- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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default distro
by John Torrance 27 Apr '05

27 Apr '05

Hi I see that you are using Ubuntu v5.04 (Hoary Hedgehog) as your official distro for the install fest. What advantages does if have over the latest Fedora? As a newbie, I have some experience with Red Hat and Fedora but have never used Debian which I believe is the basis of Ubuntu. Cheers John

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Resetting the preferrred browser in KDE/Debian
by Glenn Ramsey 27 Apr '05

27 Apr '05

I am running Debian/Testing with KDE and I mostly use firefox for web browsing. Somehow (ok, really because I fiddled with the config) it has become the default browser and I can't figure out how to change it back. This is annoying because In KDE you can choose "run command" from the start menu and enter "#commandname" to get a nicely formatted man page. On my system only konqueror understands this but currently it tries to start firefox which reports that it doesn't understand the man: protocol. update-alternatives says this: pixie:~# update-alternatives --display x-www-browser x-www-browser - status is auto. link currently points to /usr/bin/konqueror /usr/bin/mozilla-firefox - priority 70 slave x-www-browser.1.gz: /usr/share/man/man1/mozilla-firefox.1.gz /usr/bin/mozilla - priority 80 slave x-www-browser.1.gz: /usr/share/man/man1/mozilla.1.gz /usr/bin/konqueror - priority 100 Current `best' version is /usr/bin/konqueror. pixie:~# update-alternatives --list x-www-browser /usr/bin/mozilla-firefox /usr/bin/mozilla /usr/bin/konqueror pixie:/etc/alternatives# ls -l x-www-browser lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 18 Apr 27 11:09 x-www-browser -> /usr/bin/konqueror Does anyone know where/how to reset this? Alternatively is there an easy way to just reset KDE to all have everything back to the default? Would it be unwise to delete or rename my .kde directory and have it recreate it? Glenn -- Glenn Ramsey <glenn(a)componic.co.nz> 07 8627077 http://www.componic.co.nz

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making a bootable CD
by John Torrance 27 Apr '05

27 Apr '05

Sorry, I hope that this is not a stupid question. I have downloaded the Ubuntu Iso - I have tried to burn a bootable disk with gnome toaster - I only seem to be able to make disks with the iso file on it. I tried dragging and dropping the file then right clicking and asking for a bootable ISO image but still got another fine .ISO coaster. Clearly my windows programs won't read these - how do I make a loadable disk from the ISO with gnome toaster? Thanks for the all the advice Cheers

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logger
by James Clark 26 Apr '05

26 Apr '05

This isn't new to me, but maybe someone might think "hey that's just what I wanted", since it's a slow day on yon list. If your running an application and want to capture the output to a system log file, you can use logger. Instead of explain it in too much depth, try the below while tail -f'ing /var/log/daemon.log. echo test | logger -p daemon.info -t \[test\] You'll now have an idea of what it does and why you might like to use it, of course you can do more so you can always rtfm @ `man logger`. Cheers, James.

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/etc
by Bnonn 26 Apr '05

26 Apr '05

A random question. Does /etc stand for Et Cetera? I can't really see why it would, but then I can't think of anything else it would stand for. Et Cetera means literally "and so forth", so I'd expect a folder called /etc to contain miscellaneous files rather than configuration data. Anyone know? Bnonn

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RE: [wlug] Ubuntu Live cd
by David Nicholls 25 Apr '05

25 Apr '05

Ron Dean wrote: Has anybody got a copy of x86 iso of the live cd. I have used Mandrake 10 for some time but would like to try this. ----------------- If you need one now, I can supply it. Cheers... david

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Ubuntu Live cd
by Ron Dean 25 Apr '05

25 Apr '05

Has anybody got a copy of x86 iso of the live cd. I have used Mandrake 10 for some time but would like to try this.

