- Roundtable - muug.ca

Kickstart presentation links...
by gedetil＠cs.umanitoba.ca 12 Dec '01

12 Dec '01

I've updated the write-up on last night's MUUG meeting on the web site, to include a link to John's presentation notes, as well as links to the online documentation for Kickstart that John mentioned in his talk. You can find it here: http://www.muug.mb.ca/meetings/01-02.html#dec Happy holidays, everyone! -- Gilbert E. Detillieux E-mail: <gedetil(a)cs.umanitoba.ca> Dept. of Computer Science Web: http://www.cs.umanitoba.ca/~gedetil/ University of Manitoba Phone: (204)474-8161 Winnipeg, MB, CANADA R3T 2N2 Fax: (204)474-7609

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Plan to gather a proposal to my school to include more comprehensive Linux training
by Geek 06 Dec '01

06 Dec '01

I am seriously considering getting a group together to make a proposal up that will be presented to my college to encourage them to include more Linux in the lessons we get. Anyone want to volunteer to help come up with this? I know Winnipeg isn't much in the global scheme of the open source community, but I really think that this would be a small beginning, and could lay a foundation for anyone else who wants to approach a school, be it a post secondary or high school. Instead of doing the NT 4 section we did, or in the place of another section that is not needed, the business applications section, we could have done a Linux one, and in the four weeks or so we will be doing of Linux later we could do a small part on BSD or something. I think it is possible to get it in there, even with the already hectic schedule. I know this will not solve the problems, but I have little intention on running a network on Windows, and anywhere I get hired my first goal would be to convince the higher ups to move to the more secure and lower TCO That is found only in Linux. Any ideas for a plan? Some of the points against Linux that have been made by the instructor against Linux are as follows: -Lack of demand -Hardly any servers running Linux locally or nationally -No official training materials -No need for Linux administrators There are more, but this is an impromptu idea, so I have not compiled the whole list. Anyone with idea, please feel free to email me, or post to one of these lists. Thanks. Geek Blog online http://blog.geeksworld.net/ Hacks of an Abnormal Geek http://hacks.geeksworld.net Comments, Statements and Arguments http://comments.geeksworld.net

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Lost KDE found.
by author 06 Dec '01

06 Dec '01

Thank you, Gilbert. I found two files in /root, .Xclients and .Xclients-default I moved and renamed them. /etc/sysconfig/ desktop already had DESKTOP="KDE". Once those two root files were removed, startx got KDE going. As a bonus, in desperation I had run Xconfigurator before finding the real problem, and as a result I've got a virtual screen going! I love virtual screens! Just the same, I'd rather that none of this had happened at all. Again, thanks a lot Gilbert!

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Re: [RndTbl] Lost KDE
by gedetil＠cs.umanitoba.ca 05 Dec '01

05 Dec '01

According to author: > I made a big mistake in Red Hat 7.1 KDE. > Just to see what it looked like, I chose > Twm as the window manager. Primative or > what! Nothing there! And I can't get KDE > back! I've messed with /root/.Xclients.default > and /etc/sysconfig/desktop but nothing good > happens. In Slackware all I'd have to do would > be run xwmconfig on the command line, but > Red Hat has its own unique ways that I do not > understand. Can anyone tell me how to get > KDE back? You don't say what your /etc/sysconfig/desktop file currently contains. Here's the code in /etc/X11/prefdm that makes use of it... preferred= if [ -f /etc/sysconfig/desktop ]; then source /etc/sysconfig/desktop >/dev/null 2>&1 [ -n "$DISPLAYMANAGER" ] && DESKTOP=$DISPLAYMANAGER if [ "$DESKTOP" = GNOME ]; then preferred=gdm elif [ "$DESKTOP" = "KDE" -o "$DESKTOP" = "KDE1" -o "$DESKTOP" = "KDE2" ]; then preferred=/usr/bin/kdm elif [ "$DESKTOP" = AnotherLevel ] ; then preferred=/usr/X11R6/bin/xdm fi fi So, to restore KDE, I think all you'd need to do is edit the file /etc/sysconfig/desktop so it contains a line like this: DESKTOP="KDE" (Or use KDE1 or KDE2, as appropriate. I'm not sure what the differences there are.) If the problem isn't here, then you'd have to dig in deeper, by finding what user-specific startup files got changed when you selected twm as the window manager. It should be safe enough to just delete the file(s) in question, and let the previous defaults take effect. -- Gilbert E. Detillieux E-mail: <gedetil(a)cs.umanitoba.ca> Dept. of Computer Science Web: http://www.cs.umanitoba.ca/~gedetil/ University of Manitoba Phone: (204)474-8161 Winnipeg, MB, CANADA R3T 2N2 Fax: (204)474-7609

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Lost KDE
by author 05 Dec '01

05 Dec '01

I made a big mistake in Red Hat 7.1 KDE. Just to see what it looked like, I chose Twm as the window manager. Primative or what! Nothing there! And I can't get KDE back! I've messed with /root/.Xclients.default and /etc/sysconfig/desktop but nothing good happens. In Slackware all I'd have to do would be run xwmconfig on the command line, but Red Hat has its own unique ways that I do not understand. Can anyone tell me how to get KDE back?

