KCLUG

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IP and Biden - Bad, bad, bad direction
by Sean Crago 31 Aug '08

31 Aug '08

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/08/obama-veep-wa-1.html Obama VP Pick Joe Biden: Good on Civil Liberties, Friendly to Hollywood http://news.cnet.com/2010-1071-946732.html Pirate this, go to jail - CNET Considering that most VPs prior to Cheney ended up stuck spending most of their tenures in policy-shaping exploratory committees, and considering that Biden's already got a reputation for jetting all over the world and trying to get his hands into foreign policy debates this is bad, bad news. Way I read the articles above, Biden would have illegalized numerous open source projects including Rockbox and multiple ports of Linux/NetBSD/whatever to DRM-laden embedded systems. Recent news doesn't paint McCain as being much better, and there just isn't much to go off of concerning Obama. Which way will you swing? Anyone gonna put odds on the KCLUG reaching a consensus-based endorsement? :) Sean Crago http://mrzaius.com Kathmandu

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Wanted: Cheap, Linux compatible wireless card
by Matthew Copple 30 Aug '08

30 Aug '08

My son is finally learning to read, and it is time to put a computer in his room. Unfortunately, we live in a hundred-year old house, and the idea of threading several feet of cat5 through bedroom and hallway is not appealing. I am putting Edubuntu on it for him. Does anyone have suggestions for a cheap, Linux compatible wireless card? I prefer an A/B/G card that is WPA compatible. I prefer a USB device if possible, but I won't quibble if PCI is cheaper. I really don't want to deal with ndiswrapper. Any suggestions? Matt Copple mcopple(a)kcopensource.org

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Re: Wanted: Cheap, Linux compatible wireless card
by Sean Crago 30 Aug '08

30 Aug '08

I've got a Hawking PCI card from MicroCenter in Vienna, VA that set me back less than $30. Unlike most USB adapters in its price range it has a decent sized boom on it and a port to attach a bigger one if need be. If this is a desktop, just get one of these. It's cheap and Ubuntu supports it out of the box. The only card-specific drawback is that the Windows drivers are several years out of date, and, generally speaking, suck. http://www.hawkingtech.com/products/productlist.php?CatID=19&FamID=33&ProdI… Here's the lspci output from the Hawking card, if you're still thinking about going down this road: 01:05.0 Network controller: RaLink RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI Uses the following modules, which ship with the stock Ubuntu kernels in Hardy: rt61pci 25472 0 rt2x00pci 11264 1 rt61pci rt2x00lib 22528 2 rt61pci,rt2x00pci There is one major drawback that isn't specific to any one adapter, though. iwconfig et al are a huge PITA, complicated further by Debian/Ubuntu's underperforming networking initialization scripts. Though I finally do have /etc/network/interfaces defined well enough that it is finally reliably connecting to my WAP upon request, I find myself having to run ifdown/ifup on every boot - Might be able to fix this problem by moving the network initialization script further into the boot process, but I really haven't the slightest idea why. Unlike competently designed systems such as Maemo (where seemless 802.11 functionality matters a wee bit more than Ubuntu powered laptops with wireless), Ubuntu causes far more problems running over a wireless connection (regardless of the card) than it does over a physical connection. The myriad poorly designed frontends to iwspy are similarly inadequate and, if you'll forgive the repetition, incredibly poorly designed. Don't even get me started on Xandros, and the Eee's half-assed attempt to find a better solution to the aforementioned problem. In summary, you might end up with fewer headaches down the road if you just pull some CAT6, but the above card will work at least as well as, possibly substantially better than, any USB dongle. Sean Crago Kathmandu

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Recently there were some comments about neuros. This may explain the buzz factor at work.
by Oren Beck 27 Aug '08

27 Aug '08

http://open.neurostechnology.com/content/web-your-tv-why-it-makes-sense -- Oren Beck 816.729.3645

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JOBOP: Red Hat Linux Administrator
by Hal Duston 27 Aug '08

27 Aug '08

Contact April Garlington of Bradford & Galt at 913-663-1264 for further information. ================================================================== Request for: System Administrator Assignment Start Date: ASAP Assignment End Date: 10/31/2008 Project Summary: Hallmark.com is moving the website to Savvis hosting facility. Although Savvis is providing Unix System Administrators, we need a System administrator to help us troubleshoot application issues and write monitoring scripts. Tasks to be performed: • Troubleshoot existing scripts • Write new monitoring scripts • Troubleshoot sendmail issues/setup • Convert scripts previously ran on AIX to Red Hat linux • Troubleshoot application issues at a system administration layer Required Technical Skills and Proficiencies: Skill Expert Significant Moderate Red Hat Linux Administration X AIX Administration X SendMail Administration X Scripting languages: X (Perl, bash, sed, awk, mod-perl) Websphere Administration X Apache Administration on RedHat Linux X Troubleshooting experience X ================================================================== Thanks, -- Hal

