Re: [newbie] Modems?

2001-05-28 Thread Irv Mullins

On Mon, 28 May 2001, mp wrote:
 hy!

 consider cable or t1, 56k is very slow.
 regards,
 mp

That would be nice - if we had cable...
T1 would be even better, but even if it were available, I don't think I 
really want to pay over $1,500 per month US for the privilege 
of reading this esteemed list ;)

Regards,
Irv





Re: [newbie] Modems?

2001-05-27 Thread Irv Mullins


 On Saturday 26 May 2001 15:29, you wrote:
  Sorry guys for asking so much. I am trying to buy a
  new system and want to make sure that it Linux-ok.
 
  Anyone knows a good modem that work fine with Linux?
 

I'm using an Actionrtec 56k internal pci, cost ~$70 at WalMart, 
of all places. It comes with setup instructions for Linux (no software 
needed) and works a lot faster than my 'winmodem' , supposedly 
also 56k.

Look on the box to make sure it sez works with Linux.

Regards,
Irv




[newbie] Slowness

2001-05-26 Thread Irv Mullins


A note for those who, like me, found Mandrake 8.0 
and KDE just too slow to be usable.

Today I loaded RedHat 7.1 (Seawolf), and things are fast enough.
i.e. an xterm comes up in  2 seconds, kwrite in  3., and 
Konqueror in  7.  Compare these to 15 - 45 second times 
I was experiencing with Mandrake.

Also, I notice that I now have about 95% CPU idle, while 
with Mandrake 8.0, the figure was down around 5%.
(With kapm-idled taking up 95%) 

Using RedHat, kapm-idled is still there, but uses close to 0% 
all the time.

Regards,
Irv




Re: [newbie] kmail configuration or list?

2001-05-24 Thread irv

On Thu, 24 May 2001 09:21:48 John Morine wrote:
 If you choose Reply All it will address it to the original sender 
 and to the list.

Which explains why I get two copies of many messages. 
Please don't do this!

The mail server should be re-configured to put the listserver address in 
the 
from field - see, for example, the Topica lists.

Regards,
Irv

 On Thursday 24 May 2001 08:46, bascule wrote:
  i have just noticed that when i choose 'reply...' from the right
  click menu to a message the recipient is not the list but the
  original sender - every time !
 
  is the list malfunctioning by not inserting the 'reply to' header
  in the posts back to list subscribers? or do i have my kmail
  configured wrong,i have looked for some relevant setting but
  nothing seems to apply, it does seem that the headers in these list
  posts should have
  'Reply-To:[EMAIL PROTECTED]' in them but they do not,
 
  of course this explains why none of my recent posts have made it on
  the list and why some folk have had direct mails, my fault for not
  reading the recipient headers on my posts! but i would like to know
  if it's just me or if this is a list problem (it applies to
  'expert' too but other lists are fine)
 
  bascule







Re: [newbie] Performance issues with Mandrake 8

2001-05-22 Thread Irv

On Monday 21 May 2001 23:42, you wrote:
 I have three machines, running 7.2 and kde 2

 One is a P2450 with 128mb ram, and it flies with kde2

 the other, is a P200mmx with 64 mb of ram,,, this one is a gateway system
 but I put kde2 on it anyway, and I'd have to say that one isn't even that
 much slower then the PII450
 The third is a PIII800 with 128 and it zips along just fine

 dunno what all the fuss is about..

 regards

 Frank

Well, the problem is that a relatively large percentage of the 
people who try KDE 2 are unable to get it ro run fast enough to be usable.
About 50% of the people who responded to this question on the 
ALE list reported slowness. Not just newbies; also experienced Linux 
developers have reported the same problems. 

The concern expressed by these developers was that they want their software 
to _continue_ to  run at a usable speed even if their customers upgrade to 
the latest  version of KDE. If they can't count on that being true, then they 
probably won't encourage their clients to use Linux.. 

The most common reply I've gotten is your configurationi is messed up'.
I suppose that might be possible if I had _done_ any configuration,
but I only installed the CD's onto a blank, formatted disk, using the 
defaults. 

Using the exact same method with Mandrake 7.1, everything works fine.  
Same is true of SuSE 6.3, 6.4, Slack 4.0, TurboLinux 6,  Debian...
So if the configuration is screwed, it's nothing I'm doing. 

