- WLUG - wlug.mailman3.com

LVM snapshot questions.
by Adam Keck 13 Sep '05

13 Sep '05

Hello All, I have several questions about LVM snapshots. o Are snapshots persistent across reboots? If not by default, can they be made to be persistent? o How many snapshots can I have at once? o Is there some in-depth documentation out there on just the snapshot aspects of LVM? I spent about an hour googling for this info, but couldn't find what I needed. Why am I interested in this? Last year I took advantage of one of those occasional Tiger Direct ( shameless plug ;) deals to get myself a 200GB drive for 50 bucks. I am using the drive to backup my machines. Right now I backup once a month by copying the user data from my iBook, my wife's iMac, and my Knoppix laptop to the drive. Each time it comes to about 15GB total. I am beginning to fill the drive, so I want to design a more efficient way of using it with OSS tools. My plan is this: o Acquire a cheap used PIII pc. Install the 200GB drive and Centos (for familiarity's sake, RHEL is one of the distros I use at work) o Make an LVM partition on the drive. o Designate half the drive to data and half the drive to snapshot space. o Rsync every machine weekly. Prior to each rsync, snapshot the drive. o Keep as many snapshots as will fit. Presumably this will be many more "full" backups that I can hold than by just copying stuff to the drive outright. I am downloading Centos right now to test this scheme. I thought I would ask while I wait for bit torrent. Has anyone tried something similar to this? -Adam

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samba & symbolic links
by Bill Mills-Curran 13 Sep '05

13 Sep '05

I have a linux server that's exporting a samba share at a windows-dominant site. In a directory of the share, there's a symbolic link to a different (non-shared) partition. (We had to move a directory due to space limitations.) Windows clients can mount the share and follow the symbolic link. My fedora-3 client can mount the share (smbmount), but cannot follow the link. I seem to remember that a RH 9 client would follow the link. Any idea what's going on? Thanks, Bill

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workspace selection by app?
by Bill Mills-Curran 11 Sep '05

11 Sep '05

Is there a way to have an application start in all gnome workspaces? For my particular need, I am using xmessage to inform me of specific events on my machine. To make it harder to lose track of the xmessage (pop-up) window, I'd like it to display in all my workspaces. I figure there's some magic setting in gconf (or, even better, an X display setting), but I can't find any documentation on it. Any ideas? Thanks, Bill

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books for sale
by Mike Leo 11 Sep '05

11 Sep '05

Does anyone have an interest in these books? $5 a piece and I can bring them to the next meeting. All proceeds to go directly to the wlug general fund. Let me know.... mike www.leotree.com/books

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Re: Wlug Digest, Vol 23, Issue 4
by joel d 09 Sep '05

09 Sep '05

Hi, Based on one of our post-meeting pizza discussions last night I thought I would send an e-mail (something I do so rarely). Here is a site that has a good selection of WIFI gear (APs/amps/antennas). I have never ordered from them but they appear to have a good selection of radio gear. http://www.fab-corp.com/ A few ideas to remember: 1) A stronger omni directional antenna (greater db numbers) will improve both your transmit and receive and both are important for range for WIFI. 2) Directional antennas must be aimed at the other radio. You get more gain, but they are usually not the solution if you want to wander your house/deck/yard with the laptop. 3) Amplifiers have downsides; 1) another device to power 2) another device to fail later 3) a good one runs around $200 with both transmit amp and receive pre-amp. 4) Antennas are rated in decibels (db). Most antennas on access points are round 3db - 5db. In terms of signal strength an increase of 3db is a doubling of effective power (Ex 3db to 9db is roughtly 400% stronger). 5) The weakest link in WIFI is usually the card and particularly the internal antenna in the laptop on the far end. 6) You do not succeed unless both devices can both "transmit" and "receive" the other radio. 7) Selection of a feed cable for an external antenna is VERY important. At 2+ghz frequencies a long cable (>1 foot) or a poor quality cable will loose everything you are trying to gain with a better "numbers" antenna. >From a local computer AND radio geek, Joel Desrochers

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Reminder: Upcoming Meeting
by Andy Stewart 08 Sep '05

