Linux Gazette MailBag Issue #22

#### "Linux Gazette...making Linux just a little more fun!"

## The Mailbag! Write the Gazette at gazette@ssc.com | ### Contents: Help Wanted -- Article Ideas General Mail

### Help Wanted -- Article Ideas

Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 15:02:14 -0700
From: cooldude cooldude@digitalcave.com
Subject: how do

how do i setup a linux server from scratch?
my freind has the t1 connection and im gonna admin it with his ermission need ta know A. S.A.P.
=)
thanks

Date: Mon, 1 Sep 97 18:59:51 UT
From: Richard Wang rzlw1@classic.msn.com
Hi,
I have just set up a system for RedHat Linux, but I am finding getting real support for this system is very difficult. In fact, I cannot even setup my webpage via SLIP from the manuals I have. Redhat seems to go against it'scompetitor Caldera, and I am finding it hard to find the right manuals and guides for this system.
Do you have an online help person, who I can log to ?
Looking forward to your reply,

Richard Wang
Cambridge
United Kingdom

Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 19:49:55 -0700
From: Garry Jackson gjackson@home.com
Subject: Linux Problem.

I'm a linux newbie and I'm having major problems. I have a monitor that is kapible of 800X600 and I don't know anything else about it. I Also have a Trio 32/64. I cannot get Xwindows to go so what should I do.

Also I'm have a problem with my SB16 PNP and I can't get that to work and I can't get a Supra 28.9 PnP and a SN-3200 witch is a NE-200 clone if you could give me any tips on getting this stuff work It would be thanked.

Garry Jackson

Date: Wed, 3 Sep 1997 19:28:20 -0400
From: Prow Prowlyr@mindspring.com
Subject: Just some really basic help please.

I want to learn about unix but really dont know where to start. Can I get a free version somewhere to get me started? Do you know of a good Unix for dummies site that might help? Would greatly appreciate any reply via e-mail. Thanx in advance.

Date: Tue, 09 Sep 1997 00:49:50 +0200
From: Michael Stumpf ms@astat.de
Subject: Linux Kernel

I'm searching information about the status of the current kernel (release and/or developer). Do you have a web-address from an up-to-date site ? I used to look at "http://www.linuxhq.com" for this, but it seems that it is forever down.

tia

Michael

Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 11:02:04 -0400
From: Dave Runnels drunnels@panix.com
Subject: 3com509b problems

I recently added a 3com509b Ethernet card to my Win95/Linux machine. I run the machine in PnP mode and the RedHat 4.2 install process won't recognize the card. RedHat's solution was to disable PnP for the machine. While this might be fine for Linux, I am forced to use Win95 for a number of things and turning off PnP (which works great for me on Win95) will be a real pain in the ass.

Is there a way I might have my cake and eat it too? I do know which IRQ the card is being assigned to.

Thanks, Dave

Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 10:06:04 +0200
From: Erwin Penders ependers@cobweb.nl
Subject: email only

Hi,

My name is Erwin Penders an i'm working for a local ISP in the Netherlands. I don't know if i send this mail to the right place, but i have a question about a Linux problem. I want to know how to set up an email-only account (so you can call the ISP, make a connection and send/receive email) without the possiblity for WWW, Telnet etc. The main problem is that i don't know how to set up the connection (the normal accounts get a /etc/ppp/ppplogin).... . .

Can anybody help me with this problem !?

Thanks,

Erwin Penders
(CobWeb)

Date: Sat, 20 Sep 1997 22:00:38 +0200
From: Richard Torkar richard.torkar@goteborg.mail.telia.com
Subject: Software for IDE cd-r?

First of all Thanks for a great e-zine!

And then to my question... (You didn't really think that I wrote to you just to be friendly did you? ;-)

Is there any software written for IDE cd-r for example Mitsumi CR2600TE?

I found two programs; Xcdroast and CDRecord for Linux, but unfortunately they don't support IDE cd-r :-(

I haven't found anything regarding this problem and I've used darned near all search tools on the net... Any answer would be appreciated. If the answer is no, can I solve this problem somehow?

Regards,
Richard Torkar from the lovely land of ice beers .. ;-)

Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 16:03:04 -0400 (EDT)
From: Eric Maude sabre2@mindspring.com
Subject: Redhat Linux 4.3 Installation Help

I am trying to install Redhat Linux 4.3 on a Windows 95 (not OSR 2) machine. I do want to set this machine up as dual boot but that's not really my problem. I have been totally unable to set up Linux because I am unable to set up the Non-MS DOS partition that Linux requires. I am pretty new to Linux. I would appreciate anyone that could give me detailed step by step instructions on how I go about setting up Redhat Linux. I would call Redhat directly but I am at work during their operating hours and not near the machine I need help with this! Please, somebody help me out!!

Thanks!!

### General Mail

Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 11:02:39 -0300
From: Mario Storti mstorti@minerva.unl.edu.ar
Subject: acknowledge to GNU software

(Sorry if this is off-topic)

From now on I will put a mention to the GNU (and free in general) software I make use in the "acknowledgment" section of my (scientific) papers. I suggest to do the same to all those who are working on scientific applications. Since Linux is getting stronger every day in the scientific community, this could represent an important support, specially when requesting funding. Even better would be to make a database with all these "acknowledgments" in a Web site or something similar. Do anyone know of something like this that is already working? Any comments?

Mario

Date: Sun, 07 Sep 1997 23:58:16 -0500
From: mike shimanski mshiman@xnet.com
Subject: Fun

I just discovered Linux in July and am totally pleased. After years of Dos, Win 3.1, OS/2 and Win95, ( I won't discuss my experience with Apple), I think I found an operating system I can believe in.I cannot make this thing crash!

