared to over-emphasise the risks open source software developers and users expose themselves to. As reported by internetnews.com, this perception has now resulted in Pamela Jones (of Groklaw) resigning her position as litigation risk research director for the group. In particular, Pamela wished not to contribute to activities that she felt were creating fear and doubt about Linux, and providing ammunition to anti-open-source interests.

The potential damage caused by such publicity is demonstrated by the usefulness of one particular OSRM report to Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, who used it to claim in front of Asian business leaders that Linux violates over 200 patents. However, one should not be too critical of OSRM, since quite apart from any FUD there does appear to be a real and growing likelihood that open source software will in the future be attacked using patents. Microsoft's statements on the issue of intellectual property point in this direction, as does its policy of substantially increasing its own patent portfolio. This portfolio can be used either defensively, or offensively, but either way its existence and rapid growth indicate a messy time ahead, and it seems the lawyers can already smell blood in the water.

Highlighting this threat can lead to some bad publicity, such as Ballmer's showboating in Asia, but it is also useful for generating awareness. And as pointed out by Ballmer, and highlighted by The Register, our current framework of international agreements governed by the WTO means that these issues will have ramifications right across the globe. How any possible patent-war will pan out is still an open question, but having good awareness in the Free Software ranks of the risks and dangers that are faced is sure to be a good thing.

The FSF is already taking steps aimed at protecting Free Software from hostile parties armed with heavy patent portfolios. The GPL, which is currently being redrafted towards a 3rd revision (considered overdue by some), may yet offer some protection against patent attacks. Clever legal manoeuvres, however, are not necessarily a sufficient condition for safety, so it is important to be aware of opportunities for practical action, and to try to spread awareness of these risks as widely as possible.


Linux Links

Linux Insider has some interesting comments from Andrew Tanenbaum disputing findings in Kenneth Brown's report for The Alexis de Tocqueville Institute.

John C. Dvorak writing at CBS MarketWatch thinks Microsoft is planning to make an entry into the Linux marketplace, and that this explains the effort invested in the Lindows trademark lawsuit.

Vnunet.com interviews OSDL boss (and Linus's employer) Stuart Cohen.

NewsForge reports on the launch of LinuxFoo, a GNU/Linux discussion site.

The Register presents an outsider's view of technology in China, and opportunities for GNU/Linux.

O'Reilly on Knoppix for Windows users.

The Inquirer reports on Linux's position in the Japanese 3G mobile phone market.

Solaris is from Venus, Linux is from Mars.

A look at the Geronimo project, from the Apache Software Foundation.

Round up of hard real-time options under Linux.

Inside Memory Management.

Boot managing your Linux and Windows box, and in particular recovering from the Windows installer's boorish overwriting of your original bootloader.

Linux Weekly News has published interesting articles on binary-only firmware, and on the current state of play in the BSD arena.

Linux Weekly News roundup of PowerPC GNU/Linux distributions.


News in General


 Intel

Intel has announced an initiative that shows a growing interest in Linux. The new quick-start kit for systems-integrators, launched in the Asian market, is intended to facilitate the building of Linux-based desktop PCs. This is a small move towards providing the kind of support Windows PC integrators have grown used to.


 Netherlands

The European Union Interchange of Data Between Administrations Project has publicised the decision of the local government in the Dutch city of Haarlem to switch 2000 desktops to OpenOffice.org. As well as currently using GNU/Linux in server applications, the local government is exploring the feasibility of migrating desktops to the operating system, with initial estimates indicating that 20% of desktops could be migrated without causing particular difficulties or inconvenience to employees.

The Dutch prime minister and the office of the Irish prime minister have also encouraged European governments to consider open source software in the spirit of inter-agency collaboration. Now, while such pronouncements are good to hear, this writer is relatively familiar with Irish government policy on these matters, and it is anything but coherent. If this is the case elsewhere, then if your elected representative pays lip-service to open source and Free Software, then perhaps it would be helpful to follow up on this with a letter, to let them know you paid attention, that you'll remember what they said, and that if they do a U-turn on it then they'd better knock on somebody else's door come election time!


 Intel

SSC, publisher of Linux Journal and former supporter of Linux Gazette, will be launching a new magazine in February 2005. Aimed at Linux newcomers, TUX will be a monthly print and online publication providing articles of interest to desktop users.

This new publication has also received comment on Andy Oram's weblog at O'Reilly.com.


Distro News


 Damn Small Linux

OSDir.com has published a screenshot tour of Damn Small Linux 0.8.4. Damn Small Linux is a business card size (50MB) bootable Live CD Linux distribution that strives to have a functional and easy to use desktop.


 Debian

Debian Weekly News highlighted a tutorial written by Falko Timme on using the 2.6 kernel with Debian Woody 3.0.


 gnuLinEx

Linux Journal has published an interesting article on gnuLinEx. GnuLinEx is the Debian-based operating system used by the government of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura, Spain. The system is used widely in the region's schools, and also in local government administration.


 Knoppix

O'Reilly has published a book dealing with some of the cool things you can accomplish with the Debian-based GNU/Linux live-CD Knoppix: Knoppix Hacks.

This book was reviewed on Slashdot (the review was very favourable, to the extent that it was linked on the press-release advertising this title).


 Slackware

Patrick Volkerding, coordinator of Slackware Linux, has been having serious health problems in recent weeks. Patrick has found it difficult to obtain satisfactory treatment from the doctors that he has visited to date, so he has solicited help from members of the community.


 Topologilinux

Linuxforums.org has published a review of Topologilinux. Based on the much respected Slackware, Topologilinux is a free Linux distribution designed to be run on top of or inside an existing windows system. Thus, Topologilinux does not require any repartitioning of the system's hard drive, and instead it uses a single file as a linux root system.


Software and Product News


 Lulu

Lulu, a company that offers people the chance to self-publish at relatively modest costs (at least for small production runs) is now aiming to extend this service to open source software developers. The intention is to sell boxed sets comprising the software itself, as well as printed and bound manuals and documentation. An example of this class of product is the Fedora GNU/Linux distribution.


 O'Reilly

O'Reilly has announced the availability of a new book, Windows to Linux Migration Toolkit. From the publisher's website:

It provides migration process planning, automated migration scripts, anti-virus/anti-spam solutions, and specific migration and deployment details for all relevant technologies. The CD includes valuable automated scripts for migrating any flavor of Windows to Linux.

Another title likely to be of interest to readers is SELinux. This book provides a background to SELinux, as well as guidelines on its installation and subsequent use.


 Linux

Marcello Tosatti has announced the completion of a new release in the 2.4 series of kernels. You can read the changelog for 2.4.28 to see all the changes.


 Mozilla

The release of a stable version 1.0 of Mozilla Firefox, tied in with an unprecedented publicity drive for the open-source application, has been followed by an exceptionally strong download-demand for the package. Indeed it seems that the browser is even eating into the market share of the currently dominant Microsoft Internet Explorer, which has seen its share reportedly drop below 90%. The upsurge in demand also seems to be creating a good business environment for Mozilla-savvy developers.


Mick is LG's News Bytes Editor.

[Picture] Originally hailing from Ireland, Michael is currently living in Baden, Switzerland. There he works with ABB Corporate Research as a Marie-Curie fellow, developing software for the simulation and design of electrical power-systems equipment.

Before this, Michael worked as a lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College Dublin; the same institution that awarded him his PhD. The topic of this PhD research was the use of Lamb waves in nondestructive testing. GNU/Linux has been very useful in his past work, and Michael has a strong interest in applying free software solutions to other problems in engineering.

Copyright © 2004, Michael Conry. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

Virtual Filesystem: Building A Linux Filesystem From An Ordinary File

By Mike Chirico

Copyright (c) 2004 (GPU Free Documentation License)
Latest Update: http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/souptonuts/README_Virtual_FS.html?download
Date: Sun Sep 19 01:08:31 EDT 2004

Under Linux, you can create a regular file, format it as an ext2, ext3, or reiser filesystem, and then mount it just like a physical drive. It's then possible to read and write files to this newly-mounted device. You can also copy the complete filesystem, since it is just a file, to another computer. If security is an issue, read on. This article will show you how to encrypt the filesystem and mount it with ACL (Access Control Lists), which gives you control of rights beyond the traditional read (r), write (w), and execute (x) permissions for the three user groups "file", "owner", and "other".

This is an excellent way to investigate different filesystems without having to reformat a physical drive, which means you avoid the hassle of moving all your data. This method is quick -- very quick compared to preparing a physical device. What is truly great about this technique is that you can explore different filesystems such as reiserfs, ext3, or ext2 without having to purchase an additional physical drive. Since the same file can be mounted on more than one mount point, you can also investigate sync rates.

Creating a filesystem in this manner allows you to set a hard limit on the amount of space used, which, of course, will be equal to the file size. This can be an advantage if you need to move this information to other servers. Since the contents cannot grow beyond the file, you can easily keep track of how much space is being used.

First, you want to create a 20MB file by executing the following command:

      $ dd if=/dev/zero of=disk-image count=40960
      40960+0 records in
      40960+0 records out

A count of 40960 created a 20 MB file because, by default, dd uses a block size of 512 bytes. That makes the size: 40960*512=20971520.

      $ ls -l disk-image
      -rw-rw-r--    1 chirico  chirico  20971520 Sep  3 14:24 disk-image

Next, to format this as an ext3 filesystem, you just execute the following command:

      $ /sbin/mkfs -t ext3 -q disk-image
      mke2fs 1.32 (09-Nov-2002)
      disk-image is not a block special device.
      Proceed anyway? (y,n) y

You are asked whether to proceed because this is a file, and not a block device. That is OK. We will mount this as a loopback device so that this file will simulate a block device.

Next, you need to create a directory that will serve as a mount point for the loopback device.

      $ mkdir fs

You are now one step away from the last step. You just want to find out what the next available loopback device number is. Normally, loopback devices start at zero (/dev/loop0) and work their way up (/dev/loop1, /dev/loop2, ... /dev/loopn). An easy way for you to find out what loopback devices are being used is to look into /proc/mounts, since the mount command may not give you what you need.

      $ cat /proc/mounts

      rootfs / rootfs rw 0 0
      /dev/root / ext3 rw 0 0
      /proc /proc proc rw,nodiratime 0 0
      none /sys sysfs rw 0 0
      /dev/sda1 /boot ext3 rw 0 0
      none /dev/pts devpts rw 0 0
      /proc/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb usbdevfs rw 0 0
      none /dev/shm tmpfs rw 0 0

On my computer, I have no loopback devices mounted, so I'm OK to start with zero. You must do the next command as root, or with an account that has superuser privileges.

      # mount -o loop=/dev/loop0 disk-image fs

That's it. You just mounted the file as a device. Now take a look at /proc/mounts, you will see this is using /dev/loop0.

      $ cat /proc/mounts

      rootfs / rootfs rw 0 0
      /dev/root / ext3 rw 0 0
      /proc /proc proc rw,nodiratime 0 0
      none /sys sysfs rw 0 0
      /dev/sda1 /boot ext3 rw 0 0
      none /dev/pts devpts rw 0 0
      /proc/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb usbdevfs rw 0 0
      none /dev/shm tmpfs rw 0 0
      /dev/loop0 /home/chirico/junk/fs ext3 rw 0 0

You can now create new files, write to them, read them, and do everything you normally would do on a disk drive. First, I'll give access to the chirico account.

      # chown -R chirico.chirico /home/chirico/junk/fs

Now, under the chirico account, it is possible to create files.

      $ cd /home/chirico/fs
      $ mkdir one two three
      $ ls -l

      total 15
      drwx------    2 chirico  chirico     12288 Sep  3 14:28 lost+found
      drwxrwxr-x    2 chirico  chirico      1024 Sep  3 14:34 one
      drwxrwxr-x    2 chirico  chirico      1024 Sep  3 14:34 three
      drwxrwxr-x    2 chirico  chirico      1024 Sep  3 14:34 two

      $ df -h

      Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
      /dev/sda2              17G   11G  4.6G  71% /
      /dev/sda1              99M   83M   11M  89% /boot
      none                   62M     0   62M   0% /dev/shm
      /home/chirico/junk/disk-image
                             20M  1.1M   18M   6% /home/chirico/junk/fs

If you need to unmount the filesystem, as root, just issue the umount command. If you need to free the loopback device, execute the losetup command with the -d option. You can execute both commands as follows:

      # umount /home/chirico/junk/fs
      # losetup -d /dev/loop0

Using RWX -- The Old Way To Collaborate

Before we get started with ACL, how would you set up rights on the filesystem so that users could create and save documents that others could modify? For instance, let's say that users chirico and sporkey are collaborating on a project together.

Well, you have to add everyone to the same group. You would execute commands like these:.

      # groupadd sharefs
      # chown -R root.sharefs /home/chirico/junk/fs
      # chmod 2775 /home/chirico/junk/fs
      # usermod -G sharefs sporkey
      # usermod -G sharefs chirico

Note that if these changes do not take effect for your users (for example, if they were logged in when you executed the commands), they'll have to log out and log in again or execute the "$ newgrp sharefs" command. No big deal, right? Well, keep reading, and see how ACL avoids this step.

More importantly, even though the old way worked for you, at some point, new users may need to be added to the project. What if some of these users only need a subset of the rights? For instance, you have developers, testers, managers, and a few special people. There are limits to what the 'rwx'-type rights can do. ACL solves a lot of these problems.

ACL, Reiserfs, and AES Encryption: The 2.6 Kernel

For the next steps, I will assume that you are running Red Hat Fedora Core 2. If not, reference the 2.6 kernel upgrade section below. Four things will be covered in this section:

Your installation of Fedora Core 2, by default, will be configured for loop, cryptoloop, and aes, but it is highly unlikely that you will have all of these modules loaded. So, execute the following commands to load these modules (you will need to do this as root):

      # modprobe loop
      # modprobe cryptoloop
      # modprobe aes

Next, create a directory to store the files. The Reiser filesystem will require more space than the ext3 filesystem.

      # mkdir /home/diskimg
      # cd /home/diskimg

Instead of creating the file zeroed out, like you did with the ext3 filesystem, this one is going to contain random bits, which may add a little extra security.

      # dd if=/dev/urandom of=disk-aes count=102400

We need to encrypt the loop device, so you need to use losetup. You will be prompted for a password, which you will need to remember when you mount the device.

      # losetup -e aes /dev/loop1 ./disk-aes
        Password:

This step is new also. Instead of formatting the file directly, you will format the loop device. The file stays encrypted. Again, you will be prompted to continue, so just enter "y".

      # mkfs -t reiserfs /dev/loop1

      mkfs.reiserfs 3.6.13 (2003 www.namesys.com)                                                
                                                                                           
      A pair of credits:                                                                   
      Elena Gryaznova performed testing and benchmarking.                                  
                                                                                           
      The  Defense  Advanced  Research  Projects Agency (DARPA, www.darpa.mil) is the      
      primary sponsor of Reiser4.  DARPA  does  not  endorse  this project; it merely      
      sponsors it.                                                                         
                                                                                           
                                                                                           
      Guessing about desired format.. Kernel 2.6.8-1.521 is running.                       
      Format 3.6 with standard journal                                                     
      Count of blocks on the device: 12800                                                 
      Number of blocks consumed by mkreiserfs formatting process: 8212                     
      Blocksize: 4096                                                                      
      Hash function used to sort names: "r5"                                               
      Journal Size 8193 blocks (first block 18)                                            
      Journal Max transaction length 1024                                                  
      inode generation number: 0                                                           
      UUID: 435e3495-5e2e-489d-bf55-1b5f9a44b670                                           
      ATTENTION: YOU SHOULD REBOOT AFTER FDISK!                                            
              ALL DATA WILL BE LOST ON '/dev/loop1'!                                       

      Continue (y/n):y                                                                     
      Initializing journal - 0%....20%....40%....60%....80%....100%                        
      Syncing..ok                                                                          
                                                                                           
      Tell your friends to use a kernel based on 2.4.18 or later, and especially not a     
      kernel based on 2.4.9, when you use reiserFS. Have fun.                              
                                                                                           
      ReiserFS is successfully created on /dev/loop1.                                      

Create the mount point /fs, and mount this device. Note that you will be entering the acl option as well. Plus, you will prompted for a password.

      # mkdir /fs
      # mount -o loop,encryption=aes,acl ./disk-aes /fs
        Password:

Ok, now take a look at the mount command. It should show up as the Reiser filesystem, encrypted, using ACL. Note that it says loop2; it mounted it on /dev/loop2, which is one above what losetup specified, /dev/loop1.

      $ mount
      /home/diskimg/disk-aes on /fs type reiserfs (rw,loop=/dev/loop2,encryption=aes,acl)

Exploring ACL

With ACL (Access Control Lists), you have finer control over access permissions. With the rwx permission scheme, you cannot easily change rights without creating new groups to handle the users. With ACL, you can set user permissions without creating a group, and individual users can add or remove access.

These rights are set with the setfacl command. The command below will give the users donkey, chirico, and bozo2 access to this new filesystem that we mounted. Again, I'm assuming that you are using Fedora Core 2, or some distribution that is set up for ACL.

# setfacl -R -m d:u:donkey:rwx,d:u:chirico:rwx,d:u:bozo2:rwx /fs

Next, create a few directories as one of the users. The example below was done as the user chirico.

      $ mkdir /fs/one
      $ touch /fs/one/stuff
      $ ls -l /fs/one/stuff
      -rw-rw----+ 1 chirico chirico 0 Sep  3 17:48 /fs/one/stuff

Notice the plus sign in the last line. It tells us a little about who has access. So, as user chirico, the getfacl command can be executed:

      $ getfacl /fs/one/stuff                                    

      getfacl: Removing leading '/' from absolute path names     
      # file: fs/one/stuff                                       
      # owner: chirico                                           
      # group: chirico                                           
      user::rw-                                                  
      user:chirico:rwx                #effective:rw-             
      user:donkey:rwx                 #effective:rw-             
      user:bozo2:rwx                  #effective:rw-             
      group::r-x                      #effective:r--             
      mask::rw-                                                  
      other::---                                                 

We now see that donkey, chirico, and bozo2 have effective rights on this file. Chirico has enough rights to remove bozo2.

      $ setfacl -x u:bozo2 /fs/one/stuff
      $ getfacl /fs/one/stuff
      getfacl: Removing leading '/' from absolute path names
      # file: fs/one/stuff
      # owner: chirico
      # group: chirico
      user::rw-
      user:chirico:rwx
      user:donkey:rwx
      group::r-x
      mask::rwx
      other::---

This is just scratching the surface of what can be done with ACL. For more information, see some of the references below.

2.6 Kernel Upgrade

This article will get you started with the 2.6 kernel if you are currently running Red Hat 8 or 9. You may want to take a look at it to see what is involved. If you decide to upgrade, you will need to configure your kernel for the following:

      CONFIG_BLK_DEV_LOOP
      CONFIG_BLK_DEV_CRYPTOLOOP
      CONFIG_CRYPTO_AES_586

This is done in the .config file, and you can download my config file here. Just look for kernel-2.6.8.1-i686-chirico-reiserfsacl.config in the tar.gz.

In addition to upgrading the kernel, you will need the latest version of the Linux utilities. Currently, there is no need to patch this version. In the past, there was a patch, but this version worked fine for me.

You will also need the Reiser tools.

References

Linux Tips and Tricks
Check out tips 12, 22, and 91, on how to use ssh with rsync. You can create a virtual filesystem on a server, then copy it to your laptop. As you work on the laptop, sync your changes using rsync.
Linux Magazine's article on ACL
This article goes into more depth on adding and removing users.
Access Control Lists in Linux
A PDF from Andreas Grünbacher.
Advanced Linux Programming
by Mark Mitchell, Jeffrey Oldham, and Alex Samuel, of CodeSourcery LLC, published by New Riders Publishing, ISBN 0-7357-1043-0, First Edition, June 2001. This book is free and you can view it online. Chapter 6 describes loopback devices.
Implementing Encrypted Home Directories
W. Michael Petullo, July 23, 2003.
The Loopback Encrypted Filesystem HOWTO
By Ryan T. Rhea.

Other Articles by Mike Chirico

Lemon Parser Generator Tutorial
This is a yacc alternative that is compact and thread safe. It is used in the sqlite project.
Recommended Reading
Read what others suggest. I started with a list of my own, and will add suggestions from other developers, readers, and opinionated people.
README_mysql.txt
Tips on MySQL.
README_COMCAST_EMAIL.txt
Tips on using Comcast Email with a home Linux box.


[BIO] Mike Chirico, a father of triplets (all girls) lives outside of Philadelphia, PA, USA. He has worked with Linux since 1996, has a Masters in Computer Science and Mathematics from Villanova University, and has worked in computer-related jobs from Wall Street to the University of Pennsylvania. His hero is Paul Erdos, a brilliant number theorist who was known for his open collaboration with others.
Mike's notes page is souptonuts.

Copyright © 2004, Mike Chirico. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

SQLite Tutorial: Common Commands and Triggers

By Mike Chirico

This article explores common methods in SQLite such as running commands from the shell prompt and creating triggers for populating time stamped fields with either UTC or local time values. In addition, delete, update, and insert trigger examples will be explored in detail.

All examples can be found in sqlite_examples.tar.gz (local copy), and I would encourage you to download and run these examples as you read through this document.

The home page for sqlite3 is www.sqlite.org and the source for sqlite3 can be downloaded at www.sqlite.org/download.htm. This tutorial was done with the source version 3.0.8

Getting Started - Common Commands

To create a database file, run the command "sqlite3" followed by the database name. For example, to create the database "test.db" run the sqlite3 command as follows:

     $ sqlite3 test.db
     SQLite version 3.0.8
     Enter ".help" for instructions
     sqlite> .quit
     $

The database file test.db will be created, if it does not already exist. Running this command will leave you in the sqlite3 environment. There are 3 ways to safely exit this environment (.q, .quit, or .exit).

You do not have to enter the sqlite3 interactive environment. Instead, you could perform all commands at the shell prompt, which is ideal when running bash scripts and commands in an ssh string. Below is an example of how you would create a simple table from the command prompt.

     $ sqlite3 test.db  "create table t1 (t1key INTEGER 
                  PRIMARY KEY,data TEXT,num double,timeEnter DATE);"

After table t1 has been created, data can be inserted as follows:

     $ sqlite3 test.db  "insert into t1 (data,num) values ('This is sample data',3);"
     $ sqlite3 test.db  "insert into t1 (data,num) values ('More sample data',6);"
     $ sqlite3 test.db  "insert into t1 (data,num) values ('And a little more',9);"

As expected, doing a select returns the data in the table. Note, the primary key "t1key" auto increments; however, there are no default values for timeEnter. To populate the timeEnter field with the time, an update trigger is needed. An important note on the PRIMARY KEY: do not use the abbreviated "INT" when working with the PRIMARY KEY. You must use "INTEGER", for the primary key to update.

     $ sqlite3 test.db  "select * from t1 limit 2";
     1|This is sample data|3|
     2|More sample data|6|

In the statement above, the limit clause is used and only 2 rows are displayed. For a quick reference of SQL syntax statements available with SQLite, see the link syntax. There is an offset option to the limit clause. For instance, the third row is equal to the following: "limit 1 offset 2".

     $ sqlite3 test.db "select * from t1 order by t1key limit 1 offset 2";
     3|And a little more|9|

The ".table" command shows the table names. For a more comprehensive list of tables, triggers, and indexes created in the database, query the master table "sqlite_master" as shown below.

     $ sqlite3 test.db ".table"
     t1

     $ sqlite3 test.db "select * from sqlite_master"
     table|t1|t1|2|CREATE TABLE t1 (t1key INTEGER 
                  PRIMARY KEY,data TEXT,num double,timeEnter DATE)

All SQL information and data inserted into a database can be extracted with the ".dump" command.

     $ sqlite3 test.db ".dump"
     BEGIN TRANSACTION;
     CREATE TABLE t1 (t1key INTEGER
                  PRIMARY KEY,data TEXT,num double,timeEnter DATE);
     INSERT INTO "t1" VALUES(1, 'This is sample data', 3, NULL);
     INSERT INTO "t1" VALUES(2, 'More sample data', 6, NULL);
     INSERT INTO "t1" VALUES(3, 'And a little more', 9, NULL);
     COMMIT;

The contents of the ".dump" can be filtered and piped to another database. Below table t1 is changed to t2 with the sed command, and it is piped into the test2.db database.

      $ sqlite3 test.db ".dump"|sed -e s/t1/t2/|sqlite3 test2.db

Triggers

An insert trigger is created below in the file "trigger1". The Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) will be entered into the field "timeEnter", and this trigger will fire after a row has been inserted into the table t1. Again, this trigger will fire after the row has been inserted.

     -- ********************************************************************
     --   Creating a trigger for timeEnter
     --     Run as follows:
     --            $ sqlite3 test.db < trigger1
     -- ********************************************************************
     CREATE TRIGGER insert_t1_timeEnter AFTER  INSERT ON t1
     BEGIN
      UPDATE t1 SET timeEnter = DATETIME('NOW')  WHERE rowid = new.rowid;
     END;
     -- ********************************************************************

The AFTER specification in ..."insert_t1_timeEnter AFTER..." is necessary. Without the AFTER keyword, the rowid would not have been generated. This is a common source of errors with triggers, since AFTER is NOT the default, so it must be specified. In summary, if your trigger depends on newly created data, in any of the fields from the created row, which was the case for us in this example since we need the rowid, then, the AFTER specification is needed. Otherwise, the trigger is a BEFORE trigger, and will fire before rowid or other pertinent data is entered into the field.

Comments are preceded by "--". If this script was created in the file "trigger1", you could easily execute this script as follows.

     $ sqlite3 test.db < trigger1

Now try entering a new record as before, and you should see the time in the field timeEnter.

     sqlite3 test.db  "insert into t1 (data,num) values ('First entry with timeEnter',19);"

Doing a select reveals the following data:

     $ sqlite3 test.db "select * from t1";
     1|This is sample data|3|
     2|More sample data|6|
     3|And a little more|9|
     4|First entry with timeEnter|19|2004-10-02 15:12:19

If you look at the statement above, the last value has the timeEnter filled in automatically with Coordinated Universal Time - or (UTC). If you want local time, then, use select datetime('now','localtime'). See the note at the end of this section regarding UTC and local time.

For examples that follow the table "exam" and the database "examScript" will be used. The table and trigger are defined below. Just like the trigger above, UTC time will be used.

     -- *******************************************************************
     --  examScript: Script for creating exam table                        
     --   Usage:                                                           
     --       $ sqlite3 examdatabase < examScript                          
     --                                                                    
     --   Note: The trigger insert_exam_timeEnter                          
     --          updates timeEnter in exam                                 
     -- *******************************************************************
     -- *******************************************************************
     CREATE TABLE exam (ekey      INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,                     
                        fn        VARCHAR(15),                             
                        ln        VARCHAR(30),                             
                        exam      INTEGER,                                 
                        score     DOUBLE,                                  
                        timeEnter DATE);                                   
                                                                           
     CREATE TRIGGER insert_exam_timeEnter AFTER  INSERT ON exam            
     BEGIN                                                                 
                                                                           
     UPDATE exam SET timeEnter = DATETIME('NOW')                           
              WHERE rowid = new.rowid;                                     
     END;                                                                  
     -- *******************************************************************
     -- *******************************************************************

After the script file, it can be executed, by redirecting the contents of the script file into the sqlite3 command, followed by the database name. See the example below:

     $ sqlite3 examdatabase < examScript                            
     $ sqlite3 examdatabase "insert into exam (ln,fn,exam,score)   
            values ('Anderson','Bob',1,75)"                        
                                                                   
     $ sqlite3 examdatabase "select * from exam"                   
                                                                   
     1|Bob|Anderson|1|75|2004-10-02 15:25:00                       

And, as a check, the PRIMARY KEY and current UTC time have been updated correctly, as seen from the above example.

Logging All Inserts, Updates, and Deletes

The script below creates the table examlog and three triggers update_examlog, insert_examlog, and delete_examlog to record update, inserts, and deletes made to the exam table. In other words, anytime a change is made to the exam table, the changes will be recorded in the examlog table, including the old value and the new value. By the way if you are familiar with MySQL, the functionality of this log table is similar to MySQL's binlog. See (TIP 2, TIP 24 and TIP 25) if you would like more information on MySQL's log file.

     -- *******************************************************************
     --  examLog: Script for creating log table and related triggers       
     --   Usage:                                                           
     --       $ sqlite3 examdatabase < examLOG                             
     --                                                                    
     --                                                                    
     -- *******************************************************************
     -- *******************************************************************
     CREATE TABLE examlog (lkey INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,                       
                       ekey INTEGER,                                       
                       ekeyOLD INTEGER,                                    
                       fnNEW   VARCHAR(15),                                
                       fnOLD   VARCHAR(15),                                
                       lnNEW   VARCHAR(30),                                
                       lnOLD   VARCHAR(30),                                
                       examNEW INTEGER,                                    
                       examOLD INTEGER,                                    
                       scoreNEW DOUBLE,                                    
                       scoreOLD DOUBLE,                                    
                       sqlAction VARCHAR(15),                              
                       examtimeEnter    DATE,                              
                       examtimeUpdate   DATE,                              
                       timeEnter        DATE);                             
                                                                           
     --  Create an update trigger                                          
     CREATE TRIGGER update_examlog AFTER UPDATE  ON exam                   
     BEGIN                                                                 
                                                                           
       INSERT INTO examlog  (ekey,ekeyOLD,fnOLD,fnNEW,lnOLD,               
                             lnNEW,examOLD,examNEW,scoreOLD,               
                             scoreNEW,sqlAction,examtimeEnter,             
                             examtimeUpdate,timeEnter)                     
                                                                           
               values (new.ekey,old.ekey,old.fn,new.fn,old.ln,             
                       new.ln,old.exam, new.exam,old.score,                
                       new.score, 'UPDATE',old.timeEnter,                  
                       DATETIME('NOW'),DATETIME('NOW') );                  
                                                                           
     END;                                                                  
     --                                                                    
     --  Also create an insert trigger                                     
     --    NOTE  AFTER keyword ------v                                     
     CREATE TRIGGER insert_examlog AFTER INSERT ON exam                    
     BEGIN                                                                 
     INSERT INTO examlog  (ekey,fnNEW,lnNEW,examNEW,scoreNEW,              
                           sqlAction,examtimeEnter,timeEnter)              
                                                                           
               values (new.ekey,new.fn,new.ln,new.exam,new.score,          
                       'INSERT',new.timeEnter,DATETIME('NOW') );           
                                                                           
     END;                                                                  
                                                                           
     --  Also create a DELETE trigger                                      
     CREATE TRIGGER delete_examlog DELETE ON exam                          
     BEGIN                                                                 
                                                                           
     INSERT INTO examlog  (ekey,fnOLD,lnNEW,examOLD,scoreOLD,              
                           sqlAction,timeEnter)                            
                                                                           
               values (old.ekey,old.fn,old.ln,old.exam,old.score,          
                       'DELETE',DATETIME('NOW') );                         
                                                                           
     END;                                                                  
     -- *******************************************************************
     -- *******************************************************************

Since the script above has been created in the file examLOG, you can execute the commands in sqlite3 as shown below. Also shown below is a record insert, and an update to test these newly created triggers.

     $ sqlite3 examdatabase < examLOG                            
                                                                    
     $ sqlite3 examdatabase "insert into exam                       
                               (ln,fn,exam,score)                   
                             values                                 
                               ('Anderson','Bob',2,80)"             
                                                                    
     $ sqlite3 examdatabase "update exam set score=82               
                                where                               
                              ln='Anderson' and fn='Bob' and exam=2"

Now, by doing the select statement below, you will see that examlog contains an entry for the insert statement, plus two updates. Although we only did one update on the command line, the trigger "insert_exam_timeEnter" performed an update for the field timeEnter -- this was the trigger defined in "examScript". On the second update we can see that the score has been changed. The trigger is working. Any change made to the table, whether by user interaction or another trigger is recorded in the examlog.

  $ sqlite3 examdatabase "select * from examlog"

  1|2||Bob||Anderson||2||80||INSERT|||2004-10-02 15:33:16
  2|2|2|Bob|Bob|Anderson|Anderson|2|2|80|80|UPDATE||2004-10-02 15:33:16|2004-10-02 15:33:16
  3|2|2|Bob|Bob|Anderson|Anderson|2|2|82|80|UPDATE|2004-10-02 15:33:16|2004-10-02 15:33:26|2004-10-02 15:33:26

Again, pay particular attention to the AFTER keyword. Remember by default triggers are BEFORE, so you must specify AFTER to insure that all new values will be available, if your trigger needs to work with any new values.

UTC and Local time

Note, select DATETIME('NOW') returns UTC or Coordinated Universal Time. But select datetime('now','localtime') returns the current time.

     sqlite> select datetime('now');
     2004-10-18 23:32:34

     sqlite> select datetime('now','localtime');
     2004-10-18 19:32:46

There is an advantage to inserting UTC time like we did with the triggers above, since UTC can easily be converted to local time after UTC has been entered in the table. See the command below. By inserting UTC, you avoid problems when working with multiple databases that may not share the same time zone and or daylight savings time settings. By starting with UTC, you can always obtain the local time.
(Reference: Working with Time)

     CONVERTING TO LOCAL TIME:

     sqlite> select datetime(timeEnter,'localtime') from exam;

Other Date and Time Commands

If you look in the sqlite3 source file "./src/date.c", you will see that datetime takes other options. For example, to get the local time, plus 3.5 seconds, plus 10 minutes, you would execute the following command:

     sqlite> select datetime('now','localtime','+3.5 seconds','+10 minutes');
     2004-11-07 15:42:26

It is also possible to get the weekday where 0 = Sunday, 1 = Monday, 2 = Tuesday ... 6 = Saturday.

       sqlite> select datetime('now','localtime','+3.5 seconds','weekday 2');
       2004-11-09 15:36:51

The complete list of options, or modifiers as they are called in this file, are as follows:

       NNN days
       NNN hours
       NNN minutes
       NNN.NNNN seconds
       NNN months
       NNN years
       start of month
       start of year
       start of week
       start of day
       weekday N
       unixepoch
       localtime
       utc

In addition, there is the "strftime" function, which will take a time string, and convert it to the specified format, with the modifications. Here is the format for this function:

     **    strftime( FORMAT, TIMESTRING, MOD, MOD, ...)
     **
     ** Return a string described by FORMAT.  Conversions as follows:
     **
     **   %d  day of month
     **   %f  ** fractional seconds  SS.SSS
     **   %H  hour 00-24
     **   %j  day of year 000-366
     **   %J  ** Julian day number
     **   %m  month 01-12
     **   %M  minute 00-59
     **   %s  seconds since 1970-01-01
     **   %S  seconds 00-59
     **   %w  day of week 0-6  sunday==0
     **   %W  week of year 00-53
     **   %Y  year 0000-9999

Below is an example.

     sqlite> select strftime("%m-%d-%Y %H:%M:%S %s %w %W",'now','localtime');
     11-07-2004 16:23:15 1099844595 0 44

Simple Everyday Application

Keeping Notes in a Database

This simple bash script (part of the sqlite_examples tarball) allows you to take notes. The notes consist of a line of text followed by an optional category without the additional typing.

 "sqlite3 <database> <sql statement>",

Instead, it is a simple one letter command.

     $ n 'Take a look at sqlite3 transactions - 
           http://www.sqlite.org/lang.html#transaction' 'sqlite3'

The above statement enters the text into a notes table under the category 'sqlite3'. Anytime a second field appears, it is considered the category. To extract records for the day, I enter "n -l", which is similar to "ls -l", to "note list".

With just "n" help is listed on all the commands.

     $ n
     This command is used to list notes in 
     a database.
 
     n <option>                                  
      -l list all notes                          
      -t list notes for today                    
      -c list categories                         
      -f <search string> search for text          
      -e <cmd> execute command and add to notes  
      -d delete last entry                       

REFERENCES:

Source Code: Source code for this article.

SQLite Tutorial: If you are hungry for more information, this tutorial covers the ATTACH command, the power of the SIGN function, how to modify the SQLite source code, and how to create C and C++ APIs using SQLite. There is even a Perl example. There are many, many examples and this document is updated weekly.

Over 100 Linux Tips: See TIP 50 on working with the libraries in C and C++. This tip details how to create dynamic and static libraries, as well make use of the -Wl,-R switch in gcc. If you create a C or C++ applications that uses SQLite, consider using dynamic libraries.

Solving Complex SQL Problems: Growing list of examples using the sign function.

www.sqlite.org: Home page for the SQLite project.

Working with Time: This article defines what is meant by UTC, shows you how to use the date command to calculate the date for any time zone including with or without daylight savings time. Plus you will see how to setup and confirm that NTP is working. There is also a program to calculate sunrise and sunset given longitude and latitude in degrees.

Lemon Parser Generator Tutorial: Tutorial on the parser used with sqlite.


[BIO] Mike Chirico, a father of triplets (all girls) lives outside of Philadelphia, PA, USA. He has worked with Linux since 1996, has a Masters in Computer Science and Mathematics from Villanova University, and has worked in computer-related jobs from Wall Street to the University of Pennsylvania. His hero is Paul Erdos, a brilliant number theorist who was known for his open collaboration with others.
Mike's notes page is souptonuts.

Copyright © 2004, Mike Chirico. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

SuSE Linux 9.2 - An Early Evaluation

By Edgar Howell

Early in October SuSE's latest was released but it was the very last weekend of October when I finally had the time to check it out. In a word: nice.

Not wanting to endanger a functional system, the first install was to a second drive that I let SuSE partition. After that worked, I updated 9.0 on the big drive. Other than the problems you expect when a boot loader on the other drive gets in the way of an installation procedure that wants to reboot in the middle of the installation process, things went extremely smoothly.

A Clean Install

It didn't take even an hour to install to the drive turned over to SuSE - about 10 minutes of answering questions with the mouse and then the usual inserting and removing of CDs. By pretty much just taking the defaults and only getting picky when it really made a difference (like the hostname), SuSE's installation procedure produced a very usable system.

The swap file was 500+ MB, about the size of RAM. Less than 2 GB of the rest was used for the installed software, leaving over 1.5 GB available. This was basically what I have come to know as SuSE's standard office system: KDE with Open Office and, of course, Konqueror.

Software

SuSE 9.2 has 5 CDs and 2 DVDs, one of which contains the source RPMs.

Firefox is something I had wanted to look at. And there it was! Hmmm, so now how am I going to check it out?

Although my wife uses a PC at work, she is about as interested in computers as I am in cars; they're both just tools, really. She puts up with the former as I do with the latter. So she wanted to spend some time on the Internet. Did she ever! Kept asking questions, but they had nothing to do with Firefox: What was that URL? What do you think of this hotel?

If the word "intuitive" still has any meaning left at all, it can be applied to Firefox. I played with it a bit and it could well become my surfing platform of choice. But where's the e-mail plug-in? Oh, did SuSE jump the gun on release 1?