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Official announcement of 2005 Installfest
by Craig Box 24 Apr '05

24 Apr '05

Hi everyone, The Waikato Linux Users Group are proud to announce their second annual Linux installfest, to be held at the Crawshaw School Hall on Crawshaw Drive, Hamilton, from 10am on Saturday 7th May. Registration for the installfest is now open on the WLUG website at http://www.wlug.org.nz/InstallFest. There is no charge to attend. "Our last installfest was a great success and an educational experience for the WLUG, as well as the participants" says group president Greig McGill. "We look forward to applying lessons learned last year, and making this one as good as it can be." Over 50 people attended the 2004 event, and this year WLUG intend to streamline the installations in order to run more training. For people who are interested in Free Software, but not yet ready to take the leap into running Linux, the WLUG will also have demonstrations of free software for Microsoft Windows, such as the tremendously popular Firefox web browser and OpenOffice.org office software. How you can help ---------------- If you are interested in helping with the installfest organization, check out the http://www.wlug.org.nz/InstallFestToDo page, and email me if there is anything there you'd like to have a go at. If you want to sign up to either attend or help on the day, please register on the registration page. (The page will be updated later tonight; if you go earlier, please make it clear if you're a helper or a new installation). Thanks Craig

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6to4 site examples wanted
by Steven Lisson 24 Apr '05

24 Apr '05

Hi, I have been having some difficulty accessing the www.wlug.org.nz site via IPv6 from my network, all machines apart from the gateway do not use a 6to4 addressing (e.g. 2001:db0:10f7:1::1), as soon as a trace leaves the 2001:: range the trace fails (no matter if it leaves IPv6 via the 6to4 interface on the gateway or elsewhere on the IPv6 internet), however, the gateway that has a 6to4 address on it can ping, trace and view the website without difficulty. To assist with further troubleshooting further from my end could someone please provide me with some other sites that use 6to4 addresses so I can troubleshoot further, I was going through a list of IPv6 websites that I know of but only 1 site I tested out of about 70 on the list used a 2002:: address and it was offline in both the ipv4 and 6 internet. Sorry to be a hassle but would like to get to the cause of the issue and be able to rectify it as it is pretty much the only site I regularly visit via IPv6 that I have problems with. Regards, Steve

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Joining split avi files.
by Oliver Jones 23 Apr '05

23 Apr '05

Howdy folks. Linux to the rescue yet again. I needed to join some avi files together, end on end. I did a Google and found lots of shareware/download-ware utilities for Windows for doing the job. All wanted money. Of course I thought, "This is dumb. There has to be a Linux command-line tool for this." One of the Google results mentioned avicat on Linux. Part of Mplayer's transcode suite. I knew I had transcode installed but avicat didn't exist. So I went, "$ avi<tab><tab>" and lo and behold the command avimerge appeared and looked promising. After a quite man read it became clear that this was exactly what I wanted and I set about "fixing" my avi files. Hurrah! Regards -- Oliver Jones » Roving Code Warrior oliver(a)deeperdesign.com » +64 (21) 41 2238 » www.deeperdesign.com

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Microsoft announces support for Linux!
by Ian McDonald 21 Apr '05

21 Apr '05

Looks like Microsoft has realised Linux has gained real support. This is showing that Linux IS gaining real traction if Microsoft support. http://news.com.com/Microsofts+Ballmer+grins+and+bears+Linux--a+little/2100… Please remember - be professional in your replies. WLUG is not about maligning any software company - we are about supporting Linux and this has to be good news. Regards, Ian

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web hosting
by stephen pearce 21 Apr '05

21 Apr '05

Our web host will soon be shutting down ... the choise of alternatives is overwhelming .. has anyone got any thoughts on best price performance options locally? Thanks Stephen

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No meeting this Monday
by Craig Box 20 Apr '05

20 Apr '05

Hi everyone, Due to Monday being Anzac day and the installfest coming up soon after, we have decided to roll the planned upcoming meeting on Monday 25 April into the Installfest which is happening on Saturday 7th June. Please accept our apologies for the late decision, but rest assured that big plans are underway for the installfest and we look forward to seeing you all there! Craig (on behalf of the WLUG Committee)

