- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Re: [wlug] Ubuntu 7.10 released
by jaytee＠clear.net.nz 24 Oct '07

24 Oct '07

Hi again, Like Michael, I did a "famous last words" thing on closing my "successful" 7.10 after changing to open source ATI graphics drivers it failed to reboot giving a Check system then press f2. I wonder if Ian's link to the new Ati drivers (ATI mobility 9000 radeon) would help or fix the problem???? Please respond.. Regards John ----- Original Message Follows ----- > Hi all, > I did the change to 7.10 my wireless works straight > away for only the second time ever. Glxgears is a bit sad > at 132fps but I only have a ati mobility radeon 9000 so I > guess there is not much hope for anything better. Unless > someone knows of a tune up script to get a better result > *hopes... Regards John > > > ----- Original Message Follows ----- > > On 21/10/2007, Michael McDonald <mikencolleen(a)gmail.com> > > > wrote: I did the change to 7.10 yesterday. No > > problems so far. > > > > Now what's that about "famous last words". I pressed > > "send" and requested the system update (timezone data) > > then my screen went dim and the system failed to > > respond. Restarted X (Ctl/Alt/Bksp) and I'm back in > > business. > > Michael > > _______________________________________________ > > wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > > Unsubscribe: > > http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wl > _______________________________________________ > wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > Unsubscribe: > http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug

1 0

Astrophysicist Replaces Supercomputer with Eight PlayStation 3s
by Michael McDonald 23 Oct '07

23 Oct '07

An interesting read ... Astrophysicist Replaces Supercomputer with Eight PlayStation 3s http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2007/10/ps3_supercomputer Michael

1 0

Improved proprietary ATI drivers
by Ian McDonald 23 Oct '07

23 Oct '07

Can now use aiglx rather than xgl which means graphics should work better I think: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=887&num=1 -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

How to figure out what script is starting a process
by Chris O'Halloran 23 Oct '07

23 Oct '07

Hello, I have got compiz fusion to work on my KDE Kubuntu laptop. Compiz is little buggy on KDE so it would be nice to manually start it rather than it automagically start when I login. However, I can't figure out where its getting started from. Is there a way to track what script started a feature. I can find the script for compiz.real but I can't figure out what calls this script. Similary what is the grep command to search a set of configuration files for a key word? I remember someone mentioning it for search kernel sources a few months back. Cheers Chris

3 3

Linux graphics survey
by Ian McDonald 22 Oct '07

22 Oct '07

These people are behind promoting graphics for linux quite heavily: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=lgs_2007 -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

Ubuntu 7.10 released
by Simon Green 21 Oct '07

21 Oct '07

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ubuntu Announcements <noreply(a)ubuntu.com> The Ubuntu team is proud to announce version 7.10 of the Ubuntu family of distributions. Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for desktops, laptops, and servers, with a fast and easy install and regular releases. A tightly-integrated selection of excellent applications is included, and an incredible variety of add-on software is just a few clicks away. Read more about the features of Ubuntu 7.10 in the following press releases: Ubuntu 7.10 http://www.ubuntu.com/news/ubuntu710 Desktop edition http://www.ubuntu.com/news/ubuntu-desktop710 Server edition http://www.ubuntu.com/news/ubuntu-server710 Ubuntu family http://www.ubuntu.com/news/ubuntu-family710 Professional technical support is available from Canonical Limited and hundreds of other companies around the world. For more information about support, visit http://www.ubuntu.com/support Ubuntu 7.10 will be supported for 18 months on both desktops and servers. Users requiring a longer support lifetime on servers may choose to continue using Ubuntu 6.06 LTS, with security support until 2011, rather than upgrade to or install 7.10. Ubuntu 7.10 is also the basis for new 7.10 releases of Kubuntu and Edubuntu: Kubuntu announcement http://kubuntu.org/announcements/7.10-release.php Edubuntu announcement http://www.edubuntu.org/news/7.10-release To Get Ubuntu 7.10 ------------------ To download Ubuntu 7.10, or obtain CDs, visit: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu Users of Ubuntu 7.04 will be offered an automatic upgrade to 7.10 via Update Manager. As always, upgrades to the latest version of Ubuntu are entirely free of charge. For further information about upgrading, see http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/upgrading We recommend that all users read the release notes, which document caveats and workarounds for known issues. They are available at: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/710 Find out what's new in this release with a graphical tour: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/710tour If you have a question, or if you think you may have found a bug but aren't sure, try asking on the #ubuntu IRC channel, on the Ubuntu Users mailing list, or on the Ubuntu forums: #ubuntu on irc.freenode.net http://www.ubuntuforums.org/ http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users Helping Shape Ubuntu -------------------- If you would like to help shape Ubuntu, take a look at the list of ways you can participate at http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate/ Developers should consider attending the upcoming Ubuntu Developer Summit in Cambridge, Massachusetts (US) starting 29 October. More information is available at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UDS-Boston More Information ---------------- You can find out more about Ubuntu and about this release on our website: http://www.ubuntu.com/ To sign up for future Ubuntu announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu's very low volume announcement list at: http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-announce -- ubuntu-announce mailing list ubuntu-announce(a)lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-announce

