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tail ender's progress
by d922989 19 Apr '05

19 Apr '05

It took me a long time but I finally have my first install running KDE and here is my first post from a non-Bill system. So far my feeling is that it was well worth the hours of googling to get here. KDE seems to be add to, rather than obscure, the interface with my machine. And add me to the virtual desktops fan club already. Now, being a mere user of applications with 'productivity' stuff to get done I will need to get Open Office but first I suppose I should upgrade this 2.2.20 idepci to Sarge. More trials ahead then but worth it for the sense of learning and gradual empowerment that I never got with win. I think OOo 1.4 is the latest version available as debs but will 2.0 go with Debian yet? BTW1 on googling newsgroups- top posters are preferable when searching as you only get to see the initial lines of posts when viewing threads. BTW2 my first computer at school was a NASCOM 2, it ran BASIC and Z80 assembler. Home machine an Atari 800, the first to have a seperate graphics processor enabling sprites (or 'player missile graphics'). A lot of my school/ uni pals who grew up with stuff like this and other early systems mentioned on this list recently are now developers of various kinds. Where is the next generation going to come from? Rob

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Old PC's
by Bob Dove 18 Apr '05

18 Apr '05

So now we know - you are all a bunch of nerds really! PCW - what's LocoLink? I have LocoMail (which I believe is incorporated in Loco2) and LocoFile. It seems strange now, but a PCW 256 was used as 'the computer' in a multi million pound turnover company I worked for which is why I chose it when I became 'freelance.' I added a 3.5in drive and another ram chip to make it a 512. The company made a major jump from PCW to Mainframe! My first 'proper PC' was faster and more powerful than the mainframe! My local library controlled all their ins, outs, budgets and stock on an Atari and a colleague used a similar to run his graphics business. PC1512 DD. Colour screen - 3 colours, no tones! Originally 2 x 5 .25 in drives, one of which I swapped for a 3.5in 'cos the 3.5 in 720 Kb disk held twice as much data as the 5 in. I also added a 20Mb (HUGE for the day) hard card. I must dig it out of the garage and fire it up and see what happens! I also had a 1640 which had twin drives that again I modded to 5.25 and 3.5. It, like my PCW committed suicide and was replaced with a 'pre-owned' IBM desktop. I forget the ram, 8 Mb comes to mind. HD was 40 Mb. I ran Paint Shop Pro on the 1640. I have locoScript Pro on 5.25 disks - it was/is a good word processor! GEM. Digital Research GEM came with the Amstrad 1640. It was the first GUI as far as I know. Any one who has used it will recognise the folders, drop down menus and task bar as both AppleMac and Windows use the same styles. If you learnt with GEM, Windows came easy! I presume Jobs or Gates bought GEM to make their systems work! Cheers, BD. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.9.13 - Release Date: 16/04/2005

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Re: using X across an ssh connection - how?
by Chris Green 18 Apr '05

18 Apr '05

On Fri, Apr 15, 2005 at 08:52:02AM +0100, Chris Green wrote: > On Thu, Apr 14, 2005 at 10:30:23PM +0100, Adam Bower wrote: > > On Thu, Apr 14, 2005 at 09:29:00PM +0100, Chris Green wrote: > > > > > The ssh man pages say that ssh will set the DISPLAY environment > > > variable but it doesn't seem to do so, 'echo $DISPLAY' produces > > > nothing. > > > > > > What am I doing wrong? > > > > Does the remote end have the option "X11Forwarding yes" in the > > /etc/ssh/sshd_config file? > > > Aha, no it doesn't. Can I override that with a local config file > and/or a command line argument? (The remote machine isn't mine, it's > the hosting company where my web pages are hosted) > [Sorry, intermediate message not sent to list] OK, I've created a local config file on the remote system with "X11Forwarding yes" in it. Still no joy. When I connect using "ssh -X <remote>" there's still not DISPLAY variable set. -- Chris Green (chris(a)areti.co.uk) "Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence."

