Re: [ubuntu-uk] Creating 'root' account.
On 04/08/07 18:56, Andrew Jenkins wrote: > I've been a Mandrake/Mandriva user since I ditched > the dreaded MS four or five years ago. I just > thought I'd try Ubuntu (7.04) alongside my Mandriva > 2005 on my laptop. Hi Andrew, welcome to the Ubuntu community :) > I'm used to the Mandriva way (as with most other > distros) of having a 'root' account and then all the > other 'user' accounts. The Ubuntu method of asking > for your 'user' password to then allow you to go off > and create system-wide mayhem is really not suitable > when you have curious kids. Again, typing 'sudo' and > being asked for your 'user' password doesn't strike > me as very secure. I'm not sure I understand your problem. sudo is very secure if you use it properly and it makes it easier to manage privileges among your users (revoking a root password from a user's brain is more difficult than removing them from the admin group). All you need to do to stop your kids causing mayhem is remove their user accounts from the admin group. Of course, if you're allowing them to use your password and user account (which you seem to be implying) then that's your security problem, not sudo. > Is it easy to make Ubuntu behave in a similar fashion > to Mandriva and if so how? If you really must enable your root account, you can do 'sudo passwd root' to give root a password. sudo will still work though so you'll have to take your user out of the admin group or use visudo to disallow the admin group from using sudo. Note that graphical programs invoked using gksudo to get root permissions will no longer work and you'll probably have to run them from a root terminal instead. In summary, you can enable the root account but it's a lot less trouble to use sudo wisely, IMHO. -- Andy Price -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Seamonkey
On 25/06/07 17:37, John Taylor wrote: > I have installed Seamonkey within VISTA with no problems just downloaded > and it installed, no agro or other problems - but I cant seem to do it > within ubuntu any ideas? Hi John, could you expand on "I cant seem to do it" - what did you try, what happened, any error messages etc? That might give us more ideas :) -- Andy Price http://andrewprice.me.uk -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Audio Apps
On 19/06/07 21:52, David Morley wrote: > Go to getdeb.org and download Jokoshe0.9 Why getdeb? There are Ubuntu packages for feisty on the Jokosher site http://www.jokosher.org/download That said, Jokosher is still pretty young (although looks very promising) - Jono doesn't even use it for lugradio ;) Jokosher 0.9 is in gutsy too, but I'm not advocating upgrading to an unstable development version of Ubuntu :) -- Andy Price http://andrewprice.me.uk -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Backgrounding shell commands
On 01/06/07 23:30, Chris Rowson wrote: > When I run this command on a remote server however 'scp -r foldername > [EMAIL PROTECTED]:/home/foldername' and background it (either by > starting it with &, or suspending then bg'ing it) and then close the > terminal, when I then log back in again, the process has stopped > without completing. > > What's happening there? Is the command associated with the terminal > that invoked it? If so how to I get the command to run even after I've > logged out? Have a look at the command "screen" or alternatively "nohup". They work differently but both should do what you want. -- Andy Price http://andrewprice.me.uk -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] WEP key
On 30/05/07 20:51, Neil Greenwood wrote: > On 30/05/07, Andrew Price <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> I'm sure someone will mention this next bit so I'll get there first: WEP >> has been found to be quite easy to circumvent, so it's not that good a >> way of securing a wireless network, but it's better than nothing and >> it's still used quite widely. > > Sorry, but that's not correct. It's not better than nothing - at least > with nothing you don't think you're secure! > > It takes about 2-3 minutes to capture enough wireless traffic to crack > WEP now, followed by a few seconds of CPU time. > > WEP is now totally worthless. If you can, use WPA or WPA-2 instead. If > your hardware only supports WEP, don't use it and set up a VPN > (virtual private network - this encrypts all the data being sent over > the air). > > I'd guess this is far too technical for the original poster, but I > just wanted to point out how broken WEP is. Hi Neil, you're absolutely correct. I'll explain. My aim was to simplify the whole explanation of WEP keys and I just dropped that "it's better than nothing" in as a nicety. Considering that WEP is still the most used and most widely supported method of securing a wireless network, I felt it was justified to not scare a new wireless user away from that technology. I didn't want to go off on a "you shouldn't use WEP! bad bad!" tangent because that's not a helpful way to explain things clearly and answer the question directly. I'm sure you've all seen it before, if you give too much technical information and too many at once, people are likely to throw their hands up and back away from the technology because it seems like too much hassle. I'm always wary of doing that. It's a case of being too helpful. Of course, if I was going to argue that point of WEP being better than nothing my argument would be this: If you have an open wireless network with no security at all, then it's harder to say that someone has broken into your system and stolen your internet service (or whatever the legal jargon is in these cases) because they could argue that they were just walking by with their mobile device and the device automatically associated itself with the access point, or something similar. If you force someone to put some effort into breaking the security on your network (admittedly, not much effort is required to crack WEP) then you at least have some ground to stand on. I personally use WPA on a daily basis and, although it's more secure than WEP (for now, until someone inevitably discovers a weakness), I'm finding that software like network-manager and the Ubuntu installer just don't support it, despite having a wireless card with open source drivers, which is a bit of a pain. I could probably crack my neighbour's WEP key in a short amount of time and use their network connection instead but because I have morals and any kind of security on a network says to me "please, stay out unless you have permission", I would never do such a thing. Well, that was a bit of an essay, I hope I've explained myself clearly, and I apologise for disseminating arguably erroneous information :) -- Andy Price http://andrewprice.me.uk -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] WEP key
On 30/05/07 18:06, London School of Puppetry wrote:
> Can anyone tell me what a WEP key is and what it does?
