Just set up an "email2blog" account, and this is the test of the post.
Including an attachment picture (Barry flying LN over our garden).
Thank you http://www.linuxjournal.com/video/blogger-email for the hint !
G-AVLN in front of her home
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Test posting from e-mail directly into blog
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Fixing MS in VMware keyboard mappings
When using VMware (host: Linux, guest XP), keyboard mapping are not correct.
To fix, modify the VMware configuration file, by adding the following directive:
xkeymap.nokeycodeMap = true
To fix, modify the VMware configuration file, by adding the following directive:
xkeymap.nokeycodeMap = true
Add it to the configuration file relevant to your product. If you have VMware server - it's /etc/vmware-server-console/conf.
For you have Workstation or Player, it's /etc/vmware/config.
It's been reported (see: http://communities.vmware.com/thread/177321) that the local file, in ~/.vmware/config can be used for the purpose (not tested by me either).
Open Source Interoperability Initiative from Microsoft
It's discussed at http://www.microsoft.com/opensource/interop/default.mspx. Great, isn't it?
I have written before about the current configuration of my main laptop (Dell XPS M1330): I am running Ubuntu 8.10, which is 100% adequate for all my personal needs.
However, for as part of my work I need to be able to edit Microsoft Office files (all our slides are produced in Power Point). Well, tried using Open Office - it can do just as good a job. However, the niggling and subtle (sometimes very subtle) style and font differences made it so frustrating that I gave up. I was spending far too much time converting between Open Office - Power Point and back.
That gave rise to the second best solution: install Crossover Office, a product based on Wine, allowing access to MS native applications. Again, this works the treat, at least in principle. Then I bumped into more hiccups, like font colour changing, or various boxes being over sized. In isolation, I would be totally satisfied with the solution, but I need to comply with company's strict branding and design style, and I can't achieve it with this setup (at least not without additional fiddling with the files).
So, (grudgingly) on to the next solution. I already have a license for VMware Workstation (6.5). I installed XP into it, added MS Office 2003, and thought that I might be able to get some work done, at last. No! MS Office working in VMware does not recognise any of the extended keyboard mappings. Arrow keys, Page Up, Page Down, etc, all either totally dead, or generate VM-associated actions.
So why is it that I'm wasting all this time just to stay afloat. This is like an engineer having to calibrate his meters or file his screwdrivers before every use.
Open source is meant to unite. If Microsoft truly opened their code, it would allow other designers to create applications that are workable and provide permanent solutions. Instead, these designers are still having to reverse-engineer, outguess, invent emulators and create work-around fixes. Fixes are never perfect.
Microsoft are boasting about interoperability: "... agreements between Microsoft and open source distributors. including Novell, Xandros, Linspire, and TurboLinux". That probably explains why my EeePC (Xandros) seems to have more robust drivers, character rendering and application selections, etc. But that is not what commitment to open source should be. If you are selective, you are still prescriptive and closed.
Unless you find a way of being only a bit pregnant.
I have written before about the current configuration of my main laptop (Dell XPS M1330): I am running Ubuntu 8.10, which is 100% adequate for all my personal needs.
However, for as part of my work I need to be able to edit Microsoft Office files (all our slides are produced in Power Point). Well, tried using Open Office - it can do just as good a job. However, the niggling and subtle (sometimes very subtle) style and font differences made it so frustrating that I gave up. I was spending far too much time converting between Open Office - Power Point and back.
That gave rise to the second best solution: install Crossover Office, a product based on Wine, allowing access to MS native applications. Again, this works the treat, at least in principle. Then I bumped into more hiccups, like font colour changing, or various boxes being over sized. In isolation, I would be totally satisfied with the solution, but I need to comply with company's strict branding and design style, and I can't achieve it with this setup (at least not without additional fiddling with the files).
So, (grudgingly) on to the next solution. I already have a license for VMware Workstation (6.5). I installed XP into it, added MS Office 2003, and thought that I might be able to get some work done, at last. No! MS Office working in VMware does not recognise any of the extended keyboard mappings. Arrow keys, Page Up, Page Down, etc, all either totally dead, or generate VM-associated actions.
So why is it that I'm wasting all this time just to stay afloat. This is like an engineer having to calibrate his meters or file his screwdrivers before every use.
Open source is meant to unite. If Microsoft truly opened their code, it would allow other designers to create applications that are workable and provide permanent solutions. Instead, these designers are still having to reverse-engineer, outguess, invent emulators and create work-around fixes. Fixes are never perfect.
Microsoft are boasting about interoperability: "... agreements between Microsoft and open source distributors. including Novell, Xandros, Linspire, and TurboLinux". That probably explains why my EeePC (Xandros) seems to have more robust drivers, character rendering and application selections, etc. But that is not what commitment to open source should be. If you are selective, you are still prescriptive and closed.
Unless you find a way of being only a bit pregnant.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Ubuntu training (and Spreed conferencing)
Canonical have revamped their courses and certification paths. Sounds very sensible - there is so much entry level training, why not concentrate on distribution specifics and more advanced server issues achievable with Ubuntu. The Ubuntu Certified Professional programme is still based on the LPI 101 and 102, followed by LPI 199 exam (the later is Ubuntu specific) and the main difference is in the changed bias in the Canonical-authored courses, which now concentrate on the more advanced desktop and server configuration topics. Canonical have high aspirations for Ubuntu as a fully fledged desktop system, hence the Ubuntu Desktop Course in addition to the server courses (all described at www.canonical.com/training/certificationcourses).