The Linux Gazette has been a rich source of information and makes being a newbe a great deal easier.I want to thank you for the time and effort you put into this publication. It has made my induction into the Linux world a lot easier.

Did I mention I am having way too much fun exploring this operating system? Am I wierd or what?

Again, thanks for a great resource.

Mike Shimanski

Date: Sat, 06 Sep 1997 18:01:52 -0700
From: George Smith gbs@swdc.stratus.com
Subject: Issue 21

THANKS! Thanks! Thank You!

Issue 21 was great! I loved it! I most appreciate the ability to download it to local disk and read it without my network connection being live and with the speed of a local disk. Please keep offering this feature - I wish everyone did. BTW, I am a subscriber to the Linux Journel from issue 1 and enjoy it immensely also.

Thanks again.

Date: Wed, 03 Sep 1997 19:34:29 -0500
From: Mark C. Zolton trustno1@kansas.net
Subject: Thank you Linux Gazzette

Hello There,

I just wanted to thank you for producing such a wonderful publication. As a relative newbie to Linux, I have found your magazine of immense use in answering the plethora of questions I have. Keep up the good work. Maybe oneday I'll be experienced enough to write for you.

Mark

Date: Mon, 1 Sep 1997 00:09:53 -0500 (CDT)
From: Arnold Hennig amjh@qns.com
Subject: Response to req. for help - defrag

I saw the request for information about the (lack of) need for defragging in issue 20, and have just been studying the disk layout a bit anyway.

Hope the following is helpful:

In reference to the question titled "Disk defrag?" in issue 20 of the Linux Gazette:

I had the same question in the back of my mind once I finally Linux up and running after some years of running a DOS based computer. After I was asked the same question by someone else, I poked around a bit and did find a defrag utility buried someplace on sunsite. The documentation pretty much indicated that with the ext2 file system it is rarely necessary to use the utility (he wrote it prior to the general use of ext2fs). He gave a bit of an explanation and I found some additional information the other day following links that (I believe) originated in the Gazette.

Basically, DOS does not keep a map of the disk usage in memory, and each new write simply starts from the next available free cluster (block), writes till it gets to the end of the free space and then jumps to the next free space and continues. After it reaches the end of the disk or at the next reboot, the "next free cluster" becomes the "first free cluster", which is probably where something was deleted, and may or may be an appropriate amount of free space for the next write. There is no planning ahead for either using appropriate sized available spaces or for clustering related files together. The result is that the use of space on the disk gets fragmented and disorganized rather quickly, and the defrag utilities are a necessary remedy.

In fairness to DOS, it was originally written for a computer with precious little memory, and this method of allocating write locations didn't strain the resources much.

The mounting requirement under unices allows the kernel to keep a map of the disk usage and allocate disk space more intelligently. The Ext2 filesystem allocates writes in "groups" spread across the area of the disk, and allocates files in the same group as the directory to which they belong. This way the disk optimization is done as the files are written to disk, and a separate utility is not needed to accomplish it.

Your other probable source of problems is unanticipated shutdowns (power went out, Dosemu froze the console and you don't have a way to dial in through the modem to kill it - it kills clean, btw ;-), or your one year old niece discovered the reset button). This will tend to cause lost cluster type problems with the files you had open at the time, but the startup scripts almost universally run fsck, which will fix these problems. You WILL notice the difference in the startup time when you have had an improper shutdown.

So, yes, you may sleep with peace of mind in this respect.

Arnold M.J. Hennig

Date: Wed, 3 Sep 1997 16:19:17 -0600 (MDT)
From: Mark Midgley midgley@pht.com
Subject: Commercial Distribution

Mo'Linux, a monthly Linux distribution produced by Pacific HiTech, Inc. includes current Linux Gazette issues. They are copied in whole, according to the copyright notice.

Mark

Date: Thu, 11 Sep 1997 12:26:53 -0400
From: Brian Connors connorbd@bc.edu
Subject: Linux and Mac worlds vs Microsoft?

Michael Hammel made an interesting comment in the September letters column about aligning with Mac users against Microsoft. The situation's not nearly as rosy as all that, what with Steve Jobs' latest activity in the Mac world. As a Mac diehard, I'm facing the prospect of a good platform being wiped out by its own creator, whether it's really his attention or not. IMHO the Linux world should be pushing for things like cheap RISC hardware (which IBM and Motorola have but aren't pushing) and support from companies like Adobe. I know that in my case, if the MacOS is robbed of a future, I won't be turning to Windows for anything but games...

Date: Thu, 11 Sep 1997 22:59:19 +0900
From: mark stuart mark@www.hotmail.com
Subject: article ideas

why not an issue on linux on sparc and alpha(especially for scientific applications) and also how about an issue on SMP with linux?

Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 01:57:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ian Justman ianj@chocobo.org

Except for the SNA server, all I've got to say about Linux with all the necessary software is: "Eat your heart out, BackOffice!"

--Ian.

Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 21:49:28 -0700
From: Matt Easton measton@lausd.k12.ca.us
Subject: Thanks

Thank you for Linux Gazette. I learn a lot there; and also feel more optimistic about things not Linux after visiting.

Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 13:24:29 -0500
From: "Samuel Gonzalez, Jr." buzz@pdq.net
Subject: Excellent Job

Excellent job !!!

Sam

Published in Linux Gazette Issue 22, October 1997

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