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		<title>LinuxQuestions.org - Blogs</title>
		<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php</link>
		<description>LinuxQuestions.org offers a free Linux forum where Linux newbies can ask questions and Linux experts can offer advice. Topics include security, installation, networking and much more.</description>
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		<lastBuildDate>Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:03:50 GMT</lastBuildDate>
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			<title>LinuxQuestions.org - Blogs</title>
			<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php</link>
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		<item>
			<title>AIX5.3 java download</title>
			<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2394</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:43:55 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>How i can get JRE1.5 or JRE1.6 for AIX5.3</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>How i can get JRE1.5 or JRE1.6 for AIX5.3</div>

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			<dc:creator>sujit2106</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2394</guid>
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			<title>Partioning</title>
			<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2393</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:34:35 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>Now i have a solution and a problem at hand . i hv made the cd but do not know how to partion the disk. what do i do? 
Can you help</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>Now i have a solution and a problem at hand . i hv made the cd but do not know how to partion the disk. what do i do?<br />
Can you help</div>

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			<dc:creator>michlvlouis</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2393</guid>
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			<title>Not playing greeting when calling freepbx asterisk</title>
			<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2392</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:37:40 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[When calling no greeting played and getting  
 
Executing [""] 
    -- Hungup 'Zap/3-1' 
    -- Channel 0/2, span 1 got hangup request, cause 16 
   ...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>When calling no greeting played and getting <br />
<br />
Executing [&quot;&quot;]<br />
    -- Hungup 'Zap/3-1'<br />
    -- Channel 0/2, span 1 got hangup request, cause 16<br />
    -- Hungup 'Zap/2-1<br />
<br />
Its ringing the number we dial but it suppose to play greeting then user dial the number. But its going straight to ringing.</div>

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			<dc:creator>AD123</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2392</guid>
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			<title>Mythbuntu 9.10 (karmic)</title>
			<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2390</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:24:30 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>I have been running mythbuntu for a few days on a Gigabyte EP45T-UD3L motherboard, Hauppauge HVR-2200...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>I have been running mythbuntu for a few days on a Gigabyte EP45T-UD3L motherboard, <a href="http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2352">Hauppauge HVR-2200</a> and nVidia GeForce 9400 GT, and it performs nicely.<br />
<br />
It is housed in a SilverStone HTPC case, which is currently sitting on the floor waiting to be migrated into the TV display &quot;cabinet&quot;.<br />
<br />
It is controlled by an MS USB MCE remote.<br />
<br />
I did get some tearing with VDPAU, but fixed it by <a href="http://blog.mymediasystem.net/avchd/vdpau-without-tearing/" target="_blank">disabling the composite extension in xorg</a>.<br />
<br />
There are two annoyances I came across:<ol style="list-style-type: decimal"><li>Importing record data required that I correct many schedules.</li>
<li>Multirec ignores global start early / end late settings if they result in overlapping recordings.</li>
</ol><br />
Number 1.<br />
Note: ABC1 and ABC-HD have the same content; the HD is not simply upconverted SD.<br />
<br />
The record table has two &quot;channel&quot; type of fields - chanid and station.  Many of the programmes I imported were on the SD broadcast, and changing the chanid to the HD broadcast did not cause the scheduler to make the correction.  Modifying the station also made no difference, and nothing changed after a reboot.<br />
I worked around this by setting the schedule to be on any channel, and the scheduler correctly picked up both programme broadcasts.  I was then able to change the schedule by selecting &quot;Record at any time on channel ....&quot;.<br />
It would be nice to have a drop box with all the channels to select from.<br />
<br />
Number 2.<br />
I have globally set recordings to start 5 minutes early and 15 minutes later.  <a href="http://jhauser.dyndns.org:8080/archives/html//mythtv-users/2008-03/msg01212.html" target="_blank">Multirec ignores this in favour of the settings on each recording</a>.<br />
It would be nice to have the option.  It never occurred to me that this use case would not be supported.<br />
<br />
<br />
If you have a fileserver providing cifs shares, you will need to install smbclient (I also installed smbfs as well).  <a href="http://lists.samba.org/archive/samba/2006-October/126587.html" target="_blank">If you are using a credentials file, mount.cifs is needed</a>.  Otherwise you get the &quot;wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on&quot; error.</div>

