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My PCLOS
by Julie 12 Jun '08

12 Jun '08

June 11, Christopher and others, I didn't post details because the mere words are a bit moot _without_ the pix to go with them. That is why I have a "Draft" saved (as previously stated) to send anyone who may be interested. But here is the TEXT anyway, since you asked for it: --->OK, this is what lead to what you see in those pix: I tried to turn on my Screen Saver again. I had turned it off for the meeting the other night. I got pic #1. SO, I went into Synaptic, searched for "Screen Saver" (minus the " marks, of course), updated the ones that had gold star (see pic #2 for error I got during that operation) and reinstalled the "kdeartwork" file (see pic #3. for error I got during that operation). Then I rebooted and got an error about the Desktop that I could not save cuz it popped up half way through loading the OS. Notice the 2nd Floppy Drive Icon added to the Desktop. I did NOT put it there myself but did add the 2 for ID purposes. Also notice my System Tray at the bottom of the screen. It's missing my FOUR desktop options as well as the Clipboard and Volume controls. In addition, I can not get these tiny windows to move or expand and if I have two up at the same time like I did earlier at the writing of the main part of this explanation with Firefox open and my Error msgs Folder open the windows will not exchange being on top so I can close the folder. (I'm presently on my Windhozed machine.) I must click File and then Exit to get out of Firefox and then the same with the Folder window. Also, my Mahjongg and Shisen-Sho games open small and are unplayable. I haven't tested any other apps. I feel lucky to be able to have done what I have so far. AND... when I shut the thing off the screen goes weird looking and Verbose mode looks like so much snow with a few colored dashes thrown in. $64,000 QUESTION: Is all of this fixable?...or do I have to start all over again with a fresh install of the OS??????????????????????????????????? Thank you in advance for any help you can try to give me. Julie >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> --->UPDATE: Billy answered with this: "pic 1 shows a missing library. Have you recently "yum remove"' d something or removed something with the pagkage manager? Add it back, and stay out of the package manager. It's a dangerous place. pic 2 does not show an error. redhat package manager recognises when you have already configured something. If you already have, but a package update provides a config file with the same name as one you the user have touched, it keeps yours in place so that your settings don't change. The 'new' config file that rpm installs will be named <file>.rpmnew. pic 3 shows the result of a package maintainer including a message to be displayed with the install of their package, but not filling anything in. This error is nothing to worry about. It's just some PCLinuxOS developer who wasn't watching what he was doing, and another package maintainer that missed the error. firefox FUBAR does not show any problem with firefox. What 'looks FUBAR' is the absence of a window decorator. Firefox does not have a border of its own. (Because I can tell it is firefox, it is hardly beyond all recognition.) It does not have a title bar, or the close/minimize/maximize buttons on its own. These graphical elements are called "window decorations" and are provided by the window decorator. In your case, the window decorator and window manager are one program, called kwin, which is a core element of KDE. You don't explicitly say, but I'm willing to bet no other windows at the time had their decorations either. It's hard to say why the window decorator died. It may have been because of the library from pic1 being missing. It may be because of propriatery plugins, like Yahoo's. You can easily get your window decorator back by logging out and back in. If the problem persists, before reinstallign the system, try logging in as root, removing your normal username, deleting the /home/username directory, and making a new user. Once rebooted does not appear to show any error. Please clarify what's wrong in this picture." >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> NOW: What Billy said about pic 1 _*I*_ did not do. THAT is what prompted me to try fixing this on my own..... However, there where some of the guys who worked on this computer at the meeting the other night and I have no idea what may have happened then as they were all using command line stuff. (You guys know who you are and maybe you can shed some light on what you tried and why?) What Billy said about Firefox is inexplicable to me since I have absolutely no way to resize the window when it opens nor can I move it by any means. All other windows appear and act the exact same way. Yahoo has nothing to do with it. I installed the Yahoo stuff on there a long time ago with _*NO*_ resulting problems. As a matter of fact, I've been using the laptop exclusively for internet browsing and e-mail for a couple of months now until this current problem showed up. The "Once rebooted" jpeg shows my desktop. It shows an EXTRA "Floppy" icon that just showed up there all by itself. I guess Billy forgot my explanation of that when he responded to me on that issue. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> NEXT: When I tried to do what Billy suggested I found that I could NOT do it. Somewhere a while back I mistakenly set a 'log box' to come up when I go into "Root". NOW that 'log box' hides where I need to navigate, appears as a BLANK box containing NOTHING, and hides the place to manually exit the Root window that is open. Because of this, I made the mistake of trying to boot into SAFE MODE. I'd didn't know it was yet another place where nothing but command line is allowed. In order to get out of it I had to MANUALLY shut off the computer by pressing the Power Button. NOW the computer will NOT even turn on!!! Every once in a while it makes a noise so my guess is that it is in a sort of 'sleep mode' or something. I have it UNplugged and am waiting for the battery to run out if this is the case. Otherwise I'll try to reboot the thing again tomarrow to see what happens then. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SO: Now you have all the sordid details that I can give at this point. Remember, Christopher ASKED for me to "try posting a more detail description of the issues" I'm having. Again, THANK YOU all in advance for any help you may be able to try to give me. Julie