Some of what SuSE automatically installs I found unnecessary and so removed - e.g., things like the dictionaries (I prefer to accept responsibility for my spelling mistakes) - but I added Mozilla, the e-mail plugin and, of course, Firefox. Still, the standard installation should be great for most situations, like a small office or home computer. And SuSE's YaST makes adding or removing individual pieces of software extremely convenient.

I've been very happy with Open Office since the Star Office days (even paid Sun real money for the 5.1 CD to be able to install it under Win 95, OS/2 and GNU/Linux). Compatibility of data remains something to consider if it is necessary to exchange diskettes, USB sticks, or the like with friends or customers. But for many years I have relied on Open Office for all correspondence and a number of spreadsheets.

Migration away from some other environment is a completely different topic, but the software included in SuSE 9.2 should fill the bill for anyone needing a machine to deal with typical small office tasks.

The Update

The 4 GB install performed so well right off the starting blocks that I decided to go ahead and update the 80 GB drive. This was something I had never done before. Somehow a clean install had always seemed best. But so many settings have been tweaked that I decided to try it out.

Updating was a very pleasant surprise, not a lot of questions and pretty straight-forward (however, see "Batch" Install, below). Worked like a charm. I'm a believer. Of course, the step from 9.0 to 9.2 isn't too great. Would it have worked as well starting at, say, 8.1?

I did encounter problems with a conflict between the UIDs on the partition updated when I did a soft link from there to the Mozilla mailbox on the clean install - from one hard drive to another. Procmail had trouble delivering and and put a few items in the default mailbox. Under 9.2 SuSE starts user IDs at 1000, used to be 500. Not a problem if you either don't update or do assign user IDs. Or just avoid linking to data outside of the partition!

On the other hand, NFS is (or was) supposed to be sensitive to UID problems. There was no trouble accessing either version from another machine via NFS. Although it does let you override IDs, it was so easy to set up that I honestly don't recall whether I even bothered to do that.

Caveat

Installing an operating system on a brand-new machine without any data on it is nothing to get excited about. But nobody wants to start learning about partitioning and differences in drive names between operating system and boot-loader right in the middle of installation! Are you really sure you know where that MBR was put?

I will no longer have any hesitation about recommending GNU/Linux as an alternative to anything else on the desktop. But the process of how it gets there remains significant. In my opinion it would be very bad advice to suggest that anyone without considerable experience should install this on a machine that already has an operating system and data on it. During installation and without access to partition contents it is just too easy to do something with the wrong partition!

Additional Work

Setting up the HP Printer under YaST was much like former experience with installing drivers for other operating systems: answer a couple of questions about model etc. and maybe print a test page. Pretty straight-forward. However, see Printing with CUPS, below. I wonder if the USB Lexmark will be as successful when I do a clean install on the AMD notebook.

Even in small offices, it is more and more the case that there are several computers connected to each other. It is no particular problem to set this up but it of course increases the time required for installation accordingly. However, networking is a topic in its own right. And clearly, no default installation can automatically be made part of an existing network. To install SuSE 9.2 on a machine that needs to be networked requires a bit more effort. But then, if you already have a network, you know your topology, IP addresses, host names, etc. And given this knowledge, it is not particularly difficult to integrate the machine into the current network. Just takes a little bit more time.

In point of fact, it took very little time to set up networking. YaST asks the right questions but the answers won't necessarily be obvious to anyone unfamiliar with networking. I assume Samba works as in the past but haven't investigated it yet because I rarely have an operating system running that requires it. Note, however, that this network is so small that I just edit /etc/hosts et al.

Progress

With every new release of any software there are improvements, some only of cosmetic nature. But there were several things that struck me as worth pointing out.

mount

Tired of having to mount removable devices? That's past tense. It didn't take long to get used to not trying to mount something. That command seems only to be needed for hard-drives or partitions that aren't automatically mounted via /etc/fstab. But there are differences between floppy, CD-ROM and USB.

Floppy

Insert a floppy and not much happens. Without mounting anything the command "ls /media/floppy" shows its contents. However, if you do try to mount it, you get a message that mtab shows it to be mounted.

CD-ROM

CD-ROM is similar but different. Insert one and the drive reacts (in fact KDE announces it as well). An attempt to mount it produces the same reaction as with the floppy. Same with ls. Interesting is that if the drawer is still open, ls closes it for you.

USB

USB is something completely different. My impression is that it is treated as a removable hard-drive. Plug in a USB stick and KDE tells you it's there and offers to show you the contents of the directory.

The command "ls /media" will show you the name of the newly-available directory. But given the directory name, e.g. "/media/usb-07480C81059A:0:0:0p1", you may want cut-and-paste with the left and middle keys on the mouse.

On the other hand you might just want to try the following, which I fetched via cut-and-paste. Believe me, as bizarre as the cd command may appear, it works!

[ The "cd" command in Unix has always been fine with wildcards, at least in the years that I've been using it. Using the completion feature in the modern shells - i.e., typing "cd /media/u" and pressing the Tab key - would work just as well. -- Ben ]

        web@LohgoPC2:~> ls /media
        cdrecorder  dvd     sda1  sdc1  sde1  sdg1
        cdrom       floppy  sdb1  sdd1  sdf1  usb-07480C81059A:0:0:0p1
        web@LohgoPC2:~> cd /media/usb*
        web@LohgoPC2:/media/usb-07480C81059A:0:0:0p1>

Midnight Commander also shows the directory name in full and permits easy copying of something but of course no cut-and-paste.

And Open Office just uses it as one would expect. For what it's worth, I wrote this article using Open Office (which handles HTML well) with the file on a USB stick, no problem.

As best I can tell, the output to USB is not deferred, no need for sync. When told to write, both Open Office and vi (my all-time favorite word processor) cause the LED on the USB stick to flicker.

"Batch" Install

Another really big item for me is the ability within YaST to write to a file (user.sel) information on what was just selected for installation. For several years I have wanted something like this to make sure that, for example, PC and notebook have the same software. This works so well that in fact the update even had the same two error messages as the install because I had deleted something needed later (not dependencies, xinit and some kernel module). Nonetheless, potentially a real time-saver.

Actually that has been there for quite a while but I just hadn't found it. Under 8.0 in YaST when you install software, if you click on the right-most box (Extras) in the next-to-the-bottom line, the first line of the pop-up is an option to save or load settings. Well hidden. Under 9.2 this function is under 'File' on the top line of the window.

On-Line Update

SuSE's YOU - YaST Online Update - was impressive. In 5 minutes with a 56k modem several pieces of software were updated online. And this release hadn't even been available for anywhere near 3 weeks at the time I did this! There was a patch for tiff, so I assume that problem has been taken care of. I think I'm going to be checking in there regularly in the future.

Prior to this update /var/lib/YaST2/you/ was empty. Afterwards, this is what it looked like:

LohgoPC2b:~ # ll /var/lib/YaST2/you/
insgesamt 36
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root 4096 2004-11-04 09:17 .
drwxr-xr-x  5 root root 4096 2004-11-04 09:12 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  140 2004-11-04 09:17 config
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  206 2004-11-04 09:16 cookies
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 2004-11-04 09:17 installed
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root 4096 2004-11-04 09:11 mnt
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    8 2004-11-04 09:12 settings
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2344 2004-11-04 09:17 youlog
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  749 2004-11-04 09:11 youservers

Here's an excerpt of youlog:

2004-11-04 09:12:43 (8074): aaa_base: "SuSE Linux Basispaket" wird abgerufen ...
2004-11-04 09:14:14 (8074): Ok
2004-11-04 09:14:14 (8074): libtiff: "Die Tiff Bibliothek (mit JPEG und Kompressionsunterstützung)" wird abgerufen...
2004-11-04 09:14:26 (8074): Ok
   . . .
2004-11-04 09:16:55 (8074): Ok
2004-11-04 09:16:55 (8074): Delta wird angewendet ...
   . . .
2004-11-04 09:16:56 (8074): Ok
2004-11-04 09:16:56 (8074): aaa_base: "SuSE Linux Basispaket" wird installiert
2004-11-04 09:17:03 (8074): Ok
2004-11-04 09:17:03 (8074): libtiff: "Die Tiff Bibliothek (mit JPEG und Kompressionsunterstützung)" wird installiert
   . . .
2004-11-04 09:17:38 (8074): Ok
2004-11-04 09:17:38 (8074): Installation abgeschlossen.
2004-11-04 09:17:38 (8074): 7 Patches wurden installiert.

The reference to "Delta" means that SuSE doesn't download the entire RPM, only what is needed to provide changes since the previous version.

Printing with CUPS

Something that really blew me away is that CUPS does magic with the old HP Office Jet 500. That thing is so old and has been printing such GDI poor quality for several years that I only use it as a fax and to make copies where the print quality isn't particularly important. The last color cartridge was just to keep it functional, never even try to print in color on it anymore.

Suddenly there is printed output from Linux! Not the quality wanted for correspondence or anything leaving the office, but that isn't there anyhow. And it does lose a line of data with page eject. But with this printer that is still very impressive progress on the proprietary printer front.

Open Office

I really like the fact that Open Office is - albeit slowly - outgrowing its origins. Suddenly there are two, count'em, scroll arrows for up and down right next to each other, one above the other, just like on the Zaurus and most of what I use regularly. The other up arrow is way up there, if you happen to need it.

Complaints?

I wish SuSE had included 'mailfilter' like back in the good, old 8.0 days. The version that I use wants a different libc. And compilation fails because a header is missing. Did I omit something from the development package? Most of it, actually... Problem resolved, but on my wish-list.

Although I kind of like the way removable devices are handled, there remains a gap: mount (or cat /etc/mtab) now shows what is available, not whether anything is there; df shows USB but not e.g. floppy. So we don't really have any way of knowing what media currently are present. Yeah, I hear you, just look at the drive!

Conclusion

So SuSE 9.2 is a system that is extremely easy to install, at least to an empty machine. It updates a prior version very well. Adding and removing software packages is essentially a no-brainer. It now deals with removable media as many people expect, including USB. Printer support has improved dramatically, although proprietary anything does remain problematic. And it has the stability only available from GNU/Linux.

SuSE 9.2 is ready for the desktop.


[BIO] Edgar is a consultant in the Cologne/Bonn area in Germany. His day job involves helping a customer with payroll, maintaining ancient IBM Assembler programs, some occasional COBOL, and otherwise using QMF, PL/1 and DB/2 under MVS.

(Note: mail that does not contain "linuxgazette" in the subject will be rejected.)

Copyright © 2004, Edgar Howell. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

Discover the hidden 8 bit Sound card in your PC

By Maxin B. John and Rajith R.

By Maxin B. John & Rajit R., Govt. Engineering College, Thrissur, Kerala.

This article is dedicated to those who wish to be unconventional. Linux supports most of the popular sound cards. Even if you don't have a sound card, you can still get sound support (perhaps not all that ear soothing!) from the Parallel port in your PC. In this article, we will discuss one of the many ways to obtain sound output without a sound card.

The device

Our Setup

We are using a 1.6GHZ Pentium 4. The Linux distribution on this box is PCQLinux 2004, which is based on Fedora. In the hardware part we have used some resistors, a Parallel port connector and wires to interconnect all this hardware.

What is a Sound device driver?

The sound driver is a character device usually denoted as "/dev/dsp". All sound applications such as mpg123, Mplayer, etc., direct their digital output to this device. The DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) used here is the Parallel port. This port is the gadget that converts the 1s and 0s that make up the binary numbers into real analog time-varying voltage which will be connected to the speakers of our Computer.

Understanding device drivers:

There are two main types of devices under all Linux systems: character and block devices. Character devices are those for which no buffering is performed, and block devices are those which are accessed through a cache. Block devices must be random access, but character devices are not required to be, though some are. Filesystems can only be mounted if they are on block devices.

The sources for character devices are kept in drivers/char/, and the sources for block devices are kept in drivers/block/. They have similar interfaces, and are very much alike, except for reading and writing. Because of the difference in reading and writing, initialization is different, as block devices have to register a strategy routine, which is registered in a different way than the parsp_read and parsp_write routines of a character device driver.

Now if you have a .wav file which is of a specific format, say 16-bit, stereo, raw pcm, to make it play on the system sound device you might open the /dev/dsp node using the open() system call, and open your .wav file, read a block of data from the .wav file, and write it to the /dev/dsp node using read() and write() system calls respectively.

The ability to unload a module is one of the most useful features of modularization because it helps cut down development time; you can test successive versions of your new driver without going through the lengthy shutdown/reboot cycle each time.

Playing with the module:

The compilation of a kernel module is performed by the gcc compiler using the make file, which contains:

gcc -c &1 -O2 -Wall -DMODULE -D__KERNEL__ -I /usr/src/linux(your kernel version)

The output of the compilation is a module which is to be inserted into the kernel to produce the sound. Our driver, called parsp.o, can be loaded into the running kernel using:

	insmod -f parsp.o

and removed from the kernel using:

	rmmod parsp

The install.sh file contains some magic to redirect all the sound applications to our driver. Usually the applications use the /dev/dsp device, which has a major number 14, to produce the sound output. What we are going to do first is delete that special file. Then we replace the same file with a major number that is specified in our driver.

	./install.sh 203

Note that 203 is the major number specified in our driver - so all the applications that use /dev/dsp, such as mpg123, Mplayer, XMMS, etc. will now use our driver to produce output.

But we know that we cannot forget our past - so, in order to restore our previous state, we would simply run uninstall.sh. The uninstall.sh script restores the previous state by deleting the /dev/dsp created by the install.sh script and recreating the original /dev/dsp which had the major number 14 and minor number 3.

	mknod /dev/dsp c 14 3

Don't forget to reconnect the speaker plug to the output jack of the sound card of your system. (We had this experience three or four times and wondered why there was no sound from the original soundcard of our system!!)

Ioctls:

The ioctl() (short for input/output control) system call is used on /dev/dsp to talk to the device driver. There are recognized conventions in Linux, the most popular of which is the OSS or Open Sound System. This is the standard interface implemented in Linux and followed by thousands of device drivers on the kernel side.

The ioctl() implementation was the most tedious thing in this project. The list of all ioctls for the soundcard can obtain from souncard.h or by using the command:

	man ioctl_list

We tried our level best to include the ioctls required to play the music files through various music players. Of these various music players, Mplayer was the most demanding one. Although we can play music using Mplayer, support for it is not perfect at the moment.

Creating Sound through the "Magic Port"

The Standard Parallel Port of your system is a 25 pin port. The signals available at the parallel port are 0v, which represents logical 0, and +5v, which represents logical 1. This port is the simplest port in your system by which you can control a large number of devices.

Although the parallel port contains 25 pins, we'll focus our attention mainly on the 8 data out pins (pin numbers 2-9) and a ground pin (any pin from 18-25) that we'll use for our purpose.

The usual way of using the parallel port is by using the good old outb() instruction. In our driver, the bytes are written to the parallel port using

outb(b, 0x378);

So don't go anywhere, just sit in front of the computer and play something nice with the parallel port of your computer. But don't blame us if you end up frying up your computer - just be sensible and things will go smoothly...

Dive into Code:

We have explained earlier, the bit 1 is represented by 5v and bit 0 is represented by 0v at the parallel port. The magic performed to create these intermediate voltage levels is done by the resistor circuitry connected to the parallel port output. These varying voltage levels in turn generate the audible output when connected to the input of your speaker system. When we experimented with the circuit using the code given below with the help of a multimeter, we got the following results:

(Text Version: test.c.txt)

 
#include<asm/io.h>
main()
{ 
	iopl(3);
	int b; 
	printf("Enter the value of b:\n");
	scanf("%d",&b);
	outb(b,0x378);
} 

Don't forget to compile it using the optimization option, i.e.

 cc filename.c -O2
 For b=0       Output voltage = 0v
 For b=255     Ourput voltage = 3.8v
 For b=240     Output voltage = 2.1v

The values are obtained across the ground of the port and output of the resistor circuit (1 and 2 connected together). This may vary from system to system, so don't worry if you don't get those exact values. Quality of the output can be increased by using other complex circuits such as amplifiers and filters. We are not going to explain that here as it will increase the cost of the hardware.

The code that performs the core function is present in the pcsp_write().

	count= (count < 44100 ? count : 44100);
	if(copy_from_user((void *)data_buffer,buf,count)) 
		return -EFAULT;
	canplay =1;
 	for(v=0;v<count;v++)    //loops till the end of the buffer
 		{		
		b=buf[v];
		outb(b,0x378);     // Writes those bytes to the parallel port
		for(i=0;i<loop;i++);   //loops to adjust the speed of playback
		}

At first, a music player such as mpg123 opens the /dev/dsp device via pcsp_open() and gathers information on its characteristics (i.e., buffer size, mono or stereo, number of channels, etc.) using parsp_ioctl(). After that, it writes manageable-sized chunks of information into the buffer of the device driver. The bytes in the buffer are then transferred to the parallel port:

	outb(b, 0x378);

The next loop is significant, since it controls the playback speed.

	for(i=0;i<loop;i++);

This value of this loop must be changed to suit the processor speed of each system. This process continues until the end of the music file. At that point the count becomes zero and the music player software closes the device by calling parsp_close().

In the init_module() section, we initialize the variables used in the code. The module is registered by:

	major=register_chrdev(major,name,&parsp_fops); 

The memory for the buffer used in the driver is allocated by:

	data_buffer= (long) kmalloc(44100, GFP_KERNEL);

In cleanup_module(), the allocated memory for the driver is freed by:

	kfree((void *) data_buffer);

The module is removed from the kernel by:

unregister_chrdev(major,name);

Program listing

parsp.c 
make
install.sh
uninstall.sh

Circuit Diagrams:

The connection to the speaker plug is as shown in the figure. The resistors used here are 1k ohm, 1/4 watt resistors. (If these exact values are not available, try something that's reasonably close; the values are not critical).

Connection from the Parallel port

Connection to the speakers

Have some fun :-)

After all this painful and time consuming assembly of our device, let's enjoy the fruit that our hard work has brought us. The Linux way of testing the device driver is by using the 'cat' command:

cat ding.wav > /dev/dsp

Do you hear something? Yeah... You will... Now, let us go to the next level. We will try to play a mp3 file by using mpg123

mpg123 dingdong.mp3

and enjoy that heavenly music! Try some other players such as Mplayer, XMMS, etc.

More and more...

Our adventures with the parallel port will not stop here. A brave new idea is to create and control a mini-fountain right in the living room which will dance with the music played on the computer!

Please let us know your crazy ideas using the parallel port.

Conclusion

We have tried to present a few things about using the parallel port of your PC in an interesting way; this module is software that makes good use of it. Be warned, though -- you may get addicted to the "digital noise" produced by this software.

We will be grateful to readers who point out errors/inconsistencies, if any. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Further Reading

A "must read" book for kernel development is Linux Kernel Development by Robert Love.

The article that inspired this adventure was "Creating a Kernel Driver for the PC Speaker" by Cherry George Mathew.


[BIO] Maxin B. John works for HCL Infosystems Ltd, Pondicherry and is an MCA graduate from Govt. Engg. College, Thrissur. He likes to experiment with Python and Bash. He thanks his guru Mr. Pramode C.E for introducing him to the wonderful world of Linux.


[BIO] I am a Linux user from India. I love the freedom that Linux gives to its users. I must thank my mentor Mr. Pramode C.E for introducing me to the the wonderful world of Linux.

Copyright © 2004, Maxin B. John and Rajith R.. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

The Linux Laundrette Strikes Back

By Jimmy O'Regan

(?)The Laundrette, again.
(?)[Lgang] Spam: Did You Know That Rates Dropped This Week?
(?)averatec laptop review
(?)Spam mongers sign on to SPF
(?)holy toasted sandwich batman!
(?)Music break
(?)Re: The current version of the Outlook Express Read (Message From Hank)
(?)A conference we all just have to attend...
(?)Cardboard chair
(?)problem
(?)99 Bottles
(?)Hotmail, sendmail, and attachments
(?)Shell humour
(?)[Lgang] LG 108 is out!
(?)French lesson
(?)Cruising
(?)English lesson
(?)(no subject)
(?)Happy New Year!
(?)Turbo C
(?)Who wrote Linux? Better whoppers than SCO
(?)My latest toy :)
(?)Bad pun
(?)Cider
(?)[OT] Escher in LEGO bricks. Really.

(?) The Laundrette, again.

From Jimmy O'Regan

So... I signed myself up to help process our monthly mail. During 'Basic Training' Heather happened to mention that she had a cache of off-topic stuff.
Oh, how I did grin.
So, as this is the last issue of the year, and have to learn how to format the mail in the correct way, we get to have more off-topic stuff than usual. Watch, as The Answer Gang cringe to see stuff they said two years ago come back to bite them!

(?) [Lgang] Spam: Did You Know That Rates Dropped This Week?

From Sluggo

----- Forwarded message from Dorothy Daniel <droy3474@yahoo.com> -----

To: gazette@lists.linuxgazette.net
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 03:12:47 -0800
Cc: tag@lists.linuxgazette.net, mirrors@lists.linuxgazette.net
Subject: Did You Know That  Rates Dropped This Week?

You are receiving this due to your extraordinary purchasing history.

We believe we can get you at least a 2 percentage point decrease on your r=
esidence.

No Bullshit or false promises here.
Doesnt cost a dime to see.

Take a few seconds and see, nothing to lose right?


http://mortman33.com/Mortgage/index.phpd


Delist instructions also on web site


SPAM: -------------------- Start SpamAssassin results
----------------------
SPAM: This mail is probably spam.  The original message has been altered
SPAM: so you can recognise or block similar unwanted mail in future.
SPAM: See http://spamassassin.org/tag/ for more details.
SPAM:
SPAM: Content analysis details:   (7.60 hits, 5 required)
SPAM: FROM_ENDS_IN_NUMS  (0.9 points)  From: ends in numbers
SPAM: MAY_BE_FORGED      (0.0 points)  'Received:' has 'may be forged'
warning
SPAM: MORTGAGE_OBFU      (0.4 points)  BODY: Attempt at obfuscating the
word "mortgage"
SPAM: SPAM_PHRASE_03_05  (1.1 points)  BODY: Spam phrases score is 03 to 05
(medium)
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'Received' headers
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SPAM:                    [RBL check: found
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SPAM: MISSING_MIMEOLE    (0.5 points)  Message has X-MSMail-Priority, but
no X-MimeOLE
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isn't
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(?) averatec laptop review

From Brian

(?) Mostly, though, running here in the upstairs office, summertime about 80-85 F ambient makes a big difference over temps here now. Higher ambients make everything work harder, and Ben's salt-water environment can't be helping anything, eh?
(!) [Ben]
Actually, on this boat, it's not a problem; steel boats are notoriously dry (whereas fiberglass is definitely not.) As to the effect of "salt air", all my years of experience with electronics aboard - even those that are not made for marine use - say that it's a damned myth. Dampness will kill'em pretty quick, but here in Florida and in the tropics, there isn't very much - consequently, electronics aboard tend to be quite long-lived (as long as they survive the weird power fluctuations, hurricane damage, and so on.)
(!) [Brian] You mean those minor flurries? Too bad we can't fire Bruce Willis at those, the way we can at an incoming asteroid.

(?) Spam mongers sign on to SPF

From Ben

The Register reports 34% more spam vs. legit email passing SPF authentication. Amazingly enough, they manage to get it right after that nonsense-based headline (SPF isn't intended to somehow magically recognize spam.)
(!) [Rick]
Right on schedule.
http://spf.pobox.com/faq.html#churn
Forcing spammers to register their own throwaway domains and publish out-in-the-open DNS RRs is a major step forward. They're much easier to corral, that way.
(!) [Ben]
That, of course, being the real point of SPF: creating a cost for spammers if they abuse the system. I just wish the folks at the Reg had provided more light and less noise; the mass of the clueless (which, unfortunately, includes many of those who influence the buy-in decisions) does NOT need to be given ammunition. Even blanks can be dangerous, at short range.
(!) [Jimmy]
That story is here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/03/email_authentication_spam
(!) [Rick]
Register reporters are usually a little brighter, but then I've gotten spoiled by Andrew Orlowski.
Quoting John Leyden:
> It doesnt make a lot of sense to make filtering decisions based purely
> on the fact that the sender is authenticated....
...and only an idiot, or someone who hasn't bothered to read the reference description or any of the technical articles, but is racing against deadline to file a drivel story, would think otherwise.
> so the approach was never going to be a cure-all as we've noted [link]
> before.
One suspects Leyden isn't even able to spell "joe-job", let alone know how they work.
> As long as spammers comply with the protocol by not spoofing the
> sender address, their messages will not be stopped by SPF
SPF, of course, does not "stop messages".
Conclusion: The author's an idiot.
(!) [Ben]
Yep. Someone who has no clue, I can live with; most folks are educable. Someone who does and then whores himself out in order to get a snappy headline doesn't get much of my respect or even tolerance.
(!) [Jimmy]
Well, as well as the Register normally do, they still have a big red logo and aren't afraid to act like it from time to time.

(?) holy toasted sandwich batman!

From paul power

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4034787.stm
the above link just prove that people do indeed have more money than sense its from bbc news so it must be pretty believable. give me the damn money i would have at least drawn a picture to make it convincing.!!!

(?) Music break

From Sluggo

(?)

Bizet, The Pearl Fishers (les pe^chers de perles), "Je crois entendre encore"

Highly recommended.

(!) [Breen]
I'm fond of "Au fond du temple saint" from the same opera, myself.
Breen, without quite the high notes to sing that baritone line.
(!) [Sluggo]
My Carmen/Pechers/L'Arlesienne CD doesn't have that one, only "Je crois entendre encore" and "Ouvre ton coeur".
(!) [Breen]
"Au fond du temple saint" or just the Pearl Fishers duet, is a big duet for tenor and baritone. Never fails to give me goose bumps.
I'd suggest the Placido Domingo/Sherrill Milnes recording or, somewhat older, Jussi Bjoerling/Robert Merrill. Worth looking up.
(!) [Frodo]
My favorite version is by Nikolaj Gedda and Ernest Blanc.
(!) [Ben]
You guys have got me interested. Unfortunately, the only versions I could find for an introductory listen - MP3s by David Gilmour (yes, that David Gilmour) and somebody named David Hobson - are uninspiring at best. I'm sure that Placido Domingo would sound great, but <shrug> he could sing the Los Angeles Yellow Pages and people would sit through the entire performance and come out talking about it being "the best thing I've ever heard".
Either way, no joy for me. And Toronto is waaay too cold to go tramping in search of, especially while I've got this nice hotel room up to a tropical 82F...

(?) Re: The current version of the Outlook Express Read (Message From Hank)

From Helpmehank @whdh.com

Thanks so much for writing Help Me Hank. If you're getting this response, it means I received your letter. Because of the huge volume of email I get, I may not have actually read your email yet, but I do read every email that is sent.
When I do read your letter if there's anything we can do to help you or we need more information someone will be in touch with you as soon as possible!
In the meantime please scroll down this email and you may find the information you need to help solve your problem. I know not all problems will be addressed here, and some of your letters may be on completely different topics. Don't worry, I'll check them all out.
Thanks so much for your patience. Hank
Commonly Asked Questions and Answers:
AUTOMOBILE PROBLEMS: This website published by the MA Attorney General's Office covers all automobile problems, new, used and leased cars, repair problems, warranties and recalled cars. It contains all the rules you need to know about buying a car in MA. http://www.massconsumers.org/carsmart
AIRLINE TICKETS This website has the specific rules you need to know about airline ticket refunds, cancellations, baggage and scheduling problems. www.onetravel.com check out headings under "Advisor"
BANKING Lost deposits, electronic fund transfers, bank fees, how to file a complaint about a bank, debit card, checking and savings account information.
-Massachusetts Department of Banking: http://www.state.ma.us/dob -For more consumer information: http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/Info/banks.htm
CABLE TV This link helps answer questions about billing, regulations, licenses, problems, theft and tells you where to file a complaint. http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/Info/catv.htm
CELL PHONES For questions and information on cell phones or to file a complaint against a cell phone company.
-Federal Communications Commission: http://www.fcc.gov/consumers.html
CHILD CARE/DAY CARE/ADOPTION & FOSTER CARE -MA Office of Child Care Services: http://www.qualitychildcare.org http://www.machildcare.com/massachusetts.html
CREDIT and DEBIT CARDS
Fair Credit Billing Act: If you ordered something using a credit card and the item never arrived or the company you ordered it from went bankrupt under the Fair Credit Billing Act you don't have to pay for something you don't get.
That's why its always best to pay with a credit card so you have some protection in case of a problem. A debit (ATM) card does NOT offer the same protection.
If you think you've been improperly charged or have not received the proper item, immediately contact your credit card company and ask them how to dispute the charge. You must do this in WRITING within 60 days of the charge.
-More information on the Fair Credit Billing Act:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fcb.htm
-Credit Card Fraud Problems:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/cards.htm
-Lost/Stolen Credit Cards:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/atmcard.pdf
-Lost/Stolen Debit/ATM Cards:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/atmcard.pdf
DEBT COLLECTION Is a bill collector unfairly hounding you ? Do you really owe what they claim you do? Under MA law a debt collector has to provide you with an itemized bill proving you owe the debt. For more info check out these links.
-Massachusetts Information:
http://www.ago.state.ma.us/credit.asp
-Federal Information:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fdc.pdf
DENTISTS Check out a dentist's background and license status: http://license.reg.state.ma.us/loca/locaType.asp?profession=Dentist&how=map&B1=Submit
DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE Tax problems, questions and also child support concerns. Please note we do not generally get involved in individual cases
http://www.massdor.com -Child Support http://www.cse.state.ma.us
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICE Children and family problems. Please note we do not generally get involved in individual cases http://www.state.ma.us/dss
HEALTH CARE AND DOCTORS -Links to information about managed care, health insurance, medical records and prescriptions. http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/Info/medical.htm
-Link to the MA Board of Registration and Medicine, check out a doctor's history, file a complaint and check malpractice history. http://www.massmedboard.org
HEALTH CLUBS Payments, cancelations, automatic debits, click here for more information: http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/Info/health.htm
HOMEOWNER/RENTER RIGHTS AND PROBLEMS: Buying a home in MA: home inspections, real estate brokers, mortgages, refinancing, this link has all the rules and regulations. http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/Info/homebuy.htm
-Home improvement contractors: This link allows you to check to see if a contractor is licensed (always use a licensed contractor), it has the rules and regulations about contractors and information on how to file a complaint. http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/Info/const.htm
-Housing and Rental Assistance Programs: http://www.state.ma.us/dhcd http://www.state.ma.us/dhcd/publications/HOW_TO2K.HTM
-Homelessness and other housing resources:
http://www.state.ma.us/dhcd/publications/HOW_TO2K.HTM
-Landlord/tenant rights:
http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/Info/lndldtnt.htm
-Attorney General's guide to tenant rights:
http://www.ago.state.ma.us/tenants.pdf
IDENTITY THEFT i; Has someone stolen your id? Have you had your wallet or purse stolen? Links to the steps to need to protect yourself and your identity.
-FTC: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/idenalrt.pdf
-US Post Office: http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors
-MA Dept of Consumer Affairs:
http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/Info/Ident.htm
INSURANCE Link to MA Division of Insurance has info about auto, homeowners, renters and health insurance, plus info on rates, regulations and how to file a complaint against your insurance company: http://www.state.ma.us/doi
LEGAL PROBLEMS, REPRESENTATION AND ATTORNEYS: MA Bar Association: find an attorney, check out the background of an attorney, check their standing with the bar association and file a complaint http://www.massbar.org
-Board of Bar Overseers:
http://www.state.ma.us/obcbbo
-Help for low income MA residents with civil problems
http://www.neighborhoodlaw.org/information_about_massachusetts_.htm
MOVERS
Consumer information: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration consumer fact books: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/factsfigs/moving.htm
You can also call the Department of Transportation to make sure the company is licensed or file a complaint about a moving company. 1800-832-5660 You'll need the MC or Motor Carrier# of the company when you call.
To get information or file a complaint about an IN state, Massachusetts moving company go to: http://www.state.ma.us/dpu/transportation/transportation.htm
NURSING HOMES This link has information on Massachusetts nursing home regulations and inspections: http://www.state.ma.us/dph/qtool
RECALLS: Could your car, motorcycle, even your toaster or microwave be the subject of a safety recall? Or do you suspect your car or appliance has a problem that could lead to a recall? Try these links:
-National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: Automobile, motorcycle, tire recalls and to file a complaint: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov
-Consumer Product Safety Commission: Product recalls and to file a complaint: http://www.cpsc.gov
SCAMS Is that email you got about a Nigerian bank account real ? Should you ever have to pay to get a credit card or a loan or information on how to get a job? Check out these websites for some of the most recent scams circulating:
-Canadian scams: http://www.bbb.org/library/canadianscam.asp -Email Hoaxes: http://www.snopes2.com -FTC most common scams: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menu-tmark.htm -Nigerian Letter Scam: http://www.fraudbureau.com/articles/consumer/article22.html -Scam Alerts: http://www.fraudbureau.com/scamalert.html -Tax Scams: http://dreier.house.gov/irs_scam_warning.htm -Work at Home and Contest Scams: http://www.scrooge.net/Scam.htm
SHOPPING
A store in Massachusetts can have any kind of return policy it wants as long as it's posted. Having the return policy only on the receipt is not adequate. Even if the policy says 'no returns'--if item is defective the buyer gets to choose if they want a repair, replacement or refund!
Gift certificates are valid for two years from the purchase date. For
more information on gift certificates check our story at:
http://www.whdh.com/features/articles/11/66
What about other returns, purchases online, at the store, rainchecks, store credit and other shopping questions? Click here to find out your shopping rights: http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/Info/shopping.htm
SMALL CLAIMS COURT Also known as the people's court, this informal and inexpensive forum is designed to help you settle disputes of $2,000 or less without the aid of an attorney. http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/Pubs/smclaim.htm
TELEMARKETING AND JUNK MAIL How late can a telemarketer call your house? What if they keep calling after you put your name on the do not call list ? This link has some answers: http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/Info/junkmail.htm
UTILITIES Tips on saving money, fuel assistance, regulations and information on how to file a complaint against a phone, electric, gas or oil company
-Consumer help: http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/Info/energy.htm -Fuel assistance and complaint info: http://www.ago.state.ma.us/utility.asp -Dept. of Telecommunications & Energy: http://www.state.ma.us/dpu/news/city.htm
VACATION AND TRAVEL INSURANCE & PACKAGES Travel tips, scams, insurance, cancellations, group tours
-American Society of Travel Agents: http://www.astanet.com
-Air travel rights: www.onetravel.com (click on advisors)
-MA Dept of Consumer Affairs general info:
http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/New/alrt0200.htm
-Travel insurance:
http://www.insure.com/gen/travel.html
-US State Dept travel warnings and scams:
http://travel.state.gov/travel_pubs.html
GENERAL CONSUMER INFORMATION AND HOW TO FILE COMPLAINT: If you haven't found the answer to your problem yet---or there isn't a specific agency to file a complaint with for your situation check out these links:
-Better Business Bureau-file complaints, check background of companies www.bbb.org
-Find Your Local Consumer Group
http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/Pubs/loclist.htm
-Massachusetts Consumer Affairs Office
http://www.state.ma.us/consumer
-Massachusetts Attorney General's Office
http://www.ago.state.ma.us
-Tips on how to resolve a problem:
http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/resolve.htm
If you still haven't found the answer, you may be hearing from us! Please understand we may not be able to help or answer each request individually as we get a large number of responses daily. Thank you so much for your understanding and thanks for watching Channel 7.
If you want to email us more information about your problem please include the following information:
-Name -Address -Phone number -breif description of the problem -Try to include the names of products, stores, companies, phone numbers and and people you've spoken to
If you're faxing your paperwork, bills or documentation (our fax is 617 248-5424) please label your fax with your:
-Name -Address -Phone number -breif description of the problem -ATTN: HANK
(!) [Rick]
Thanks so much for sending Help Me Hank's answers to sundry common questions. If you're getting this response, or even if you don't, it means the Linux Gazette Answer Gang have received your letter. Because of the huge volume of e-mail we get, we delegate some mail to some rather potted mailbot scripts, like the one that composed this reply.
When we do read your letter, if there's anything we can do to help you make Linux just a little more fun, someone (or somebot) will be in touch with you as soon as possible!
In the meantime, please scroll down this e-mail, and you may find the information you need to help solve your problem. Or someone else's problem. Or the answer to the Ultimate Question about Life, the Universe, and Everything. All Knowledge Is Contained within Linux Fandom. Fnord. Cave canem. Mind the gap.
Thanks so much for your impatiens, which smell lovely. Have a lot of fun! The Answer Gang
Commonly Questioned Answers:
AUTOMOBILE PROBLEMS: Determined use of Linux can prevent the need to use an automobile in the first place, thereby neatly averting the messy problems attendant thereto.
AIRLINE TICKETS: A variety of excellent Linux-base Web browsers such as Galeon, Mozilla, Phoenix, Konqueror, Opera, w3m, Skipstone, and lynx can be used to purchase (and sell) airline tickets.
BANKING: Similarly, the same Linux-based browsers can be used with any bank that has a competently run on-line operation.
CABLE TV: The Linux-based TiVo personal TV recorder makes a superb addition to any cable television setup.
CELL PHONES: Embedded Linux distributions are said to be in use in a number of cellular 'phones and PDA combo devices.
CHILD CARE/DAY CARE/ADOPTION & FOSTER CARE: Your use of Linux should help you increase productivity and improve protection of data integrity to the point where you can more comfortably afford the major costs of child care.
CREDIT and DEBIT CARDS: The less money you spend on forced purchases dictated by proprietary-software treadmills, the less likely you are to be in debt.
DEBT COLLECTION: Is a bill collector unfairly hounding you? Set up a Linux-based answering-machine appliance to filter your calls for you.
DENTISTS: Think of all the wear and tear you'll save on your pearlies from not having to deal with continual bluescreen wipeouts and viruses.
DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE: Which do you think is more likely to be compensated as a skilled profession, point-and-drool OSes of limited function and high maintenance costs, or Linux?
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICE: Perform a social service: Run a Linux installfest, one of these coming weekends.
HEALTH CARE AND DOCTORS: Use Linux. The frustration-caused stroke you prevent may be your own.
HEALTH CLUBS: All the rebuild, debugging, and data-recovery time you save by running on Linux can be spent out pleasantly hiking in the woods, swimming, or walking on trails with your friends and loved ones, instead.
HOMEOWNER/RENTER RIGHTS AND PROBLEMS: Insist on your right to run your home's operations using Linux-based control systems. Larry Wall does!
IDENTITY THEFT: You're less likely to have key sensitive information stolen if you run an OS where security isn't just a daydream.
INSURANCE: So, run Linux, already. It's cheap insurance.
LEGAL PROBLEMS, REPRESENTATION AND ATTORNEYS: Are less likely to be a concern if you exercise due diligence with your data processing.
MOVERS and shakers. Be one. Run Linux.
NURSING HOMES: Um, Linux for them, too. ;-)
RECALLS: We don't need'em. Upgrades, yes. And we throw in the source code for free.
SCAMS: Filter out those Nigerian spams. Run Bogofilter on Linux.
SHOPPING: Yep, Linux-based Web browsers again.
SMALL CLAIMS COURT: See legal problems.
TELEMARKETING AND JUNK MAIL:
UTILITIES: We've got directories crammed with 'em.
VACATION AND TRAVEL INSURANCE & PACKAGES: Pretty much the same as with health clubs.
GENERAL CONSUMER INFORMATION AND HOW TO FILE COMPLAINT: Run Linux, and you can start being a producer rather than just a consumer. I mean, isn't it depressing to have your defining trait be considered to be your ingestion and processing of material, as if you were cattle?
If you still haven't found the answer, you may be hearing from us! Or maybe not. It might be just those voices in your head again. Please understand that we help a lot of people, and amuse the rest. Thank you so much for your understanding. Stand up already, so you can overstand for a change.
If you want to e-mail us more answers to questions we haven't asked, please don't. And have a Linux day.
-- THE ANSWER GANG

(?) A conference we all just have to attend...