7 12

ANNOUNCE: WLUG meeting is one week away
by Meeting Reminder Bot 21 Oct '07

21 Oct '07

The Waikato Linux Users Group have a meeting in one week from today: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:30pm, TW.2.05 (http://www.wlug.org.nz/TW) Linux gaming: James and Bruce will present some Games that run on Linux, either natively or under Windows compatibility wrappers like Wine.

1 0

Re: [wlug] Ubuntu 7.10 released
by jaytee＠clear.net.nz 21 Oct '07

21 Oct '07

Hi all, I did the change to 7.10 my wireless works straight away for only the second time ever. Glxgears is a bit sad at 132fps but I only have a ati mobility radeon 9000 so I guess there is not much hope for anything better. Unless someone knows of a tune up script to get a better result *hopes... Regards John ----- Original Message Follows ----- > On 21/10/2007, Michael McDonald <mikencolleen(a)gmail.com> > > wrote: I did the change to 7.10 yesterday. No problems > so far. > > Now what's that about "famous last words". I pressed > "send" and requested the system update (timezone data) > then my screen went dim and the system failed to respond. > Restarted X (Ctl/Alt/Bksp) and I'm back in business. > > Michael > _______________________________________________ > wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > Unsubscribe: > http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wl

1 0

Home networking with SSH
by Ian McDonald 20 Oct '07

20 Oct '07

The Secure Shell (SSH) network protocol makes it easy to connect computers that are running Linux, share files, and remotely run applications. Along with an X server, it can make sharing a single computer simple on a home network. In my home, my wife and I need to share a desktop computer -- often at the same time. The computer runs Slackware Linux, and we have individual user accounts, Thunderbird email profiles, Firefox bookmarks, and other documents. Linux gives us the ability to share the computer by using multiple X Window sessions, each on its own virtual terminal. But the computer has only one monitor and one keyboard, which limits us to one user at a time. For more see: http://www.linux.com/feature/119744 -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

2 1

KDE 4 looking nice
by Ian McDonald 17 Oct '07

17 Oct '07

http://kde.org/announcements/announce-4.0-beta3.php -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

Linspire 6 doesn't inspire
by Ian McDonald 17 Oct '07

17 Oct '07

They say it basically pampers to Microsoft and many features are missing. In the past Linspire was a distro that was gaining popularity for ease of use and features but this doesn't sound positive. http://www.linux.com/feature/119866 -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

PulseAudio
by Ian McDonald 17 Oct '07

17 Oct '07

PulseAudio is a cross-platform, open source sound server that supports advanced software mixing capabilities and network transparency. PulseAudio is designed to be a drop-in replacement for the Esound daemon and uses a pluggable Esound module for backwards compatibility. PulseAudio provides the infrastructure needed to bring a next-generation audio experience to the Linux desktop. PulseAudio will make it possible to independently control the volume of individual applications, support moving audio streams between devices on the fly, output audio on multiple devices simultaneously, and provide compatibility with GNOME's fast user switching functionality. For more see: http://arstechnica.com/journals/linux.ars/2007/10/17/pulseaudio-to-bring-ea… -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