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Security Warning: Active attacks using stolen SSH keys
by Billy Crook 27 Aug '08

27 Aug '08

If you haven't replaced your Debian-generated SSH keys yet, it's really time to do so immediately if they were generated from ssh-keygen during that year and a half that it was vulnerable in Debian. It's also not a bad idea to just check to see if yours are on the list anyway. See http://wiki.debian.org/SSLkeys#head-d841ac769390d013577ce3fd2be24b8cf5a74cfb From: http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=4937&rss The US-CERT is reporting that there is active attacks against Linux environments using stolen SSH keys. There is a new rootkit out, Phalanx2 which is dropped by attackers which, among the usual rootkit tasks, steal any SSH key on a system. The attackers then, presumably, use those stolen keys (the ones without passwords/passphrases at least) to get into other machines. Sources of compromised keys could include the weak key vulnerability in Debian-based systems a few months ago, so if you haven't updated and replaced those keys, you ought to do so now. The biggest defense is to have any keys, especially those used to authenticate to remote machines and certainly internet facing ones, require a passphrase to use. Check your logs, especially if you use SSH key-based auth, to identify accesses from remote machines that have no business accessing you. If you have IPs, that would be good. To detect if you have Phalanx2, look for /etc/khubd.p2/ (access by cd, not ls) or any directory that is called "khubd.p2". /dev/shm/ may contain files from the attack as well. Tripwire, AIDE and friends should also be able to detect filesystem changes. -- John Bambenek bambenek /at/ gmail \dot\ com

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What is the group's recommend for a Linux based Wifi antenna pointing program? And related RF link stuff.
by Oren Beck 26 Aug '08

26 Aug '08

There are a lot of ways to use software for adjusting antennas. I am curious what we are using and how/why? One project in the works here at the campground would be helped by good signal monitor software. The future project is steerable spot beams.We have decades of experience with Remote Broadcast links and some sifting thru archives of that has given me a list of deeper questions. One initial query being if anyone on list has experience with NON 2.4/5.8 Ghz radio based data links? Examples to my limited experience were the 900 mhz Wavelan NCR units .And some even rarer X-band "Gunnplexer" point-to point commercial gear used for linking offices to mainframes. The eventual goal for my uses is a few tight spot beams to produce local ground level hot spots with no "on that site" hardware Example being- point to point up to pool house. Dish antenna aimed at group of sites a long distance away. So there would be no powering hassles for repeaters in tent areas. -- Oren Beck 816.729.3645

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Re: IP and Biden - Bad, bad, bad direction
by Barbara Ekstrom 23 Aug '08

23 Aug '08

I'll be writing in Christopher Walken, as planned... ----- Original Message ---- From: lowell <lowell(a)kc.rr.com> To: kclug(a)kclug.org Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2008 8:12:28 AM Subject: Re: IP and Biden - Bad, bad, bad direction Sean Crago wrote: > Which way will you swing? Anyone gonna put odds on the KCLUG reaching > a consensus-based endorsement? :) > > > Who knows? and Absolutely not! > _______________________________________________ Kclug mailing list Kclug(a)kclug.org http://kclug.org/mailman/listinfo/kclug

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idea: a managed linux distribution, for weak users
by David Nicol 22 Aug '08

22 Aug '08

instead of trying to make sysadmin tasks easier, why not offsource the administration of the subscribers to a sort of headquarters? The company (KC Linux, with the kclug tux with hot brand logo as the logo) would provide install media which would take over the users computer and run their windows in a qemu window, as well as providing linux alternatives for basic production software. The site owners would not have root access on their machines, and firewall, security updates, feature upgrades, would be handled by central control much as the IT department in a large organization handles upgrading all the workstations. The business model: subscriptions, for updated content filtering (child safe!) for the firewalls Added bonus: the network of machines all around could serve as SMTP receivers for a filtered e-mail forwarding service, in exchange for a discount on the subscription. who's in?

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Re: what ever happened to linux?(Rep. Cleaver/immigration rants, etc.)
by Craig Aldinger 22 Aug '08

22 Aug '08

I may be just a reader of the forum for the vast majority of the posts arriving at my electronic doorstep but, I feel rather mystified..... I thought this is the Kansas City LINUX Users Group. While I can be massively entertained by the sociological/political/religious meanderings of some folks who post here, my primary interest is in learning as much as I can about, you guessed it, LINUX. So, howzaboutit? If some folks wish to beat each other about the head and shoulders in a virtual world, why not go pick an open field and go at it for real instead of wasting our collective in-boxes with non-linux trivia?

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