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			<dc:creator>Caysho</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2390</guid>
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			<title>home directory size  monitoring script</title>
			<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2389</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:15:53 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>newbie here. am doing script on monitoring my directory /home that if it gets greater or equal to 86, then it will prompt me overload, else its fine....</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>newbie here. am doing script on monitoring my directory /home that if it gets greater or equal to 86, then it will prompt me overload, else its fine.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
please help what's wrong with my script. thanks<br />
<br />
<br />
SIZE='df -h /home | /bin/awk '{ print $5 }' | grep -v Use% | sed '/%//''<br />
if [ $SIZE &gt;=  &quot;86&quot; ]; then<br />
echo &quot;overload&quot;<br />
else<br />
echo &quot;ok&quot;<br />
fi<br />
<br />
Allan</div>

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			<dc:creator>allancuntapay</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2389</guid>
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			<title>Simple Shell Script Calculator</title>
			<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2388</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:59:12 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[---Quote (Originally by anirudhm)--- 
Hi, 
Cant we try simple calculator script as below: 
:) 
 
echo "enter first number" 
read a 
echo "enter...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div style="margin:20px; margin-top:5px; ">
	<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px">Quote:</div>
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				<div>
					Originally Posted by <strong>anirudhm</strong>
					<a href="showthread.php?p=3746602#post3746602" rel="nofollow"><img class="inlineimg" src="http://e1h7.simplecdn.net/lqcdn/images/questions/images/buttons/viewpost.gif" border="0" alt="View Post" /></a>
				</div>
				<div style="font-style:italic">Hi,<br />
Cant we try simple calculator script as below:<br />
:)<br />
<br />
echo &quot;enter first number&quot;<br />
read a<br />
echo &quot;enter second number&quot;<br />
read b<br />
echo &quot;enter operand&quot;<br />
read c<br />
calc=`expr</div>
			
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</div> $a &quot;$c&quot; $b`<br />
echo the result is $calc[/quote]</div>

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			<dc:creator>anirudhm</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2388</guid>
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			<title>Phone calls from Microsoft</title>
			<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2387</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:26:26 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>Pretty funny stuff, in a sad sort of way.   
...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>Pretty funny stuff, in a sad sort of way.  <br />
<br />
<a href="http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistasecurity/thread/4489f388-d6de-416d-9158-0079764bb001" target="_blank">http://social.answers.microsoft.com/...8-0079764bb001</a><br />
<br />
I can't believe that people fall for this.  Why would Microsoft call someone to tell them they have a virus?  Although, the script they use is somewhat humorous. <br />
 &quot;Are you online now?&quot; - followed by  &quot;Is your computer running slowly?&quot;<br />
<br />
The sad part is that I have a mother in law that who I just realized would probably fall for something like this.</div>

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			<dc:creator>pereb</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2387</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA["Slackware Linux assumes you're smart."]]></title>
			<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2386</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:56:24 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>I use Slackware Linux at home, where I play systems administrator for my wife and me -- and eventually our child(ren, after the next one is born in...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>I use Slackware Linux at home, where I play systems administrator for my wife and me -- and eventually our child(ren, after the next one is born in December). I'm going to quote <a href="http://www.linux-mag.com/cache/7502/1.html" target="_blank">an interview with Alien Bob</a> to explain why I use Slackware:<br />
<br />
<div style="margin:20px; margin-top:5px; ">
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				To me, Slackware’s philosophy has a different angle that sets it apart from all the others. To this day, Slackware has an extremely lean design, intended to make you experience Linux the way the software authors intended. This is accomplished by applying patches as little as possible - preferably for stability or compatibility reasons only. Slackware’s package manager (yes, it has one, pkgtools!) stays out of your way by not forcing dependency resolution. And the clean, well-documented system scripts (written in bash instead of ruby) allow for a large degree of control over how your system functions. Slackware does not try to assume or anticipate. The installer is still console-based, but it uses dialogs, menus and buttons nevertheless. Not depending on X during installation, Slackware’s installer is rock-solid, a statement which I can not repeat for the other distros I use. When you login for the first time after a fresh install you will end in the console instead of X. No assumptions are being made about what your intended use for Slackware is. This comes as a shock to many unsuspecting users, but it is the start of a learning experience.<br />
<br />
I am well aware that the above statements are often perceived as negative, but in fact they make Slackware into a versatile tool that is adaptable to many needs. And yet, like any modern-day Linux distro, it fully recognizes and utilizes your hardware by virtue of the same kernel, Hal, D-Bus, X.Org and a truckload of other applications that the big distros ship as well. Slackware does not live in the stone age of computing. It is strong and thrives. It is lean and speedy.<br />
<br />
The testimonials of ‘converted’ Slackware users at LinuxQuestions.org and other forums show that Slackware’s philosophy of giving full trust to the system admin is an eye-opener to people who struggled with the other distros before. This continuous influx of ‘converts’ is one of the reasons that Slackware has not disappeared into oblivion. Slackware assumes you are smart! This appeals to people.
			