08 Sep '05

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 HI Everybody, We have a WLUG meeting scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 15 at 7:00 PM in the Access Grid room at WPI. I'm not sure of the topic, but if nothing better turns up, I'll start babbling about my most recent USB experience (which started unpleasantly but ultimately had a happy ending), and we can segue from there into whatever topic people wish to discuss. Bring your Linux problems and try to stump the audience. :-) I'll bring my iAudio G3 MP3/Ogg player since a couple of people said they wanted to see it. I had hoped to have it at the last meeting but it wasn't shipped to me in time. Naturally, we'll go out for pizza after the meeting. We can discuss the insanity of looting televisions during a flood crisis, the possibility of adding anti-DRM language to GPL v3, and whatever else we find interesting. See ya then! 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 iD8DBQFDHmZ4Hl0iXDssISsRAka9AJ9HkAi7ZYGZfg7JokWZFeuzWbGK/wCfeJ9D yEQ7aHTYE9/JB6zT4fJUl0I= =8ain -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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SuSE dual frustration....
by Adam Keck 05 Sep '05

05 Sep '05

Hello All, I am trying to install SuSE 9.3 on a dual dual-core Opteron system. I can boot into the installation kernel and do an installation, but when the system reboots it boots to a black screen with a ~2 inch horizontal green line in the upper left-hand corner. I am not sure where to start troubleshooting this, since I do not have much error output. The things I know so far: o Knoppix 3.9 boots fine and runs off CD. o SuSE 9.2's installation kernel boots to the same state. o My install of 9.3 was a basic "click next" install. o http://www.beowulf.org/archive/2005-July/013234.html indicates there may be some issue with the initrd, but does not say what the guy did. My impression is that I am not even getting that far, though. Any help/hints/direction would be much appreciated. Thanks very much! -Adam

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Linux Job opportunity
by Andy Stewart 02 Sep '05

02 Sep '05

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 If interested, please send me email, and I'll send you the contact information. The job is located in Massachusetts near the intersection of Rt 3 and Rt 128. === LINUX Technical Lead: Job Functions: Serve as a technical lead responsible for bringup, test and development of LINUX operating systems on server platforms. Responsibilities of this role are to: * Define and execute on bring-up, test and development strategy for LINUX * Interact with internal and external teams to ensure that LINUX requirements are met * Identify technical risks within the project and plans to manage them * Root cause bugs and implement corrective actions * Provide input to management on project milestones and schedule * Give periodic technical status updates to management and engineering teams. Skills: * Experience with industry standard LINUX operating systems * Experience with X86 architecture * Project delivery experience * Strong leadership skills * Ability to effectively communicate with wide variety of functional teams (system hardware, system software, QA, operating systems, manufacturing test, field engineering) * Effective in lab bring-up environment * Ability to root cause hardware/software issues in the lab * Strong hardware and software skills 10+ years experience === - -- 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 iD8DBQFDGE/RHl0iXDssISsRAms0AJ94Ror2w0Vsr/Hh2yC2N1/Xcq15qACfco9s +N5grzVwMGmiUX6g4m4ZW1M= =4x/C -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Speaking of interesting meetings...
by Andy Stewart 02 Sep '05

02 Sep '05

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 ...what do you all propose for a topic for the Sept. 8 meeting? More importantly, does anybody want to do a presentation or lead the discussion? This month, I've been debugging USB problems on my server, and I think I may have made some progress on USB 1.x, but not on USB 2.x. I'm not sure if this is a meeting topic - howto get stuff to work on USB and how to debug it if it does not. Your thoughts? 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 iD8DBQFDFlGxHl0iXDssISsRAneXAJ0Rkqhwc9rkJ60lsWDUKA0UQdNGKQCeKwCG Ed27RqXttkP9STLCkoo2OQ0= =4xsk -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: Wlug Digest, Vol 22, Issue 18
by Carlton C. Stedman II 01 Sep '05