Add to that the fact that the developers mentioned earlier certainly have 
the skills to find and fix a mis-configuration - but have neither found one 
nor have they been able to fix it. I don't have those skills, so all I have 
been abto to do is to confirm that there aren't a lot of extra processes 
running - no httpd, no ftpd, etc. Yet, with none of these services running, 
the computer is much slower than it is with M7.1 running with every 
possible service activated. 

Puzzling.

Regards,
Irv











Re: [newbie] Performance issues with Mandrake 8

2001-05-22 Thread Irv Mullins

On Tue, 22 May 2001, you wrote:
 Please let us know as soon as you have the disk
 optimizer available for testing, I'll be happy to test
 it for you. I am using and IBM 7200 RPM ATA 100 hard
 drive and I'm not getting the performance I should
 from it yet.
  
 TC
 

I wonder if the new kernel is slowing down disk operations?
Or something else?

How can we benchmark our disk performance with Mandrake 
7.1 and again with 8.0 to see if there is a difference?

Regards,
Irv




Re: [newbie] Performance issues with Mandrake 8

2001-05-22 Thread Irv

On Tuesday 22 May 2001 13:23, you wrote:
 hdparm -Tt /dev/hda or whatever

Thanks - I ran that on the 8 gig disk I use for Mandrake, first with 
8.0, then 7.1.  Mandrake 8.0 scored higher than 7.1 - so, it looks like disk 
i/o is not the cause of the dramatic slowdown (going from 7.1 to 8.0),
I'm sure we will all appreciate any efforts to speed up the disk access 
nevertheless.

Regards,
Irv

 --- Irv Mullins [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

  How can we benchmark our disk performance with
  Mandrake
  7.1 and again with 8.0 to see if there is a
  difference?
 





Re: [newbie] What is kapm-idle?

2001-05-21 Thread Irv

On Monday 21 May 2001 17:28, you wrote:
 Hi!

 I just found out about the next resource hungry process: kapm-idle! This
 little evil thing always gets PID 3 and can not be killed. And I haven't
 found any daemon which starts it, so can anyone please tell me what the
 heck it does? And much more important: How the hell do I switch it off
 forver?

Not only what does it do, but why is a zero-byte program using over 95% 
of my cpu cycles, according to top?

Thanks,
Irv




Re: [newbie] Computer Freezes under Linux 7.2 WindowsME

2001-05-20 Thread Irv


- Original Message -
From: PENA FAMILY [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: newbie [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 3:41 AM
Subject: [newbie] Computer Freezes under Linux 7.2  WindowsME


 I just recently added an additional 512MB (2x256MB DIMM PC133) for my
video
 editing needs. Both Linux and WindowsME recognized it and life was good
and
 my video editing dreams were coming true.

 BAMM! Then Linux starts freezing up and so does WindowsME. Couldn't figure
 it out then I checked BIOS and realized that it was set to PC100 by
default.
 I checked on my motherboard for jumpers but this motherboard does these
 changes through BIOS. So I changed it and then for a week everytime I
 playback one of my videos the system freezes even in LINUX! I went back to
 the store where I got the RAM and they told me it was probably a
 compatiability issue. I exchanged them for premiums and still get the
 crashes but this only happens when playing back any .mpeg or .avi file.
 Under WindowsME I am used to this but until recently LINUX never gave me
 that trouble nor have I seen it freeze before.

 Any help would be appreciated since I have looked everywhere else.

 Thank you

You can download this program:
http://reality.sgi.com/cbrady_denver/memtest86/
It is a stand-alone test program -doesn't need Windows OR Linux to run.
Start it up and let it run overnight. If there are problems with the memory
chips,
it should find them.

Regards,
Irv





Re: RE[newbie] java. why doesn't it go? (still no joy)

2001-05-19 Thread Irv Mullins

On Sat, 19 May 2001, Mike wrote:
 thanks to everyone who has helped me with this. i've now managed to extract 
 the tar file but the instructions say to add the location of the sdk to the
 PATH settings. Where do i find path to modify it?  
 i'm slowly but surely getting the hang of this. Looking forward to getting 
 this up and running now.

