May 2005 - main - earth.li

Weekly IRC reminder
by Brett Parker 30 May '05

30 May '05

This is the automated ALUG IRC meeting reminder sent to remind you that there is an IRC meeting tonight (Monday) at 8.00pm. The meeting takes place on the irc server irc.alug.org.uk in the #alug channel. Most IRC clients should allow you to get there with the commands "/server irc.alug.org.uk" and "/join #alug". Popular IRC clients include tkirc, bitchx, xchat and EPIC on Unix, and Mirc under windows. Here are some links to help you get started with irc. Unix http://www.xchat.org/ http://freshmeat.net/ http://www.epicsol.org/ Windows http://www.mirc.com (loads of help with irc for newbies!)

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Use PC as a traditional phone
by Steve Fosdick 27 May '05

27 May '05

I'd like to use the PC as a phone, i.e. transmit sound from the mic-in on the soundcard to the phone line, have the sound received from the phone line available for mixing in the sound card's headphone out and be able to dial from software. All this, of course, under Linux. Does anyone know what hardware I should look for for this. I am assuming some kind of modem or modem card but these seem a bit of a minefield. Does the little link cable that runs from a PCI modem card to the sound card do everything I need or do I need to be able to copy data digitally? How can I tell which modem chipsets have enough support to be able to do what I want? TiA, Steve.

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BBQ on the 28th
by Martijn Koster 26 May '05

26 May '05

You're all invited to a BBQ in Wymondham on the 28th (Saturday after next), from 15:00 onwards. If you're planning on coming, please let me know by the 25th (Wednesday after next). Star attractions: we're hoping to see Bea, and it appears that iDunno may interrupt his UK'05 tour and make a brief appearance. For more details see http://www.greenhills.co.uk/mak/alug/20050528-bbq.html Can someone with privileges add a suitable link from http://www.alug.org.uk/meetings? -- Martijn

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Kit queries
by Ted.Harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 26 May '05

26 May '05

Hi Folks, I'd be grateful for comments on possible solutions to the following things I'm thinking of looking for. 1. "Mini-laptop" I'm interested in something hand-held which is very easily carried from point to point, with a keyboard that is easy to use for entering textual information (there will be a lot of this, and accuracy is important). Needs to be connectable to "mainframe" box via ethernet (or USB at a pinch). A standard laptop is rather too cumbersome and awkward (needs to be stood on something and the fold-down screen would tend to flap around; also it would very much be on the heavy side for what I have in mind. I'm envisaging using this while standing, walking around, or even crouching.)[**1] Probably the "PDA" type of thing is too tiny for my spatulate fingertips, but that's the sort of size (or somewhat bigger) which I have in mind. And linux-capable of course! 2. Headless and handless (and legless -- just a tube up the bum) Here I'm interested in a simple small silent box with a full-scale computer inside it that doesn't need a screen or a keyboard, but will simply sit in a small corner of a shelf and be networked to others (either of a similar kind, or standard PC/laptop). And it should stay cool, preferably. Basically, somthing on the lines of "laptop with no screen or keyboard" gives the idea of what I have in mind. (Probably would need to be connectable to extrenal monitor and keyboard for initial installation purposes, but the intention is that this shold be a transitory situation. Must be linux-capable.) The idea here is that they would be "server" boxes (1 or 2 or even 3 of them), to which user access would be via a networked laptop or similar (e.g. the outcome of query #1). All coments and suggestions gratefully welcomed! Best wishes to all, Ted. [**1] No, I'm not setting up as a Traffic Warden/Parking Attendant/ Tesco Stocktaker. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 25-May-05 Time: 10:51:21 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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MS Hell
by Ted.Harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 25 May '05

