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Ultimate Linux Box
by Andy Stewart 01 Dec '03

01 Dec '03

HI everybody, I received this e-mail which I am forwarding to you. Go to the website mentioned in the e-mail and register if you are interested in possibly winning the $5000 Ultimate Linux Box as featured in Linux Journal magazine. I'd be happy to let the winner share with me... :-) Later, Andy -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

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simple debian question
by Gregory Avedissian 26 Nov '03

26 Nov '03

Where do I put commands that I want executed immediately after bootup? In suse, I put them in /etc/rc.d/boot.local, but debian has no such directory or file. OK, I lied. Here's the real question. I have two linux installations on the same box (suse 7.2 and debian woody). How do I arrange permissions so that I can access the user's (my) home directory in the other installation without rebooting to that other installation? I notice that when I look at the home directory on the other system, the owner is listed by the user number rather than the name, so what I've done is to create a user in debian whose name is the same as the suse number for the same user, so that user owns the suse user's home directory, then change permissions so all users can read/write that directory. That's pretty ugly, and I have to change permissions when I reboot suse. There's gotta be an easier, cleaner way. Thanks, Greg

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WLUG Meetings in 2004
by Andy Stewart 26 Nov '03

26 Nov '03

HI everybody, The schedule of meetings for the first part of the year 2004 is now posted on the WLUG website. I apologize for not strictly adhering to alternate Wed/ Thurs as I tried to hack around a personal commitment in the March/April timeframe. I hope that this doesn't cause anybody too much grief. If so, let me know. Later, Andy -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

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WLUG Meeting: Thurs Dec 12 7:00 PM
by Andy Stewart 26 Nov '03

26 Nov '03

Hi everybody, I wanted to send this meeting announcement out early for a change. :-) Our next WLUG meeting will actually be a joint meeting with WLUG and the Worcester County IEEE Computer Society. We'll hold the meeting in Olin Hall room 107 (we've been there before) since it seats more people. We're anticipating a larger than normal turnout for this meeting due to the showing of the documentary entitled "Revolution OS" (on DVD!). This documentary runs for 1 hour and 25 minutes. No expertise in Linux is required to understand this documentary. Revolution OS tells the inside story of the hackers who rebelled against the proprietary software model and Microsoft to create GNU/Linux and the Open Source movement. This documentary features interviews with Linus Torvalds, Richard Stallman, Bruce Perens, Eric Raymond, Brian Behlendorf, Michael Tiemann, Larry Augustin, Frank Hecker, and Rob Malda. I've just purchased a few items for the raffle which should arrive prior to the meeting date. The items for raffle are: o a copy of the Revolution OS DVD o a Revolution OS tee shirt o a Revolution OS coffee mug o a Revolution OS poster (11"x7") As always, light refreshments will be served at the meeting. After the meeting, we'll adjourn to the Boynton Restaurant for pizza and beer, and all are invited to attend. -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

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Linux System Administration position...
by Andy Stewart 26 Nov '03

26 Nov '03

If you are interested in such an opportunity, please send me e-mail and I'll forward the information to you. The job is in Concord, MA. Later, Andy -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

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text mailer recommendation?
by Bill Mills-Curran 26 Nov '03

26 Nov '03

I'm a pine user, and I was looking at the release notes for fedora core 1. Pine is not included due to license and "long term maintenance" issues. I've enjoyed using pine for 8 or more years, and I really like it. I'm disappointed that it won't be continued under Red Hat. (I know I could install it myself. Maybe that's the right answer.) Although I'm not enthusiastic about switching mailers, maybe it's time. My needs are pretty basic: Text-based because I work across a WAN when I access home email from work & vice-versa. Connection to xemacs & the gnuclient interface. (I wrote a perl script to do it.) It would be nice if my address book ported to the replacement mailer. Interface to LDAP address book server. Any suggestions about replacements or just building pine myself? Are there really problems that make it unattractive? TIA, Bill

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upgrading suse 7.2 to 8.1
by Gregory Avedissian 25 Nov '03