Edit the file .bashrc(note the leading dot)
Add two lines like the following:

PATH=/home/irv/euphoria/bin:$PATH
export PATH

Replace /home/irv/euphoria/bin:  with the full path to your  sdk
probably /home/mike/something/something.

Once you logout and back in, the new path will be in effect.

Regards,
Irv




Re: [newbie] Installing apps under linux

2001-05-19 Thread Irv Mullins

On Sat, 19 May 2001, Ujang wrote:
 I've downloaded few applications with extension tar.gz but dont
 really know how to install it. I understand that there's command to
 install it. Could someone guide me how to install the applications
 under linux?
 
 My PC running Linux Mandrake 7.1.
 
If you are using KDE, just right-click on the downloaded file,
and select  'Archiver'.

That will open a window showing a list of files which are included in the
package, and a click on the little 'magnifying glass' , 
(or menu selection File-Extract To) 
will extract the files to a location of your choice.  Once complete, 
navigate to that location using KFM.

What you need to do from there depends upon how the package was 
prepared. There should be a readme file explaining what to do. Many 
packages need to be compiled, which is pretty simple. Others can be 
run without compliing. The instructions should be included, or available 
on the website from which you downloaded the package.

Regards,
Irv




Re: [newbie] very slowly

2001-05-19 Thread Irv Mullins

On Fri, 18 May 2001, dfox wrote:
 I wrote:
  If I open all programs I am going to use, then switching between them
  seems reasonably fast. However, if one of them needs to open a new window, 
 
 Does this happen independently of how many windows are already open, or
 what window manager is being used? For instance, if you open up an xterm
 (should be pretty instantaneous) on a lightly-loaded system, does it take
 the same (slow) time as under other situations? 

With nothing open, an xterm takes several seconds to appear. Using Mandrake
7.1,  the same xterm comes up in about half a second. 

 I'm thinking that it might have to do with your X server - since opening
 a window does take at least some effort from the server, maybe it's eating
 up a lot of memory and part of it is in swap. That could explain the slow-
 down.

Thanks, I will file this with the other suggestions - some day when I have
nothing better to do, I'll re-load Mandrake 8.0 and go thru all the
suggested solutions. If I find one that works, I'll be sure to post it here.

Regards,
Irv




Re: [newbie] Detecting USR Modem

2001-05-19 Thread Irv Mullins

On Sat, 19 May 2001, you wrote:
 
 Hi,
 
 I am trying to setup a new USR 56k modem on my system (LM 7.2)
 

Which USR 56k modem? 
If it's the Performance Pro modem (about $80) then it should work.
If it's the Internal FaxModem, (about $40) then it clearly states
'Designed exclusively for the Windows operating system' - 
so no, it won't.

Regards,
Irv




Re: [newbie] Detecting USR Modem

2001-05-19 Thread Irv Mullins

On Sat, 19 May 2001, you wrote:
 No it is not a winmodem according to USR it is model 5687-03 which is
 controller based.
 
Then look here for instructions:
http://www.idir.net/~gromitkc/5687-03.html

Regards,
Irv




Re: [newbie] very slowly

2001-05-18 Thread Irv Mullins

On Thu, 17 May 2001, Dave wrote:
 Well, it's still strange -- my ThinkPad is a 300MHz Celeron with 64 MB 
 RAM, and it runs both KDE 2 and Gnome just fine. Your system should be 
 able to do as well, from a hardware standpoint. Is it possible that even 
 though the correct X driver is installed, the video settings (refresh 
 rate, etc.) are still not quite correct?
 
 Just a thought.
 
 Dave

Well, that rules out memory as the problem; I'm using a Celeron 300 with 
128 megs. Further investigation shows that many programs that use X 
(some Euphoria graphics programs, for example) run at about the same 
speed as they did on 7.2.  

If I open all programs I am going to use, then switching between them
seems reasonably fast. However, if one of them needs to open a new window, 
to set preferences, select a file, or pop up a warning message, for example,
it takes so long I've often forgotten what I was doing.

And if for some reason I should want to open another program, I have time 
to walk to the kitchen for a snack before it shows up.
I don't need the extra weight!

Regards,
Irv




Re: [newbie] fstab and /mnt/windows

2001-05-18 Thread Irv Mullins

On Fri, 18 May 2001, you wrote:
 What would be the proper entry in /etc/fstab to automatically mount my 
 windoze partition from hde?  I would like to at least have read access to 
 be able to access files.
 
