- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

RE: [wlug] Mailing list etiquette (was Re: Sudo)
by David Hallett 05 Apr '05

05 Apr '05

At 15:27 5/04/2005, you wrote: >I will be removing my self from this mailing list today. >The amount of junk has now exceeded the amount of value. > >Regards, Gund Hi Gund, I don't appreciate receiving this kind of junk from mailing lists. Please stop sending it to this list. Thanks, David

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Mailing list etiquette (was Re: Sudo)
by Daniel Lawson 05 Apr '05

05 Apr '05

> > >I'm happy to alter my mailer to observe the netiquette you speak of. I'm >afraid I wasn't aware of it. What is the reason behind it, may I ask? > > What is the reason behind not posting an HTML only email to a mailing list? It's often extended to "Don't post in HTML at all", for a variety of reasons, some of which might be weighted more highly in this case due to the nature of this particular list. When you post in HTML or RTF, or to spell it out clearly, in anything that isn't plain ASCII or ISO-8859, you make it significantly harder for people whose mailers don't understand the format you use to read your email. While you can feel free to inconvenience your friends as much as you like, you should not assume that everyone on a mailinglist will have the ability to read whatever non-basic format you post in. Now, you might argue that "all modern email clients support HTML, so why can't I use it?". Quite simply, not everyone runs an email client that supports HTML. Or they've disabled it. I'd also suggest that on a LUG mailing list especially, the proportion of users with email clients that will not parse HTML is considerably higher than on your typical mailing list. If someone does have a client that doesn't have HTML read support, or if they have disabled it, they end up having to read the raw HTML to read your post. Yes, I can parse HTML. No, I don't want to unless I'm developing a webpage. I'll skip an HTML only email sooner than read it, especially with the cluttered HTML most email clients generate. This is mitigated somewhat by sending HTML and plain blocks, but you don't really gain much from HTML emails. Also, many people read mailing lists in digest form. HTML (and other formats) tend to break in digest mode. Basically, when posting to a mailing list, you're taking part in a community of peers. By sending HTML only emails, you're doing something equivalent to interrupting people's conversations in loud Swahili. I have to say here that I use thunderbird, which seems to like sending in HTML and plain by default, and will reply to HTML in HTML and plain by default. This isn't my preferred choice! > > >> Daniel Lawson wrote: >> > > >>>> As humourous as this thread is, HTML mails generally are discouraged >>>> to mailing lists, as a form of netiquette. If you send both HTML and >>>> plain text, then at least a sensible reader will only show plain text >>>> in appropriate circumstances, however it's still not preferred. If you >>>> can't make your mailer send both html and plaintext, then I'd go with >>>> the grandparent's advice of "Fix your mailer" >> >>

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Re: [wlug] Mailing list etiquette (was Re: Sudo)
by Michael Honeyfield 05 Apr '05

05 Apr '05

> > I have to say here that I use thunderbird, which seems to like sending > > in HTML and plain by default, and will reply to HTML in HTML and plain > > by default. This isn't my preferred choice! > > > Ditto. I've even set the plain text option hard in my prefs file, it > just refuses. :( > Any Thunderbird gurus out there that know how to fix this? I've > followed the instructions at: > > http://kb.mozillazine.org/Thunderbird_:_FAQs_:_Using_Plain_Text > Not only is there the plain vs html text emails, there is also the way in which you post. NZOSS tries to use a post at the bottom of each email, making the thread logical to read, snipping where needed if the thread becomes too long. This is probmatic for those that use Outlook, for example, since outlook will post to the top of the email.. I have a link to mailing list etiquette, but cant find it atm. Mike

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Re: wlug Digest, Vol 166, Issue 8
by d_king＠xtra.co.nz 05 Apr '05

05 Apr '05

On 5 Apr 2005 at 11:59, wlug-request(a)list.waikato.ac.nz wrote: > Message: 3 > Date: Tue, 05 Apr 2005 11:41:56 +1200 > From: Bnonn <bnonn(a)orcon.net.nz> > > I'm not meaning to stir or be a pest; I just don't understand why any > mail client in use today would not support HTML; or why people would > turn it off? Surely, unless you're using OE, security isn't a problem. Ummm, you're missing several other security issues. An example would be the exploit that is available via GIF images. My modern eMail reader (copyright 2004) doesn't display images that aren't included in the eMail as an attachment. This is a security feature. But, my eMail program is free, and is written by a NZ'er > People seem to manage browsing the web without issues, and that's a far > less controlled and predictable environment than email. That all depends on which web browser you use......but that's a seperate flame war. --- David G King : d_king(a)xtra.co.nz zl1dgk(a)nzart.org.nz ZL1DGK http://dking.gen.nz http://freet.blogspot.com

