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LTSP as a means of recycling old PCs...
by Bill Smith 23 May '04

23 May '04

There's a post on Slashdot talking about LTSP... (Yeah, I posted it... <g>) The link is http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/05/22/223425&&mode=thread&tid=126&tid… There's one comment that really drives the point home: #9227112 ... Anyway, I know that there was a recent WLUG meeting about LTSP, so I thought this might be of interest. -- William Smith wsmith(a)chezsmith.com Fall River, MA

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Creating web content with Linux
by Andy Stewart 22 May '04

22 May '04

HI everybody, I gave my "Introduction to Linux" presentation to a group of Internet professionals in Hopkinton last night (http://www.ip495.org) I was asked a question which I could not definitively answer since I am not a creator of web pages. The questions are: What tools are available on Linux for creating web content? Is there something akin to FrontPage for Linux? Sure, for simple HTML, any text editor will do. I've even used OpenOffice, but it feels crude to me (maybe I just don't know how to use it properly). GIMP could be used to create still images. Beyond that, I'm lost. Do I smell a topic for an upcoming meeting ? Thanks, Andy -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

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mouse scroll wheel
by Gregory Avedissian 22 May '04

22 May '04

I did a new install of SuSE 8.2, and my mouse scroll wheel no longer works. Previous install was on top of 7.2. Current XF86Config mouse section is identical to the one that worked. It also works when I boot into debian. I've tried adding the imwheel command to .xinitrc, but that didn't help. Maybe I don't understand the -W option. What's a GPM fifo? Is that the script file that starts gpm? If it is, I tried that, and it didn't work, either. Also tried adding and removing gpm from run-level services. Any ideas? Thanks, Greg

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RE: [Wlug] Comcast dolts (mail server problem?)
by Keller, Tim 21 May '04

21 May '04

Your theory is absolutely correct. We implement our SMTP systems in the same way. We've got 3 boxes behind a DNS round robin. Tim. -----Original Message----- From: Andy Stewart [mailto:andystewart@comcast.net] Sent: Friday, May 21, 2004 8:53 AM To: Worcester Linux Users Group Subject: [Wlug] Comcast dolts (mail server problem?) HI all, In Kmail, when I configure the email sending parameters, I fill in "smtp.comcast.net" as instructed. In the security section, there's a selection for "check what the server supports". I do this and it returns "encryption TLS, authentication method CRAM-MD5". Well, it does this *most* of the time. Once in a while, it returns "encryption SSL". Keeping the above in mind, I periodically get errors when sending email. The error is "authentication failure". However, if I immediately resend, it goes through just fine (sometimes after repeated resends). Note also that smtp.comcast.net maps to 4 different IP addresses. My theory is that the Comcast servers are not all using the same authentication method, and when I catch one that's not setup the same as my email program, I don't authenticate and thus cannot send email. Does this theory seem reasonable? I tried to explain my theory to Comcast tech support who asked me to reboot Windows, and then complained about my unsupported email client. When I asked to speak to the system administrator for the email server, they refused. Comcast can't get into their heads that there might be an intelligent user or two using their service, and that all problems aren't the fault of the user. Sigh...any thoughts ? Thanks, Andy -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Comcast dolts (mail server problem?)
by Andy Stewart 21 May '04

21 May '04

HI all, In Kmail, when I configure the email sending parameters, I fill in "smtp.comcast.net" as instructed. In the security section, there's a selection for "check what the server supports". I do this and it returns "encryption TLS, authentication method CRAM-MD5". Well, it does this *most* of the time. Once in a while, it returns "encryption SSL". Keeping the above in mind, I periodically get errors when sending email. The error is "authentication failure". However, if I immediately resend, it goes through just fine (sometimes after repeated resends). Note also that smtp.comcast.net maps to 4 different IP addresses. My theory is that the Comcast servers are not all using the same authentication method, and when I catch one that's not setup the same as my email program, I don't authenticate and thus cannot send email. Does this theory seem reasonable? I tried to explain my theory to Comcast tech support who asked me to reboot Windows, and then complained about my unsupported email client. When I asked to speak to the system administrator for the email server, they refused. Comcast can't get into their heads that there might be an intelligent user or two using their service, and that all problems aren't the fault of the user. Sigh...any thoughts ? Thanks, Andy -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

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GPG - web of trust
by Andy Stewart 21 May '04

