Linux-Misc Digest #507, Volume #25 Sun, 20 Aug 00 17:13:02 EDT
Contents:
Re: KPPP and PPPd Question (Dances With Crows)
Re: Which verison of X Free 86 is in Mandrake 7.1? ("Vikas R")
Re: WARNING: Somebody is trojaning UseNet with Perl Script. ("NuQ")
Re: Reality Check - NY Times Article (sfcybear)
Re: New Palmtop running Linux! (Richard Watson)
Re: FTP message Question (alex k)
Re: STTY and ERASE (NF Stevens)
Re: Installing 2nd hard disk (Stewart Honsberger)
Re: Installing 2nd hard disk (Stewart Honsberger)
Re: WARNING: Somebody is trojaning UseNet with Perl Script. ("Andrew N. McGuire ")
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Dances With Crows)
Subject: Re: KPPP and PPPd Question
Date: 20 Aug 2000 20:11:18 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Sun, 20 Aug 2000 19:55:50 GMT, Lawrence S. Stephens III wrote:
>I am running Kppp has a regular user. With the log window up I can see
>that it connects to my ISP. But, when it starts pppd it just sit there
>then terminates. While it is starting the pppd, I will run the ps -ef
>and egrep for the pppd to see if it is running, but it is not.
>
>What is wrong? I can run Kppp as root just fine. I can also dial-in
>with the command "ifup ppp0" as a regular user with no problems.
Is kppp SUID root? The documentation for kppp (read it!) says that the
easiest way to get it working properly is to make kppp SUID root, though
a more secure way would be to do this:
chown root.dialout /dev/ttyS*
chmod /dev/ttyS* 660
chown root.dialout `which kppp`
chmod 2755 `which kppp`
--
Matt G|There is no Darkness in Eternity/But only Light too dim for us to see
Brainbench MVP for Linux Admin / Those who do not understand Unix are
http://www.brainbench.com / condemned to reinvent it, poorly.
=============================/ ==Henry Spencer
------------------------------
From: "Vikas R" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: alt.os.linux.mandrake,comp.os.linux.hardware,comp.os.linux.setup
Subject: Re: Which verison of X Free 86 is in Mandrake 7.1?
Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 20:11:26 GMT
Thats correct. However, I could not get 4.0 up and running and had to switch
to 3.3.x
sfcybear <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:8nnokd$gp9$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> Xfree 4.0 comes with Mandrake 7.1. you have a choice of which to load.
> the 3.x or 4.0.
>
>
> In article <399f5880$0$66410$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
> "Gerardo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Which version of X Free 86 is in Mandrake 7.1? Is Xfree 86 4.0
> available in
> > any distribution?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Gerardo
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> >
>
>
> Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
> Before you buy.
------------------------------
From: "NuQ" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d,comp.os.linux.setup,comp.os.linux.networking,comp.os.linux.security
Subject: Re: WARNING: Somebody is trojaning UseNet with Perl Script.
Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 15:23:24 -0500
x-no-archive: yes
"blowfish" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> "Andrew N. McGuire" wrote:
> >
> > On Sat, 19 Aug 2000, blowfish (Alex Lam) quoth:
> >
> > ~~ Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2000 20:54:05 -0700
> > ~~ From: "blowfish (Alex Lam)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > ~~ Reply-To: ..
> > ~~ Newsgroups: alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d, comp.os.linux.setup,
> > ~~ omp.os.linux.networking, comp.os.linux.security,
comp.os.linux.misc
> > ~~ Subject: Re: WARNING: Somebody is trojaning UseNet with Perl Script.
> > ~~
> >
> > [ snip post, again ]
> >
> > Sorry for the second reply, but I have looked through the Perl
> > script that is a supposed 'Trojan'. It is not a Trojan Horse, it
> > looked like familiar bad code, and it was. It is a 3 line RSA
> > encryption program written in Perl. It is also broken and pretty
> > much about the worst code I have ever seen (that is taking into
> > account the fact that it is obfuscated as well). In other words,
> > there is no reason to fear that Perl snippet, and you have just
> > wasted a tremendous amount of bandwidth.