NZer helps stop most of Amazon 1-Click patent
by Ian McDonald 17 Oct '07

17 Oct '07

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071017-amazons-1-click-patent-picked… Note - the issue here was prior art (i.e. Amazon patented something already invented). This is different to whether software patents are valid altogether... -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

Redhat/Novell get sued for patents
by Ian McDonald 17 Oct '07

17 Oct '07

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071012-patent-holding-company-target… The patent seems to be (as I read it) for the multiple desktop support in bottom right corner where you click on it. It was patented by Xerox in 1987 and they must have bought it at some time. I know this has been in X Windows forever (I used it in the 1980s) if I read it correctly. Will be interesting to see what comes of it. Of course there is a (tenuous) Microsoft link. -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

2 4

Microsoft gets approval for two open source licenses from OSI
by Ian McDonald 16 Oct '07

16 Oct '07

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071016-microsoft-gets-official-open-… -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

Red Hat Global Desktop
by Ian McDonald 15 Oct '07

15 Oct '07

An update on this here: http://desktoplinux.com/news/NS6584091276.html They say it's going to rapidly evolve but lists Gnome 2.16 which is now two versions old. I think most people who want to play will use Fedora or Ubuntu but this might be of some use for businesses who like conservative stuff. -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

Announcing the Release Candidate for Ubuntu 7.10
by Simon Green 11 Oct '07

11 Oct '07

Date: 12 Oct 2007 10:21 To: ubuntu-announce(a)lists.ubuntu.com The Ubuntu team is proud to announce the Release Candidate for version 7.10 of Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Gobuntu, and Xubuntu codenamed "Gutsy Gibbon". The Release Candidate includes installable live Desktop CDs, server images, alternate text-mode installation CDs, and an upgrade wizard for users of the current stable release. We consider this release candidate to be complete, stable, and suitable for testing by any user. The final release of version 7.10 is scheduled for 18 October 2007 and will be supported for 18 months on both desktops and servers. Users requiring a longer support lifetime on servers may choose to continue using Ubuntu 6.06 LTS, with security support until 2011, rather than upgrade to 7.10. Before installing or upgrading to Ubuntu 7.10 please read https://wiki.ubuntu.com/GutsyReleaseNotes About The Release Candidate --------------------------- The purpose of the Release Candidate is to solicit one last round of testing before the final release. Here are ways that you can help: * Upgrade from Ubuntu, Kubuntu, or Edubuntu 7.04 to the Release Candidate by following the instructions given above. * Participate in installation testing using the Release Candidate CD images, by following the testing and reporting instructions at http://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/ISO Desktop highlights ------------------ Compiz Fusion: This innovative compositing window manager enables 3-D desktop effects that let users work with, and see, their desktops in completely new ways. Printer installation: In GNOME, printers are automatically configured for use as soon as they are connected. Free Flash support with Gnash: Ubuntu 7.10 leads the pack with a preview of this Flash browser plugin. Although still actively in development and not yet fully supported by Ubuntu, Gnash gives a glimpse into the future of free Flash, bringing partial Flash support to 64-bit desktop systems. Automated Firefox plugin installation: Beyond the addition of Gnash, Firefox in Ubuntu now supports automatic installation of popular plugins through the standard Ubuntu package repositories, for a richer web-browsing experience with the integrated security support of the rest of the Ubuntu system. Server highlights ----------------- AppArmor: This easy-to-deploy kernel technology limits the resources an application is allowed to access and can be used to provide an added layer of protection against undiscovered security vulnerabilities in applications. Pre-configured installation options: Mail Server, Print Server, Database Server, and File Server options join existing LAMP and DNS options for pre-configured installations, easing the deployment of common server configurations. Edubuntu highlights ------------------- Faster thin clients: Thin clients have been sped up significantly through the use of compressed images. Updated login manager: The thin-client login manager has been completely reworked, with themes for all Ubuntu flavors, support for autologin, and optional unencrypted graphics transport for improved performance on slower hardware. Kubuntu highlights ------------------ As well as the above desktop highlights, the following new features are specific to KDE users: Dolphin file manager: This updated file manager gives Ubuntu users a glimpse of the upcoming KDE 4. Strigi desktop search: Another pillar of KDE 4 available now in Kubuntu. Restricted-manager: Kubuntu 