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Committee and installfest update
by Craig Box 20 Apr '05

20 Apr '05

Hi everyone, Another month, another committee meeting. Please see http://www.wlug.org.nz/CommitteeMeetingTopics.2005-04-20 for the minutes. I hope that due to the lack of input from the members this means we're doing everything right and you're all very happy! :) An update on the installfest planning. We are on track and you're welcome to check out whats happening at the http://www.wlug.org.nz/InstallFestToDo page. Any offers of help are always welcome! What we would love you to do is print copies of the poster from http://www.wlug.org.nz/archive/installfest/installfest-poster-2005.pdf, and put them up anywhere you can think of that people might be interested. Thanks, Craig

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Intro and ISPs
by Ian Swainson 20 Apr '05

20 Apr '05

Mornin All, Just arrived in NZ from (not so) sunny Ireland, recently joined your esteemed mailing list, looking forward to catching up with some of you in person at the next installfest. Please be gentle with me... As I've just arrived, I'm looking for a nice Linux-friendly ISP to give my hard-earned cash to - any recommendations would be gratefully received. Google is usually my friend, but NZ certainly has a lot more choice than Ireland. In Ireland many of the ISPs are free, and make their money from the phone-calls. They all seem to need registration here - is that the case? In relation to above, does anyone know if this USB Modem will play with Linux nicely? http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/42656b330da56e082740c0a87f99070… ...I note that it has a Conexant chipset, which reeks of WinModem nastiness. I need the modem for a lappy, so can't go the internal route. Feedback delightfully received. I have had some success with WinModems on Linux, the drivers certainly have come a long way. Not sure about this one tho. Anyhoo, let the flaming begin (although surely ye can't be as bad as the ILUG...:) ) Cheers, ian -- "Turn off the lights and I'll glow." -Implausible Claims Made by Vanilla Ice in "Ice Ice Baby." http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/lists/26DougErickson.html

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Command line util of the day.
by Oliver Jones 19 Apr '05

19 Apr '05

To continue the trend set by James Clark... Here is my choice for useful command-line tool of the day. fold Fold is a simple little command line util that lets you fold lines of text at a particular width. Eg if you have some long lines of text, say out of some HTML or other document format that only maintains paragraph breaks, that you want to show on a console screen you can do this: fold -s -w 70 long-lines.txt |less This command will fold the text from long-lines.txt at 70 characters (or the nearest preceding space). If you leave off -s the lines will get cut in the middle of words. Most consoles are 80 columns wide and fold defaults to a width (-w) of 80 columns. This can also be useful in scripts where you need to display a paragraph of text with interpolated variables which you don't know the width of beforehand. Eg: echo -n "Enter some text: " read var para="You said, '$var'. That's really interesting. But \ do you know the answer to the ultimate question of life, \ the universe, and everything?"; echo $para | fold -s -w 78 - Regards -- Oliver Jones » Roving Code Warrior oliver(a)deeperdesign.com » +64 (21) 41 2238 » www.deeperdesign.com

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WLUG Meeting is one week away
by Meeting Reminder bot 17 Apr '05

17 Apr '05

The Waikato Linux Users Group have a meeting in one week today. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A WLUG meeting is booked for this date. No topic has been set. 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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WANTED: Cisco admin in Taupo
by Andrew Thrift 14 Apr '05

14 Apr '05

Hi All, We have a new site in Taupo that is connected to TelstraClear Private IP via a Cisco 805 Router on frame relay. As I am going on holiday tomorrow I am unable to go onsite and figure out why the connection is not coming up when the router is as far as I can remember configured properly. Is anyone on this list in Taupo and able to check it out for me, and if so reply off list with your hourly rate. Regards, Andrew Thrift National IT Manager Turbo Investments Group.