From Ben

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/31135.html
Speaks for itself. :)

(?) Cardboard chair

From Limah18

dear answer guy, please I need help on the best way to make a cardboard chair out of 1 sheet of brown corrugated 1.5 x 2.5 'B' flute 3 millimeter card without using glue or anyother materials preferably a foldable but durable chair to carry human weights of up to 190Ibs. Thank u and I hope and pray u will have a favourable answer for me.
Sincerely, Emma.
(!) [John]
ROFLOL! That has to be the funniest off-topic msg I've yet seen here!
(!) [Breen]
Indeed. It seems to me that the querent forgot part of the spec:
b) It must be possible to drop the chair, with an adult human sitting in it while holding an uncooked hen's egg, from a four-story building without breaking the egg on impact.
(!) [Sluggo]
We did have an Answer Gang thread about a cardboard box a while ago.
http://www.linuxgazette.net/issue52/tag/22.html
(Who invented the cardboard box)
http://www.linuxgazette.net/issue62/lg_mail62.html#mailbag/1
(Follow up -- Heather's opinion)
http://www.linuxgazette.net/issue65/tag/cardboard.html (More observations of a cardboard box)
Threads like this are what inspired Not The Answer Gang on the Back Page.

(?) problem

From CookRhys

(!) [Thomas]
[ TAG -- I'm beginning to wonder if someone is taking the piss. This is the second e-mail today coming from an "aol" account asking Windows questions. Is this more than a coincidence??? ]
(?) when i start up my pc sometimes a window box comes up saying your system has performed an illegal operation and it reads spool32 caused invalid page in module spool32 exe at 0167:00402015 please help
(!) [Thomas]
Hi,
My only guess is that you're using Linux (good man!) and that you've neglected to realise that you currently have the BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) screensaver running.
I know it is confusing, especially as you've probably only just made the cross-over from Windows to Linux, but bear with us, the BSOD screensaver is only a joke!! You poor thing -- you don't have to be haunted anymore. YOU'RE FREE :-) :-) :-) :-)
Kindest Regards :-)
-- Thomas Adam
P.S. If you think that I'm being sarcastic -- you'd be right :-)
(!) [Breen]
And doing a damned fine job of it too, Thomas.
(!) [Sluggo]
That's normal Windows behavior.
(!) [Ashwin]
No harm meant to the OP, but I'm ROTFL :-)) That's a good one!

(?) 99 Bottles

From Rick Moen

(!) [Jimmy]
[This appeared in Rick's .sig]
(!) [Rick]
#!/usr/bin/perl -iake_one_down_pass_it_around:_bottles_of_beer:
_on_the_wall:99for(($t,$a,$b,$i)=split/:/,$^I;$i;print){$_="-$i
$a$b,-$i$a,-T$t,-".--$i."$a$b ";s/(-1_.*?e)s/$1/g;y/_-/ \n/}#
(by Randolph Chung and Joey Hess)
(!) [Ben]
My own entry (not yet updated at the 99BoB site) - currently, the shortest in the world (137 bytes if saved without an EOL):
$n=99;sub b{"$n bottle${[s=>]}[$n==1] of beer"}print$b=b,$w=' on the wall',", $b!
Take one down, pass it around,
",b($n--),"$w!

"while$n
(!) [Rick] Ben, you are an Evil and Scary Person, and yes I do mean that in the nicest possible way.
(!) [Ben] Thanks, Rick. I'm usually very nice after the Thorazine, Paxil, Zoloft, [ list of 1,396 other medicines elided ] kick in, though.
(!) [Rick] (But I'm still not going to let you near my cgi-bin directory. ;-> )
(!) [Ben]
<grin> I rarely put stuff in people's "cgi-bin"s anymore. I teach them how to do it, instead. That's known as multiplication of evil^Weffort.

(?) Hotmail, sendmail, and attachments

From John

(?) During the past two yrs or so, without exception when I receive a msg w/ mime attachment which has a HM sending @, the attachment is truncated. I end up asking the sender if he/she has an alternative mail account to send from, and it arrives w/o problem when the sender resends via the alternative. I've also experienced the problem with a few other mail portals, but see it more often with HM due to it's overwhelming popularity.
(!) [Rick] At the risk of sounding like a wiseass git[1], MIME attachments from Hotmail users create no problems here whatsoever. They get ignored.
[1] $SPOUSE comments: "Too late!"

(?) Shell humour

From Thomas Adam

(!) [Thomas]
% make love
Make: Don't know how to make love. Stop.
(!) [Jimmy]
This appeared in Issue 86 (http://linuxgazette.net/issue86/lg_backpage.html) and was shown to no longer work. Not true! Simply add this target to your Makefile:
love:
	@echo Don\'t know how to make love. Stop.
How's that for backwards compatibility?

(?) [Lgang] LG 108 is out!

From Ben

(!) [Ben]
Oh yeah - I'm staggering off to bed. I've got to be up early and teaching my first yoga class tomorrow morning (a 30-minute mini-session, but the usual 90-minute class isn't any more difficult - just longer),
(!) [Sluggo]
You're teaching yoga now?
(!) [Ben]
We've just wrapped up the third week of a 200-hour, five-week teacher training. This week was the start of learning the teaching methodology rather than the postures themselves. This is one of the hardest - and one of the most satisfying - things I've ever done in my life.
The teaching is 100% experiential; the only stuff that comes out of your head is the wording. The postures, the stuff you give to the students, has to come out of your own body experience and observation... and getting your body to talk to you in ways that can be translated so that others will hear it is, um, an interesting challenge. (A huge, heart-felt /namaste/ in the direction of Deva Parnell, our teacher, who has managed to make it not only possible but damn near inescapable. If you stick with it, it _happens._ Sticking with it, opening your heart and soul and letting the old scars get light and air and healing... that's the challenge. And the pain, and the incredible joy.)
(!) [Sluggo]
I just finished my two-month Oom Yung Doe class and went back to yoga last week. It certainly seems easier now that I have something more intense to compare it to. Fortunately I have a really good yoga instructor and he's still teaching it.
(!) [Ben]
Cool! I recall you saying that you'd taken a little damage from wrestling, and needed something to help you repair yourself. [grin] My 43-year-old joints are very happy with me these days; perhaps not squeaking and popping every time I bend down has something to do with it.
(!) [Sluggo]
The damage was a herniated disc last summer (2003).
(!) [Ben]
Ouch! Just to illustrate a point, though: one of the girls in the teacher training has a fractured disc - and she is able to adapt without much trouble. It's all about honoring your limitations. I have to use straps and cushions for support for a number of poses myself, since I'm not all that flexible (but far, far more flexible than I was at this time last year) - and that's not any problem either. Being able to work from where you are is what matters.
(!) [Sluggo]
In all the clases I've been in, the teacher has asked if anybody has any medical conditions, and they adjust the poses to accommodate them.
(!) [Sluggo]
I had a cortizone injection and that took away the pain, then I went to physical therapy for a couple months and learned a ton; i.e. my left leg is shorter than my right and that puts a sheen (=diagonal gravitational pressure) across my body, and I walk on the inside of my feet (flat footed, which I never knew what that meant). I learned some core exercises, which of course yoga emphasizes too.
(!) [Ben]
I've heard it referred to as "shear", but have never run across "sheen" before. Can't find anything on the Net where the term is used that way, either; not saying you're wrong, I've just never heard it used that way.
(!) [Sluggo]
Typo, I meant to write sheer.
sheer:  having a bias toward one side when you're trying to go straight.

        Also: "the oblique heading or position of a ship riding at a single
        bow anchor", whatever that means.  (From "shear" prob'ly influenced
        by Dutch "scheren"

        Also: very thin, transparent.

shear: To cut with shears, to tear.

sheen: bright and shining.
(!) [Ben]
  Shear \Shear\, n. [AS. sceara. See {Shear}, v. t.]

[ ... ]

     3. (Engin.) An action, resulting from applied forces, which
        tends to cause two contiguous parts of a body to slide
        relatively to each other in a direction parallel to their
        plane of contact; -- also called {shearing stress}, and
        {tangential stress}.
        [1913 Webster]

     4. (Mech.) A strain, or change of shape, of an elastic body,
        consisting of an extension in one direction, an equal
        compression in a perpendicular direction, with an
        unchanged magnitude in the third direction.
        [1913 Webster]
I'd been using the term in its engineering sense long before I heard it applied to anatomical structures; very common usage there. It's also used in geology and meteorology. In all of these cases, it's spelled with an 'a' - I'd never seen it as "sheer" before, which to me means "thin" (as in fabric) or, when used as a verb, relates to sheering (e.g., a ship anchored in a cross-current will sheer about, with the anchor forming the point of its cone.)
(!) [Sluggo]
My dictionary is Webster's New World, 2nd College Ed., 1982. It says sheer (to turn aside) is "a variant of shear, prob'ly influenced by Dutch or Low German 'scheren' (to cut, warp away)".
sheer (thin/transparent) is "from Middle English schere, prob'ly a variant of scere (free, exempt), from Old Norse skaerr (bright/clear) akin to German schier, from Indo-European *skai- (to glimmer)".
shear (to cut/tear) is "from Middle English scheren, from Old English scieran, akin to German scheren, from Indo-European *(s)ker- (to cut)". All the definitions have to do with cutting or tearing, none have to do with going a strange direction.
But I didn't learn the words from a dictionary. I remembered sheer(2) from all the Band-Aid commercials. So when the PT said sheer, that was the first time I encountered it meaning pressure in a direction, and so I assumed it was spelled the same way. I didn't think of it being related to shears, an object which was far from my mind since I'm not a gardener nor a seamster.
(!) [Sluggo]
But wrestling didn't cause most of my problems, it just revealed them. My wrists don't bend backward, it's hard to lean forward or move my legs far apart, I have to watch to avoid twisting my ankle, and god forbid a policeman might arm-bar me someday and pull too hard. The leaning forward part mostly manifests itself in an irritation when I have to pick up a piece of paper off the floor, but occsionally I can barely lean forward enough to put my socks and shoes on. You know that position where you sit on the floor with your legs straight in front of you?
(!) [Ben]
Sure, Paschimottanasana (Intense Back Stretch.) Six months ago, I couldn't sit in it at all - couldn't get my upper body past vertical. Nowadays, I can get ~20 degrees of forward bend while keeping an erect spine, and can get within a foot or so of touching my forehead to my knees with a relaxed spine; one of the two greatest improvements in my flexibility. I love the damned thing. :)
(!) [Sluggo]
I can do that for 5-10 seconds before it starts getting seriously tiring. I'm just glad these problems don't interfere with standing or walking.
(!) [Ben]
The best advice I can give you is, don't push it to the edge. That's where you get tired - and where you also get almost no benefit. Rule #1 of yoga, from the guy who formulated the practice and the postures as we know them today (as contrasted against meditation): /Sthira sukam asanam/ ("The posture is steady and comfortable".) Push past that point, and you get no benefit. This sounds weird and wrong to someone used to gym workouts, but - believe it. It's the core of what really works.
(!) [Sluggo]
It does sound strange, especially when you're trying to reconcile it with stretching far. But I have made improvements even with my moderate effort, so I'm getting something out of it.
(!) [Ben]
Erich Schiffmann, in his "Yoga - The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness", has a very good description of the above process:
(from Chapter 8, "Playing the Edge")
"You should never be in pain as you practice yoga. Your practice should not be a painful ordeal but rather an expression of joy. Pain is most easily defined as any sensation you do not like, and it always invokes a natural withdrawal mechanism. When you put your hand on a hot stove, for example, instantly you take it off. Before you're even aware that your hand is on the stove, it's off. This is a built-in self-protective device.
The same withdrawal mechanism is activated whenever a yoga stretch begins to hurt. Muscles clamp down and contract in order to protect themselves from overstretching. They are suddenly less willing, fearful, and they resist the stretch - naturally. And they do this, to whatever small or large degree, before you're even aware it's happening. This is blatantly at odds with your initial intention to stretch, open, and expand your physical boundaries. Therefore, by pushing into pain, you're actually working against yourself. One foot is on the accelerator and one foot is on the brake."
(In medical literature, this is one of the four types of reflexive muscle action, and is called the flexion reflex. The myotic reflex is why you want to avoid bouncing when stretching.)
In another chapter (3, "Why yoga?"), he talks about what happens internally - and this is right on the dot based on my experience, and is the core of what yoga does for me. Mind you, I'd been feeling this for most of a year now... and only recently ran across the words for it.
"You learn to open up by relaxing, being fearless, and becoming increasingly defenseless. Defensiveness, or shielding, is what creates the discomfort associated with growth."
For me, it's all about having the courage to strip off the armor and trusting my own internal resources for my safety and security. Toughest challenge I've ever faced, gotta tell ya... oh yeah, I forgot: it's just stretching exercises, nothing more. Skip all that fake new-age stuff. :)
(!) [Sluggo]
I'd done yoga occasionally the previous year, knowing I needed it for the flexibility but always turned off by how hard it was and the Hindu religious aspects ("you are god").
(!) [Ben]
[shrug] That doesn't come from the yoga tradition. Or, really, even Hinduism, from what I've learned of it both recently and previously - but it can be easy to interpret that way. "Yoga" means "union" (from "yuj", or yoke), and can be interpreted in many ways - one of which is union with your $DEITY_OF_CHOICE, but certainly does not have to be. My take on it is union among body, mind, and spirit, which seems to me to be very close to Patanjali's writings, and is also the most applicable to the practice of it.
(!) [Sluggo]
It helped when you pointed out that yoga is not trying to push that religion, it just comes from a time when everybody was religious in that way and it permeated all aspects of their lives including yoga.
(!) [Ben]
Sure. Is calculus religious just because it was developed by a religious man in a religious atmosphere within a religious society? Not in my perception. Although some aspects of yoga do deal with the spiritual side, which can blur the line and create lots of shades of gray.
(!) [Sluggo]
In math class you don't chant a mantra or acknowledge the divine within yourself. :)
(!) [Ben]
In mine either. :) Although you're certainly welcome to, and chanting "Loka/Samastha/Sukino/Bhavantu" (Peace to all beings in all worlds; this is my attitude always) is not something I'd ever find offensive. Quite the reverse, in fact.
(!) [Sluggo]
"Peace to all beings in all worlds"? Sounds like the Star Trek version of yoga.
(!) [Ben]
The "Loka" is one of the oldest traditional chants - and has the exact "non-religion-affiliated" feel that I associate with yoga. You don't have to believe in any supernatural beings to agree with the idea behind it; I recently ran across a post by an M.D., an Indian woman who is non-religious, whose father (also non-religious) taught her to chant the Loka daily when she was little. Her take on it was that it shaped her entire life philosophy from then on. I couldn't see that as a bad thing even if I tried.
I've actually looked up the Sanskrit, including the root words, and the above translation is mine - although my teacher, Deva, translated it almost exactly the same way. "All worlds" doesn't refer to planets but to the three worlds (or realms) of perception and action - gross, subtle, and causal - in which the three levels of ourselves - the physical, the mental, and the spiritual - operate. (That's not too shabby of a modern formulation, for some dude of 5000 years ago or so; they were pretty damned good logicians, I was surprised to find. The Greeks had nothing on these lads, and appeared on the scene quite a bit later.)
Philosophies and religions are easy to conflate - they both deal with many of the same elements, and religion, in the hierarchy of organized knowledge, is a sub-field of philosophy (further subdivided into theism, philosophical theology, and philosophy of religion.) Although there are still gray areas, my distinction between the two comes down to deities and faith: if supernatural beings plus faith are required articles, it's a religion.
(!) [Ben]
Interestingly, many religious people report that their spiritual path was made easier by yoga. I wouldn't know, of my own experience - but I can see why it would work that way.
(!) [Sluggo]
Although some mathematicians do seem to treat a complicated formula like a glimpse into paradise.
(!) [Ben]
Quoting Einstein:
"If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."
I smoke a different brand, myself, but can certainly recognize and honor that view; it's not that far from my own, and rings some familiar bells.
(!) [Sluggo]
But then I found an instructor who does everything in English, doesn't use the religious terminology, constantly explains the physical benefits of the particular moves ("when you breathe out try to open a little more space in your hips"), etc. Oh, and he's a punk with a mohawk, so he's all right. :)
(!) [Ben]
Hey, I'm a bald-headed dude who rides a motorcycle and uses zero religious terminology in his practice or teaching (although I do use the Sanskrit posture names along with the English ones; they sound cool. :) Although my instructions would be more like "on your next exhalation, flutter your knees slightly to create more opening in your hips"; people usually don't know what to do when you tell them to "open a little more space in your hips", and you have to associate it with specific guidance.
(!) [Sluggo]
I understand it coz it's what I don't have: loose joints and tendons. The most cryptic thing my instructor says is "breathe into $JOINT". And I'm thinking, how are you supposed to get the air from your lungs into your shoulders, and why would you want to?
(!) [Ben]
Heh. That, again, is shorthand for advanced students who know the longer version, e.g.: "Imagine that you could breathe through the soles of your feet. Now, feel the energy penetrate toward the core on each inhalation, and let go of the tension on each exhalation." Much of the imagery drives internal states that can be extremely difficult to describe verbally but actually happen for pretty much everybody when guided with it. However, using the shorthand inappropriately can lead to confusion (viz. yourself) and worse, take people out of their internal experience.
(!) [Ben]
What style of yoga does your teacher do?
(!) [Sluggo]
90% of the classes are hatha yoga, and this seems to be the same style although he doesn't call it that.
(!) [Ben]
"Hatha yoga" just refers to "physical yoga", as contrasted against the meditation stuff. There's a variety of types as well as styles (most of the latter are within the hatha type) - Karma, Bhakti, Jnana, Raja, Kundalini, a few others. The styles - e.g. Bikram, Kripalu, Atma, Iyengar, etc. - are variations of Hatha. It's not that important, though; I was just curious.
(!) [Sluggo]
There have been a couple bikram yoga classes but I haven't taken them.
(!) [Ben]
[snerch] Probably a good thing. I'll gently suggest that heavy exercise in a 104-degree environment may be completely counter to the basic principles of yoga - Bikram and Iyengar are very recent creations, within the last 25 years or so - but that's just my opinion.
(!) [Sluggo]
I've read about an intriguing class called yin yoga (yang yoga?) that has three-minute poses with little muscular involvement, but it's not offered presently.
(!) [Ben]
That sounds much more like what I do, but three minutes is a long time - way too much for beginners. I can hold most of the postures for three minutes, but that's about my limit - and I couldn't have done it prior to this teacher training. It takes good alignment, a lot of body awareness, and (above all) deep respect for and knowledge of your own limitations. That stuff takes a while to get for most people.
(!) [Sluggo]
Oom Yung Doe was all about flowing kung fu moves and karate blocks/strikes, with some weapons forms occasionally. I got to swing a stick around. Advanced students were swinging swords. We did some extreme wrist movements, which hurt at the time but then you feel better afterward. We also had to lean forward over one knee while the back leg was straight.
(!) [Ben]
Ah. Ask your teacher about Warrior 1 (Virabhadrasana 1 - one of my favorite postures), and perhaps Parshvokonasana (Bent Knee Side Stretch - one of my least favorites :) - good, safe ways to do that. My legs are far stronger than they used to be, primarily due to those.
(!) [Sluggo]
Yes, we do Warrior 1 and Warrior 2 occasionally.
(!) [Sluggo]
That's supposed to get you used to holding yourself up on your joints rather than using muscle, but I couldn't really get it. I liked what I was learning and the instructors and students, but I just didn't want to get into the organization and belts and crazy moves, plus dedicating five days a week to it, and never knowing what it was going to be like from day to day. So I'm back to yoga and weights and running, and occasional submission wrestling.

(?) French lesson

From Thomas Adam

(!) [Thomas] Good idea, Didier. Je suis tres fatigant. Je pense je vais a couche, apres ca. Mais, premier.........
(!) [Didier]
Hey, nice job, Thomas! But for one thing: you're being too hard on yourself! In this context "fatigant" would mean "boring". Yep, French conjugation is definitely a nightmare (ahem... I must confess that I nearly spelled it incorrectly "fatiguant").
Linuxed all night long once again, heh? :)
(!) [Thomas] Damn. Conjugation is a nightmare! I'm trying to practice my French, since I may well be going to France. Looks as though I've a long way to go, eh?
(!) [Didier] Only a few hours by train nowadays. :)
(!) [Thomas] I though "c'est ennuieuse" (spelling bad), meant "It's boring", and "j'ennuie" means "I'm bored"??? How does:
Fatigant
in my original context therefore mean "bored"? -- Sorry Didier, too many questions.
(!) [Didier] You're forgiven, Thomas!
That "fatigant" issue is one of those many subtle, tiresome (!) ambiguities one may encounter in the French language. Generally speaking, the "-ant" suffix, applied to a verb, is just like the "-ing" one in English. Therefore, the first meaning of "fatigant" is "tiring" (the infinitive form being "fatiguer", i.e. "to make tired").
However, its present participle form (the one ending in "-ant") can also be used as a mere adjective, often with a somewhat different meaning: "boring", "tiresome".
OTOH, when you mean "tired", "weary", you have to use the past participle form "fatigué" (actually as an adjective, too). Unfortunately, the correct spelling depends on the subject's gender and number:
 She's tired = Elle est fatiguée
                               ^
 We, husbands, are tired = Nous, les maris, sommes fatigués
                                                          ^
 The barmaids are... = ... fatiguées
                                  ^^
But:
 Décidément, ce type est fatigant = That guy is definitely tiresome.
 C'est un boulot fatigant = It's a tiring job.
As you can see, the true meaning depends on the context.
(!) [Thomas]
Also, another thing I find interesting is that the French never say "I am hungry" -- it's always "I had hunger", thus:
j'ai fain
But if that's the case (I had hunger) then surely you cannot be hungry anymore???
(!) [Didier] LOL. There's another funny litteral translation: "I have appetite". The familiar expression, often used in conversations, is:
J'ai la dalle.
but that's hardly translatable as is. I guess "I've got the paving stone" or "the slab" (thanks, Harrap's) doesn't make any sense, LOL. Actually the above means "I'm starving" (see also "Je crève la dalle", which has yet a stronger meaning). But never say that while your respectful, 500-euro-three-piece-suit-wearing self is attending a political cocktail party at the Élysée -- unless you're covered by a strong diplomatic immunity (only then does everybody laugh).
It's the same "rule" for such expressions as "I'm cold/thirsty" (j'ai froid/soif), etc. English grammar is more logical, actually.
(!) [Thomas] Arrgghhhh!!!
(!) [Didier]
Indeed. :)
What all this has to do with Linux, I don't know.
Perhaps we can use it as a reminder:
Set the LANG environment variable to one of the predefined 'fr_XX' values (where 'XX' must be one of the 'LU', 'FR', 'CA', 'CH' or 'BE' country specifiers) if you wish to see your program messages in French and use accented letters at the shell command line, for instance.
Linux supports many more languages -- such as German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Arabic, Finnish, Tamil, Danish, Nynorsk, Greek, Welsh, Telgu, Urdu, etc., etc. You can find more of them with a command like:
 find /usr/lib/locale -name "LC_IDENT*" -exec /bin/sh -c 'strings {} | head -1' \; | less
(!) [Thomas]
Wow,
Mille remerciment, Didier! You've explained things really well, merci beaucoup!!
(!) [Didier] Pas de quoi, Thomas. You're most welcome.
(!) [Thomas] As far as the Linux part goes...you're quite right. Linux does support many different languages, although in my naiveity, I didn't realise that Welsh was supported. He he...they don't use many vowels!!
(!) [Didier] I didn't know either 1 1/2 hour ago. :)
(!) [Thomas] Also,
find /usr/lib/locale -name "LC_IDENT*" -exec /bin/sh -c 'strings {} | head -1' \; |less
didn't work on my machine, Didier. I had to use "head -2". A subtle, yet rather important tweak!!!
(!) [Didier]
Yeah, I expected something like that. Supposedly it depends on factors such as the glibc version, and so on. Even the actual directory where the relevant files reside might differ from one distro to another.
(!) [Thomas]
You're quite right, Didier. Actually, the directory that I ran the above command(s) on had filenames that were very long (and consequently had symlinks to them). When I ran the same command on filenames that were short (/bin) for example, it worked ok, by replacing "head -2" back to "head -1". Very strange!!

(?) Cruising

From Ben

(!) [Ben] Folks, my apologies for forgetting to notify everyone (worse yet, I may have already done it and forgotten that I did <shrug> - it's been that kind of a month), but I'm off (stop snickering, Thomas! :)
(!) [Thomas] <hurt voice> Ben, I'd never snigger at something like that!!</hurt voice>
(!) [Ben] What, me being off? I'm surprised; I'd be on it like a shot. :)
(!) [Ben] on a cruise down the US East Coast, currently anchored in Beaufort, NC. Net connectivity is rare and generally poor... when I get to where I'm going - St. Augustine, FL, at least for a couple of months - that will improve, but it might be another couple of weeks.
(!) [Didier] You're quite excused and cheerfully welcomed back, Ben.
(!) [Thomas] You take it easy. Having listened to various shipping forecasts, "things be on the turn ca'in".
(!) [Ben] Yeah, I've been dodging between bad weather systems - successfully so far, and I've only got a two-day sail ahead of me before I get to where I'm going. I'm definitely taking it easy, though; having a schedule while cruising is one of the best ways to get into a bad problem. Leads to stupid "go/no-go" decisions.
(!) [Ben] Thanks, but you're a bit early with the welcome. :) I've still got to get down to St. Augustine, Florida - and I'll be taking off to do that in about an hour. I've just stopped by the Dockmaster's office to get my last mail fix before I go.
(!) [Pete] Ben, while you are in St Augustine here are some suggestions.
(!) [Ben] Thank you very much, Pete - I'm fairly familiar with St. Augustine (spent about four months there the last time I sailed through), but this is all great info! There's also a little "all natural" restaurant within a couple of blocks of the water where Cookie (the owner and chef) makes the finest carrot cake I've ever had... up until then, I didn't even like carrot cake.
(!) [Pete] if you like NY style Pizza try Pizza garden (on Hypollita St.) for great spanish food try the Columbia on St. Georges St. The best caramel apples can be found at Savannah Sweets--also great fudge, and any other candy made with caramel (they make the caramel right in the shop) (also on St. Georges St.) Great sticky buns and cookies can be had at The Bunnery and, just across from there is Cousins Sandwich shop, which does a great fresh-squeezed Key Limeade. One more--if you can get there early in the day, The Spanish Bakery does great empanadas and breads. It's kind of tucked away off of St. Georges St., so you have to look for the signs. (The following travel guide was provided by Pete's wife, who knows nothing about Linux but lots about food!)
(!) [Ben] <grin> No doubt; that's quite a list. Thank her for me, then.
I'll probably be sailing out (I'm in Charleston, South Carolina right now) tomorrow morning, conditions permitting - St. Augustine is only a two-day sail! Almost there...
(!) [Pete] There is a good linux group in Jacksonville (half hour or so away) http://www.jaxlug.org, great people.
I moved to CT two years ago, otherwise I would offer you occasional transport and lodging.
(!) [Didier] Nice to get some news from you, Captain. Speaking of Beaufort, how's the weather?
(!) [Ben] Cold (although not as cold as Baltimore) and sunny, but most importantly, the wind has just switched to the north. We had a couple of bad storms pass through while I was sitting here, but now the weather looks good!
(!) [Ben] I'll probably be writing a review of mobile IP options WRT Linux... overview: currently highly sucky and expensive, but slated to get better shortly.
(!) [Didier] Hey, we can expect no less.
(!) [Ben] C'ya soon.
(!) [Didier] Yep. May the Streams be with you!
(!) [Ben] Thanks. I'm looking at four days or so for this passage, so I'll be out of contact for at least that long...
(!) [Jimmy] [OK, so I got this far before I noticed where the off-topic bit started. I'm leaving that stuff in because I spent so fscking long editing it. Problem?]

(?) English lesson

(!) [Pete] Great sticky buns and cookies
(!) [Sluggo] Wow, a British term and an American term in the same sentance.
(!) [Thomas] I know, Mike, highly unlikely. But hey.... :-)
(!) [Sluggo]
sticky buns  ->  frosted rolls
cookies      ->  cookies
(!) [Thomas] Lets see if there is some more:
Jello -> Jelly Color -> Colour Dypers -> Nappies
....etc
(!) [sluggo] OK, but you got the arrows pointed the wrong way. They should be pointing from the incorrect (British) word to the correct (American) word.
(!) [Rick] If you blokes ever need help with simultaneous English-to-American translation, I'm your man.
On the other hand, if you want just the naughty bits, here y'are:
http://linuxmafia.com/pub/humour/uk-us-translations
(!) [Sluggo]
nappies  ->  diapers   (note spelling)
pram  ->  baby carriage
trolley  ->  cart
sorry  ->  excuse me
fizzy drink  ->  pop (in some regions),  soda (in others),
                 soda pop (to cover all bases)
draught  ->  draft
boot  ->  trunk  (of car)
bonnet  ->  hood  (of car)
red man/green man  ->  "walk/don't walk" sign
(!) [Breen] I'm not touching that one...
There was a discussion on another list I'm on about the various 'translations' made in the Harry Potter books to spare Americans from the necessity of puzzling over any Britishisms.
(!) [Sluggo]
One British author I saw wanted to make his book accessible to both, so he put both terms with an oblique/slash between them.
Certainly growing up, there were entire portions of children's books I didn't understand, or later found out I misunderstood, because of the language differences. For instance, Paddington Bear lived in the "box room". I assumed that referred to the room's shape, that it was small and square. Later I found out it's a room where you keep stuff in boxes, thus a storage room.
(!) [Rick]
Coming back to California from the British government school system in Hong Kong, I had the opposite problem. People perenially talked about being "sick", but failed to show any sign of nausea. I eventually figured out that this was a provincial way of referring to being ill.
People kept talking about going out into the "hall". I eventually figured out that this meant corridors.
They claimed to play football, but couldn't seem to afford the correct-shaped ball, not to mention the correct-shaped field, and kept running around holding it in their hands.
They didn't understand the term sweets at all, referring to it as "candy" (and you can't get a decent roll of Rowntree's Fruit Pastilles, anywhere).
That's not to mention them having the most peculiar notion of where the first floor is, having quaint local terms for lifts and flats (and you could seek to let a flat all month without success, because they'd never heard that verb before), and the conviction that "tabling an issue" means metaphorically putting it on the table to defer until later, instead of putting it on the table for immediate discussion.
And don't let me get started on the utter lack of logic to how they write dates, around here.
(!) [Thomas]
That is true, Mike. My room is a box room! Actually, I find language comparisons rather interesting, especially when it comes to British slang V American slang. Although these days, there is soo much American slang in the British language (like, totally so not cool), that I have trouble understanding some of it.
But at the end of the day, it does not really matter. Incidentally, Breen, when Harry Potter was released, the original title of the film was:
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone"
Why, and what to, was the title changed when released in America?
(!) [Breen] "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". Apparently "Philosopher's Stone" sounded too high-brow and the publishers figured that it would scare off all their potential audience.
They also changed "jumper". Over here a jumper is a girl's dress. They certainly didn't want to risk that kind of image. Didn't want to risk expanding anyone's horizons even a bit, either, nossir.
Grumpily,
(!) [Michael Havens]
we have to remember, the british versions older words were the originals. So I have to ask:
Who has the correct spelling?
(!) [Sluggo] It doesn't matter. We just enjoy needling each other. The British spellings are more "correct" in that they invented the language. But many American spellings are shorter and more practical: draught/draft, colour/color, encyclopaedia/encyclopedia. Actually, many of these spellings were coined specifically by Webster et al in the early 1800s mainly to thumb their noses at the Brits, and only secondarily to pull the spelling closer to the pronounciation.
(!) [Kapil] Sounds a bit like the Emacs/Vi or KDE/Gnome wars...though those were perhaps a bit more acrimonious :-)
Luckily at a lower level (such as libc or Xlib or the alphabet) things are more or less standardised---oops, standardized.
(!) [Sluggo] Historically, there was no standard spelling until recently: Shakespeare spelled his own name three different ways. Chaucer wrote "e" (bite) and "gh" (night) because he actually pronounced them that way; they weren't silent. But for a few hundred years after that (if I got my dates right), the upper classes in England didn't even speak English but French, so the people who made the language survive through those years were illiterate and had no sense of spelling. So by the time English became respectable again (1500s?), the pronounciation had changed significantly, but the older spellings were retained.
Throw dialects into the mix and you get an unsolvable can of worms, especially when homonyms and the readability of older documents is taken into consideration. If half a family moves one place and half a family moves another place, there will start to be differences in their pronounciation and word choice in a couple generations, and this happens so gradually they don't realize it. The effect is diminished now because of global communication but it still happens. We're getting a lot of words now with no common standard. Al-Qaida or Al-Quaeda? Pronounced "kay" or "ky" or "ka-EE"?
You can't devise a phonetic spelling system that covers even the major differences between English dialects. Should car be spelled kar or ka? Is the Tube a tyoob or a toob? What do you do with the vowels in, "It ain't right, mate, it isn't time." (Compare how George Bush, Mick Jagger and U2 pronounce "time".) Even a simple word like "no" is nohw in general American, naow in Cockney and no in Scotland.
The homonym problem is this: English already has way too many homonyms for its own good. See, sea and C. If you spell them all the same, it quadruples the job of trying to figure out what someone else is writing. On top of that, some words rhyme in some dialects but not in others. This happens even in the US in spite of our mobility. Does aunt sound like ant or is it "ahnt"? Does "my Aunt Ant" sound just funny or totally hilarious? Is there an "e" on the end of coyote? Do you pronounce merry, marry and Mary all the same? "You say tomayto and I say tomahto. Eether, ither, neether, nither, let's call the whole thing off."
The old-documents problem is this: modern people can read Twain, Dickens and Tom Paine without any problems. They can read Shakespeare with some help. But if we change the spelling system, kids will either have to learn two systems, or the old books will have to be translated (which won't happen with obscure works till much later). (Oh, and the translations won't be in the public domain, thanks to the perpetual copyright extensions that are in vogue now.) Too many adults will flatly refuse to change spelling systems (we're still using fahrenheit and miles and quarts, after all). So that's it.
(!) [Michael Havens] Nappies? What's that?
(!) [Thomas]
"Nappies" (which is plural for: "Nappy") is what I believe you Americans' call "Diapers" (sp?)
Here in England (not that I know much about any of this), there is a brand of nappy called "Huggies".
(!) [Sluggo] Huggies is a brand well advertised on TV here.
(!) [Ashwin] If you are either in UK or in USA, you atleast can decide on a word. For the rest of the world that wants to speak in English, it is even the more confusing! :-)
(!) [Thomas] Another thing which fascinates me (and I wish we had them, here in England) is that when you do your "grocery" shopping, you get brown-paper bags!! That's soo cool. We get crappy plastic ones over here :-(
(!) [Sluggo] Shopping bags were always paper until twenty years or so ago. Then plastic bags appeared and were touted as "superior" because they had handles and were easier for the elderly to carry, supposedly. But there was an environmentalist backlash almost immediately because they were made from oil and non-recyclable. But pretty soon the researchers figured out that the, um, Total Cost of Ownership (environmentally speaking) was the same either way. So both remained, and cashiers have been doomed forevermore to ask, "Paper or plastic?", and if you don't say they invariably choose plastic.
I was surprised in Russia and Germany that they charge extra for the bags, because in the US they're always free. Although some stores give you a 5-cent discount if you bring your own bag, and some will even give you a discount if you use a backpack (but not consistently). I always take my backpack when I go shopping (and my big backpack to Costco), for environmental reasons.
I can't imagine why anybody would think paper bags are cool. They exist, and they aren't made from oil, but if you put anything wet into them, they disintigrate. If you put anything heavy in them and carry them from the top, they tear unless you double bag. And if you live in Tacoma, Washington, or Oregon City, Oregon, you can smell the pulp mills, a fine delicacy Ben is well aware of....
(!) [Ashwin]
To confuse things even more .... let me give an Indian (the India Columbus wanted to discover :-) perspective.
India is now plastic country, you get plastic bags to carry everything. Except that the shopkeeper won't understand you if you say 'plastic bag', the Indian English word for plastic bag is "plastic cover". That's right, you carry home your groceries in a "plastic cover". I know it sounds strange, but that's the "Indian English" way of saying things!
Indian English is predominently Queen's English mixed with the slang words from the regional language, but is also now accepting Americanisms.
(!) [Rick] Indian English is often a thing of beauty, and should be prized. I've read some speeches from the New Delhi parliament that make Tony Blair and John Major seem like the pikers they are (not to mention the troglodytes currently occupying the US Executive Branch).
(!) [Ashwin] Also, the current US prez is really killing English :-) Can't believe that English is his mother tongue!
(!) [Rick] Amazing, that, when you consider that it's spoken by only 3-4% of the country's population.
(!) [Ashwin] Yes, but almost half the population understands common English words. So, if you can speak English, you won't have any problem conversing in India.
(!) [Thomas] Incidentally, in England a "grocery" usually referes to fruit and vegetables. Am I correct in thinking that in America it means everyday shopping (food)?
Oh the joys of comparative English :-)
(!) [Sluggo]
Yes. Fruits and vegetables are called produce (PRO-duce). Grocery stores used to mean the little corner food store, which has now become the big corner supermarket. The little corner food store has been replaced by the "convenience store" like 7-11 or those mini-marts at the gas stations. They mostly have cigarettes, candy, hot dogs/sandwiches, juice/pop/beer, newspapers and that's about it. You're lucky if you can find an orange or a banana in one of those places, but don't even think of finding lettuce. Nowadays frozen burritos are pretty common though. Some people call them "Kwik-E-Marts" in honor of the Simpsons.
It seems wrong to call 7-11 and AM/PM grocery stores because they don't carry a whole line of fruits/vegetables/bread/meats. But paradoxically, in the inner cities (not in the suburbs) there are little independent shops that carry the same sort of wares as the convenience chains, and these are called grocery stores, perhaps in honor of the ma-and-paw shops that were their predecessors.
In Edward Rutherford's London it says the word "grocery" originally meant people who buy by the gross, thus the wholesale-to-retail middlemen.