01 Sep '05

Re: Bootable RAID system > I keep waffling back and forth between RAID1 (mirroring) and RAID5. > And I keep waffling between booting from RAID or not. Part of the > problem is that to boot off raid, you need to build a intrd image, and > since I do a bunch of kernel compiles and reboots all the time (say > once a week or so...) I've been a bit leary of all that. I've done software RAID (RAID0 and RAID5) for a long time and never had to use an initrd image. Just have a 100 MB boot partition on one drive, and set root=/dev/md0 in grub. This is with two 60GB WD HD's and one 80 GB (which has the bootable 100 MB partition). If you RAID it all, well, guess you need an initrd (please correct me if I'm wrong). As far as RAID1 and RAID5, isn't RAID5 strictly better, if you have the HD's? I mean, just lose 1/3 of the storage for total mirroring and you have to lose 2 HD's to lose your data. Why would someone choose RAID1 over RAID5 (just curious)? I did have a RAID5 system set up, but decided to change it over to RAID0 and use an external Maxtor drive for backup (just simple rsync). > Now that would be a good meeting some evening, talking about and > showing how to setup a bootable RAID system for the OS and how to > upgrade your kernel easily and automatically. Personally, I feel if you compile a couple of kernels it really becomes old hat, I mean, once you know how to do it it's no big deal. Same with RAID systems. But that would be an interesting meeting, nonetheless. > Let me rephrase your reasoning: You don't want to use an initrd because > you aren't familiar with the process. Just because you do a lot of kernel > builds/reboots (and your definition of a lot is my definition of very few, > here), that is no reason not to use an initrd. I've never had a problem and found I needed initrd to get something to work. What are the benefits of using it? - Carlton

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RE: [Wlug] PCI IDE card?
by Keller, Tim 31 Aug '05

31 Aug '05

Sounds like either a promise or a 3ware card... -----Original Message----- From: wlug-bounces(a)mail.wlug.org [mailto:wlug-bounces@mail.wlug.org] On Behalf Of Mike Frysinger Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2005 2:05 PM To: wlug(a)mail.wlug.org Subject: Re: [Wlug] PCI IDE card? On Tuesday 30 August 2005 01:57 pm, Tim Trachimowicz wrote: > I've got a couple of flavors on Linux running on my machine and I'm > looking to add another HD to the system to get another couple of distros > running. If you're like me, you've probably got boxes of random > computer parts sitting around your desk/office "waiting" to be put to > good use... The one thing I >>don't<< have is a PCI card that'll add an > extra IDE channel. Does anyone have an old one they'd part with? I'd > gladly pay for it but donations are also accepted. :) I'm in > Worcester/Framingham and can easily pick it up... Thanks! actually i have a 66mhz card i was using in a raid, but i dont need it anymore since ive dismantled said raid, so you're welcome to it i forget exactly what it is, but linux-2.4 and linux-2.6 have drivers for it and they seemed pretty solid -mike _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Sun co-processor card for sale...
by Adam Keck 30 Aug '05

30 Aug '05

Hello All, I have a SunPCi II (model #: X2131A) board with memory and Sun PCi II 2.2.1 software for 20.00. I can bring it to next week's meeting, if anyone is interested. From http://www.mmayer.net/sunpci/sunpcii.html: * Processor: Intel Celeron * Clock: 600 MHz * Memory: 64 MB (max. 512 MB) * Part Number: X2131A (#375-0131) * Software Version: 2.2.1 * Supported Machines: Sun Ultra and Blade Workstations (Ultra 5, 10, 30, 60, 80, or 450; Sun Blade 100, or 1000) * Supported Guest OSes: DOS and Windows 3.11, Windows 9x, Windows NT Workstation 4.0, Windows 2000 Professional * Solaris Versions: 2.6 and above I thought I would see if I could get Linux to run on it when I bought it, but between school and work I haven't had time... -Adam

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SR Solaris position
by Ritacco, Alan 30 Aug '05

30 Aug '05

All, I have posted in the past here (successfully once) regarding job opening(s) at UMASS Medical School in Worcester MA. A SR Unix (Solaris) Admin position is now open and is accepting resumes. Thanks Al

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Re: [Wlug] Stream rippers
by Clint Moyer 29 Aug '05