To get the detail and the philosophy of the new training content over to the accredited trainer base, (as well as a fresh and original delivery approach) Canonical are holding several TTT (Train The Trainer) sessions. Considering that the number of people being trained is relatively small, and they are splattered literally all over the world, arranging the logistics for such a session was not trivial.
I have attended the event run 13:00 - 17:00 EST, which put it at 18:00-22:00 “my” time. I wasn't the worst off, there were people from US, Canada, but also from countries much further East than I am, so it was even later into the night for some of them. I was a bit worried, because the joining instructions, although very clear, involved configuring technologies either totally new to me, or ones that, regrettably, I have never made a proper use of.
The underlying conferencing engine was a product new to me, called Spreed. It impressed me straight away: it supports _all_ contemporary operating systems, including MacOS and Linux. Once on Spreed site, quick test confirmed that connection speed and other communication elements are suitable for conferencing. Patiently waited for an e-mail invitation to join and, once that arrived, a single click on the link and I was in. I understand this was the first time Canonical tried this particular conferencing method for the TTT purposes, so there was new grounds to cover for both the students and the moderators. But, with few (mostly humorous) hiccups the event went very smoothly, the time past surprisingly fast and my overall impression was very positive.
Although the product supports full audio and video from all participants, we didn't use cameras at all (something about Spreed and Flash 10 being incompatible - well, we had to have hardware incompatibility ;-)). Most of us stayed away from the audio as well, the interactive and real time “chat” pane provided more than satisfactory interaction. 10 points to the moderators for looking out for our comments and reacting to them swiftly. The whole experience was smooth, painless and very effective. Thank you EmmaJane, Belinda and Billy!
Bottom line - my resistance to these elaborate e-based methods of collaboration is well and truly broken, bring them on!
Friday, April 03, 2009
Well, I have decided to take a plunge with the all new and shiny QA blog. Although it's only as new as my "new" 3-year old LPG car I bought recently. Xpertise had the blog designed and active well before the merger.
It is rather ironic, and indicative of the state of the game, that the blog is only expected to be accessed / updated from Windows and Explorer.
So, despite the fact that I haven’t used Windows for a couple of years, (and had used Firefox for years prior to that), it seems that the popular believe that life begins and ends with Windows is still there...
Luckily, Firefox 3 managed to overcome whatever the .NET or activeX components compatibility issues might be (I don't really know what I'm talking about here, so I'll stop speculating any further!). Opera 9 wasn't as helpful, and would not connect at all (although I could've tried changing its personality to Explorer in the setup)…
It is rather ironic, and indicative of the state of the game, that the blog is only expected to be accessed / updated from Windows and Explorer.
So, despite the fact that I haven’t used Windows for a couple of years, (and had used Firefox for years prior to that), it seems that the popular believe that life begins and ends with Windows is still there...
Luckily, Firefox 3 managed to overcome whatever the .NET or activeX components compatibility issues might be (I don't really know what I'm talking about here, so I'll stop speculating any further!). Opera 9 wasn't as helpful, and would not connect at all (although I could've tried changing its personality to Explorer in the setup)…
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Filesystem with "relatime" attribute
Many debates have been carried out on the subject of time wasting when writing to i-node table (i.e. accessing the disk) when a user performes file access. Many alternatives have been offered over the years to avoid this.
One of them is a filesystem attribute called relatime. It has been in existence for a while, but because nobody has been using it (by this I mean vendors rather than users), I never took sufficient time to remember how it works.
Well, Ubuntu now uses relatime by default. Time to learn...
Here is a quote from the best resource I found on the subject. It comes from an article posted by Jonathan Corbet on lwn.net:
"Another approach was added in 2.6.20: the relatime mount option. If this flag is set, access times are only updated if they are (before the update) earlier than the modification time. This change allows utilities to see if the current version of a file has been read, but still cuts down significantly on atime updates. This option is not heavily used, perhaps because few people have heard of it and many distributions lack a version of mount which is new enough to know about it. Using relatime can still confuse tools which want to ask questions like "has this file been accessed in the last week?"
Hint: if you want to exeriment with the behaviour, use the stat command. Read and modify a file few times, and observe how the atime (access time) is only updated if the last access was done before the last content change.
Friday, January 23, 2009
HPOfficeJet H470 in Ubuntu 8.10 over Bluetooth
It was all working in Hardy, but a week ago I reinstalled my Dell M1330, no Vista anymore - just Ubuntu 8.10. Very impressed, added Crossover Linux (still need MS Office), and I don't think I'm going to look back.
Hardware recognition fantastic, my 3G dongle, which used to give me a lot of grieve before - now is running with a single click on the panel...
Bluetooth seemed fine as well (connecting to other laptops and exchanging files OK). However, got stuck on the HP H470 printer. It worked with Hardy, now, attempts to connect only showed "Pairing Failed". Checking Ubuntu forum confirmed that there is a known bug in Intrepid, and there is seemingly a disagreement between the forum members and the developer on how to handle this. Shame...