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</div>Eric put it much better than I have in the past. Saying that &quot;Slackware stays out of my way,&quot; or &quot;There's no dependency hell&quot; really doesn't say much. Rather, it is a relief that all the systems maintenance and administration tasks are transparent. I check the changelog and download updates when I need to do so. I seldom update versions of programs (like Open Office) unless there is a security fix or I really want to update.<br />
<br />
This approach gives Slackware users a lot of freedom and the responsibility to go with it. In contrast, OpenSUSE and Ubuntu (the two other Linux distributions I've tried) both have tools that automate updating the system and other software, but sacrifice freedom for ease of use. For example, it seemed that every time I started up my laptop with OpenSUSE, it pointed out updates (including kernel updates!) that were available. What it didn't readily show was why I would want to apply those updates. <br />
<br />
So, now I have the freedom and the responsibility to update my system on my own schedule, and you know what? I don't always update it. Sometimes good enough is good enough. I'll get into my reasons in another blog post, but for right now I'll end with the observation that I would rather have configuration and maintenance be transparent but require some learning, than easy but opaque.</div>

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			<dc:creator>Lufbery</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2386</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[The 6th ArchToad's Laws of Scripting]]></title>
			<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2385</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:25:17 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[_Preface_ 
"Clarity, Brevity, Generality"  
Paterned after the "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egalite) of the French...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><u>Preface</u><br />
&quot;Clarity, Brevity, Generality&quot; <br />
Paterned after the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egalite" target="_blank">&quot;Liberté, égalité, fraternité&quot;</a> of the French Revolution, these are the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripartite_motto" target="_blank">watch words</a> with which I introduced a presentation on programming I gave to HLUG (H=Houston) about 4 years ago.  I quote them here, 1st because they are appropriate, &amp; 2nd because I want my copyright &amp; other intellectual property claim on the public record.  <br />
  <br />
I have strong opinions on programming, especially scripting &amp; this is my attempt to set some of them down.  <br />
  <br />
<u>Background</u><br />
This blog entry was triggered by <a href="http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?p=3745723#post3745723">this post</a> of mine.  I got to end of what I was writing, &amp; realized that I was going off on a tangent/rant that didn't belong in the thread, but deserved to be preserved.  <br />
<div style="margin:20px; margin-top:5px; ">
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				I probably would have made &quot;$LIVECDLABEL&quot; something like &quot;$LABEL&quot; on the theory that the whole thing is about burning a live CD, so &quot;LIVECD&quot; is redundant.  I know the idea of short variables flies in the face of C programmers practice, but I think that it works in a <b>bash</b> scripting environment.  <br />
. . .  <br />
[formula moved &amp; expanded]
			
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</div>  The formula I did not post is now:  <br />
  <br />
<u>The Law of Maximum Variable Length</u><br />
Variables should be as short as possible -- brevity; w/o becoming confusing -- clarity.  <br />
<br />
<div style="margin:20px; margin-top:5px">
	<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px">Code:</div>
	<pre class="bbcodeblock" dir="ltr" style="
		margin: 0px;
		margin-right: -99999px;
		padding: 3px;
		border: 1px inset;
		width: 98%;
		height: 34px;
		text-align: left;
		overflow: auto">l(V) = s(V)^X / f(V)^Y * Z</pre>
</div>where:  <br />
l(V) is the minimum allowable length in letters of variable V<br />
s(V) is the span in lines of variable V  <br />
f(V) is the frequency of variable V<br />
X, Y, Z are yet-to-be-determined empirical constants  <br />
  <br />
The &quot;math&quot; is tongue in cheek, but the idea is serious.  I believe that shorter tokens are easier to understand.  I think there a psychological studies that show that this is true.  If any reader knows of any, please post a link.  <br />
  <br />
  <br />
<u>The Law of Capitalization</u>  <br />
Unless the scripting language has a specific convention to the contrary, the names of variables should be all UPPERCASE.  (It's not shouting because the names are short.  :))  <br />
  <br />
  <br />
<u>The Law of Standard Variable Length</u><br />
All similar variables should have the same number of characters; even if some must be unnaturally lengthened:  &quot;INN &amp; OUT&quot; or  &quot;IN_ &amp; OUT&quot;.  This aids in following the Law of Alignment.  <br />
  <br />
  <br />
<u>The Law of Alignment</u><br />
Insert extra space to make things line up -- it's easier to read.  This kind of &quot;easier to read&quot; is also quicker to read &amp; w/ better comprehension.  <br />
  <br />
  <br />
<u>The Law of Indenting</u><br />
All logical blocks should be indented.  (Python indenting syntax should be adopted by all remotely similar languages.  The ideal indent is 3 spaces.  2 &amp; 4 are acceptable.  1 space indenting can be used in an extreme case (HTML examples come to mind.)  5 or more spaces are unnecessary.  Tabs are an abomination because they cause eyesores, &amp; because they mess block mode in some text editors.  Fortunately <b>pr -t -e</b> (RT:)M <b>pr</b>) can fix this.  See the section &quot;Code block 4&quot; in <a href="http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?p=3745723#post3745723">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...23#post3745723</a>  <br />
  <br />
  <br />
Enough for now, maybe more later ...</div>