7.10 includes a KDE front-end for easy installation of proprietary drivers, complementing the existing GNOME front-end. Please see https://wiki.kubuntu.org/GutsyGibbon/RC/Kubuntu for details. Gobuntu highlights ------------------ Gobuntu 7.10 is the debut full release of the Ubuntu version that is composed entirely of open source non-restricted software. For experienced Linux enthusiasts, Gobuntu will act as the test bed for developing a user-friendly operating system with no compromise in terms of the open source philosophy. This initial release comes without any software from the restricted component, and with artwork for usplash and the isolinux CD bootloader. The full release notes can be found at http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/710rc To Get the Ubuntu 7.10 Release Candidate CD ------------------------------------------- To perform a new installation or try out 7.10 "live" from CD, download the Ubuntu 7.10 Release Candidate (choose the mirror closest to you): Europe: http://se.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Sweden) http://nl.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (The Netherlands) http://ftp.snt.utwente.nl/pub/linux/ubuntu-releases/7.10 (The Netherlands) http://ie.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Ireland) http://it.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Italy) http://gb.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Great Britain) http://de.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Germany) http://fr.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (France) Asia/Pacific: http://tw.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Taiwan) http://mirror.optus.net/ubuntu-releases/7.10 (Australia) Africa: http://za.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (South Africa) North America: http://ca.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Canada) http://releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (United States) South America: http://br.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Brazil) Rest of the world: http://releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Great Britain) Please download using Bittorrent if possible. For more information about using Bittorrent, see: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BitTorrent Upgrading from Ubuntu 7.04 -------------------------- To upgrade from Ubuntu 7.04 to Ubuntu 7.10 Release Candidate, follow these instructions: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GutsyUpgrades Feedback and Helping -------------------- If you would like to help shape Ubuntu to better meet your future needs, take a look at the list of ways you can participate at http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate/ Your comments, bug reports, patches, and suggestions will help turn this release into the best release of Ubuntu ever. Please report bugs through the Launchpad bug tracker: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/gutsy/+bugs If you have a question, or if you think you may have found a bug but aren't sure, first try asking on the #ubuntu IRC channel on FreeNode, on the Ubuntu Users mailing list, or on the Ubuntu forums: http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users http://www.ubuntuforums.org/ More Information ---------------- Ubuntu is a Linux distribution for your desktop, laptop, thin client, and server, with a fast and easy install. Ubuntu comes in several variants, including Ubuntu Desktop, Server, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, and Xubuntu. The Ubuntu project makes no distinction between a free edition and an enterprise edition - this is our best work and it is freely available. Used by businesses, home users, schools, and governments around the world, Ubuntu offers regular releases, a tight selection of excellent packages installed by default and professional commercial technical support from Canonical Ltd and hundreds of other companies. You can find out more about Ubuntu and about this preview release on our website, IRC channel, and wiki. If you are new to Ubuntu, please visit: http://www.ubuntu.com/ To sign up for future Ubuntu announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu's very low volume announcement list at: http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-announce -- ubuntu-announce mailing list ubuntu-announce(a)lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-announce

1 0

Linux the cause of Ebay phishing...
by Ian McDonald 09 Oct '07

09 Oct '07

http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=18738 The moral of the story is that unsecured (particularly unpatched) Linux boxes are just as bad (or worse) than Windows boxes. I've seen a lot of people just install Linux machines and leave them running. Yes they run forever, but that doesn't make them secure. It seems like Linux is now more and more a target. -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

6 9

Microsoft make noise about RedHat
by Ian McDonald 09 Oct '07

09 Oct '07

Ballmer is back to his talk (and no action): http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2200717/microsoft-sharpens-aims-patent -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