 Is this correct?
 
 /dev/hde1/mnt/windows   ext2defaults   1  2
 

I think you'll find vfat works better than ext2 for windows partitions ;)
And be sure you have created the directory /mnt/windows before 
you add this line to fstab.

Regards,
Irv




Re: [newbie] Installation Error

2001-05-17 Thread Irv Mullins

On Wed, 16 May 2001, Dwight Follick wrote:
 Hi
 
 I've recently been trying to load Mandrake 8.0 on my machine (I'm fricken
 sick of Windoze) and when I'm in the installation trying to configure the
 XFree86 4.03 part, it tests out my card and it freezes when it switches
 screen modes or something - the screen goes black.
 
 My card is a SiS 630 and I believe that XFree86 4.03 is having some problems
 with those cards.
 
 Is there no way around this?
 
 I have the Mandrake distribution on 2 ReWritable CDs - I downloaded the ISOs
 on a 56k modem (and yes it took a fricken long time)

I have the SiS 630 also, and Mandrake recognized and installed with 
no problem. Maybe your download went bad?  Anyway, you could try to
skip the x configuration, and set your XF86config file the 'old fashioned' way.

Regards,
Irv
I




Re: [newbie] very slowly

2001-05-17 Thread Irv Mullins

On Thu, 17 May 2001, Ari Dias wrote:
 Hello people, I have a question!
 Why my linux mandraki 8.0 is so slowly that i cant use it!
 i have a k6 500mhz!!!
 tks

I had the same problem, KDE was so slow that I couldn't get any work done.
When I posted this to the KDE list, all I got was flames, but about half of the 
people on the ALE list ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) who tried KDE 2 reported similar problems.

Some people with 750 mhz machines even reported slowness, so it seems to 
be not directly related to hardware. My only choice  was to go back to 7.2.

Regards,
Irv




Re: [newbie] very slowly

2001-05-17 Thread Irv Mullins

On Thu, 17 May 2001, Dave wrote:
 I ran into a similar problem with Mandrake 7.2. The problem/solution 
 turned out to be that Mandrake had detected and chosen a generic X video 
 driver for my video card, but that generic driver worked very poorly with 
 my card. Once I changed to the proper video driver (using HardDrake), the 
 whole system sped up considerably.

Yes, I also had this suggestion from someone on the ale list - unfortunately,
Mandrake 8.0 had already detected the correct video card and driver for mine.  
Also, using WindowMaker or IceWm, things seemed to run fast enough, which 
(maybe) rules out a hardware problem.

At any rate, I'm happy with KDE 1.x for now. 

Regards,
Irv




Re: [newbie] Help on getting 2cd set of LM 8.0

2001-05-11 Thread Irv Mullins

On Thu, 10 May 2001, RK wrote:

I got my Mandrake 8 set last week from Cheapbytes  -  they're pleasant to deal
with, and quick.. They send an acknowledgement of your order, and, as promised, 
another e-mail when the cd's go out the door. I had mine in 2 days, using 
USmail!

Regards,
Irv

 That's a good price, even with the $5.00 shipping charge in the USA.
 
 Randy Kramer
 
 Darin Lang wrote:
  
  http://cart.cheapbytes.com/cgi-bin/cart
  
  $3.49
  
  Darin




Re: [newbie] Microsoft for Linux

2001-05-11 Thread Irv Mullins

On Fri, 11 May 2001, Dave wrote:
 Yes, this is a hoax. Been around for a while, actually.
 
 Dave

I fully expect Microsoft to come out with a version of Linux sooner 
or later. It will be 'user friendly' - but just enough different so that 
only Microsoft programs will run well on it.

Having Microsoft 'embrace and extend' your standards is like 
letting the dirty old man down the street 'embrace' your teenage 
daughter - the likely outcome is much the same.

Regards,
Irv 

 At 01:59 PM 05/11/2001 +0200, Mcintosh, Duncan wrote:
 Hi there all
 
 I think this must be the hoax of the year.
 Microsoft has come out with its own Linux version. I have to see this to
 believe it though.
 
