January 2007 - main

Avast anti virus software
by Chris & Barry Chater 02 Feb '07

02 Feb '07

Hi First of all i would like to thank all of you that helped with my previous problem of how to connect to the web on my 5 year old Packard bell laptop, Mark kindly sent me a Pcmcia, realport type ethernet card and i am now on the net and having fun with linux. I found the linux emporium very helpful if you wanted advice on wireless cards etc,and they sell them. Now here is my latest problem !!! ( trying not to be a pain) I am using ubuntu 6.10 linux and downloaded the i386. deb version of avast antivirus, double clicked file to install, the package installer ran and then stated installing package. It then told me that the package was already installed and gave me the chance to reinstall.When i checked it was not on system, even used file search so i know its not there. Have i tried to install the wrong version? It has done this before but also has successfully installed other packages with no problem. Could be a case of a newbie not doing the correct thing. I know some of you will say that there is no need for virus software on linux, but just experimenting, really need to scan emails. Thanks again Barry

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Re: [ALUG] Handover requests: ICON
by MJ Ray 31 Jan '07

31 Jan '07

Just for the record: ICON contacts are now Peter Berry and Wayne Stallwood. I'll post the paperwork today. Thanks to both of them for stepping into the breach, and to Dave Noble for a third offer of help. Thanks, -- MJ Ray - see/vidu http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html Somerset, England. Work/Laborejo: http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ IRC/Jabber/SIP: on request/peteble.

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Apache 2.2 mod_authn_pam
by Chris Glover 30 Jan '07

30 Jan '07

Hi, After having to upgrade to Apache 2.2 to allow download of > 2GB sized files, I've found that mod_auth_pam doesn't work with this version. It's replacement mod_authn_pam is available from sourceforge cvsweb, however the cvsweb site seems to be broken at the moment. Does anybody have a copy of this that they could send or put somewhere for me? Many Thanks Chris -- Chris ---------------------------------- E Mail: chris(a)glovercc.plus.com SIP: 84411389(a)voiptalk.org IAXTEL: 17003366726

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Re: [ALUG] Handover requests: announce, ICON, www
by MJ Ray 29 Jan '07

29 Jan '07

announce has been handed over to BJ and Jonathan McDowell. Thanks both! ICON - still need two people to act as ALUG contact people for listing on the Norfolk CC database. Please can some people email me? You don't need to do anything except tell people about ALUG if they call you. I can set up a redirecting telephone number if you want. www - please can a webmaster email me or make the changes to the site editor? Thanks, -- MJ Ray - see/vidu http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html Somerset, England. Work/Laborejo: http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ IRC/Jabber/SIP: on request/peteble.

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Content Management Systems - or not!
by cl＠isbd.net 28 Jan '07

28 Jan '07

Well I'm still chasing round in ever decreasing circles looking for some sort of Content Management System for creating a web site for my wife's business. Thus I want a CMS (or, it seems increasingly likely, something else) with the following sorts of functions and abilities:- Easy entry of text *and* formatting such as headings, tables, lists, etc., preferably WYSIWYG or nearly so. This needs to be accessible to a non-techie but computer aware user. Consistent professional look for the whole site, it would be nice if a lot of templates/styles were available but just a few nice ready-made ones which are easy to tune (this can be a bit more 'techie') would be OK. Simple 'ready made' menu structure and navigation. What we *don't* need is the ability to have forums, news feeds, blogs and all that sort of paraphernalia, they might be nice to add on at some time but are unnecessary at the moment. Installation doesn't have to be particularly easy (I've already installed Drupal, CMSMadeSimple, Exponent and TWiki!) and I'm quite prepared to put some 'techie' input into it but the content creation *must* be straightforward and more than just text. >From what I have seen so far playing with Drupal and Exponent the current CMS systems are really of little use for what we want to do. They make it easy to add different sorts of content and also make it easy (some of them) to manage the structure of a web site but they help very little in making it easy to add the actual content. We don't even really need a web based system as there will only be two of us involved in creating the site, so although a wiki-like system might be somewhat more like what we're after the whole co-operative input thing would be lost on us. So, has anyone any comments or ideas? I suspect that I may need to look for something other than 'Content Management' but I wish I knew what it was! -- Chris Green (chris(a)halon.org.uk)