2 1

Fwd: Linux kernel 2.6.23 released
by Ian McDonald 09 Oct '07

09 Oct '07

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Linux Kernel Distribution System <kdist(a)linux.kernel.org> Date: Oct 10, 2007 10:08 AM Subject: Linux kernel 2.6.23 released To: linux-kernel-announce(a)hera.kernel.org Linux kernel version 2.6.23 has been released. It is available from: Patch: ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/patch-2.6.23.bz2 Full source: ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/linux-2.6.23.tar.bz2 Sizes in bytes Compressed Uncompressed ------------------------------------------------------------ Patch 6127045 32897292 Full source 45488158 264704000

1 0

[Fwd: Re: Linux the cause of Ebay phishing...]
by Lindsay Druett 09 Oct '07

09 Oct '07

-------- Forwarded Message -------- From: Lindsay Druett <lindsay(a)wired.net.nz> Reply-To: lindsay(a)wired.net.nz To: Bruce Kingsbury <zcat(a)wired.net.nz> Subject: Re: [wlug] Linux the cause of Ebay phishing... Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2007 20:05:28 +1300 And going to the Linux front.... Redhat server is a baddie... I had to sort out a Linux server last week for a rather large customer. In the /etc/rc(whatever).D they had everything under the sun *and* the moon. Would you believe, they had /etc/init.d/ipchains start and /etc/init.d/iptables start together... Going to my ITS days... Slackware was the ITS standard distro when I was working for Uni, and the big concern was security (no wonder). The BOFH had done a crack down on ITS security when I was there, and believe or not, my work desktop got the rubber stamp. It wasn't running Slackware, and if it ran slackware, it would have failed miserably, but it ran SuSe desktop of all things... Oh yeah... || to your distro Denise... On Tue, 2007-10-09 at 19:26 +1300, Bruce Kingsbury wrote: > > Linux OTOH can be set up so, for example, the MySQL database could > > only be accessed via 127.0.0.1 if it was only for the local webserver, > > or opened up only to the hosts that need to access the database > > server. > > Windows can be set up the same way, it just typically isn't. > > Many linux distros (particularly the ones intended for desktop users) > have a policy of 'no open ports' and a lot of software like MySQL is > similarly preconfigured to only listen to localhost. My experience with > Windows, all sorts of completely unnecessary things end up listening on > all interfaces, simply because on the chance that you happen to need > those services, they'll already be installed and accessable. Hello > slammer! That's great from an 'everything just works' perspective, > perhaps.. but it's terrible from a security perspective. > >

1 0

Linux on the motherboard
by Ian McDonald 09 Oct '07

09 Oct '07

This was quite an interesting article about a new ASUS motherboard which has Linux and Skype on the motherboard itself: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=869&num=1 -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

2 2

openSUSE 10.3 review
by Ian McDonald 08 Oct '07

08 Oct '07

This is out now and here's a review: http://lunapark6.com/opensuse-103-review.html -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

Developing open source software better
by Ian McDonald 08 Oct '07

08 Oct '07

I found this an interesting read: http://humanized.com/weblog/2007/10/05/make_oss_humane/ -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

Upcoming WLUG committee meeting (1 week today)
by Meeting Reminder bot 07 Oct '07

07 Oct '07

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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- # Previous Minutes # Treasurers report # Correspondence # Matters # Server status # General business

1 0

laptop problem
by jaytee＠clear.net.nz 06 Oct '07

06 Oct '07

Hi All. My machine began behaving badly. It appeared to run out of memory then totally lock up. I ran "Memtest outcome was 10 tests no errors. I replaced the hard drive with no difference being made. A simple example of one the problems was the live disc install for Feisty. Disc took forever to load then when install selected the furthest it ever went was to detecting file systems then it just quit or looped or locked. The proccessor is incredibly hot with constant stream over very hot air being forced out by the fan. The fan appears to ok as do the airways. Can anyone venture a fix for this??? Regards John

