April 2006 - WLUG - wlug.mailman3.com

Ubuntu vs Kubuntu

by Mike

At the last meeting someone mentioned some kind of fallout between Ubuntu and Kubuntu. I missed most the details and was wondering if anyone had a link to an article that explains this. I have been searching, but Google isn't playing nice today. Thanks, Mike -- Emacs would be a far better OS if it shipped with a halfway-decent text editor. --Anonymous

April 21, 2006

Re: [Wlug] Linux Friendly Wireless Handhelds

by Chuck Anderson

On Wed, Apr 19, 2006 at 10:45:50PM -0400, Andy Stewart wrote: > I've seen bluetooth and WiFI...I'm not sure it matters which. I have > WiFi but I currently don't have bluetooth. I'm not sure which is > supported at work for syncing to Exch/Outlook. I have a BlackBerry 7520. I like it as a PDA for Internet, Email, Address Book, etc. but it makes a bad phone due to bad UI design and awkward shape. It syncs with the Exchange server via the provider's wireless network (e.g. Nextel). It has bluetooth, but I've never used it. I think it can use bluetooth headsets, but I'm not sure if it can sync over bluetooth. I've used the USB cradle to sync it, but only to Outlook. Honestly, I haven't tried to use it with Linux, since the wireless synchronization does what I want for the most part and lets me ignore Outlook/Exchange completely and just use that as a back-end store for backup purposes. On the plus side, I have downloaded cool apps to it like Google Local Mobile which provides driving directions and maps on the handheld, and an SSH client.

April 20, 2006

Re: [Wlug] Linux Friendly Wireless Handhelds

by Scott Venier

Andy Stewart said: > > I've seen bluetooth and WiFI...I'm not sure it matters which. I have > WiFi but I currently don't have bluetooth. I'm not sure which is > supported at work for syncing to Exch/Outlook. > I've got a Treo 600 (no BT support, or WiFi, for that matter) but sync wirelessly to Lookout via IRDA. It should sync just fine with anything via USB. Scott

April 20, 2006

Re: [Wlug] Linux Friendly Wireless Handhelds

by Andy Stewart

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Eric Martin wrote: > Are you wanting to sync via bluetooth, or... I've seen bluetooth and WiFI...I'm not sure it matters which. I have WiFi but I currently don't have bluetooth. I'm not sure which is supported at work for syncing to Exch/Outlook. Andy > Andy Stewart wrote: > >>>HI Everybody, >>> >>>I'm looking for a handheld device which can synchronize with Linux >>>and with Outlook (for work). I'd like the synchronization to be >>>wireless. I don't much care if it is a smartphone or a PDA - the >>>calendar application is the most important for my needs. >>> >>>Devices that seem to come close are BlackBerry and Palm Treo. I'm >>>still researching this topic, so there may be others. >>> >>>Do you use such a device? >>> >>>Thanks! >>> >>>Andy >>> >>>_______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list >>>Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >>> > _______________________________________________ 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 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFERvXeHl0iXDssISsRAvHDAJ9SYQIk4PpjSn7e25oJLuX3wIlXmQCeLjFj ltVmQ2ASoI5oYOTNekuyKG0= =NS+2 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

April 20, 2006

Re: [Wlug] Linux Friendly Wireless Handhelds

by Eric Martin

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Are you wanting to sync via bluetooth, or... Andy Stewart wrote: > > HI Everybody, > > I'm looking for a handheld device which can synchronize with Linux > and with Outlook (for work). I'd like the synchronization to be > wireless. I don't much care if it is a smartphone or a PDA - the > calendar application is the most important for my needs. > > Devices that seem to come close are BlackBerry and Palm Treo. I'm > still researching this topic, so there may be others. > > Do you use such a device? > > Thanks! > > Andy > > _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2.2 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFERvT/aI8VEtSi4H8RAiBFAJ4q+uh4O8+ITfY7Y9BHDk7UZ1nh9QCgzALh v8wZHfrG03eHg2KR0pEo5BU= =hdH+ -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

April 20, 2006

Linux Friendly Wireless Handhelds

by Andy Stewart

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 HI Everybody, I'm looking for a handheld device which can synchronize with Linux and with Outlook (for work). I'd like the synchronization to be wireless. I don't much care if it is a smartphone or a PDA - the calendar application is the most important for my needs. Devices that seem to come close are BlackBerry and Palm Treo. I'm still researching this topic, so there may be others. Do you use such a device? Thanks! Andy - -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA, USA http://www.wlug.org -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFERuI0Hl0iXDssISsRAjJaAJ9pGc1r/7eXdLU87x2mdAI1ISSCnwCfZWGu MIG//w8z+/RMW21lyYdaP8E= =CZ/Y -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

