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Show of hands for Saturday workshop October 1
by Chris O'Halloran 24 Sep '11

24 Sep '11

Hello everyone, The WLUG committee are considering organising a Saturday Workshop at the Uni for October 1. Can we have a 'show of hands' on who is likely to turn up, please? We had a few problems with last month's workshop and it would be good to avoid that scenario again. On behalf of club, I would like to apologise to those members of this list who had travelled some distance for last month's particular workshop and found it not happening. As club president, I had made some assumptions about the attendance of others that often organise and champion the workshop day. Recognising that they could be a problem on the Saturday morning of the event, I made what I believed were sufficient arrangements with Univerisity security stafff and communicated this to the club member that believed would be attending. Unfortunately the communication was only one way and I had to leave Hamilton for a prior arrangment. Sorry for the mix up. So, please reply to this list if you wish to be part of Saturday workshop on October 1 Cheers, Chris O'Halloran WLUG president.

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Re: [wlug] How Microsoft Can Lock Linux Off Windows 8 PCs
by GJB 23 Sep '11

23 Sep '11

Any type of "locked" electronic devices have proven to be less valuable than their "unlocked" counterparts. It is not in the interest of commodity hardware manufacturers to allow MS to essentially lock their devices. A new industry in jail-breaking PC's is just around the corner probably. > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [wlug] How Microsoft Can Lock Linux Off Windows 8 PCs > From: Peter Reutemann <fracpete(a)waikato.ac.nz> > Date: Thu, September 22, 2011 9:51 am > To: wlug <wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz> > > > Just came across this gem here on slashdot: > "Windows 8 PCs will use the next-generation booting specification > known as Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). In fact, > Windows 8 logo devices will be required to use the secure boot portion > of the new spec. Secure UEFI is intended to thwart rootkit infections > by using PKI authentication before allowing executables or drivers to > be loaded onto the device. Problem is, unless the device manufacturer > gives a key to the device owner, it can also be used to keep the PC's > owner from wiping out the current OS and installing another option, > such as Linux." > http://linux.slashdot.org/story/11/09/21/062231/How-Microsoft-Can-Lock-Linu… > > Network world has an article, too: > http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/next-gen-boot-spec-could-forever… > > I wonder whether we'll have to start paying for "advanced features" > like being able to put other OSes on a computer when purchasing one in > the future... Does the EULA of Windows then still allow a refund if > you don't want the software? Will you be able to install something > else on the computer then? Or is this an opportunity to get lower > prices on computers if they come with Linux pre-installed (no key > necessary, no OEM fee)? > > Cheers, Peter > -- > Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ > http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174 > _______________________________________________ > wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > Unsubscribe: http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Sept 26th - No Monday night meeting
by Chris O'Halloran 22 Sep '11

22 Sep '11

Hello all, There will be no Monday WLUG meeting on the Sept 26th. Given many were involved in attending and presenting at Software Freedom Day, the committee has decided no to arrange a Monday night meeting. We are presently looking to arrange at Saturday Workshop Day on Oct 1 and this will be confirmed shortly. Regards, Chris

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How Microsoft Can Lock Linux Off Windows 8 PCs
by Peter Reutemann 21 Sep '11

21 Sep '11

Just came across this gem here on slashdot: "Windows 8 PCs will use the next-generation booting specification known as Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). In fact, Windows 8 logo devices will be required to use the secure boot portion of the new spec. Secure UEFI is intended to thwart rootkit infections by using PKI authentication before allowing executables or drivers to be loaded onto the device. Problem is, unless the device manufacturer gives a key to the device owner, it can also be used to keep the PC's owner from wiping out the current OS and installing another option, such as Linux." http://linux.slashdot.org/story/11/09/21/062231/How-Microsoft-Can-Lock-Linu… Network world has an article, too: http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/next-gen-boot-spec-could-forever… I wonder whether we'll have to start paying for "advanced features" like being able to put other OSes on a computer when purchasing one in the future... Does the EULA of Windows then still allow a refund if you don't want the software? Will you be able to install something else on the computer then? Or is this an opportunity to get lower prices on computers if they come with Linux pre-installed (no key necessary, no OEM fee)? Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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GNOME Workspace issue
by Sandy 18 Sep '11

18 Sep '11

I've suddenly noticed that I'm unable to switch between workspaces. Neither clicking on the workspace applet nor Ctrl+Alt+Left/Right arrow work any more, and I'm at a loss as to why this might be. I can still send windows to another workspace, but I can no longer get to them. Would anyone have any ideas about why this is happening? This is 11.04 x64.