21 May '04

HI all, I recently received an email from Jeff Moyer on the WLUG list. Kmail noted that the digital signature was valid but untrusted (I thought that feature was broken - why is it suddenly working??). I had downloaded Jeff's key from the key server. What establishes this key as trusted? Certainly, if I had signed Jeff's key myself, I would trust it, but in this case, I did not. I also don't know anybody who has signed Jeff's key. Do I need to place a personal value on keys which I've downloaded? Hypothetically, what if I downloaded it from some rogue server masquerading as the real thing? What I suspect is that if I signed Joe Blow's key, and Joe had signed Jeff Moyer's key, and I had placed a value on Joe's ability to properly verify keys, that there would be some implication about the goodness of Jeff's key. Correct? In my situation, I suspect that there are too many degrees of separation between keys which I trust and Jeff's key and its signers. How does this gap get closed? Thanks, Andy -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

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Re: Wlug Digest, Vol 7, Issue 11
by Thumper 20 May '04

20 May '04

Since I have no good things to say about Comcast/ATT, I refuse to say anything about that rotten, thieving company that will never get any more of my business. On the other hand I have many good things to say about RCN. Fast, not bound to specific MAC address, great uptime, IP addresses don't change very often... Grass is much greener on the RCN side of the fence. At least from my vantage point. > > I have Comcast (AT&T Broadband) in southern NH and have nothing but > > good things to say about them. In the 3 years I had them, I think I > > can count the number of outages on 1 hand and they were always very > > brief. > > > > > > > > > I've heard nothing but overwhelming complaints about Comcast. I have had > > > email contact with dozens of municipalities who use Comcast for Internet > > > service. Things like "weeks without service" is a common theme. I can't > > > remember hearing anything good about them. > > > > > > - Rob > > >

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RE: [Wlug] Comcast experiences Plug for Speakeasy.net
by Keller, Tim 19 May '04

19 May '04

Does anybody on the WLUG list use Vonage? I constantly see banner ads for them, but I don't know anybody who uses them. Later, Tim. "I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov -----Original Message----- From: Josh Huber [mailto:huber@alum.wpi.edu] Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2004 9:41 AM To: wlug(a)mail.wlug.org Subject: Re: [Wlug] Comcast experiences Plug for Speakeasy.net Mike Frysinger <vapier(a)gentoo.org> writes: > the trouble is that if everyone has a cellphone and thus the local > line never gets used, you have to add $30 to the price of dsl since > that's how much a local line will run you -mike Check for the no long distance, local metered plans. I had this (before I canceled my phone line) and it cost $10 from verizon. After the excessive taxes and fees, it came out to around $16, if I recall. All outgoing calls cost money, so you really only want to do this if you don't use the phone for voice... -- Josh Huber _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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RE: [Wlug] Charter experiences? -was:Comcast experiences ?
by Martin, Eric 19 May '04

19 May '04

Um...what package did you have with Verizon / Charter? Last I checked, verizon was 49.99, and Charter only adds on $35 to your cable bill if you already have any form of cable (or it costs an extra 10 or 11 if you don't)...Granted those are base rates, but...'sides, buy the bridge, you can get one from Best Buy for $60 or less if you get rebates.... Eric -----Original Message----- From: Baris Hasdemir [mailto:penguen@hasdemir.com] Sent: Sunday, May 16, 2004 10:22 AM To: WLUG Subject: Re: [Wlug] Charter experiences? -was:Comcast experiences ? On Sun, 2004-05-16 at 03:04, Mike Frysinger wrote: > i was talking with a guy who claimed comcast provided great cable > service in > worcester and was basically way better than anything dsl could offer (i use > speakeasy myself and love it). seeing as how he is a non-computer person, i > took his opinion with a large grain of salt ... > > it did get me wondering though as ive never used comcast in worcester > myself, > just in holden (and it sucked a lot), how have other people got along with > comcast here ? looking for the standard fare, speeds/tech support/response > times/etc... > -mike > I did not like Charter's service very much when I switched to it from Verizon DSL. Charter charges ~10 dollars more than Verizon DSL including a rent for cable modem but they gave us 2Mbits (I Think they're now giving 3Mbits) Besides the higher bandwidth, most of the time especially in the evenings I experienced latencies, if it's the right word to use. For example, I click on an ordinary link, wait for sometime and *then* it finally starts loading which is fast, of course. So I got back to Verizon again. I have 1.5Mbits and I'm fine enough. Regarding the customer support, all I can say is they did not refund anything when I canceled my subscription in 20 days. Neither the installation fee(although I had to do it myself, since there was no working version of windows) nor usage fee. baris _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Comcast experiences ?
by Mike Frysinger 19 May '04

19 May '04

i was talking with a guy who claimed comcast provided great cable service in worcester and was basically way better than anything dsl could offer (i use speakeasy myself and love it). seeing as how he is a non-computer person, i took his opinion with a large grain of salt ... it did get me wondering though as ive never used comcast in worcester myself, just in holden (and it sucked a lot), how have other people got along with comcast here ? looking for the standard fare, speeds/tech support/response times/etc... -mike

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