> Caroline (LSP)
Hi Caroline,
Note: I'm a computer science geek but I'll try to keep this simple :)
WEP ("Wired Equivalent Privacy") basically provides a layer of security
on top of a wireless network connection. In order to connect to a
WEP-secured network with your wireless card, you need to provide your
network connection manager with the WEP key for that network. The WEP
key is a string of characters (you can think of it as a sort of
password). Not all wireless connections use WEP, some are completely
open, some use different kinds of security methods.
I'm sure someone will mention this next bit so I'll get there first: WEP
has been found to be quite easy to circumvent, so it's not that good a
way of securing a wireless network, but it's better than nothing and
it's still used quite widely.
Hope that helps.
--
Andy Price
http://andrewprice.me.uk
--
ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com
https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk
https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Who writes this stuff
Peter Scargill wrote: > I look forward to hearing from your colleague - I hope however that his > communication is more reasoned and less insulting. Charlie, I'm not aware of what was in your e-mail to Mr. Scargill (although I'd like to see it) but it seems you touched a nerve. Please could we make sure we represent the Ubuntu and Linux communities in a diplomatic and friendly way. We're not going to boost the popularity of either by being insulting or otherwise unpleasant, especially to those who hold some influence over others. We need to take a more educational and informative stance towards people who don't "get it". The more welcoming we are as a community, the more people will be interested in becoming part of it. Regards, -- Andy Price http://andrewprice.me.uk -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] "Tories want open source Whitehall"
I usually stay away from politics as much as possible but I found this interesting: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6430069.stm "The government could save more than £600 million a year if it used more open source software, the shadow chancellor has estimated." I'm not quite sure what to think about it though. -- Andy Price IRC: welshbyte http://andrewprice.me.uk -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Curve-fitting program or package (a gnuplot example)
On 24/02/07 17:54, Robin Menneer wrote: > I have a problem with fitting a curve to some data and would like help > please. The data are: > x=375, 375, 375, 355, 315, 268,195, 110, 0 > y=2500, 2150, 1920, 1600, 1250, 936, 624, 312, 0 > I need a program that will draw a line of best fit (for me to print) > according to different parameters,, especially log and power and find the > best for me, and give me the equation for it. gnuplot seems like a good tool for this job. It's a tool with a wide range of options and commands so it can seem a bit daunting to use it for the first time (I should know, I used it for the first time today :)) Anyway, here's an example of how to do it (I'm assuming you've already installed the gnuplot package): Put your X and Y data in a text file in columns like: 3752500 3752150 3751920 3551600 3151250 268936 195624 110312 0 0 Then open a terminal and go to the directory with the data file in it and run gnuplot: $ cd /path/tomy/datafile/dir/ $ gnuplot Once you're in the gnuplot "shell", tell it to plot columns 1 and 2 as x and y respectively, giving the curve a title: gnuplot> plot "mydatafile.dat" using 1:2 title 'Data' smooth csplines Removing "smooth csplines" would make gnuplot plot each individual point without a curve, replacing "csplines" with "unique" joins the dots. A whole range more options can be found in the documentation [1]. If you want to plot the data to an image file, precede the plot command with something like these two commands: gnuplot> set terminal png gnuplot> set output 'mygraph.png' For a list of other output file types, just type 'set terminal' without an option. (Don't let the command line nature of this daunt you, it's pretty simple and tutorials like [2] and demos like [3] show you how powerful it can be) [1] http://www.gnuplot.info/docs/gnuplot.html [2] http://www.duke.edu/~hpgavin/gnuplot.html [3] http://www.gnuplot.info/demo/simple.html Hope this helps. -- Andy Price IRC: welshbyte http://andrewprice.me.uk -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Could Linux (and Ubuntu) do more to encourage students?