25 Nov '03

I'm getting ready to upgrade from SuSE 7.2 to 8.1, and I have a little confusion and some questions. I'm going from 7.2 pro edition to 8.1 personal edition. Any ideas what's missing in the personal edition? Attempting to replace what is installed, I get a list of conflicts, with advice to delete the old program, even if they don't have a replacement. I was surprised to see that balsa and gftp were listed as not having newer versions. Is this because they're not on the personal edition? I know they exist, because they're available at rpmfind. The real issue - XFree 4.x doesn't seem to want to recognize my ELSA GLoria-L video card. Sax2 will run in 640x480 only, and I can't get it to run with the glint driver (the one that's supposed to work with this card). I tried doing this with the SuSE 8.2 evaluation disk, and I'm running into the same problems I had when I tried to upgrade to XFree 4.1 about a month ago. So here's the question - Can I upgrade to 8.1 without upgrading XFree? Better yet, if I upgrade the XFree, and it doesn't work, is there an easy way to return to the older version by using the CD's. Or do I have to manually back up /usr/X11R6 and /etc/X11 first, and then recopy them to get back to the older version? Will the rest of the SuSE 8.1 be pissed off about using XFree 3.3.6? I suppose I could change the vid card, but I'd rather not spend any money, and since this one is listed as working, I'd like to be able to get it to work. Thanks in advance for any suggestions or ideas. Greg

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Digitally signed e-mails
by Andy Stewart 25 Nov '03

25 Nov '03

HI everybody, While I was cleaning out my inbox e-mail folder, I ran across several e-mails from WLUG members which were digitally signed. I've recently upgraded to SuSE 9.0 and the 'new' version of KDE's Kmail flags these e-mails in bright yellow. Kmail is telling me that I don't have the senders public key available, and thus it isn't sure that the mail actually camed from the claimed sender. My question is this: how do I get someone's public key ? Further, that brings up another question in this space: 1) How do I know that the public key I'm given really belongs to the person giving it ? Short of receiving it in person, and assuming that the person isn't an imposter, I suppose I eventually have to limit my level of paranoia to some level of trust. :-) Thanks, Andy -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

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HMM, no conspiracy after all.
by Arturo Sedo 17 Nov '03

17 Nov '03

It seems like it may not be a conspiracy after all. Here are some searches I did followed by the resulting number of hits. Search Result ------ ------- mac OS x 48 windows xp 279 Linux 365 windows f*cking sucks 40464 bill gates genius 43093 Conclusion: The msn search engine may actually suck that badly! From: Arturo Sedo <postgres(a)sedo.net> To: WLUG <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org>, arturo_sedo(a)raytheon.com Subject: Interesting slashdot article. I didn't think it would be true. It was! Date: 16 Nov 2003 22:55:02 -0500 Here's an exercise for all to try. Search Google for Linux Windows. That gets you about 14 million pages, even with the English preference or filter turned on. Now, go to msn.com and search the Microsoft way for the same two words. You get exactly 18 pages. The word censorship doesn't seem to do justice to what Microsoft has done to a msn user who wants to compare Linux with Windows, does it? According to an MSN's Internet search, the word linux only appears 365 documents. In the entire internet! No wonder they wanted to buy google. Arturo -- Arturo Sedo <postgres(a)sedo.net>

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Interesting slashdot article. I didn't think it would be true. It was!
by Arturo Sedo 17 Nov '03

17 Nov '03

Here's an exercise for all to try. Search Google for Linux Windows. That gets you about 14 million pages, even with the English preference or filter turned on. Now, go to msn.com and search the Microsoft way for the same two words. You get exactly 18 pages. The word censorship doesn't seem to do justice to what Microsoft has done to a msn user who wants to compare Linux with Windows, does it? According to an MSN's Internet search, the word linux only appears 365 documents. In the entire internet! No wonder they wanted to buy google. Arturo -- Arturo Sedo <postgres(a)sedo.net>

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Revolution OS
by swillis＠WPI.EDU 15 Nov '03

15 Nov '03

The Worcester Area Student Chapter of the ACM based at WPI will be showing the film "Revolution OS" (www.revolution-os.com) Friday the 21st at 7:30pm in Fuller Auditorium, on the WPI campus. We would like to invite all those in the Worcester Linux Users' Group to join us to watch this film. The film is a documentary about Linux and the whole open-source/free software movement. "REVOLUTION OS features interviews with Linus Torvalds, Richard Stallman, Bruce Perens, Eric Raymond, Brian Behlendorf, Michael Tiemann, Larry Augustin, Frank Hecker, and Rob Malda. To view the trailer or the first eight minutes go to the ifilm website for REVOLUTION OS." The showing is free to all (in more ways than one). There will also be food and drink available for purchase. Recap: What: Revolution OS Where: Fuller Auditorium, WPI campus When: Friday, November 21st 7:30pm Why: Freedom -Steven Willis P.S. All are welcome to come, so let your friends, professors, students, and families know about it.