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Door wedges
by Ronnie Collinson 16 Sep '11

16 Sep '11

Could someone please bring 4 door wedges perferably more for sfd Cheers

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DVD burning at SFD
by Ronnie Collinson 16 Sep '11

16 Sep '11

Would someone be able to bring a DVD burner and some blank dics (will try to get WLUG to reimburse*). *Found a free culture dvd (part of SFD care-package) image, that I will try to torrent tonight, want to try make the image and/or a DVD available to those who may want it. Appartley has guides, videos and the like on the disc. Ronnie

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Laptops/PC's for Demo/Testing of Instant Infrastructure
by Chris McClimans 16 Sep '11

16 Sep '11

As part of the :ii project, it would be interested to try installing on various laptops and desktops that I wouldn't normally have access to. At this point it will format whatever is on the hard drive and install Linux or Windows with a predetermined configuration and software set. So if you want, and don't mind the drive getting formatted, please bring systems that can run through a test install or two. Cheers, -chris http://instantinfrastructure.org

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SFD 2011: Gimp for photo restoration and touch-up
by Peter Reutemann 12 Sep '11

12 Sep '11

Hi everyone Just a quick announcement regarding the "Gimp for photo restoration and touch-up" presentation that Jody, my wife, will be giving at Software Freedom Day this Saturday. Feel free to bring photos that need restoring or touching up. If you don't have digital versions of the photos, that doesn't matter as we can scan them at the event. Of course, she'll only be able to work on a limited number of photos during the presentation and throughout the day, so please don't feel left out if your photo can't be looked at. However, looking over her shoulder and talking to her should give you a good idea on how to enhance the photos yourself. Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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Re: [wlug] ii (Instant Infrastructure)/SFD
by John Billings 11 Sep '11

11 Sep '11

Hi Chris, I've added you for the 2:30 time slot. You are also welcome to come and setup in the foyer area and demo/talk about your project. If other people are interested in setting up and showing of whatever cool interesting project or application they are currently working on/interested in etc... just let us know. For instance there was a great demo on FOSS musical applications last time we held SFD at the uni. If someone wants to do something like that again, we'd love to see it. I will have a small display w/ a midi-controller and LMMS ready, but I can't remember who it was who demonstrated Arduor and some other music apps last time. We'd also like to invite Windows/Mac users to show off any FOSS applications they may be running on their platform. If your interested in a presentation or setting up in the foyer area let us know so we can add you to the page here: http://elgg.wlug.org.nz/pg/pages/view/252/presenters Best, John Billings On Mon, Sep 12, 2011 at 4:28 AM, Chris McClimans <wlug(a)hippiehacker.org> wrote: > A couple of guys from Tauranga want to introduce the local community to a > project call instant infrastructure. We are presenting at SFD in Tauranga > Sunday! > We want to enable non-technical people to install operating systems and > applications (in possibly complex and interdependent configurations) to > computers that have blank or format-able hard drives. > The computers may be configured to be centrally managed over the network for > ongoing support and maintenance. This could happen from a smart phone or usb > stick... > On the technical side I've be trying to get Virtualbox booting the > infrastructure from Ubuntu and after that it won't be long until it's > selfhosted starting from Windows, OSX, or Linux. > This would allow people from many different experience levels and > backgrounds to participate in sharing solutions. > This process starts by using most computers ability to run programs from the > network, even if they don't have anything on the hard drive. > It's possible to target raw hardware in addition to cross > platform virtualization which we can script/automate via ruby. > We can automatically provision them via chef-solo with vagrant. > We want to test the hardware and virtually deployed systems using test > cookbooks. > This is the ticket I'm working on today, take a peek if your interested. > We'd love to present at Software Freedom Day in Hamilton and gain feedback > from the community on how to incorporate more people into the process and > make it a tool everyone can use. > I tried to add us to the presenters page, but I was only able to add a > comment. I see three time-slots remaining, could we have one? > Cheers, > -chris > +1 806 543-2100 (voip line at my office) > +64 (0)22 077 5899 (cell, that sometimes works at the office) > http://mcclimans.net > http://hippiehacker.org > > > _______________________________________________ > wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > Unsubscribe: http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug > >