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			<dc:creator>archtoad6</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2385</guid>
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			<title>Still a N00b</title>
			<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2384</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:30:44 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[I'm one of those Linux users who would like Linux to operate more like, at least in appearance and functionality, Windoze.  I've been having a great...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>I'm one of those Linux users who would like Linux to operate more like, at least in appearance and functionality, Windoze.  I've been having a great time with Ubuntu, using it regularly since 8.04 Hardy Heron.  I still don't know many of the ins and outs of Linux or even Ubuntu, as I'm more of a user than a programmer or administrator.  If someone tells me to go into Terminal and enter ____, I can copy and paste, run it, and report the results, but that's about as deep as I get.<br />
<br />
The main problem with tutorials is that they don't usually address whatever distro I'm using, and the distro is updated too frequently for a book on the subject to be valid for long.  The main problem with my using tutorials to learn Linux is my severe lack of time, due to the many things I am doing in the Real World (which includes a lot of time online with friends and such).<br />
<br />
Which would beg the question, what am I doing on LQ?  Good question. What's the answer?  Dunno.  <br />
<br />
Most of my issues are with software -- such as, why do all open document programs (OOo, AbiWord, KWord, etc.) use the same awful conversion program to convert DOC to RTF?  OOo has noted the problem and stated they are not intending to correct it, and I certainly don't have the skills to do anything about it.  If someone would fix this one issue, I would never need to use Windoze again.</div>