(?) (no subject)

From XSnoopXDoggX69

hey can u e-mail me back giveing all the crip knowledge that u can give and all the folk knowldge e-mail meback alright thanks

(?) Happy New Year!

From Breen Mullins

I'll add my greetings to the list.
May your bugs be few and easily squashed...

(?) Turbo C

From charito flores

Answered By Neil Youngman

(?) Sample Problem:

Write a program that the user must select following choices and then perform operations.

(!) [Neil]
if( wants_homework_done_for_him( user ) )		// choice
{
	castrate( user )				// operation
}

(?) Who wrote Linux? Better whoppers than SCO

From Jimmy O'Regan

SearchEnterpriseLinux.com is running a series to find people who can come up with better tall tales about who really wrote Linux.
http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/columnItem/0,294698,sid39_gci969455,00.html http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid39_gci970955,00.html http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid39_gci990148,00.html

(?) My latest toy :)

From Ben

So, I went and did it. Perhaps inspired by Jay's example, or maybe because I've been thinking about it for a long time now - and a pilot friend of mine had this one for sale at a great price.
Whew. Sure brings back a lot of memories. Racing, cruising, long rides on the backroads of California and New York...
http://okopnik.freeshell.org/img/nighthawk750.jpg

(?) Bad pun

From Sluggo

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=120341&cid=10138761
"I'm mildly annoyed because a 72hr outage was caused by a cow (supercow powers) munching through some BT cable. Don't they bury these things?"
"Yes. The cow was given a proper funeral, with all appropriate honours. It was very mooving."
(!) [Jimmy] That's more worthy of Fark. "Cow chews through phone cables. France surrenders."
(!) [Sluggo] More worthy of what?
(!) [Jimmy] Fark.com, where a story about a cow eating through phone cables would be posted.
Top 5 stories right now:

Return of the Linux Laundrette

By Jimmy O'Regan

(?)Admins swearing
(?)Possible for "funny things that happen with computers"
(?)cardboard box inventor
(?)More scummy spam for the "Not Linux" column
(?)world's most trusted antivirus solution.*
(?)cat /dev/input/mouse
(?)SCO vs Linux
(?)ms dos
(?)Funny thing...
(?).sig standards
(?)Foolish things
(?)Erudition
(?)Re: [TAG] New York Guide to Benefits and Savings
(?)Re: [LG 87] help wanted #4
(?)[TAG-ADMIN] Issue78: WM talkback -- edit out?
(?)New Jersey
(?)Microsoft toilet - where would you like to go today?
(?)RE: [TAG] Saddam dies of panic attack using linux!
(?)Linus interview
(?)Dirty words in the kernel
(?)Re: Puter Types
(?)STS-107
(?)Possible strange things we do with our computers
(?)(no subject)
(?)RE: [TAG] Miller-Daemon
(?)Iraq-related Irony
(?)Fly fishing
(?)A "Microsoft" security update
(?)[Lgang] /sbin/ping -c 1 lgang
(?)[spam] Best offer of the year
(?)Japanese spam
(?)Ginger beer
(?)linux baby clothes?
(?)MS plans competition for Google
(?)2 Cent Tips & Tricks: Optimizing ~/.bash_history

(?) Admins swearing

From Ben

"When your Sysadmin gets angry, he does not stand around blinking nervously - instead he swears at you... in binary."
Heh. Kinda reminds me of something from Asimov's "Foundation" series. It's been a mort of years since I read it, so it's probably misquoted, but -
"...for there is a characteristic of curses pronounced by those who are versed in technology: they work."

(?) Possible for "funny things that happen with computers"

From Kapil

OK. So this is not a "Linux question" but its funny what can happen when people put their trust in that other OS!

Crashed Computer Traps Thai Politician Updated 14 May 2003 http://aardvark.co.nz/daily/2003/n051301.shtml

Thailand's Finance Minister Suchart Jaovisidha had to be rescued today from inside his expensive BMW limousine after the onboard computer crashed, leaving the vehicle immobilized.

Once the computer failed, neither the door locks, power windows nor air conditioning systems would function, leaving the Minister and his driver trapped inside the rapidly heating vehicle.

Despite the pair's best efforts, it took a full ten minutes before they were able to summon the attention of a nearby guard who freed the two men by smashing one of the vehicle's windows with a sledgehammer.

A report (http://www.bangkokpost.com/Business/13May2003_biz12.html) published in the Bangkok Post indicates that the vehicle was Mr Jaovisidha's own BMW 520 which was being used while his state-supplied Mercedes was being repaired.

BMW's more up-market 7-series range uses a computer system called i-drive which has Microsoft's WindowsCE at its core (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2002/Mar02/03-04BMWpr.asp).

Did Mr Jaovisidha narrowly miss being killed by the blue windscreen of death?


(?) cardboard box inventor

From Club Golf

Inventor of the Cardboard Box

(!) [Jimmy] This was in issue 52 - http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue52/tag/22.html
(?) I am reliably informed a Scotsman by the name of Cuthbertson invented the cardboard box and took the invention to the USA and made a fortune. I don't know how long ago, but it was a long time ago. Cuthbertson was an eccentric and his dying wish was to be stuffed and sat on a chair in his house, which was granted. When the law eventually changed he was buried. This story comes from a distant relative of Cuthbertson, who lives here in Scotland.
Regards,
Bill Godfrey
(!) [Jimmy] A google search says the cardboard box was invented in Britain in 1817, but has no mention of a name; the corrugated cardboard box seems to have been invented later by Robert Gair.

(?) More scummy spam for the "Not Linux" column

From Ben

It's just like Mike always suspected. The gubmint is after me. Is it time for the suicide pill yet, or can I elude them a little longer?...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: FBI <womaqakup@lobbyist.com>
To: Ben <ben@callahans.org>
Reply-To: FBI <womaqakup@lobbyist.com>
Sender: FBI <womaqakup@lobbyist.com>
Subject: Ben... You are suspected in several crimes.
Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 16:19:46 -0400 (EDT)

[-- Autoview using /usr/bin/w3m -dump -T text/html "/tmp/mutt.html" --]
Hello, dear Ben!
You are suspected in several crimes, which are not heavy ones, but they are
delinquencies. We believe you would like to read it here. Please it take into
consideration.

Administration
------------------------------------------------------------------------

(?) world's most trusted antivirus solution.*

From a_real2@angelfire.com

On Thu, 7 Aug 2003 23:41:55 +0900 a_real2@angelfire.com wrote:

(?) You are receiving this email as a warning. the most common viruses are transmitted and installed behind the scenes while you're on the internet! All emails are scanned automatically with Norton Antivirus!

(!) [Jason] Oh wow! I don't have to wait for someone to email me a virus: They'll be transmitted and install behind the scenes while I'm on the internet! Woohoo!
(!) [Thomas] Hmm, you mean to say that you *aren't* running MS-Windows, Jason? And that the virus cannot understand why it cannot find the registry? Oh, how inconsiderate of you to be running Linux.
(?) btw, you look great today.
(!) [Jason] Thanks, you too.
(!) [Thomas] I look rather fine, too.
(!) [Jason] Oh, wait, this is email, we have no way of know what the other person looks like.
It was a nice thought anyway.
Jason, oh come on -- all of you have to do is "cat this_email > /dev/null" and then use your imagination :)
(!) [Jason] Okay, I did that. Then a
~$ display /dev/null
and to my surpise, there he was! A short little man in a blue robe with a long white beard, holding a stick (or a wand perhaps?) pointing at some red letters: "Image Magick". It's amazing! :)

(?) cat /dev/input/mouse

From IRC, 1st December

*       editorgal giggles
<editorgal>     the effects of: cat /dev/input/mice
<jimregan>      *groan*
<editorgal>     [user has to intervene with ^c. this is not news to pet owners.]
<jimregan>      Yeah. You get shit all over the place if you don't
<editorgal>     I was thinking mouse bones, but yes.

(?) SCO vs Linux

From Jimmy O'Regan

This is the best take I've seen on this... SCO vs Linux, portrayed by the Dukes of Hazzard http://www.arie.org/doh

(?) ms dos

From Scateboarder2003

i have windows xp how do i delete the entire drive so i can re install it
(!) [Dan Wilder] I'd suggest immersing it in nitric acid.
(!) [Jimmy] Has someone been reading BOFH recently? :)
(!) [Dan Wilder] Hee, hee, hee!! I needed that. It's been a difficult day. I was drinking green tea when I read that and I almost sprayed my keyboard when I started laughing!
(!) [Jimmy] Pffft. You people need to invest: http://www.cashregisterman.com/buywet.htm
(!) [Ben]
Nah. Keyboard condoms have been around forever, but a good C|N>K is worth a thousand words.
(!) [Jimmy] ...mostly of the four letter variety.

(?) Funny thing...

From Ben

Maybe it's just my sense of humor, but - I was just reading the documentation for "dns-hijacker" and ran across this:
Inspired by an idea I came up with while sitting on the john I set out to write a program that would sniff
Excuse me???
dns requests and spoof answers. 800 lines of code and 25 hours later I had given birth
Uh-huh. This was still on the john, I guess.
to dnshijacker.
...
Talk about the need to write better documentation... man!
(!) [Jimmy] Maybe this person was confused by a suggestion to include more details :)
(!) [Ben] "Captain Vimes, this herewith is the chronicle of me, Lance-Constable Cvddy. Bright was the morning and high ovr hearts when we proceeded to the Alchemists' Guild, where events eventvated as I shall now sing. These inclvded exploding balls. As to the qvest upon which we were sent..."
-- from a police report by Constable Cuddy, Ankh-Morpork Night Watch (Terry Pratchett's "Men at Arms")

(?) .sig standards

From mind wings

hello
plz tell me about sendmail in redhat linux. eventhough i visited so many sites,i couldn't understand. u plz tell me fo r what we r using it? tell me any useful web sites.
(!) [Faber]
http://www.google.com
(What? He said *any*!)
(!) [Ben]
"2B r !2B: tht's d ?:
whthr 'tis noblr in d mind 2 suffr
d slngs&arrws of outrgs for2n,
r 2 tk rms gnst a C of trbls,
& by oppsng . m?
2die: 2slp;
!mor..."
-- "Hmlt", by !Shkspr
(!) [Jason] LOL!!!
(!) [Jimmy] U spk txt 2? Ur mult tlntd!
(!) [Rick] <pedant> It's actually "-- ", you know. That trailing space, as troublesome as it is on account of being invisible in that context, is a vital part of the .sig standard. </pedant>
(!) [Jay] <pedant level="even_worse" motivation="showing_off"> It's actually "<EOL>-- <EOL>".
Cause, y'know, it's gotta be on it's own line: <EOL>-- jra<EOL> (to use an example near and dear to my heart) doesn't count.
I'm not sure if EOL is specifically defined as the network version (CRLF), or if the native version on your platform is acceptable; the nearest thing to a standard on this particular issue is son-of-1036 (http://www.chemie.fu-berlin.de/outerspace/netnews/son-of-1036.html) and it doesn't say. :-) </pedant>
(!) [Jason] Oh yeah. Here's a handy regex to match .sig standard compliant sig blocks:
(h*)k(7(j**3*}6258v?)?9((j?.1)k9kj}dv2}f4{h(nkjh21}(j3}kr.f}.8{3.*3k){}dvdu
{t9.(r(46u(j?6..8h(*hd3nhe*9j?81}4}9)?{j)*h*d6)**e5(kwk(k}{.{k)))?()()?}tn??(
5{3(*rjh4.?h*??h{{)1jk(}**?(}wu}v*{*?1j(5rn72)...}(?1t6vhf*r*5h.6))k5dn8(0(h}
}1(e*j*(jw((t*2{?rr(0h?nw1}20?(9j{*0{hjk}k3{?2)3j{.*?(5khd(n*e}.}wkj(ht)j?f)(
*.*((v3*5}j(5r0}?w*k**(}3)h}nk8{8{.?t3*hj)2*k4v*?}k)u(f}hn{?.(dkk(e).5t*nh)*k
{.)}0*j1{.1h*6v4*n6?((7n2*r76n2d)t*h}(jj?h}*?f?{**{j*f53*?6k?*628j?(}k?{j9vr}
h*34vnrrnr{2(jh0t({28)({e}k}{d.6*).kjhdn8)(?3.f2v93nd7ev2juehh9(*1j2jkr)*)3d0
)n?v51kr(?j2kfd(01td3dd82*f*v15e9hk0r..5u3*r?k*t2v?tj5.hedv92d2k73dwkw*w2852w
ruun48w3t362?fjrunrfk25?6j*3eddr)*k9670644ejh00)69)46*k8?h5h39nd1j.**jk.j.70f
*6.*nh?*7hk2)*.0u.76(ueh(vrdu6ehj0?ht2r7h2.3.njk63f?jjn1u3te.kvhn8*6(hd5(?d6h
3.5j)0**we5*hu8whkn?**8vkrhh42*n19jk(2j1kw6?h)4t2634..*h6e(7rn2k*333.119dj?rh
hk75*9h3hh(tk2hev5h2(jn3h8dh5n.dkukv9w.(t223n172j(k6*rvhj.3)j657*jefw66h2f1er
4w3(h4kfddh(n2(nttnrt8.)j)e(n?j..h1rfhk*rvjrvjw)uj77wr5k89w56jjh.9w5tt68kh.r
:-)
(!) [Jimmy] Back to the Obfuscated Regex, eh?
(!) [Jimmy] Hmmm... last year in Linux Format (UK) they printed a rant by one of their opinion people about the KMail FAQ saying that this was a standard when it's actually a best practises recommendation.
(!) [Rick] There's a lot of spilled virtual ink over Internet "standards". Depending on who's talking, it encompasses only adopted RFCs, or includes drafts and standards-track (proposed) RFCs such as Son of RFC 1036 (to which you refer).
Several key DNS protocols are of that sort: The IETF NOTIFY and IXFR protocols, outgoing AXFR, DNSSEC, TSIG, A6, DNAME, bitstring labels, Dynamic DNS, and IXFR are not yet enshrined in any adopted RFC. However, in DNS as elsewhere in the real world, standards documents most often get abstracted from in-use software; the RFCs merely codify (and thus lag) the implementations that gave rise to them.
Son of RFC 1036 is just such a standard, in that it's widely implemented and relied upon. Not implementing its .signature spec is legitimately considered a bad thing. (Fortunately, consequences are minimal: Recipients whose MUAs auto-snip .signatures may flame you for sabotaging their filters. Otherwise, no big deal.)
(!) [Ben] Thank you for participating in the Rdculsly Unrdbl Bdly Brkn Incmprhnsbl nglSH contest (RUBBISH). If you were trying to reach the Linux Answer Gang which also receives its mail at this address, your query needs to be rephrased in readable English, since all RUBBISH email is immediately sent to the RUBBISH bin. Tnx 4 wrtng & hv a nce dy!
(!) [Rick]
I dobt tht I shl 3vr C A poem cryptic as this'un be. Tho seldom does the Muse giv geekz a whirl, Could be worse; at least it's not in Perl.
(!) [Ben]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
#!/usr/bin/perl

$brillig and $toves{slithy};
for $gyre ( @wabe ) {}  for $gimble ( @wabe ) {}
map { s/^.*$/mimsy/g } @borogoves
and $mome{raths} = outgrabe;

if(my $son = fork) { warn "Beware the Jabberwock!";
jaws && bite, claws && catch;
warn "Beware the Jubjub bird" and $shun,
$Bandersnatch{frumious} == 1;   }else{

$_{hand} = \$sword{vorpal};
seek FOE, $manxome, (4_294_967_296 * time);
sleep ($tree{Tumtum} = $_);
while (study) { stand }

while (study($uffish)) { $_{stand} == 1; }
unless ($Jabberwock = fork) { $Jabberwock{eyes} = flame,
$Jabberwock{movement} = wiffle, $Jabberwock{location} = $wood{tulgey};
while ($coming=1) { burble }}

(1, 2), (1, 2) and through and through;
$sword{vorpal}{blade} = snicker-snack;
(kill 9, $Jabberwock), $head = (chop $Jabberwock);
sub{ return $_, $head  }; }

tell $son, "And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?".
"Come to my arms, my beamish boy!   ".
"O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!   ",
$_{joy} = chortle   if $son;

$brillig and $toves{slithy};
for $gyre ( @wabe ) {}  for $gimble ( @wabe ) {}
map { s/^.*$/mimsy/g } @borogoves
and $mome{raths} = outgrabe;
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 -- Eric Andreychek
(!) [Jason] Hmmm.....
$ file /dev/rubbish
rubbish: symbolic link to /dev/null
(!) [Ben] <grin> Had an inspiration the other day prompted by (I think it was) a post in a froup. Now it resides comfortably in my .vimrc as "_leet".
(!) [Heather] In my case these little tidbits go into ~/sig/sQuotes, if small enough to be considered for a sigblock. Fortune formatted, of course ;D
Once had a local LUG member comment that my sigblocks weren't really sigs, since I nearly always select the quote to go with the content (on that list). Thus he defended me against some knucklehead who was running around flaming people who didn't use '--' on a single line ahead of their sigblocks.
This one's longer than usual, but I've got a couple such in there. I passed the RUBBISH comment and the jabberscripty to Mike for the backpage, teehee.

(?) Foolish things

From Jimmy O'Regan

http://linuxgazette.net/109/lg_foolish.html
"I went into the basement where I keep my cave (this is a male shelter from all things female... all men have them somewhere)"
Heh. So we're troglodytes?
(!) [Ben] Only when you're truly in touch with your essential masculine nature. Painting your face with woad and ochre mud is optional but highly recommended; pounding a drum made from the skin you've personally peeled off a lion and howling discordantly, however, is a requirement. If you don't, you won't get invited to the meetings of the Men Who Run The World and form the Patriarchy - you know, the ones who wield all the power.
(I guess that's why nobody's invited me...)

(?) Heather, care to comment?

(!) [Ben] [shrug] She doesn't get invited to the meetings either, so there's not much point in asking her. I mean, girls, yuck! [1]
[1] As I've mentioned to Mike Orr previously, "irony" does not mean "sort of like iron". Anyone who wants to go into paroxysms of righeous indignation and spasms of political correctness is warned that I possess The Mighty Yawn of Boredom and am not afraid to use it.

(?) Erudition

From Ghanshyam Daga

(?) Hello People

(!) [Ben] Hello, Person.

(?)

I have one 2 GB hard disk on which i installed

Mandrake 8.0.

Though the whole installation went quite fine but as i

suspected there were few bad blocks and now they are giving me problem is there any way to get rid of these blocks i do realise that these bad blocks are permanent but i also have a logic what if the data is never written on them so even though they are bad i dont have to worry about them.

(!) [Ben] You've been reading entirely too much Faulkner, I see.
<Hemingway mode>You. Yes, you. Punctuation. Use it. Now.</Hm>
(!) [Faber] rotfl!
i love (unix|linux) geeks. i've never found the same level of erudition in the w*ndows world.
(!) [Ben] Speaking of erudition - realize what this says about you, Faber. You recognized it. Takes one to know one, I guess. :)
Besides, just think of all those "Wind*ws for Dummies" books. Did you think they'd lie about something like that?
(!) [Sluggo] Hemingway of the Run-On Sentance? Hemingway with an allergy to commas before "and"?
(!) [Ben]
Hemingway of the "Great Gatsby" and "For Whom The Bell Tolls", rather than "The Old Man and The Sea" or "Farewell to Arms". I don't know that I could ever accuse him of "run-on" sentences, although he certainly broke out of the short'n'choppy mold a number of times. I understand about "geniuses break rules by redefining them", but some people push the borders a little too much. As to the comma allergy... blechh. That's one of the things that bugs me when I see it in writing. I've always found Hemingway annoying but good enough that I can usually get past the annoyance.
"I want to thank my parents, Ayn Rand and God".
 -- illustrating the power of the serial comma
Speaking of - for run-on sentences, you want Faulkner and Ayn Rand. Counterpointcontrariwise :), there's the Zelazny disease, where. Every. Word. Becomes. A. Sentence. YEEEK. <shivers>
(!) [JimD]
... uh ... The Great Gatsby was F. Scott Fitzgerald. (or am I missing some other great Gatsby)?
(!) [Ben] Gaaah. Comes of thinking "style" before "writer". I meant something different, can't think of what at the moment... but see, oh, "The End of Something", any of those "inner struggle" things that made him so famous. Again, I don't want to sound like I'm overly critical of the man - he could be absolutely brilliant in his terseness.
'The Age Demanded'

 The age demanded that we sing
 And cut away our tongue.

 The age demanded that we flow
 And hammered in the bung.

 The age demanded that we dance
 And jammed us into iron pants.

 And in the end the age was handed
 The sort of shit that it demanded.

 -- Ernest Hemingway
    (1922)
That kind of talent and craftsmanship, my friends, is something I have to respect.

(?) Re: [TAG] New York Guide to Benefits and Savings

From Huibert Alblas

On Mon, 24 Feb 2003 19:36:43 -0500 "Benefits & Savings" <benefits_savings@hotmail.com> wrote:

Dear Friend,

We would like to invite you to www.SmartNewYorker.com .

(!) [Halb] SNIP
(?) Our Free Arcade is ranked the best on the net. With all your favorite games. No Downloads necessary. Play from work or at home. You can Listen to Free online streaming music right from your desk top. From Hip Hop to Country & Classical to Rock. Video from all your favorite artists.
The best on the 'net, huh? With no download necessary? Is there some method of getting data from point a to point b other than download that I don't know about? Maybe the TFTP? (Telepathic File Transfer Protocol)
(!) [Halb] <butthead mode> Dude, if it's like File Transfer Stuff, and so, even if it is Telepatic it's still a download. uhh,uuh, down_load uhhh,uuhhhhuu! </butthead mode>

(?) Re: [LG 87] help wanted #4

(!) [Ben] Sorry, nobody here named "ur". And wouldn't it be "Ur's", anyway? :)
(!) [Jason] I'm here at the scene of the alleged riot. Appearently, a member of the Grammar Police, one Mr. Benjamin Okopnik, opened fire on the crowd with his grammer gun. To his credit, eye wittnesses report he attach a "smiley-face", but, as he allegedly said, "Some people can't take a joke". Many bystanders sided with Mr. Okopnik. One said, "Ending sentences in a prepistion is something up with which I will not put! Mr.Okopnik was doing his duty".
Wether Mr. Okopnik was merely "doing his duty" is up the investigation, which is allegedly going to start later this week. For LUNX, this is Jason Creightion. Back to the studio, for your weather report.
(!) [Ben]
> I'm here at the scene of the alleged riot. Appearently, a member of the Grammar
> Police, one Mr. Benjamin Okopnik, opened fire on the crowd with his grammer gun.

-> post re grammar joke
You post a humorous description of a joke made by another TAG member.
However, due to the incorrect description of the situation (it was
actually a remark about gratuitous usage of slang rather than grammar),
the weapon allegedly used in the attack slowly turns in your direction.

> To his credit, eye wittnesses report he attach a "smiley-face", but, as he
                    ^  ^                        ^
                    |  |                        |
->run away
As you attempt to leave the scene, you accidentally drop several
grammatical errors in your haste. You hear the sound of a bolt being
raked back, then locking into battery...

> allegedly said, "Some people can't take a joke". Many bystanders sided with Mr.
> Okopnik. One said, "Ending sentences in a prepistion is something up with which
                                                ^ ^
                                                | |

->duck, dodge, avoid bullets
You attempt to hide from just retribution, but all is in vain. To your
horror, you realize that the brick wall you've ducked behind is nothing
more than a carboard movie prop, and that there's no effective cover
within hundreds of yards.

> I will not put! Mr.Okopnik was doing his duty".
>
> Wether Mr. Okopnik was merely "doing his duty" is up the investigation, which is
   ^
   |

> allegedly going to start later this week. For LUNX, this is Jason Creightion.
                                                                           ^
									   |
->Uh...
<RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!!>

As you lie there twitching in your final agony, you hear the slow pace
of the man you've unjustly accused approaching you - a man who would
never (never!) hurt a fly - to administer the /coup de grace/.

<POW!>

> Back to the studio, for your weather report.

Your score is   3  out of a possible 100000000000000000000000000000.
Would you like to play again? <Y/n>


[smiley face elided due to deprecated local usage]
(!) [Jason] We here at LUNX radio are sad to report the death of one of our finest, Jason Creighton. "I'll never forgive myself!" sobbed one of his co-workers "I let him go out in the field without his spellchecker!".
Some of his friends had other feelings. "I get Mr. Okopnik, if it's the last thing I do. [Editors note: The misused tense on 'I' looks similar to Jason's typical mistakes.] Sure, maybe Jason had a few typos here and there, but nothing deserve this! [Editor's note: See deserve. One questions the authorship of these comments.]"
Mr. Okopnik was unavailable for comment.
Jason "ain't got no grammar" Creighton
(!) [Ben] <grin> Jason Creighton makes his debut in TAG. Ladies and gentlemen, could we please have a hand?...
(!) [Heather] Hey, look what I found lying around in this CVS repository. Did someone check in a Jason_Creighton? We'll just have to check this fellow out...
(!) [Ben] [ Knowing this place, somebody will throw a rubber hand.
(!) [Heather]
Of course not. Why would we do that? The rubber band gun is so handy here next to the nerf-arrows collextion; much easier to aim. Mind you the nerf-arrows would be somewhat more useful if one had some Nerf(tm) bows or crossbows to aim them with. But they are yellow, so they're perfect fro drawing smiley faces on the end of :)
(!) [Ben] Gotta warn ya, Jason - never say "the drinks are on me".
(!) [Heather] As for the drinks, Jason, we keep the beer in the TAG fridge (see the FAQ), the ginger beer in a back room for the editorial staff (see the tag-admin mailing list), and the pretzels and chips bowls reloaded by cron job. Tea and coffee available anytime.
And now, back to your regularly scheduled Answer Gnag.
(!) [Matthias]
Perhaps this list should be renamed to linux-questions-only-in-correct-grammar@ssc.com. :-)
(!) [Jason] If people post Windows questions anyway, do you really think people would care about correct grammar? :-)
(!) [Matthias] Hmm, as far as I understand it would change the sense of the mailing list:
linux-questions - only-in-correct-grammar windows-questions - we-don't-care-about-grammar-when-flaming-you-for-asking-silly-questions- about-so-called-operating-systems.
;-)

(?) [TAG-ADMIN] Issue78: WM talkback -- edit out?

From Thomas

[ ** The following was found at the following:

http://www.linuxgazette.com/cgi-bin/talkback/all.py?site=LG&article=http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue78/adam.html

**]

Subject: oil smell
From: dave whitt
Date: 14-Dec-2002 09:51

i have a 1996 4runner at times when i park i can smell
hot oil there are no leaks nowhere. the motor is
excellent clean. where could this be coming from. it
doesn't happen all the time. thanks

-------------------------------------------------------
Dave,
Please, please do not waste my time with pointless questions!!! This is not Linux specific (or LWM specific).
-- TA
(!) [Ben] Oh, c'mon, Thomas. You know what the answer is - the querent is running Wind*ws. It's only Linux that creates no muss, no fuss, and no greasy aftertaste.
(!) [Thomas] <I roll my eyes> Silly me!! That must be it.
(!) [Ben] Any 4runner of the latest version of the kernel should be upgraded - particularly if it goes as far back as 1996, even if the motor, I mean kernel is "excellent clean" (e.g., "make clean" was run before compilation.) The hot oil smell is the poor machine trying to get some work done and bogging down in warmfuzzy "Wind*ws Will Not Harm You, Little Human!" themes, automatic MSN installations, and "Wind*ws has detected that your wire-haired terrier has peed in the corner. Please wait while we download the appropriate 147.3Gb driver" messages.
(!) [Thomas] LOL....not to mention the classic BSOD "screensaver". I say screensaver -- it might as well now be synonymous with it :-)
(!) [Ben] What most people never realize is that it is a screensaver. I mean, who's going to believe that an operating system can actually *crash?* Who do they think they're kidding, anyway?
The only problem with the BSOD screensaver is that you have to enter the Micr*s*ft EULA in Linear B (don't forget the breathing marks) as the password...
(!) [Ben] <shrug> It was obvious, and I'm shocked - shocked, I tell you - that you tried to dodge answering such a simple, and above all relevant question.
(!) [Thomas] Oh, but, Ben -- when we team up like this.............
(!) [Ben] Tune in next week for our next thrilling episode of The Answer Gang, when Thomas and I explain the benefits of sharpening a chainsaw while it's running (the same precautions as for using Wind*ws apply [1], so it's absolutely safe! (Um, here - this tourniquet will help. Don't get any on my nice chainsaw.)
[1] Let someone else do it. Oh, wait - friends don't let friends sharpen running chainsaws...

(?) New Jersey

From Jose Avalis

Hi guys and thanks in advance fro your time. I'm Joe From Toronto.
(!) [Faber] Hi. I'm Faber in New Jersey.
(I didn't say "from New Jersey"; I'm not from here, I just live here!)
(!) [Ben]
#define HUMOR 1
if ( too_sensitive < 1 ) exit (1);
It's OK, Faber... really! Yes, ten - or even five - years ago, people would have laughed and pointed, but now we have a much more sensitive and open society. Why, some of my best friends are from New Jersey, and I'm not ashamed to admit it in public.
In fact, the entire category was recently removed from DSM-IV [1] as a diagnosis, and a number of states have even opened their borders to Jerseyites. So, stand proud, and speak loudly the motto of your home state:
"HEY, *^$#@^)&$%@$^ - GIVE ME BACK MY %^#&^$^*$@#%#@*$ WALLET!!!"
[1] The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Ed.
(!) [Rick] I didn't use to be from there, either, but I lived there, and learned to like it -- a lot.
However, in my first couple of weeks of college (some old mock-Gothic place in Mercer County), I got so tired of hearing "Hey, you're from California? Where's your surfboard?" that I started shooting back "You're from New Jersey? Where's your toxic waste dump?" Pretty soon, I fit right in. ;->

(?) Microsoft toilet - where would you like to go today?

From Ben

--------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 May 2003 09:53:32 -0700
From: "NewsScan" <newsscan@newsscan.com>
Subject: Microsoft toilet project wasn't hoax

Microsoft and its public relations firm are now saying that what they
themselves thought was a hoax (the development of the iLoo, a portable
toilet complete with wireless keyboard and Internet access) actually was a
real project of the company's MSN group in the UK. The original press
release indicated that the iLoo would offer its users "a unique experience."
An MSN product manager now says: " "We jumped the gun basically yesterday in
confirming that it was a hoax and in fact it was not," said Lisa Gurry, MSN
group product manager. "Definitely we're going to be taking a good look at
our communication processes internally. It's definitely not how we like to
do PR at Microsoft." In any event, whether really a hoax or really real, the
project is now dead -- flushed, as it were.  [AP/*USA Today*, 14 May 2003;
NewsScan Daily, 14 May 2003]
  http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-05-14-iloo-hoax-retract_x.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------

(?) RE: [TAG] Saddam dies of panic attack using linux!

From John R. Brown Jr.

Hi guys!
i hope the subject header got your attention ;) !
(!) [Jimmy] Yeah. Crass.

(?) ive got an interesting question.

(!) [Jimmy] If I had a penny for every time....

(?) ive been fooling around a lot with linux, i know most the basics i guess and now am getting more into the networking/security realm.

i understand how remote computers can attempt to access my computer through telnet, ssh, etc. say, for instance, i have telnet running on port 70. so if a person "telnet myserver 70" can log into my computer. say i get a request like "telnet myserver 78". how could i set up in linux so that my computer would echo with a message like "you cannot access this port fool!". would i have to create a program and then bind it to a port or something? not sure how this would work. i know how there are reserved ports set and stuff, just would like to fool around with these things.

(!) [Jimmy] Oooh, kudos! It is an interesting question :) You want Netcat. It's Good Stuff (tm). It should be in your distro, because it's widely recognised as being Good Stuff (tm). Try echo "You cannot access this port, fool"|nc -l -p 78 though you could do a lot more with it.

(?) hi, just wanted to give you a followup on this.

check this out: telnet 67.80.115.155

thanks for pointing me in the right direction!


(?) Linus interview

From Mike Orr

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002059632_linus11.html Interview with Linus Torvalds, who has now moved to Portland, Oregon, and works for Open Source Development Labs.
(!) [Brian]
With a quote I pulled when I first saw the article a couple of days ago, it works well as a .sig for me ...
(!) [Sluggo] http://www.linuxtimes.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=145 Interview with Linus
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=127078&threshold=1&commentsort=0&tid=106&mode=thread&cid=10624445 Slashdot copy.

(?) Dirty words in the kernel

From Sluggo

(!) [Brad] Mr. Sluggo,
(!) [Thomas] Heh. Mr. Sluggo. :)

(?) http://lwn.net/Articles/99240 A grep of dirty words in Linux 2.6.8.1-mm4

(!) [Brad] I do this sometimes for laughs.
(!) [Thomas] Heh.

(?) Re: Puter Types

From MMMLioness

(!) [Heather] If you can't tell that it's a computer but there must be one in there somewhere, it's an embedded system.
If it's an embedded system that you can pick up, it's a labor saving device - probably sold by one of Ronco's competitors on informercials.

(?) If you can pick it up, it's a PC.

(!) [Heather] If you can pick it up and stuff it in your purse, it's a handheld.
(!) [Ben] Sheesh, Heather - you must not know the same people I do. Some women carry purses big enough to hold a LinuxWorld Expo in, although the IBM Big Iron exhibit might need a crowbar(-protected UPS) to squeeze it in.
What is it if it fits in a purse and is too big to be pushed over?
(Per pTerry, the carrying capacity of an 80-year-old grandmother has never been estimated... or exceeded.)
(!) [Heather] If, including some way to view the screen, it fits in only one item of carry on baggage, it's a laptop. Some people must have really big laps...

(?) If you can't pick it up but you can push it over, it's a minicomputer.

(!) [Heather] Then my old 386 was almost a minicomputer, but I've downgraded it by moving it into a newer case whose power supply is kinda okay, instead of the old monster case that weighs a lot more.
(for the record most minicomputers that I recall were about the size of a fridge, but lighter. I still wouldn't want to try pushing one over.)

(?) But when you can't pick it up or knock it over, it's a mainframe.

(!) [Heather] What is it if the computer can pick you up?
p.s. I decided to cc the LG Answer Gang. I think it'd make a fun back page item for next month :)

(?) STS-107

From Benjamin A. Okopnik

[ the day the Shuttle exploded on re-entry ]
I know this isn't Linux-related, but... I've been in a kind of daze all day, running on automatic. I watched The Penguin (it was an inside NASA joke: a black and white bird that doesn't fly) take off a couple of weeks back, and... now they're gone.
(!) [Breen] Yeah. Me too. I remember a story from Analog (?) years ago called "Murphy's Hall" -- Poul Anderson maybe -- about the inherent risks in space exploration. All the victims of these accidents end up in a Valhalla named for the Murphy of That Law.
Never forgotten it.
(!) [Ben] I like it. I can just see them, toasting the future of the space program, raising a glass with Grissom, Gagarin, Resnick, and the rest... <sigh> Goodbye, dear friends.
(!) [Neil] Yeah. I'm still trying to find words myself. I've drafted a number of responses, which never come out quite right.
The loss of Challenger was an important moment to me in my early 20s and it's a real shock to see it happen again, but I can't find words that say what it means, without putting myself into a disaster that doesn't belong to me.
(!) [Ben] Neil, it belongs to you as much as it does to every human being on this planet. These courageous people have made it possible for all of us to say "WE made it out - again!" Their achievement touches all of us, every one. The space program is not there for the benefit of any one person or any one country - the survival of the human race hinges on it.
If - WHEN - we get out there, establish a self-supporting foothold on another planet... no nuclear bombs, no dinosaur-killer meteor will ever destroy us all. Our sons and daughters will expand into the universe, will grow to face much bigger challenges, ask greater questions, reach unimaginably greater heights.
We pay the cost of pioneering with heart-breaking effort, with the best of everything at our disposal... with our very blood and bones. This is the cost of facing the unknown - and we pay it, and keep on paying it, because we must grow or perish. We will mourn these seven brave people - but we will go on. Their deaths are a tragedy - but to even think of stopping, of abandoning the effort in which they died would be a greater tragedy.
(!) [Neil] I can't help wondering how this affects the families of the Challenger crew. Christa MacAuliffe is the name that has stuck with me, but 6 others died with her and it must be hard on all their families.
Anyway I guess I'll never find the right words, but I'm still thinking of the crew of Challenger and Columbia.
(!) [Ben]
 ******** STS-51L *********
+ Commander  Francis R. Scobee
+ Pilot  Michael J. Smith
+ Mission Specialist Judith A. Resnik
+ Mission Specialist Ellison S. Onizuka
+ Mission Specialist Ronald E. McNair
+ Payload Specialist Gregory B. Jarvis
+ Payload Specialist Sharon Christa McAuliffe

 ******** STS-107 ********
+ Commander Rick D. Husband
+ Pilot William C. McCool
+ Payload Specialist Michael P. Anderson
+ Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla
+ Mission Specialist David M. Brown
+ Mission Specialist Laurel B. Clark
+ Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, Israel


Cattle die, Kinsmen die,            Cattle die, Kinsmen die,
You, yourself, shall likewise die,  You, yourself, shall likewise die,
But word fame never dies            But one thing that shall never die
For he who achieves it well.        Are the stories of deeds well done.
 -- The Song of Odin, AD 76-77
The memory of their deeds, their fame, belongs to all of us, as does the right to mourn their passing. There have been many heroes before them... but few who gave their lives for the future of our entire planet.
(!) [Jay]
CNN interviewed June Scobee-Rodgers yesterday; the one comment that stuck with me is "don't give up on the dream".
That sounds like excellent advice to me.
I tried to call the White House Comment Office early that day to pass along my own version thereof... but they aren't staffed on the weekend. Bush got it right, nonetheless...
(!) [Ben]
High Flight

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds -- and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of -- wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
 -- John Gillespie McGee Jr.
May they rest in peace.
(!) [Breen] Very good. I didn't know that one but it's very definitely going into the keepers file.
Thanks, Ben.
(!) [Jay] " 'God!', he cried, dying alone on Mars; 'We made it!' "
(!) [Ben] Yep. I've got a collection of his works, although not that story... but I do know the line (isn't it "he cries, dying..."?). It's one of those times that a piece of writing has gone straight to my heart.
(!) [Jay] I might have it wrong; it's from memory, and indirectly via Spider, at that.
(!) [Jay] Nicely put, Ben.
(!) [Ben] Thanks. It's something I believe in, strongly.
(!) [Jay] Me too.

