Linux-Misc Digest #635, Volume #26 Mon, 25 Dec 00 15:13:02 EST
Contents:
about apache ("Ella")
useradd problem (Martin)
Re: DVD software for Linux yet? (Rod Smith)
Re: DVD software for Linux yet? (Rod Smith)
help - kernel 2.4-test12 ("datagram")
Re: Can't find library as user (Bob van der Poel)
Re: DVD software for Linux yet? (Rod Smith)
Re: useradd problem (Manfred Bartz)
Re: DVD software for Linux yet? (John Hasler)
HD size? (Kimji)
Re: How could let CGI run not only at cgi-bin? (Andrew Purugganan)
Problems with /var (Thaddeus L Olczyk)
Re: HD size? (Matt Haley)
Re: DVD software for Linux yet? (Pineapple)
Re: Xwrapper on Xfree4.0.2 ("lobotomy")
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Ella" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: about apache
Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2000 23:49:46 +0800
Hi
I just down and install apche1.3.14 into my Linux,
I need to do dome Authorization by .htaccess, but I notice
that it only works at htdocs/, but not cgi-bin/
Could anybody tell me why?
Thanks very much.
------------------------------
From: Martin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.security
Subject: useradd problem
Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2000 00:13:51 +0800
I tried to use a standard user(not root) to use the command:
/usr/sbin/useradd, but it prompted me that "useradd: unable to lock
password file", what's the problem, thanks for any helps!
Martin.
------------------------------
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Rod Smith)
Subject: Re: DVD software for Linux yet?
Crossposted-To: alt.video.dvd,alt.video.dvd.software
Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2000 16:17:08 GMT
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Rod Smith) writes:
>
>> The license fee is derived from a trade secret, not a copyright or
>> patent. DeCSS reverse engineered the trade secret, which is legal and
>> requires no payment to the originator in at least many (most?) areas,
>> hence the claim for moral and legal right to do this. Of course, the
>> movie industry has other thoughts on the matter, but their public claims
>> focus on piracy, which DeCSS also enables because it's open source. In
> ...<snip>...
>
> Actually, the piracy thing is incorrect I believe. It's what the
> companies want everyone to think so the public (and courts) will be
> more sympathetic to them. So they say they are just trying to stop
> pirates, but all you need to do to pirate is make a bit for bit copy,
> you don't need to be able to de-encrypt or even to be able to play
> the media, as you can still sell your copy to someone who does have a
> player. I think it's all about control over the players.
My understanding is that blank recordable DVDs *DO NOT* allow recording
in the area that encodes the type of encryption the disc uses, and so
can only be used to copy or create unencrypted discs. Therefore, some
form of decryption *IS* necessary to burn a pirated DVD. (Not that it's
cost-effective, with blank DVDs going for more than most movies cost,
the last I checked.) I gather that the major piracy going on from DVDs
at the moment is in transferring them using lower resolutions onto
ordinary CD-ROMs.
Don't get me wrong; I don't like the heavy-handed way the studios are
handling the issue, and I think it highlights just how bad a law the
DMCA is, especially if they win. We don't outlaw cars or knives or even
guns (in the US) just because they can be used for far worse crimes than
illegally copying copyrighted material, so I don't see why we should
outlaw DeCSS, especially when it DOES have valid uses.
--
Rod Smith, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.rodsbooks.com
Author of books on Linux & multi-OS configuration
------------------------------
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Rod Smith)
Subject: Re: DVD software for Linux yet?
Crossposted-To: alt.video.dvd,alt.video.dvd.software
Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2000 16:19:12 GMT
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Diinji writes:
> On Sun, 24 Dec 2000 16:40:24 GMT, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Rod
> Smith) wrote:
>
>>Rod Smith, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>http://www.rodsbooks.com
>>Author of books on Linux & multi-OS configuration
>
>
> Hey Ron Just checked out your web page. Does the newest DVD software
> for Linux even use the stuff from DeCSS? Just wondering.
AFAIK, yes -- at least the free stuff does. (Presumably the commercial
software that's available for "evaluation" by companies [not
individuals] doesn't.) If the free stuff doesn't use DeCSS, it would
necessarily use some other reverse-engineered code that would be just as
objectionable to Hollywood as is DeCSS. It's the open source nature of
the code -- or more precisely, what that implies -- that Hollywood finds
threatening.