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ii (Instant Infrastructure)
by Chris McClimans 11 Sep '11

11 Sep '11

A couple of guys from Tauranga want to introduce the local community to a project call instant infrastructure <http://ii.code.org.nz>. We are presenting at SFD in Tauranga Sunday! We want to enable non-technical people to install operating systems and applications (in possibly complex and interdependent configurations) to computers that have blank or format-able hard drives. The computers may be configured to be centrally managed over the network for ongoing support and maintenance. This could happen from a smart phone or usb stick... On the technical side I've be trying to get Virtualbox booting the infrastructure from Ubuntu and after that it won't be long until it's selfhosted starting from Windows, OSX, or Linux. This would allow people from many different experience levels and backgrounds to participate in sharing solutions. This process starts by using most computers ability to run programs from the network <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preboot_Execution_Environment>, even if they don't have anything on the hard drive. It's possible to target raw hardware in addition to cross platform virtualization <http://www.virtualbox.org/> which we can script/automate via ruby <http://mitchellh.github.com/virtualbox/>. We can automatically provision<http://vagrantup.com/docs/provisioners/chef_solo.html> them via chef-solo <http://wiki.opscode.com/display/chef/Chef+Solo> with vagrant<http://vagrantup.com/> . We want to test the hardware and virtually deployed systems using test cookbooks <http://junglist.gen.nz/blog/2011/08/13/minitest-0-0-5-released/>. This is the ticket <https://github.com/passionengine/ii/issues/2> I'm working on today, take a peek if your interested. We'd love to present at Software Freedom Day in Hamilton and gain feedback from the community on how to incorporate more people into the process and make it a tool everyone can use. I tried to add us to the presenters<http://elgg.wlug.org.nz/pg/pages/view/252/presenters>page, but I was only able to add a comment. I see three time-slots remaining, could we have one? Cheers, -chris +1 806 543-2100 (voip line at my office) +64 (0)22 077 5899 (cell, that sometimes works at the office) http://mcclimans.net http://hippiehacker.org

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Bitcoin open source s/ware project.
by GJB 11 Sep '11

11 Sep '11

Hi, I've been involved with an open source software project, http://www.bitcoin.org , for about the last 5-6 months. If anybody is interested, I can come along to one of the meet ups for a show and tell and get people up to speed with various aspects of it. Cheers, Greg B.

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wtb .. surplus thermal printer
by stephen pearce 11 Sep '11

11 Sep '11

Hi Does anyone have access to a surplus thermal printer (as per supermarket cash registers and eftpos pos terminals) that they would like to sell? (to interface to portable linux box) Thanks Stephen

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WLUG Fixit Meeting is today!
by Meeting Reminder bot 08 Sep '11

08 Sep '11

A reminder, the WLUG Fixit Meeting is today. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copy and paste! Not that hard! WLUG Workshop day. Meet up at the university - usual meeting room for Monday meetings. http://www.waikato.ac.nz/contacts/map?MS4 We'll have internet access (48Mbit/s) for you to update your Linux box or download various linux distros. Meet up with others - share ideas - trouble shoot hardware and software issues. Install the lastest Linux distro or whatever you'd like to try. If you are considering installing Linux on a MS Windows, please have all your data backed up prior attempting any partitioning of your hard drives. WLUG will not be liable for any loss of data. Entry is free for visitors and club members. However, if you, as a visitor, wish to connect your computer to the internet for more than a few minutes, a fee of $4 dollars to cover internet costs would be appreciated. We will accept membership applications on the day ($20). There are no kitchen facilities within the room. Cafe's and toilets will be available around the campus.