(?) Possible strange things we do with our computers

From Kapil Hari Paranjape

Measuring the size of the earth using the internet.
Have a look at http://arXiv.org/physics/0208087

(?) (no subject)

From W.Pashi

Dear sir , I am researching at University for the above product I will=20 appreciate if you can answer some of question.
(!) [Jimmy] It doesn't seem that you're aware of this, but people who answer questions on mailing lists, news groups etc generally dislike being asked to do someone else's homework.

(?) Packages can be provided in two ways, what are they?

(!) [Jimmy]
Gift wrapped, and not gift wrapped. When providing gift wrapped packages, it's generally preferable to remove the price tag

(?) How would you change from a file structure to a stream?

(!) [Jimmy] I would use a magic wand, and the secret magic words. Because they are secret, I cannot tell you. Sorry.

(?)

On Solaris 2.6, how would you add a tape drive on the fly?

(!) [Jimmy] Solaris has been ported to flies? I imagine that given their size that you would require a magnifying glass and tweezers.
[Snip about 20 pages of questions]

(?) RE: [TAG] Miller-Daemon

From Weswwallace

On 07-Jun-2003 Weswwallace@aol.com wrote:
(!) [K.-H.]
> --part1_178.1bb797cd.2c12a535_boundary
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
we really need only the text part.... please don't send the html version below with any further posts at least to this mailing-list.
(?) How do I get an E-maikl to above subject?
(!) [K.-H.] Let me see, Subject is: Miller-Daemon
so the whole sentence (question) would be:
How do I get an E-maikl to Miller-Daemon.
After a spell and sense-making check this would be:
How do I get an E-mail to Mailer-Daemon.
Well.... 1) you want E-mails offering you to buy Mailer-Daemons? 2) you want a list of various mailer-daemons suitable for
your LINUX system? 3) you want to know how to send an E-mail to a mailer-daemon?
(?) They interrupt my messages.
(!) [K.-H.] And who would they be?
.
.
.
. oh. them.
(?) claim no such addresses exist, etc.,
(!) [K.-H.] yes, they would do that. They never exist.
(?) yet they cannot be questioned or challenged even when they are wrong.
(!) [K.-H.] Thats the point about them.
Help.
Since you already messed with them I don't think you can be helped. To learn techniques to vanish and get a new identitiy I suggest reading books by Thomas Perry, especially the Jane Whitefield novels (vanishing act, Dance for the dead,..). Hurry up a bit though.....
For learning more about them I would suggest the "Illuminatus!" trilogy, by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.
> --part1_178.1bb797cd.2c12a535_boundary
> Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>
> <HTML><FONT FACE=3Darial,helvetica><FONT  SIZE=3D2 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF"
> FACE=
> =3D"Arial" LANG=3D"0">How do I get an E-maikl to above subject?&nbsp; They
this stuff is really, really unneccessary. We are perfectly able to read plain ASCII text -- and even strongly prefer it to any other thinkable format.
Oh -- BTW: If it's just about getting mails back from some server try sending them from a different account then your AOL account. AOL has a rather bad reputation and there are probably site blocking AOL. (i.e. mailer daemons were instructed by them to not accept any mails from *@aol.com).
K.-H. -- oops, shouldn't have said that.....

(?) Iraq-related Irony

From Ben Okopnik

OhmuhGawd. Speaks for itself...
----- Forwarded message from Gene Spafford <spaf@cerias.purdue.edu> -----

>It appears that the US navy spokesman put up to answer journalists'
>questions about the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is one
>Lieutenant Mike Kafka.
>
>As the article on The Register (www.theregister.co.uk) observes: "Yes,
>you're reading that correctly. A man named Kafka has been deployed to field
>questions about a prison where the criminals are only vaguely charged with
>crimes, can't speak to lawyers and likely will never get out." Any
>resemblance this reality bears to an actual fiction is entirely
>coincidental.

----- End forwarded message -----

(?) Fly fishing

From Sluggo

On Tue, Feb 17, 2004 at 09:04:56AM -0800, Mike Orr wrote:
> Christoph, it would help if you give us some examples of exactly what
> messages you are saying.  That would help us narrow down which modules
                   ^^^^^^
                   seeing
Gosh, am I writing with an Irish accent today?
(!) [Ben] Our Master Blacksmith, Brad, is a Londoner who's been living here in Florida for about 8 years now and has a - ready for this? - Leprechaun Gangsta Rap that could easily result in loss of bladder control.
"Eat me Lucky Charrms, bitch, or I'll pop a cahp in yer arse!"
He's a bad, BAD man, possibly with a secure future in the world of comedy.
(!) [Jay] I'm reminded of Hawk, in Parker's Spenser novel A Catskill Eagle He's in a CIA "safe" house in ... well, some part of Boston without a lot of black people. :-)
He says "maybe I'll just go out in disguise. 'Faith and begorra, motherf$%^&r...'."
(!) [Ben] [LOL] What, you've never heard of the black Irish? :)))
(!) [Jay] Cheers, -- jr 'you're back in town?' a
(!) [Ben] Ever since the Hawaii trip, yes indeed. Are you going to make it to this coast any time soon, or are you waiting for me to get my pilot's license? :)
(!) [Jay]
Naw; just thought I'd missed you more permanently than that. Alan's in need of some cross country time again; we'll put something together. Got an airport handy?
(!) [Ben] The one I've been flying out of, SGJ (Saint Augustine). Let me know, and I'll buy you guys lunch at the Fly-By Cafe; if you do it sometime soon, we can watch the F-86 Sabre doing his rolls and loops, and maybe a Pitts and an Extra 300, too. If my buddy Jack is about, you might get to see me pull a few Gs in his Harmon Rocket.
[wink] Life's treating me awf'ly well these days. :)
(!) [Thomas] If you're really lucky, you'll be able to fly by and drop lightly pieces of food into waiting mouths below, assuming the wind is in the right direction.
Oh Fly-By......
(!) [Ben] Boy, Thomas; no matter how hard I try, I still can't get the point across to you. We lightly drop flies into the waiting mouths, etc. Hasn't your Mum ever mentioned not keeping your mouth open for that very reason?
:)
(!) [Thomas] Yeah, but she was too busy fly fishing, Ben.
:)

(?) A "Microsoft" security update

From Ben

(!) [Jason] Cute, but the subject should have been 'Microsoft "security" update' :-)
(!) [Ben]
----- Forwarded message from Microsoft Corporation Internet Security Division <exlwuvkdjtxjoqngufce@NjRuCgPAR.net> -----

From: "Microsoft Corporation Internet Security Division" <exlwuvkdjtxjoqngufce@NjRuCgPAR.net>
To: "MS Customer" <>
SUBJECT: Security Update
Date: Sat,  8 Mar 2003 13:00:31 -0500 (EST)

MS Customer

this is the latest version of security update, the
"March 2003, Cumulative Patch" update which eliminates
all known security vulnerabilities affecting Internet Explorer,
Outlook and Outlook Express as well as five newly
discovered vulnerabilities. Install now to protect your computer
from these vulnerabilities, the most serious of which could allow
an attacker to run executable on your system. This update includes
the functionality of all previously released patches.

System requirements
Win 9x/Me/2000/NT/XP

This update applies to

Microsoft Internet Explorer, version 4.01 and later
Microsoft Outlook, version 8.00 and later
Microsoft Outlook Express, version 4.01 and later

Recommendation
Customers should install the patch at the earliest opportunity.

How to install
Run attached file. Click Yes on displayed dialog box.

How to use
You don't need to do anything after installing this item.



Microsoft Product Support Services and Knowledge Base articles
can be found on the Microsoft Technical Support web site.
For security-related information about Microsoft products, please
visit the
Microsoft Security Advisor web site, or Contact us.

Please do not reply to this message. It was sent from an unmonitored
e-mail address and we are unable to respond to any replies.

Thank you for using Microsoft products.

With friendly greetings,

Microsoft Corporation Internet Security Division

╘2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. The names of the actual companies
and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

----- End forwarded message -----

(?) [Lgang] /sbin/ping -c 1 lgang

From Ben

21:12:21.615638 ben > lgang_mailing_list: icmp: echo request (DF)
(!) [JimD]
PING localhost (jimd@starshine.org): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from jimd@starshine.org: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.1 ms

--- localhost ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 1 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 0.1/0.1/0.1 ms
(!) [Ben] Cool! Judging by the RTT, though, I suspect this packet took a lame donkey across a few states, ambled through Texas, and stopped to have dinner in Arizona. :)
(!) [JimD]
It was probably mostly a matter of processor latency. Specifically I think this processor was either sleeping or in a different context (work) when the packet arrived in the buffer. Under this particular workload this particular system is not interrupt driven :)

(?) [spam] Best offer of the year

From Sluggo

----- Forwarded message from "Pins U. Merle" <gardnerj@nytimes.com> -----

Subject: Read:_Best offer of this year ;)

>Clarence Morton Esmeralda Clarence Jacques Freida Ericka Percy

Hello dear friend! I have to tell you about this incredible site
- this is totally unbelivable - it is made to make life easye.
Only imagine - all world best software collected in ONE place
and all for low prices with 80 -90% off. This lo price is because of
O-E M licenses - that mean that you do not get a nice box - just CD.
hurry to check it up - 10 - 20 programs are added daily. You get CD and
also a donload link so u can have your goods instantly.

----- End forwarded message -----
Just what I need, a "donload" link.
(!) [Neil] Is that a "don't load" link?

(?) Japanese spam

From Ben

You gotta love these folks. Even if they're sending you spam, they make it pretty - and use Unicode to do it.
http://okopnik.freeshell.org/stuff/spam.png
Unless, of course, somebody's submitted an article - it was sent to articles@, after all - that's short, has lots of exclamation points, and happens to mention 5000 yen...

(?) Ginger beer

From Sluggo

(!) [Ben] Yep; that's a good description of ginger beer. Stewart's is only middlin' as far as their ginger beer goes (I like their cream soda, though); there are much better ones out there, although I can't remember a specific brand, but be aware that most of them are just as strong or even stronger.
You could always wimp out and use it in an ice cream float. :)
(!) [Heather] Too strong and in fact a bit too sugary, too.
Cock and Bull is better.

(?) I found it in a fancy supermarket on Bainbridge Island (you know that, Ben?),

(!) [Ben] Eh... there's some dim recall of the name, but no specific associations pop up. I've been there, though.

(?) a woodsy suburb an hour outside town. So I'll see if the Whole Foods markets and their ilk on this side carry it. Stewart's also makes a pretty good brand of root beer.

(!) [JimD] Cock & Bull is the best I've seen in awhile.
(!) [Heather] Stewart's Root Beer is yummy, but Henry Weinhardt and Thomas Kemper are hefty competition.

(?) linux baby clothes?

From J.Cooper

(!) [Robos] Hi J. Hows K. doing?

(?) gday - how'd it go with the inquiry about Linux baby clothes?

( http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue67/lg_mail67.html )

(!) [Robos] How about this one here: http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/kids
HTH
Robos
(!) [Ben]
ITYM "DB". HTH, HAND.
<grin> For the puzzled among us:
<http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/5011/acronyms.html#ITYM>; <http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/5011/acronyms.html#HTH>; <http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/5011/acronyms.html#HAND>; <http://www.google.com/search?q=%22D+B+Cooper%22&btnG=Google+Search>
(!) [Robos] Actually the above J and K were referring to MIB (to stick to TLA's a little longer) where Will Smith was J and Tommy Lee Jones was K (IIRC).
(!) [Ben] Hey! That's an ETLA! :)
(!) [Robos]
Is that short for extended TLA?
(!) [Ben] Yep. You can always look these things up at my acronym page:
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/5011/acronyms.html#ETLA
(!) [Robos] yes, but I was lazy and didn't start up another mutt client ;)
(!) [Ben]
I missed it because "J" was just "J" - first, last, and middle, and J. actually came to us with a last name. So, he's not likely to pull out a Noisy Cricket anytime soon. :) DB Cooper, now - that would be a relative anyone would want.
(!) [Robos] OK, here you loose me: whats a Noisy Cricket and where does it come from?
(!) [Ben] "Men In Black". The Noisy Cricket is this tiny little pistol that J gets from K... and the damn thing shoots like a tank.
(!) [Robos] Ah yes, I remember. The problem is that the translation is correct but you don't get it that fast nevertheless...
(!) [Robos] And who the heck is DB Cooper (of mini cooper fame or what)?
(!) [Ben] Back in 1971, Dan "DB" Cooper hijacked a plane, got a $200,000 ransom, parachuted out on the return flight, and disappeared. He became a legend. (Obviously, this was long before the current crop of terrorism when skyjacking was seen as a romantic daredevil stunt by a successful desperado... believe it or not. Times have changed that much.)
A number of years ago, I saw a mailbox in Brooklyn, NY that was mounted on a 40-foot or so pole with "DB Cooper" conspicuously painted on it. :)
(!) [Robos] Cool stunt! But this would hardly be possible with todays jumbos since the speed would be a real issue...
(!) [Ben] Oh, it was a problem then, too. IIRC, he picked the plane that he was on (727, I think?) because it had a tail gate exit. He also made the pilot set the flaps to full and lower the landing gear (makes the plane about as aerodynamic as a garbage truck - and the speed goes way down.)
(!) [Robos] During these parts of a "discussion" I really feel that I am no native english person...
(!) [Ben] Heck, Robos, every country has its stories. I'm sure you could tell us a few that we'd never heard of, but that every one of your countrymen would recognize immediately.
(!) [Robos] Sure. But without your explanation I wouldn't have got the point (and joke) and from that on the further discussion is for foreign people quite hard to follow.
(!) [Ben] <grin> Glad I could catch you up, then.

(?) MS plans competition for Google

From Sluggo

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3939273.stm
"At its annual analyst meeting Microsoft unveiled a prototype of an MSN toolbar that works with the Internet Explorer browser.
As well as letting people search the net, it also lets them query the documents, images, e-mails or spreadsheets stored on their PC."
(!) [Jason] Images? How's that gonna work? Filenames, and maybe some metadata attached to the image it's the only thing I can think of that is easily searchable.
(!) [Jimmy] Yep. There's a lot of stuff that can be put into image metadata.
(!) [Kapil] If you have really really smart software metadata may not be required!
(Actually I just saw this and haven't installed or used it so I don't know if it is smart!)
Package: imgseek Description: Image viewer and manager with content based query
ImgSeek is a photo collection manager and viewer with content based search and many other features.
The search query for an image is expressed either as a rough sketch or as another image you supply. The searching algorithm makes use of multiresolution wavelet decomposition of the query and database images.
http://imgseek.sourceforge.net
A search based on a rough sketch---now that would be something.
(!) [Jimmy] Cool. I thought something like this must exist, given that there are things like songprint, but never heard of any actual software that did it. I'll stick with metadata though, because I can't draw.

(?) Oh goody. Now you don't have to install Cygwin and grep (or use the Find in Files thing in the Start menu), you can just type into the IE toolbar. How revolutionary.

(!) [Jason] Oh, they wouldn't do something so silly as just implementing just a simple GUI grep-like tool and then call it a great feature, would they?
(!) [Ben] ...or copy Mac's much-loved "Finder" without giving credit where it's due? Not Micr0s0ft; not those famous upholders of individual rights and integrity, those champions of all that is right and decent.
Just for the record: say the name of your universe, again? I didn't quite get it the first time.
(!) [Jason] Oh, sorry, I didn't make myself clear. I didn't doubt Microsoft's ability to rip features off. What I meant was that they usually think bigger. They don't like simple things. They like System Restore.
(!) [Ben] Actually, when it comes to their OS, so do I. The correct fix for about 3/4 of all Wind0ws problems - the one that takes the least time, effort, and frustration - is to back up the data and reinstall from scratch. I've got most of my commercial clients trained in the basics: keep the data on a separate partition, back up often, keep all the install CDs/installation software close at hand.
Buying a new car instead of continuously fixing the old junker (in which each problem triggers several others, and fixing one thing breaks three) can be a very sound policy. Unfortunately, many people continue to buy the same model that produced that junker in the first place...
(!) [Jason]
So I'm thinking it's not just a simple grep. They'll have hacks into Outlook's file format in order to look at emails. Hacks for all of Microsoft's special formats. Maybe even a kludge of a plugin system that allows Windows to search third-party formats. Something like that is what I expect from Microsoft.
(!) [Ben] I agree. It's also likely to have a dancing paperclip, a Micr0s0ft Bob, or some new version of a combination of the two, subtly unsettling and vaguely smelling of brimstone.
(!) [Jason] Of course, it's hard to tell what software actually does from a press release. So we really don't know if it's something big that might actually do something useful[1] or if it's just something like what you can do with find and grep.
Jason Creighton
[1] On thursdays. When the wind is blowing at greater than 10 MPH from the south-east. And it has trouble with metric, so if the wind isn't blowing fast enough, if you change the i18n settings, you can get it work when the wind is only blowing at 10 KPH.
(!) [Ben] Well, geez, Jason. Of course it's going to have an easily exploited security hole! And here you go, telling the world about it even before the thing is published...
(!) [Jimmy] Speaking of security holes, has anyone looked at Metasploit? (http://www.metasploit.com/projects/Framework) I couldn't get the few Linux exploits going (damned security updates!), but typing four or five lines got me a windows command shell and a running VNC server. Scary stuff. I might be able to scribble something about it in time for 106, if I can find a CD with an old distro with a hole or two.
(!) [Jimmy] Heh. They've just reinvented (and patented) sudo: http://taint.org/2004/08/20/024522a.html
(!) [Ben] Patented, even. Wow. Wonder if they've ever heard of the term "prior art"?
([laugh] I actually wrote that before clicking on the URL. The writer there can see the obvious as well as I can, it seems.)
Micr0s0ft is patenting everything WRT software nowadays; it doesn't mean a whole lot in this case, but could in a number of other situations. I understand that the next version of the MSWord doc format is supposed to be so tightly "protected" by these legal shenanigans that you won't be able to write a reader or a converter for it without MS's permission. [shrug] I guess they haven't lost enough business yet to this kind of tactics to learn better. Sui sponte, as the US Army Rangers say.

(?) 2 Cent Tips & Tricks: Optimizing ~/.bash_history

From Thomas

On Fri, Jan 17, 2003 at 03:07:44PM +0000, Thomas Adam wrote:

(?) "Cor - blimey, Mate. Hows the ol' Trouble and Strife?"

Now that is a vernacular. :-) Anyone like to take a guess (no -- not those from the UK) as to what "Trouble and Strife" is???

(!) [Ben]
Cockney "rhyming" slang; 'life'.
Do I win a Cornish pasty? :)

(?) LOL, nope -- nice try, but not close.

Keep guessing :-)

(!) [Ben] <blink> That was a piece of info I thought I knew for sure, having been given it by a native Wanker :) years ago. In that case, I don't know.

(?)

Lol. I should say that these "rhyming slangs" are rarely used nowadays. "Trouble and Strife" == "wife". Whoever said that it meant "life" must have been a Wanker :)

(?)

Have you even had a Cornish pasty before, Ben?

(!) [Ben] Yep. An xgf of mine used to make them, although not to the original "drop'em down the mineshaft" recipe. :)

(?) I love them. I could eat them all of the time. The "drop'em down the mineshaft" recipe isn't that good though, Ben. They get covered in coal.

(!) [David M] I would be thinking wife

(?) Congratulations, David :-)

How about some more???

"frog and toad"

(!) [Breen] Road

(?) "apples and pears"

(!) [Breen] stairs

(?) "barnet fair"

(!) [Breen] Hair
On a whim I did a search for rhyming slang. There's a site for it:
http://www.cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk
which is even collecting new coinages.
My favorite: "Becks and Posh", which I think is brilliant.
(!) [[Jimmy]]
[It should be noted that most Cockney Rhyming Slang is given abbreviated. You don't say 'barnet fair', which could be guessed; instead you say 'barnet'.
Brahms = Brahms and Liszt = pissed (drunk)
Jockeys = Jockeys whips = chips (french fries/freedom fries/whatever :-P)]


[BIO] Jimmy is a single father of one, who enjoys long walks... Oh, right.

Jimmy has been using computers from the tender age of seven, when his father inherited an Amstrad PCW8256. After a few brief flirtations with an Atari ST and numerous versions of DOS and Windows, Jimmy was introduced to Linux in 1998 and hasn't looked back.

In his spare time, Jimmy likes to play guitar and read: not at the same time, but the picks make handy bookmarks.

Copyright © 2004, Jimmy O'Regan. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

History of visited directories in BASH

By Petar Marinov

Deficiencies of the CD command

Do you realize how many times you type cd per day? Do you realize how many times you retype the same directory names again and again? Ever since I migrated from 4DOS/NT shell on Windows to using Bash on Unix platforms, I've missed its cd history access. In 4DOS/NT the history of the visited directories can be navigated by Ctrl+PgUp/Dn. Every time you go to a new directory by cd, its name automatically goes on top of an easily accessible history list.

In Bash, cd - switches between the last two directories. This is a function in the right direction but many times I wanted to go to the directory before the last, I dreamed of something like cd -2.

A little scripting creates some sanity in the directory navigation of Bash.

Installing the CD history function

To install the modified CD function, copy acd_func.sh to any directory in your $PATH, or even your home directory. At the end of your .bashrc add source acd_func.sh. Restart your bash session and then type cd --.

lotzmana@safe$ cd --
0  ~

Type cd -- to verify if the installation works. Above you may see the result 0 ~. This shows that you have one directory in your history.

lotzmana@safe$ cd work
lotzmana@safe$ cd scripts
lotzmana@safe$ pwd
/home/petarma/work/scripts
lotzmana@safe$ cd --
 0  ~/work/scripts
 1  ~/work
 2  ~
lotzmana@safe$ cd -2
lotzmana@safe$ pwd
/home/petarma

The cd command works as usual. The new feature is the history of the last 10 directories and the cd command expanded to display and access it. cd -- (or simply pressing ctrl+w) shows the history. In front of every directory name you see a number. cd -num with the number you want jumps to the corresponding directory from the history.

How CD with history works

lotzmana@safe$ nl -w2 -s' '  acd_func.sh
 1 # do ". acd_func.sh"
 2 # acd_func 1.0.5, 10-nov-2004
 3 # petar marinov, http:/geocities.com/h2428, this is public domain

 4 cd_func ()
 5 {
 6   local x2 the_new_dir adir index
 7   local -i cnt

 8   if [[ $1 ==  "--" ]]; then
 9     dirs -v
10     return 0
11   fi

12   the_new_dir=$1
13   [[ -z $1 ]] && the_new_dir=$HOME

14   if [[ ${the_new_dir:0:1} == '-' ]]; then
15     #
16     # Extract dir N from dirs
17     index=${the_new_dir:1}
18     [[ -z $index ]] && index=1
19     adir=$(dirs +$index)
20     [[ -z $adir ]] && return 1
21     the_new_dir=$adir
22   fi

23   #
24   # '~' has to be substituted by ${HOME}
25   [[ ${the_new_dir:0:1} == '~' ]] && the_new_dir="${HOME}${the_new_dir:1}"

26   #
27   # Now change to the new dir and add to the top of the stack
28   pushd "${the_new_dir}" > /dev/null
29   [[ $? -ne 0 ]] && return 1
30   the_new_dir=$(pwd)

31   #
32   # Trim down everything beyond 11th entry
33   popd -n +11 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null

34   #
35   # Remove any other occurence of this dir, skipping the top of the stack
36   for ((cnt=1; cnt <= 10; cnt++)); do
37     x2=$(dirs +${cnt} 2>/dev/null)
38     [[ $? -ne 0 ]] && return 0
39     [[ ${x2:0:1} == '~' ]] && x2="${HOME}${x2:1}"
40     if [[ "${x2}" == "${the_new_dir}" ]]; then
41       popd -n +$cnt 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null
42       cnt=cnt-1
43     fi
44   done

45   return 0
46 }

47 alias cd=cd_func

48 if [[ $BASH_VERSION > "2.05a" ]]; then
49   # ctrl+w shows the menu
50   bind -x "\"\C-w\":cd_func -- ;"
51 fi

4-7: cd_func() is a function, variables are declared local and are automatically deleted at the end of the function

8-11: if the function is called with a parameter "--" then it dumps the current content of the directory history. It is stored in the same place pushd/popd keep names -- the directory stack. Storage is the same, access is different.

12-13: Argument $1 is transferred into $the_new_dir for some post-processing. Immediately after that, if there are no parameters we assume that user asked for his home directory.

14-22: If parameter begins with '-' then the user is attempting to access one of the names in the history list. $index gets the number of the directory, then we extract the corresponding name into $adir. For example, dirs +3 dumps directory #3 from the stack.

At this point in $the_new_dir we have either a name specified explicitly as a parameter or a name obtained from the history of previously visited directories.

23-25: If a directory name begins with '~' then this character has to be replaced by the actual home directory name.

26-30: pushd does the actual 'cd'. It also puts the name on top of the directory stack. stdout is redirected to /dev/null in order to completely imitate how 'cd' works. Notice that any output to stderr, for example a message telling that the directory specified by the user doesn't exist will show up, which is again similar to what 'cd' does. The function aborts if pushd fails. We also need the new directory name for further analysis and $the_new_dir carries it down the function.

31-33: Keeping track of more than 10 directories is unproductive. Since we have just pushed one on top of the stack, we trim off any that fall below 11 names deep.

34-44: We loop through all the names in the directory stack. Any name that matches the new current directory is eliminated. Again, we have to translate any name from the list which begins with '~' to its format of fully expanded home directory.

47: We assign cd to be cd_func().

48-51: If the bash version allows for macros to be assigned we make ctrl+w summon the history of visited directories.

This script defines a function. It must be sourced and not executed, so that cd_func() is parsed and stored in the current environment. Try env and you must see it after all environment variables.

Documentation page of the script

Visit the acd_func.sh man page.


For comments on this article please visit or join zepp mailing list.
The text of this page is public domain.


Copyright © 2004, Petar Marinov. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

GNU Octave - An Introduction

By Barry O'Donovan

This is the first of a series of articles in which I will introduce GNU Octave and demonstrate some of its many features. GNU Octave is a high-level language for numerical computations. I use it every day in my PhD research which involves manipulating large vectors and matrices. It is very similar in syntax and function to a commercial application called Matlab. The biggest difference between the two is that Octave is released under the GNU General Public License, which means it can be freely distributed and/or modified, while a single-user academic license for the basic Matlab currently costs US$700.

I have convinced a few of my colleagues to give Octave a try instead of Matlab. In every case, once that person stops looking for the differences between the two and decides to give Octave a real chance, they begin to embrace its usefulness, its features and its free availability. They realise that they can install a copy of Octave onto every one of their simulation servers, their laptops and their home computers without having to purchase costly new licenses for each one.

Installing and Running Octave

The source code for Octave can be downloaded from http://www.octave.org/download.html. This site also contains information on where to get Octave in binary form for Apple's OS X and Windows. Most Linux distributions include Octave as standard and if it is not already installed on your system it should simply be a matter of installing the Octave package from your installation CDs or the Internet.

Starting the Octave interpreter under Linux is as simple as typing the `octave' command:

$ octave
GNU Octave, version 2.1.50 (i686-pc-linux-gnu).
Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 John W. Eaton.
This is free software; see the source code for copying conditions.
There is ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; not even for MERCHANTIBILITY or
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  For details, type `warranty'.

Please contribute if you find this software useful.
For more information, visit http://www.octave.org/help-wanted.html

Report bugs to <bug-octave@bevo.che.wisc.edu>.

octave:1>    

Documentation

A 380 page manual is included with the Octave source code in HTML, DVI and PS format. This manual is also available on-line at Octave's home page. For those of you who installed via binary packages, you should be able to access the manual via the `info' command:
$ info octave
If you are unfamiliar with 'info', then try using KDE's interface to info by typing `info:octave' into Konqueror's location bar.

In this article I only intend to touch on the very basics of Octave to demonstrate just how easy it is to pick up and use effectively. I would strongly recommend, at the very least, skimming through the available documentation to get a fuller flavor of what Octave has to offer.

First Steps by Example

Let's look at the problem of solving a system of n linear equations in n unknowns:
         x + 3y - 2z = -3
         
        3x - 4y + 3z = 28
        
        5x - 5y + 4z =  7
Such a system of linear equations can be written as the single matrix equation Ax = b, where A is the coefficient matrix, b is the column vector containing the right-hand side of the linear equations and x is the column vector representing the solution. If you've forgotten your linear algebra then don't worry - this will all become at lot clearer as we use Octave to solve this for us:
octave:1> A = [ 1, 3, -2; 3, -4, 3; 5, 5, -4 ]
A =

   1   3  -2
   3  -4   3
   5   5  -4

octave:2> b = [ -3; 28; 7 ]
b =

   -3
   28
    7

octave:3> A \ b
ans =

  5.0000
  2.0000
  7.0000

octave:4>
You will notice that each line of the interpreter is numbered sequentially; I will use these line numbers when referring to particular commands. On line 1 I defined A as a 3x3 matrix containing the coefficients of the linear system above (a coefficient is the number to the left of the unknown variables x, y and z). The rows are delimited with a semi-colon and the individual elements on each row are delimited by a comma. Each of these is recommended but optional: a space is all that is needed to delimit elements in a row and the return key could have been used instead of semi-colons. I defined the column vector b on line 2 in the same way.

Line 3 computes the solution of the linear system using the `left division' operator which, for the mathematicians among you, is conceptually equivalent to A-1b. By solution, I mean that x = 5, y = 2 and z = 7 will satisfy all three equations of the linear system.

Plotting the solution to a problem in mathematics is often the key to fully understanding that problem. Octave has a number of functions for plotting two- and three-dimensional graphs which use Gnuplot to handle the actual graphics themselves. As a simple example, let's plot the sin( x ):

octave:9> x = [ -pi:0.01:pi ];
octave:10> plot( x, sin(x) )
octave:11>     
Which produces:

[Plot of a sine wave]

Let's examine line 9 above in more detail:

Data Types, Simple Arithmetic and Standard Functions

Octave's built-in data types are real and complex scalars and matrices, character strings and a data structure type. All of the standard arithmetic functions are available for scalars and matrices:
a + b
(a - b)
Addition (Subtraction). If both operands are matrices then the number of rows and columns must both agree. If one operand is a scalar and the other is a matrix, then that scalar will be added (subtracted) to (from) every element of the matrix.
a .+ b
(a .- b)
Component-wise addition (subtraction) (also known as element-by-element addition).
x * y Multiplication. If both operands are matrices then the number of columns of x must agree with the number of rows or y.
x .* y Component-wise multiplication.
x / y Right division. Conceptually equivalent to ( (yT)-1 * xT )T
x ./ y Component-wise right division
x \ y Left division. Conceptually equivalent to x-1 * y
x .\ y Component-wise left division.
x ^ y
x ** y
Power operator. See the manual for definitions when x and/or y is a matrix.
x .** y Component-wise power operation.
-x Negation
x' Complex conjugate transpose.
x.' Transpose.

There are many standard functions built-in to Octave and these include the scalar functions:

sin() asin() log() abs()
cos() acos() log2() sqrt()
tan() atan() log10() sign()
round() floor() ceil() mod()

the vector functions:

max() sum() median() any()
min() prod() mean() all()
sort() var() std()

and the matrix functions:

eig() - eigenvalues and eigenvectors
inv() - inverse
poly() - characteristic polynomial
det() - determinant
size() - return the size of a matrix
norm(,p) - compute the p-norm of a matrix
rank() - the rank of a matrix

Strings can be declared with either single or double quotes:
> fname = "Barry";
> sname = "O'Donovan";
Strings can be concatenated using the same notation as matrix definitions:
> [ fname, " ", sname ]
ans = Barry O'Donovan

There are many string functions available as standard, including functions for converting strings to numbers and vice-versa. There are also a number of functions for printing strings to the screen such as disp() and printf(), and for reading data from the user such as input().

The Octave Environment

In all the cases above where we had an assignment command such as A = ..., the variable A is created or overwritten with the information on the right-hand side of the assignment operator (=). Variable names are case sensitive and made up of letters, digits and underscores but must begin with a letter or underscore. Variables remain in the interpreter's environment until you either exit the interpreter or clear the variable:
> clear A
deletes the variable A, while:
> clear
deletes all variables currently stored. The who command can be used to list all variables currently stored in the environment.

We would often like to save the current environment to disk as a backup or to come back to it later and continue on from where we left off. We can use the following two commands for this:
> save filename
to save all of the currently defined variables to filename and:
> load filename
to load them again at a later point.

Loops and Conditional Statements

Just like any other programming language, Octave has its loop and conditional constructs. The following example demonstrates how to generate the first 10 values of Fibonacci's sequence using a for loop:
octave:11> fib = [ 0, 1 ];
octave:12> for i = 3:10
> fib = [ fib, fib( i-2 ) + fib( i-1 ) ];
> endfor
octave:13> fib
fib =

   0   1   1   2   3   5   8  13  21  34

octave:14>
Fibonacci's sequence is described by Fk = Fk-1 + Fk-2 with F0 = 0 and F1 = 1. It is often used to describe the population growth of rabbits: suppose that a newly born pair of rabbits produce no offspring in the first month of their lives and one new pair on each subsequent month. Starting with F1 = 1 pairs in the first month, Fk is the number of pairs in the kth month assuming that none of the rabbits die. Fibonacci's sequence occurs naturally in a variety of places and it is one of those rare occurrences in mathematics where a simple formula can be truly fascinating.

Notice that in the above code:

The following example evaluates the randomness of Octave's rand() function and demonstrates it's conditional statements:

octave:14> a = b = c = d = 0;
octave:15> for i = 1:100000
> r = rand(1);
> if ( r < 0.25 )
>     a++;
> elseif ( r < 0.5 )
>     b++;
> elseif ( r < 0.75 )
>     c++;
> else
>     d++;
> endif
> endfor
octave:16> a,b,c,d
a = 25115
b = 24870
c = 25045
d = 24970
octave:17>
Line 14 sets the scalar variables a, b, c and d to zero. We then generate 100,000 random numbers between 0 and 1 and increase a by one if it falls between 0 and 0.25, b if it falls between 0.25 and 0.5, and so forth. Once the loop completes, we would expect the values of a, b, c and d to be approximately 25,000 if rand() generates truly random numbers, which, as can be seen above, it does.

A Brief Overview of the Features of Octave

Octave was originally written and is still maintained by John W. Eaton who made the first public release in 1993. Since then many other people have contributed to it as they found it lacked features they needed. As it stands, Octave comes with many built-in functions grouped into related packages.

Matrix manipulation is at the heart of Octave and it includes all the operators you would expect for matrix arithmetic including addition, subtraction, multiplication (matrix and component-wise), division, transposition, etc. It also has a number of functions for generating common matrices including:

The groups of specialised functions include:

Some of these are complete and some only contain a few functions. Each is added by various people when and as needed. Over the next couple of months we will look at creating new functions with Octave as well as writing new functions in C++. The Octave developers welcome new additions and hopefully by the end of this series you might be writing and contributing your own Octave functions.

Final Words

Hopefully this article will have demonstrated just how easy it is to pick up the basics of Octave. For any teachers or lecturers trying to teach their students matrices and/or linear algebra, why not introduce Octave into your course as a teaching tool? And for the lecturers or students of university departments such as maths, mathematical physics, physics, engineering, computer science, etc. - it's often difficult to have to come up with new and exciting final year projects every year. Why not have a student implement some mathematical functionality that Octave lacks from your own area of research that might be of interest to others?

Next month: Writing new Octave functions and writing Octave scripts that can be executed from the command line.


[BIO] Barry O'Donovan graduated from the National University of Ireland, Galway with a B.Sc. (Hons) in computer science and mathematics. He is currently completing a Ph.D. in computer science with the Information Hiding Laboratory, University College Dublin, Ireland in the area of audio watermarking.

Barry has been using Linux since 1997 and his current flavor of choice is Fedora Core. He is a member of the Irish Linux Users Group. Whenever he's not doing his Ph.D. he can usually be found supporting his finances by doing some work for Open Hosting, in the pub with friends or running in the local park.

Copyright © 2004, Barry O'Donovan. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

Generating other feed types with Perl

By Jimmy O'Regan

Last month I wrote about screen scraping with Perl, but all of my examples used RSS. Linux Gazette also offers an Atom feed, as well as a JavaScript that can be used to include each month's headlines, so I thought it would be nice to write about generating these formats.

Atom

I described Atom before, in my article about feed readers. I haven't received any complaints about the description I gave, so I assume it's OK, but I'm not going to repeat myself; I'll just say that Atom is the main competition of RSS and is gaining popularity.

Atom, in my opinion, is a more difficult format to work with than RSS, and this is reflected in Perl's modules: RSS can be generated from a single module, but even the simplest tasks in Atom require the use of two modules. (Three if you need to use links!). To be fair, this Yet Another Example of TMTOWTDI -- Atom could easily be generated using an interface like that of XML::RSS, and the Atom interface is as easy to use, if a bit more verbose.

I'm using my User Friendly scraper as my example, because it's the simplest scraper I have.

(text).

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use strict;
use LWP::Simple;
use XML::Atom::Feed;
use XML::Atom::Entry;
use XML::Atom::Link;
use Date::Format;

# These regexes taken from Dailystrips
my $patternpre = "<img.+?src=\"(http://www\.userfriendly\.org/cartoons/archives/%y.+?/uf.+?\.gif)\"";
my $urlpre = "http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=%Y%m%d&mode=classic";

my $pattern = time2str ($patternpre, time);
my $url = time2str ($urlpre, time);

my $page = get($url);

my $atom = XML::Atom::Feed->new;
my $entry = XML::Atom::Entry->new;

$atom->title('User Friendly');
my $link = XML::Atom::Link->new;
$link->type('text/html');
$link->rel('alternate');
$link->href('http://userfriendly.org/');
$atom->add_link($link);
      
if ($page =~ /$pattern/ig)
{
        $entry->title(time2str("CARTOON FOR %a %b, %Y",time));
        my $itemlink = XML::Atom::Link->new;
        $itemlink->type('text/html');
        $itemlink->rel('alternate');
        $itemlink->href($url);
        $entry->add_link($itemlink);
        $atom->add_entry($entry);
}
        
print $atom->as_xml;

OK, so the $link->type and ->rel calls are probably not necessary, but it is a bit longer than generating RSS. Happily, both Atom and RSS generating code can live in the same script.