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MX/Zone/DNS question
by cl＠isbd.net 27 Jan '07

27 Jan '07

I have a domain isbd.net which is hosted for me at BSNet where I have access to the zone file. I have added a CNAME record home[.isbd.net] which points at my home system (which has a static IP with a very long name). This works perfectly for me so far, I can access Web pages on the home machine's apache server at home.isbd.net and any port I open up is accessible as home.isbd.net. I have Postfix on my home system (for sending mail). If I want it to receive mail as well what do I need to do to the zone file[s]? At BSNet (where isbd.net has its zone file) will the CNAME entry I already have mean that mail for xxx(a)home.isbd.net will get sent on or do the MX records for isbd.net catch home.isbd.net mail as well? If home.isbd.net mail *is* sent on to my home machine do I need to do anything to the zone file there for it to accept the mail or will having Postfix listening on port 25 be all that's needed? (I suspect that *strictly* I should have a zone file with MX records on my home machine but that it may well work without) -- Chris Green (chris(a)halon.org.uk)

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Handover requests: announce, ICON, www
by MJ Ray 26 Jan '07

26 Jan '07

As you may know, I left a while ago, but I still seem to have a few bits of ALUG in my hands. Who wants these? Email me directly, please. announce mailing list - I think someone offered to take this over a while ago, but I don't know whether that offer is still good. Workload is checking a Mailman admindb web page after 8am each day. Mostly spam. So, who wants it? ICON - ALUG's listing on the Norfolk County Council index of community groups needs two new contact people. I thought we'd added someone else in the past, but it's not listed. Workload is answering any enquiries. Please can two people email me: Name, address, telephone (day/eve/fax), email and whether to hide your details from the web. Current entry may be viewed at http://norlink.norfolk.gov.uk/cgi-bin/vps2-civ.web.sh?enqtype=SECOND&enqpar… www - I thought I handed this over to David Reynolds and Sionide (maybe I forget), but the site is still emailing me patches. Mostly spam now. Can someone please update the web site and change the editor or at least the address it sends to? If you want to keep the editor, it needs updating to discourage spamming. If you want a hand with that, let me know and I'll add it to my to-do list. If these aren't taken over, I'll ask for them to be deleted. Thanks in advance for any help for ALUG! -- MJ Ray - see/vidu http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html Somerset, England. Work/Laborejo: http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ IRC/Jabber/SIP: on request/peteble.

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Re: OT: Content Management Recommendations please
by cl＠isbd.net 26 Jan '07

26 Jan '07

On Thu, Jan 25, 2007 at 02:06:38PM +0000, cl(a)isbd.net wrote: > Joomla > Drupal > MySource Classic > WebGUI > TikiWiki > > Does anyone here have any experience of any of these and/or are there any > good comparison/review sites? (I've found http://www.opensourcecms.com/ > which is useful). > Well I think I've found what I need, none of the above but:- http://www.exponentcms.org/ It's fairly new but seems to be going somewhere. It was certainly as easy as falling over to install it and I found it trivially easy to get started and actually produce some pages etc. -- Chris Green (chris(a)halon.org.uk)

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Simple CMS and/or WYSIWYG HTML editor - any suggestions?
by cl＠isbd.net 25 Jan '07