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			<dc:creator>zaivala</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2384</guid>
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			<title>On Slackware and Unix Idealism</title>
			<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2383</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:30:08 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[My first foray into Linux was in 1997 when a cousin handed me a CD and said, "Go for it." Well, he didn't offer any help other than that, and being a...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>My first foray into Linux was in 1997 when a cousin handed me a CD and said, &quot;Go for it.&quot; Well, he didn't offer any help other than that, and being a Win95/3.1 user who had only begun to get into computers, that didn't fly. But after the release of Red Hat 6, I tried again. I got further in that, mostly because they were making an effort to make it installable for newbies who knew squat about Unix. Still, though, I quickly got discouraged by such lofty topics as printer setup and getting the damn sound card to work properly. <br />
<br />
So, I left that sitting.<br />
<br />
I kept using Win98SE until after XP came out. By that time Microsoft and software companies were withdrawing support for 98SE, and I never appreciated their anti-piracy efforts with XP, having taken part in the beta testing. It was just too invasive for my preferences. Plus, I didn't want to keep spending the big dollars on hardware/software upgrades. The time had come to really have a stab at Linux. Fortunately, I was then renting with a real geek. The kinda dude they emulated Matt Damon's character from &quot;Good Will Hunting&quot; off. He wasn't particularly a unix guy, but he sure understood computers. With a bit of help from him I began with Mandrake Linux (Mandriva today). I kept wasting time, reading, and in general destroying one install after another. I toyed with different distros, but mainly kept with Mandrake and Suse.<br />
<br />
Then there was Slackware. <br />
<br />
The trouble with the Swiss-Army-knife distros then and now is their GUIs. As my buddy put it, &quot;I hate GUIs which take forever to do a simple command line operation.&quot; And he was right. But, they do have their place. Without that launching off point I would probably be using Windows today. They bridged the gap between my Windows mindset and Unix ideals. And it was precisely because of those frustrations with GUIs, scratching my head with no clue what to do when one froze or didn't work, that I first, hesitantly, installed Slackware. <br />
<br />
Well, hot damn! Here was a distro which didn't rebrand everything in sight, kept it simple with text configuration files, and even commented those files. I realised that I hardly knew anything about GNU/Linux, but did I ever start. (It was at this point that I completely relinquished Windows on my computers.) I can't say enough for the ideals of Slackware and Patrick. If it wasn't for his distro, I'm not sure whether I would have ever gotten into the nuts and bolts of CLI usage. Slackware is everything good that people say it is. I stayed almost exclusively with it through versions 10.x to 11 before diving into something even worse: FreeBSD. I used FreeBSD from about 6.1 to 6.3, but my curiosity kept me looking around, and I decided to poke about with Debian.<br />
<br />
It was at that point that I really saw how pathetic most online GNU/Linux documentation is when contrasted with BSD docs. (I know. Proper documenting is a LOT of work and investigation.) Seriously though, when I do an online search for a solution to a GNU/Linux problem, I expect to get ten answers and throw nine of them out. Not only that, but six of the nine are so blatantly wrong that I don't even begin to investigate them. While I realise that the Linux development attitude is very different from *BSD, it is still something of a point of aggravation. Most BSD folks are not snobs, they are just obsessed with getting it exactly right. That's good and bad, just like Linux development.<br />
<br />
Then, around 2007, I became seriously discouraged with the whole Open Source movement. It didn't seem to matter where I looked or what I tried, there were always these enormous pros and cons. I just about came to the point of abandoning the whole endeavour, and that actually saved me. Because I was sick of poking about with this development or that, I left Debian 4.0, &quot;Etch&quot;, alone on my hard drive for quite a while. Alone, meaning that was all I used. And finally, after all that bouncing around, I learned something invaluable. You have to spend t-i-m-e with a distro to really learn how to unleash it. <br />
<br />
I'm very happy that I stuck with Debian.<br />
<br />
For me, political science and history define many of my pursuits and studies. Naturally, that included my decisions with operating systems. I've already stated that Microsoft's methodologies became too restrictive for me, and consequently as I tried different *nix systems I spent a lot of time reading about their development paths. It's fascinating history, if you're into that sort of thing. In the end, politics was what actually most influenced me to try Debian. I was and am absolutely intrigued. Yes, it's their code of ethics, their purpose, their governance. But much more than that, it works, which is just weird.<br />
<br />
I've also searched into that ridiculously contentious topic: copyright/copyleft agreements. What's funny is how people get so irritated about it when each camp is trying to ensure freedom of choice. BSD or GPL? The BSD license is truer to the theoretical definition of freedom: that is, you can actually do whatever you want with it. Are you a software company building proprietary products to make a profit in the traditional sense of business? Your choices are obvious. Are you a developer who deeply believes in the free-flow of information, one discovery enabling the next? Well, it's not quite so obvious. Ideally, software becomes better through sharing, like science, art, and writing. I hope to always advocate for the free-flow of information, yet I also see the need for protecting an edge in business. So, it's more circular than linear. I don't recall ever reading a heated discussion where the tension comes from both sides trying to accommodate the other. <br />
<br />
That's not so ridiculous as it sounds at first glance. Tension is unavoidable. We are human beings, often with strong opinions. But if I realise that you have a valid point, and you realise the same about me, the argument shouldn't be about survival in single combat. We both need each other. Trying to accommodate both principles at once, which is what does or should happen in the real world, is what makes it such a point of contention. We are rather complex beings with (often) simplistic desires. Get used to it.<br />
<br />
Since I don't want to end this sounding like I'm yelling or denouncing people, I'm writing this paragraph using a fancy GUI (KDE's Kate), on a simple GUI (Fluxbox), on Debian 5.0, &quot;Lenny&quot;. At some point in the future I would like to better investigate OpenBSD, but for the time being I'm sticking with Debian, although I may also install Slackware. My only point of contention is apparently with Linux proper. Formerly, Debian 4, &quot;Etch&quot;, kernel 2.6.18, worked flawlessly with my ACPI implemention, but 5.0, &quot;Lenny&quot;, kernel 2.6.26, refuses to co-operate. My hardware is ancient Greece, by today's artificial standards. BUT, it did work perfectly. I would like to figure this out, since acpi=off is a poor substitute for something working properly, although it does the job. But hey, suspend to RAM on APM works better than it ever did with ACPI, so there's always something.<br />
<br />
One more shot for the good guys. ;) At least my computer works with Lenny. On FreeBSD 7.x, if I enable ACPI and then plug in my old Xircom ethernet/modem card, the system does a hard lockup, every time.<br />
<br />
Keep studying.<br />
<br />
ofaring</div>