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WLUG now has Elgg (open source social networking)
by Chris O'Halloran 08 Sep '11

08 Sep '11

Hello all WLUG list subscribers, Since Peter Reutemann's presentation on Elgg at our last Monday evening meeting, Peter, Ewen Cummings and John Billings have been working to establish Elgg on the wlug server. Elgg is open source social networking software and our case, is another avenue for WLUG club members to interact online. You can share photos, create discussion forums, write your own blog, link in your twitter feed, and follow discussions via RSS. There are many more plugins available and the site will continue to receive additional features. The existing wiki is not being superseded by this at all and will still be the place to document technical and linux related things. So it is my pleasure to extend this invitation to all members and list subscribers to check out Elgg, create yourself a profile, upload a photo of yourself and have a bit of play on the site - maybe even create a group for your own pet topics and invite others to join. http://elgg.wlug.org.nz/ The following site lists many of the plugins available to the site. If you'd like to see them added, please contact me, Peter, Ewen or John. http://community.elgg.org/pg/plugins Thanks again to Peter, Ewen and John for setting this up and creating a there to match the existing server. Cheers and regards, Chris O'Halloran WLUG President.

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Fairfield Community Computer Center
by Bruce Kingsbury 07 Sep '11

07 Sep '11

Te Whare O Te Ata computer center, 60a Sare Cres. is now open five days a week, 3PM-6PM, Monday-Friday walk in sessions. Help available for anyone who's fairly new to computers and/or Linux and wants to learn. Internet connection and computers available, no need to bring your own. Gold coin donation only. http://www.fairfield.org.nz/home/community-computers (also looking for volunteers who have good computer skills and can explain things patiently to supervise a few sessions, so I don't have to be here every day ;)

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Juniper router eng needed .
by Gregory Machin 03 Sep '11

03 Sep '11

HI. We are battling go find a contractor that can assist us with configuration changes to our Juniper routers. If you are interested in the work or know anyone that can do it please contact me off the list. Thanks Gregory Machin 0211 844 347 -- - TLA - three letter acronym ... - We are loosing the art of communication through progress.. Proverbs 27:17 (New International Version) 17 As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

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WLUG Fixit Meeting tomorrow
by Meeting Reminder bot 01 Sep '11

01 Sep '11

A reminder; the WLUG Fixit Meeting is tomorrow. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Describe http://www.wlug.org.nz/SaturdayWorkshop.2011-09-03 here. See here for details http://wlug.org.nz/MeetingTopics.2011-07-02

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REMINDER: WLUG meeting tonight!
by Meeting Reminder Bot 28 Aug '11

28 Aug '11

There's a WLUG meeting tonight: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Describe http://www.wlug.org.nz/MeetingTopics.2011-08-29 here. Peter Reutemann has volunteered to introduce and talk about Elgg. Elgg is an open source social networking engine. Bring your laptops along http://elgg.org/ Meeting starts at 7pm

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New contact details for Wayne Grimsey
by Wayne Grimsey 25 Aug '11