Never mind, time to get under the hood. The bug indicates that the gnome front end configuration is broken. Instead, one can use the CUPS web-based configuration, available through your browser.
First check that your CUPS daemon is running, is listening for tcp connections:
$ /etc/init.d/cups status
Status of Common Unix Printing System: cupsd is running.
$ netstat -a | grep LISTEN | grep cups
unix 2 [ ACC ] STREAM LISTENING 62711 /var/run/cups/cups.sock
If not, you may have to (re)start the CUPS daemon (replace "status" with "start" in the first command above).
Now to the actual configuration:
1. First of all, identify the printer's number with the following command:
$ hcitool scan
Scanning ...
00:21:86:XX:XX:XX PIECORNERENG
00:1A:0E:XX:XX:XX Officejet H470
2. Now start your browser and enter the server's URL: http://127.0.0.1:631. This will point it at CUPS administration server (strictly speaking it is IPP - Internet Printing Protocol using CUPS).
3. Select Add Printer, then Continue
4. Enter values for Name, Location and Description, then Continue
5. In Device: screen select from the drop-down list HP Printer (HPLIP), then Continue
6. In the Device URI screen enter the protocol and the address for your printer, as identified in step 1. Notice no ':' characters used in the string below:
bluetooth://001A0EXXXXXX, then Continue
7. Complete the configuration with the:
Make: HP, then Continue
Model: HP Officejet h470 Foomatic/hpijs (en), then Add Printer
Hopefully, you are looking at "The Bluetooth printer has been added successfully"
8. Test the setup from the command line. Run:
$ lpstat -t
scheduler is running
no system default destination
device for Bluetooth: bluetooth://001A0E79AF32
Bluetooth accepting requests since Fri 23 Jan 2009 16:39:02 GMT
printer Bluetooth is idle. enabled since Fri 23 Jan 2009 16:39:02 GMT
From now on, whether you print from the command line, or from applications, the printer will work hard for you!
Hardware recognition fantastic, my 3G dongle, which used to give me a lot of grieve before - now is running with a single click on the panel...
Bluetooth seemed fine as well (connecting to other laptops and exchanging files OK). However, got stuck on the HP H470 printer. It worked with Hardy, now, attempts to connect only showed "Pairing Failed". Checking Ubuntu forum confirmed that there is a known bug in Intrepid, and there is seemingly a disagreement between the forum members and the developer on how to handle this. Shame...
Never mind, time to get under the hood. The bug indicates that the gnome front end configuration is broken. Instead, one can use the CUPS web-based configuration, available through your browser.
First check that your CUPS daemon is running, is listening for tcp connections:
$ /etc/init.d/cups status
Status of Common Unix Printing System: cupsd is running.
$ netstat -a | grep LISTEN | grep cups
unix 2 [ ACC ] STREAM LISTENING 62711 /var/run/cups/cups.sock
If not, you may have to (re)start the CUPS daemon (replace "status" with "start" in the first command above).
Now to the actual configuration:
1. First of all, identify the printer's number with the following command:
$ hcitool scan
Scanning ...
00:21:86:XX:XX:XX PIECORNERENG
00:1A:0E:XX:XX:XX Officejet H470
2. Now start your browser and enter the server's URL: http://127.0.0.1:631. This will point it at CUPS administration server (strictly speaking it is IPP - Internet Printing Protocol using CUPS).
3. Select Add Printer, then Continue
4. Enter values for Name, Location and Description, then Continue
5. In Device: screen select from the drop-down list HP Printer (HPLIP), then Continue
6. In the Device URI screen enter the protocol and the address for your printer, as identified in step 1. Notice no ':' characters used in the string below:
bluetooth://001A0EXXXXXX, then Continue
7. Complete the configuration with the:
Make: HP, then Continue
Model: HP Officejet h470 Foomatic/hpijs (en), then Add Printer
Hopefully, you are looking at "The Bluetooth printer has been added successfully"
8. Test the setup from the command line. Run:
$ lpstat -t
scheduler is running
no system default destination
device for Bluetooth: bluetooth://001A0E79AF32
Bluetooth accepting requests since Fri 23 Jan 2009 16:39:02 GMT
printer Bluetooth is idle. enabled since Fri 23 Jan 2009 16:39:02 GMT
From now on, whether you print from the command line, or from applications, the printer will work hard for you!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Handling MAC addresses in VM
We are working on setting up all our UNIX and Linux courses as guests in VMware workstation. There are many advantages of taking this route, as there are some penalties. We setup a 'master' VM, then ghost it, which allows us to dump an image on demand. Once we have used this method for a while, I might elaborate a bit more, with more insight...
In the meantime, just a comment on preventing new images from duplicating original MAC address in Linux configuration. All this is new for me, but our techie in Swindon has sent me an e-mail documenting the solution. Thanks, Martin!
"If you don't do this before taking the image, each subsequent VM that you deploy will have the same MAC Address and you get that annoying "did you copy or move the VM" question on first boot......The fix is...