> >
> > anm
> > --
> >
> It's bad code all right. But it did try to install a "new" KDE on my
> machine.
>
> Yes, it even pops up a new window asking me if I wanted to proceed?
>
So it only affects Linux users? Heheh ;-)
NuQ
------------------------------
From: sfcybear <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Reality Check - NY Times Article
Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 20:10:20 GMT
and just what does Wall Street really know about technology? They know
about the standard business model, but linux does NOT fit that mold. But
let's see what the other big tech boys are doing with their money...
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2000-08-20-006-20-OP-BZ-CY
In article <5ePn5.18647$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
"Buck Turgidson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> August 20, 2000
>
> Why Few Funds Are Lining Up to Buy Linux
> By DANNY HAKIM
>
> Remember Linus Torvalds? Last year, the Linux operating system he
created
> was going to revolutionize the software industry, do more damage to
> Microsoft than the Justice Department and make investors rich. This
year,
> Linux stocks have been in a prolonged downward spiral, and Mr.
Torvalds has
> been replaced as a media favorite by Napster's founder, Shawn Fanning,
the
> latest technologist viewed as most likely to wreak havoc on
traditional
> businesses.
> Individual investors might see the depressed stock prices of the
companies
> that sell services and products supporting the free Linux operating
system
> as a buying opportunity. Last week, the stocks even showed signs of
recovery
> after a Linux conference in San Jose, Calif.
>
> But a key problem remains: Wall Street is not buying the Linux pitch.
> Professional money managers have done little beyond pocketing quick
gains
> after the gold rush last year of initial public offerings.
>
> That presents two caution flags for the average investor: What is
holding
> Wall Street back, and how far can Linux companies go without
institutional
> support?
>
> Consider VA Linux Systems. Last December, this Silicon Valley company,
which
> makes and supports Linux-equipped servers, gained almost 700 percent
on its
> first day of trading, the biggest gain ever for a public offering.
>
> But only 24 out of several thousand mutual funds now hold the stock,
> according to Morningstar Inc., while 35 hold Red Hat, the North
Carolina
> company that sells Linux-related applications.
>
> For two companies that are considered leading lights among the Linux
> stocks -- which also include Caldera Systems, Corel and Cobalt
Networks --
> this is scant endorsement.
>
> By comparison, some of last year's other hot initial public offerings
have
> received a far warmer reception. Ariba, the Internet software company,
has
> 158 fund holders. Phone.com, which makes software for cellular phones,
has
> 132, while Brocade Communications, which makes the switches used in
computer
> networks, has 213.
>
> Why the lack of interest in Linux?
>
> "We're kind of indifferent at this point," said Andrew S. Cupps,
manager of
> the $857 million Strong Enterprise fund. "We've looked at Red Hat and
VA
> Linux, but we've decided to watch for a while."
>
> From the standpoint of technology, Mr. Cupps is intrigued by Linux.
But he
> and other professional investors question how much money companies can
make
> selling services and products around a free operating system. Even
though VA
> Linux's stock has fallen 80.8 percent this year, and Red Hat's by 77.8
> percent, Mr. Cupps is concerned that valuations are still high.
>
> So are his colleagues at Strong Capital in Chicago. Last year, Ronald
Ognar
> and Derek Felske bought 3,500 shares of VA Linux for their Strong
Mid-Cap
> Growth fund. They have since sold their shares.
>
> "By definition, nobody owns the code, so nobody can sell it," Mr.
Cupps
> said. "They have to be creative and find other ways to drive revenue.
The
> way each company does that is through services. The irony is they're
being
> valued like software companies, but their revenue models are going to
be
> more like technology consultants."
>
> John Hurley, a money manager at Bowman Capital, a $5.5 billion Silicon
> Valley investment firm, said, "I'm not sure how this becomes a big,
> profitable business."
