April 2003 - WLUG - wlug.mailman3.com

gentoo

by Marc Hughes

What's people's experience with gentoo? I'm thinking of upgrading one of my boxes to it in the near future. This is a box I really mess around with, so how bleeding edge can I get? Is it easy to keep some packages at stable releases, and some at unstable, or is it more of an all or nothing thing? I guess what I want is, a way of trying the newest stuff, but an easy way of going back to stable when I'm horrified with how buggy the newest stuff is. Also... for the stable releases... how secure has the distro been as a whole? Comments, horror stories, massive praise? -Marc

April 15, 2003

printing problem

by Bill Mills-Curran

I'm trying to configure my LPRng print queue to add a banner page to my print job. OS: Red Hat 8.0 Printer/driver: The printer is a Postscript network printer, using the Lexmark 4039 10 plus driver. I'm able to print just fine. I followed the instructions in /usr/share/doc/redhat-config-printer-0.4.24/README for hijacking a printconf spool. Then I added this to the printcap.local: :bp=/usr/libexec/filters/psbanner:\ However, I can't get the a banner page. What am I doing wrong? TIA, Bill

April 15, 2003

RE: [Wlug] computer fair

by George Metz

> -----Original Message----- > From: wlug-admin(a)mail.wlug.org [mailto:wlug-admin@mail.wlug.org]On > Behalf Of Gary Hanley > Sent: Friday, April 11, 2003 3:13 PM > To: wlug > Subject: Re: [Wlug] computer fair > > Those computer shows are nothing like they used to be, and that is > not because the shows have changed but more because the PC market has. (Snip) > Now that the market is in a slump and the shelf life for the latest > and greatest hardware is probably 6 months, you can't get the deals > at these shows that you once could. And also because there is so much > competition at the hardware manufacturing level (motherboards, graphics > cards, memory and now even CPUs) the margins are fraction of what they > once were. Specifically about the Worcester show, which I went to not long ago, I picked up a Duron 1.3GHz to upgrade my system. Stupid me, the board didn't like it, and I THINK reinstalling the old one killed it (the old CPU, not the board, but I can't be sure.) I thought it was the board at the time, so I took the Duron back for a refund the next weekend in Nashua, and started poking around for a board that took SDRAM. I only found two, one had two SDRAM and two DDR slots - which would've forced me to lose a healthy chunk of mem - and an MSI board. That I ended up having to go to Manchester the next day to get a replacement on. Be leery of buying extensive hardware at shows, make very sure you get a receipt. Asking to see if the static bag is sealed beforehand isn't a bad idea either. You'll either find new stuff, or very old stuff; the in-between isn't very common at all. Personally, I'd rather just run down to Connecticut and hit one of the Cogan shows, as they've got far more vendors than I've seen at any of the Northern shows (don't know about KGP) and that means a far better selection.

April 14, 2003

REMINDER: WLUG Meeting Wed. April 16, 7:00 PM

by Andy Stewart

HI Everybody, This is a reminder about the upcoming WLUG meeting, which will be held on Wednesday, April 16, 2003 at 7:00 PM in Kinnicutt Hall on the WPI campus. At this meeting, WLUG member Tim Keller will discuss how he used open source software to build a Digital Video Recorder (similar in function to the commercially available TiVO device). After the meeting, there will be a free (as in beer) raffle, and a trip to the Boynton Restaurant for pizza and beer. I look forward to seeing you there! Andy -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

April 14, 2003

RE: [Wlug] computer fair

by Stephen C. Daukas

I have never had a problem using a credit card at these shows... They do add a 3-6% fee, depending on the card you want to use, so it is better to have cash... Yes, the deals are not what they used to be on current systems, but I have gotten some very good deals on components. Last show I went to, my father-in-law picked up a perfectly good motherboard for $20 and the show before that, I picked up three 8-port switches for a total of $40. Not too shabby! Here is what my shortcuts have for the shows: KGP is the outfit who runs the Marlborough show on Rt 20. Their URL is http://www.pcshow.com The last show I went to at the Centrum was run by NCS (I think) http://www.ncshows.com Basically, they are the same... About a dozen vendors selling "custom systems", as many again selling components, then a whole bunch selling shrink-wrapped stuff you can see in any independent computer shop (video, speakers, cables, etc.). The final category is software (educational or games) and books - but don't pass these over... I have seen some very good prices on the odd piece of hardware at these otherwise skippable tables... Steve