In the meantime, just a comment on preventing new images from duplicating original MAC address in Linux configuration. All this is new for me, but our techie in Swindon has sent me an e-mail documenting the solution. Thanks, Martin!
"If you don't do this before taking the image, each subsequent VM that you deploy will have the same MAC Address and you get that annoying "did you copy or move the VM" question on first boot......The fix is...
1. Delete the file /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules [in the guest]
2. Shutdown the VM
3. Find the .vmx file on the host (in this case, D:\VMRun\Linux C\Linux C.vmx). Edit it with Wordpad and look for 2 lines called uuid.bios and uuid.location. Underneath those 2 lines, add a line as follows:
uuid.action = "create"
4. Save the file and take the image"
Should Gnome-terminal read shell startup files?
I say it should. If not by default, then at least users (ordinary users) should be able to set the capability permanently and easily!
It's very easy to set is for a session. Open terminal, go to Edit --> Current Profile --> Title and Command and tick the "Run command as a login shell" box.
Problem is, you have to do it every time you log in. Your first terminal never gets to see your environmental settings. We need permanent solution. Searched and googled, googled and searched. Found a wealth of information on the Red Hat site.
They definitely put me on the right track (and convinced me that I do need to learn xml after all!). However, the article omitted to mention one important bit of information. When you change the settings with the gconftool-2, you must stop the gconfd-2 daemon. I didn't, and had all sorts of desktop problems, including Nautilus crash.
So, to make every gnome-terminal a login shell (e.i. read your environmental files) first stop the gconfd-2 process. There may be a clean way of doing this in runlevel 5, I chose to go to runlevel 3, which is a full multi-user mode of operation, but without X (GUI).
Do the following steps only if you *don't* have any applications or users requiring GUI - you risk P45 or your tyres slashed otherwise.
Log in as root and enter:
# init 3
Press Enter (after few messages) - that will show the prompt again. Enter:
Return to GUI runlevel:
# init 5
From now on, every user's terminal will source their startup files...
It's very easy to set is for a session. Open terminal, go to Edit --> Current Profile --> Title and Command and tick the "Run command as a login shell" box.
Problem is, you have to do it every time you log in. Your first terminal never gets to see your environmental settings. We need permanent solution. Searched and googled, googled and searched. Found a wealth of information on the Red Hat site.
They definitely put me on the right track (and convinced me that I do need to learn xml after all!). However, the article omitted to mention one important bit of information. When you change the settings with the gconftool-2, you must stop the gconfd-2 daemon. I didn't, and had all sorts of desktop problems, including Nautilus crash.
So, to make every gnome-terminal a login shell (e.i. read your environmental files) first stop the gconfd-2 process. There may be a clean way of doing this in runlevel 5, I chose to go to runlevel 3, which is a full multi-user mode of operation, but without X (GUI).
Do the following steps only if you *don't* have any applications or users requiring GUI - you risk P45 or your tyres slashed otherwise.
Log in as root and enter:
# init 3
Press Enter (after few messages) - that will show the prompt again. Enter:
# gconftool-2 --direct --config-source xml:readwrite:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults --type boolean --set /apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/login_shell trueReturn to GUI runlevel:
# init 5
From now on, every user's terminal will source their startup files...
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Kiosk mode in Firefox
I had a few e-mails from my local Linux User Group (NLUG, Northants LUG). Somebody asked for help in fixing Firefox. His browser lost all toolbars. An answer appeared within minutes: "F11? (Toggles kiosk mode)".
Two thoughts went through my mind. First of all I remembered that I had the same problem some months ago, and never found the solution. In fact, it was at that point when I decided to investigate Opera (which I have been using ever since). Why didn't I ask the forum? I would probably have had the same answer within minutes!
The other thought related to a question a delegate asked me only yesterday about a "kiosk mode" in an application. I regret to admit, but my answer was a rather ignorant "don't know anything about your application, so can't comment" statement.
Will I ever learn? Not knowing anything about the 'kiosk' thing, I assumed the term was peculiar to the application the chap was talking about!
So I'm feeling rather depressed. Not only is this questioning my style in interaction with delegates, but also exposing massive gaps in my knowledge - everybody I mentioned the "kiosk mode" since then knew about it. It seems I'm the only person in the Universe that thought a kiosk is a type of detached cabin selling newspepars and cigarettes...
Two thoughts went through my mind. First of all I remembered that I had the same problem some months ago, and never found the solution. In fact, it was at that point when I decided to investigate Opera (which I have been using ever since). Why didn't I ask the forum? I would probably have had the same answer within minutes!
The other thought related to a question a delegate asked me only yesterday about a "kiosk mode" in an application. I regret to admit, but my answer was a rather ignorant "don't know anything about your application, so can't comment" statement.
Will I ever learn? Not knowing anything about the 'kiosk' thing, I assumed the term was peculiar to the application the chap was talking about!
So I'm feeling rather depressed. Not only is this questioning my style in interaction with delegates, but also exposing massive gaps in my knowledge - everybody I mentioned the "kiosk mode" since then knew about it. It seems I'm the only person in the Universe that thought a kiosk is a type of detached cabin selling newspepars and cigarettes...