>
> To date, Linux has made its strongest impact in the market for
servers, the
> powerful computers that drive technology networks. But Mr. Hurley said
he
> believes that the chiefs of technology departments at many large
companies
> are hesitant to take a chance on Linux.
>
> "You don't get paid to be a hero," Mr. Hurley said. "You get paid to
make
> sure that things don't break, and when they do break, you can fix them
> instantly."
>
> Bowman had a position in Red Hat at the end of June, according to a
> Securities and Exchange Commission filing. But it now has no positions
in
> public Linux companies.
>
> Eric Gerster, a technology analyst for T. Rowe Price, agreed with Mr.
> Hurley.
>
> "A lot of Linux momentum was dot-com-driven last year -- companies
putting
> in Linux to start their Web operations because it was inexpensive,"
Mr.
> Gerster said. "But as they became real businesses and wanted more
support,
> they either bought Sun servers or a Windows NT server."
>
> Technology investors do agree that Linux, with its open source code,
has
> tapped into a deep well of desire among young software developers, but
> convincing Wall Street will be more difficult.
>
> VA Linux, in its quarter ended April 28, had $34.6 million in revenue,
up 71
> percent from the previous quarter and 710 percent from the comparable
period
> a year earlier, but still lost 23 cents a share. The brisk revenue
growth
> has not been enough to convince more than a couple dozen fund managers
that
> the company is worth a $1.7 billion market capitalization.
>
> "They're trying to figure out our business and our business models,"
said
> Larry Augustin, founder and chief executive of VA Linux. "It's mostly
a
> matter of time, where people show consistent results."
>
> VA is priced at about 22 times its last 12 months of revenue, cheap
compared
> with Red Hat's price-to-sales ratio of 78.3, but well in front of
Dell,
> which is priced at about three times its revenue.
>
> "Is Linux for real? Yes," said Mr. Gerster of T. Rowe Price. "Will it
> generate enough revenue to justify the market caps? I don't think so,
and
> that's why people aren't investing."
>
>
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
------------------------------
From: Richard Watson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: uk.comp.os.linux
Subject: Re: New Palmtop running Linux!
Date: 20 Aug 2000 22:18:44 +0100
Garry Knight <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> Roll on LinCE, eh? :o)
IIRC There is such a thing as "Mobile Linux".
--
Richard Watson | Pentagon Web Design Ltd | Reading, UK
[EMAIL PROTECTED] | Fax: +44(0)870 706 5282 | ICQ: 65274884
http://www.pwdltd.co.uk | Reg. Linux User #183315 | GPG/PGP 0xA6AB8345
------------------------------
From: alex k <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: FTP message Question
Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 20:16:14 GMT
i think he means changing it on his own computer.
in his own ftpserver.
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Garry Knight <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Sun, 20 Aug 2000, Default User wrote:
>
> >I'm interested in changing the "password" message that appears when
logging
> >in as user "ftp" (anonymous)
> >it says, "Guest login ok, send your complete e-mail address as
password."
> >
> >I have grepped and searched for this for a while and have been
unsuccessful
> >in finding it.
>
> I'm pretty sure grep won't find it, even after you've logged on. The
message is
> issued by the remote host you're logging into. You could e-mail their
sysadmin
> and cross your fingers... :o)
>
> --
> Garry Knight
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
--
.
.
...: [ ~~~~~~~ ] :...
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (NF Stevens)
Subject: Re: STTY and ERASE
Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 20:57:30 GMT
Johan Kullstam <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] (NF Stevens) writes:
[snip]
>> The other problem with linux is that, by default, it uses
>> a character other than ^H as the default for erase. Every
>> other unix system that I encounter seems to use ^H as the
>> default erase character.
>
>you don't get out much do you? the original unix systems where dec
>pdp-X beasts almost always outfitted with a dec terminal.
Actually I get out a lot.
>
>> One can, of course, easily change
>> the default but 1) this doesn't work _before_ one has
>> logged in
>
>sure you can. i give you /etc/gettytab. this may be different for
>different versions and variants of getty. man getty.