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PCLOS Problems
by Julie 12 Jun '08

12 Jun '08

First I want to thank _*all*_ who have [in earnest] tried to help me. Now for answers to all who posted in Kclug Digest, Vol 47, Issue 9: --->Luke wrote: On Wednesday 11 June 2008, Julie wrote: > $64,000 QUESTION Do we really get $64,000 for answering?! ***Luke, here's a tiny little "clue" for you: Everyone likes a little @zz once in a while, but no one *really* likes a wize @zz. Capisce? --->Then Bradley wrote: Yes, in monopoly money. ***Thank you, Bradley, for the quick pick up on that! LOL! :)) :)) :)) --->Jeffery added his $.02 worth [and then some] with a good natured "lecture" on the fact that I need to learn the command line and why. ***...Nothing I didn't already realize on my own, though. ;) Gave me some much needed CLI information which I am _quite_ thankful for. He then asked if anyone knew 'of a good book or web tutorial for' me. GOOD IDEA, Jeffery! :D ***I had a friend of mine buy me Linux for Dummies last year. But it came with an _installation *ONLY*_ CD of Fedora 8 and is geared specifically to it. I still have it around because it does have SOME CLI in it. But I wonder if it applies to PCLOS ...or even *ubuntu??? Unfortunately, a free web tutorial is the only thing I can afford at this moment in time. :( --->Ron chimed in with: Unlike almost every other operating system, the command line in Unix is extremely useful and powerful. Command line in DOS/Windows is usually a much faster way to get things done. I still jump into it for a variety of OS things. MS got the message (pros prefer prompts) and improved their 'shell' via Windows PowerShell. ***Guys, I don't even know anything about WINDOZE CLI. :( ... ... ..."msconfig" and "regedit" is about it. :| --->Jeffery then answered Ron with: Yes, but the default shell SUCKS DONKEY NUTS. .....etc., etc., etc. ..... *** I must look up the term 'cmd.exe' and learn about THAT! ;) --->Christofer also answered Ron with: The irony here is that Microsoft's next server release is slated to include a GUI-less installation option. I can't imagine managing a Windows server without a GUI (I don't know, however, it it provides one when using Remote Desktop Client). ***I agree with Christofer about GUIs. But, then again, of COURSE I would because that's all I know right now. ] : ) --->Brian then informed us of our ISPs censorship practices in the fact that Time Warner, etc. are all going to cease allowing access to Usenet newsgroups. ***Thank you, Brian, for the heads up on that handy little tidbit of info! That's good to know... ;) But has it cleared snopes? LOL! ] : ) --->Then Bradley answered Jeffery's "lecture" to me with some GREAT info about a website where I can start TRYING to learn CLI. ***THANK YOU, once again, Bradley! I can't wait to wade into that site and see what I can do with it! :D >>>>>>>>> Now, before I could manage to get this sent off I get Kclug Digest, Vol 47, Issue 10. It contains this from David: The MS-DOS 2.0 (which could multitask a little: it could background printing, itt might have been able to do pipe chains) reference guide had an introductory section discussing command line file redirection operator semantics, in which MSDOS was described as a UNIX. I wish I still had that book around, I would like to scan the page and post it for reference by link at moments such as now ***MEEEE TWO! I shudder to think about the books I donated to charity when Larry died that I NEED now! I simply didn't know what they were and that I DID in fact need to keep them. <BLUSHING beet red!> >>>>>>>> Now, about my computer: Would ya'll like for me to just bring it to the next meeting so you can actually EYEBALL the thing to SEE what it's *doing*? Or should I just go ahead and *TRY* to do an OS re-install (by myself) so I can try to actually *USE* the thing to start learning from the web site Bradley provided. Right now that OS is all but completely FUBAR (to me anyway). Even though it'll boot up, I can't use it for anything at all. !!!!!THANK YOU all, once again, for all the help and suggestions you've given me. Sincerely, Julie P.S.: If this post looks weird, it's either Yahell acting up or something is going on with this Windoze machine of mine. I made the colossal mistake of trying Firefox on it. grrr!!!

