dpkg question

1997-05-09 Thread Ryan Shaw
in redhat there are source packages and binary packages.  one may
download the source package and use `rpm --rebuild ' to
build binary packages from that.  quite easy, and useful in my case. 
the gcc that shipped with redhat didn't function correctly on my AMD K5
so i had to recompile it and then install the locally compiled package.

is there any feature like this in dpkg/debian?  i noticed there aren't
any source packages per se, but there were .orig.tar.gz files.

how would i accomplish what i described above with debian/dpkg?

thanks.


--
TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] . 
Trouble?  e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] .


mirroring debian

1997-05-08 Thread Ryan Shaw
greetings.

could someone email me their mirror configuration files for mirroring
the debian site?  i've got the 1.2.4 CD from cheapbytes but would like
to mirror bo.  i'm on a different system at the moment and cannot check
example configurations.

many thanks.


--
TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] . 
Trouble?  e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] .


clear screen on logout

1997-04-29 Thread Ryan Shaw
i've looked through the archives and haven't found an answer as of yet. 
i'd like the screen cleared on logout and the login prompt to appear at
the top.  i've worked around this by using an alias in bashrc, but i'm
sure there is a better way.

any ideas?


--
TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] . 
Trouble?  e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] .


deity mailing list

1997-04-14 Thread Ryan Shaw
greetings.

on comp.os.linux.misc i heard mention of a project underway to replace
deselect with a program called `diety' in the upcoming debian 2.0
release.

the poster also mentioned a mailing list to discuss to new program and
its development.  however, upon browsing www.debian.org i couldn't find
any mention of the new list.

could someone point me in the right direction and/or perhaps validate
the claims made by the poster in c.o.l.m?

thanks.


Re: Some thoughts for Debian.

1997-01-20 Thread Ryan Shaw


On Sun, 19 Jan 1997, Gith wrote:

 
> I've been watching the debates about Cds, dividing up non-free, and etc..
> And I had a few thoughts I wanted to throw out at everyone.
> 
> I think if debian is going to succeed, it's going to have to be reduced
> to a standard set of "core" applications that will make up the "offical"
> distribution of debian. Right now, the distribution is huge and it's
> getting bigger. 

i agree with what you said 110%.  

as it stands i already have setup my system as you have described.  i only
use the Debian distribution to make up the core of my system and put all
of the rest in /usr/local/ on another partition.  upgrades are almost
painless this way.  one just has to upgrade the key applications that form
the core of the system while /usr/local containing all of my specialized
applications that are unique to my needs and machine remain untouched.

this works for me and it would be nice if the actual Debian distribution
could be constructed under this philosophy.

getting everyone to agree on what is `essential' is another matter
however.


--
TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]


.mirror file request

1997-01-11 Thread Ryan Shaw

i was wondering if someone could send me their mirror configuration file
that they use to mirro the debian distribution tree so that i can work off
of it.

many thanks in advance.


--
TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]


Re: ZipDrive??

1997-01-10 Thread Ryan Shaw


On Thu, 9 Jan 1997 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> I want to buy a SCSI external zipdrive. I have an aha2940 SCSI
> controller. Is there any support for a zipdrive under debian?? How do I
> have to compile the kernel for zipdrive support. What do I need (in the
> kernel), if I want to use a parallel port zipdrive?? A stupid question:
> How will I format the zipmedia under Linux?? Thanx for any
> suggestions!!

see the SCSI HOWTO and the ZIP mini-HOWTO (and possibly the Kernel HOWTO
if you have problems rolling your own kernel) in the /usr/doc/HOWTO
directory and the /usr/doc/HOWTO/mini/ directory on your machine.

if you don't have these, install all the documentation in the debian doc
tree or visit sunsite or any of its mirrors and look for the
/pub/Linux/docs/ directory.

i believe the zip drive is treated like a normal file system under linux
so formatting is a snap.

after going through all of that if you have any question write back to the
list.


--
TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]


Re: kernel 2.0.27

1997-01-08 Thread Ryan Shaw

On Wed, 8 Jan 1997, Fundamental wrote:

> I know i can fix this by running rdev, but how do i run an rdev on a
> kernel that wont boot?

before writing the new kernel to disk or running lilo on it go into
/usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot or some similar path (can't remember exactly
what it is at the moment) and find the zImage file.  then do a `rdev
zImage' to see which partition the kernel is pointing to.  if it is
pointing to the wrong partition then point it to the correct one.  i'm not
sure of the syntax as i've never had this problem before but `man rdev'
should help you out.

after correcting that do a `dd if=zImage of=/dev/fd0 ; sync' and try
booting again.

good luck.