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Debian to RH 9 Migration
by Chuck Noyes 15 Nov '03

15 Nov '03

Has anyone tried this? I don't what version of Debian is currently being used. Any guidelines for this kind of migration. Thanks, -Chuck -- Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

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RE: [Wlug] W.L.U.G. TV show...
by Keller, Tim 14 Nov '03

14 Nov '03

Then maybe we should go in that direction. Give a five minute explanation about what linux is and where it came from and then talk about what a distribution is and the companies that make them. Then go on to talk about why you'd want to use linux (stability, resilience to viruses, breathing life into old hardware, etc.) Then take the remaining 15 minutes to show off the interface, mozilla, evolution, xmms and gnumoney. Then finish up with a blurb about WLUG (who, what, where and when). Does that sound sensible? Tim. -----Original Message----- From: Stephen C. Daukas [mailto:stephen@daukas.com] Sent: Monday, November 10, 2003 5:40 PM To: Worcester Linux Users Group Subject: Re: [Wlug] W.L.U.G. TV show... I have a few thoughts to offer... Given the format of Community Access Programming on local cable, you have 30 minutes. Period. (At least in Shrewsbury.) If my experience in the past with these productions holds true, you don't have a lot of time to work with and it is very rare to see a multi part show, even from long established programming. (Never mind the editing and work that goes on behind the scences - 30 minutes translates into weeks of work.) 30 minutes isn't a lot of time. Even a high school class is 47 minutes these days, and that gets you one topic, say for example, work = force x distance. There will not be time enough to adress more than once audience, or more than one simple topic for that matter! If you are about to say "but wait, we don't have to limit ourselves to 30 minutes, we can produce what we want" then I would answer, that's true! But, just as true is my next question - who you gonna show it to and how? So, now that we have established the cart and the horse, we need to make a few decisions... I'm thinking that 30 minutes is just enough time (barely) to show a "teaser" piece that talks about Linux "the product" and what it can do. No techno-geek talk (because you will invariable try to cover too much in too little time), just something that will interest the audience enough to want more. 30 minutes is just enough time to show everyone how they can configure a Linux server to support their own real estate business or construction business or oil business or... as well as interest the experienced novice who might want to try getting out from under their ISP. When they want more, then you can talk about follow-up episodes, or direct them to WLUG at the end of the episode (or both). The WLUG site could have video available, metting topics, and so forth... Steve _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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df confused?
by Chuck Homic 14 Nov '03

14 Nov '03

I got this output from df: Filesystem 1k-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on /dev/hda7 1381 843 468 65% / /dev/hda1 10 4 6 36% /boot /dev/hda5 248 1 235 1% /tmp df -H produces the not-so-different: Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on /dev/hda7 1.4M 866k 477k 65% / /dev/hda1 10k 3.5k 6.2k 36% /boot /dev/hda5 254k 14 241k 1% /tmp My disk is 8GB, and although I believe the percentages are correct, this is a little unnerving. Any idea why df would be confused? Or have I created the most amazing single-floppy distribution ever?!? This is a system I just un-mothballed, it's mostly an older debian sid that I'm slowly upgrading to latest in stages. Could this be something out of date with respect to something else? -Chuck

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Linux Desktop Conference
by Andy Stewart 12 Nov '03

12 Nov '03

HI everybody, I'm wondering if anybody went to the Linux Desktop conference in Tyngsboro yesterday, and if so, what did you think of it? Later, Andy -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

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W.L.U.G. TV show...
by Keller, Tim 10 Nov '03

10 Nov '03

For those who didn't attend the meeting last night, we talked a little about the idea of producing a linux focused TV Show. From that discussion we decided that the best thing to-do would be to have the main part of the discussion through the mail list. So, here it is... Firstly, I think we need to decide who our target audience is. This morning I came up with notion that generally, users can be broken into several groups. The first group are novice users. These are people who use a computer, but the concept of an operating system or the idea that windows isn't just "part of the system" and not removable is alien. The second group is "advanced" users. I think most of us would fall into this group. We understand OS's, hardware, software and all the digital glue that holds it together. The third group is educational users. These would be people who work in some education institution and they're interest in linux would be from the standpoint of deploying it for cost savings and/or using it as an education tool for teaching. The forth group would be corporate suit types. These are the people who read the trade rags, but don't have a clear understanding of what linux. They've read lots of conflicting FUD on the subject and aren't sure how linux could be used in they're environment or what the real TCO would be. Personally, I think we should go after groups 1-3. The reason I'm not too worried about the fourth type is that now that redhat had decided that they're going to go full force into the enterprise environment, they'll be busy spending lots of PR dollars convincing the suits. What do people think. Also, if it is the consensus that we should focus on groups 1-3, should we narrow our focus even more? Thanks, Tim.