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Gov.uk backs open source drive
by Jodi Thomson 04 Apr '05

04 Apr '05

The Government has funded a ground-breaking new venture to accelerate the use of open source software (OSS) throughout local government. Known as the Open Source Academy, the project represents one of the most significant developments yet in moves to drive up OSS adoption in government. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/04/uk_government_backs_open_source_ drive/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------- Jodi W. Anderson, Mr (BA, A+, MCP) - Computer Systems Consultant Waikato University Library - Computing Operations Group Ph: +64 7 838 4323 email: jodi(a)waikato.ac.nz "Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before."

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Re: [wlug] fw: GIMP article
by Joseph Gibbs 04 Apr '05

04 Apr '05

As an aside, Photoshop users may find this useful: http://codemills.com/blog/?p=4 [Making GIMP menus more like Photoshop menus] Joseph. -----Original Message----- From: "Craig Box" <craig(a)dubculture.co.nz> To: "'Waikato Linux Users Group'" <wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz> Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 11:22:40 +1200 Subject: [wlug] fw: GIMP article Was emailled this this morning - as I only made one edit, and am not actually the author, I thought I'd share it with the mailing list. (Another success story!) - Dear Craig, I really loved your November 2004 (update date) Gimp vs Photoshop article which I came across while googling "gimp export pdf." I didn't put two and two together (that postscript files are most easily converted to pdf) until I read your article and was staying away from The Gimp for that reason (would not export to pdf). No matter how obvious it is now, it did not occur to me until your article. So I am going to give The Gimp a try. Thanks! John White _______________________________________________ wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz Unsubscribe: http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Re: [wlug] Curious about OSS
by Michael Honeyfield 04 Apr '05

04 Apr '05

I lead in Yoper's (www.yoper.com) development. Tho my efforts are not focused on a singular application, it is spread out across many. Does that count? Mike > Hi all, > > Just curious. Among all the emails about _using_ OSS, how many > people here _produce_ OSS? > > I'll hold my hand up -- bibliography management systems etc. at > www.sourceforge.net/projects/wikindx > and > www.sourceforge.net/projects/bibliophile > > Mark. > > _______________________________________________ > wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > Unsubscribe: http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

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Re: [wlug] Parliamentary Questions
by Michael Honeyfield 04 Apr '05

04 Apr '05

> While the remarks are in jest (yours and mine), it bugs me that people > seem to consider Rodney Hide to be an incompatible fit in terms of > putting our views to parliament? Why is that? Perhaps we should start > a politics thread, but it could get messy... > > Anyway, in summary - he's a liberal, so he cares about personal freedom, > and he is passionate about Open Source. How can that require loose > coupling? :) I don't think it matters which member of parliament, as long as they are willing to take our (Linux/OS community) concerns/issues etc to parliament on behalf of us. Act is not my choice when it comes to voting time, but if Act will help create parliamentry awareness, then sweet. Likewise with Greens... the more the merrier. Just my thoughts on that. Mike

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Questions in Parliament
by wayne.luxton 04 Apr '05

04 Apr '05

Hi folk In relation to questions in Parliament Nandor Tanczos Green Party Technology spokesperson would also be a good person for the job and when I looked on the Green Party website I see he already has a track record in support of open source, including questions. See www.greens.org.nz/searchdocs/other6984.html www.greens.org.nz/searchdocs/PR8077.html www.greens.org.nz/searchdocs/PR7725.html www.greens.org.nz/searchdocs/PR7657.html www.greens.org.nz/searchdocs/PR7285.html He is in Hamilton a lot ( he may even live there now) His contact is nandor.tanczos(a)parliament.govt.nz phone 04 4706716 in Wellington or hamilton.office(a)greens.org.nz phone 8340299 Wayne

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fw: GIMP article
by Craig Box 03 Apr '05