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Upgrading Ubuntu 7.10 to 8.04 - lesson learnt
I never liked upgrades - so many of them had gone wrong for me in the past... But having now been using Ubuntu for so long, I have become comfortable with it, and although I tried to document all add-ons and changes I made to the system (and I have a full data backup), I didn't really fancy re-building the system from scratch, just to go a version up.
So, for the first time in ages - I decided to take a plunge. I went for the network upgrade, using the front-end software tool - which, coincidentally kept encouraging me to do just that at least once a day ;-)
I left it overnight - no point in watching and agonizing over every slow down or apparent freeze.
However, next morning it sat on a message " Generating locale... en_AU.UTF-8...". Clearly, that was it. The process was well and truly stuck. I ended up doing a hard restart - nothing else responded.
Having tried several things (that got me into a system without GUI) I could not progress the upgrade any further. What was worse, the fresh installation didn't work either - the hard disk was not recognised (that bit I still need to investigate!).
I left it for a few days, using my little toy EeePC as a stop gap (a pretty effective one too!). Last night I decided to do a bit of googling - and bingo - within the first attempt! The full discussion and the actual solution is at http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=865679.
In summary: if you got stuck like me, reboot into the older kernel (-15 or -14) failsafe mode and run :
dpkg --configure -a
Then boot the old kernel (-15, proper, not failsafe), at GUI login screen select in Options Failsafe Gnome session, the run the dpkg command again:
sudo dpkg --configure -a
Next reboot - standard kernel and GUI session - all is well!
Lesson learnt?
Do your homework before embarking onto a major system upgrade/maintenance, etc. The problems with upgrade from the latest 7.10 kernel to 8.04 are very well documented, if I only looked...
So, for the first time in ages - I decided to take a plunge. I went for the network upgrade, using the front-end software tool - which, coincidentally kept encouraging me to do just that at least once a day ;-)
I left it overnight - no point in watching and agonizing over every slow down or apparent freeze.
However, next morning it sat on a message " Generating locale... en_AU.UTF-8...". Clearly, that was it. The process was well and truly stuck. I ended up doing a hard restart - nothing else responded.
Having tried several things (that got me into a system without GUI) I could not progress the upgrade any further. What was worse, the fresh installation didn't work either - the hard disk was not recognised (that bit I still need to investigate!).
I left it for a few days, using my little toy EeePC as a stop gap (a pretty effective one too!). Last night I decided to do a bit of googling - and bingo - within the first attempt! The full discussion and the actual solution is at http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=865679.
In summary: if you got stuck like me, reboot into the older kernel (-15 or -14) failsafe mode and run :
dpkg --configure -a
Then boot the old kernel (-15, proper, not failsafe), at GUI login screen select in Options Failsafe Gnome session, the run the dpkg command again:
sudo dpkg --configure -a
Next reboot - standard kernel and GUI session - all is well!
Lesson learnt?
Do your homework before embarking onto a major system upgrade/maintenance, etc. The problems with upgrade from the latest 7.10 kernel to 8.04 are very well documented, if I only looked...
Thursday, September 25, 2008
CD to disk file transfer on HP-UX
After a long pause, and several projects later, I'm back getting ready our uxheaven.com (our back-room of variety of UNIX boxes, that will be used for training multi-vendor courses).
Today, it's configuring HP-UX boxes: one is the B.11.11 U9000, the other B.11.23 on Itanium.
Had to look up some of my old posts to fix various network settings, and I reckon the /etc/rc.config.d/netconf file will now stay in my memory (sad - it takes few weeks and the detail is gone!).
Once the network was fine, needed to add software from CDs, to a central repository of documents and future depot files. For the time being, all I need is to have it all on hard disk. Quick refresher on the process:
1. Identify the special file for CD-ROM:
# ioscan -funC disk
showed it to be /dev/c1t0d0
2. Create mount point directory
I like the way Linux treats removable media, so my new mount directory became:
# mkdir -p /media/cdrom
3. Mount the disk:
# mount -F cdfs /dev/c1t0d0 /media/cdrom
4. Finally, create directory for the documents, and copy the CD content
# mkdir /usr/doc
# cp -rf /media/cdrom /usr/doc
Ready for use...
Today, it's configuring HP-UX boxes: one is the B.11.11 U9000, the other B.11.23 on Itanium.
Had to look up some of my old posts to fix various network settings, and I reckon the /etc/rc.config.d/netconf file will now stay in my memory (sad - it takes few weeks and the detail is gone!).
Once the network was fine, needed to add software from CDs, to a central repository of documents and future depot files. For the time being, all I need is to have it all on hard disk. Quick refresher on the process:
1. Identify the special file for CD-ROM:
# ioscan -funC disk
showed it to be /dev/c1t0d0
2. Create mount point directory
I like the way Linux treats removable media, so my new mount directory became:
# mkdir -p /media/cdrom
3. Mount the disk:
# mount -F cdfs /dev/c1t0d0 /media/cdrom
4. Finally, create directory for the documents, and copy the CD content
# mkdir /usr/doc
# cp -rf /media/cdrom /usr/doc
Ready for use...
