- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

got hardware/machines for sale?
by John R. McPherson 04 May '05

04 May '05

Hi everyone, we're considering setting a table or two aside at the installfest[1] this Saturday for the sale of machines and hardware. We'd like to have a couple of reasonable low-end/mid-range machines for sale that are suitable for a linux desktop in case anyone wants to buy a machine and get help with installation at the installfest. If you are interested in selling anything, please let me know (off-list!) so we have some idea of how much stuff we need to accommodate. Note that you'll have to be responsible for bringing it along, looking after it, and taking it away if it is unsold. [1] http://www.wlug.org.nz/InstallFest John McPherson

1 0

Debian, Shorewall and dial-up
by Glenn Ramsey 02 May '05

02 May '05

Recently I changed the NAT/firewall setup scripts on my Debian box to Shorewall from ipmasp, because I couldn't figure out how to configure DNAT using ipmasq. There is problem with the Shorewall setup that I cannot find any references to, neither in the docs nor googling. This box does NAT/firewall for my small office LAN through a dial-up connection[1]. On boot as Shorewall tries to start I get messages saying: "modprobe: modprobe: can't locate module ppp0", until the script times out after 180s. After that, however it seems to work fine. The issue is that this extends the startup time by 3 minutes. I think this is because, following the "two interface setup" in the docs, I have set wait_interface="ppp0" in /etc/default/shorewall and this causes /usr/share/shorewall/wait4ifup to be executed. Since it's a dialup connection it can't find ppp0 at boot time, hence the problem. Removing the wait_interface causes the startup of Shorewall to fail. Seems like this would be a common issue and since I can't find any references to it this makes me think I have missed something fundamental in the setup. Apart from this issue the rest of the setup works fine. Ipmasq handles this situation by setting up LAN stuff at boot and then having a /etc/ppp/ip-up script to setup the external interface stuff. What is the right way to resolve this issue? The solution I'm after is the "standard, out of the box" one. This is because if I put in customised stuff I will inevitably forget about it and then wonder why it's broken next time I uprade something[2]. For now I have disabled shorewall at startup and added a script that contains only "/sbin/shorewall restart" to /etc/ppp/ip-up.d. This works but also involves customisation beyond what is described in the docs and is additional to the configuration provided by the package. Ie if I remove the shorewall package my script will not be deleted. I could just set the timeout in wait4ifup to be a smaller value, like 1sec, which would solve the problem but that seems like a hack that I shouldn't need, but it's more likely to be removed if I remove/purge the package. Glenn [1] in case you were wondering, DSL is not available where I live. [2] and it's frustrating enough dealing with the stuff that breaks all by itself when you upgrade something -- Glenn Ramsey <glenn(a)componic.co.nz> 07 8627077 http://www.componic.co.nz

1 0

InstallFest
by Ron Dean 02 May '05

02 May '05

Hi I registed for the installfest on the Wiki but have had nothing to confirm it. So I'm wondering if I registed correctly

2 1

Programming in bwBasic - newbie Linz
by Lindsay 02 May '05

02 May '05

I have downloaded and installed BWBasic to tinker with some older basic programming code that I know. I cant get it to run in RUN but it starts in Terminal. However, with no GUI I tell tell what I'm doing. 1) Is there away to make this more visual i.e. like GWBasic, Quick Basic? 2) Where can I find some coding instructions? (I have googled without getting anything I thought was relevant) Thanks in advance

3 3

Debian Administration
by James Clark 02 May '05

02 May '05

www.debian-adminstration.org Good stuff on this site, a lot of it will be fairly portable. Cheers, James.

3 3

Sausage sizzle at installfest
by Craig Box 02 May '05

02 May '05

Hi, Anyone want to run a sausage sizzle/cold drink sale at the installfest? Short notice unfortunately, but if anyone has a school or another club that wants to fundraise they would be welcome to. Alternatively if anyone wants to run a sausage sizzle for the WLUG and doesn't mind bringing a BBQ, we'll buy the sausages/bread etc.. Craig

1 0

PC Case with Tux logo.
by Oliver Jones 01 May '05

01 May '05

Hi Folks. Anyone interested in this case? It has a 360W PSU. $35 + $15 courier. Thought I'd offer it to WLUG members first as it has a Tux logo on the front. Regards -- Oliver Jones » Roving Code Warrior oliver(a)deeperdesign.com » +64 (21) 41 2238 » www.deeperdesign.com

2 2

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

30 Apr '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

1 0

XML Schema Help
by Joseph Gibbs 28 Apr '05

28 Apr '05

Hi, I'm writing an XML schema for a uni assingment. I have this thing pretty much down, except for one thing. I'm referring to this document entitled "Global versus local" (http://www.xfront.com/GlobalVersusLocal.html) According to that document, and for my requirements, I can take two approaches to this. I can write things in a "Salami Slice Design" or a "Venetian Blind Design". Obviously a "which way should I design this" question comes down to how I'll be using my schema, it's purpose etc. From the URL above: "[1] The Venetian Blind design is the one to choose where your schemas require the flexibility to turn namespace exposure on or off with a simple switch, and where component reuse is important. [2] Where your task requires that you make available to instance document authors the option to use element substitution, then use the Salami Slice design." I'm not trying to ask "how do I do my assignment", my questions are: What is "namespace exposure", and why does it matter?, and, what is an "instance document" and "element substitution"? Thanks, Joseph.

2 1

Dual Boot
by John Torrance 27 Apr '05

27 Apr '05

Thanks for the info. I had no desire to start a distro war. I do have another question though. The last time I tried to load a dual boot system with Fedora and Windows XP with Grub, I completely stuffed up my boot sector and could not access windows. I found out later that it was recoverable but I buggered it up so badly, I had to "format C" and start again. This only seems to happen with the NTFS file system windows and not using the older system which I used successfully on my other computer. I am keen to load Ubuntu but am terrified of stuffing up my windows partition. Has anyone successfully loaded a dual bootup system with Ubuntu and Windows XP (NTFS)? Cheers John

3 2