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DHBs to test open source alternative to Windows and Office
by Bnonn 12 Apr '05

12 Apr '05

<http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/UNID/39A5FAC6A45E8FB2CC256FDA00319B5C?O…> --- DHBs to test open source alternative to Windows and Office Boards band together to reduce their software licensing costs Stephen Bell, Wellington New Zealand's District Health Boards plan a trial of open source desktop software in an effort to reduce the licensing fees they pay to Microsoft — more than $20 million over three years, according to one estimate. Microsoft licences are a major element of DHBs’ software costs, says Phil Brimacombe, CIO of Waitemata and Counties Manukau DHBs and healthAlliance, the shared services organisation owned by the two boards. While there are some “power users” likely to need the full capabilities of Microsoft Office and related applications, users with less elaborate IT demands may be able to use OpenOffice.org and other open source software at much-reduced cost, Brimacombe says. At a quarterly meeting of DHB CIOs in February, a joint three-part plan to reduce software costs was adopted. First, the DHBs will pilot an open source desktop environment, being put together by Steve Rayner, CIO of Wanganui DHB, to assess how many users it will serve adequately. Rayner plans to support two categories of user: "power users" with Microsoft desktop software, and "regular clinical users" with Novell Enterprise Desktop, OpenOffice.org and GroupWise running on Suse Linux. The pilot will seek to establish how many users there are with basic needs and whether it is possible to meet them with an entirely non-Microsoft environment, Brimacombe says. “The majority of users don’t use Access databases, for example; they wouldn’t use PowerPoint; they’re not advanced users of Excel and they probably only use about 20% of the functions of Word. They may manage quite well with OpenOffice.” There are also open source options for clinical database access clients, “but we don’t know how practical those are”, he says. Brimacombe expects one of the knotty problems will be DHBs’ extensive use of Outlook and Exchange. They will have to find some practical email alternative, he says. Another initiative is to approach suppliers of health software to see if they are willing to develop open source versions of their applications. At least one major provider of clinical systems, Orion, has told the board that it is looking seriously at supporting the open source Mozilla Firefox browser with its its clinical portal, Concerto, as an alternative to Internet Explorer, Brimacombe says. Laboratory software developer Sysmex has also indicated a willingness to explore open source solutions, he says. The third part of the DHBs' plan is to push for stronger representation on the public sector committee negotiating the details of G2006, the next iteration of the New Zealand Government’s bulk licensing agreement with Microsoft. Steve Mayo-Smith, CIO of Auckland DHB, will be the DHB CIO representative on the public sector negotiation group. He says DHBs will collectively have spent over $20 million on Microsoft licences during the three year of the previous agreement, G2003. “In particular the DHBs with a large user population end up with little choice within the G2003 agreement, and feel captured by the structure of that agreement into paying the highest charges, often for products that are not widely needed,” Mayo-Smith says. “The potential cost efficiencies of open source are also attractive to smaller DHBs who do not have the resources of the larger DHBs.” “We’re not expecting any stunning short-term breakthrough,” says Brimacombe, but the joint initiative, alongside individual DHB plans in the open source direction, could go some way to reducing Microsoft expenditure, “which is a big number for the taxpayer”. The push to reduce licensing costs has been building for many months, Brimacombe says; one catalyst came in mid-2004, when Dr Ross Boswell, clinical director of information systems for Counties Manukau and an open source enthusiast, addressed the quarterly CIO meeting. Discussion since then has built up to the point of a formal agreement among the boards. ---

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Upcoming WLUG committee meeting (1 week today)
by Meeting Reminder bot 12 Apr '05

12 Apr '05

As per the WLUG charter, please note that there is a WLUG executive committee meeting one week from today. If you wish to get an item on the agenda for this meeting, please email it to secretary(a)wlug.org.nz. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- WLUG Committee Meeting To have something added to the agenda for this meeting, please email secretary @ wlug.org.nz. Provisional agenda: # Minutes from previous meeting # Matters arising # Correspondence # Treasurers report # General business

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