 Check out there site http://www.mslinux.org/




Re: [newbie] kfm's ftp is definitely broken

1999-07-13 Thread Irv Mullins

On Tue, 13 Jul 1999, you wrote:
 Hello all,
 
 There is something wrong with kfm's ftp function. It used to be (in mandrake
 5.3) that I can do:
 
 ftp://myusername@myserver/
 
 And I'd be able to ftp to and fro with impunity - as long as I stuck to my
 user's access rights.
 
 However, in mandrake 6.0, this is broken. I can point kfm to the desired remote
 dir, and I can ftp _from_ that dir but I cannot ftp _to_ the dir. (yes, I have
 read/write rights)

I've also asked about this, with no response. The strange thing is,
that with SuSE and KDE, this function works perfectly. I don't know 
why Mandrake broke it.

IglooFTP is a great program, but not as convenient to use as KFM would
be if it worked.

Irv

 I'm writing about this again because the first time I wrote in about it, I only
 got another user's reply - he recommended re-installing. I did. Same problem. I
 even updated to the latest kdebase rpm on /updates
 (so I'm now at kdebase-1.1.1final-11mdk).
 
 Folks at mandrakesoft, could you please fix this. It does not seem like a
 difficult problem (since ftp from remote dir works just not to - with kfm, that
 is) but it's a showstopper for me since I use this kfm feature a lot in my work
 (and play). Or at least, I used to while on Festen :-(
 

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/



Re: [newbie] KDE Mail Client

1999-07-11 Thread Irv Mullins

On Sun, 11 Jul 1999, you wrote:
 I'm using the KDE Mail Client. Is there anyway to make it check the pop server
 every so many minutes?

File/Settings/Network tab/Incoming mail
click on an account, click the modify button, and click the 
box marked Enable Interval mail checking.

Now, as to how to change the time between checks - 
that's probably in a .kmailrc file somewhere.

Irv
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/




Re: [newbie] Get out of AfterStep, back to KDE

1999-07-11 Thread Irv Mullins

On Sun, 11 Jul 1999, you wrote:
 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 
  u should be able to open a terminal window and type "deskswitch"
  then just select the desktop you want : )
 
 Thanks 4 trying to help, but it doesn't recognize deskswitch as a
 command. Not even as root.
 
 Any other suggestions?

Try switchdesk.

When in doubt - locate will find files using wildcards.
Irv
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/





Re: [newbie] Get out of AfterStep, back to KDE

1999-07-11 Thread Irv Mullins

On Sun, 11 Jul 1999, you wrote:
 What version are you running?  I am intrigued enough to want to
 duplicate your situation

You'll probably have to type switchdesk-kde
to get back to kde. (Mine tries to default to switchdesk-gnome,
which results in a file-not-found error.

Irv
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/



Re: [newbie] shell scripts

1999-07-10 Thread Irv Mullins

On Mon, 08 May 2000, you wrote:
 On Fri, 9 Jul 1999, Yants wrote:
 
  how do i write shell scripts..?
  can someone please show me an example...
  
Here's an example from Richard Petersen's handy
Linux Programmer's Reference: (Good book to have around)

#!/bin/bash
#Program to allow the user to select different
#ways of listing files
 
echo s. List Sizes
echo l. List All file info
echo c. List C files
echo -n "Please enter choice: "
read choice
case $choice in
   s)
   ls -s
   ;;
l)
   ls -l
   ;;
c)
ls *.c
;;
   *)
  echo Invalid Option
esac
 
copy it, save it as, for example, lschoice, and chmod u+x so that you can
execute it by typing ./lschoice

HTH
Irv Mullins  



Re: [newbie] KPPP problems

1999-07-07 Thread Irv Mullins

On Wed, 07 Jul 1999, you wrote:
 Hello , When I open kppp , I get this error message -
 /etc/resolv.config is missing !   Ask your system
 administrator to create a non-empty file that has  appropriate
 read and write permissions . What must I do ?

Write one. As root, go to /etc, and with pico or some other editor designed
by actual humans, create a file named resolv.conf which contains at least two
lines. Here's mine:

domain ellijay.com  
nameserver 206.30.220.2

Write the file, logout, log  in as user, and set up kppp.