--
Rod Smith, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.rodsbooks.com
Author of books on Linux & multi-OS configuration
------------------------------
From: "datagram" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.networking
Subject: help - kernel 2.4-test12
Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2000 16:24:39 GMT
Hi,
I've compiled a new kernel, the 2.4-test12, everything is working fine
except few small details,
1- when I was connecting before, the system was loading the ppp modules
automaticaly but not anymore... I have to load manually with modprobe
ppp-async the module for my dsl ... how can I let the system know that it
has to load the new modules... I can put it in rc.local but I want to do it
the way it's supposed to be...
2- My nfs daemon server (not the one in the kernel) is not working anymore
it's giving me "nfssvc function not implemented" I'm pretty sure I've forgot
something during the "make config" process but I don't know what. any ideas
?
thanks and happy new year!
------------------------------
From: Bob van der Poel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Can't find library as user
Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2000 09:32:15 -0700
Ellen Geertsema wrote:
>
> On Sun, 24 Dec 2000 14:47:23 -0700,
> Bob van der Poel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > bob$ xmcd
> > xmcd: can't load library 'libxalflaunch.so.0'
> >
> >The library does exist, and it's permissions seem to be okay:
> >
> > bob $ ls /usr/lib/libxalfl* -l
> > lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 22 Dec 10 07:44
> >/usr/lib/libxalflaunch.so.0 -> libxalflaunch.so.0.0.1*
> > -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 5304 Oct 3 16:20
> >/usr/lib/libxalflaunch.so.0.0.1*
> >
> >So, could a library calling this be the problem??? Any ideas
> >appreciated!
> >
> >BTW, xmcd uses:
> >
> > [root@localhost xmcd]# ldd /usr/bin/X11/xmcd
> > libXt.so.6 => /usr/i486-linux-libc5/lib/libXt.so.6 (0x40015000)
> > libX11.so.6 => /usr/i486-linux-libc5/lib/libX11.so.6
> >(0x40053000)
> > libc.so.5 => /usr/i486-linux-libc5/lib/libc.so.5 (0x400e5000)
> > libSM.so.6 => /usr/i486-linux-libc5/lib/libSM.so.6 (0x401ae000)
> > libICE.so.6 => /usr/i486-linux-libc5/lib/libICE.so.6
> >(0x401b6000)
>
> Looks like xmcd is linked against libc5, but libxalflaunch.so might be
> linked against glibc (check with ldd). You might need to install a
> libc5 version of libxalflaunch.so in /usr/i486-linux-libc5/lib/ , and
> then run ldconfig ...
>
> Hope this helps,
Thanks. I've sort of figured it out....it's not a linking problem after
all. What IS happening is that the distro is setting
"LD_PRELOAD=libxalflaunch.so.0" ... and the file is actually in
/usr/lib. When I su'd to root the LD_PRELOAD disappeared.... If I unset
this shell variable al works okay.
Now, my problem is that I cannot find where the darned thing is being
set. I've checked all my .bash* files, as well as the various
profile/bash files in /etc. Any clues appreciated.
Thanks again!
--
Bob van der Poel ** Wynndel, British Columbia, CANADA **
EMAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://users.uniserve.com/~bvdpoel
------------------------------
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Rod Smith)
Subject: Re: DVD software for Linux yet?
Crossposted-To: alt.video.dvd,alt.video.dvd.software
Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2000 16:48:07 GMT
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Pineapple <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> ..But its really great that intellectual property is free to steal and rip.
> This really eases my mind, being a programmer and making my living doing
> it. It's so nice to know that anyone can reverse-engineer my product and
> rip it and use it for free. I'm sure there will be hundreds of programmers
> and companies which will develop and distribute free (and therefor
> unprofitable) software..
There are two issues here, at least with respect to DVD and the DeCSS
software:
1) The copyright or patent on the "official" DVD-playing algorithms.
2) The copyright on the movie being played.
Your objection is to the use of DeCSS because it infringes #1. It
doesn't, because the developers of the original algorithms made **NO
EFFORT** to protect those algorithms by patenting or copyrighting them.