03 Apr '05

Was emailled this this morning - as I only made one edit, and am not actually the author, I thought I'd share it with the mailing list. (Another success story!) - Dear Craig, I really loved your November 2004 (update date) Gimp vs Photoshop article which I came across while googling "gimp export pdf." I didn't put two and two together (that postscript files are most easily converted to pdf) until I read your article and was staying away from The Gimp for that reason (would not export to pdf). No matter how obvious it is now, it did not occur to me until your article. So I am going to give The Gimp a try. Thanks! John White

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Re: [wlug] Real world requirements
by Michael Honeyfield 03 Apr '05

03 Apr '05

> >>User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0 (Windows/20041206) > >> > >>I'm guess this has something to do with a draconian employer? > >> > >>James. > > > >No, it has to do with the real world requirements of my job. > > > >G. > > Such as? I'm actually interested by this. > > The last three years of my working career I've used primarily Linux. For > a while (at my previous job) I had to KVM to a windows box periodically > to use OutLook and some legacy customer management software. Now it's > only Linux. > Here at EDS Windows XP, Internet Explorer and Outlook are real world requirements.... Not everyone's work place has the luxary of using OSS for their tools and platforms. Mike

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Re: [wlug] Parliamentary Questions
by Michael Honeyfield 03 Apr '05

03 Apr '05

> Michael Honeyfield wrote: > > >Will wlug be working with NZOSS on submitting these or will wlug do it independent of them? > > > >Mike > > > > > > > > We'd like it to get done. Preferably yesterday. Hence we're taking the > initiative and doing it ourselves. Rodney Hide has kindly offered a > channel, and we'd like to take it. > > G. OK, I will take a look through the course of the day for you. Cheers Mike

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Re: [wlug] Parliamentary Questions
by Michael Honeyfield 03 Apr '05

03 Apr '05

> Hi all, > > After Rodney Hide spoke to us last year, he suggested that our most > effective tool for advocacy would be to formulate a list of > parliamentary questions. A good explanation of the usefulness of these > can be found here: > > http://www.act.org.nz/question.jsp > > Mr. Hide has offered to put our questions forward, but at the moment > they are a tad incoherent. Could we have some keen volunteers to edit > http://www.wlug.org.nz/ParliamentaryQuestions? > > Be brutal. Don't worry about retaining comments - they are retained in > the wiki's revision history. I'd really like to submit these in "ready > to ask" form to Mr. Hide by the end of this month. > > Please note: The WLUG has no political affiliation with ACT or any > other political party, but we know a useful tool when we see one. :) > Please don't submit these questions yourself, as we would like them to > all be submitted together from a single point of contact to maximise > their efficiency. > > Thanks, > > Greig McGill > El Presidente. Will wlug be working with NZOSS on submitting these or will wlug do it independent of them? Mike

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PalmyLUG
by John Eyres 03 Apr '05

03 Apr '05

Yes, we've started a Palmerston North LUG -1st meet 24th March went well with 15 people attending, site under construction viewble at lug.spinningplanet.co.nz mailing list on the way considering sending delegation of gentoo cult members to next wlug

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WLUG Meeting is tonight
by Meeting Reminder bot 27 Mar '05

27 Mar '05

The WLUG meeting is this evening ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Location: http://www.wlug.org.nz/LitB, Waikato University Time: 7pm (note! earlier time) PerryLorier on http://www.wlug.org.nz/IPv6, why it's needed, what it solves, how it differs from http://www.wlug.org.nz/IPv4, and why http://www.wlug.org.nz/WLUG should be supporting its use. ---- See also OldMeetingTopics.

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WLUG Meeting is on Monday
by Meeting Reminder bot 24 Mar '05

24 Mar '05

The WLUG meeting is on Monday ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Location: http://www.wlug.org.nz/LitB, Waikato University Time: 7pm (note! earlier time) PerryLorier on http://www.wlug.org.nz/IPv6, why it's needed, what it solves, how it differs from http://www.wlug.org.nz/IPv4, and why http://www.wlug.org.nz/WLUG should be supporting its use. ---- See also OldMeetingTopics.

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Committee meeting minutes
by Craig Box 23 Mar '05

23 Mar '05

http://www.wlug.org.nz/CommitteeMeetingTopics.2005-03-23 Craig

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Patents
by Gavin Denby 23 Mar '05

23 Mar '05

The public comment period for proposed amendments to the Patents Act expired on March 11, “so a meeting is now the best way we have of communicating with the politicians and telling them what the issues are,” says NZOSS president Peter Harrison. Full story at: http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/NL/9A6B2014750A3A95CC256FCA002B46C1 If the LUG or any person wishes to make a submission time is running out. Do our political contacts have any guidelines we can post for submissions on patents, esp with regard the NZ free trade agreements.

