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Re: Welcome to the "main" mailing list
by Anthony Anson 19 Nov '03

19 Nov '03

The message <20031117101601.20618.79205.Mailman(a)terry.blackcatnetworks.co.uk> from main-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk contains these words: > Welcome to the main(a)lists.alug.org.uk mailing list! Welcome to ALUG! Too, too kind. > We welcome new members and we'd especially like you to send a short > description of why you're interested in Linux to the mailing list. Disclaimer: what you may consider typos may not be all they seem. qv uk.rec.sheds. Now read on. I used to use FT at my place of work, and liked it. However, I was only given simple tasks and I've pretty-well forgotten how to do those in the intervening years. I don't work there any longer so support from that quarter isn't available in quantity, though I sometimes pop in for a chinwag. After much wrangling in various newsgroups I've settled on Debian as my particular - er - sparring-partner. I tend to use keystrokes in Windows rather than the rodent for a variety of reasons: not the least of these is to show that nice Mr. Gates what fingers are for, so that OS seemed the logical choice. Not, of course, that I would dream of applying the same reason to Mr Linus T. (Whom God preserve.) > This is so that we can get some idea of how to cater for new members, > as they're the most important ones! <Preen> > Some general info should follow... Oh. I seem to have jumped the gun. General Info rose from the ranks by means of his intuitive grasp of the function of escalators, while bearing in mind the traditional insurance industry caveat that they can go down as well as up, he progressed through CP/M, Drapery, Haberdashery and Men's Wear, to DOS, Toys, Models and Restaurant and was dragged from thence, kicking and screaming into the clutches of Windows 3.0, because Someone Who Knew insisted that 'Everything was written for Windows these days'. As it happened, I used my first PC (DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.0 for several years without ever needing to run the fenestral part.) Indeed, with half a metaphorical eye on the insurance industry, he noted that escalators promised to go down a good deal faster than the other way about, so he took great care to step onto escalators which were going in a generally upwards direction, thobut with a certain lateral shift. Are you still with me? You've not got on that escalator going down...... Hooter! He must have been listening too intently and not noticed where he was going. Ah well, I'll mumble to myself then. Never have to correct myself, what? As a result of all this upward mobility he is not as young as he used to be (FDVO young) and the escalators are becoming very thin on the ground. There's this one though, which promises to fend off the worst depradations of age, in that it exercises the brian, and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to get on. And it's fun: the top of it is receding rather fast, so I might have to climb rather than just stand there. That thing at the top, it's growing, and if I CBA to learn a little programming even I might be able to contribute something. The last loading of Win98 got up my nose from time to time. Well, that's hyperbole *AND* oxymoron, I guvax. It was one of those escalators I stepped on without noticing which way it was going. However, making the best of a bad job I lined up in my sights that bloody Orofice Assistant. *BLAM!* - followed in short order by condescending messages and Junior Mickey$oftie six-year-old approach to naming things *MY* computer, *MY* documents, *MY* briefcase, *MY* &@$*! In the end I discarded so much junk that Windows gave up and sulked, so I reloaded it and despite its plaintive cries and entreaties, Outlurk, Outpuke Depress and a lot of other Mucodross never even made it into the filesystem. But it's hard work, and without taking a hammer and a spanner into the codes there's not much that can be done to wipe off some of its evil habits. Besides, if I got in amongst the codes there wouldn't be much spanner about it. "Oops! It's borked! Where's the soopergloo?" would be the cry. So, I'm defecting. A foot in both camps to start with, as my internet software runs in Windows, and as a beta tester, a clean break would be painful even though I'm not an addict. (Don't they all say that?) That's not all bad, as I shall make it my aim to fire up ZIMACS in one of the emulators. Zetnet is not just Debian-tolerant, much of its software works under it, and one of the directors is a guru thereof. Enough? Had enough? Want some more? -- Tony http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

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Welcome to Rekall Revealed
by Keith Watson 18 Nov '03