25 Jan '07

What simple CMS and/or HTML editors would people recommend for a non-techie user (my wife)? She's most certainly not computer hostile but wants a simple way to create and maintain a small business web site. There's no requirement for selling or an associated database, it will just be a site comprising a few tens of pages outlining what she does with appropriate internal and external links. It doesn't have to have very sophisticated (or any) FTP management either as I can make the web site appear as a local file system if necessary. It would be nice if it made it easy to create sidebars, menus, etc. The ones I have looked at are things like:- nvu - OK, but seems to have gone to sleep as a project since version 1.0 bluefish - too techie seamonkey - Too simple, just edits an HTML page and that's about it. -- Chris Green (chris(a)halon.org.uk)

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Silly Hardware Qs
by ted.harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 25 Jan '07

25 Jan '07

Hi Folks, OT Linux-wise, but a lot of you are wise, hardware-wise, as-it-were-wise ... 1. I have an old desktop, whose on/off is mechanical (mechanical link from power button to switch in PSU). This link is now dodgy, and I often have to press it on/off several times before the power finally kicks in. A possible solution, after running shutdown, is simply to switch off at the mains, leaving the power switch in the "on" state; and then, when starting up again, simply switch on at the mains. I.e. simply never switch the machine itself on or off. However, I'm a bit concerned that the surge from switching on at the mains might not be good for the machine if it goes straight through to the PSU, rather than the PSU's own switch allowing it in from an already live mains cable. Any comments? 2. If a TFT/LCD screen simply goes all white (every pixel bright white) when it's switched on, regardless of whether there's any input signel, does this indicate any particular type of internal problem which it might be worth probing for (by taking the back off and looking for, e.g., a loose chip/connection)? Best wishes to all from the Scrapyard in the Fen Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <ted.harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 24-Jan-07 Time: 11:04:06 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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ALUG Annual Nosh
by sfr 23 Jan '07

23 Jan '07

Twelve people confirmed, and three more possibly. The Reindeer has a different menu every week, so we can't get an exact one until Monday 5 February. Here's a sample menu for a rough idea. -- sfr ======================================== Reindeer Menu Homemade Cream of Vegetable Soup with Rustic Bread £3.75 Smoked Mackerel Pate with toasted Bread £3.95 Creamy Stilton Mushrooms with toasted Bread £3.95 Loaded Potato Skins filled with Cheese and Bacon, with a Sweet Chilli Sauce £3.95 ******** Venison Steak, with Tomatoes, Mushrooms and Chunky Chips £9.95 Homemade Quorn Lasagne with Garlic Bread and Salad £6.95 Pan fried Chicken Fillet, with a Smoked Cheese Sauce, Roasted New Potatoes and a selection of Vegetables £7.50 Homemade Sausage Casserole on a bed of creamy Mashed Potato £6.95 Grilled Plaice Fillets with a Dill and Butter Sauce with Roasted New Potatoes and a selection of Vegetables £7.50 A Whole Rack of Baby Back Ribs, coated in a Barbecue Sauce with spicy Potato Wedges, Coleslaw and Onion Rings £9.95 Gammon Steak with Pineapple, with Chips and Salad £7.95 ******** Desserts Banoffi Cheesecake served with fresh Cream £3.95 Vanilla Crème Brulle served with Amaretto Biscuits £3.95 Chocolate Sponge served with a warm Chocolate Sauce £3.95 Meringue Nests filled with Fresh Fruit and Chantilly Cream £4.25

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The 'nobody' user in HTML and CGI, how to best use it?
by cl＠isbd.net 19 Jan '07

19 Jan '07

I mostly understand why there is a user 'nobody' who owns all the HTML and CGI stuff in the /var/www hierarchy. However it's a bit of a pain maintaining the 'nobody' file ownership permissions there, how do other people manage this? At present I tend to do things as root and then 'chown -R nobody' which is a bit clumsy really. This is on a home system with me being the only direct user (and a few other samba file sharing users). I edit and move files around in /var/www directly as I'm really the only user most of the time and the occasional 'outside' user can just put up with anything I break for a while. The problem is that one has to be root to manipulate the files owned by nobody as one can't actually become nobody. Ooh, just tried and one *can* become nobody via root, I suppose that's one way to deal with it. So, is that what others do when doing things to files in the /var/www area, su to root and then to nobody? -- Chris Green (chris(a)halon.org.uk)