25 Aug '11

Happy new year, WLUG. I moved house this week. My new contact details are: Wayne Grimsey 48A Southey Street Leamington Cambridge Landline: 07 827 8449 Cell: 027 451 2688 Hope you've all had a happy and safe holiday. Wayne > From: wlug-request(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > Subject: wlug Digest, Vol 235, Issue 6 > To: wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2011 12:00:03 +1300 > > Send wlug mailing list submissions to > wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > wlug-request(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > > You can reach the person managing the list at > wlug-owner(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of wlug digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Thursday Night Christmas Curry (David Hallett) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:19:40 +1300 > From: David Hallett <david(a)pulsar.net.nz> > To: Hamilton Thursday Night Curry > <hamilton(a)list.thursdaynightcurry.com>, Waikato Linux Users Group > <wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz> > Cc: waikato(a)nzcs.org.nz > Subject: [wlug] Thursday Night Christmas Curry > Message-ID: > <AANLkTimvR+QbuOq8x7XHuyagOAhKbtisS+JSM+y0ik5i(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > We're looking to start running Hamilton curry nights again. > The recent Christmas Curry had a good number of registrations. It was there > that a suggestion was made there to reinstate the Hamilton Thursday Night > Curry. > > If you are interested in attending (even irregularly) please let me know you > intention, and whether you prefer weekly, fortnightly, or monthly. > I'm going to use the NZCS Events System ( > http://www.nzcs.org.nz/events/waikato_bop) to manage RSVPs and booking, thus > significantly reducing the administration overhead. > > Kind regards, > > David Hallett, BSc, MNZCS ITCP > P.O. Box 15-516 > Hamilton, New Zealand > > Phone: +64-7-210 5520 > Mobile: +64-21-802 256 >

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REMINDER: WLUG meeting is on Monday
by Meeting Reminder Bot 25 Aug '11

25 Aug '11

There's a Waikato Linux Users Group meeting on Monday: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Describe http://www.wlug.org.nz/MeetingTopics.2011-08-29 here. Peter Reutemann has volunteered to introduce and talk about Elgg. Elgg is an open source social networking engine. Bring your laptops along http://elgg.org/ Meeting starts at 7pm

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Introductions and Instant Infrastructure
by Chris McClimans 24 Aug '11

24 Aug '11

Hello Local Linux Community, I'm an opensource enthusiast who has recently moved to the area and looking to get a bit more connected. I'm currently working on an instant infrastructure project to assist small to medium offices (non-profits and education are my primary targets) setup a functioning centrally managed computing and network infrastructure. The initial code is up at github. https://github.com/passionengine/ii/wiki Long term we should be able to boot an entire infrastructure from a smartphone or simple network device and create usb boot sticks for anything that doesn't do pxe booting. It will take bare metal machines (no os, no virtualiziation) and build them up with Ubuntu, XP, and/or Vista configured with a chef-client to keep them maintained centrally via a chef based infrastructure. I'm hoping to pull a demo together by mid-september and present at Software Freedom Day weekend (Waikato on Saturday and St. Mary's on Sunday). I'd been keen to have coffee or chat with anyone interested in working with me on this project. Cheers, -chris

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WLUG committee meeting August 29th
by Chris O'Halloran 24 Aug '11

24 Aug '11

Hello all, Next Monday night Peter Reutemann will be doing an introductory presentation on Elgg, an open source social networking tool. http://elgg.org/ Bring your laptops and wifi smartphones along and hopefully we'll have a bit of fun experimenting with a working server. http://wlug.org.nz/MeetingTopics.2011-08-29 Cheers, Chris O WLUG president.

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Software Freedom Day 2011
by John Billings 10 Aug '11

10 Aug '11

SFD 2011 is a little more than a month away, and I'm just wondering who all wants to be involved. It's on 17th September this year. We are planning to have it at Uni, at the very least we can use our regular meeting room, and have a really low key day, or in the past we held it in the S block building foyer, and used some of the lecture rooms to do presentations. I was over at the Uni today and talked to Sally Jo and she seemed to think that would be fine if we wanted to have it there again. The NZCS meeting today was about the Linux cluster there, and the presenter said he'd be keen to give a talk/demo the cluster at SFD. We will be putting up a display at the library first week of September, as all the boards were booked the second week, and distributing some flyers around. If anyone remembers what we did in 2007, I thought that went well, having some tables set up w/ different demos and information, and we ran presentations throughout the day. I'm good for one table, and one presentation on something (possibly 20 years of Linux?) So let me know who all wants to be involved and what you would like to do. Best, John

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WLUG Fixit Meeting is today!
by Meeting Reminder bot 05 Aug '11

05 Aug '11

A reminder, the WLUG Fixit Meeting is today. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Describe http://www.wlug.org.nz/SaturdayWorkshop.2011-08-06 here. See here for details http://wlug.org.nz/MeetingTopics.2011-07-02

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