April 20, 2006

Re: [Wlug] linux courses

by Frank Sweetser

On Wed, Apr 19, 2006 at 01:03:26PM -0700, Mike Leo wrote: > I have taken RH and other week long certification programs and am certified > in many things. > > however, the classes themselves are pretty weak, usually only covering RH and > only what's in the RH book, superficially at best. > > I have read tons of materials on linux and continually do so all the time. > > But does anyone know of a good linux course out there anywhere, outside of > the training mills like New Horizons, or even RH? Well, that depends. After you get into the basics, you need to start being more specific regarding exactly what you're looking for a class on. Kernel internals? System administration techniques? Security? Sendmail? Databases like MySQL or Posgresql? -- Frank Sweetser fs at wpi.edu | For every problem, there is a solution that WPI Network Engineer | is simple, elegant, and wrong. - HL Mencken GPG fingerprint = 6174 1257 129E 0D21 D8D4 E8A3 8E39 29E3 E2E8 8CEC

April 19, 2006

linux courses

by Mike Leo

I have taken RH and other week long certification programs and am certified in many things. however, the classes themselves are pretty weak, usually only covering RH and only what's in the RH book, superficially at best. I have read tons of materials on linux and continually do so all the time. But does anyone know of a good linux course out there anywhere, outside of the training mills like New Horizons, or even RH? College level course's seem to be the best choice so far, but I have not found one yet, nor do I want to spend the time if it is not a mature syllabus. I have been "on" linux for 3 years now, and I am beyond the basic's but not quite into kernel development yet, so a somewhere in between class is what I am hoping for. Thanks in advance, Mike

April 19, 2006

Re: [Wlug] How fast is your CD burner with Linux ?

by Andy Stewart

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 HI everybody, Here are the results of my benchmark. Your mileage will probably vary. Liars figure and figures lie. Past performance is no indicator of future performance. Yadda yadda yadda. :-) NEC 3550 DVD burner from Newegg - ------------------------------- - ------- Read DVD no-dma DMA off (hdparm -d0 /dev/xxx) time dd if=/dev/xxx of=/dev/null 3.9 MB/sec steady at that rate - no variation due to physically larger tracks Read DVD dma DMA on (hdparm -d1 /dev/xxx) time dd if=/dev/xxx of=/dev/null 11.52 MB/sec varied between 8-15 MB/sec as the benchmark progressed there was a definite "cliff" from 15 MB back to 8 MB partway through the benchmark, and it increased back up to 15 MB I didn't notice (audibly) if the drive slowed down. Both reads were 9GB dual layer DVD - ------- Read CD no-dma 3.6 MB/sec (level data rate) Read CD dma 5.03 MB/sec (increasing data rate) - ------- Write CD no-dma K3b burn an ISO image of 700 MB K3b reports 24X average write rate gkrellm looks like around 3.9 MB/sec (eyeball) Burn takes around 4 minutes (approx) Write CD dma K3b burn an ISO image of 700 MB K3b reports 37X average write rate gkrellm shows increasing data rate Burn took around 2 min 15 sec - 2 min 30 sec (approx) - ------- Summary: It turns out that I did not have DMA enabled on this drive. Why? Heck, I don't know. Now that I have dma enabled, and it runs reliably, I'm going to leave it enabled since the performance is MUCH better. Later, Andy - -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA, USA http://www.wlug.org -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFEQFNTHl0iXDssISsRAh5BAJ0bCDa7eIpvGX6dAyUTsXNaKRF3bgCfZjIL hckU/pg9Ux+9pSYjPfOJbhc= =fizg -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

April 15, 2006

Re: [Wlug] How fast is your CD burner with Linux ?

by Robert L Krawitz

Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 19:52:17 -0400 From: Andy Stewart <andystewart(a)comcast.net> I asked this question at the most recent WLUG meeting. I've noticed that my CD burner (according to K3B) averages about 24X, even though it is advertised as a 48X CD burner. Is this to be expected, or do I have a cheap(er) drive that can't sustain the data rate? It is an IDE/ATAPI drive (NEC3550). It takes approx. 4 minutes for me to burn a 700MB CD (including some fiddling and diddling about calibrating power, fixating, etc). I use Memorex CD-R media (52X, 700MB, 80 min). I'm curious about your CD buring experiences, especially if they are faster than mine. I'd like to know what drive you have, the media you use, and most importantly, how did you determine your drive speed? CD's burn faster (in MB/sec) near the outside of the disc than near the inside, and they're burned from inside out. So they're always going to start slow and speed up. I have a 48x drive, and if I'm burning a full disc (where the CD is capable of that) it reaches something close to that near the end of the disc. At the beginning it's more like 16x; it averages maybe 25-30x for the whole disc, exclusive of fixating, power calibration, etc. 4 minutes net for a 700 MB CD sounds about right to me. -- Robert Krawitz <rlk(a)alum.mit.edu> Tall Clubs International -- http://www.tall.org/ or 1-888-IM-TALL-2 Member of the League for Programming Freedom -- mail lpf(a)uunet.uu.net Project lead for Gutenprint -- http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net "Linux doesn't dictate how I work, I dictate how Linux works." --Eric Crampton

April 15, 2006