]]></content:encoded>
			<dc:creator>ofaring</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2383</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title>Online Radio Fun</title>
			<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2382</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:05:29 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[In the spirit of old hardware and minimalism I've set up my fave radio stations in a little bash script. Perhaps not the most elegant solution, but...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>In the spirit of old hardware and minimalism I've set up my fave radio stations in a little bash script. Perhaps not the most elegant solution, but it works for me. Especially since I employ <a href="http://debian-multimedia.org/" target="_blank">Debian Multimedia's</a> mplayer-nogui package.<br />
<br />
<div style="margin:20px; margin-top:5px">
	<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px">Code:</div>
	<pre class="bbcodeblock" dir="ltr" style="
		margin: 0px;
		margin-right: -99999px;
		padding: 3px;
		border: 1px inset;
		width: 98%;
		height: 498px;
		text-align: left;
		overflow: auto">#!/bin/bash
#
# &quot;Radio.sh&quot; An online radio station list/script from ofaring @ linuxquestions.org
#
OPTIONS=&quot;Pure.DJ DI.Trance Proton.Radio Bassdrive MTH.House DI.C.Techno Tags.Trance.Trip Dark.Wax Trance.Ah ----- &quot;
OPTIONS=&quot;${OPTIONS}Bluemars.Ambient DI.Chillout Groove.Salad Secret.Agent ----- &quot;
OPTIONS=&quot;${OPTIONS}Lush.SomaFM Radio.Paradise ----- &quot;
OPTIONS=&quot;${OPTIONS}Mostly.Classical Quit&quot;
select opt in $OPTIONS; do
 if [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;Pure.DJ&quot; ]; then
	mplayer http://81.23.249.40:8000 # http://www.puredj.com/etc/pls/128K.pls #
  	exit
  elif [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;DI.Trance&quot; ]; then
	mplayer http://scfire-dtc-aa01.stream.aol.com:80/stream/1003 # http://di.fm/mp3/trance.pls #
  	exit
  elif [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;Proton.Radio&quot; ]; then
        mplayer http://scfire-ntc-aa03.stream.aol.com:80/stream/1041 # http://protonradio.com/proton.m3u #
  	exit
  elif [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;Bassdrive&quot; ]; then
        mplayer http://aol.streams.bassdrive.com:8008 # http://www.bassdrive.com/v2/streams/BassDrive.m3u #
  	exit
  elif [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;MTH.House&quot; ]; then
        mplayer http://stream.mth-house.de:8500 # http://stream.mth-house.de:8500/listen.pls #
        exit
  elif [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;DI.C.Techno&quot; ]; then
        mplayer http://205.188.215.225:8004 # http://di.fm/mp3/classictechno.pls #
        exit
  elif [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;Tags.Trance.Trip&quot; ]; then
        mplayer http://205.188.215.230:8012 # http://somafm.com/tagstrance.pls #
        exit
  elif [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;Trance.Ah&quot; ]; then
	mpalyer http://ca.ah.fm:9000 # http://www.ah.fm/192k.m3u #
	exit
  elif [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;Dark.Wax&quot; ]; then
	mplayer http://217.168.150.207:8000/listen # http://www.darkwaxradio.com/listen.m3u #
	exit
### ---------------------------------- ###
  elif [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;Bluemars.Ambient&quot; ]; then
        mplayer http://207.200.96.225:8020 # http://207.200.96.225:8020/listen.pls #
        exit
  elif [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;DI.Chillout&quot; ]; then
        mplayer http://scfire-ntc-aa01.stream.aol.com:80/stream/1035 # http://di.fm/mp3/chillout.pls #
        exit
  elif [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;Groove.Salad&quot; ]; then
        mplayer http://streamer-ntc-aa04.somafm.com:80/stream/1018 # http://www.somafm.com/groovesalad.pls #
        exit
  elif [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;Secret.Agent&quot; ]; then
        mplayer http://streamer-dtc-aa03.somafm.com:80/stream/1021 # http://somafm.com/secretagent.pls #
        exit
### -------------------------------- ###
  elif [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;Lush.SomaFM&quot; ]; then
        mplayer http://streamer-ntc-aa01.somafm.com:80/stream/1073 # http://somafm.com/lush.pls #
        exit
  elif [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;Radio.Paradise&quot; ]; then
        mplayer http://scfire-ntc-aa04.stream.aol.com:80/stream/1048 # http://www.radioparadise.com/musiclinks/rp_128.m3u #
        exit
### -------------------------------- ###
elif [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;Mostly.Classical&quot; ]; then
        mplayer http://scfire-mtc-aa02.stream.aol.com:80/stream/1006 # http://www.sky.fm/mp3/classical.pls #
        exit
### ---------------------- ###
  elif [ &quot;$opt&quot; = &quot;Quit&quot; ]; then
  	exit
  else
	echo 'Wrong, sucka!'
 fi
done</pre>
</div>The usual rules apply. Copy/paste it as (really, whatever you like) &quot;Radio.sh&quot;. Move it to your preferred location. Chmod 777 it, or change the ownership to your regular user and chmod 700 it. Give'r. E.G.:<br />
<div style="margin:20px; margin-top:5px">
	<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px">Code:</div>
	<pre class="bbcodeblock" dir="ltr" style="
		margin: 0px;
		margin-right: -99999px;
		padding: 3px;
		border: 1px inset;
		width: 98%;
		height: 66px;
		text-align: left;
		overflow: auto"># mv Radio.sh /opt/bin
# chmod 777 Radio.sh
% Radio.sh</pre>
</div>Or simply put it somewhere safe, and: <br />
<div style="margin:20px; margin-top:5px">
	<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px">Code:</div>
	<pre class="bbcodeblock" dir="ltr" style="
		margin: 0px;
		margin-right: -99999px;
		padding: 3px;
		border: 1px inset;
		width: 98%;
		height: 66px;
		text-align: left;
		overflow: auto">% cd your_save_location
% chmod 700
% ./Radio.sh</pre>
</div>Obviously you are better off with a console version of mplayer or something similar. I used mpg123 for quite a while, but I find mplayer more robust.<br />
<br />
One of the reasons I appreciate Debian is its flexibility. When I install KDE or GNOME software through apt-get, I can verify that I'm getting the bare minimum of dependencies required to run that program. Awesome. Especially when you know that my Linux fun began with fat distros like (at the time called) Mandrake and Suse. I may still respect their efforts, but their newest versions would barely run on my old hardware today. No diss intended, but this flexibility even beats Slackware.<br />
<br />
Remember that I run old hardware. <br />
<br />
I could pick through the KDE sources and build minimal versions of KDE and Qt to run the KDE programs which I use. Of course the build takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r. (Intel never intended a 400MHz Celeron processor with 192Mb of RAM to compile bloated modern software.) And then I have to hope that everything is kosher, 'cause I ain't in the mood to spend three days just supplying dependencies for, let's say, the Opera web browser. (Version 10 kicks ass, by the way. It seems to have solved stability issues which version 9 had introduced.)<br />
<br />
So, the fact that I'm able to choose between the normal mplayer install with a gui included and a version without the gui - 'cause I never use it anyway - is very Debian-minimalist like.</div>

