June 2005 - wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

First post - Help please
by Ivan 02 Jul '05

02 Jul '05

Hello all, I attended the last WLUG meeting (my first time at a LUG) and I picked up the latest Ubuntu CDs, which I have been trying it out. Although I am not new to Linux (in the far distant past I found great enjoyment setting up Linux servers: Samba, DHCPD, Apache, DNS, etc from the CLI - using Redhat 5.2 ). I have not had time to continue and much of that knowledge has faded. :-(( I do remember that there are no short-cuts: RTFM, RTFM, RTFM, RTFM, and RTFM again - Unfortunately due to demands on my time I cannot spend any great amount of quality time mulling over documentation and deciding the best application and/or strategy to take. (Ubuntu does make most tasks easy!) Recently, I have been spending a little time with Gentoo, but after trying Ubuntu's live CD I was hooked, especially since it has the Install disc as well. IMHO Ubuntu has really stepped up the standard with regards to getting the typical home user to experience Linux painlessly AND leaving them impressed and possibly even excited by the possibilities. (well, I was) <grin> Cutting to the chase: I have decided to replace the family's main PC with an Ubuntu Box. Currently it is mainly used for browsing, email, the family finance & the odd WinMine game. I have setup an old PC as a Ubuntu 'proof of concept' with great success so far, but there are a few issues: 1) I need a replacement for MS Money. GNUCash seems to be the appl for the job. Has anyone used it or any other that can be recommend? 2) Currently we access multiple (pop3) mailboxes. Since, Linux maintains strong user security, I am unsure which strategy to follow: a) Configure one user specifically for the mail. b) Share the mail between multiple users (shared single db) c) Other ??? I am also not sure which email appl to use. Evolution seems fully loaded with features, but would thunderbird be better? We also have about 3 years worth of archived mail which must be imported (from MS Outlook). 3) I would like to setup internet sharing from the Ubuntu box and I cannot find an easy (GUI) sharing option. I could probably do this 'manually', but would like to know if there is any way this can be achieved for non-techies. 4) How do I reconfigure X, to use a different video card? 5) Winmodems <sigh> is there any hope? Many people with whom I have come into contact would love to try/switch to Linux. The problem is that many have winmodems (myself included, fortunately I also have an USRobotics external that came to my rescue). Is there anything that can be done? (easily, that is) There are more questions, but I think these are enough for the moment. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Is there any way I can get my grubby mitts on 3 more Ubuntu disks? (As I mentioned before. I have been showing it around and would like to hand out the disks) Many thanks, Ivan

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FW: ActiveState Releases ActivePerl, ActivePython & ActiveTcl for Sun's Solaris 10
by Craig Box 30 Jun '05

30 Jun '05

Hello, ActiveState is pleased to announce the release of ActiveState's ActivePerl, ActivePython, and ActiveTcl language distributions for Sun's Solaris 10 Operating System (OS) for SPARC, x86 and x64 systems. The release underlines our commitment to providing developers with up-to-date scripting languages on Sun Solaris 10. Looking to update your Perl, Python, or Tcl distros on Solaris? See http://www.activestate.com/Products/new_releases.plex Please pass this information on to the members of your user group and we thank you all for your ongoing support of ActiveState and our products! Shezmeen Hudani Marketing Associate shezmeenh(a)activestate.com Tel: 604.484.6809 Web: www.ActiveState.com ActiveState, a division of Sophos

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Acceptable use of the WLUG Mailing List
by Meeting Reminder bot 30 Jun '05

30 Jun '05

The WLUG Mailing List is the discussion-list extension of the Waikato Linux Users Group (Incorporated). As such, we expect members of this list to adhere to the principles espoused in the official WLUG Charter[1], in particular, Rule 6, which covers the activities on this mailing list. While this is an Acceptable Use Policy, the WLUG Committee do recognise the need for informal discussion among list members, and draconian administration is not the goal here. Please keep in mind, however, that your comments to this list do represent the WLUG, and while it is good to be seen as an organisation with a sense of humour, some comments may do major harm to our credibility as a serious advocate of GNU/Linux and all things Free Software/ Open Source related. List discussion should * be honest * accentuate the positive, without hyperbole or blatant misrepresentation * maintain a reasonable level of spelling and grammar * not indulge in ad hominem attacks * not continue inflammatory or abusive threads * not be unprofessional or petty, especially with respect to the names of other software companies * not promote or denigrate political, cultural, or religious views * not indulge in marketing or advertising, other than on a private sale basis, or advertising of jobs - which may be announced once only * not reproduce copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder * not defame any person or organisation Posters who consistently violate these guidelines will be dealt with at the discretion of the List Maintainer. If you feel you have been unfairly dealt with, you have recourse to any member of the WLUG Committee[2]. Certain mailing list etiquette should also be maintained: * please use only plain text (not HTML) * reply inline or below when quoting, rather than on top * trim quotes (don't reply quoting a 10 page message with a single line of reply) If you have any questions, start reading at http://www.gweep.ca/~edmonds/usenet/ml-etiquette.html. These points have been established over a long time on this list. If you want to question them, please do it off list. As list users, use your discretion when pulling people up over etiquette - please reply off list, and if there is a serious breach, the list administrator will probably have dealt with it off-list already. [1] http://www.wlug.org.nz/WlugCharter [2] http://www.wlug.org.nz/WlugCommittee

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LDAP error on Wiki
by Ian McDonald 29 Jun '05

29 Jun '05

I just added member plugin to my page and it displays this on my page now: "WlugMember ldap error: binding to ldap server" I'm guessing something needs fixing here.... Ian

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Wlug Wiki License Changes
by Matt Brown 29 Jun '05