Irv
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/




Re: [newbie] Lack of security when booting in Linux single

1999-07-06 Thread Irv Mullins

On Tue, 06 Jul 1999, you wrote:
 Actually, DSL is just as vunerable as any other form of TCP/IP transport.
 On the windows platform (believe it or not) there are security measures
 in place, and some you can tighten your self like unbinding fileshareing
 from the inet interface. Your just as vunerable on a dialup connection too
 might i add ;) 

True, but it would be harder for someone to break into my computer
when the modem is turned off. (which is more than half the time)

Security boils down to one general rule if you don't use it
 it doesn't need to be there, and if you do think you need it you should
 reconsider. If something absolutly needs tobe accepting connections it
 should be properly firewalled. 

Also some software to monitor what's going on across the net, and alert
someone when suspicious traffic appears would be appropriate.

Irv



[newbie] KFM and FTP

1999-07-06 Thread Irv Mullins

Hi;

When using KDE/KFM with SuSE, I could drag and drop files
from my desktop to various www directories (to which I have passwords).
Using KDE/KFM and Mandrake, when I do this, it writes a zero 
length file to the directory. The names get there, but no data is 
transferred. If I bring up a terminal, the old fashioned ftp works
fine to the same sites. 

Is there some setting with Mandrake that I need to change?

Thanks,
Irv
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/ The opinions expressed are not my own. 
_/ They're Lou's.
_/ We're blaming him for everything.
_/ He's the one on vacation this week.



[newbie] KDESU

1999-07-06 Thread Irv Mullins


Does anyone know why, when you try to use 
terminal (super user, kdesu) you get a password dialog, 
in which every key pressed is echoed three times?

Example: if root password were pig, you would type
pig, and see echoed: *  (9 starz)
and an invalid password message. Of course it's invalid, 
there are three times as many characters as you typed in.
This makes kdesu unusable.
Any ideas?

Irv
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/ The opinions expressed are not my own. 
_/ They're Lou's.
_/ We're blaming him for everything.
_/ He's the one on vacation this week.



Re: [newbie] KDESU

1999-07-06 Thread Irv Mullins

On Tue, 06 Jul 1999, you wrote:
 It is intentional, confuses people who like to stare over shoulders

Well, it would be nice if, in addition to confusing snoops, it would
actually allow super-user access. 
It doesn't.
That, of course, is the problem.

Irv

 On Tue, 6 Jul 1999, Irv Mullins wrote:
 
  
  Does anyone know why, when you try to use 
  terminal (super user, kdesu) you get a password dialog, 
  in which every key pressed is echoed three times?
  



Re: [newbie] Slower Modem Speed in Linux

1999-07-05 Thread Irv Mullins

On Mon, 05 Jul 1999, you wrote:
 %_Hi.
 Just recently installed mandrake 6.0 (workstation) got the kkkp working 
after resetting the pnp modem's jumper.  The modem is on COM2 and using IRQ 3.
 The problem I have is Netscape is about 3-4 slower that it was in windows. 
Even file downloading.  But the strange thing is that i was connected at the
same rate in both windows and linux.  Does anyone know what's wrong?  Is there
a setting I have to change?  How do i increase the connection speed. 
 Thank you.  

Try to pinpoint the problem: is your modem actually running slower?
(click the details button on kppp to see the statistics, while loading a 
large web page or  downloading a file. The graph should show the 
actual transfer speed)

If the modem is transferring at full speed, then try viewing websites
with KFM. See if it is faster. (I like KFM better than Netscape anyway,
it's much better integrated into the desktop)

If it's only Netscape that's slow, maybe you're running short of 
memory. If everything is slow, maybe there's a conflict with the 
com port or irq settings. 

Irv



Re: [newbie] Lack of security when booting in Linux single

1999-07-05 Thread Irv Mullins

On Mon, 05 Jul 1999, you wrote:
 It is secure, If you keep it that way and do not mess with things you do not
 know about. Don't change things if you do not know what it can do to your
 system..

That's not really an answer to the question, nor is it accurate.
The question was - why can someone boot a system without the
password? 

Security is relative. If someone has physical access to your computer,
and there is a floppy drive, anyone with a couple of  linux boot/root disks can
start the system without knowing any passwords. Similarly, you can lock your
cars and take the keys, but I can come along with a tow truck and steal the car
anyway. Given that, why use passwords?