]]></content:encoded>
			<dc:creator>ofaring</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2382</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title>/* no comment */</title>
			<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2381</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:32:50 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[I don't even know what to type out for this blog...I mean, I know what I want to say...I just don't know **how** to go about wording it.  See, I've...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>I don't even know what to type out for this blog...I mean, I know what I want to say...I just don't know **how** to go about wording it.  See, I've been under the impression that Microsoft and vendors who utilize Microsoft products write easy to use operating systems and software suites.  Today I noticed something strikingly similar to &quot;Linux user-unfriendliness&quot;.<br />
<br />
Now, I personally don't care what the user-friendly camp says.  The only argument that makes ANY sense is that the more friendly the software is, the bigger the user base, and that leads to more attention from hardware vendors in the form of drivers.  Ok, I can live with that argument...it makes sense...but every other pansy cry for more user-friendliness is void and null, IMHO.  (Feel free to disagree).  And the hardware driver argument is pretty lame, too, considering most Linux users watch the HCL's pretty closely...<br />
<br />
So don't take this posting as a whine about Windows or Linux...think of this as an apples-to-apples comparison.<br />
<br />
To get to the actual event that took place, I was setting up two Dell machines today for BusinessObjects installations (quite possibly the one company I despise more than Microsoft), and I had to install PERC6/E drivers.  Now, I'll give you that we're in a vastly different environment here from typical user-friendly-Windows environments...but follow the logic here:  I download the driver, which is an executable, and transfer it to the server.  I perform the typical Windows &quot;double-click-it&quot; installation, and I'm shocked to see that the executable simply unpacked itself and then opened the directory where it placed the files!  No fancy automatic driver install.  No fancy graphics to look at while I wait.  Nothing.<br />
<br />
I stared at the screen in disbelief for a few moments...whaa??  You mean I have to **do something**?!<br />
<br />
Then it hit me.  Here I am, in a Windows environment, albeit a professional server environment, and the software vendor is expecting me to exercise some intelligence in figuring out how to get this driver installed (well, ok...they are expecting me to RTFM).  I open the README, scroll to the appropriate location, and start reading.  I end up pulling up the Device Manager, right-clicking the device that isn't configured, and click &quot;Update driver&quot;.  I follow the screens, tell it where to find the drivers that were unpacked a few moments ago, and click &quot;ok&quot;.<br />
<br />
Now, many of you will disagree with this next thought, but how can the people at Dell get away with a driver installer as crappy as this one?  Simple:  I'm a sysadmin (not a Windows one, but that's besides the point).  It's expected that I be able to figure things out for myself.  How is that **any** different from Linux?  Sure, there are user-friendly distros out there, but in the days before Ubuntu or Mint or whatever, Linux was viewed as an environment where users were expected to utilize intelligence in operating the system.  The user-friendly crusade has **ruined** that about the Linux community.<br />
<br />
I've since moved on to OpenBSD (as long as Theo is in charge there, users will be expected to use their intelligence to operate the system), but it's always been an issue I think when an operating system pushes the user-friendliness envelope to the point it starts sacrificing stability, security, and reliability.  You need look no further than Linus' thoughts on the &quot;masterbating monkeys&quot; on the OpenBSD side of the world to see how far Linus is willing to go to sacrifice security.  <br />
<br />
Call me an elitist prick, but that's how I see it.</div>