Friday, September 05, 2008
Citrix client on EeePC with Xandros Linux
First of all, contrary to other postings, you do not have to become "root" to install Citrix client. Especially on EeePC/Xandros, where (although possible) you would not expect a multitude of different user accounts.
The steps for installing Citrix on EeePC are not that different from any other distribution:
1. Point the browser at: http://www.citrix.com/English/SS/downloads/details.asp?downloadID=3323&productID=-1#top
and download Linux ICA Client:
Version 10.6 English 6/28/07 1.8 mb .tar.gz (x86 client - requires OpenMotif 2.2.x).
In the Firefox download dialog, choose to Save to Disk. On the EeePC/Xandros, the default location for Firefox downloads is /home/user .
2. Press CTRL-ALT-T to gain access to the command line.
3. Setup the folder for the ICA client
/home/user> mkdir citrix
/home/user> mv en.linuxx86.tar.gz citrix
/home/user> cd citrix
4. Unpack the tarball file:
/home/user/citrix> tar zxvf en.linuxx86.tar.gz
./
./PkgId
...
5. Run the install script:
/home/user/citrix> ./setupwfc
Follow the instructions: choose Install client and the default directory (ICAClient).
Let the installation script create the ICAClient directory
6. Install the certificate
If you look at my earlier posting: "Ubuntu on XPS M1330 - Installing Citrix" (Monday, April 14, 2008), you will see the content of the certificate file.
Cut and paste it into a plain text file.
The file name for the certificate should be:
/home/user/ICAClient/linuxx86/keystore/cacerts/UTN-USERFirst-Hardware.crt
The steps for installing Citrix on EeePC are not that different from any other distribution:
1. Point the browser at: http://www.citrix.com/English/SS/downloads/details.asp?downloadID=3323&productID=-1#top
and download Linux ICA Client:
Version 10.6 English 6/28/07 1.8 mb .tar.gz (x86 client - requires OpenMotif 2.2.x).
In the Firefox download dialog, choose to Save to Disk. On the EeePC/Xandros, the default location for Firefox downloads is /home/user .
2. Press CTRL-ALT-T to gain access to the command line.
3. Setup the folder for the ICA client
/home/user> mkdir citrix
/home/user> mv en.linuxx86.tar.gz citrix
/home/user> cd citrix
4. Unpack the tarball file:
/home/user/citrix> tar zxvf en.linuxx86.tar.gz
./
./PkgId
...
5. Run the install script:
/home/user/citrix> ./setupwfc
Follow the instructions: choose Install client and the default directory (ICAClient).
Let the installation script create the ICAClient directory
6. Install the certificate
If you look at my earlier posting: "Ubuntu on XPS M1330 - Installing Citrix" (Monday, April 14, 2008), you will see the content of the certificate file.
Cut and paste it into a plain text file.
The file name for the certificate should be:
/home/user/ICAClient/linuxx86/keystore/cacerts/UTN-USERFirst-Hardware.crt
EeePC with Xandros - long live Asus
I hate its keyboard. Horrible. And I don't mean the size, but quality. Most keys refuse to work unless you hit them with just the right amount of pressure, and jut the right angle. What a shame, because otherwise my new toy is an absolute treasure. There, there; got the bad out of the way.
Now I can concentrate on the good. To my mind the little EeePC is a perfect cross between a light, small, beautifully equipped sub-notebook with a perfectly selected set of simply presented open source operating system and applications.
Just been on two-week holidays, traveling across Europe. My "eepsy" did the trick - as a fast communicator (complete with video conferencing, thanks to the camera), storage device for photographs, work tool for quick write-ups, internet radio provider, and a source of endless penguin racing activity for a bored two-years-old, who had never seen the game before, yet was racing within seconds.
Xandros based EeePC might do more for popularising Linux that all remaining distributions put together - although admittedly for all the wrong reasons: many people will not even realise they have Linux! I have seen EeePC/Xandros being used by people who used to shiver at the mere sound of the word Linux.
What is best about it? Apart from the almost a pocket size and weight? Well, this is the first machine, Linux or otherwise, that had all facilities work out of the box. Totally intuitive, typical PDA-style front end, the easiest device to use by a mile.
Mind you, it took me two days to find access to CLI, but then again this was out of curiosity rather than necessity (press CTR-ALT-T, in case you wonder).
I'm probably being unfair to other distributions (like Ubuntu, which is my current favourite, for reasons I might explain separately).
After all EeePC/Xandros was fine-tuned for the specific hardware - a luxury that few distributions can afford...
Now I can concentrate on the good. To my mind the little EeePC is a perfect cross between a light, small, beautifully equipped sub-notebook with a perfectly selected set of simply presented open source operating system and applications.
Just been on two-week holidays, traveling across Europe. My "eepsy" did the trick - as a fast communicator (complete with video conferencing, thanks to the camera), storage device for photographs, work tool for quick write-ups, internet radio provider, and a source of endless penguin racing activity for a bored two-years-old, who had never seen the game before, yet was racing within seconds.
Xandros based EeePC might do more for popularising Linux that all remaining distributions put together - although admittedly for all the wrong reasons: many people will not even realise they have Linux! I have seen EeePC/Xandros being used by people who used to shiver at the mere sound of the word Linux.