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nspluginwrapper
by Peter Alcibiades 18 Jan '07

18 Jan '07

Has anyone successfully used this to install Flash 9 on AMD64 Debian? If so how? Wishing I had just installed 32 bit in the first place but dreading what it will take to move to it... Peter

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Wireless router recommendations + graphics card.
by Luke Dodd 17 Jan '07

17 Jan '07

Hi, Firstly I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good wireless ADSL router. The problem with my current router (dlink 604+) is that it cant seem to handle more than one person using a substantial amount of bandwidth constantly, even though over all there is bandwidth to spare. For example only one person in the house can listen to Internet radio or stream video at once, with a 2MBit link two Internet radios at 128k should be possible! So are there any routers that would share out the bandwidth more effectively to 2-5 computers at once (cheap ones :D)? Although I don't think there is anything that can be done I may aswell ask about an issue with my graphics card. It is a Xfx Geforce 6600GT 128MB, and the problem is whenever I open up any 3D application X will crash and restart, on windows any 3d applications will cause the screen to display some horizontal odd colored lines, then go blank, then I have to do a hard reboot. I tried taking out the card and putting it back in (PCIe), no difference. I wrote a small program just opening a blank opengl window and that was enough to cause the crash. 2D performance works fine, and the card had been working properly for around 9 months before this; the drivers I am using on Linux are a fairly recent nvidia beta (1.0-9631) - 3D was working fine some time after I last updated them. Because the problem started on both operating systems at once I think it can only be a hardware problem - but I really don't want to buy a new card so any suggestions would be good. (amd x2 3800+, 1024mb ram, asus a8n-e mobo, Xfx Geforce 6600GT 128MB video card) Thanks, Luke

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linux newbie - help requested
by elc＠freeola.net 15 Jan '07

15 Jan '07

Hi I've been dabbling in Windows for a few years now and thought I knew something about what I was doing. Being reluctant to spend my hard earned cash on upgrading from Win 98 SE to another Gates product, I thought I would try Linux. I am now dual booting Win 98 and Kubuntu and working with a dial up internet connection. Now I realise how much I don't know !!! My winmodem is an Intel (R) 536 EP V.92 and Kubuntu doesn't recognise it. Somewhere the internet informs me that of all the winmodems in use the one I have should have a linux driver. I've downloaded 'scanmodem' and run it and I get hundreds of lines of text that means nothing to me. Linux looks good to me, and I feel like sticking with it, if only I can get past first base. Can someone talk me thru in one syllable steps please to overcome this first hurdle.# Many thanks Eric

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a/v box 2
by robert 14 Jan '07

14 Jan '07

Thanks Wayne for your help so i would just like to ask this.What is the best supported a/v box,where can i get it and how can can i make it run my xbox and vcr.Thanks for your help Robert.

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a/v box
by robert johnson 14 Jan '07

14 Jan '07

Please could you tell me how to configure Linux to run my Dazzle a/v box that i got for xmas.The OS's that i'm planning to run it on is one of four:- Suse 10.2,Mandriva 06,Ubuntu 5 and Fedora 5.So if one is the easier than the rest then tell me how to configure that one as it's going to be a duel boot with Windows 98SE(hence the switch to Linux).Thanks for your help Robert ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a PS3 game guru. Get your game face on with the latest PS3 news and previews at Yahoo! Games. http://videogames.yahoo.com/platform?platform=120121

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DaDaBIK, are there no other applications like this?
by cl＠isbd.net 12 Jan '07