Javascript

There are also modules available that let you generate JavaScript from feeds. XML::RSS::JavaScript is a subclass of XML::RSS, so the JavaScript generation step happens at the same time as RSS generation, you simply change modules, and add a call to $rss->save_javascript(file) or $rss->as_javascript.

(text).

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use strict;
use XML::RSS::JavaScript;
use LWP::Simple;
use HTML::Entities;
use HTML::TokeParser::Simple;

my $rss = XML::RSS::JavaScript->new;
my $url = "http://www.linux.org.uk/~telsa/Diary/diary.html";
my $page = get($url);
my $stream = HTML::TokeParser::Simple->new(\$page);
my $tag;

$rss->channel(title       => "The more accurate diary. Really.",
              link        => $url,
              description => "Telsa's diary of life with a hacker:" 
                             . " the current ramblings");

while ($tag = $stream->get_tag('a'))
{
        next unless $tag->return_attr("name") ne "";
        my $link = $tag->return_attr("name");
        $tag = $stream->get_tag ('strong');
        $tag = $stream->get_token;
        my $title = $tag->as_is;
        $tag = $stream->get_tag ('dd');
        my $content = "";
        $tag = $stream->get_token;
        until ($tag->is_end_tag('/dd'))
        {
                $content .= $tag->as_is;
                $tag = $stream->get_token;
                next;
        }
        $rss->add_item(title       => $title,
                       link        => "$url#$link",
                       description => encode_entities($content));
}

print $rss->as_javascript;
# We can also use $rss->save('file.xml') 
# as well as $rss->save_javascript('file.js')
# to have this script write files.

If you want to generate JavaScript from an existing RSS feed, it's simply done. This script gives me a JavaScript version of my del.icio.us feed:

(text, output).

#!/usr/bin/perl

use warnings;
use strict;

use LWP::Simple;
use XML::RSS::JavaScript;

my $feed = get('http://del.icio.us/rss/jimregan');
my $rss = XML::RSS::JavaScript->new;

$rss->parse($feed);
print $rss->as_javascript;

XML::Atom::Feed::JavaScript works like the last example: it converts an existing Atom feed to JavaScript. This isn't a problem, it can simply be called at the end of the Atom generation phase.

This script converts my blog's Atom feed to Javascript: (text).

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;

use XML::Atom::Client;
use XML::Atom::Feed::JavaScript;

my $client = XML::Atom::Client->new();
my $feed = $client->getFeed('http://xpko.blogspot.com/atom.xml');
print $feed->asJavascript();

I did run into a slight problem using version 0.4 of the module: the item links from my blog weren't being fully converted -- I was getting hashrefs to XML::Atom::Links instead of the link (output). With a simple patch I was soon getting the correct output. (David Jacobs, the module's author, managed to beat publication time with the release of 0.5. Thanks David).

Next Month

Next month, it's back to the task of scraping: (I can say this for certain, because the bulk of the article has already been written) Ben and I will be taking a look at WWW::Mechanize.

Until then, take care!


[BIO] Jimmy is a single father of one, who enjoys long walks... Oh, right.

Jimmy has been using computers from the tender age of seven, when his father inherited an Amstrad PCW8256. After a few brief flirtations with an Atari ST and numerous versions of DOS and Windows, Jimmy was introduced to Linux in 1998 and hasn't looked back.

In his spare time, Jimmy likes to play guitar and read: not at the same time, but the picks make handy bookmarks.

Copyright © 2004, Jimmy O'Regan. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

Software for Kids

By Jimmy O'Regan

Here in Ireland we have a talk show, the Late Late Show, which has the distinction of being the world's longest running talk show. Every year, a couple of weeks before Christmas, they have the Late Late Toy Show, to give parents and children an idea of what's available.

Since Christmas is approaching, I thought I'd try to bring this tradition over to the Linux Gazette. There is a lot of very good children's software available for Linux, but unfortunately not a high level of awareness of it.

I'll be focusing on the seven-year old age group, simply because my son, Mark, is seven (and an all-important half) and the software he likes is the software that has stayed on the machine.

KTuberling

KTuberling, or Potato Guy, is part of KDE. The idea is simple; it's a virtual Mr. Potato Head. Mark has had hours of fun with it over the last two years.

KTuberling has an option to save an image of the Potato Guy. This is a great idea - Mark had a couple of his creations as his wallpaper until I installed Tuxpaint.

ktuberling

Stickers

Stickers is a sticker board program; you pick up a sticker from the palette, and place it where ever you like. The stickers can be resized, used as brushes, flipped around, have their saturation and brightness changed, etc.

The program has a great function which allows you to keep the mouse pointer confined to stickers' window. This is great for younger children, who haven't learned how to keep control over the mouse. Mark has been using this for over three years, and shows no sign of growing tired of it.

Tuxpaint

Tuxpaint is a paint program from Tux4Kids and New Breed Software, and the first in a series which will include a word processor and a DTP program. Tuxpaint at first glance is a normal paint program, albeit one with an interface suitable for the very young; but there are two options on the menu which make it special, "Magic" and "Stamp".

TuxPaint

The stamps are a range of images which can be placed anywhere on the canvas, much like Stickers. The magic menu has thirteen effects which can be applied to the image, from the unique, such as the "drip" effect, which makes the selected portion of the image look like the paint ran; to standard effects, such as pixelization ("blocks"), with a childish touch.

Help is provided at the bottom of the screen, where Tux gives a brief instruction on how to use each tool.

GCompris

GCompris is the daddy of kids programs for Linux. It's a framework for board based children's games, and includes many games for many ages. The package covers all age groups, with activities that range from teaching the alphabet to teaching chess. It also includes several games which have less educational value.

The activities come in 5 categories: reading, amusements, computers, board based, and algebra. The amusement category seems to be the miscellaneous section; there is a subsection for learning colors, the difference between left and right hands, and how to read an analog clock. There is also a continents jigsaw, where the country must be placed in the correct place, and I have to admit that I learned from this.

The computer section has activities to build keyboard and mouse skills, and the algebra section has several activities. Taken as a whole, these are better for younger children than tuxmath, as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division can be taken individually.

One difficulty I faced with GCompris is that at first I couldn't get the sound to work. GCompris uses audio in Ogg Vorbis files, so adding a .libao file in my home directory with the entry default_driver=arts sorted it out.

Finding more software

The first place any parent should start looking for software for their children is Linux for Kids. The site doesn't look to be frequently updated, but I haven't found any broken links.

Debian users are spoiled for choice because of the Debian Jr. subproject. Debian Jr. is aimed at "children from 1 to 99", and makes sure that the best software for children is just an apt-get away.

SEUL/edu is a project aimed at promoting educational software. Though not all of the software listed in their application index is aimed at kids, quite a lot is. You may even find something you'll find useful for yourself: I found LingoTeach there.

If you're interested in seeing Linux in schools, have a look at the Schoolforge project, which exists to make sure that Linux has all the tools needed by schools.


[BIO] Jimmy is a single father of one, who enjoys long walks... Oh, right.

Jimmy has been using computers from the tender age of seven, when his father inherited an Amstrad PCW8256. After a few brief flirtations with an Atari ST and numerous versions of DOS and Windows, Jimmy was introduced to Linux in 1998 and hasn't looked back.

In his spare time, Jimmy likes to play guitar and read: not at the same time, but the picks make handy bookmarks.

Copyright © 2004, Jimmy O'Regan. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

Accessing a Bluetooth phone

By Jimmy O'Regan

I recently bought a Nokia 6820. After years of using a 5110, I wanted to get a phone with all the bells and whistles: Bluetooth, Infrared, Java, Camera, etc. The 6820 not only does these things, but it also has a video camera, so I was sold on it. (Plus, my brother has had one for a few months without having any problems and I got Blackberry email on it).

As it happens, there was a story in the news about Nokia malware, but this doesn't affect my phone, and it seems you have to be incredibly gullible to be affected.

The first thing you'll need to do is install Bluez. You may need to patch your kernel, but I didn't, so I'm not going to go into that. As well as whatever 'libbluez' packages your distro has, you'll also need the 'bluez-utils', 'bluez-bluefw', and 'bluez-pin' packages (though the 'bluez-pin' package will probably not be necessary if you're using KDE).

To transfer files to and from your phone, you'll also need OpenOBEX. Even if you never use the command line, the libraries supplied by this project are used by both GNOME and KDE.

ObexFTP is really useful from the command line, and from scripts. I have a short script that grabs what my phone is seeing using Gammu and ObexFTP.

Setting up

At first, my Bluetooth adaptor refused point blank to be recognized, giving me this output:

# hciconfig
hci0:   Type: USB
        BD Address: 00:00:00:00:00:00 ACL MTU: 0:0  SCO MTU: 0:0
        DOWN
        RX bytes:0 acl:0 sco:0 events:0 errors:0
        TX bytes:0 acl:0 sco:0 commands:0 errors:0

Eventually, Google lead me to this page, which has this note:

For some reason the USB dongle does not work right after loading modules the hciconfig outputs a 00:00:00:00:00:00 address to the card. The dongle did wake up after I did a hciconfig hci0 down && hciconfig hci0 up.

This was the tip I needed. hcitool gave me some real output:

# hciconfig
hci0:   Type: USB
        BD Address: 00:0F:3D:3D:43:36 ACL MTU: 192:8  SCO MTU: 64:8
        UP RUNNING PSCAN ISCAN
        RX bytes:77 acl:0 sco:0 events:9 errors:0
        TX bytes:31 acl:0 sco:0 commands:8 errors:0
I can now search for my phone using hcitool. Once I've found it, hcitool can then give me more information, or I can use l2ping to check the connection:
$ hcitool inq
Inquiring ...
        00:0E:ED:80:7B:38       clock offset: 0x433d    class: 0x520204

$ hcitool scan
Scanning ...
        00:0E:ED:80:7B:38       Jimmy O'Regan

# hcitool info 00:0E:ED:80:7B:38
Requesting information ...
        BD Address:  00:0E:ED:80:7B:38
        Device Name: Jimmy O'Regan
        LMP Version: 1.1 (0x1) LMP Subversion: 0x380
        Manufacturer: Cambridge Silicon Radio (10)
        Features: 0xbf 0xee 0x0f 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
                <3-slot packets> <5-slot packets> <encryption> <slot offset>
                <timing accuracy> <role switch> <sniff mode> <RSSI>
                <channel quality> <SCO link> <HV3 packets> <u-law log>
                <A-law log> <CVSD> <paging scheme> <power control>
                <transparent SCO>

# l2ping 00:0E:ED:80:7B:38
Ping: 00:0E:ED:80:7B:38 from 00:0F:3D:3D:43:36 (data size 20) ...
0 bytes from 00:0E:ED:80:7B:38 id 200 time 48.85ms
0 bytes from 00:0E:ED:80:7B:38 id 201 time 32.08ms
2 sent, 2 received, 0% loss

hcid, the daemon that provides the above, requires D-Bus to be running; dbus-daemon-1 --system works for me. You also need to have sdpd running: this lets other devices know which services your computer provides.

Once you're able to see the phone, you'll need to configure hcid. I had a problem at this stage, because one of the many pieces of software I installed kept adding a second PIN helper program.

To use most of the services on a mobile (or most Bluetooth devices, as far as I can tell), the mobile and the computer must first be paired. Basically, this involves both having the same PIN code entered -- just imagine how horrible it would be if anyone could browse around the files on your phone, or use your computer as an Internet gateway.

This is what my hcid.conf file looks like:

options {
        autoinit yes;

        security user;

        pairing multi;

        pin_helper /usr/lib/kdebluetooth/kbluepin;
}

# Default settings for HCI devices
device {
        # Local device name
        #   %d - device id
        #   %h - host name
        name "jimmy";

        # Local device class
        class 0xff0100;

        # Default packet type
        #pkt_type DH1,DM1,HV1;

        # Inquiry and Page scan
        iscan enable; pscan enable;

        # Default link mode
        #   none   - no specific policy 
        #   accept - always accept incoming connections
        #   master - become master on incoming connections,
        #            deny role switch on outgoing connections
        #
        lm accept,master;

        # Default link policy
        #   none    - no specific policy
        #   rswitch - allow role switch
        #   hold    - allow hold mode
        #   sniff   - allow sniff mode
        #   park    - allow park mode
        #
        lp hold,sniff,park;

        # Authentication and Encryption
        #auth enable;
        #encrypt enable;
}

The most important part is the class line, which describes the capabilities of the PC to any Bluetooth device that comes in range. It also seems to be important to disable the auth and encrypt lines when you're talking to a mobile phone.

The pin_helper line is probably the least important detail: it's necessary, don't get me wrong, but most of the software available for accessing bluetooth devices seem to come with its own PIN helper, and I don't really see why: the PIN helper does little more than return 'PIN:xxxx' (where 'xxxx' is the PIN).

ObexFTP

ObexFTP is really intended to be a backend command, but it's still usable as a command line application.

To list a path: obexftp -b [phone address] -l [path]

To get a file: obexftp -b [phone address] -g [path]

Phone Video

Nokia phones save their video as '.3gp' files. These are quicktime files with audio that uses the samr codec, and video that uses the H.263 codec (called s263 in the files).

To play the video, just find this section of your .mplayer/codecs.conf:

videocodec ffh263
  info "FFmpeg H263+ decoder"
  status working
  fourcc H263,U263,h263,X263
  fourcc viv1 h263
  driver ffmpeg
  dll h263
  out YV12,I420,IYUV
and change the first 'fourcc' line to
  fourcc H263,U263,h263,X263,s263

The audio is a little more awkward: you have to download two zip files and unzip them as subdirectories of the avcodecs directory of ffmpeg (or mplayer): amr and amr_float.

This is required because there is no explicit copyright on the code - if it was properly open source, it'd be part of ffmpeg, but as it is, things are vague -- and as Thomas said, "Vagueness makes baby Jesus cry".

I've included a sample video anyway, though, of my friend Marion (yes, she loves the camera, but it's mutual).

Desktop integration

Both GNOME and KDE have Bluetooth integration available. (On Mandrake, the packages are 'gnome-bluetooth' and 'kdebluetooth', respectively).

GNOME Bluetooth comes with a desktop daemon that listens for incoming OBEX transfers, and integrates with Nautilus to allow you to send files from the file manager.

GNOME scanning for Bluetooth devices

KDE's Bluetooth support is part of KDE. Its support is a lot more extensive than GNOME's: it allows you to use your computer's audio equipment as a hands-free kit, for example. It also allows scripts to be run whenever a certain device comes within range, so you can have your files backup without intervention.

Viewing Bluetooth services in KDE

KDE's ioslaves provide a convenient set of URI types to allow you to use Bluetooth. bluetooth:/ allows you to see which devices are in range, sdp://[00:0E:ED:80:7B:38]/ shows the services available on the specified device, and obex://[00:0e:ed:80:7b:38]:10/ allows you to treat your phone as if it were a regular filesystem.

Gnokii

Gnokii is a program that gives access to many of the features of Nokia phones. It's been around for years, and though it doesn't support many of the features of newer phones, it's still useful to have around.

First of all, edit your .gnokiirc. To use bluetooth, you need to set connection = bluetooth and port to the address of your phone. If your phone isn't supported, it shouldn't be too hard to find a similar model that is.

[global]
port = 00:0E:ED:80:7B:38
#Gnokii doesn't know about my phone yet.
model = 6310i
initlength = default
connection = bluetooth
#It's recommended to set this to 'yes', but it doesn't work for me
use_locking = no
serial_baudrate = 19200
rfcomm_channel = 1
smsc_timeout = 10

The first step is to make sure that gnokii can see the phone:

$ gnokii --identify
GNOKII Version 0.6.3
IMEI         : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Manufacturer : Nokia
Model        : NHL-9
Revision     : V 4.25

You can check the results by typing *#0000# on the phone, which gives a result like this:

V 4.25
27-05-04
NHL-9
(c) Nokia

The most useful feature that Gnokii has (and that Gammu lacks) is the ability to grab the contacts list from your phone and convert it into a useful format. This command takes the contacts from the phone's memory (ME), starting at 1 and continuing to the end, saving it as a VCard (-v).

gnokii --getphonebook ME 1 end -v > phone.vcs

Another feature I like is 'getnetworkinfo', because it tells you which cell you're currently in. There are a number of programs available for Series 60 phones that work like a mini-GPS, and can trigger actions on the phone based on where you are, but I haven't found any that will work on mine. At least I can console myself with the knowledge that the information is there.

$ gnokii --getnetworkinfo
GNOKII Version 0.6.3
Network      : O2 Communications (Ireland) Ltd (Ireland)
Network code : 272 02
LAC          : 4a56
Cell id      : 20b1

Gammu

Gammu started as a fork of Gnokii, but has much better support for newer phones. (It does lack some of Gnokii's features, though, so both are worth using).

Like Gnokii, you need to set up your .gammurc file first.

[gammu]

device = 00:0e:ed:80:7b:38
#Gammu doesn't support the 6820 either
model = 6800
connection = bluephonet
synchronizetime = no
logfile = gammulog
logformat = textall
#same problem as gnokii
use_locking = no
gammuloc = locfile
startinfo = yes
gammucoding = utf8

Unlike Gnokii, Gammu doesn't provide common output formats for contacts etc. Also unlike Gnokii, Gammu has got a Python interface available, so I'll see if I can manage to get something useful done for next month.

I mentioned earlier that I have a script that lets me see what my phone currently sees. This would be a lot more useful if the camera wasn't on the bottom of the phone, but it's a great way to amuse myself son.

#!/bin/bash

gammu --nokiamakecamerashoot
obexftp -b 00:0E:ED:80:7B:38 -g Gallery/GammuShot
display GammuShot

Open Source software for the Phone

The first hurdle in using most software on a mobile phones is that most providers have two sets of internet access settings: one for WAP, the other for full access. Fortunately, there's a Linux-friendly site that provides details about most European providers: Easy Connect.

You can use Gammu to install software to your phone by using this command:

gammu --nokiaaddfile Application Virca

This looks for two files, Virca.jar and Virca.jad, which it then sends to the phone. To install a game, change 'Application' to 'Game'.

The first piece of software I installed was Telnet midlet. (There's also an SSH midlet available from the same site). I managed to connect to a server without fuss, but quickly became frustrated with the input method it uses -- any input has to be done through a separate screen, which is the perfect method for most phones, but painful on mine, which has a fold-out keyboard. MidpSSH is a SSH client, based on Telnet midlet, that supports Telnet, SSH1 and SSH2. It looks to have a much better interface, but unfortunately none of the many versions provided would work on my phone.

Virca is an open source IRC client for MIDP 1.0 compliant devices. It doesn't support things like DCC, but it's quite impressive for such a small package. I can imagine it being useful on long journeys.

Looking at the things that are possible with the phone, I'm tempted to learn Java (despite Thomas's warnings).

If anyone knows of any good MIDP 1.0 programs, please let me know! I want to see how much my phone can do!


[BIO] Jimmy is a single father of one, who enjoys long walks... Oh, right.

Jimmy has been using computers from the tender age of seven, when his father inherited an Amstrad PCW8256. After a few brief flirtations with an Atari ST and numerous versions of DOS and Windows, Jimmy was introduced to Linux in 1998 and hasn't looked back.

In his spare time, Jimmy likes to play guitar and read: not at the same time, but the picks make handy bookmarks.

Copyright © 2004, Jimmy O'Regan. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

Bash Shell and Beyond

By William Park

Patching and Compiling Bash Shell

In a previous article, I presented shell functions which emulate C functions strcat(3), strcpy(3), strlen(3), and strcmp(3). Since the shell's main job is to parse text, a pure shell solution was possible for string operations found in <string.h>. However, this is rare. It's not always possible to emulate C in shell, especially for accessing low-level system libraries and third-party applications. Even if it were possible, you would be re-inventing the wheel by ignoring the work that has gone into the C libraries. In addition, shell scripts are, without exception, orders of magnitude slower. But, shell has the advantage of rapid development and easy maintenance, because it's easier to write and read.

What is needed, then, is the ability to write a shell wrapper with binding to C routines. A shell mechanism which allows you to write a C extension is called a builtin, eg. read, echo, and printf, etc. When certain features require changes in the way the shell interprets an expression, then modifications must be made to the shell's parsing code. When you need speed, then a C extension is must.

My patch to Bash-3.0 shell is available from

The latest tarball bashdiff-1.11.tar.gz contains 2 diff files:
  1. bashdiff-core-1.11.diff is for features that will be compiled into shell statically. It adds new features by modifying Bash parsing code. It's 100% backward compatible, in that no existing meaning is changed; so, what works in your old shell, will also work in the new shell. For example, it adds

    • a new brace expansion {a..b} --- integer/letter generation, positional parameters and array expansion
    • new parameter expansion ${var|...} --- content filtering, list comprehension (like Python)
    • new command substitution $(=...) --- floating-point hook to Awk
    • extended case statement --- regex, continuation, then/else sections
    • extended for/while/until loops --- then/else sections, multiple for-loop variables
    • try-block with integer exception (like Python)
    • new <<+ here-document --- relative indentation
  2. bashdiff-william-1.11.diff is for dynamically loadable builtins (loadables) which are available separately from your shell session. It adds new commands, to interface with system and application libraries and to provide a fast wrapper for common operations. For example, it adds

    • extended read/echo builtins --- DOS lines
    • sscanf(3), <string.h> and <ctype.h> wrappers, ASCII/string conversion
    • new raise builtin for try-blocks
    • array cut/splicing, array filter/map/zip/unzip (like Python)
    • regex(3) operations --- match, split, search, replace, callback
    • HTML template engine (like PHP, JSP, ASP)
    • GDBM, SQLite, PostgreSQL, and MySQL database interface
    • Expat XML parser interface
    • stack/queue operations on arrays and positional parameters
    • x-y character plot
All features are documented in the shell's internal help files, which can be accessed by the help command.

Compiling

Before being introduced to a patched shell, you have to know how to compile from source, since the patch is against source tree. Here are the steps required to download and compile the standard Bash-3.0 shell:

    wget ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash/bash-3.0.tar.gz
    tar -xzf bash-3.0.tar.gz
    cd bash-3.0
        ./configure
        make
You now have a binary executable bash which is just like your current shell, usually /bin/bash. You can try it out, like
    ./bash              # using freshly compiled Bash-3.0
    date
    ls
    exit                # back to your old shell session

Patching

To compile my patched shell the steps are essentially the same as above. You download a tarball, apply my patch to the source tree (from the above steps), and compile. bashdiff.tar.gz will always point to the latest patch, which at the moment is bashdiff-1.10.tar.gz.

    wget http://home.eol.ca/~parkw/bashdiff/bashdiff-1.10.tar.gz
    tar -xzf bashdiff-1.10.tar.gz
    mv bash-3.0 bash            # it's no longer standard Bash-3.0
    cd bash
        make distclean
        patch -p1 < ../bashdiff-core-1.10.diff
        patch -p1 < ../bashdiff-william-1.10.diff
        autoconf
        ./configure
        make
        make install            # as root
        cd examples/loadables/william
            make
            make install        # as root
            ldconfig            # as root
Now, you have

Dynamically loadable builtins

If your shell has 'enable -[fd]', then you can load/unload builtin commands dynamically, hence the name. Usage is simple. For example,

    enable -f william.so vplot
will load vplot command from the shared library william.so which you just compiled and installed. Use './william.so' if you haven't installed it yet. Once loaded, you can use them just like standard builtin commands which are statically linked into the shell. So,
    help vplot
    help -s vplot
will print the long and short help file for the command, and
    x=( `seq -100 100` )
    y=( `for i in ${x[*]}; do echo $((i*i)); done` )    # y = x^2
    vplot x y
will print an x-y character plot of a parabolic curve on your terminal. To unload,
    enable -d vplot

All-in-one

Loadables are convenient if you just want to load the builtins you need and don't want to or can't change your login shell. Also, loadables are easier to compile incrementally, which is important since new builtins are added or updated more often than the main parsing code of the shell.

However, you may want to compile and link everything into a single executable, say on Windows for an example. To compile an "all-in-one" binary, you have to type a bit more. You still have to generate the default bash binary, because you need all those .h and .o files.

    cd bash
        make bash
        make bash+william       # all in one
        make install-bin        # installs only 'bash', 'bashbug', 'bash+william'
Here, bash+william is like bash, but with all builtins linked statically into it. I recommend single binary bash+william for newbies, because you don't have to remember what to load and unload. Everything is at your fingertips.

strcat, strcpy, strlen, and strcmp

In a previous article, you've seen strcat(3), strcpy(3), strlen(3), and strcmp(3) as shell functions. Now, shell version of those C functions are also available as builtins.

    enable -f william.so strcat strcpy strlen strcmp
    help strcat strcpy strlen strcmp
You will discover that command usage is the same as shell functions, except for '-i' option in strcmp for case insensitive comparison, i. e. For example,
    strcpy a abc
    strcat a 123
    echo $a                             # abc123
    strcmp $a abc123
    strlen abc123 0123456789            # 6 10

If you have both a shell function and a shell builtin with the same name, then the shell function will take priority. To find out what is what,

    type strcat strcpy strlen strcmp
and to delete shell functions,
    unset -f strcat strcpy strlen strcmp

To compare their speed,

    . string.sh
    a=; time for i in `seq 10000`; do builtin strcat a "$i "; done
    b=; time for i in `seq 10000`; do strcat b "$i "; done
    strlen "$a" "$b"            # 48894 48894
    strcmp "$a" "$b"
You'll find that the shell function is only about 5x slower, which is pretty good since we're talking about shell script vs. C. But, if you use substring options,
    a=; time for i in `seq 10000`; do builtin strcat a "$i " 1:-1; done
    b=; time for i in `seq 10000`; do strcat b "$i " 1:-1; done
    strlen "$a" "$b"            # 28894 28894
    strcmp "$a" "$b"
there will be a 25x difference.

ASCII and <ctype.h>

Although string operations are easy in shell, it's generally difficult to examine and manipulate individual characters of the string. Also, printing the full range of ASCII chars (0-127) and high-bit chars (128-255) is difficult, because you have to use octal, hex, or backslash-escaped characters if they are not printable. Capitalizing a word, for an example, is unbelievably verbose in regular shell,

    word=abc123
    first=`echo ${word:0:1} | tr 'a-z' 'A-Z'`
    rest=`echo ${word:1} | tr 'A-Z' 'a-z'`
    echo $first$rest
which only works in English locales, because of explicit [a-z] and [A-Z] ranges. In C, however, this is simple matter of calling isupper(3), islower(3), toupper(3), and tolower(3), which work in all locales that the C library supports.

What we need are shell wrappers for all those standard C functions - toupper(3), tolower(3), toascii(3), toctrl(), isalnum(3), isalpha(3), isascii(3), isblank(3), iscntrl(3), isdigit(3), isgraph(3), islower(3), isprint(3), ispunct(3), isspace(3), isupper(3), isxdigit(3), and isword(). Most of these are defined in <ctype.h>, so that character operations can be done simply and efficiently.

So, the above example of capitalizing a word becomes

    set -- `tonumber abc123`
    set -- `chnumber toupper $1; shift; chnumber tolower $*`
    tostring $* 10              # add \n for terminal
which is much more efficient and understandable.

Now that Bash has pretty good coverage of <string.h> and <ctype.h>, you can do string and character operations in shell script much the same way as in C code. Both text and binary data are handled with ease and consistency. This alone represents a vast improvement over the standard shell.

Formatted I/O

sscanf

One of the first things you learn in any language is reading and printing. In C, you use printf(3), scanf(3), and others defined in <stdio.h>. For printing in the shell, you use echo and printf builtins. Curiously, though, a shell version of scanf(3) is missing. For example, to parse out 4 numbers of 11.22.33.44, you can do

    IFS=. read a b c d <<< 11.22.33.44
However, if the field you want is not nicely delimited as above, then it gets complicated.

I've added shell version of C function sscanf(3):

Since the shell only has the string data type, it supports only string formats, i. e. %s, %c, %[...], %[^...], and up to 9 variables. So, you can parse formatted strings just like the way you would in C, eg.
    sscanf 11.22.33.44 '%[0-9].%[0-9].%[0-9].%[0-9]' a b c d
    declare -p a b c d          # a=11 b=22 c=33 d=44

    sscanf 'abc 123 45xy' '%s %s %[0-9]%[a-z]' a b c d
    declare -p a b c d          # a=abc b=123 c=45 d=xy

Reading and printing DOS lines

From time to time, you have to print and read DOS lines which end with \r\n (CR/NL). Although you can print \r explicitly, the automatic insertion of \r just before \n is difficult in shell. For reading, you need to explicitly remove the trailing \r.

I've patched standard echo and read builtins to read and print DOS lines:

For example,
    echo abc | od -c                    # a b c \n
    echo -D abc | od -c                 # a b c \r \n

    read a b <<< $'11 22 \r'            # a=11 b=$'22 \r'
    read -D a b <<< $'11 22 \r'         # a=11 b=22

Simple Awk emulation

Often, you need to parse lines and work with Awk-style variables like NF, NR, $1, $2, ..., $NF. However, when you use Awk, it's difficult to bring those variables back into shell; you have to write them to a temporary file in shell syntax and then source it. Because of this, it's a hassle to jump back and forth between shell and Awk.

I've patched the standard read builtin to provide simple Awk emulation, creating NF and NR variables and assigning the fields to $1, $2, ..., $NF.

For example,
    IFS=. read -A <<< 11.22.33.44
    echo $#: $*                 # 4: 11 22 33 44
    declare -p NF NR
And, just like Awk, each call to read -A will increment NR.

Indentation in << here-document

'<<' is the input redirection operator, where standard input is taken from actual text in the script source. '<<' will preserve the leading whitespaces, and '<<-' will remove all leading tabs. The problem with '<<-' is that relative indentation is lost.

I've added a new operator '<<+' which preserves tab indentation of the here-document relative to the first line. This is available directly from the shell (i. e. ./bash or /usr/local/bin/bash), because it's patched into the main parsing code. So,

    cat <<+ EOF
            first line
                    second line
    EOF
will print
    first line
            second line

Sequence Generators {a..b} and {a--b}

Integer sequence {a..b}

Bash-3.0 (and Zsh) have the '{a..b}' expression which generates an integer sequence as part of the brace expansion, but you can't use variable substitution because the '{a..b}' expression must contain explicit integers.

My patch extends the brace expansion to include variable, parameter, and array substitution, as well as a single letter sequence generator. For example,

    a=1 b=10 x=a y=b
        echo {1..10}
        echo {a..b}
        echo {!x..!y}           # use 'set +H' to suppress ! expansion
    set -- `seq 10`
        echo {**}
        echo {##}
        echo {1..#}
    z=( `seq 10` )
        echo {^z}
all produce the same result, i. e. 1 2 ... 10. More details are available from the help file:
    help '{a..b}'

One useful application might be in downloading a bunch of images from a website. There are so many family-oriented sites on the Web, it's difficult to recommend one. When you find one chock full of educational content, you can try

    wget -x http://your.favourite.site/conception/pic{001..200}.jpeg
so that you can continue your private study (as allowed by the Copyright Act of your country) later when you have more time.

Letters sequence {a--b}

In addition to integers, you can also generate a sequence of single letters using the '{a--b}' variation, where 'a' and 'b' are explicit letters as recognized by isletter(3) in <ctype.h>. Eg.

    echo {A--z}         # A B C ... z
skipping any non-letters (if exist) between the end points.

Content Filtering ${var|...}

This is called list comprehension in Python and functional languages. Essentially, it's way of generating a list from another list. For each list element, you can change the content or choose not to include it all.

Case Statement

regex pattern

Syntax of standard 'case' statement is

    case WORD in
        glob [| glob]...) COMMANDS ;;
        ...
    esac
I have extended the syntax to
    case WORD in
        glob [| glob]...) COMMANDS ;;
        regex [| regex]...)) COMMANDS ;;
        ...
    esac
so that the pattern list will be interpreted as 'regex' if it's terminated by double parenthesis '))'. Other than that, it works like before. Although Bash-3.0 has [[ string =~ regex ]], a case statement is still better syntax for two or more patterns, or if you need to test for both 'glob' and 'regex' in the same context.

Whereas 'glob' matches the entire string in order to return success, 'regex' can match a substring. If there is a match, then array variable SUBMATCH will contain the matching substring in SUBMATCH[0] and any parenthesized groups in 'regex' pattern in SUBMATCH[1], SUBMATCH[2], etc. For example,

    case .abc123. in
        '([a-z]+)([0-9]+)' )) echo yes ;;
    esac
    declare -p SUBMATCH
will match successfully, and

Continuation

In Zsh and Ksh, you can continue on with the next command list if you use ';&' instead of ';;'. So,
    case WORD in
        pattern1) command1 ;&
        pattern2) command2 ;;
        ...
    easc
'command1' will run if 'pattern1' matches. After that, execution will continue on to 'command2' and subsequent command list, until it encounters double semi-colon. Now, Bash can do it too.

In addition, when you terminate command list with ';;&',

    case WORD in
        pattern1) command1 ;;&
        pattern2) command2 ;;
        ...
    easc
'command1' will run if 'pattern1' matches. After that, execution will continue on to testing 'pattern2' instead of exiting the case statement. Therefore, it will test all of the pattern list, whether or not there was a successful match. Zsh and Ksh don't have this feature. :-)

Exit condition

Often, you need to know the exit condition of a 'case' statement. You can use '*)' as a default pattern, but it's not straightforward to find out if there was a match as you're coming out of the 'case' statement. With my patch, you can add an optional 'then' and 'else' section at the end of 'case' statement right after 'esac', and treat the 'case' statement as big 'if' statement. The new syntax goes something like

where 'esac then' and 'esac else' cannot be separated by ';' or newlines. The then-COMMANDS will be executed if there was a match, or else-COMMANDS will be executed if there was no match.

For example,

    case abc123 in
        [A-Z]*) echo matched ;;
    esac then
        echo yes
    else
        echo no         # no match
    fi
will print 'no', but
    case Xabc123 in
        [A-Z]*) echo matched ;;         # match
    esac then
        echo yes                        # match
    else
        echo no
    fi
will print 'matched' and 'yes'.

For/While/Until Loops

Multi-variable for-loop

In standard shell, you can only use one variable in a 'for' loop. I added multi-variable syntax, so that

    for a,b,c in {1..10}; do
        echo $a $b $c
    done
will print
    1 2 3
    4 5 6
    7 8 9
    10
as you expect. Here, the variables must be separated by comma. If there is shortage of items to assign in the last iteration, the leftover variables will be assigned the empty (null) string.

Exit condition

Just like the 'case' statement, you often need to know if you exited the loop normally or through the use of 'break'. With my patch, you can add optional 'then' and 'else' sections at the end of 'for', 'while', and 'until' loops right after 'done'. The new syntax goes something like

where 'done then' and 'done else' cannot be separated by ';' or newlines. Here, then-COMMANDS will be executed if the loop exited normally, and else-COMMANDS will be executed if 'break' was used. By "normal", I mean the 'for' loop exhausted all list items, the 'while' test failed, or the 'until' test succeeded.

For example,

    for i in 1 2 3; do
        echo $i
        break
    done then
        echo normal
    else
        echo used break         # 1 
    fi
will print '1' only for the first iteration, then it will break out of the loop. But,
    for i in 1 2 3; do
        echo $i
    done then
        echo normal             # 1 2 3
    else
        echo used break
    fi
will print all items '1 2 3', and the exit condition will be normal. The same applies to 'while' and 'until' loops.

The ability to test the exit condition improves the readability of shell scripts, because you don't have to use a variable as a flag. Python has a similar mechanism for testing the exit condition of a loop, but it uses the return value of the test. So, a 'while' loop exits when the test fails, and Python uses 'else' for the normal exit condition, which is a bit confusing.

Exception and Try Block

Practically every modern language has ability to raise an exception to break out of deeply nested code, to handle errors, or to do multi-point jumps. I added a new 'try' block to Bash which will catch integer exceptions raised by a new 'raise' builtin.

This combines elements of loops, the break builtin and the case statement. Within a try-block, the 'raise' builtin can be used to raise an integer exception. Then, the execution will break out of the try block, just like 'break'ing out of for/until/while loops. You can use an optional case-like statement to catch the exception. If the exception is caught, then it will be reset and execution will continue following the try-block. If the exception is not caught, then execution will break out upward until it is caught or until there are no more try-blocks.

For examples,

    try
        echo a
        while true; do  # infinite loop
            echo aa
            raise
            echo bb
        done
        echo b
    done
will print 'a aa', and
    try
        echo a
        raise 2
        echo b
    done in
        0) echo normal ;;
        1) echo raised one ;;
        2) echo raised two ;;   # raise 2
    esac
will print 'a' and the exception is 2.

Summary

In the next article, I'll cover dynamically-loadable builtins related to arrays, regex splitting, interfacing to external libraries like an SQL database and an XML parser, and some interesting applications like HTML templates and a POP3 spam checker.


[BIO] I learned Unix using the original Bourne shell. And, after my journey through language wilderness, I have come full-circle back to shell. Recently, I've been patching features into Bash, giving other scripting languages a run for their money. Slackware has been my primary distribution since the beginning, because I can type. In my toolbox, I have Vim, Bash, Mutt, Tin, TeX/LaTeX, Python, Awk, Sed. Even my shell command line is in Vi-mode.

Copyright © 2004, William Park. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

Functional Programming with Python

By Pramode C.E.

Programs written in a functional programming language (like say Scheme) mirror the structure of mathematical expressions; math expressions are composed of strings of functions, each one computing a value and producing absolutely no side effects. The same function, called with the same arguments, yields the same result whatever be the context in which it is called. There is elegance in structuring code in this way (and also, a certain amount of simplicity). The Python programming language has all the features necessary to make it good at functional programming (FP). In this article, we examine a few interesting FP ideas like higher order functions, closures, lambda, currying, etc. from the `Pythonic' point of view!

What is Functional Programming?

The functions we write as part of our programs are only superficially similar to mathematical functions. Let's say we write a function:


int current_balance = 100;
int withdraw(int w)
{
   current_balance = current_balance - w;
   return current_balance;
}

An invocation of `withdraw(10)' results in a value of 90 being returned. A subsequent invocation of `withdraw(10)' returns 80. Had `withdraw' been a `pure' mathematical function, it would have returned the same result for both invocations as the value being passed is the same. Our program basically `remembers' the earlier invocations (it has `state') and returns a new value every time. A mathematical equation like:

y = f(a) + g(b) + f(a)

has the nice property that it can be reduced to:

y = 2*f(a) + g(b)

It is virtually impossible for us to perform such reductions on computer programs which are written as collections of functions which modify global variables. Reasoning about the correctness of computer programs becomes more of an activity of exploring all kinds of what-if situations rather than generating mathematical proofs.

The `assignment' operator creates its share of problems. Let's look at a simple loop to compute the factorial:


/* Compute factorial of `n' */
int f = 1, n = 5;
while (n > 0) {
   f = f * n;
   n = n - 1;
}
return f;

A common mistake which we make is interchanging the two statements within the body of the loop. The assignment operator, by changing the value assigned to symbols, forces us to be careful about the order in which we perform each and every action in our program.