What is best about it? Apart from the almost a pocket size and weight? Well, this is the first machine, Linux or otherwise, that had all facilities work out of the box. Totally intuitive, typical PDA-style front end, the easiest device to use by a mile.
Mind you, it took me two days to find access to CLI, but then again this was out of curiosity rather than necessity (press CTR-ALT-T, in case you wonder).
I'm probably being unfair to other distributions (like Ubuntu, which is my current favourite, for reasons I might explain separately).
After all EeePC/Xandros was fine-tuned for the specific hardware - a luxury that few distributions can afford...
Thursday, July 17, 2008
HP drivers in Ubuntu
Some off-the-shelf HP printers won't work in Ubuntu, until proprietary drivers are installed.
The quickest way I found is to use the existing hp-setup tool, provided in Ubuntu distributions. Just plug your printer in, and run:
$ sudo hp-setup
Couple of answers later (d for download and y for yes, I agree to the license terms), your printer is ready. Painless and quick.
As always, remember that if you are behind a proxy, you need to sort it out first (see several entries below regarding this).
The quickest way I found is to use the existing hp-setup tool, provided in Ubuntu distributions. Just plug your printer in, and run:
$ sudo hp-setup
Couple of answers later (d for download and y for yes, I agree to the license terms), your printer is ready. Painless and quick.
As always, remember that if you are behind a proxy, you need to sort it out first (see several entries below regarding this).
Wobble your screen in Ubuntu 8.04
I'm moving onto the new Ubuntu version, and many people around me are twisting my arm to start using the 3D effects brought to Ubuntu by the Compiz set of packages.
I can't imagine needing these effects long term (call me conservative and stingy), but having managed to get it work well (with some hints from our current resident whiz-kid, Lubo), I thought I'd document the process.
You need the graphics card capable of 3D acceleration, of course, but most contemporary cards will do. Beware, some machines require proprietary drivers, so you may need to do more prep work.
Ubuntu 8.04 comes with the main Compiz package already present and installed. You can recognize its presence by the slightly different feel to windows manipulation actions: different transparency, transitions, etc. But to get the full benefit of Compiz, so that you get to convert your screen into various shapes and bounce them on your terminal whilst the applications they display continue running, you need to install and enable a bit more.
Step 1 - only required if you are sitting behind a proxy (if not, move to step 2). If you use proxy, the likelyhood is that all you have configured so far is your browser. I.e. firefox can access the world through the proxy, but no other application. There are several ways (as always) of allowing other applications to get to the proxy, but for the purpose of this exercise, we will only instruct package management tools (apt) ...
First of all, identify what proxy address is being used on your site, and which port. Edit the apt configuration file: /etc/apt/apt.conf by running the following command (substitute proxy-address shown below for the proxy address and XX for the port number, often 8080) :
$ sudo echo 'Acquire::http::Proxy "http://proxy-address:XXXX";' >> /etc/apt/apt.conf
You may need to extend the stanza, if you use proxy user name and password. The entry would then look similar to this:
Step 2 - assuming you repository file (/etc/apt/sources.list) has been set up, which in 8.04 is done during installation, you should be able to continue with the Compiz install.
Rebuild the database of available packages, the check for compiz packages, and install the front-end tool for it:
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-cache search compiz
...
compizconfig-settings-manager - Compiz configuration settings manager
...
$ sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager
Once done, follow the path:
System --> Preferences --> Advanced Desktop Effects Settings
for all your 3D setting delights!
Happy playing... (I'm moving to other things) ;-)
I can't imagine needing these effects long term (call me conservative and stingy), but having managed to get it work well (with some hints from our current resident whiz-kid, Lubo), I thought I'd document the process.
You need the graphics card capable of 3D acceleration, of course, but most contemporary cards will do. Beware, some machines require proprietary drivers, so you may need to do more prep work.
Ubuntu 8.04 comes with the main Compiz package already present and installed. You can recognize its presence by the slightly different feel to windows manipulation actions: different transparency, transitions, etc. But to get the full benefit of Compiz, so that you get to convert your screen into various shapes and bounce them on your terminal whilst the applications they display continue running, you need to install and enable a bit more.
Step 1 - only required if you are sitting behind a proxy (if not, move to step 2). If you use proxy, the likelyhood is that all you have configured so far is your browser. I.e. firefox can access the world through the proxy, but no other application. There are several ways (as always) of allowing other applications to get to the proxy, but for the purpose of this exercise, we will only instruct package management tools (apt) ...
First of all, identify what proxy address is being used on your site, and which port. Edit the apt configuration file: /etc/apt/apt.conf by running the following command (substitute proxy-address shown below for the proxy address and XX for the port number, often 8080) :
$ sudo echo 'Acquire::http::Proxy "http://proxy-address:XXXX";' >> /etc/apt/apt.conf
You may need to extend the stanza, if you use proxy user name and password. The entry would then look similar to this:
Acquire::http
{
Proxy "http://proxy-address:XXXX/";
ProxyLogin
{
"USER@ ";
"PASS";
}
}
Step 2 - assuming you repository file (/etc/apt/sources.list) has been set up, which in 8.04 is done during installation, you should be able to continue with the Compiz install.