1 0

What a hoot!
by Michael McDonald 05 Oct '07

05 Oct '07

Hi I thought the following reported error message was a joke, but it appears to be genuine. Admittedly, it was a rather rare one. Can you imagine the look on a person's face if they received this error message? Reported in Computerworld http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/fry/B89135639310C834CC25736B0005B677 Error Message: Your Password Must Be at Least 18770 Characters and Cannot Repeat Any of Your Previous 30689 Passwords — Microsoft KB article Q276304 ( http://support.microsoft.com/kb/276304/en-us ) Michael -- Michael Note: Email addresses have changed ... Michael .. mikencolleen(a)gmail.com Colleen .. colleennmike(a)gmail.com

2 1

System Rescue CD does network boot now
by Ian McDonald 05 Oct '07

05 Oct '07

>From lwn.net: DesktopLinux.com reviews the 0.4 version of SystemRescueCD, a Gentoo-based distribution for repairing broken systems. "Another major improvement is that you can now use PXE network booting. With PXE, you can boot a troubled PC remote over your LAN into SystemRescueCD. This is great, for example, for a help desk repairing systems scattered over an office or campus. To get this to work, the PCs will need to be set to use wake-on-LAN and network boot. That's been a standard PC feature since 2001, but it usually must be made active in the BIOS before you can use it." Article at: http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS4076782266.html -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

Installfest '07
by Lindsay Druett 05 Oct '07

05 Oct '07

Hi Everyone, As announced at the AGM tomorrow is our annual Installfest. It is being held at the Gateway Christian Centre, 950 Victoria St, Hamilton, where there is plenty of parking available in the carpark. It would be greatly appreciated, that no matter how much or how little experience you have with Linux, that you come along as there maybe people who are totally new Linux may also be coming along. We already have a family of people coming down from Auckland who want to see a bit of Hamilton and get a feel of the Waikato Linux community. Who knows who else is coming along... As well has assisting people with desktop Linux, we'll also be playing around with specialist type applications, such as VoIP using Trixbox, installing Linux on a Linksys WRT54GL. Personally, I can see with the future of Installfests would be like drag race meetings where we all get together start showing off our hardware and skill set. Linksys (a division of Cisco Systems) has been a great supporter on this event where they have kindly loaned us a whole lot of networking equipment including the switches to connect everyone together, IP hones, including their flagship IP Phone, the SPA961 IP Phone, plus some other goodies. I would also like to thank Bruce who has worked really hard to organise this event. Of course, Tux will be attending the event, most probably trying to beat our neighbors across the ditch at Tremulous. Regards, Teh Linz, WLUG Vice-President.

1 0

Interesting article on Lotus Symphony
by Ian McDonald 05 Oct '07

05 Oct '07

http://www.linux.com/feature/119596 -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

Skype 1.4 for Linux released
by Ian McDonald 05 Oct '07

05 Oct '07

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NjA5Nw -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

2 1

Update on the OLPC
by Ian McDonald 04 Oct '07

04 Oct '07

>From NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/technology/circuits/04pogue.html?_r=3&ore… -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

Re: [wlug] Microsoft starting to open source .NET
by David 04 Oct '07

04 Oct '07

Yes, seriously! http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NjA5Mg It's not all of it and it's not the greatest license but it's a start. Can there be any doubt that open source is a better model as Microsoft starts to slowly embrace it?? I think the specs to .net would be better than source code under those terms. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2191754,00.asp Microsofts open source trap. -- Some people say that if you run a windows installer cd backwards it commands you to worship the devil... But its worse if you run it forwards, then it installs windows!

1 0

Microsoft starting to open source .NET
by Ian McDonald 04 Oct '07

04 Oct '07

Yes, seriously! http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NjA5Mg It's not all of it and it's not the greatest license but it's a start. Can there be any doubt that open source is a better model as Microsoft starts to slowly embrace it?? -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

2 2

3Com goes VoIP with Asterisk
by Ian McDonald 03 Oct '07

03 Oct '07

Great move on their behalf: http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9790221-16.html?tag=bnpr -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