They're trade secrets. That means that once somebody reverse engineers
them, the original developer has *NO RECOURSE*. There are plenty of
cases littering the legal system in which a reverse-engineered product
has been held to be legal. (IANAL, though, so don't take this as legal
advice.) Now, if the original DVD developers had applied for a patent
on the DVD-playing algorithm, it would have been protected, but it
would also be public (registered with the patent office), and the
patent would expire after a few years, and somebody might come up with
some alternative algorithm to do the same thing. No doubt that's why
they tried to handle it as a trade secret. A copyright would only
protect one individual program -- and these do exist, of course, on the
many competing DVD players, but they protect the individual programs,
not the program classes. Your sarcastic comment about how intellectual
property is free game is misplaced because you CAN copyright an
individual program, or patent an idea. These things simply were not
done in the case of the DVD encryption algorithm. Technically and
legally, nothing was stolen.
The legal challenges to DeCSS, as I understand the matter, relate to
the fact that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) ties points
#1 and #2 together, by saying that it's illegal to circumvent digital
copy protection measures. DeCSS does this, according to the movie
industry. According to its advocates, DeCSS as originally written
doesn't copy films; it's used to play them, so no actual copying is
going on. So far the movie industry has mostly won in court, but the
battle is far from over. This also has nothing to do with your
sarcastic objection, which relates not to copy PROTECTION
circumvention, but to copyRIGHT circumvention.
--
Rod Smith, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.rodsbooks.com
Author of books on Linux & multi-OS configuration
------------------------------
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.security
Subject: Re: useradd problem
From: Manfred Bartz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2000 17:16:53 GMT
Martin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> I tried to use a standard user(not root) to use the command:
> /usr/sbin/useradd, but it prompted me that "useradd: unable to lock
> password file", what's the problem, thanks for any helps!
Only root is able to open the /etc/passwd file for writing, and that's
how it should be. Same for /etc/shadow.
--
Manfred
===============================================================
ipchainsLogAnalyzer, NetCalc, whois at: <http://logi.cc/linuc/>
------------------------------
From: John Hasler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: alt.video.dvd,alt.video.dvd.software
Subject: Re: DVD software for Linux yet?
Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2000 16:30:04 GMT
Pineapple writes:
> That's correct. you DON'T need a license to decode a DVD, but you DO
> require a license to create the player which uses CSS. and this license
> costs money and is not free.
As far as I know CSS is not patented. You can choose to enter into an NDA
and pay a license fee to use the CSS code, or you can figure out the
algorithm for yourself.
--
John Hasler
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (John Hasler)
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, WI
------------------------------
From: Kimji <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: HD size?
Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2000 17:15:31 GMT
Hello,
Is there a command which can report the total size
of a hd (under Linux) without having superuser privileges?
I'm aware that "/sbin/sfdisk -s" does this but one must
either use sudo or be root (AFAICT). I could write
a small script to add the partition sizes reported
by "df", but I was wondering if there was an even
simpler way...
Cheers!
--
___________________
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Gunnm: Broken Angel
http://reimeika.ca/
Sent via Deja.com
http://www.deja.com/
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Andrew Purugganan)
Subject: Re: How could let CGI run not only at cgi-bin?
Date: 25 Dec 2000 17:49:01 GMT
Ella ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
[ As title,
[ thanks very much.
edit the access.conf file (on my Mandrake it's /etc/httpd/conf/access.conf)
specify "ExecCGI" on th e"Options" line for whichever directory you had in
mind. It's well commented there, and should be enough to get you started.
Copy the entire block referring to /httpd/cgi-bin if you have to, but
specify a different directory name
btw, try apache.org
--
jazz
Registered linux user no. 164098 +--+--+--+ Litestep user no. 386
Doesn't it bother you, that we have to search for intelligent life
--- OUT THERE??
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Thaddeus L Olczyk)
Subject: Problems with /var
Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2000 18:11:11 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I was using Mandrake 7.1 and would get problems where the system would
complain about /var ( a seperate partition ) being full. Even though
0.6 gigs were free ( I understand now that it may be an inode problem.
I just upgraded to Mandrake 7.2 and now syslogd hangs when I boot
because there is not enough space on the device.
Can anyone help?
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Matt Haley)
Subject: Re: HD size?
Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2000 18:39:23 -0000
On Mon, 25 Dec 2000 17:15:31 GMT,
Kimji <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>
>Hello,
>
>Is there a command which can report the total size
>of a hd (under Linux) without having superuser privileges?
>I'm aware that "/sbin/sfdisk -s" does this but one must
>either use sudo or be root (AFAICT). I could write
>a small script to add the partition sizes reported
>by "df", but I was wondering if there was an even
>simpler way...