The functional programming paradigm encourages us to structure our programs as collections of `pure' functions which do not have any global state and which do not make use of the assignment operator (note that this is not possible in all situations; a banking system will surely have to `remember' lots of stuff). Functional programmers use recursive invocation of functions (iteration is considered to be a special case of recursion and specific iteration constructs like the `while' or `for' loop may be absent altogether) to program repetitive behaviour. Functions are considered `first class', ie, they can be passed to other functions and returned from other functions thereby facilitating the creation of what are called `higher order functions' - a powerful idea which can capture concisely many complex computational patterns when combined with the idea of `closures'.

Expressing recursion

There is nothing magical about defining recursive functions in Python. Here is the classical factorial written as a Python function:


def fact(n):
   if (n == 0): return 1
   return n * fact(n - 1)

Functions as first class objects

Let's define two functions at the interactive Python prompt and try some experiments:


>>>
>>>def sqr(x): return x*x
...
>>>def cube(x): return x*x*x
...
>>>sqr
<function sqr at 0x402ba10c>
>>>a = [sqr, cube]
>>>a[0](2)
>>>def compose(f, g): return f(g(x))
...
>>>compose(sqr, cube, 2)
64
>>>

We first store the two functions in an array and then invoke `sqr' as `a[0][2]'. We then define a function called `compose' and call it with the two functions `sqr' and `cube' as arguments. Note the absence of any special notation; we are manipulating functions as if they were objects like arrays and numbers.

The power of the higher order function

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, the legendary `wizard book' by Abelson and Sussman, has a detailed description of the utility of higher order functions. A `function' (or a subroutine, subprogram, procedure) is considered to be a mechanism for capturing patterns. If we have many statements of the form


a*a*a
b*b*b
c*c*c
.....

we can think of defining a function called `cube' which captures the essence of the pattern and gives it a name. The ability to pass functions as arguments to functions greatly broadens the scope of this `pattern capturing' mechanism. Let's examine a simple function, `sum':

def sum(a, b):
   if (a > b): return 0
   else: return a + sum(a+1, b)

The function sums all numbers from `a' to `b'. We try to broaden the scope of the function by making it capable of manipulating arbitrary sequences, like say:

1/(1*3) + 1/(5*7) + 1/(9*11) + ...

We note that the above sequence and a sequence like:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ...

are similar in the sense that both are `summations'. We visualize a quantity `a' changing from 1 to 2, 2 to 3 and so on. The change from 1 to 2 can be captured by means of a function (a simple `add 1' function). In the case of the first series, this quantity is seen to be changing from 1 to 5, 5 to 9, 9 to 11 and so on. Here, the change can be captured by an `add 4' function. Another small problem. The terms of the series are not the numbers 1, 5, 9, 11 etc but the numbers 1/(1*3), 1/(5*7)... But then, this transformation also can be expressed in terms of a function! These observations result in the formulation of the function `sigma':

def sigma(term, a, next, b):
   if(a > b): return 0
   return term(a) + sigma(term, next(a), next, b)

And here's how we call `sigma' to compute the sum of the sequence:

1/(1*3) + 1/(5*7) + 1/(9*11) + ...

We shall define two functions:

def term(x): return 1.0/(x * (x+2))
def next(x): return x + 4

and call:

sigma(term, 1, next, 1000)

That should do the trick! Now it becomes possible for us to sum any sequence provided we define two auxiliary functions.

That's not the end of the story. We should think of generalizing `sigma'. We note that `sigma' is simply `combining' terms of a sequence using the combination function `add'. Why not have a general procedure which will combine the terms of a series according to a user defined function which is passed as an argument? Readers should try this as an exercise!

Using `lambda'

We shall try the following at the Python prompt:


>>>
>>>lambda x: x+4
<function <lambda;> at 0x402ba25c>
>>>f = lambda x: x+4
>>>f(3)
7
>>>

The lambda keyword is used for creating anonymous functions. The body of a lambda should be composed of simple expressions only. In the above example, we use lambda to create a function which accepts an argument and returns it after adding four. We should think of using `lambda' whenever we need to define a function just for the purpose of passing it over to another function. As an example:

>>>
>>>map(lambda x:x*x, [1,3,7,9])
[1, 9, 49, 81]
>>>filter(lambda x: x%2 == 0, range(10))
[0, 2, 4, 6, 8]
>>>

The map function accepts a function and a list as argument and returns the list obtained by applying the function on each element of the original list. Filter is similar; it returns a list composed of only those elements for which the function returns true.

Closures

Python allows function definitions to be nested.


def add(x):
   return lambda(y): x+y

Invoking add(3) will result in a function of one argument being returned. Now, this function has a peculiar property - it's capable of remembering the environment in which it was created. The value of `x' in the body of the function is the value supplied when `add' was invoked. You call such functions `closures'. Invoking add(3)(4) will result in this function executing with value of x = 3 and y = 4.

You might have noticed something interesting here. Instead of defining a function `add' which accepts two arguments, we were able to get the same effect by nesting a one-argument function within another one argument function. It's possible to take this to any level:


def add3(x):
   return lambda y: lambda z: x+y+z

Now, we can call `add3(1)(2)(3)'! This idea goes by the name `currying' in the FP community.

Let's try to write a function for doing `numerical' differentiation.


def differentiate(f):
   return lambda x: (f(x+0.001) - f(x))/0.001

The function can be tested out as follows:

>>>
>>>p = differentiate(cube)
>>>p(2)
12
>>>

Calling differentiate with argument `cube' will result in a one-argument function being returned which remembers the value of `f' to be equal to `cube'. Now, calling this function with argument say 2 will result in the evaluation of:

(cube(2+0.001) - cube(2))/0.001

A bit more lambda fun

The idea of functional programming being `computing with functions' can be taken to its extreme; one might even go so far as to say that EVERYTHING (yes, I mean even things like integers, truth, falsehood, literally EVERYTHING) can be expressed as functions. A really smart guy called Alonzo Church had figured out how to do this and produced a remarkable piece of work called the `Lambda Calculus'. We shall not go into the details of Church's work - but will simply look at a few functions just for the fun of it.

Let's have our own definitions for `true' and `false':


true = lambda x, y: x
false = lambda x, y: y
iff = lambda p, x, y: p(x, y)

We define true as a function which accepts two arguments and returns the first one; false returns the second argument. The logic of this definition becomes clear when we look at the context where we make use of `true' and `false'; calling iff(true, 2, 3) will result in the number 2 being returned and calling iff(false, 2, 3) will result in 3 being returned.

The claim is that all computational constructs can be defined in terms of lambda. Let's try building up an elementary data structure, a `pair'.


pair = lambda x, y: lambda f: f(x, y)

The definition is a bit tricky: a `pair' is a function which accepts two arguments and returns another function; this time, a function which accepts one argument and applies that on x and y. The idea becomes clear when we define two other functions:

first = lambda p: p(true)
second = lambda p: p(false)

Now, we turn a bit philosophical and ask the question: "what is a pair?" The answer is, "P is a pair of two objects x and y if there are two functions `first' and `second' such that first(P) is x and second(P) is y." Let's now try:

>>>
>>>P=pair(2,3)
>>>first(P)
2
>>>second(P)
3
>>>

And that's magic! Think about it!

Conclusion and Further Reading

If you wish to read the original Scheme version of the Python functions presented in this document, grab a copy of SICP; you are sure to spend many an enjoyable hour reading it. If you are looking for a cool Python project to do in the ample free time which you have, translate SICP into Python! If you wish to read some brain exploding lambda stuff, go to this site by Mark-Jason Dominus. You might also like to read this document written by John Hughes which explains why functional programming is important.


[BIO] I am an instructor working for IC Software in Kerala, India. I would have loved becoming an organic chemist, but I do the second best thing possible, which is play with Linux and teach programming!

Copyright © 2004, Pramode C.E.. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

Design Awareness

By Mark Seymour

Coloring isn't just for kids

Color is ubiquitous, except to the color blind. We think nothing of describing someone as red haired with blue eyes, wearing a green sweater and a brown skirt, carrying a black handbag and a bright yellow umbrella. (If you recognize yourself, send me an email, okay?)

Yet color, in the publishing world, is a recent invention. Or, perhaps, reinvention. Remember the Lindisfarne gospel from my September column, illuminated in 715?

That was colorful. Yet, when we went from illuminated manuscripts, done by hand, to the pages of Gutenberg's Bible, printed using a press in 1454, the palette changed to black and white:

And printing stayed pretty much that way for the next five hundred years. Not totally, but the vast majority of it. Color was hard to do, and color was expensive. Newspapers, except for the Sunday funnies, were black and white until very recently; the change has not necessarily improved the journalism, but their audience has come to expect it. Books have stayed black and white, except for picture books, but magazines made the leap to color beginning in the 1960s. (Those of us with a few years under our belts can remember when Time magazine first began printing photographs in color; it was a shock.) Black and white is a misnomer for photographs, of course; while images were created using pure black and white line engravings in newspapers and magazines through the Civil War, the use of gray scale photographs had taken hold throughout the printing world by the early part of the 1900s.

Even electronic media, until very recently, was black and white. Television, of course, was universally gray-scale until the 1970s, and I only bought my first color set in the 1980s. But my first Macintosh had a black and white screen (imagine the limitations of using MacPaint in the late 1980s, where your choices were a solid black pixel or a solid white one), as did my second one. My third one had a single-page monitor that displayed 256 grays (whee!); color monitors were more expensive, and were smaller.

Today, of course, we think nothing of producing websites and graphics on a 30-inch flat screen monitor displaying millions of colors. (Well, some people; the Linux Gazette doesn't pay that well.) Personal color laser printers are under a thousand dollars, most large offices have color printers and even color copiers, and there's usually a Kinko's nearby... Digital color has become standard in the printing industry, and even cellular telephones and iPods now come with screens capable of displaying color photographs and real-time video.

But the new availability of color in the design world means that we must learn to think in color. Not just in the dry mathematics of PMS numbers and RGB or CMYK percentages, either; they are merely how you create the illusion of color. Thinking in color gives you the ability to create more than just pretty images or easier data structures because, as that blue-eyed redhead indicated, color is evocative. A picture of her, with her coordinated clothes and accessories, resonated in our minds, even though I only described her rather than showing you an image, because those colors have meaning.

New cars are always displayed in a narrow palette; when was the last time you saw a commercial with a purple car in it, or even a green one? Traffic signals don't have a blue light in them, though police cars do the world over. These things are so because it matters. We may not be aware of the choices made, but we would be instantly aware if different choices were ever implemented; imagine your confusion over fire engines painted dark brown, or a blinking fuschia light at the street corner next to the bright green triangular sign.

When we were kids, nurses and doctors wore white, police uniforms were blue, and soldiers dressed in green. Not any more, however. Now everyone shows up in different colors, sometimes many colors at the same time; the latest camouflage for the military was not only created using computers, its patterns are printed on the cloth using large pixel-shaped blocks.

Don't think that color is universal, either. Red, because of its link to fire, is pretty much read as 'danger' the world over, but you can't always count on that. Taxis are often yellow throughout the United States, some still with the traditional black and white checkerboard pattern running down the side, but not in the rest of the world. Even fire trucks sometimes show up in white and green, along with the 'normal' red. Police cars used to be black and white, but now they come in every color imaginable, often based on the colors of the logos of the towns they represent.

If you're designing for the world market, you need to be aware of all these visual 'standards', and other cultural differences as well. In Japan, for instance, white is the color of mourning, not black. Even something as seemingly all-American as the good old Red, White, and Blue can be a dangerous design assumption:

While those three colors (ah, but which three colors is important— the 'National Blue' used in the US flag is a particular blue, officially referred to as Old Glory Blue) show up in advertising, on promotional materials, and on bunting and flags every Fourth of July, representing the United States, they mean other things to other people. Red, white, and blue can equally describe the flags of nearly forty other countries, some familiar and some not, including Belize, Burma, Chile, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, France, Haiti, Iceland, both Koreas, Liberia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Panama, the Phillipines, Russia, Samoa, Serbia, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and even Texas.

As our redhead's ensemble proved, choosing the right colors is crucial. If you design a new logo for someone, the first question (after how much will it cost?) is: what color is it? We describe many emotional or physical states just by referring to their color: a blue mood, red with anger, green with envy, cowards are yellow, white with fear.

In Western cultures, jarring juxtapositions of color is rarely acceptable (the 1960s and its throwbacks are rare exceptions), while in Japan the more bizarre (by European standards) the combination, the better. While it may be hard to correlate cultures by their color choices, color choices can evoke culture:

Scottish tartans are designed one way:

Japanese kimono appear very different:

Italian suits look another way entirely:

Your choice of colors can create (or destroy) a mood, set a style, evoke a place or a time period or an artistic or design movement (Art Nouveaux will require a different palette than Art Deco or Pop Art), and even determine the emotional response of your audience.

Color ways (discrete color choices for a particular project) in cool colors can evoke Northern or alpine scenes:

The same color way, shifted toward the green, can evoke the tropics:

Shifted toward orange and brown, it evokes the Southwest:

Color can be tricky, especially as you navigate the differences between printed color and computer color. For color work on the computer, I rely on the color card created by VisiBone (as I did to select the above color ways), and highly recommend it. The card shows the relationship between the 216 commonly-supported web colors, grouped by hue.

[ For those who do web design, this bookmarklet will generate the 216-color card right in your browser. I find it invaluable in my own work. -- Ben ]

For printed color description tools, of course, nothing beats Pantone, though Toyo inks have made significant inroads, and the new six-, seven-, and even eight-color printing systems are worth checking out.

There are many color description systems, but here are some basic terms:

Colors can be created using additive (pigments) and subtractive (light) methods: Colors can be arranged in particular ways in color systems:

Here are some sites where you can explore color theory and color management terminology:
http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/320624.html
http://www.colorsystem.com/
http://www.commarts.com/CA/feadesign/color4x/01_colorx.html
http://www.worqx.com/color/
http://www.gretagmacbeth.com/index/products/products_color-standards.htm
http://kiptron.psyc.virginia.edu/steve_boker/ColorVision2/node16.html (the Munsell color system)
http://www.anthus.com/Colors/NBS.html (color definitions using words)
http://www.w3.org/Graphics/Color/sRGB (definition of sRGB)
http://www.ledet.com/margulis/How_CM_Failed.pdf (an older article on color management and the problems of implementing it, but still of interest)
http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/color_spaces.htm
http://www.ncscolor.com/webbizz/mainPage/default.asp
http://dx.sheridan.com/advisor/cmyk_color.html
http://www.photomigrations.com/articles/0409400.htm
http://www.devx.com/projectcool/Article/19954/0/page/3
http://www.techexchange.com/thelibrary/ColorGamut.html
http://www.udel.edu/cookbook/scan-print/gamut.html
http://209.196.177.41/10/10-01.htm (simple color definitions)
http://www.large-format-printers.org (university research institute on big printers)
http://www.color-tec.com/1gloss.htm (color definitions)

Here are sites providing various tools or services for handling color:
http://www.chromix.com/colorthink/?PID=1.Gcct (a color management toolset composed of nine modules)
http://www.ccicolor.com/standards.html (color standard creator)
http://www.drycreekphoto.com/tools/printer_gamuts/ (printer, camera, and scanner color gamut comparisons)
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/digital/dlc/book3/chapter2/ (course on basic color theory and how color is represented and reproduced digitally)
http://www.color.org/(International Color Consortium)

Finally, an actual book on the subject: Real World Color Management by Bruce Fraser, Fred Bunting, and Chris Murphy, published by Peachpit Press in 2003. Highly recommended by those who know:


(click on the book for more information or to order it)


[BIO]

I started doing graphic design in junior high school, when it was still the Dark Ages of technology. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were both eleven years old, and the state of the art was typing copy on Gestetner masters. I've worked on every new technology since, but I still own an X-acto knife and know how to use it.

I've been a freelancer, and worked in advertising agencies, printing companies, publishing houses, and marketing organizations in major corporations. I also did a dozen years [1985-1997] at Apple Computer; my first Macintosh was a Lisa with an astounding 1MB of memory, and my current one is a Cube with a flat screen.

I've had a website up since 1997, and created my latest one in 2004. I'm still, painfully, learning how web design is different from, but not necessarily better than, print.

Copyright © 2004, Mark Seymour. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

Emacs and Email: The VM Mail Package

By V. L. Simpson

If you've been using a GNU/Linux system for more than, let's say, a few days, you've probably noticed the plethora of email reading software that's included with said system.

And you've no doubt observed a variety of text editors lurking about, waiting to confuse you with esoteric interfaces.

Well, you don't get much more esoteric than the GNU Emacs text editor - what with Usenet, FTP, Telnet, and Email capabilities built-in as standard features. You can even do IRC or play Zork while you're working in emacs.

Emacs has three built-in mail reading and sending interfaces:

RMAIL
RMAIL is a basic (and the default) mail reading package.
MH-E
MH-E is a front-end for the MH mail tools.
Gnus
Gnus is mainly a Usenet reading package but has capabilities for reading mail and doing other strange things.

Now that you know your options inherent in Emacs I'm going to tell you about my favorite non-standard mail user agent (MUA): VM (View Mail) written by Kyle Jones.

In this article I'm going to cover installing, setting up, and using VM as your primary email interface.

Since I use GNU Emacs exclusively, that editor will be the primary focus, but this can be adapted to other emacsen as necessary. I'm also going to assume you have the base knowledge of executing emacs commands and key bindings and what the '~/.emacs' file is. But I'll toss in some generic emacs hints every now and then.

If you're an emacs newbie, I highly recommend taking the built-in tutorial (if you haven't already) to learn how emacs uses the control, escape, and tab keys to auto-complete and execute its various commands. Type the keys 'C-h t' (that's Control-h then t) to start.

Installing VM

Let me state at the outset that none of this is a one-way street. If you've been using some other mail program such as Pine or Mutt that uses the standard UNIX mbox format, you can always go back to them if VM turns out to be a dead end for your use. As a matter of fact you can switch between them with no problems. VM doesn't use any strange mailbox [1] format that breaks compatibility with other mail programs. VM can also handle RMAIL Babyl, Bell, SYSV, and MMDF formats. Maildir and MH folders can be read with a bit of tweaking. (See FAQ reference at end of article.)

VM is not part of the standard GNU Emacs lisp packages so it may be necessary for you to install VM on your own. Check your Linux distribution's available packages to see if it can be installed via rpm, apt-get, or whatever tool is appropriate.

Following are some notes and observations building the VM package from the source code.

First, it would do well to look over and adjust some variables in the Makefile (there's no configure script). Here's the configuration section with the original values commented out and my installation tweaks following:


# top of the installation
#prefix = /usr/local
prefix = /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp   

# where the Info file should go
#INFODIR = ${prefix}/lib/emacs/info
INFODIR = /usr/local/info
# You'll have to enter an entry for VM to the info/dir file by
hand.  Look at any entry for the format.

# where the vm.elc, tapestry.elc, etc. files should go
#LISPDIR = ${prefix}/lib/emacs/site-lisp
LISPDIR = ${prefix}/vm

# where the toolbar pixmaps should go.
# vm-toolbar-pixmap-directory must point to the same place.
# vm-image-directory must point to the same place.
# 
#PIXMAPDIR = ${prefix}/lib/emacs/etc/vm
PIXMAPDIR = ${prefix}/vm

# where the binaries should be go.
BINDIR = /usr/local/bin  # This is for some optional C programs
                         # that come with the distribution.

The above settings then put all the VM files in '/usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/vm' and the info files in '/usr/info' (assuming you have root access.)

You can follow my suggestions if they match with your particular Emacs installation tree or you can ignore everything here, run 'make' and hand-copy the files wherever you want to put them. Nothing gets hard-coded in the files so it's fine if you just byte-compile them and skip the 'make install' command. Just make sure you put the ultimate destination in your emacs load-path (which will be covered in a moment). You could, if you wish, just unpack the source files, run make and add that path to the load-path variable.

Configuring VM

Load Path

If you've installed the vm*.el[c] files someplace other than the site-lisp directory you will need to add that path to the load-path' variable.
Use the function 'add-to-list'.
These forms need to go in your '$HOME/.emacs file'. Use your favorite editor (emacs, of course) to create the file if you don't have one already.
Example:


     (add-to-list 'load-path "~/.emacs.d/lisp/vm")

Place the cursor after this code and press "C-xC-e".
This runs 'eval-last-sexp' and updates the load-path. There is no need to exit and restart emacs.[2]

Autoload VM Commands

Emacs has a function called autoload that allows emacs to know about functions and commands that have not been loaded into a running emacs with functions such as "load", "load-file", and "load-library".

Here are some suggested autoloads taken from the VM documentation:


     (autoload 'vm "vm" "Start VM on your primary inbox." t)
     (autoload 'vm-other-frame "vm" "Like `vm' but starts in another frame." t)
     (autoload 'vm-visit-folder "vm" "Start VM on an arbitrary folder." t)
     (autoload 'vm-visit-virtual-folder "vm" "Visit a VM virtual folder." t)
     (autoload 'vm-mode "vm" "Run VM major mode on a buffer" t)
     (autoload 'vm-mail "vm" "Send a mail message using VM." t)
     (autoload 'vm-submit-bug-report "vm" "Send a bug report about VM." t)

An easy way to make emacs aware of this new code is to highlight the region containing the autoload definitions and typing
"M-x eval-region".

[ Note: "M-" is emacs-speak for the 'Alt' key. -- Ben ]

Now you can type 'M-x any-of-the-above-commands' The main vm package file is loaded and the command is executed.

If all your mail is delivered to your system mailbox (usually '/var/spool/mail/$USER') the above is all you need to set in order to use VM. To check your mail type 'M-x vm'. VM will load, read your system mailbox and move the mail into the file ~/INBOX by default. From there just hit the space bar and you'll walk through whatever mail you have.

The following sections will cover setting up your general email environment within emacs and some interesting VM features.

Emacs Email Environment

Following are some general emacs variables you might wish to set in your '~/.emacs' file:


     (setq user-full-name "Your Full Name"
           mail-from-style 'angles
           user-mail-address "you@somewhere.on.the.internet"
           mail-default-reply-to user-mail-address)     

Use the "C-h v variable-name" command to read documentation on the above variables.

VM Features

VM has quite a few variables controlling its behavior. In order to help keep a handle on these options, VM reads the file '$HOME/.vm' after starting up. Other than the autoloaded functions described above, all vm options can be stored in this file to help keep your .emacs file manageable.

VM Display

VM's default display configuration is, for me, a bit annoying. If you run emacs under X, VM will make a new frame for just about everything you do. To keep various windows and buffers in one frame, add these options to your .emacs or .vm file:


     (setq vm-mutable-windows t
           vm-mutable-frames nil)

POP Mailboxes

You can access remote mailboxes from VM via POP3 with the command: 'M-x vm-visit-pop-folder.'

Set this option:[3]


(setq vm-pop-folder-alist
      '(
        ("pop:your.pop3.server:110:pass:remote username:*" "identifier")
        ("pop:another.pop.server:110:pass:remote username:*" "unique id")
      ))

The '*' stands in for your POP password, you'll be prompted after running 'vm-visit-pop-folder'. "identifier" is a name you can give to this pop box as an alias for that long "pop:" format. You'll be prompted for the identifier. You might want autoload that command

Miscellaneous Features

I'll just list these as the configuration and explanation is a bit hairy for this article. Please read through the VM FAQ and check the manual for more thorough explanations.

One feature I use a lot that needs a bit of detail is the option 'dired-bind-vm'. Add this bit of code to your .emacs file:

     (add-hook 'dired-load-hook
               (lambda ()
                 (setq dired-bind-vm t)))

What does this do? It sets the 'V' key in Dired Mode to run vm on a file the cursor happens to be on. So what I do is run dired-mode on my $HOME/Mail directory. I scan through all my procmail-split mboxes very quickly using the 'n' 'V' and 'q' keys. Sounds more painful than it is. It's something you'll just have to try to really see what I mean. Go ahead, try it. It won't hurt.

Interesting VM Add-ons

A couple of third-party add-ons to VM that I use.

vm-pine.el
vm-pine.el adds draft handling features that the base VM package lacks. If you follow the set-up instructions in the commentary section of the file about binding to 'C-xm', you'll also need to autoload vm function 'vm-initialize-session'.
          (autoload 'vm-initialize-session "vm")
u-vm-color.el
Adds some extra colorization to the default vm display. Ultimately, it's pointless. But it's a little extra color in your life, so why not.

VM Resources

NOTES:
1. VM does utilize its own mail file format. It's merely the standard mbox style with some vm specific headers the program needs for vm to process the mail files. You'll never know they exist unless you look at the raw mail file.

2. This applies to any code you may add to your emacs initialization file.

3. Yes, I know Emacs lisp has a strange syntax. You'll get used to it. Trust me. Copy the form and put your own parameters in if you wish to try these.


[BIO] V. L. Simpson, after being unceremoniously (and rather rudely) informed that GNU Emacs is not an operating system, has been re-adjusted to a happy, regular life after many protracted sessions with 'the doctor'.

A webpage is available here.

Copyright © 2004, V. L. Simpson. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

Ecol

By Javier Malonda

The Ecol comic strip is written for escomposlinux.org (ECOL), the web site that supports es.comp.os.linux, the Spanish USENET newsgroup for Linux. The strips are drawn in Spanish and then translated to English by the author.

These images are scaled down to minimize horizontal scrolling. To see a panel in all its clarity, click on it.

All Ecol cartoons are at tira.escomposlinux.org (Spanish), comic.escomposlinux.org (English) and http://tira.puntbarra.com/ (Catalan). The Catalan version is translated by the people who run the site; only a few episodes are currently available.

These cartoons are copyright Javier Malonda. They may be copied, linked or distributed by any means. However, you may not distribute modifications. If you link to a cartoon, please notify Javier, who would appreciate hearing from you.


Copyright © 2004, Javier Malonda. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

The Linux Laundrette

By Jimmy O'Regan

Christmas Greetings

[ This was sent to LG's admin list, so please read 'this month' for 'next month' etc. ]
I've been trying to think of ways to add something to next month's issue to mark that it's the December issue; the issue of the holiday season. I thought it might be nice to have a "Greeting Card" section (thoroughly off-topic, so it's Laundrette territory [1]) where we can leave each other the gift of a few kind words under the virtual tree.

One obvious problem is that it's embarassing to forget to mention someone, and thanking everyone around here for everything would probably take us all much longer than a month, but I think this can work if we try to grab some of the holiday spirit in advance.

I'll try to get the ball rolling; I'll just mention the people who've participated in this thread to excuse memory, lack of time, etc.

Ben: thank you for prodding some of my random thoughts into a form I could shape into an article, on so many occassions.

Heather: the CPU fan you tried to DCC me is hanging in my virtual stocking; the thought counts double for comedy.

Thomas: Thanks for inspiring my KGPG and Kile articles. (Now that I've offended you by naming you as inspiration for something KDE related, let me point out that I mean you inspired the idea of introducing the back end as well as front end :)

Mike: Thanks for keeping me in touch with stuff that happens in the real world. It's a big place, but I manage to not notice it a lot of the time.

Rick and Brian: Thanks for helping me to trick the readers into thinking I can write. The fools!

[1] I normally consider anything that comes from these lists to be fair game, but I'm going to make this an exception; if you like the idea of having this section, say so, and your thoughts will be added.

[ I'd also like to thank our readers (especially those who send feedback), translators (hi Marcin!) and... well, everybody, basically. 'Tis the Season. ]

As I Mature

[ My friend Mark sent this. I had to include it, after such a bout of sincerity. ]

Now lads as we know I HATE chain mail thus I deleted the chain mail piece fom the bottom of this email and instead I am sending this as a thought for the day.

I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in.

[ Not strictly true If it helps your defense in the inevitable trial, there's this chemical called phenylethylamine that's released when you fall in love. MDMA, the active ingredient of Ecstacy, has similar (though stronger) effects. If your solicitor doesn't know this, he/she can't get you off for diminished capacity. ]

I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people are just assholes.

[ Aw... you remembered :) ]

I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and it only takes suspicion, not proof, to destroy it.

I've learned that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better have a big willy or huge boobs.

I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to others - they are more screwed up than you think.

[ Scientifically proven! ]

I've learned that you can keep vomiting long after you think you're finished.

[ Hey, I'm not the only one! ]

I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, unless we are celebrities.

I've learned that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades, and there had better be a lot of money to take its place!

I've learned that 99% of the time when something isn't working in your house, one of your kids did it

I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and all the less important ones just never go away.


Links

This feeds into the in-joke I mentioned last month: Giant squid are taking over the world

"A group of geeks aimed to find out whether running cheap vodka through a brita water filter would make it drinkable. They claim after several passes through the filter the cheap vodka surpassed the premium Ketel One in drinkability tests. I think they should have done the test 'double blind' although drinking Vladmir Vodka probably could make you go blind anyways... =)"

http://www.ohmygoditburns.com/

[Jimmy] 'format c:' vs. 'rm -rf' http://hohle.net/scrap_post.php?post=23&m=full

[Pete Jewell] The resulting discussion on /. was quite interesting too...

http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/03/0358246


[ I had this last month, but it's worth having again. ]

[Sluggo] Found this link somewhere in the Gentoo forums. http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=04/10/30/1322227

The Debian quote is great: "Debian users take pride in the fact that their distribution is always several releases behind the latest version of the kernel, but makes up for that by being more difficult to install and use."


[Brad] Gentoo Ricers

When you get past how silly this is, you realize that it really isn't that complimentary to the average Linux user who doesn't give a damn about tweaking their machine to within an inch of the machine's life.


[Sluggo] Dvorak thinks Microsoft is preparing to release a Linux distribution, and that's why they went after the Lindows name so heavily last year.

Interview with Stuard Cohen, chief of the Open Systems Development Labs, the company that now employs Linus.


Sluggo also sent this: The Day the Democrats Lost the Election

A gift from Heather

[ From IRC, Nov 1. ]
<jimregan>      Grr.
<jimregan>      Damned CPU fan has dropped dead.
<editorgal>     :(
<editorgal>     vega did that a while back
<editorgal>     we fixed the fan but still haven't gotten around
 to the hd rearrangement jim said he wanted to do
<editorgal>     so afaik he's still running off knoppix
<editorgal>     it's funny
<editorgal>     brightest machine in the house and he's running
it basically diskless
<jimregan>      Heh.
<jimregan>      Tried doing that yesterday, but Knoppix doesn't
come with IrDA stuff
<editorgal>     I have spare pentium fans shall I dcc you one?
<jimregan>      Heh. Sure.
*       editorgal makes sure it's bz2'd into its little box
<editorgal>      DCC SEND from editorgal (file
bright_blue_pentium_heatsink_and_fan.bz2)
<editorgal>     ;P
[ It turns out the fan was just clogged with dust. I really have to remember to dust my PC's innards more often. ]

Spam Jokes

Clinton -vs- Titanic

Similarities between the Titanic video and the Clinton grand jury testimony video:

Titanic: over 3 hours long Clinton: over 3 hours long

Titanic: The story of Jack and Rose, their forbidden love, a subsequent catastrophe Clinton: The story of Bill and Monica, their forbidden love, a subsequent catastrophe

Titanic: villain - White Star Line Clinton: villain - Ken Starr

Titanic: Jack is a starving artist Clinton: Bill is a B.S. artist

Titanic: In one part, Jack enjoys a good cigar Clinton: Ditto for Bill

Titanic: During ordeal, Rose's dress gets ruined Clinton: Ditto for Monica

Titanic: Jack teaches Rose to spit Clinton: Let's not go there

Titanic: Rose gets to keep her jewelry Clinton: Monica forced to return her gifts

Titanic: Behind the scenes, Leonardo DiCaprio is wildly popular Clinton: Behind the scenes, Bill has a 70% approval rating

Titanic: Jack surrenders to an icy death Clinton: Bill goes home to Hillary


A blonde got lost in her car in a snowstorm. She remembered what her dad had once told her. ''If you ever get stuck in a snowstorm, wait for a snow plow and follow it.'' Pretty soon a snow plow came by, and she started to follow it. She followed the plow for about 45 minutes.

Finally, the driver of the truck got out and asked her what she was doing. She explained that her dad had told her if she ever got stuck in the snow, to follow a plow. The driver nodded and said, ''Well, I'm done with the parking lot here at Wal-Mart, now you can follow me over to K-Mart.''


A road construction manager needed to hire someone to paint the yellow lines down the middle of a newly constructed road. A blonde, a brunette, and a redhead all get hired. They are each assigned a section of the road. The first day, the blonde paints 2 miles, the redhead 1.5, and the brunette only 1. On the second day, the blonde paints 1 mile, the brunette 2, and the redheaed 2.5. On the third day, the blonde only gets 1/4 of a mile done, the redheaed 3, and the brunette 3.5. The manager decides to talk to the blonde.

"You haven't been painting as much road as you did on the first day,'' the manager said. ''What's the problem?''

''I'd be painting more, but the bucket keeps getting farther and farther away!''


U.S. Election

Normally, I'd be the first to complain when I see Americocentrism [1]: the comment on a spelling change in Wikipedia, "Who the hell spells it 'centre'?" (um... the British, Irish, Australians, Canadians...); the comment in LG72: 'Note the silent "e" in writeable. The configuration file has it even though the ordinary word doesn't. The same applies to browseable below. Actually, Samba accepts it either way, but Samba's manpages use writeable.' (The smb.conf manpage once had 'writable: synonym for writeable for people who can't spell' -- Samba was created by an Australian).

That's just spelling: don't get me started on that MM/DD/YY thing, sports analogies, or calling football soccer. This list would normally include politics, but the U.S. elections were of great interest to most people, Americans and non-Americans alike, and lead to some great comedy in the wake of Bush's victory.

I will, however, concede on the "Leader of the Free World" title Americans give to their leader (to the annoyance of every other citizen of a democracy); even though the net result is the same, America's Constitution does not grant rights, it merely establishes that they exist, and so sets restrictions on the government; most others do grant rights. Ireland's contitution, for example, grants freedom of association, of the press, and guarantees a right to privacy, but includes loopholes so that these rights only exist until you might need to exercise them; Americans have an absolute right to remain silent when in police custody, but in Ireland that only comes into effect once you've given your name and address (so the police can harass you at will).

[1] Because I'm Irish: a) that means I'm not American (despite the assumptions of Irish-Americans :); and b) complaining is our national pass-time.

[ From Michael Moore's mailing list came "17 Reasons Not to Slit Your Wrists": here's 7 of the funniest. ]

1. It is against the law for George W. Bush to run for president again.

2. Bush's victory was the NARROWEST win for a sitting president since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.

3. The only age group in which the majority voted for Kerry was young adults (Kerry: 54%, Bush: 44%), proving once again that your parents are always wrong and you should never listen to them.

6. Michigan voted for Kerry! So did the entire Northeast, the birthplace of our democracy. So did 6 of the 8 Great Lakes States. And the whole West Coast! Plus Hawaii. Ok, that's a start. We've got most of the fresh water, all of Broadway, and Mt. St. Helens. We can dehydrate them or bury them in lava. And no more show tunes!

8. 88% of Bush's support came from white voters. In 50 years, America will no longer have a white majority. Hey, 50 years isn't such a long time! If you're ten years old and reading this, your golden years will be truly golden and you will be well cared for in your old age.

9. Gays, thanks to the ballot measures passed on Tuesday, cannot get married in 11 new states. Thank God. Just think of all those wedding gifts we won't have to buy now.

12. Admit it: We like the Bush twins and we don't want them to go away.

[ Slashdot comments : ]

* Oh Canada!

I guess I better learn the rest of that.

* Re:Oh Canada!

Are you sure you want to be a victim of America's foreign policy?

* How to Entertain Yourself until Thanksgiving

- Calculate your share of the National Deficit

- Take up assault weapon collecting as a hobby

- Figure out how to best invest your $300 annual Bush tax savings to cover the social security benefits you'll never get

- Become rich, then get all your income from mostly untaxed dividends and capital gains income

- Join the guard and train for a one year tour of duty in Iraq

- Move so that the selective service can't find you

- Take some gay people and a girlfriend (work with me here) to Vegas. Taunt them by getting married and divorced inside of 12 hours.

- Make a sign saying "The Government should stay out of our lives!" and go protest in front of an abortion clinic.

- Pick up bow and arrow making to capitalize on the new corporate tax incentives

- Do something illegal, get arrested, and excercise your right to trial before 4 years of Bush-appointed, Republican confirmed Supreme Court appointees uphold the Patriot Act's elimination of right to trial.

Disclaimer: The author accepts no responsibility for failure to detect any sarcasm present in the above post.


Notice of Revocation of Independence

[Ben]

Totally non-Linux, but I figure that the UK-based folks here should get a chuckle. As for us on this side of the pond, well, we knew it was all coming to an end; this last election was a strong indicator. "Not with a '!' but with a Windsor..." - something like that, right?

(penned somewhere in the U.K.)

Notice of Revocation of Independence

To the Citizens of the United States of America:

In the light of your recent failure to elect a reasonable president and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories. Except Utah, which she does not fancy. Your new Prime Minister (Tony Blair for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a Minister for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid to the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

* You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up "aluminium". Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary".

In addition, using the same 27 words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and ineffective form of communication. Look up "interspersed".

* There is no such thing as "US English". We will let Microsoft know on your behalf.

* You should learn to distinguish between English and Australian accents. It really isn't that hard.

* Hollywood will be required to occasionally cast English actors as the good guys.

* You will no longer be allowed to play American football. There is only one kind of football. What you refer to as "football" is not a very good game. The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays American football. Instead you should play proper football. Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is a difficult game. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every 20 seconds or wearing full body armour like nancies).

* You should declare war on Quebec and France, using nuclear weapons if they give you any merde. The 97.85% of you who were not aware that there is a world outside your borders should count yourselves lucky. The Russians have never been the bad guys. (Merde is French for "sh*t".)

* All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and it is for your own good. When we show you German Cars, you will understand what we mean.

* Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.

Thank you for your co-operation.


Spell cheque

[Jimmy] Rick and Brian: Thanks for helping me to trick the readers into thinking I can write. The fools!

[Rick] Ewe kin thank my soft wear that I ewes two spell cheque. It makes any pros look good.

[Sluggo] Laundrette quote!! Laundrette quote!!

[Jimmy] You mean "Land Bette Quwait", right?


More yoga fun

[Ben] I just subscribed to Yoga Journal (one of those "get a free issue and we get to bother you for a while" deals), and got a "bonus": a pretty little PDF entitled "Yoga Remedies for Everyday Ailments". The first thing that caught my eye was the table of contents:
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Computer Vision Syndrome
Insomnia
Common Cold
Headache
Stress
Back Pain
Depression
Customer Service

WHOA! If they discovered relief for Customer Service, those ancient yogis were some smart cookies!