12 Jan '07

I'm still at my "how to create a web page for accessing a database" quest. Recently I found DaDaBIK which *seems* to be the fulfil my dreams (see http://www.dadabik.org/) Are there *really* no other applications like this around? It seems to be such an obvious thing to want but I haven't found anything else remotely like it. There are lots of database administration programs like phpmyadmin and there are quite a few database browsers but nothing quite like DaDaBIK. I'm about to install it and see if it really is as good as it seems. I'm only asking if there's anything else like it in case I'm missing something obvious that might be better. -- Chris Green (chris(a)halon.org.uk)

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Re: ALUG Annual Nosh
by sfr 11 Jan '07

11 Jan '07

... is booked. Provisional time 7pm Thursday 8 February The Reindeer, Norwich (ie the usual pubmeet date and place, to make it easy) 9 definites, 6 maybes. Any more? I'll send out the menu in a couple of weeks. -- sfr

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[ALUG Announce] 2nd Thursday Norwich Meet : Reindeer, Dereham Road
by Jonathan McDowell 08 Jan '07

08 Jan '07

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- The monthly "Second Thursday" ALUG Norwich Pub Meet is this Thursday, 11th January. It's at the Reindeer pub on the Dereham Road, just opposite the City Gate. People will be there from 8pm-ish, though there may be a few people there earlier. Topics for discussion will no doubt be as varied as ever. The Reindeer has a reasonable selection of beer as well as decent coffee (with biscuits, if you're lucky). Directions to the Reindeer can be found at: http://www.alug.org.uk/venues/reindeer.html Pictures of some of the regulars, and irregulars, and, well, just some pictures of people that might or might not turn up are available from: http://www.earth.li/~noodles/Photos/2006-02-ALUG/ http://the.earth.li/~noodles/stilvoid-alug/mp20050811/ http://www.earth.li/~noodles/Photos/2005-01-ALUG-Xmas/ http://www.earth.li/~noodles/Photos/2004-08-ALUG/ Which should hopefully aid those of you wondering who to look out for. We're /normally/ just to the left of the main entrance, though sometimes we've ended up at the far end of the pub beside the pool table, as there are comfy seats at that end. J. -- What do you mean NO SAVING THROW? ----- Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce

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Crontab
by Barry Samuels 06 Jan '07

06 Jan '07

I get messages in my logs like this: Jan 4 00:00:04 localhost /usr/bin/crontab[20339]: (root) AUTH (crontab command not allowed) every day at midnight, 3:00 AM and 8:00 AM and I'm damned if I can find out what's generating them. Anyone with any bright ideas? -- Barry Samuels http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk The Unofficial Guide to Great Britain

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ALUG Annual Nosh - RSVP
by sfr 03 Jan '07

03 Jan '07

Votes from those who replied were for 8 February, so we shall meet for a meal before/during the February monthly pubmeet at the Reindeer, Norwich. Please reply with yes (how many) or no. You can reply just to me if you don't want to clutter the list. Please reply even if it's no, because then there will be an audit trail; some people have said yes or no in person and I'm easily confused. I'll take numbers at the January pubmeet and book the table. -- sfr

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How to manage domain names on an ADSL connection?
by cl＠isbd.net 03 Jan '07