Rebuild the database of available packages, the check for compiz packages, and install the front-end tool for it:
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-cache search compiz
...
compizconfig-settings-manager - Compiz configuration settings manager
...
$ sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager
Once done, follow the path:
System --> Preferences --> Advanced Desktop Effects Settings
for all your 3D setting delights!
Happy playing... (I'm moving to other things) ;-)
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Atomic file system
I had a discussion with a delegate about pros and cons of a journalling file systems. What is special about them, and what are their main characteristics - in other words, is it worth to upgrade to a journalling file system from a traditional predecessor.
First of all, why would anybody be still working with a filesystem that is *not* journalling. Long gone the days where administrator would be prepared to do a full system fsck, just in case there is a filesystem inconsistency.
The main characteristic of a journalling filesystem is the fact that it can maintain a log of all transactions. However, unlike "standard" system logs, which record transactions after the event, filesystem logging records intentions, before the operation is even attempted (although there are various methods of achieving this, and some - such as metadata-only journalling - are more efficient than others). Of course, there is penalty in logging: in both performance and disk space, so for that reason, some administrators switch the logging off. How crazy! This is the very feature that journalling filesystems excel at, yet for many admins the term journal, or log seems to be sufficiently off-putting to turn it off!
Therefore, when describing a journalling filesystem for the first time to, I tend to use another term as the main characteristic: I introduce these filesystems as "atomic filesystems", rather than journalling. Atomic transaction means it either happens fully, completely and successfully, or it doesn't happen at all. One can provide numerous illustrations why data transfers, file and directory manipulation or database transactions should have the atomic nature.
But the moral of the story is: once you turn the attention to the advantages of transaction atomicity, then the term journal is not that scary anymore...
First of all, why would anybody be still working with a filesystem that is *not* journalling. Long gone the days where administrator would be prepared to do a full system fsck, just in case there is a filesystem inconsistency.
The main characteristic of a journalling filesystem is the fact that it can maintain a log of all transactions. However, unlike "standard" system logs, which record transactions after the event, filesystem logging records intentions, before the operation is even attempted (although there are various methods of achieving this, and some - such as metadata-only journalling - are more efficient than others). Of course, there is penalty in logging: in both performance and disk space, so for that reason, some administrators switch the logging off. How crazy! This is the very feature that journalling filesystems excel at, yet for many admins the term journal, or log seems to be sufficiently off-putting to turn it off!
Therefore, when describing a journalling filesystem for the first time to, I tend to use another term as the main characteristic: I introduce these filesystems as "atomic filesystems", rather than journalling. Atomic transaction means it either happens fully, completely and successfully, or it doesn't happen at all. One can provide numerous illustrations why data transfers, file and directory manipulation or database transactions should have the atomic nature.
But the moral of the story is: once you turn the attention to the advantages of transaction atomicity, then the term journal is not that scary anymore...
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Stallman on Microsoft on BBC site
Our NLUG (Northants Linux User Group) have been discussing the article, by Richard Stallman, published on the bbc site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7487060.stm
Richard Stallman is writing about. Having read it, I agree with most facts pointed out by Richard Stallman.
However, I felt a bit uneasy reading it. I'm quite conversant with the terminology he is using, I'm familiar with technologies and legal events he is referring to. Would a typical reader be though? One of our group members said: "I think he is really preaching to the converted. We Open Source fanatics will agree; but the general public / PC users will probably not have a clue what he is talking about, they see the universality of Microsoft as an advantage."
I wholeheartedly agree! Most PC users genuinely don't care about any of this.
And I can't escape a thought that Stallman's powerful, albeit very eloquent, attack might end up being counter-productive as most people will not really understand what he is saying, instead, will interpret the article as a dogmatic expression of hate towards Microsoft.
Richard Stallman is writing about. Having read it, I agree with most facts pointed out by Richard Stallman.
However, I felt a bit uneasy reading it. I'm quite conversant with the terminology he is using, I'm familiar with technologies and legal events he is referring to. Would a typical reader be though? One of our group members said: "I think he is really preaching to the converted. We Open Source fanatics will agree; but the general public / PC users will probably not have a clue what he is talking about, they see the universality of Microsoft as an advantage."
I wholeheartedly agree! Most PC users genuinely don't care about any of this.
And I can't escape a thought that Stallman's powerful, albeit very eloquent, attack might end up being counter-productive as most people will not really understand what he is saying, instead, will interpret the article as a dogmatic expression of hate towards Microsoft.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Telnet is a no-no, but StarWars with Telnet?
For more than a decade now, we have been indoctrinating our delegates that using 'straight' telnet is insecure, it transmits streams of clear text, etc., etc.
How can one deal with a delegate who in reply to that 'lecture' presents you with a telnet session to towel.blinkenlights.nl . ;-)))
Try it for yourself! What a feast of ASCII animation!
It helps if you have seen the original version (and the more traditional screening method) of Star Wars before running this telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl session.
How can one deal with a delegate who in reply to that 'lecture' presents you with a telnet session to towel.blinkenlights.nl . ;-)))
Try it for yourself! What a feast of ASCII animation!
It helps if you have seen the original version (and the more traditional screening method) of Star Wars before running this telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl session.
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