25 May '05

Folks, maybe you have been there before me. But I was browsing on www.gnu.org (as we all should from time to time) and felt curious about what GNU humour might be like. Here's one which I hadn't come across before. Bill Gates eventually arrives at the seat of judgement. St. Peter greets him, and explains that while he did contribute a lot of money to charities, he also ripped a lot of people off when they were forced to pay for his software if they wanted to buy a piece of hardware from a store. St. Peter says that under the circumstances, he will give Gates the choice of going to heaven or going to hell, and offers a tour. Gates accepts, and first St. Peter takes him to heaven. In heaven, Gates sees a very serene place, with people discussing philosophy and walking together through a wooded landscape. They then move on to hell. Gates sees a big beach party, with everyone fornicating, smoking cigarettes, eating gourmet food, and drinking. When Gates is asked, he chooses to go to hell, and is immediately plunged into a fiery furnace with the screams of tortured souls deafening him. "Hey, St. Pete, what's all this?" screams Gates. "Where's the beach party?". "Oh, I only showed you the demo version." St.Peter replies. Best wishes to all, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 25-May-05 Time: 20:43:37 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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Re: [ALUG] Kit queries
by John Seago 25 May '05

25 May '05

On Wednesday 25 May 2005 12:31, "Adrian F. Clark" <alien(a)essex.ac.uk> wrote: > > Here I'm interested in a simple small silent box with a full-scale > > computer inside it that doesn't need a screen or a keyboard... > > ...you could also consider the Mac-mini which is linuxable... But wouldn't that need a keyboard? -- John Seago GNU/Linux User #219566 http://counter.li.org AFFS http://www.affs.org.uk/

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54mps wireless cards (PCMCIA and PCI)
by Martyn Drake 25 May '05

25 May '05

Can anybody recommend a good all rounder 54Mbs PCMCIA and/or PCI desktop card that works with Linux like a comfortable slipper and supports a good range on it? I've had enough of Netgear cr*p to last me a lifetime. M. -- Martyn Drake http://www.drake.org.uk

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HTTP security (or otherwise)
by Chris Green 25 May '05

25 May '05

It's me with still more questions (I'll stop soon I expect). I'm aiming to provide a webmail server on my home Linux machine, probably with SquirrelMail, this is why I've been asking questions about IMAP servers, security, etc. I have SquirrelMail working already, very simple it was too, I was just asking about daemons etc. for information really. After a little thought (and reading) I realise that the IMAP server doesn't have to be visible to the outside world if the only access is to be via SquirrelMail. I know it's possible (and intended even) that IMAP should be used by remote MUAs with IMAP capability but since I won't be doing that and neither will my other users I don't need to worry about the security implications of making IMAP (or POP3 for that matter) visible outside the LAN. It means that making the web server visible to the outside world is where security matters though. Are there any other ways apart from full blown certificate based SSL/TSL to make an apache server a bit more secure? In particular is there a simple ways to encrypt passwords as they pass across the 'net? The sort of level of security that ssh provides would be ideal, however expecting users to set up an ssh tunnel whenever they want to read their mail is probably a non-starter. -- Chris Green (chris(a)areti.co.uk) "Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence."

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IMAP subscribe/unsubscribe
by Chris Green 25 May '05

25 May '05

I've posted a similar question on the comp.mail.imap newsgroup but maybe someone here can answer the question. What are the IMAP subscribe and unsubscribe functions for? I don't mean what do they actually do in any particular mail client, I mean what is their intended purpose and use? I can find nowhere that offers a good overall description of IMAP and how it's supposed to work even after spending quite a while Googling. There's the RFC of course but that's hardly user (or even techie) friendly. Apart from that there are lots of descriptions of specific server and client implementations but since they all differ in quite significant ways in the way they handle subscribe/unsubscribe they don't really help a great deal.

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Thunderbird question
by Chris Green 25 May '05

25 May '05

I'm playing with Thunderbird as an 'alternative' GUI mail clinet to mutt. I have it configured OK and reading a remote IMAP server. The one thing I want to do that I can't see how to do at the moment is copy a folder (or even better a folder hierachy) of messages from the IMAP server to a local folder. Dragging and dropping the Inbox copied it and the mail messages in it but dragging and dropping other folders seems only to copy the folder but not its contents. -- Chris Green (chris(a)areti.co.uk) "Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence."

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