Fwd: Open source software and Consumer testing
by Ian McDonald 02 Oct '07

02 Oct '07

And Consumer are doing a feature on Linux in the future. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Oct 2, 2007 1:21 PM Subject: Open source software and Consumer testing To: ian.mcdonald(a)jandi.co.nz Hi Ian Thanks for the email. We've considered doing Linux and other operating systems for some time. The last time we looked at it, the powers that be decided that it was not worth doing. The reason for this was that in one of our computer surveys, less than 1 percent used a linux based system. However, as I'm sure you're thinking, perhaps less than 1 percent use it because they're simply not aware of the existence of these other options. This is something I'm interested in doing and I've convinced our research manager to let us do it but the timeframe hasn't been determined yet - it will take a little time to do properly. So while you may not see it in the next month, it's certainly something we're going to do. That line certainly wasn't meant to apply to open source software of the type you describe and we should clarify that. There is no doubt that a groundswell is definitely developing towards alternative software. We're certainly not in any way biased towards Microsoft, PCs versus Mac, etc, so don't feel it's an intentional snub at other possibilities. I've just finished an article on office suites which should be online soon. We recommend OpenOffice as well as MS Office 2007. Hope this helps. Best regards Marc Wendelborn Technical Writer Consumers' Institute 39 Webb St Te Aro, Wellington -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

2 1

Pharmac publishes directly with open source
by Michael McDonald 01 Oct '07

01 Oct '07

Interesting article from Computer World ... Pharmac publishes directly with open source The TeX solution reduced the cost of the project to a fraction of what the proprietary solution would have cost, says IT manager http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/25F72F231ABF8F5ACC2573630083A579 Michael

1 0

Fwd: Your article on EULA - feedback on Free Software
by Ian McDonald 01 Oct '07

01 Oct '07

If any others of you are Consumer members you might like to write something to them. Please be polite. They have often recommended software such as Openoffice before so I think this is a genuine mistake. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ian McDonald <ian.mcdonald(a)jandi.co.nz> Date: Oct 2, 2007 8:49 AM Subject: Your article on EULA - feedback on Free Software To: editor(a)consumer.org.nz Dear Sir/Madam, I noticed online at this page: http://www.consumer.org.nz/topic.asp?category=Computers%20%26%20Phones&subc… that you said this: Use caution with 'free' software. It is rarely free. There's often a trade-off in advertising, access to personal information or use of your computer's resources. For example, peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing programs use your computer to send information across the web which may leave it vulnerable to viruses, software flaws and trojans (malicious programs hiding in benign applications). I think that this is a little misleading as there is a whole category of free software which is completely different. This is also called "open source" software. Some examples of this are Firefox, OpenOffice (which you have mentioned positively previously) and Linux. Many large companies such as Google run on free software. A good article on free software is one here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software I think the software you mean is actually freeware which I agree is often very problematic. This is described here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeware It would be great if you can print a clarification for this as often free software/opensource software is a better choice than paid software. Regards, Ian McDonald (An open source software programmer) -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

2 1

WLUG Installfest
by Bruce Kingsbury 30 Sep '07

30 Sep '07

You may be aware that WLUG have planned an installfest for Saturday 6th Oct. In order for this to be a successful event we really need a good number of volunteers to turn up on the day. It doesn't matter if you're not a linux guru, someone with any experience at all is going to be helpful to someone who's never used Linux before. Also we've planned 2,000 fliers to go in letterboxes on Wednesday. Rod and myself are prepared to do 1,000 each if necessary but a few volunteers here would greatly help.

3 2

Any coders here wantto write a patch for Tremulous?
by Bruce Kingsbury 29 Sep '07