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H - E - L - P ? ? ?
by Julie 10 Jun '08

10 Jun '08

My PCLOS is hosed. I have a l.o..o...o....n.....g description and a zip file full of JPEGs to send anyone who feels like trying to help me with it to see what is going on. If it looks too bad I'll just bring the thing to the meeting on the 17th for ya'll to see. Thanks in advance. L8rz, Julie

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Dueling rsync scripts?
by Greg Brooks 08 Jun '08

08 Jun '08

Hi all, quick question. Given an FTP server and directory tree on local machine X and an FTP server on remote machine Y, I understand that a cron'd rsync script might be the best way to keep changes on X mirrored up to Y. My questions: * Can I mirror the script in reverse so that changes on machine Y propagate back to X? (Perhaps running each script every other hour.) * Every now and then, an extraordinary number of files need to be transferred, so a script running once an hour (or whatever) could conceivably bump into another instance of itself running. Issues? For the curious, this is a temporary, partial workaround to my earlier bandwidth issues. By keeping a directory of local files updated remotely, we have the option of working on the files here [fast for us, miserable slow for outsiders who may want to get at them and work on them] or having freelancers work on them remotely [with faster access from our ISP-hosted FTP site]. Since work on the files is binary -- either a freelancer will work on them or we will, but not both -- having mirrored file trees seemed the way to go. Many thanks, Greg P.S. -- Congratulations to list member Nathan, who came and picked up the giant retro server yesterday. Nathan, thanks for freeing up approx. 100 square feet in my living room!

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HowTo: manage updates to Ubuntu offline, via memory key or CD/DVD?
by Leo Mauler 02 Jun '08

02 Jun '08

I'm about to set up two Linux PCs for the Alcott Arts Center (www.alcottartscenter.org) in KCK. One Linux PC will be running Edubuntu, and most of Project Gutenberg, for their library; another one will have regular Ubuntu or Kubuntu to be run in their office. These folks are so financially-strapped that the Center doesn't even have a phone turned on (the wires are there but the phone connection isn't active), let alone a broadband Internet connection. The "Alcott Arts Center" phone is actually a second line in the caretaker's house a block away. I've already booted up the laptop and determined there are no nearby WiFi hotspots. I'll run the updates before I pack up the PCs, but after I install them on-site there is no on-site method of downloading updates. Is there a way to give an Ubuntu update repository a list of installed software on another computer, and thus download updates for another system to be transferred to that system via memory key or even CD/DVD? I'll continue to have personal access to both PCs for maintenance.