--
TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]


debian updates tree structure

1997-01-07 Thread Ryan Shaw

i was looking through the debian mirror on caldera and noticed the 1.2.1
tree.  i have already downloaded an exact copy of the 1.2 tree (both the
binary-all and binary-i386 parts) but have held off changing over to
debian from redhat because of some of the posts to this list. 

i want to wait until things become more stable.

armed with the latest `problems list' that someone posted and the release
of some updates i think i am ready to take the plunge.

i then went back to caldera to grab the 1.2.1 release thinking that it
would be mostly links back to the 1.2 release (other than the updated
packages).

however, all i got was a bunch of links.

here's how i have my tree setup:

.
|-- Debian-1.2 -> rex
|-- bo
|-- contrib
|-- disks
|-- doc
|-- kernel
|-- lost+found
|-- misc
|-- non-free
|-- rex
|   |-- binary-all
|   |   |-- admin
|   |   |-- comm
|   |   |-- devel
|   |   |-- doc
|   |   |-- editors
|   |   |-- games
|   |   |-- graphics
|   |   |-- mail
|   |   |-- misc
|   |   |-- net
|   |   |-- news
|   |   |-- shells
|   |   |-- text
|   |   `-- x11
|   `-- binary-i386
|   |-- admin
|   |-- comm
|   |-- devel
|   |-- doc
|   |-- editors
|   |-- games
|   |-- graphics
|   |-- mail
|   |-- misc
|   |-- net
|   |-- news
|   |-- shells
|   |-- text
|   `-- x11
|-- tex
|   `-- tetex
|   `-- rpms
`-- unstable -> bo/

47 directories

i downloaded everything under `rex-fixed' aka Debian-1.2.1 and ended up
with a bunch of symlinks.

i am using ncftp to grab these.

what am i doing wrong?  (besides not ordering a cd)



--
TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]


Re: Any PPP-connection keeping utility ?

1997-01-06 Thread Ryan Shaw


On Sun, 5 Jan 1997, Zenon Fortuna wrote:

> I would like to keep my PPP connection "busy" even during the time, when
> I don't use it. Otherwise my ISP will log-me-off after a couple of "idle"
> minutes.
> A work around is to telnet to any Internet sites and start a loop
> (in my case in csh):

you could look into diald.  it provides isp connect service on demand or
can be configured to keep a connection up.  

other than that you can do what i do and use fetchpop (off of sunsite) to
poll your pop server every five minutes for mail.  it runs as a daemon, is
small, compiles easily, and is easy to use.  it also keeps my connection
up by generating the small amount of network activity that it does.

good luck.


--
TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]


Re: How do people on this list backup stuff?

1997-01-05 Thread Ryan Shaw
On Sun, 5 Jan 1997, ugs wrote:

> Before I tell you what I do to make a perfect and bootable copy of your
> current Linux setup, let me tell you how I have my hard drives configured.

on the one hand this sounds like a good system because your backup is
bootable, but some problems come to mind.  mostly with the theory, not the
method.

i'm assuming that you just keep one backup copy, so correct me if i am
wrong.

the problem with this is that if you backup errors or a program upgrade
that you later decided that you didn't want you can't get to the previous
backups because you just overwrote them with the new backup.

also, it is better to put backups on removable media so that it is
possible to move them offsite.  and that doesn't mean that you are stuck
with tape drives either -- i use a Jaz drive.

i also organize my linux installation so that backups are small but
important stuff is always safeguarded.  first, when i use a distribution
(i use Redhat at the moment but wish to switch to Debian once things
settle down a bit with the 1.2 release) i use it just to get the basic
system installed and up and running.  basically i still have a stock
Redhat distribution on my drive.  i then make good use of /usr/local/
(which is on a seperate partition) by downloading all `extra' software
that i don't feel serves as basic part of the unix system in .tgz format.
I then install them to the /usr/local/ filesystem making symlinks to
places elsewhere, but only if required (you can change a lot of default
behavior and installation locations at compile time if you just futz
around a bit).

(`basic' may be different for everyone but for me it includes:  the base
system, XFree86, libraries, TeX/LaTeX, basic text editors, development
stuff, and anything related to the _basic_ operation of the system).

that way i can just backup /usr/local/, any configuration files
throughout the system, the mail and news spools, and the /home filesystem.
all the `basic' unix applications and tools can be reinstalled from a
distribution as the core system.  then my /usr/local/, /home/, and /var/
filesystems can be restored from backups and mounted into the system.

hopefully this makes sense to someone.  any comments would be greatly
appreciated.


--
This message was delayed because the list mail delivery agent was down.


tetex distribution for debian

1997-01-05 Thread Ryan Shaw

the tetex TeX/LaTeX distribution is available in rpm format at any Redhat
mirror for anyone wishing to install from a package format as opposed to
doing it by hand.  and of course rpm is available in deb format for easy
installation.

i've been using the tetex distribution that i installed via rpm format
here for the past two weeks without any problems thus far.

also, make sure you get the distribution from the ../updates directory on
the Redhat mirror as there were some problems with the distribution that
was initially released.




--
TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]