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MUUG Meeting, Dec 11, 7:30PM -- Using Kickstart to Install Red Hat
by gedetil＠cs.umanitoba.ca 04 Dec '01

04 Dec '01

[Posted to man.unix.general and other news groups] ------ Forwarded Article <9uiurk$jfu$1(a)canopus.cc.umanitoba.ca> ------ From gedetil(a)cs.umanitoba.ca (Gilbert E. Detillieux) The Manitoba UNIX User Group (MUUG) will be holding its next monthly meeting on Tuesday, December 11. The meeting topic for this month is as follows: Using Kickstart to Install Red Hat Linux Systems According to Red Hat, ``Many system administrators would prefer to use an automated installation method to install Red Hat Linux on their machines. To answer this need, Red Hat created the kickstart installation method. Using kickstart, a system administrator can create a single file containing the answers to all the questions that would normally be asked during a typical Red Hat Linux installation.'' ``Kickstart files can be kept on single server system, and read by individual computers during the installation. This installation method can support the use of a single kickstart file to install Red Hat Linux on multiple machines, making it ideal for network and system administrators.'' This month, John Schulz, from Pollard Banknote Ltd., will present a quick overview of Kickstart and demo the install process. The group holds its general meetings at 7:30 PM on the second Tuesday of every month from September to June. (There are no meetings in July and August.) Meetings are open to the general public; you don't have to be a MUUG member to attend. ********************************************************************** New Location: Once again this month, and from now on, the meeting will be at the IBM offices, at 400 Ellice Ave. (between Edmonton and Kennedy). When you arrive, you will have to sign in at the reception desk, and then wait for someone to take you (in groups) to the meeting room. Limited parking is available for free on the street, or in a lot across Ellice from IBM, for $1.00 for the evening. Indoor parking is also available nearby, at Portage Place, for $2.00 for the evening. ********************************************************************** For more information about MUUG, and its monthly meetings, check out their Web server: http://www.muug.mb.ca/ Also note that MUUG maintains two mailing lists, called "muug-announce" and "roundtable". If you're not already on these lists, I encourage you to subscribe now: http://www.muug.mb.ca/mailman/listinfo/ The "muug-announce" list is used for monthly meeting announcements (such as this one) as well as other important announcements of interest to MUUG members. The "rountable" list is meant to be a forum for follow-ups to topics discussed at the meetings, or for round-table-style discussion on other topics that come up between meetings. Of course, for this to be effective, we need to reach a certain critical mass. So, please subscribe, and stay involved! -- Gilbert E. Detillieux E-mail: <gedetil(a)muug.mb.ca> Manitoba UNIX User Group Web: http://www.muug.mb.ca/ P.O. Box 130, St-Boniface Phone: (204)474-8161 Winnipeg, MB, CANADA R2H 3B4 Fax: (204)474-7609 ------ End of Forwarded Article

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Shaw @home in trouble?
by author 03 Dec '01

03 Dec '01

I just read on Cnet that excite@home was going broke and that over 800,000 AT&T internet users were cut off. Does this @home have anything to do with Shaw's cable @home service? Will Shaw's internet service be interrupted? Also read on the Byte site ( www.byte.com ) about Linux being used to savage that sunken Russian sub.

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Mac to PC serial
by author 22 Nov '01

22 Nov '01

Thanks Gilbert. Got files sent both ways between the MacSE and PC. The PC ( a 486 with Slackware3.6 ) will only download in Xmodem, but can send in Zmodem. The only real problem left is the PC speaker. Minicom gets it beeping after a successful upload or download, which is fine, except it doesn't turn off. It goes into a terrible howl until I exit minicom and press any key on the command line. So I disconnected the 486 speaker to save my ears and all is well. Next I want to figure out the pin connections and make a cable just for this connection. As it is now, I'm using a Mac modem cable, a Null modem cable, and a gender converter, all for this one task, which seems a waste. Thanks again!

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Null modem serial connection minicom
by author 21 Nov '01

21 Nov '01

I'm trying to set up a nullmodem serial connection between a PC (Linux) and a MacSE (OS6.04). I've got some files I want to pump into the old Mac without having to mess with its floppy drive. Anyway, I've got the computers connected with the correct hardware, that is, a Mac serial modem cable pluged into a a 25 pin null modem cable. Zterm on the Mac is all set, but I'm not sure how to set up minicom for a pure serial connection. Everthing I've read about minicom is for a modem, not a serial connection. So here is the question: How do you set up minicom for a simple null modem serial connection? Any information would be appreciated.

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NTP - It's about time!...
by gedetil＠cs.umanitoba.ca 20 Nov '01

20 Nov '01

(Sorry, I couldn't resist the bad pun.) Just a quick note to say I've updated the write-up of the November MUUG meeting on our web site... http://www.muug.mb.ca/meetings/ ... to include links to the web sites mentioned in the meeting, including the one for NTP. Also, someone had asked whether ntpd under Linux would update the hardware (CMOS) clock or not. It doesn't - it only deals with the system clock (the internal kernel clock that counts time elapsed since a particular epoch). Unfortunately, within Linux, those two clocks are kept independent, and can actually be keeping different time. The solution, if you want to make sure your hardware clock is at least periodically synched up to the system clock, would be to run a cron job to do this via the "hwclock" command. I've attached a simple little script that does the job, and takes things into account like whether the clock is keeping time in UTC (GMT) or local time, and whether the clock is in ARC format (used by certain Alpha-based systems) or not. The script used to run the "rdate" command to update the system clock first, but I've commented that out, since you'd obviously not want to do that if you're running NTP. -- Gilbert E. Detillieux E-mail: <gedetil(a)cs.umanitoba.ca> Dept. of Computer Science Web: http://www.cs.umanitoba.ca/~gedetil/ University of Manitoba Phone: (204)474-8161 Winnipeg, MB, CANADA R3T 2N2 Fax: (204)474-7609

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