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Funding application
by Craig Box 21 Mar '05

21 Mar '05

>From time to time, the WLUG will apply for funding from community organisations such as Trust Waikato and the Sky City Trust. Funding applications need to be for a specific project, normally for the purchase of physical items, with a prepared budget, and not just for general expenses. If any members on the list have any suggestions of things that they would like to see the LUG apply for funding for, please contact me off list by 5pm tomorrow. Thanks, Craig

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WLUG Meeting is one week away
by Meeting Reminder bot 20 Mar '05

20 Mar '05

The Waikato Linux Users Group have a meeting in one week today. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Location: http://www.wlug.org.nz/LitB, Waikato University Time: 7pm (note! earlier time) PerryLorier on http://www.wlug.org.nz/IPv6, why it's needed, what it solves, how it differs from http://www.wlug.org.nz/IPv4, and why http://www.wlug.org.nz/WLUG should be supporting its use. ---- See also OldMeetingTopics.

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Mozilla Foundation.
by Oliver Jones 18 Mar '05

18 Mar '05

Hi Folks. I decided to donate some bucks to the Mozilla Foundation and in the process bought a Firefox/Thunderbird Guide & CD and a Firefox poster. I don't need them so I thought I'd donate them to the WLUG. Perhaps the poster can be displayed somewhere prominently at Waikato Uni in an effort to encourage Firefox adoption. Where do I send them? Regards -- Oliver Jones » Roving Code Warrior oliver(a)deeperdesign.com » +64 (21) 41 2238 » www.deeperdesign.com

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UPS's for sale, work with Linux, BSD, etc.
by Oliver Jones 16 Mar '05

16 Mar '05

Hi Folks. As we are Linux types we tend to leave out PC's and servers on all the time. As such it is good to have UPS power protection. Historically I've always used SOLA (now Powerware) gear. I have a few used SOLA UPS's for sale. I have an older SOLA 320/700VA device for sale for $80. A newer SOLA 325/750VA for $250 and a SOLA 520/1800VA Rackmount for $970. The 520/1800VA device is only about 14 months old and in excellent condition. I also have a SOLA 325/1000VA device but I think its battery has died. I need to run some tests. The outcome of those tests will dictate price. Batteries can be easily sourced from the NZ distributor in Auckland. These are all good quality devices with online buck and boost to keep the power running smoothly into protected equipment. The 700VA & 750VA devices will keep a workstation/server running for about 30 to 45 minutes on battery depending on the equipments current draw. The Rackmount unit will keep a few power hungry servers running for about the same time. Less power hungry devices will probably last about 1.5 hours on it. All of the UPS devices can be monitored via their included serial cables and they come with monitoring software for a variety of OSs including Linux and BSD. Though the included Unix software isn't as good as NUT (www.networkupstools.org) I actually managed to get SOLA to provide protocol documentation of the UPSs to the NUT project which was nice. The 520 also has an SNMP expansion card bay. No need to replace power cords either like you do with some APC gear. All the UPS's have four standard AU/NZ power plugs on the back. If anyone needs a good Linux/BSD compatible UPS let me know. Note that all prices include GST but exclude shipping. Regards -- Oliver Jones » Roving Code Warrior oliver(a)deeperdesign.com » +64 (21) 41 2238 » www.deeperdesign.com

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Upcoming WLUG committee meeting (1 week today)
by Meeting Reminder bot 15 Mar '05

15 Mar '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 # Reply To Munging on the mailing list # General business

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Erics Ultimate Solitare
by Oliver Jones 10 Mar '05

10 Mar '05

I have a copy of Eric's Ultimate Solitaire to give away. Lucky person gets to pay the postage... ;) Regards -- Oliver Jones » Roving Code Warrior oliver(a)deeperdesign.com » +64 (21) 41 2238 » www.deeperdesign.com

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WLUG server down because of tunnel fire?
by Ian McDonald 09 Mar '05

09 Mar '05

I am guessing that this is the reason it is not up still? Can anybody confirm.

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