29 Jun '05

Hi All, Long mail sorry, please read at least the first five paragraphs, as they are the critical ones. I'm happy to receive comments on this, please try and keep onlist replies to topics that are of interest to *all* readers only. Currently the wiki states that copyright is retained by the author of the page, but provides no details on the acceptable uses of that content. This leaves the situation quite murky. Clearly it is highly desirable to have a much more definite situation regarding the licensing of wiki content. To this end the Committee has decided that going forward the wiki content will be licensed under the Creative Commons Wiki License. Details information on this can be found at http://www.wlug.org.nz/WlugWikiLicense in short it allows anyone to copy / modify / distribute the wiki content provided that they a) attribute its source as the WlugWiki b) provide the copied / modified / distributed content under the same license as they are using it under (ie the WlugWikiLicense). As a wiki author it means that you are agreeing that your content can be used in the ways specified by the license and you are waiving your rights to attribution in favour of the content being attributed to the Wiki. You'll still get your name displayed on the wiki in the recent changes / page history / etc :) If you're an author (have ever added or edited content to the wiki, please add the following code to your HomePage to indicate that you are happy for all your past / future content to be licensed under the WlugWikiLicense. ---- I agree to the WlugWikiLicense%%% [http://www.wlug.org.nz/theme/WLUG05/cc-wiki.gif] ---- >From the date Mon 18 July 2005 00:00 NZST onwards all authors making additions and modifications to the wiki must agree to provide their content under the WlugWikiLicense. This will be clearly described on the edit page from this date forth so that everyone understands this. ----- Critical bit ends now - thanks for your patience ------ The remainder of this email deals with our plans for the significant issue of how to relicense the existing wiki content in an appropriate and acceptable manner. In this process the committee is trying to balance the need to have a robust defendable process for relicensing the content, with the common belief that anyone who added content to the wiki (by it's very nature) was implicitly agreeing that it could be further copied / modified / distributed. While we think that there is a very strong argument for this interpretation we would still like to set a good example by obtaining permission to relicense from authors wherever possible. Obviously there will be some content (imported manpages / howtos / etc) that we may not be able to relicense, so for the forseeable future there will be certain pages in the wiki that will not be under the CreativeCommons license. Each page will clearly describe the terms that it is licensed under. It is the committees intention to work with wiki authors over time to bring more and more content under the new license, with the eventual goal of having all content in the wiki available under the same license. This may take some time :) 1) As described above the first step in the migration plan is to get every author to add to their page a statement that they agree to the WlugWikiLicense 2) A plugin will be written to analyse each page and the individual diffs that constitute the current version of this. 3) For each diff the author will be looked up to see if they have agreed to the new license 4) If all authors of significant diffs that constitute the present version of the page have agreed to the creative commons license the page will be licensed under creative commons, otherwise it will remain as is. 5) Significant diffs as mentioned above must meet two criteria 1) They were not marked as a 'Minor change' when they were made 2) They add or modify more than 10 lines of the page content and contain new material (ie. A 20 line diff that fixes capitalisation and punctuation is not significant). Hopefully this is an acceptable process that will allow us to progressively bring the entire wiki under the new license as we gain acceptance from more and more authors, and as pages naturally grow and are modified with new content under the new license. Pages containing both old content and new licensed content will default to being displayed as they currently are (ie not under the new license). Futher details are available at http://www.wlug.org.nz/WlugWikiLicense and I am happy to clarify any details that I've missed out of this email. Thanks for your patience, -- Matt Brown Wlug Commitee Member matt(a)mattb.net.nz Mob +64 275 611 544 www.mattb.net.nz

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NZCS meeting on Thursday. Topic - Open Source.
by Michael McDonald 27 Jun '05

27 Jun '05

Those of you who feel deprived by not having a WLUG meeting tonight are welcome to join with the Waikato Branch of the New Zealand Computer Society at their meeting on Thursday night, at the Okoroire Hotel – a very pleasant spot (see http://www.okohotel.co.nz/ ) Meal & 2 speakers for $35 per head. Topic is Open Source software. See http://www.nzcs.org.nz/tools/events/default.asp?SECT=waikato_bop for more details of the meeting and to register for the event. Michael McDonald PS Apologies if this appears twice .. sent it from the wrong email account first time!

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Re: [wlug] First post - Help please
by Ivan 24 Jun '05

24 Jun '05

Hi, Thanks for all the help. Bnonn I tried: > $ sudo aptitude update > $ aptitude install gnucash Update worked, but install didnt. The highlight (lowloght) was: ** Couldn't find any package whose name or description matched "gnucash" ** Then I tried Synaptic Package Manager (as Matt suggested) - Did not work at first, but tweaked it a bit and got it going. It took forever to download - I think my modem must be in v.34 Mode or something - will have to investigate. BTW GNUCash seems to suit our needs. Thanks again for all the help. Ivan

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ubuntu PPC
by Michael Honeyfield 24 Jun '05

24 Jun '05

I have about 8 ubuntu PPC CDs. I was meant to get x86_64.. oh well. Since I have no use for them myself, is there anyone on this list that want them? Mike

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hoiho (wlug server) upgrade
by John R. McPherson 24 Jun '05

24 Jun '05

Hi, some time this afternoon we will be upgrading the operating system on hoiho from debian woody to debian sarge. This may temporarily affect the website and access to shell and mail accounts. John

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WLUG Meeting is one week away
by Meeting Reminder bot 21 Jun '05

21 Jun '05

The Waikato Linux Users Group have a meeting in one week today. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A WLUG meeting is booked for this date. If you're seeing this message, feel free to suggest or offer to present a meeting topic - the MeetingTopics page might be a good place to start.

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