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Fwd: Re: Deal for LUG members
by Andy Stewart 09 Nov '03

09 Nov '03

---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: Conference update Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2003 15:08:53 -0800 From: Jill Ratkevic <j.ratkevic(a)verizon.net> To: andystewart(a)comcast.net Hi Andy: I wanted to let you know we have had a great turnout on folks who want to come for the reduced rate, but one member was charged the full amount and contacted me. Anyone who entered the discount code of "Jill" in the how did you hear about the conference field WILLl get the reduced rate and I will personally honor that. Late Fri, Xandros agreed to underwrite the rest of the tickets. If this has happened to anyone, it will be fixed first thing Monday morning. On a Saturday I am limited in what I can do to reverse it, but I wanted to be sure you were aware right away of this and that you knew I was personally making sure this was fixed. Best regards, Jill Ratkevic DesktopLinuxConsortium jill(a)desktoplinuxconsortium.org 4008-209-5181 ------------------------------------------------------- -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

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Fwd: Re: Deal for LUG members
by Andy Stewart 08 Nov '03

08 Nov '03

---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: Re: Deal for LUG members Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 23:42:28 -0800 From: Jill Ratkevic <j.ratkevic(a)verizon.net> To: andystewart(a)comcast.net Hi, the easiest way to do it is to sign up directly. Tell your members to go to: Go to http://www.butrain.com, click on Desktop Linux Conference When they go to pay, in the "where did you hear about the conference box" type in "Jill" They will be charged $25.00. There are about 75 left as of this AM. But I know we have had quite a few inquiries. They are sponsored so I would like to see someone benefit :) cheers, Jill Ratkevic Desktop Linux Conference jill(a)desktoplinuxconsortium.org Andy Stewart wrote: >Hello, > >I am writing to inquire about the "deal for LUG members" who wish to attend >the Boston Desktop Linux conference for $25.00. I have had a couple of >inquiries from the WLUG membership and thought I'd ask. > >Thanks! > >Andy ------------------------------------------------------- -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

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Linux Desktop Conference
by Matt Higgins 08 Nov '03

08 Nov '03

Not sure of the details on this but it could be cool. I think Andy would have to contact the address on the bottem of the page. http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/11/07/1957226 -Matt

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RE: [Wlug] W.L.U.G. TV show...
by Keller, Tim 06 Nov '03

06 Nov '03

I agree with both what you and Matthew both said. So, I think our new groupings should be 1. Novice Users 2. Intermediate Users 3. Advanced Users 4. Educational Users I've dropped the suits off the map because they don't really apply (in this context). I think maybe we should focus on the Novice and Intermediate users first. Then focus on the Educational users second and then maybe due hyper focused treatments for the advanced users. Thanks, Tim. -----Original Message----- From: mlong(a)datalong.com [mailto:mlong@datalong.com] Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 10:57 AM To: Worcester Linux Users Group Subject: Re: [Wlug] W.L.U.G. TV show... > The first group are novice users. These are people who use a computer, but > the concept of an operating system or the idea that windows isn't just "part > of the system" and not removable is alien. > I would suggest there is an "intermediate users group. This group is not afraid to play around with different OS's, hardware and software and know how to configure their software of choice. However they rely heavily on configuration tools to apply much of the digital glue to make their systems usable and/or secure. > The second group is "advanced" users. I think most of us would fall into > this group. We understand OS's, hardware, software and all the digital glue > that holds it together. > > The third group is educational users. These would be people who work in > some education institution and they're interest in linux would be from the > standpoint of deploying it for cost savings and/or using it as an education > tool for teaching. > > The forth group would be corporate suit types. These are the people who > read the trade rags, but don't have a clear understanding of what linux. > They've read lots of conflicting FUD on the subject and aren't sure how > linux could be used in they're environment or what the real TCO would be. --mike _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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RE: [Wlug] W.L.U.G. TV show...
by Simoncini, Matthew 06 Nov '03