29 Aug '05

You can use mplayer. There was an article on it in the last Linux Journal. > > From: Andy Stewart <andystewart(a)comcast.net> > Date: 2005/08/29 Mon AM 01:09:45 EDT > To: Worcester Linux Users Group <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> > Subject: [Wlug] Stream rippers > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > > HI gang, > > Does anybody have a favorite stream ripper that they'd like to recommend? > > FYI, a stream ripper (as I've very recently learned) is a program which > "listens" to a streaming audio broadcast and saves that information on > your hard drive. Streaming audio broadcasts are available on > shoutcast.com and icecast.org, and probably many other places. > > I'm using a program called 'streamripper' (strangely enough) which I > found at http://streamripper.sourceforge.net/. I'm wondering what > others might be using. It has a feature where songs can be saved as > individual .mp3 (or .ogg) files, or the whole stream can be saved in one > file. I've downloaded these songs into my portable MP3 player for later > enjoyment. > > There seems to be some controversy about the use of such programs. > Frankly, I don't see it as any different than holding a microphone in > front of the radio. Granted, the quality is much better with a ripper. > > Prior to learning something about stream rippers, I had been using the > Ogg encoder output feature of xmms while xmms was "tuned" to a streaming > audio broadcast. As I understand it, this involves taking the stream > source (an MP3 stream generally) and re-encoding it into the Ogg format, > which technically involves a loss of quality (can I hear it? I'm not > sure...). > > 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 > > iD8DBQFDEpiZHl0iXDssISsRAugEAJ9sXsJT2J56YFD+h5SGQJE8EhW15ACcDa2M > WYtthInJlx1HOEV9P6IfvHc= > =0/fb > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

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Stream rippers
by Andy Stewart 29 Aug '05

29 Aug '05

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 HI gang, Does anybody have a favorite stream ripper that they'd like to recommend? FYI, a stream ripper (as I've very recently learned) is a program which "listens" to a streaming audio broadcast and saves that information on your hard drive. Streaming audio broadcasts are available on shoutcast.com and icecast.org, and probably many other places. I'm using a program called 'streamripper' (strangely enough) which I found at http://streamripper.sourceforge.net/. I'm wondering what others might be using. It has a feature where songs can be saved as individual .mp3 (or .ogg) files, or the whole stream can be saved in one file. I've downloaded these songs into my portable MP3 player for later enjoyment. There seems to be some controversy about the use of such programs. Frankly, I don't see it as any different than holding a microphone in front of the radio. Granted, the quality is much better with a ripper. Prior to learning something about stream rippers, I had been using the Ogg encoder output feature of xmms while xmms was "tuned" to a streaming audio broadcast. As I understand it, this involves taking the stream source (an MP3 stream generally) and re-encoding it into the Ogg format, which technically involves a loss of quality (can I hear it? I'm not sure...). 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 iD8DBQFDEpiZHl0iXDssISsRAugEAJ9sXsJT2J56YFD+h5SGQJE8EhW15ACcDa2M WYtthInJlx1HOEV9P6IfvHc= =0/fb -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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report from KDE confrence in Malaga
by Karl Hiramoto 27 Aug '05

27 Aug '05

I'm at the KDE conference: http://conference2005.kde.org/ Saw a good presentation this morning on a groupware (exchange replacement) software: http://kolab.org/ It works with kontact, outlook plugin, and web interface. Then saw a kde power users talk where i saw some cool stuff. for example. in konquerer to open a sftp like session where you can drag and drop files in the URL go to: fish://sshserver For viewing the ls man pages in konquerer for example: man:/ls Gota go now, leaving the conference to go to a friends wedding... -- -- Karl Hiramoto US VOIP: (+1) 603.966.4448 Spain Casa (+34)951.273.347 Spain Mobil (+34) 617.463.826 Yahoo_IM = karl_hiramoto jabber.org=karl_hiramoto

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Manuals for Monitors
by Tom Misilo 26 Aug '05

26 Aug '05

Hi, I was wondering if anybody knew where to get a manual for a Mag Innovision DX15F monitor. As I need to find out the Hz and Refresh rates so I can use nVidia's TwinView Thanks, Tom -- Tom Misilo AIM:Tmisilo FL MSN:tmisilo@gmail.com Jabber:tmisilo@jabber.org Skype: tmisilo

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[Fwd: Attention LUG President, Officer or Represenative]
by Andy Stewart 24 Aug '05