]]></content:encoded>
			<dc:creator>rocket357</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2381</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title>Microsoft Courier</title>
			<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2380</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:20:24 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>Say what you want about Microsoft, but they are having quite a good 2009. First came the revamped Zune HD, then came Windows 7, and now…Microsoft...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>Say what you want about Microsoft, but they are having quite a good 2009. First came the revamped Zune HD, then came Windows 7, and now…Microsoft Courier.<br />
<br />
What is it you ask? Well with the craze in e-book readers lately and the advancement in “touch” technology, the Courier is a “tablet” engineered by Microsoft themselves. However, Microsoft refers to their new project as a “booklet” instead of a tablet because…well it is designed like a book. The current design of the Courier has the “booklet” rocking two 7 inch screens that support multi-touch gestures and can be used with a tablet pen. The middle/spine of the “booklet” has a iPhone-esque “home” button and a “Library” button. In my opinion, the <a href="http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2009/11/500x_courierinterface__080.jpg" target="_blank">leaked pictures</a> of the Courier show a beautifully designed product that makes you wonder “what-if” Microsoft designed their own products.<br />
<br />
The functionality of the Courier aims to combine media, e-books, and productivity (such as taking notes, creating a presentation, designing, PDF, etc.) in one “journal” format. The multi-touch gestures let you search, move, copy, clip, zoom, and probably more. The clip, tuck, &amp; paste feature is one of the most innovative UI features as it allows you to “clip” something (a picture for example) and “tuck” it to the spine of the “booklet” where you can copy or move the item to either side of the screen. Another great feature so far is the”smart” tablet pen that is designed to have two buttons, an eraser, and a twisting mechanism. Pressing the front button on the pen lets you quickly choose different pens and colors. The twisting mechanism probably brings up a more robust set of drawing tools. The eraser is straightforward, while the top button is a dedicated “undo” button. From watching the demo, the pen is so natural that users will not have to guess about the pen. It may not be new to tablet users but with the added multi-touch gestures, the pen is bound to be a workhorse. The UI uses a lot of Cover Flow to access content, moving page to page is as easy as “flipping,” and the “Library” is the main file system to access all your files. Lastly there is hints that this product will rely on cloud computing. So lets say you create a presentation in San Francisco and your clients in Chicago need it, just publish your presentation and they can access it. It probably is not a surprise to say that powering the OS is Windows 7. My first impression from the demo alone show that the Courier is trying to take the guesswork out of how to use it. It just seems to work and feel natural so that users can get to work quickly and efficiently.<br />
<br />
Since Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer claimed he did not know of Courier, consumers probably will not be seeing this product on the market right away. Gizmodo and CNET say that Courier is projected for a mid-2010 release but still has to undergo further in-depth testing. As of now, Courier probably does not apply to everyone but expect journalists, project managers, designers, e-book readers, and students to make up the bulk of users.<br />
<br />
…hell if Ford can turn in profit, why can’t Microsoft design their own gorgeous products?</div>

]]></content:encoded>
			<dc:creator>pereb</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2380</guid>
		</item>
		<item>
			<title>How to install vmware server 2.0.x in Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic)</title>
			<link>http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2379</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:55:36 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>VMware Server is a free virtualization product for Windows and Linux servers with enterprise-class support and VirtualCenter management. VMware...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>VMware Server is a free virtualization product for Windows and Linux servers with enterprise-class support and VirtualCenter management. VMware Server is a robust yet easy to use server virtualization product and is based on <br />
proven virtualization technology, which has been used by thousands of customers for many years.This tutorial will <br />
explain how to install vmware server 2.0.x in Ubuntu 9.10<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-install-vmware-server-2-0-x-in-ubuntu-9-10-karmic.html" target="_blank">Full Story</a></div>

]]></content:encoded>
			<dc:creator>sridhar11</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog.php?b=2379</guid>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