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Weekly IRC reminder
by Brett Parker 18 Apr '05

18 Apr '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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Multiple Pointing devices
by Wayne Stallwood 17 Apr '05

17 Apr '05

I have been made soft by point and click installation GUI's I think. I have acquired a broken Fujitsu P1120 sub notebook (it really is tiny) after it had coke (the drink) spilt all over it. After a lot of cleaning up and a tricky repair operation on the keyboard it is now once again operational. It probably deserves a slightly more lightweight distro (it's only a Transmeta 800) but until I have learnt more about the hardware I have installed SuSE 9.2 on it. SuSE 9.2 has done a fantastic job of discovering the hardware, all the usually tricky things are working. Suspend mode, lid switch, CPU throttling (different profiles for AC and battery power), built in wireless, battery meter. In fact only two things remain. The modem (which I am not bothered about at the moment) and the touchscreen. It has a "nipple" pointer as well and that is working fine. I can see the touchscreen device in /proc/bus/usb as follows T: Bus=01 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=02 Cnt=01 Dev#= 2 Spd=1.5 MxCh= 0 D: Ver= 1.10 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS= 8 #Cfgs= 1 P: Vendor=0430 ProdID=0508 Rev=11.30 S: Manufacturer=Fujitsu Takamisawa S: Product=USB Touch Panel C:* #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=a0 MxPwr= 20mA I: If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=03(HID ) Sub=01 Prot=02 Driver=usbhid E: Ad=81(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS= 8 Ivl=10ms The fact that the hid driver has picked it up is a positive thing, but how do I add this to my X config and would it be reasonable to expect things like tap to click to work. Also will adding this break the already configured nipple pointer or can you specify more than one active pointing device. As always any help would be appreciated.

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Re: [ALUG] Re: main digest, Vol 3 #503 - 17 msgs (Modified by David Reynolds)
by David Reynolds 16 Apr '05

16 Apr '05

Bob, > Sorry if I upset someone by using the MS/OE reply system. I know no > better - > tho' I suppose I could create new message - but then you may not know > to > what I refer??? Anyway, I didn't realise the whole digest would be sent > back - I'll try harder! > Don't worry about it too much, it's just easier to chop out any bits that aren't necessary and only include the bit you are replying to. > Any of you guys using Firefox? Can you tell me why I can't close it > (v.1.0) > and > disconnect from web. I have to switch my machine off and reboot to > kill the > connection! Is this Broadband or dialup? Either way, you shouldn't need to reboot to disconnect from the internet. Also is this windows or linux? If linux, which dialer are you using? -- David Reynolds david(a)reynoldsfamily.org.uk

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using X across an ssh connection - how?
by Chris Green 15 Apr '05

15 Apr '05

I'm trying to use X Windows across an ssh connection. It's an ssh connection I've used for a long time for normal terminal command line connections so I can ctually make the connection successfully with no problem. To try and use X I've changed the command line from 'ssh -x <remote>' to 'ssh -X <remote>'. The ssh man pages say that ssh will set the DISPLAY environment variable but it doesn't seem to do so, 'echo $DISPLAY' produces nothing. What am I doing wrong? -- Chris Green (chris(a)areti.co.uk) "Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence."

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Re:using X across an ssh connection - how?
by tom potts 15 Apr '05

15 Apr '05

I use an application called VNC which is a remote desktop tool - it gives you an X window view of the remote machine and it works on several platforms. www.vnc.com is where I got it from but the site has been updated so my old link doesnt work but have a llok there or http://sourceforge.net/projects/vnc-tight/ may be of use. You should be able to set them up to work over ssl and grid compute from the bath - but dont forget to run your laptop on batteries! Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com

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Kate editor
by Richard Lewis 14 Apr '05

14 Apr '05

Hello ALUG, I've run into this problem several times now (I normally don't worry about and just use sed instead): in KDE's Kate text editor (and KEdit as well) is it possible, in the Search and Replace tool, to put a new line character in the replacement field? (Assuming you're not using regular expressions) Cheers, Richard

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OT: Amstrad PCW CP/M Discs
by Ashley T. Howes, Ph.D. 14 Apr '05

14 Apr '05

Off topic again, but it worked so well last time (thanks Mike @ UEA) that I thought I would risk it again :) I've got two old Amstrad PCWs. They both power on, but don't read any disks that you give them. The disks came from someone else, so they may or may not be blank :) In order for me to test these vintage computers, I need a working copy of CP/M for PCW or similar. That way, I can get them to boot into a workable state. Does anyone have one of these? I can supply discs (Amstrad 3 inch) for you to copy onto. Once I have a working disc, I can check if these machines work or whether they are going for a trip into the skip :) -- Ashley T. Howes, Ph.D. http://www.ashleyhowes.com "A martial art is like a mirror in which you look at yourself before you wash your face in the morning. You see yourself simply, the way that you are." - Bira Almeidai

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