24 Aug '05

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 - -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Attention LUG President, Officer or Represenative Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 23:55:05 -0400 From: mike <mike(a)bcpub.com> To: Andy Stewart <andystewart(a)comcast.net> Hello, Andy, We are a group of developers (also members of the Athens Area LUG) who have started a business called TuxDelux.com, which sells t-shirts with Tux the Penguin on them. We want to reach as many Linux Users as possible, and as such, we are interested in reaching out your members. We want to abide by your LUG's policies and procedures on soliciting to members. If you have specific policies and procedures regarding solicitaion, please let us know the steps we need to take in order to reach your members. Thank you for your time and consideration. Michael McSteen Bryan Dumm TuxDelux.com - ------------------------------------------------ btw- if you were wondering, we are starting this project to have some fun as well as help support our development project (http://projectamin.org) If you are interested in learning more about Project AMIN or xml administration we would be willing to present some of our ideas to your group, provided its not too far away or too cost prohibitive :) another btw- if you simply want to share information about TuxDelux.com with your members, below is a copy of our press release. If you have any questions and/or policies and procedures, please contact me at: support(a)tuxdelux.com or mike(a)bcpub.com Thanks again! - ------------------------------------------------- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Tux Delux LLC c/o Michael McSteen 175 Second Street Athens, Ohio 45701 support(a)tuxdelux.com Announcing a New Online Store for Tux T-shirts Still waiting to get that fabulous Tux t-shirt? Wait no more. Now you can get a Tux T-shirt and help out the Linux community! Introducing TuxDelux (http://tuxdelux.com) a new online store solely devoted to marketing and promoting Tux the Penguin. The brainchild of two Linux enthusiasts, Bryan Dumm and Michael McSteen, TuxDelux is an effort to increase public awareness of Linux by shamelessly marketing and promoting Tux the Penguin, the adopted mascot of the Linux community. "We don't see Tux as much as we should. We don't see it on the street, in the stores or in any media." said Dumm. "We want to change that." The two originally thought of the idea for Tux Delux while attending a recent conference. They saw a lot of logos and icons promoting individual software programs and corporations, but nothing promoting the Linux. "Mike and I always talk about the need for 'Place' (one of the four P's of marketing) for Linux. The same holds true for 'Promotion'," Dumm explained. Both Dumm and McSteen think one of the best ways to introduce the public to Linux is by introducing them to Tux the Penguin. They hope that the more the Linux community promotes Tux, the more the general public will be curious about Linux. "We want people to ask, 'hey, what's up with the penguin?' We want to peak people's curiosity about Tux and Linux," McSteen stated. "We think Tux is a fantastic image and that the Linux community needs to rally around him to market and promote Linux," Dumm added. Tuxdelux.com currently offers eight different Tux designs, including the original. The company plans to introduce several new designs over the next couple of months. Visit tuxdelux.com to find out more. If you have any questions, please contact Michael McSteen at: support(a)tuxdelux.com ### - -- 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 iD8DBQFDDO23Hl0iXDssISsRArLPAJ9Q4xYWMQ8Iyx6+49N+No8g5Q2NDgCbBfwP ylGq1ngY0AdhK6FP3Eyxsck= =D7Lq -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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playing (movie) DVD's?
by Bill Mills-Curran 16 Aug '05

16 Aug '05

What application do you use for playing movie DVD's on linux. I'm running fc3. Thanks, Bill

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MythTV vs. Tivo
by Marc Hughes 15 Aug '05

15 Aug '05

So I've been thinking about picking up a PVR card and turning an old machine I have lying around into a MythTV box to replace my tivo to get rid of that nasty monthly fee. Does anyone have any comments on the comparisons between the two? Will I miss my tivo? Does mythtv have equivelant options for season passes or recommentations? Thanks, -Marc

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MythTV questions...
by Bill Smith 13 Aug '05

13 Aug '05

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 I know that I could get some answers from the MythTV website, but I'm looking for some opinions, since others have been talking about the Tivo/MythTV stuff... I've got a Matrox Mystique and Rainbow Runner card (it's a little "old, I think) that I have been thinking about using to make a MythTV-ish system. (The Rainbow Runner is an add-on TV tuner card for the Mystique.) Given that I'm not expecting spectacular results with something like that (I mostly want to play with it), what sort of base system should I use it in? (CPU speed, Drive capacity, RAM?) Any suggestions are welcome. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- William Smith wsmith-at-chezsmith-dot-com Fall River, MA http://www.chezsmith.com -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.1 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFC/V+Iz+l4y7Xx77MRAnkWAKCQt+gLgbbY+NaLGxs2GotJoXdMdACdFhYb gmf8SBL6Cp1Dcv4c5Q4rklk= =jahA -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Sorry for the dup, playing w/mutt settings
by Jeff Kinz 12 Aug '05

12 Aug '05

Sorry for the dup, playing w/mutt settings -- speech recognition software was used in the composition of this e-mail Jeff Kinz, Emergent Research, Hudson, MA. Â¡Ya no mas!