Fixing linux boxes for which I am sysadmin is no problem. The
problem is that the default, out of the box, setting is
broken.
>
>> and 2) you cannot always automate it because
>> it depends on the system from which the keystroke originates.
>> If, as I do, you login in remotely to many different systems
>> then it is painfully obvious that linux is out of step with
>> the rest of the unix world.
>
>i dunno about that. i use stty erase ^? *everywhere* and haven't had
>any trouble with unix systems yet.
MMV
Norman
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Stewart Honsberger)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.hardware,comp.os.linux.help
Subject: Re: Installing 2nd hard disk
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 20:58:00 GMT
On 20 Aug 2000 19:06:53 GMT, Peter T. Breuer wrote:
>: Correct until the end. I installed a second drive to my system, added
>: partitions, and FDisk said something about calling IOCTL to recan table.
>
>That's the one. The ioctl'll error out unless the drive is completely
>dismounted at the time. I couldn't guarrantee it for him at his level
>of expertise, so I asked him to reboot, which will ensure that every
>partition is dismounted.
I'm not even certain that this is correct. Besides the fact that he was
inserting a virgin disk to his machine. IMNSHO, things should be taught
correctly from the beginning, rather than giving people the "cop-out"
or "band-aid" solution. Linux really doesn't have to be re-booted except
in certain specific cases (hardware failure/upgrade, which includes the
failure/addition of a UPS, kernel upgrade, extreme sysadmin negligence
causing the system to start into a tailspin).
>From the FDISK man page;
A sync() and a BLKRRPART ioctl() (reread partition table
from disk) are performed before exiting when the partition
table has been updated. Long ago it used to be necessary
to reboot after the use of fdisk. I do not think this is
the case anymore - indeed, rebooting too quickly might
cause loss of not-yet-written data. Note that both the
kernel and the disk hardware may buffer data.
>: The only required re-boot was to physically install the drive (I didn't
>: have any hot-swappable equipment).
>
>You'd have had to reboot if your root was on the drive and you were
>repartitioning it, for example. That kind of situation is all I
>intended to avoid by issuing the instruction as above.
That shouldn't have been neccesary. FDISK quite nicely warns you if it
has trouble calling IOCTL to write to the disk, vis;
** fdisk excerpt begins **
The partition table has been altered!
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Re-read table failed with error 16: Device or resource busy.
Reboot your system to ensure the partition table is updated.
WARNING: If you have created or modified any DOS 6.x
partitions, please see the fdisk manual page for additional
information.
Syncing disks.
** fdisk excerpt ends **
FYI - I was confident (stupid? Ballsy?) enough to do this on my primary
master HDD which contains my root (/) partition while my system was
running, including such things as XFree86 v4.0 in which I'm writing this
response to you.
No damage was done, and my system continues to function without any hiccups.
FYI2 - No, I did not actually make any changes to the table. I merely ran
fdisk /dev/hda as root, and entered 'w' at the prompt (write table to disk
and exit).
Currently running fdisk 2.10f
--
Stewart Honsberger (AKA Blackdeath) @ http://tinys.cx/blackdeath
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Remove 'thirteen' to reply privately)
Humming along under SuSE 6.4, Linux 2.4.0-test6
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Stewart Honsberger)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.hardware,comp.os.linux.help
Subject: Re: Installing 2nd hard disk
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 20:59:34 GMT
On 20 Aug 2000 19:06:53 GMT, Peter T. Breuer wrote:
>That's the one. The ioctl'll error out unless the drive is completely
>dismounted at the time. I couldn't guarrantee it for him at his level
>of expertise, so I asked him to reboot, which will ensure that every
>partition is dismounted.
A secondary follow-up to this;
It should be noted that altering the partition table of a booted drive
is always a bad idea if you wish to guarantee data integrity. Myself,
I'd never think of altering the partition data for a drive that contained
active data.