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Re: VIA cpu motherboard combo (gOS motherboard)
by lerninlinux＠comcast.net 01 Jun '08

01 Jun '08

-------------- Original message ---------------------- From: "Jon Pruente" <jdpruente(a)gmail.com> > On Sat, May 31, 2008 at 11:27 AM, <lerninlinux(a)comcast.net> wrote: > > Has anyone tried either the Walmart PC, or specifically this motherboard? > > > > I have been thinking of getting one to build a file/backup/music server (only > functions, unless normal pc goes down, then troubleshoot), so the low power and > on all the time appeals to me. > > > I was going to suggest the Intel D201GLY2 mobo ( > http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/d201gly2/ ) but I just looke > dup the gPC at Wal-Mart and it's now on clearance for $150 down from > $199, if you can find a store carrying it. > > Jon. Jon, Where did you see the $150? It is still showing $199 as of 2:27 pm, that I see, but the motherboard (would need memory too), is $60 with processor. Thanks PS (not available in stores, after their non computer people kept returning them when Windows software wouldn't run, but can have shipped to store)

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VIA cpu motherboard combo (gOS motherboard)
by lerninlinux＠comcast.net 31 May '08

31 May '08

Has anyone tried either the Walmart PC, or specifically this motherboard? I have been thinking of getting one to build a file/backup/music server (only functions, unless normal pc goes down, then troubleshoot), so the low power and on all the time appeals to me. Thanks Randal

2 1

Article : Novell and Mono: The Kiss of Death to Free Software
by Arthur Pemberton 31 May '08

31 May '08

>From a transparently opinionated source: http://boycottnovell.com/2008/05/30/mono-gnome-and-moonlight/ I have to say, there are a lot of "Novel Microsoft" flash advertisements on the internet these days (didn't install Adblock on my work machine) -- Fedora 7 : sipping some of that moonshine ( www.pembo13.com )

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Re: Interesting Reading?
by Justin Dugger 29 May '08

29 May '08

On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 3:33 PM, Julie <betelgeuse67stang(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > As a noob to Linux I found these articles somewhat "interesting": > > -->Not Invented Here has no place in open source development IT Security > TechRepublic.com > > http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/security/?p=460&tag=nl.e036 > > -->Detect and replace vulnerable SSH keys on Debian IT Security > TechRepublic.com > > http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/security/?p=459&tag=nl.e036 > > wahdooya'l think? Jus' curyuss........ > I think it's silly what little effort it takes to call yourself a tech Journalist these days. He paints in broad strokes a bit with the traditional anti-patterns identified in corporate development. Debian developers did get in touch with upstream OpenSSL, despite OpenSSL's best efforts to hide. A member of the core team did get in touch, and suggested "if it makes debugging easier, I'm all for it". Since it wasn't the main list, few other developers saw it, and the Debian developer pushed the patch out. Upstream even agrees today with half of the patch in Debian, but the other half is clearly the wrong fix. Rather than remove the access to uninitialized memory, the reasonable thing seems be to initialize it. And the other example, I don't know as much about, but I do know that often one works around bugs in OSX simply because you have to. What's even crazier is when they change functionality in a major release, placing the burden on you to stop supporting older releases (the article's "right way") or forever carry a version #ifdef for the workaround. Calling this "NIH" is downright stupid and contradictory to everything Debian does. NIH is about rewriting everything from scratch because obviously anyone not in the organization is an idiot and can't be trusted. Here we had a developer who noticed something, created a fix, and failed to get enough eyes at it when he went looking for it. I think the important lesson here, and one Debian could do well to memorize, is to make sure your development process is open and accessible. Justin

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Interesting Reading?
by Julie 27 May '08

27 May '08

As a noob to Linux I found these articles somewhat "interesting": -->Not Invented Here has no place in open source development IT Security TechRepublic.com http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/security/?p=460&tag=nl.e036 -->Detect and replace vulnerable SSH keys on Debian IT Security TechRepublic.com http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/security/?p=459&tag=nl.e036 wahdooya'l think? Jus' curyuss........

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