On 06/02/07 10:10, Daniel Watkins wrote: > Andrew Price wrote: >>> I know of at least one module in my computer science course that is >>> being taught specifically with Microsoft tools. "Building Reliable Web >>> Applications" I think it's called. Makes me wonder if MS are paying the >>> Comp Sci department to provide that module. > I very much doubt that's the case. There's certainly no reason to claim > that Microsoft don't have a large market share of any given > computer-related market... I'm well aware of Microsoft's considerable market share, I just don't want to be locked into their business model. I assure you my above suspicion is based on the fact that it's a very specialised and platform-specific module among so many generalised computer science modules and not because I have an irrational zealous hatred of Microsoft :) Had the module been taught using an open, freely available, platform-independent technology for which a tool/IDE could be written for any operating system - and hence the acquired skills would have been general and transferable - I might have taken it a lot more seriously. IMHO, learning to use development tools that can only be used on Windows; tools that will probably be obsolete by the time I graduate anyway, does not make for a well rounded computer science education. That's why I felt the module seemed out of place and why I'm reluctant to take it. I guess, had I felt otherwise, we wouldn't be having this conversation on this mailing list :) -- Andy Price IRC: welshbyte http://andrewprice.me.uk -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Could Linux (and Ubuntu) do more to encourage students?
On 02/02/07 18:21, Andy wrote: > It appears Microsoft are trying to buy off the young coders. Why is > Canonical, Red Hat and other Linux vendors not doing similar things? > If this works we will have no programmers for Linux, and we have few > enough Linux users as it is! I know of at least one module in my computer science course that is being taught specifically with Microsoft tools. "Building Reliable Web Applications" I think it's called. Makes me wonder if MS are paying the Comp Sci department to provide that module. To be fair there are efforts in the other direction. Google Summer of Code springs to mind, and I'm currently being funded by the UKFSN's new student funding scheme to contribute to free software. I can't think of any big student programming competitions related to open source though. I blogged a few thoughts about marketing open source to students last September* Basically I highlighted how university computer societies could be used as a "point of entry" for marketing open source in universities. In a lot of cases the enthusiasm is already there, they just need to have access to more resources. That's the way I see it, anyway. * http://snipurl.com/194qg -- Andy Price IRC: welshbyte http://andrewprice.me.uk -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] [Fwd: [SWLUG] Open government IT projects]
Slightly off-topic I'm afraid. Thought this might be interesting to some of the Ubuntu UK team members... Original Message Subject: [SWLUG] Open government IT projects Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 12:35:24 + (GMT) From: Steve Hill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I've created a petition on the E-petitions website, promoting the idea that the tax payer should have access to the source code of IT projects we have paid for: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Open-IT-projects/ Please sign it if you agree with the principle (obviously there are exceptions where projects cannot be open, such as defense, etc). "Software written using public funds should have it's source code published under a distribution licence that has been declared Free by the Free Software Foundation, rather than remaining a closed secret. This would allow for more of the public to benefit from the development of the software since the code would be available for anyone to use and improve. Furthermore, compatibility with other Free licences (such as the GPL) would promote rapid development and reduced costs through the reuse of existing code. An open development model would also allow the public to be more informed of the progress and quality of these projects, which so frequently seem to end up severely over budget." -- - Steve -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] World of Warcraft
On 23/12/06 02:32, baza wrote: > Hi, has anyone ever managed to get World of Warcraft running under Wine? I don't play it myself but the WINE app db says: http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?iVersionId=5606 -- Andy Price http://andrewprice.me.uk -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] GTK and C
On 15/11/06 15:24, Greg Dash wrote: > gcc `gtk-config --cflags` -Wimplicit "gtk2.c" -lgtk` gtk-config > --libs` -o "gtk2" gtk-config is provided in libgtk1.2-dev but you want to use libgtk2.0-dev, which provides .pc files for pkg-config to use. Hence you probably need to use pkg-config instead of gtk-config. -- Andy Price http://andrewprice.me.uk -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Newcomer to ubuntu - some questions.
On 30/10/06 14:03, John wrote: > 1. How can I get verbose boot messages back? The only way I know that solves this problem is removing the 'quiet' option from the kernel boot options (either editing the command in grub every time you boot or poking a stanza in /boot/grub/menu.lst to make it permanent) I think it's a pity they removed the boot messages to be honest. After using Linux for a while it's frustrating to not know what my computers are doing as they boot. It's one of the things I dislike about Windows and now it's made its way into Ubuntu :/ -- Andy Price http://andrewprice.me.uk -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