The password system serves to prevent accidental changes that would
mess up the software, and to discourage users from looking at other users'
data. It's just a good balance between a system that's totally open (like DOS)
and a system so secure it's unusable. You can change the balance in either
direction, but you can't eliminate the possibility someone will gain access.
Should you change it in the direction of "more secure"? Probably not.
Anyone who knows the "linux single" trick almost certainly knows the 
"bring your own floppy" trick also.

If your need for privacy justifies, you could remove the floppy
drive (probably kinda inconvenient) and/or run an encrypted file system that 
makes data almost impossible to retrieve,  (and slows down operations 
considerably.)  It might be easier to just lock the disk drive in the safe
when you're not using it.

Anyone who has physical access to your computer must be assumed to
be "authorized" to be there, and therefore trustworthy. If that is not the case,
then posting armed guards and vicious dogs would be appropriate..

Regards,
Irv

 - Original Message -
 From: Jo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Sent: Monday, July 05, 1999 07:15 James
 Subject: [newbie] Lack of security when booting in Linux single
 
 
  Hi,
 
  Recently my system failed to boot (I had added something to rc.local, that
 didn't belong there). On irc I was told that I could still boot if I gave
 linux single at the LILO boot. This worked, but to my surprise I never had
 to enter a login or a password. Even then, I was allowed to change rc.local
 back to what it was.
 
  Is this normal? I thought Linux was supposed to be so secure.
 
  Jo
 



Re: [newbie] Temp monitor?

1999-07-04 Thread Irv

On Sun, 04 Jul 1999, you wrote:
 Does anyone know if there is a temp/cpu monitor that sits in the panel?
 I just did a motherboard swap and since it shows the temp in bios I
 thought it would be a nice addition to my desktop.

There are several: look for them at http://www.freshmeat.net,
http://www.linuxberg.com.

Or, do like we do here in the south, set a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon on th' cpu.
Huh? You mean to tell me you've got a _case_ on yer computer?
My ain't we fancy?

Irv



Re: [newbie] kfm's ftp disabled in MDK6?

1999-07-01 Thread Irv Mullins

On Thu, 01 Jul 1999, you wrote:
 Hello folks,
 
 I've just moved to Venus. Everything looks fine. Everything works. Or so it
 seemed. I think there's something wrong with kfm's ftp function. It seems
 broken. I can download from ftp sites ok. But I cannot upload. (yes, I have
 upload rights to the destination)
 
 This used to be my "show off" piece to people. "See? I can upload this bunch of
 files from my home dir to my remote website with simple drag and drop!" Using
 kfm. Now I cannot. It just seems to hang for an eternity. It did not take
 anywhere near that long before. What's happened?
 
 I tried ftp-ing (upload) via plain ol' CLI ftp (put) and it works - very well.
 But, what's happened to kfm? Anyone have this problem? What do I do?
 
Yes, I had the same problem, but got no replies to my question. The only answer
I can give sounds awful Windowish, but it worked for me: reload the system.
I have no clue why it stopped working in the first place, but reloading seemed
to get it working properly.

Irv



Re: [newbie] kfm's ftp disabled in MDK6?

1999-07-01 Thread Irv Mullins

On Thu, 01 Jul 1999, you wrote:
 Hello folks,
 
 I've just moved to Venus. Everything looks fine. Everything works. Or so it
 seemed. I think there's something wrong with kfm's ftp function. It seems
 broken. I can download from ftp sites ok. But I cannot upload. (yes, I have
 upload rights to the destination)
 
 This used to be my "show off" piece to people. "See? I can upload this bunch of
 files from my home dir to my remote website with simple drag and drop!" Using
 kfm. Now I cannot. It just seems to hang for an eternity. It did not take
 anywhere near that long before. What's happened?
 
 I have updated to the kdenetwork and kdebase packages on the /updates site.
 
 I tried ftp-ing (upload) via plain ol' CLI ftp (put) and it works - very well.
 But, what's happened to kfm? Anyone have this problem? What do I do?
 
Yes, I had exactly the same problem, and asked on this list last week (no
answers) I finally reloaded everything, and the dragdrop ftp works again.
Sorry I can't offer a more helpful answer than "reload". It sounds like the 
standard Windows mantra. But, it did work.

Irv