03 Jan '07

I have my Slackware Linux box connected to the outside world via a Speedtouch router. The router firewall is set up to allow incoming ssh and http connections to the Slackware box. Currently my ADSL is UKFSN/ENTANet and I have a static IP address, the domain name is 84-45-228-40.no-dns-yet.enta.net. I have a number of more useful/memorable/long-lived domains registered, some of which are hosted and some are not. Currently I have isbd.ltd.uk registered with justthename.co.uk and HTTP requests are redirected to 84-45-228-40.no-dns-yet.enta.net. This works sort of OK in the main but it's far from perfect because my Slackware box doesn't really know whether it's 84-45-228-40.no-dns-yet.enta.net or [www].isbd.ltd.uk. What's the easiest and/or neatest way of sorting this out? Obviously my basic requirement is to make my slackware box think it's isbd.ltd.uk and to hide 84-45-228-40.no-dns-yet.enta.net completely. I currently have www.isbd.ltd.uk in the following places on my slackware system:- /etc/HOSTNAME /etc/hosts at the appropriate private IP address /etc/apache/httpd.conf as the ServerName value However this causes various minor issues and infelicities, for example TWiki complains about a mismatch in the HTTP_HOST environment variable when run locally. I'd also prefer not to have to put 84-45-228-40.no-dns-yet.enta.net anywhere in HTML etc. So, what's the proper and/or best and/or easiest way to sort this out? It's really only the HTTP issues that I want/need to resolve, can Apache virtual hosting do anything for me - I suspect not as that is only if I have multiple IP addresses *actually* resolving to my machine. I don't really want to go to the extent of making my Slackware machine host isbd.ltd.uk completely as that involves DNS, MX records and all sorts of complicated things like that. I just want 'transparent' forwarding of HTTP requests. -- Chris Green (chris(a)halon.org.uk)

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This is the ultimate in "object oriented" programming????
by cl＠isbd.net 02 Jan '07

02 Jan '07

So I have been playing a little with Ruby on Rails. I have it up and running and it works in a way but I'm totally unconvinced that it's the answer to the ultimate question - or even the answer to writing database apps for the web. Here's one little bit of code from a *very simple* tutorial example:- <html> <head> <title>My todo list</title> </head> <body> Not done:<br /> <%= display_items(@not_done) %> <p> <hr size=3> <p> Done:<br /> <%= display_items(@done) %> <hr size=3> <form method="post" action="add_item"> New item: <%= text_field("new_item", "description") %> <input type="submit" value="Add item"> </form> </body> </html> If that's either structured or object oriented then I'm a purple hippopotamus! :-) I think the fundamental problem is that HTML is a mess, until such time as that can be hidden somehow then I think we're stuck with rubbish like the above. I was hoping that Ruby on Rails helped hide some of the above junk but apparently not. Sorry - just felt like a bit of a rant! :-) -- Chris Green (chris(a)halon.org.uk)

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I've just realised what I really want re: database/web design
by cl＠isbd.net 02 Jan '07

02 Jan '07

Just a thought really, I don't think any such thing exists. What I'd *really* like is a Wiki (or something like it) which also has database access facilities. By that I don't mean a Wiki which stores its data in a database but a Wiki which allows me to design forms for database access as well as writing 'ordinary' web pages. -- Chris Green (chris(a)halon.org.uk)

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weird slowdown....
by Peter Alcibiades 01 Jan '07

01 Jan '07

Have you had or heard of odd behaviour apparently, at least partly, from the combination of Firefox and Gnome? After visiting a site to find out who an apparently well known singer is, I found FF paging through previous pages of its own volition, and the system as a whole hanging and slowing down. The site (devoted to one Lily Allen if it helps) kept reappearing, but the same thing happened also with the Independent site, several pages of which suddenly reappeared in the middle of reading OSNews. I thought it must be something nefarious, but what? The Independent? It seemed to hang on OSN while waiting for bilbo.counted. System Monitor doesn't reveal anything very odd, though there are spikes on the graph of 30% cpu usage, when the process table shows nothing using more than a few percent, and that is mainly system monitor itself. Moving to Konqueror didn't help. Deleting all cookies and turning off Java and Javascript didn't help. Epiphany didn't help. It happened a bit with OO but not to anything like the same extent. I more or less fixed it finally by moving to KDE. But the runaway process indicator occasionally pops up and warns about Firefox, if the threshold is set to 20%. This is on Etch AMD64, a reasonably decent Sempron with 1G memory, which of course has FF 1.5, not 2.0. Fully up to date. This am in fact, it just updated a bunch of stuff, including CUPS. Any ideas what it could be or on what else to check? I am also getting slowdowns while typing this into Kmail, which is also generating one of those warnings.... Crazy. How can it take 20%+ of cpu just to handle a few text entries? Peter

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