06 Nov '03

Tim, I would have to say I agree with your "user grouping" for the most part, but feel (IMHO) that there might be a group of people that fall between the novice and advanced users, lets call them the "hobbyist group". These people know how to use a computer, have probably "dabbled" in linux, but need some help performing certain tasks or need convincing on turning the corner and using linux full time. This is an important group because a) I'm a member of this group :o) and b) members of this group know the value of linux, but want to make sure they can do everything they want to do in linux i.e. listen to MP3's, burn CD's, browse the web, be able to use a word processor, etc .... I think that the general idea of spreading the linux word is a great idea especially on a visible medium, but the most value would be added if the largest user group is targeted. So, in a nutshell, I think you guys have a great idea and I hope to watch you guys on TV sometime soon. Matthew > -----Original Message----- > From: Keller, Tim [mailto:Tim.Keller@stratus.com] > Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 10:39 AM > To: 'wlug(a)wlug.org' > Subject: [Wlug] W.L.U.G. TV show... > > > For those who didn't attend the meeting last night, we talked > a little about > the idea of producing a linux focused TV Show. From that > discussion we > decided that the best thing to-do would be to have the main > part of the > discussion through the mail list. > > So, here it is... > > Firstly, I think we need to decide who our target audience > is. This morning > I came up with notion that generally, users can be broken into several > groups. > > The first group are novice users. These are people who use a > computer, but > the concept of an operating system or the idea that windows > isn't just "part > of the system" and not removable is alien. > > The second group is "advanced" users. I think most of us > would fall into > this group. We understand OS's, hardware, software and all > the digital glue > that holds it together. > > The third group is educational users. These would be people > who work in > some education institution and they're interest in linux > would be from the > standpoint of deploying it for cost savings and/or using it > as an education > tool for teaching. > > The forth group would be corporate suit types. These are the > people who > read the trade rags, but don't have a clear understanding of > what linux. > They've read lots of conflicting FUD on the subject and > aren't sure how > linux could be used in they're environment or what the real > TCO would be. > > Personally, I think we should go after groups 1-3. The > reason I'm not too > worried about the fourth type is that now that redhat had decided that > they're going to go full force into the enterprise > environment, they'll be > busy spending lots of PR dollars convincing the suits. > > What do people think. Also, if it is the consensus that we > should focus on > groups 1-3, should we narrow our focus even more? > > Thanks, > Tim. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

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List is back
by Frank Sweetser 06 Nov '03

06 Nov '03

A few days ago, the mail server for the WLUG list ate it's hard drives. Luckily, none of the WLUG subscriber data was lost. The machine has been rebuilt, and full list service should be restored. If anyone has any problem at all with the list, please let me know and I'll see what I can do. -- Frank Sweetser fs at wpi.edu WPI Network Engineer

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REMINDER: WLUG meeting, Wed 7 PM
by Andy Stewart 05 Nov '03

05 Nov '03

HI Everybody, I'm sending this again since I'm not sure if my last attempt made it due to the mailing list server problem. BTW, my thanks to Frank Sweetser for fixing this problem! There is a WLUG meeting being held on Wednesday, Nov 5th at 7:00 PM in the Access Grid room on the WPI campus in Worcester, MA USA. Directions to this room can be found on the website. At this meeting, I'd like to talk about the "WLUG TV" show which was discussed somewhat at the end of our last meeting, and again in the mailing list. I'd like to see if we can get some roles and responsibilities defined for interested folks so that this effort can move forward. Secondly, I'll bring my laptop and we can explore SuSE 9.0 together, but I haven't had much chance myself to see all that is new and different. We can also talk about RedHat's recent announcement about "no more RedHat Linux" and the potential purchase of SuSE by Novell. Afterwards, we'll adjourn to the Boynton Restaurant for pizza and beers. See ya later, Andy -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org

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One day seminar on Linux for the Desktop
by Doug Chamberlin 05 Nov '03

05 Nov '03

I just stumbled upon this and thought members might want to know about it. Seminar is Monday. http://www.butrain.com/itp/desklinux.asp Doug Chamberlin

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system time config question
by Bill Mills-Curran 04 Nov '03

04 Nov '03

This is a repost -- I believe the original was lost during the WLUG server outage. I'm having trouble keeping the time correct on one of my linux boxes. Just one of them. My others are just fine. In all cases, I'm using the redhat-config-date gui. When I use the gui, it corrects the time just fine, but somethings not happening to check the reference network time (daily?) to correct the local system time. I've compared a number of things between systems to try to identify what's wrong on the one machine, but I haven't found the key yet. Any suggestions? TIA, Bill

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