29 Sep '07

gpg authentication patch for tremulous; Tremulous client and server run as a single thread, 20 'frames' per second. Because of this time limit, the current system for identifying admins on a server consists of a 32byte cookie named 'cl_guid' which is stored (if the user has any admin priviledges) on the server in admin.dat and sent by the client in plaintext at connect time. This is less-than-ideal. I don't think it would be too difficult to fork off an authentication thread which uses pgp to do a proper signed-challenge authentication. This would be a completely different thread and not constrained by the 50ms frame timelimit. My suggestion, connecting clients optionally send a cl_gpgauth flag which indicates if they're willing to gpg-authenticate. If the server doesn't care then we don't ignore it (as an unpatched server will do) and their guid is accepted as-is. If we want to give them ops, the server requests they sent their public key which is stored in the admin.dat in some appropriate manner. If at the time they connect the guid they've sent is in the admin.dat and has a public key, the server immediately sets their GUID to “”, sends them a 'challenge' of 256 bytes (2048 bits) which is also stored locally, and carries on. If they're in admin dat and don't have a public key, no problem.. existing behaviour. (There might need to be some kind of connection-rate-limit and challenge-drop-time to prevent denial of service attacks on the server at this point.) Until they answer the challenge, or if they ignore the challenge completely, they end up with an effective GUID of “” Client binary, on receiving the challenge, forks off a gpg process to sign the challenge block with their Tremulous private key. When the fork ends (perhaps dozens of frames later) the next reply to the server will include a detatched signature of the challenge data. The server then forks off a GPG process and checks that they've correctly signed the challenge block, and (again perhaps dozend of frames later) if the gpg result is correct, their ingame guid is set back to the one listed in the admin.dat, and existing server code handles whatever privileges are implied by this. Result, connecting ops have their guid set to "" immediately when they first connect, it should only take a few seconds to do the authentication, and they'll have their regular ID back faster than it takes to unpack all the models and textures. Note; cl_guid is not their gpg-key signature or anything like that, it's still just a big random number, and the server keeps a record of both only if there's any reason for them to be authenticated.

1 1

Police go wikiing
by Ian McDonald 29 Sep '07

29 Sep '07

And using open source software too (pmwiki): http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10466034&ref=… -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

2 1

OpenCD reborn as OpenDisc
by Ian McDonald 27 Sep '07

27 Sep '07

http://lwn.net/Articles/251967/rss -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

Be careful out there upgrading Ubuntu
by Ian McDonald 26 Sep '07

26 Sep '07

I've seen quite a few reports recently about people upgrading to Feisty and breaking their systems. I've also had problems with the previews of Gibbon (7.10) and this has caused my system to break quite a bit, quite badly. (Multiple instances of not being able to use my GUI environment at all). I'm not trying to slag Ubuntu off - and it's probably only 1% of people having issues. Just remember with any upgrade that you should always have backups. This applies whether you use Windows or Linux or the Mac or whatever.. It's just that Linux upgrades a bit more often typically. I've written a bit about bugs recently on my blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz/2007/09/bugs-bugs-bugs.html Ian -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

2 3

Geography tool going open source
by Ian McDonald 26 Sep '07

26 Sep '07

Autodesk opensourcing a tool. No interest to me but might interest someone here: http://www.news.com/8301-13580_3-9784878-39.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=254… -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

Another gnome 2.20 article - more detail
by Ian McDonald 25 Sep '07

25 Sep '07

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/gnome-2-20-review.ars/1 -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

HP to expand Linux PC offering
by Ian McDonald 25 Sep '07

25 Sep '07

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070924-hp-to-expand-linux-pc-offerin… -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

1 0

OLPC for sale!!
by Bruce Kingsbury 24 Sep '07

24 Sep '07

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6994957.stm

1 0

REMINDER: WLUG meeting tonight!
by Meeting Reminder Bot 23 Sep '07

23 Sep '07

There's a WLUG meeting tonight: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:30pm, TW.2.05 (http://www.wlug.org.nz/TW) This will be the AGM for Wlug and WlugElections will be held. If you're interested in standing for WlugCommittee sign up on the WlugElections page There is a small proposed change to the charter at WlugCharterDiscussion.

1 0

REMINDER: WLUG meeting is on Monday
by Meeting Reminder Bot 20 Sep '07

20 Sep '07

There's a Waikato Linux Users Group meeting on Monday: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:30pm, TW.2.05 (http://www.wlug.org.nz/TW) This will be the AGM for Wlug and WlugElections will be held. If you're interested in standing for WlugCommittee sign up on the WlugElections page There is a small proposed change to the charter at WlugCharterDiscussion.

1 0

Gnome 2.20 is out
by Ian McDonald 19 Sep '07

19 Sep '07

Soon to come to Ubuntu 7.10 and other distros as they release: http://www.gnome.org/start/2.20/notes/en/ -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

2 1