'dmesg | grep hd' produces :
ide0: BM-DMA at 0xf000-0xf007, BIOS settings: hda:pio, hdb:pio
ide1: BM-DMA at 0xf008-0xf00f, BIOS settings: hdc:pio, hdd:pio
hda: WDC AC22500L, ATA DISK drive
hdb: WDC WD136AA, ATA DISK drive
hdc: TOSHIBA CD-ROM XM-6102B, ATAPI CDROM drive
hda: WDC AC22500L, 2441MB w/256kB Cache, CHS=620/128/63, UDMA
^^^^^^
2.5 GB Drive
hdb: WDC WD136AA, 12971MB w/2048kB Cache, CHS=1653/255/63
^^^^^^^
13.6 GB Drive
hdc: ATAPI 24X CD-ROM drive, 256kB Cache
hda: hda1 hda2 < hda5 hda6 >
hdb: hdb1 hdb2 hdb3 < hdb5 hdb6 hdb7 >
Hope that helps.
--
Matt Haley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
------------------------------
From: Pineapple <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: alt.video.dvd,alt.video.dvd.software
Subject: Re: DVD software for Linux yet?
Date: 25 Dec 2000 18:41:28 GMT
>Again, you're missing the point. If a legally-owned piece of software or
>hardware was legally reverse-engineered, then we don't need a license to
>create the player. That's what Johansen (sp?) did when he created DeCSS.
>He had a copy of a DVD decoder that didn't protect its secrets well
enough,
>and he reverse-engineered it. I assume it's legal (yes, I know
assumptions
>are dangerous), because AFAIK no charges are currently filed against him.
>Reverse-engineering has precedents, such as the examples I gave
previously.
Could someone enlighten me to how the DeCSS works ? Does it generate a
valid decryption-key or does it use a existing key to decrypt data ?
If i have understood correctly, css has a set of keys which are valid, and
these keys can be deactivated for future dvds. Now, IF exsiting key is
being used (i understand they used some software-players code to reverse-
engineer the decryption-system) and this key is(or will be) deactivated,
wouldn't this hurt the owners of the legal and valid decrypt-key as their
key wouldn't be valid anymore ?
------------------------------
From: "lobotomy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Xwrapper on Xfree4.0.2
Date: Mon, 25 Dec 2000 19:43:03 GMT
Hmm...it seems like your config files are trying to invoke the server
(/usr/X11R6/bin/XFree86, or possibly linked to /usr/X11R6/bin/X) directly
instead of running Xwrapper. If X is currently symlinked to XFree86, try
linking it to Xwrapper instead and see what happens. If that doesn't work,
you can make a .xserverrc file in the user's home directory with the line
'exec /usr/X11R6/bin/Xwrapper :0' (IIRC).
Interestingly, on my Debian box running 4.0.1, there is no Xwrapper...I
think it was renamed X in the deb packages to conform with the traditional
config files. Additionally, users can run XFree86 directly. I think the
maintainers of the debian package must have just taken the brute-force way
around that problem and made XFree86 SUID root (like the error message
says not to). You probably could safely change the permissions on XFree86
(the actual server) if nothing else works without destroying your system.
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "John Hanson"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Sun, 24 Dec 2000 08:22:26 GMT, "lobotomy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said:
>
>>>AFAIK, Xwrapper just runs the X server and nothing else. It points to
>>>the X server you are running (although now with 4.0x there is only
>>>one).
>>> You still need to use startx to run whatever you have in xinitrc.
>>>
>>>
> If I run startx as a non-root user, X complains and tells me to use
> Xwrapper. This is the output I get:
>
> Fatal server error: xf86OpenConsole: Server must be running with root
> permissions You should be using Xwrapper to start the server or xdm. We
> strongly advise against making the server SUID root!
>
> When reporting a problem related to a server crash, please send the full
> server output, not just the last messages
>
>
>
> If I run Xwrapper, the X server starts but there is nothing on the
> screen.
> It seems X cant find a config file or something. Also, if I try gdm,
> xdm
> or kdm, I get a message that says only root wants to run gdm, xdm or
> kdm.
--
PC Chips actually goes by many names. PCChips = Ability = Alton = Amptron =
Aristo = Asia Gate = Asiatech = Assa = Atrend = Elpina = Eurone = Fugu =
Fugutech = Hi Sing = Houston = Hsing Tech = H Tech = Matsonic = Minstaple =
PCWare = Pine = Protac = QDI = Warpspeed
------------------------------
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End of Linux-Misc Digest
******************************