April 12, 2003

Re: [Wlug] computer fair

by Andy Stewart

The computer show in Marlboro is run by a company called KGP productions, whose website is: http://www.pcshow.com The show in Worcester is run by a company called Northern Computer Shows, and their website is: http://www.ncshows.com If you look hard enough, you can occasionally find a good deal if you know what you're doing. Beware the vendor who will accept your check but wants to take your credit card number "as insurance" in case the check bounces (that practice is expressly forbidden by MA consumer protection law, but most out of state vendors don't know or care). As has been mentioned, cash is the way to go since credit cards will be taken, but with some percentage added (generally 3-5%). Only once did I ever have to take something back, so get a receipt. Be sure to say "hi" to the occasional vendor selling Linux! Later, Andy > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

April 12, 2003

Re: [Wlug] computer fair

by Michael Long

I agree things have changed alot. I went to the fair at the Boston Expo Center last month and came home with a desktop machine and a laptop. The deal I got on the desktop was ok. It was basically street price...or should I say cyber price:) ...for a machine purchased online. However I was amazed at the selection of refurbished laptops. I got an IBM Thinkpad T22 for $750 and it is still under warrenty!! Happy shopping, Mike On Fri, 2003-04-11 at 15:12, Gary Hanley wrote: > Those computer shows are nothing like they used to be, and that is > not because the shows have changed but more because the PC market has. > > Back when the PC market was exploding with high demand and expensive > performance parts these shows were a great way for vendors to unload > excess and refurbished inventory...and most times you could get very > good deals without looking too hard. > > Now that the market is in a slump and the shelf life for the latest > and greatest hardware is probably 6 months, you can't get the deals > at these shows that you once could. And also because there is so much > competition at the hardware manufacturing level (motherboards, graphics > cards, memory and now even CPUs) the margins are fraction of what they > once were. > > But not to say you can't still buy at them. They are a great place to find > replacement hardware or slightly outdated hardware as needed, but for me > if I'm going to build something new I usually buy all the hardware from an > on-line vendor like newegg.com. The savings, if any, from a computer > show is not enough to warrant the risk of flaky or failed hardware. > > YMMV, of course. > > -- Gary > > On Fri, 11 Apr 2003, Baris Hasdemir wrote: > > hi, > > I heard of two computer fairs? or something similar... will take place in > > malborough this weekend and another one in worcester, again, will take > > place this weekend. does anybody know anything about them? > > do such fairs worth seeing? where are they held? a web page if possible? > > thanks, > > baris > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > -- Michael Long <mlong(a)datalong.com>

April 11, 2003

Re: [Wlug] computer fair

by Gary Hanley

Those computer shows are nothing like they used to be, and that is not because the shows have changed but more because the PC market has. Back when the PC market was exploding with high demand and expensive performance parts these shows were a great way for vendors to unload excess and refurbished inventory...and most times you could get very good deals without looking too hard. Now that the market is in a slump and the shelf life for the latest and greatest hardware is probably 6 months, you can't get the deals at these shows that you once could. And also because there is so much competition at the hardware manufacturing level (motherboards, graphics cards, memory and now even CPUs) the margins are fraction of what they once were. But not to say you can't still buy at them. They are a great place to find replacement hardware or slightly outdated hardware as needed, but for me if I'm going to build something new I usually buy all the hardware from an on-line vendor like newegg.com. The savings, if any, from a computer show is not enough to warrant the risk of flaky or failed hardware. YMMV, of course. -- Gary On Fri, 11 Apr 2003, Baris Hasdemir wrote: > hi, > I heard of two computer fairs? or something similar... will take place in > malborough this weekend and another one in worcester, again, will take > place this weekend. does anybody know anything about them? > do such fairs worth seeing? where are they held? a web page if possible? > thanks, > baris

April 11, 2003

Re: [Wlug] computer fair

by Michelle Vadeboncoeur

On Fri, 11 Apr 2003, Baris Hasdemir wrote: BH> I heard of two computer fairs? or something similar... will take place in BH> malborough this weekend and another one in worcester, again, will take BH> place this weekend. does anybody know anything about them? BH> BH> do such fairs worth seeing? where are they held? a web page if possible? http://www.pcshow.com/ (Marlborough computer fair by KGP) don't know about the Worcester one... when I went to one of these a few years ago, only if you were doing an order could you purchase with a credit card. (the vendors did not have telephone access so couldn't scan in the cards.) usually there would be a 3% fee added for credit purchases. There wasn't an ATM there, so either show up with cash if you plan on purchasing things, or an in-state checkbook. and since there are several vendors about, check prices between several places before buying something, and haggle down if you can.

April 11, 2003

computer fair

by Baris Hasdemir

hi, I heard of two computer fairs? or something similar... will take place in malborough this weekend and another one in worcester, again, will take place this weekend. does anybody know anything about them? do such fairs worth seeing? where are they held? a web page if possible? thanks, baris

April 11, 2003