--
Stewart Honsberger (AKA Blackdeath) @ http://tinys.cx/blackdeath
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Remove 'thirteen' to reply privately)
Humming along under SuSE 6.4, Linux 2.4.0-test6
------------------------------
Crossposted-To:
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d,comp.os.linux.setup,comp.os.linux.networking,comp.os.linux.security
From: "Andrew N. McGuire " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: WARNING: Somebody is trojaning UseNet with Perl Script.
Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 15:58:10 -0500
On Sun, 20 Aug 2000, NuQ quoth:
~~ Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 15:23:24 -0500
~~ From: NuQ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~ Newsgroups: alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d, comp.os.linux.setup,
~~ comp.os.linux.networking, comp.os.linux.security, comp.os.linux.misc
~~ Subject: Re: WARNING: Somebody is trojaning UseNet with Perl Script.
~~
~~ x-no-archive: yes
~~ "blowfish" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
~~ news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
~~ > "Andrew N. McGuire" wrote:
~~ > >
~~ > > On Sat, 19 Aug 2000, blowfish (Alex Lam) quoth:
~~ > >
~~ > > ~~ Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2000 20:54:05 -0700
~~ > > ~~ From: "blowfish (Alex Lam)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~ > > ~~ Reply-To: ..
~~ > > ~~ Newsgroups: alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d, comp.os.linux.setup,
~~ > > ~~ omp.os.linux.networking, comp.os.linux.security,
~~ comp.os.linux.misc
~~ > > ~~ Subject: Re: WARNING: Somebody is trojaning UseNet with Perl Script.
~~ > > ~~
~~ > >
~~ > > [ snip post, again ]
~~ > >
~~ > > Sorry for the second reply, but I have looked through the Perl
~~ > > script that is a supposed 'Trojan'. It is not a Trojan Horse, it
~~ > > looked like familiar bad code, and it was. It is a 3 line RSA
~~ > > encryption program written in Perl. It is also broken and pretty
~~ > > much about the worst code I have ever seen (that is taking into
~~ > > account the fact that it is obfuscated as well). In other words,
~~ > > there is no reason to fear that Perl snippet, and you have just
~~ > > wasted a tremendous amount of bandwidth.
~~ > >
~~ > > anm
~~ > > --
~~ > >
~~ > It's bad code all right. But it did try to install a "new" KDE on my
~~ > machine.
~~ >
~~ > Yes, it even pops up a new window asking me if I wanted to proceed?
~~ >
~~
~~ So it only affects Linux users? Heheh ;-)
[anm@hawk ~] cat rsa.pl [pts/2]
#!/usr/bin/perl -sp0777i<X+d*lMLa^*lN%0]dsXx++lMlN/dsM0<j]dsj
$/=unpack('H*',$_);$_=`echo 16dio\U$k"SK$/SM$n\EsN0p[lN*1
lK[d2%Sa2/d0$^Ixp"|dc`;s/\W//g;$_=pack('H*',/((..)*)$/)
Is the code you are talking about, right? This is not a Trojan,
it will not ask you if you want to install a new KDE! As a matter
of fact, put it into a file, and run it on another text file.
[anm@hawk ~] ./rsa.pl file [pts/2]
Can't rename file to <X+dfilelMLa^filelN%0]dsXx++lMlN/dsM0<j]dsj: \
No such file or directory, skipping file.
Broke. If you want the source to this idiodic program, go to:
http://www.offshore.com.ai/arms-trafficker
It is right there and it explains what it does, follow the links
and there is even a two line version. As two your installing a
new KDE, that is due to something you did, not that program.
If you are really that concerned, you can email me and I will
explain what each line of the code does. To make matters worse,
the first line was #!/bin/perl!!! Who in the hell puts perl in
/bin? Except on Solaris where /bin and /usr/bin are linked.
UTSL && HAND,
anm
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Andrew N. McGuire ~
~ [EMAIL PROTECTED] ~
~ "Plan to throw one away; you will, anyhow." - Frederick P. Brooks, Jr. ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
------------------------------
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End of Linux-Misc Digest
******************************