18 Nov '03

<quote> Rekall is a database front-end, it is not itself a database. By this we mean that data is stored somewhere else in an SQL server, and Rekall is fundementaly just a too to extract, display and update that data (of course, it does lots more than that, it does forms and reports and scripting and .... you get the idea). It is database agnostic, and does not have any preferred database in the sense that Access® uses the Jet® database engine (although the Windows version can use the Jet&seg; database engine via an ODBC driver). Rekall can do lots of the things that you would expect of a database front-end (or if it can't, let us know!). You can design and use forms and reports, you can construct database queries, and you can import and export data (actually, you can copy data, import is just copy file to table, and export is just copy table to file). Rekall can be scripted using the the Python language. You can arrange that a script is executed when various events occur (for instance, when the user changes the value of a control). Scripts can be associated directly with the event, but you can also store scripts in script modules for more general use. And, of course, you have full access to all the modules that are available for Python. Plus, Rekall has an integrated Python debugger with syntax highlighting </quote> This is a KDE biased product (based on QT libs) but looks quite nice. <http://www.rekallrevealed.org> Keith _________________ "For a nation to love liberty it is only neccessary that they know it, for them to be free it is only necesary that they will it." Lafayette (qv The Rights of Man - Paine)

1 0

T-Shirts Etc
by Keith Watson 17 Nov '03

17 Nov '03

For anyone interested in this continuing saga please hop over to the social list. Keith

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Kings Lynn meet tommorow night.
by Brett Parker 17 Nov '03

17 Nov '03

Hi all, If anyone wants a lift from Norwich to Kings Lynn tomorow night (Tues 18/11/2003) lob me an e-mail off list (I should be checking mail at work tommorow, GNUmail is a godsend :) I should be leaving here sometime around 6 or 6.30, I think Mark is planning on starting there ~ 7pm (Mark, is that right?) Cheers, Brett. (Oh, just incase... I'll be sitting in #alug all the working day tommorow as usual, lack of response might be me actually working though, so, erm, yes :) IRC Nick: iDunno

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[Alug]Linux 2.6
by Keith Watson 17 Nov '03

17 Nov '03

Anyone on the list using the 2.6 kernel? if so what's the general opinion of it? Keith

9 13

CD burning at Syleham
by Syd Hancock 17 Nov '03

17 Nov '03

If anyone has any CDs to share, bring them along to Syleham next sunday. I'm expecting to have a burner with me. Regards Syd

2 1

Re: [ALUG] Will Debian survive the rise of Linux?
by Keith Watson 17 Nov '03

17 Nov '03

On 11/17/2003, "Anthony Anson" <tony.anson(a)zetnet.co.uk> wrote: >The message <20031117133424.37BD31F8024(a)mail.ukpost.com> >from "Keith Watson" <kpwatson(a)ukfsn.org> contains these words: > >> MMmmm... Debian > >Have you got a recipe? > <http://www.debian.org/social_contract> :o) Keith

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SP - First Look: Next-Generation Debian Installer
by Keith Watson 17 Nov '03

17 Nov '03

<http://articles.linmagau.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=inde…> Keith

1 0

Will Debian survive the rise of Linux?
by Ben Francis 17 Nov '03

17 Nov '03

I stumbled across this[1] article on the linmagau (Linux Magazine, Australia?) web site. The article claims that "Early 2004 is going to be make-or-break time for Debian... and if If Debian is going to continue to grow and develop, we're going to have to work on more than just technical innovation: we need to work on usability and visibility." Although a little bit repetitive and perhaps overzealous, the author (who is a Debian devloper himself) seems, to me, to make some interesting points. However, I can imagine that many of the Debian users on this list would oppose his views with some hostility. Is Mr Oxer missing the point of the Debian GNU/Linux project altogether or does Debian really need to start appealing more to our well known friend Joe, the "mainstream user"? I'd be interested to hear some views on this. [1] http://articles.linmagau.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=inde… -- Ben "tola" Francis

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Newsforg: Big boys team up to push Linux hard
by Keith Watson 17 Nov '03

17 Nov '03

<http://newsvac.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/11/14/1452201> <quote> Six giants of the industry are to form a group to commercially promote the Linux operating system, according to a report in today's Nihon Keizai Shimbun. The newspaper says that IBM, Hitachi, NEC, NTT, Fujitsu and Argo 21 will not only tweak the operating system and make other software applications, but _will promote the OS actively in Japan_ </quote> Anyone care to predict how long Canon will be able to keep their "Only Windows/Mac" policy in place? Keith :o)

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