As to the cure for "Computer Vision Syndrome" (I know that some of you were just about to ask): become a Corpse. No, really; Savasana (the Corpse pose) is what's recommended. I think this is different from saying "f**k off and die", but it may just have been lost in the translation from the original Sanskrit...


In Search Of Open-Source Experts

[Jimmy] http://informationweek.linuxpipeline.com/52600065 Mentions Ballmer's email, and quotes Faber:

'One of the chief complaints of CIOs and CEOs is that they can't find enough qualified open-source programmers, says Faber Fedor, an open-source consultant with services firm Linux NJ.com Inc. "I don't think there are enough experienced people out there for the demand," he says. Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio agrees. "There's a dearth of skilled Linux administrators, by comparison to the more-mature Windows, Unix, NetWare, and Macintosh environments," she says. And what happens when too much demand meets too little supply? "They can command a premium," DiDio says. "They get a 20% to 30% salary premium in the large metropolitan markets."'

[Sluggo] This is a joke, right? Or an attempt to push the market in a certain direction by stating what you hope for as if it were a fact? (As Ben Okopnik's father Stalin did so well.)

[Ben] Son, not father. You keep telling me I'm an old fart - you just don't know the extent of it.

[Sluggo] I only wish employers were begging for open-source developers and Linux administrators. Then I'd have a lot more choices for jobs. But most jobs still seem to require Windows skills, and I turn those down rather than putting the time and expense into training for them.

[Ben] It's not the skills - it's you. They see that geeky Pythoneer look, the bald head, and the leather jacket, and they run to lock and bar the doors and windows.

[Sluggo] I guess when I stick my tongue out and hiss, it doesn't help.

[Ben] [laugh] Yesterday, when we were assigned one posture each to teach, the woman that got Bujangasana, the Cobra, is now known as Sssswami Ssssuzy. And I got to learn just how vitally important humor is to me in a learning situation. Good stuff all around.

I got my least favorite posture, Paschimottanasana (seated forward bend, A.K.A. "intense stretch of the west [back]"), and discovered a way to at least not hate it. I also discovered that I'd been "hiding" my outside hamstrings when I was doing it. Man, you really learn when you teach... but I've known that for a long time.


Semantic President

[Jimmy] In my RDF article, I quoted Tim Berners-Lee: ``` The Semantic Web is an extension of the current web where information is given well-defined meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation. '''

I saw this today: http://leobard.twoday.net/stories/393733/

"The Semantic President is an extension of the current president in which speech is given well-defined meaning, better enabling presidents and people to work in cooperation."


Vagueness

[Thomas] Vagueness makes baby Jesus cry...

[Ben] ...and remember, every time you're imprecise in your communication, somewhere a homeless kitten gets run over by a Mack truck. And it'll all be your fault.

[Brian] That's not nearly as guilt inducing as running over the kitten with a home,

[Ben] I don't know that running them over with a home would be more painful than doing it with a Mack truck, but you're welcome to be creative and report the results.

[Brian] given not ten minutes ago to the five year old girl standing by the side of the road, spattered, red, and crying as she fumbles with her inhaler.

[Ben] I like it! I'm sure you'll soon be getting an email from Upstairs, thanking you for the idea; the new variation will be implemented ASAP, and beta testers are urged to apply to the appropriate agency.

[Brian] Now, that is guilt [1]. Personally, I blame my state of mind on the whole gang of Monty Python with special mention going to Cleese and Chapman:

Mrs. Conclusion (Chapman): Hullo, Mrs. Premise.

Mrs. Premise (Cleese): Hullo, Mrs. Conclusion.

Conclusion: Busy Day?

Premise: Busy? I just spent four hours burying the cat.

Conclusion: Four hours to bury a cat?

Premise: Yes - it wouldn't keep still.

[Ben] [snort] Must have been the one from Schroedinger's box again. I coulda told him.

[Brian] Happy Saturday.

.brian

[1] Fortunately, I have an electric monk to pray for my soul.

[Ben] Oooh, is that the bobble-head kind? I always wanted one of those; they work really well on a boat.

[Jason] "somewhere"? And what is the truck driver's name? By your own standards, that sentence probably dispatched at least two kittens.

[Ben] Not at all; I'm being 100% precise to the limit of available data. If I tried to fill in the empty spaces with invented crap, that would be less precise - and I don't like hearing kitty-squishing.

[Jason] However, if it makes you feel any better, they might not have been cute. Or perhaps they were. If we could observe them being run over, the possible states would collapse to one. (Curiosity may have killed Schrodinger's cat.)

[Ben] Schroedinger was WRONG. The cat in his box has a very definite state: pissed off. Those who have tried the experiment and opened the box afterwards have no doubts (they may have large medical bills, but no doubts.)

[Jason] Of course, since we're looking at them being run over by a Mack truck, this may bias the results slightly towards the "non-cute" side. We'll have to take that into account.

[Ben] [This image has been burned into your brain by the Guilt-Trippers Society of America. Have a nice day.]


Congratulations Ben

[Ben] Hey, folks -

Totally non-Linux, but wanted to share this with you all:

[ brand-new Yoga Teacher's certificate ]

[Thomas] ... to write that down, you had to bend over double and turn upside down, I'm sure. :)

[Jimmy] Well, Ben is the sort of guy who'd bend over backwards for his friends. (You all got that midi file, right?)

[Ben] http://okopnik.freeshell.org/img/kapotasana.jpg

No, that's not me. B.K.S. Iyengar - seen in the above pics at the age of 60 - is still doing all of the above, and far more complex postures as well, at the age of 80. It would probably take a nuke to kill the old man; I can't imagine any part of his body wearing out... If you want to see some really unbelievable postures as well as perfect alignment in all of them, stop by a book store and take a look at his "Light on Yoga". You'll swear the human body can't do that. Repeatedly.

[Thomas] Well done, Ben. :)

[Breen] Very cool (soy?) beans, Ben. Congrats!

[Ben] [chuckle] Thanks, Breen. I'll take the regular frijoles, though; I'd hate to start turning a soy-lent green...

[Jimmy] It'll be hanging in the Laundrette next issue too. Way to go! But... you know... you applied yourself to the task and succeeded, which sounds like the Ben I know, so wasn't that email superfluous? :)

[Ben] Awwww. I'm gonna blush now. :)

[Jason] Yeah, Ben, you expect us to be shocked or something? :-)

[Ben] Nah. If I got some electrodes, a Tesla generator, wired you up and cranked the handle, then I'd expect you to be shocked - and would be quite disappointed in you if you weren't. As it is, I just expect you to get into Adho Mukha Shvanasana using Dirgha and Ujjayi Pranayama, holding Bahaya Kumbhaka and applying Muladhara Bandha, Uddayana Bandha, and Jalandhara Bandha.

[Jimmy] Przepraszam? Nie rozumiem.

[ Zrozumię? ]

[Ben] Why not? Don't you understand plain English? Um, well, FSVO "plain". And "English" (somewhat akin to the English you used just above.)

[Jimmy] Heh. I could have said "Gáibh mo leithscéal. Ní thuigim", which will actually pass for English around here. (In a pub, after a few pints).

[Ben] It's not like I'm asking for the world or anything; I'm a man of simple desires.

[Jimmy] Yeah. A small continent or two, nothing greedy.

[Ben] Jeez, at least you understand. Why is everybody else having such a problem?

[Jimmy] So few continents... they think you're eyeing up their intended land masses, y'see. And get this - then they have the temerity to act offended when you say there'll be plenty of room to offer them a grave. Some people.

[Ben]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                       This is to certify that

                          Benjamin Okopnik

 has completed the 200-hour Discovery Yoga Teacher Training Program,
 and having met all requirements as set forth by the national Yoga
 Alliance is hereby designated and authorized to use the title

                       CERTIFIED YOGA TEACHER


					I set my signature on the
					Eighteenth day of November
					in the year Two Thousand Four


					Deva Parnell, Director,
					Discovery Yoga
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"WOO and HOO", as a friend of mine is wont to say. I am more stoked than words can tell.

[Jay]

> Outstanding in your field, sirrah.  Congrats. 
                             ^^^^^^ 

[Ben] "I do not think that word means what you think it means." :) Intent of compliment accepted; thank you!

[Jay] [ looks in dictionary(.com) ]

Aw, schidt.

[Ben] Hey, pal, no worries. I knew what you meant. :) It's somewhat like the relatively common misuse of "fulsome": sounds grand and complimentary, but - whups!

[Breen] Or 'infamous'.

[Jay] Sorry, Ben. Yeah; not what I meant. :-}

[Jay] First your boat survives; now this. Who knew?

[Ben] I'm still waiting for fame, fortune, etc., but now it's gotta be just a matter of time. Surely the world will soon beat a path to my door... although the experience is likely to be rather wet and may require scuba gear.

[Brian] The world did beat a path to your door. Four times this year. They're called "hurricanes", Ben. But at least you remembered the damp bits...

<WAG>

[Ben] Oh yeah... It must have been a "first try" kind of thing; they forgot the adulation and the heaps of cash. I'll just have to wait till next year and see if they get it right this time.


[Melanie] I am trying to understand the Linux World, and all of its characteristics.

[Jimmy] The word that best illustrates the problem here is 'world'; it best describes the magnitude of the problem. As it happens, I found my introduction to Unix today -- that is, "AIX for Customer Engineers: Quick Reference Card" (ZR23-6948-00, if anyone cares :), which my uncle gave me one day when he brought my brothers and me to his workplace to play multiplayer 'Doom' (I don't remember when this was, but I know it was before Doom 2). From that, I learned a few basic commands.

[Jason] Just out of curiousity, what does a "Customer Engineer" do? Do they design customers? 'cause I've got some killer ideas for a customer. :-)

[Jimmy] Heh. Customer Engineer == marketroid for 'user'.

[Jimmy] (This is the part where I slowly meander to "the point").

[Jason] Oh! "The point"! I've heard of that. It's kind of like a...no, more like a...I don't exactly know how to describe it. What was I talking about?

[Jimmy] Come to think of it, I don't think Irish has a word for 'the point' either :)

[Jason] Oh yes! How about those Red Sox?

[Jimmy] Y'know, I keep reading about them, but I don't get it. What was it that happened? Did they hire two of the Four Horsemen, or something?

[Jason] Just one. With Discworld's greatest milkman on their side, it was easy.

[Jimmy] That explains it. Good at delivering white items. Could have had a career in Columbia.

[ This, of course, refers to "Thief of Time" by Terry Pratchett ]

[Jason]

But that is not my point. Clearly, I have no point.
		-- Dave Barry

[Jimmy] I recommended Wikipedia as a source for articles about computing topics; hopefully this list will be useful as a reference card for you.

[Jason] Ditto on this. Wikipedia is full of useful stuff, and not just on computing-related topics.

<sniped Jimmy's impressive list>

[Jimmy] You sniped it? Jason, you know Ben and I have a... sideline, and we're always interested in extending the franchise.

[Ben] And he's starting so well, too! A list, how classic...

  As some day it may happen that a victim must be found,
       I've got a little list - I've got a little list
  Of society offenders who might well be underground,
       And who never would be missed - who never would be missed!
  There's the pestilential nuisances who write for autographs - 
  All people who have flabby hands and irritating laughs - 
  All children who are up in dates, and floor you with 'em flat - 
  All persons who in shaking hands, shake hands with you like that - 
  And all third persons who on spoiling tete-a-tetes insist - 
       They'd none of 'em be missed - they'd none of 'em be missed!

   -- Koko, the Lord High Executioner in W.S. Gilbert's "Mikado"

[Jason] Oh, really? Hmmm...that's in interesting offer. And yet, Given that nature of this...business, it refusal really an option?

[Jimmy] Y'know, it's not so much that we want to keep the nature of the ... subject of which we speak secret, more that I tend to get ahead of myself, assume too much, and we end up with stationary we can't use. Normally, this would lead to unpleasantness, but certain buttons have been pushed in my psyche, and the world is taking on a red hue (and it's not blood spatters either - I checked), so we can let it go this time.

[Jason] Or, can I walk away from the table anytime I want, just like Vetinari's offer in the excerpt of "Going Postal" that's available online? (Speaking of which, has anybody read that? Is it up to Pratchett standards?)

[Jimmy] I have, and yes, it is. It's a bit less dark than the past few books, but as funny as you would have come to expect. It reminded me a lot of 'The Truth'.


Twisted Update

[Sluggo]

I've been installing Gentoo applications at home since Sunday. Previously I'd done the basic installation (tarballs, kernel, configuration). Sunday I ran "emerge sync" (which updates the list of available builds), "emerge portage" (which updates the package manager) and "emerge system" (which updates all the base packages, of which there were only five or six since the 2004.2 release). But "emerge xorg-x11" run from Sunday night to Tuesday, and "emerge kde" started Tuesday night and is still running. (It's now Thursday morning.) To be sure, it's installing a lot of dependencies as well as those packages, including LDAP and Samba which I don't need. Still, it took only three nights on my two 1.5 GHz Pentium 4s at work, and it was finished by morning. (Actually, some of the nights it worked only three hours and was done.) What a difference a 450 MHz AMD K6-2 Duron makes. It's a third the speed, but still, it's been compiling continuously 24 hours for four days. I've taken two breaks to switch to my existing Debian for some Firefox websurfing, but that was just a couple hours each. Once KDE is on, I have some 35 other applications to install.

[Jimmy] Hee hee. I posted a broken version of this on IRC, but here's a working version. If you're familiar with Debian's vrms, you'll welcome vta (though obviously it should be in Ruby):

#!/usr/bin/perl

use warnings;
use strict;

while (<>)
{
    print "> $_";
    if (/java/i)
    {
        print "\nSo much bloat, so little use\n\n";
    }
    elsif (/kde/i)
    {
        print "\nIf I wanted to get rid of my RAM, I'd take it out of the
machine\n\n";
    }
}

I think I'll have a look for some actual quotes, and set them to be random :)

[Sluggo] I figure that will take me through the weekend.

It would be nice to get one of those Shuttles Saw a 64-bit AMD jobbie in a store with a silver reflective front, but it's like $800. (Thomas: note "like" used to mean "approximately".) It

[Jimmy] So you're not just using as punctuation? Phew, California hasn't taken another victim (though I can't say much, because in Ireland we use swear words as punctuation :)

[Sluggo] No, of course not. I'm trying to convince Thomas "like" has a bona fide legitimate meaning;

[Jimmy] Jeez Mike, you're in pedantic country here: '...convince Thomas /that that usage of/ "like"...'

[Jason]

Pedantic country? Pah! Ever read comp.lang.c? :)

[Sluggo] that's why it's so popular. It softens things when you're not 100% sure about something, or when being too direct would be rude. "Heavy metal like sucks" is less harsh than "heavy metal sucks". It gets your opinion across but without insulting the guy too much.

[Thomas] But that's like so not true.

[Sluggo] That sentence is Valley Girl-speak, but more because of the "so" than the "like".

[Jimmy] Nah, he said 'so', not 'sooooo'.

[Sluggo] Perhaps you'd prefer "that's true, not".

[Pete] As in Reverse Polish Notation? ;-)

[Jason] Hmmm...I haven't heard it used this way. I've heard in used in the meaningless context "And he was, like, so mad.". I've heard in the "this is what this person said" context: "He was like, 'no way!' And I was like, 'yes way.'"

[Thomas] Dude!

[Jimmy] I thought it was "that's true <significant pause> NOT!", or did "Wayne's World" lie to me? :)

[Sluggo] Because he can treat it like a joke. In Ireland I think you use "would be" the same way. "Where would you be goin today?" "What would... just supposin..."?

[Thomas] I usually say: "Where are you going?" if it is a question in the future tense.

[Jimmy] The usual thing with the more rural types is "I do be hungry by 6 o'clock"; I would use the more correct "I'd usually be...", but "I would be..." is pretty common.

English lacks a satisfactory way of expressing the habitual, so we had to invent one -- we're creatures of habit :) It also lacks a second person plural, so we use 'ye'

[Sluggo] Actually, what English lacks is a second person singular. "You" is really the second person plural accusative. thee : thou :: ye : you

Although down in these here parts, we just say y'all, y'know.

[Sluggo] That's just so direct and Germanic. :) Oh wait, the Germanic way would be "Where go you?" But if you get really Gaelic-influenced English speakers from Ireland, they just seem to go out of their way to avoid certain simple constructs. E.g. I once asked a bartender girl in a pub, - Do you have pear cider? - I have. Why not just "yes"? But apparently Gaelic doesn't have words for "yes" or "no".

[Jimmy] The closest we have are "is ea"/"'sea" and "ní hea" -- "it is" and "it isn't". In general, a yes/no type answer depends on the question, because it's generally given as an abbreviation. For example, if I were to ask "An bhfuil tú i do chónaí i nDúrlas"

[Ben] And people talk about Perl being unreadable! Whew. On the other hand, trying to execute the above will probably decompile the Universe or something. That's the Irish for you, saving or wrecking civilization with equal gusto... :)

[Jimmy] No, no, no. It'll intoxicate the universe.

[ Take one Universe, put a bit of Irish in it. Works for me. ]

[Ben] [laugh]

"St. Patrick's: the one day of the year when the 2% of the world's population that's Irish gets the other 98% completely shitfaced."

[Jimmy] It seems that Irish is best used when drunk:

Most people never use it, except for the National Anthem. The National Anthem is rarely heard outside of nightclubs (at closing time), or sporting events.

You could also make the point that Irish makes heavy use of the few syllablic sounds that the drunk can pronounce ('feh', 'nya', 'ooh', 'oh', 'bah', 'sh', etc.) for a reason.

[Ben] I'm awed. That's what I call foresight: designing a language around a yet-to-be-invented national pastime - at least if I have the timeline right (and if the concept of "Irish" before alcohol make any sense whatsoever.) The Russians didn't do nearly as well, with all those plosives, fricatives, and "soft/hard signs" that can barely be managed (if at all) by non-native speakers when totally sober.

Latest report from OMON (the Russian "special missions"/drug enforcement police teams): Marijuana field located and destroyed to the last plant. Next, we're all going to fly to the Moon and defeat the evil Pokemon Army.

[Jimmy] ("Do you live in Thurles", though it literally means something like "Are you (habitually) in Thurles"), you would answer "Níl mé" ("I am not"), which is short for the full answer, "Níl mé i mo chónaí i nDúrlas"

There are no real swear words in Irish either. I think the closest is "baistúin" (bastard). After that, it's relatively mild terms like "idiot".

[Thomas] Because I like using "I have".

[Brian] M: You...do have some cheese, don't you?
W: Certainly, sir. It's a cheese shop, sir. We've got...
M: No no... don't tell me. I'm keen to guess.
W: Fair enough.
M: Wensleydale?
W: Yes, sir?
M: Ah, well, I'll have some of that!
W: Oh, I'm sorry sir, I thought you were referring to me, Mr. Wensleydale, that's my name.

Now I won't get any sleep at all tonight, Spam song running round my head, dead parrots (next best thing to (best thing next to?) an unconscious Jimmy Buffett) and no bloody cheese at all. All because Thomas likes using "I have". Note the approved use of the word like in the line quoted above. Like, gnarly, dude.

[Thomas] More confusingly, I often combine it with yes: "I have, yes". It's done for a reason. Answering a question with a simple yes or no, leaves no scope for other avenues of conversation. It can also be looked upon as a non-comittal response.

[ a few minutes later ]

[Sluggo] Erm, not Subject: Twisted. I was just reading Twisted mail before this.

[Breen] Something got twisted. . .

[Jimmy] Heh. See attachment.


MS patent Basic's 'IsNot' operator

[Jimmy] Link

I mean... sheesh.

[Thomas]

IsNot(soLike(NotTrue()));

[Bradley]

if (NULL != NULL) permitPatent();
else {
printf("You're out of your b*****y mind!!!!\n");
}

Haggle

[Petar] It seems that the whole web design is slipping on the side of the fixed fonts, which I find misfortunate (I believe you understand the explanation telling you about the new modern large monitors). Your arguments makes any further effort on my side largely futile -- basicly your position is based on the preponderance of users expressing favorable opinion of the current design of the gazette. I acquiesce to the majority.

[Jimmy] Oh, come on. Don't give up so easily. You know the scene:

Salesman  Haggle properly. This isn't worth nineteen!
Brian     You just said it was worth twenty!
Salesman  Oh dear, oh dear. Come on, haggle.
Brian     Oh. All right, I'll give you ten.
Salesman  That's more like it. Ten?! Are you trying to insult me?! Me,
          with a poor dying grandmother, ten?!
Brian     All right, I'll give you eleven.
Salesman  Now  you're  getting  it.  Eleven!!?  Did I hear you right?!
          Eleven?! This cost me twelve, you wanna ruin me?!
Brian     Seventeen?
Salesman  No no no no, seventeen.
Brian     Eighteen!
Salesman  No, no, you go to fourteen now.
Brian     All right, I'll give you fourteen.
Salesman  Fourteen?! Are you joking?!
Brian     That's what you told me to say!

etc :)

[Thomas] Ten for that you must be mad...

[Jay] I'd like an argument, please.

[Jimmy] Aw, dammit Jay, you picked the wrong time. Normally I'd be happy to oblige, but I'm just in too good a mood. Sorry 'bout that.

[Kapil] I see no "absolute value" in that. But if you do then take the imaginary exponent of the argument and multiply by the absolute value----that's when things start to get complex. :-) Sorry. Couldn't prevent this convoluted pun from slipping out.

[Ben] The acme of pun acknowledgement (I hesitate to use the term "approbation"), according to Spider Robinson, is for everyone to hold their nose and flee screaming into the night. This isn't quite up to that level, but... whew. What a stinker. Well done, Kapil. :)

A point to consider, of course, is that DOS programs take arguments; Linux programs use options. :) [1]

[1] No, it's not true. But it would be awf'ly cute if it was.


Child's play

[Melanie] After working in this industry for nearly three days, I would like to request the idea, that understanding Linux requires a PhD.

[Ben] I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. You'd like to "request the idea"? Do you mean that you'd like to find out if the above statement is true? If so, the answer is a resounding "no". I've sat little kids in front of a computer running Linux and seen them dive right in and do what they wanted right away; ditto people who had only used Internet Explorer/0utlook/MSWord previously.

[Jimmy] Heh. I had an angry (well, more exasperated, truth be told) phone call from my son's mother yesterday because he went looking up even more stuff he wants for Christmas behind my back, and has been driving her nuts about it. I'll have to explain that once the email to Santa goes, that's it. My point is, he's 7 1/2 and did this without my help; he knows how to use the menus in a few different window managers, and he knows how to use the shell to launch commands. He has even found and used software I'd long forgotten about installing, and there are things he can do with, say, the Gimp that I can't replicate.


[Petar] If linuxgazette readers could vote for a redesign of the site, I would point you at Eric's site for a good example of what I would aspire to have.

[Ben] And I, for one, appreciate the input. The response that we've received with regard to the redesign has been strongly positive, and it's good to get at least one dissenting viewpoint; agreement from everyone usually prompts me to start looking for the tool marks in the plastic.

[Jimmy] Or bloodstains on the tools? :)

[ "Genius is always allowed some leeway, once the hammer has been pried from its hands and the blood has been cleaned up."
--Terry Pratchett, "Thief of Time". ]

[Ben] Oh, excellent point! Yeah, definitely. Total agreement, well...

   - "I'm sure we can all pull together, sir."
   - "Oh, I do hope not, I really do hope not. Pulling together is the aim of
     despotism and tyranny. Free men pull in all kinds of directions."
   -- Terry Pratchett, "The Truth"

Spam: Truth in advertising...

[Ben] From an email I received today (not spam, it's somebody with whom I've actually done business):

----- Forwarded message ----------------------------------------------

*************************************************************
One Week Only - BOGO Savings at Savon and Osco!
(but if you DO miss out on that, at least take advantage of
no cost ground shipping within the US direct from us.)
*************************************************************

What the HECK is a BOGO you ask?  Don't worry, I had no idea either!

BOGO is simply a Buy-One-Get-One (B.O.G.O.) discount from Savon or Osco.  

[ ... ]

----- Forwarded message ----------------------------------------------

Usually, manufacturers just send out the coupons and let you figure out the bogosity for yourself. I guess these folks decided to short-cut the process...

[Jay] My initial reaction was "hey, waitaminnit; aren't you the guy with the personal acronym finder?"... and then I re-read that a couple times.

:-)

[Ben] Yeah, that "Forwarded message" line can be hard to spot... :)

[Jay] The Bogon flux connection hadn't ever occurred to me, amusingly enough.

[Ben] For me, that "BOGO Savings" line was just perfect. I let the company know about it so they'd have $CLUE installed in the future, anyway.


The Shiznet

[Jimmy] I recommended Wikipedia as a source for articles about computing topics; hopefully this list will be useful as a reference card for you. It's a lot of reading, but for the most part, you should be able to get what you want from the first paragraph.

[Jay] Heckuva good list, Jimmy; not that I needed my watchlist to double.

WP is the shiznit, ain't it?

[Jimmy] Fo' shizzle, dizzle.


[Jay] I don't mean to offend anyone either, but I've been seeing more than usual of that sort of traffic lately on TAG (by which I mean responses which seem a bit overreactive); is it possible that our collective skins are thinning a bit too much lately?

[Ben] Jay, if you don't mean to offend anyone, then why poke at a spot that's likely to be sore and can't result in anything useful no matter how it resolves?

[Jimmy] A Polish coworker taught me how to pronounce 'zayebis' today. Tone of voice is your choice :)

(Let me just add another :) for emphasis).

[Ben] [FOTCL]

[Jimmy] :)[1]

[Ben] It was the surprise. You're not supposed to be that subtle, dammit. :)

[Jimmy] Subtle? Moi? I'm about as subtle as a .... really unsubtle thing.

[Ben] Uh-huh. You keep letting that side of you slip through, and people are going to start suspecting, and you'll lose the advantage of perceived innocence. Then you'll have to resort to blue contact lenses and doing the wide-eyed blink thing, and... well, trust me, it just gets messy. And nobody buys it, either [injured look].

[Jimmy] Hey, I never pretended to be innocent. Alls I'm saying is I'm not innocent. Is that (in itself, not the attendants) a crime?

[Ben] I'm really interested in your answer, because I can't fathom what effect you could be looking for; if you were trying to annoy people, it would make sense, but it's mystifying otherwise. Sure, the deal with Tom came down to miscommunication - it happens - but since there was good will on both sides, there was no harm done.

[Jimmy] No, no, no. As Thomas noted, vagueness makes baby Jesus cry.

[Ben] It got handled. Tom clarified, the baby Jesus stopped crying, and no cute puppies or kittens got mercilessly mangled by large machinery.

[Jimmy] Any resemblance to persons or events is entirely possible. No animals or religious icons were harmed in the making of this email.

[Jason] Well, certainly not large machinery. I mean, they're kittens. You don't need something large. Right tool for the right job. I mean, you've heard the expression, "to a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a small, cute, fuzzy animal?"? :-)

[Ben] I find a cast-iron frying pan to be far more effective. Not only can you flatten the little bastards, but a little oil and a few spices, and you've got a start on a good meal. I mean, just look at the prices on all that Atkins stuff in the supermarket, consider the amount of protein running around on the streets, and you'll see the sense in what I'm saying...

[Ben] Now, I wouldn't know anything about "collective skins", ...

[Jimmy] You've obviously been going to the wrong sort of party. (Or not been going to the wrong sort of party, depending on your perspective).

[Ben] Yeah, I know. :((( It's been a remarkably party-free month, but I'll be making up for it in the coming days.

[Jimmy] And with your yoga instructor status, you can take 'getting twisted' to another level.

[Ben] Yeah, raising the Kundalini (is that what the kids call it these days?) could get pretty wild. I mean, if you get some cute babe excited about playing with a snake coiled around the base of the spine... dude, you KNOW the action is going to get serious. There's none of this "that was nice" and padding off to the kitchen for a glass of water; it's ALL about the neighbors calling the cops at 3 a.m. due to the unseemly loud noises, creative use of kitchen appliances, wildly messed-up hair, and "what the hell is my shoe doing on the chandelier???"

[Jimmy] "and how do I still have my foot in it???"

[Ben] ...but grousing about Open Source software without contributing anything to solve the problem (educated, pinpoint grousing counts for credit) has annoyed me personally from the very first time I saw it; that hasn't changed at all. As for anyone else, you'd have to ask them by name - I don't see any problem with people showing an edge to keep their valuable time from being wasted by unproductive engagements. That is, in fact, a highly valuable skill when coupled with a bit of discretion.

[Sluggo] We have a curmudgeonly reputation to uphold. :)

[Jimmy] Ah, tu parle managementaise?

[Jimmy] Whoops. What I meant, of course, was 'You've undertaken to diversify your linguistic assets to synergise [3] with the needs of the management sector?'

[Ben] Ah, I see you don't even need my Gibberish Generator; you've got it just right. Or just wrong, as the case may be.

[Jimmy] I'm sure that sentence could easily be twice as long and convey half as much. It's the difference between HR and CEO :)

[Ben] Sure. Protecting my time from the department heads who didn't give a shit about their employees is something I learned years ago; not learning it always puts you in the crossfire.

[Jimmy] [1] Spilled a packet of 'em earlier, they're clogging up my keyboard. [2]

[2] Who am I kidding? I'm in a :) kind of mood.

[3] "You had to admire the way perfectly innocent words were mugged, ravished, stripped of all true meaning and decency and then sent to walk the gutter for Reacher Gilt, although 'synergistically' had probably been a whore from the start."
-- Terry Pratchett, "Going Postal"

[Ben] What appears to be sloppy or meaningless use of words may well be a completely correct use of words to express sloppy or meaningless ideas.
-- Anon.

[Jimmy] At the risk of becoming repetitive, :)

[Breen] <slurp!>

[Ben] [grin] I often run with scissors. My quote file can be a scary, scary place.

[Ben] Say... is this one of those totally content-free but highly fun exchanges that happen in TAG? I do believe I recognize the signs...

[ Hey, completely sugar-free and non-fattening! ]

[Jimmy] Hey hey hey, it's one of those threads that happens to end up in the Laundrette, outside of editorial interference :-P

[ /me expects a little more editing than usual this month... ]

IE Broken

[Jason]
Musicmatch needs a version of IE installed that isn't broken. (It need
                              ^^                      ^^^^^^

[Ben] You've discovered the secret. Thanks for playing, and have a nice day. :)

[Jason] LOL. Thanks for that, Ben.


Jimmy's hand

[ Well, I mentioned this before... ]

[Jimmy] I have a week off every month,

[Sluggo] You're working now? How's your hand doing?

[Jimmy] I start my fifth week back tomorrow. I'm starting to get some feeling back in my finger, and the scar area is hurting less (I can shake hands without flinching) though extreme temperatures still set it off (as I found out yesterday, when I had to spend the day standing in front of a freezer :). I have 99% of the range of motion I used to, and I'm starting to shake off the tendancy to avoid using it. Better than I was told to expect, basically.


[BIO] Jimmy is a single father of one, who enjoys long walks... Oh, right.

Jimmy has been using computers from the tender age of seven, when his father inherited an Amstrad PCW8256. After a few brief flirtations with an Atari ST and numerous versions of DOS and Windows, Jimmy was introduced to Linux in 1998 and hasn't looked back.

In his spare time, Jimmy likes to play guitar and read: not at the same time, but the picks make handy bookmarks.

Copyright © 2004, Jimmy O'Regan. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

The Foolish Things We Do With Our Computers

By Ben Okopnik

"Foolish Things" is a now-and-again compilation that we run based on our readers' input; once we have several of these stories assembled in one place, we get to share them with all of you. If you enjoy reading these cautionary tales of woe, proud stories of triumph, and just plain weird and fun things that happen between humans and silicon, that's great; if you have some to share so that others may enjoy them, even better. Please send them to .

[ You can even tell us that it happened to A Friend of Yours, and we'll believe you. ]

-- Ben


Booting the PC, Take 2

by Frank "Frodo" Rodolf, The Answer Gang

Last Sunday, my test-pc (a PII-350) decided to die on me. Since it was clearly a motherboard failure, I decided to just get some new hardware to create a new workstation, and make my current workstation (an Athlon 1200 based machine) the new test-pc.

The next day, after work, I went and bought a motherboard, a CPU (AMD Athlon XP 2500+), memory, a hard disk, and a mid-sized tower case. Moving some hardware between the old test-pc and the current workstation and then building the new workstation went easily. Even putting the cooler on the cpu did not give me any trouble, for once.

Time to test the newbie... Knoppix 3.4... works nicely... Huh? Why is it suddenly rebooting?

Since it was time for me to go to bed, I decided to just run memtest86 on it, and see if it would still be okay, the next morning.

The next morning, I woke up to see the thing still working. It passed all tests, and was still reactive. Assuming there must have been a little power dip or something like that the previous evening, I decided to just start a Debian install on it, while I go to work.

6 pm, home from work, things still looked good, and I was able to finish the install. At about 7 pm though, a sudden reboot again. And again at about 8:30.

By now, I was getting worried, since my other computers had not rebooted, so a power dip was unlikely. I opened the case, checked if the fan was really on right, took out and reseated the memory.

After booting, everything seems okay, so I decide to just play around with it for a bit. At 10 pm, it reboots again. And suddenly I knew what was going on.

This nice new case has the reset switch at almost 4 inches from the bottom of the case, and it sticks out a bit... And the toe of the slipper on my left foot just happens to be at exactly that height, at times.


Apple TV

by Dale A. Raby
Picture of the 'Apple TV'

About a month ago, our 1980 or so vintage RCA console television died. This was, of course, on a Saturday afternoon, right after we had rented a bunch of DVD's for the weekend.

Alternatives... as there was no money to buy a new set just then... were limited. I had a few black-and-white portable sets around, but this did not go over well with the female half of the household.

I went into the basement where I keep my cave (this is a male shelter from all things female... all men have them somewhere) and thought about the problem. I dug through the piles of junk in the basement reasoning that if I dug deep enough, I might find something that would work. This is kind of like wandering aimlessly through Fleet Farm looking for something but not knowing what that something is. I really didn't expect to find a color television buried in my basement, though.

There were plenty of old VGA monitors, dot-matrix printers, even an old Apple IIe CPU. Wait a minute... didn't those things use standard video monitors? I dug a little deeper and discovered an Apple IIe color monitor. In the back, I found a standard RCA A/V jack just like the ones on the back of the DVD player and the VCR. OK, maybe I had something here.

A television consists of a tuner, video monitor, and sound system. I had the monitor in front of me. OK, the tuner could be supplied by the VCR, I reasoned, and when the DVD player was being used, a tuner wasn't necessary. I solved the problem of having to unplug one or the other by connecting them both to a "Y" connector with the common end plugged into the monitor. Now I only had to shut one of them off and turn the other one on in order to get my video feed.

OK, sound. No problem, had an old Radio Shack receiver from about 1969 that still worked and a couple of speakers. Now I had sound, and good quality sound at that.

As might be imagined, the back of my improvised entertainment system looks like something the Borg cobbled together using Seven-of-Nine's intestines, but when you turn everything on... it does work. I have since passed up buying a new television as I think it is kind of cool to be the only man in the world (so far as I know) who has an Apple television.

Stay tuned.


From The LG Archaeological Research Department: pour l'encourager les autres

Unearthed by Ben Okopnik

	Fri Feb 21 13:02:09 1992
	Message : #2835701    From: Steve Summit
	Address : scs@adam.mit.edu
	Group   : NETCOMP.FolkLore
	Subject : Re: Adminstration Horror Stories
	
	As an undergraduate, I didn't always have time for the more troublesome
	tasks that occasionally cropped up in the maintenance of this system I
	worked on (the same one with the "popcorn" disk drives).  One day I finally
	had some free time, and sat down to:
	
	     1. rebuild the bootable removable pack I kept around in case
	        of emergencies, which had stopped working, and
	
	     2. reformat the disk containing the root partition, which
	        had a few bad blocks which hadn't gotten serious (yet).
	
	I didn't really feel like rebuilding the emergency boot pack,
	because it was a real pain, and at about the limits of my
	abilities at the time.  (I had spent several days learning how to
	build it at all: compiling a kernel with different root, swap,
	and pipe devices; finding and assembling a boot block for the
	removable drive; etc.)
	
	So I figured, what the heck, I'll perform task 2 first.
	
	The low-level reformat takes about ten minutes.  Five minutes
	later, while wandering around the room waiting for it to finish,
	my mind finally thought about the precedence which was lurking
	in what I had been absent-mindedly assuming to be two unrelated
	tasks.  ("The word `bulldozer' wandered through Arthur's mind
	for a moment in search of something to connect with.")  I didn't
	even make a mad dash for the halt switch; it was, of course, far
	too late.
	
	The really galling thing was that my whole reason for building
	the bootable removable pack in the first place had been my
	realization, seconds before initiating a previous reformat of
	drive 0, that the backup tapes I had made wouldn't do me much
	good without a bootable system with which to read them back on
	to drive 0.
	
	I learned a lot more over the next day or so: how to load in a
	system from the (damaged) 2.8 BSD distribution tape, how to toggle
	in a bootstrap loader from the front panel, how to deal with the
	fact that the distribution kernel used different partition sizes
	than we did, why it was a bad idea to use non-default partition
	sizes...
	
	The next day I learned how to order a DEC magtape boot prom.  (It
	didn't arrive until after I left.  Years later, when I came back
	to help move the system to Princeton, there was still this little
	envelope kicking around with a prom in it which nobody knew what
	was for...)


picture Ben is the Editor-in-Chief for Linux Gazette and a member of The Answer Gang.

Ben was born in Moscow, Russia in 1962. He became interested in electricity at the tender age of six, promptly demonstrated it by sticking a fork into a socket and starting a fire, and has been falling down technological mineshafts ever since. He has been working with computers since the Elder Days, when they had to be built by soldering parts onto printed circuit boards and programs had to fit into 4k of memory. He would gladly pay good money to any psychologist who can cure him of the recurrent nightmares.

His subsequent experiences include creating software in nearly a dozen languages, network and database maintenance during the approach of a hurricane, and writing articles for publications ranging from sailing magazines to technological journals. After a seven-year Atlantic/Caribbean cruise under sail and passages up and down the East coast of the US, he is currently anchored in St. Augustine, Florida. He works as a technical instructor for Sun Microsystems and a private Open Source consultant/Web developer. His current set of hobbies includes flying, yoga, martial arts, motorcycles, writing, and Roman history; his Palm Pilot is crammed full of alarms, many of which contain exclamation points.

He has been working with Linux since 1997, and credits it with his complete loss of interest in waging nuclear warfare on parts of the Pacific Northwest.

Copyright © 2004, Ben Okopnik. Released under the Open Publication license unless otherwise noted in the body of the article. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by its prior host, SSC, Inc.

Published in Issue 109 of Linux Gazette, December 2004

Tux