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Its Meeting time !
by Andy Stewart 10 Aug '05

10 Aug '05

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 HI Everybody, Time flies, especially in the summer. I can't believe its already time for another WLUG meeting. Our meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 10th at 7:00 PM. What will we discuss this month? I was hoping somebody had an iRivier or iPod MP3 player with the Linux software working that would bring it to the meeting to demo it, but so far, nobody has volunteered. (iRiver, iPod, iAudio, for what does the 'i' stand - individual??). One possible area of interest is directory services (LDAP). I don't think we've ever had a talk on that subject. Its my understanding that LDAP is good for more than just creating a giant list of email addresses for an organization. Another possible idea would be a talk about databases. What are the differences between MySQL and PostgreSQL - are they technical or is this a religious war? OK, I've tossed out a few ideas, but to make it work, we need a volunteer. Please send me email if you are interested in leading the discussion on either these proposed topics or something else of interest to the group. See ya 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 iD8DBQFC9KiSHl0iXDssISsRAiVFAJwNeAujY0DpolNA2rUYQceKHR4hKwCfYZd6 hAIXR4wrRQM2YCrmuk0K6hk= =WiLv -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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[Fwd: Linux Jobs @ Google...]
by Andy Stewart 05 Aug '05

05 Aug '05

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Forwarded at the request of Jeff Polo - please respond directly to him if you have interest in any of these job opportunities. Later, Andy - -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Linux Jobs @ Google... Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2005 12:00:41 -0700 From: Jeff Polo <jpolo(a)google.com> To: <wlug-owner(a)mail.wlug.org> CC: <fs(a)wpi.edu>, <andystewart(a)comcast.net> Hello, My name is Jeff Polo, and I'm a recruiter with Google. We're currently searching for Linux systems experts with strong scripting/coding skills and some networking experience for a number of great opportunities within our Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) team. Our SRE's are involved in all aspects of running Google's services, from design to debug, and from architecture to applications. Google is looking for the best in engineering talent, and I'm sure a number of your members have the skills that match up with some of our openings. I was wondering if it would be possible for you to post a couple of jobs to your WLUG site, an appropriate mailing list, or otherwise let your members know about these great opportunities at Google. If so, I've pasted a couple of representative job descriptions below. If there is a way/forum for me to do this myself, please let me know. If it's not possible, I completely understand, and realize that some technical forums choose not to advertise job opportunities. If you're able to distribute this information to your members, be assured that these are real and excellent opportunities, and that I will respond to all that apply to my email address. We have openings in Kirkland, WA, as well as in our other development offices in Mountain View, CA; New York, NY; Dublin, Ireland; and Zurich, Switzerland Please feel free to call or email with any questions, and thanks in advance for your consideration and time. Jeff Polo Google Staffing Office: 650-623-4767 jpolo(a)google.com %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Senior Systems Administrator/Architect, Google.com (SRE) Positions available in Mountain View, CA; New York, NY; Kirkland, WA; Zurich, Switzerland; and in our European Operations HQ in Dublin, Ireland. Are you a detail-oriented systems professional, seasoned Unix jockey, Internet services architect, database whiz, performance analyst, or software engineer, at the top of your game? Looking for the next cool problem to solve, in a fast-paced and engineering-driven environment? Can you write a script or application that performs practically the entire job you once held earlier in your career? Does your idea of a good time involve taking things apart just to see how they work? Are you successful putting them back together when you're done? Can you help achieve increased Availability, Reliability, Uptime, and Quality? (for our systems and services, naturally) If you answered "Yes" to more than three of the above questions, you may have what it takes. Keep reading. Google.com Engineers are involved in all aspects of running our site. From design to debug, from architecture to applications, Google.com engineers spend their time troubleshooting problems in large-scale clustered application service environments, and focus on making continual improvements to our services. Working for Google.com, you will wear many hats: performance analyst, service architect, system/database administrator, capacity planner, tools developer, monitoring expert, and technical evangelist, for all components of Google.com's services. This position requires a passion for problem solving, deep understanding of networks, operating systems, multi-tiered Internet services, and the ability to learn new applications and concepts quickly. Strong scripting skills are essential. Requirements: 3+ years experience in Unix or Linux Systems Administrator. Experience in a high-volume or critical production service environment. Strong understanding of networking; understanding of how to isolate, diagnose, and resolve service delivery components (service delivery components include servers, networks, and applications); be familiar with the functionality, operating, and failure modes of key networking devices (routers, switches, bridges, firewalls, hardware load balancers); be able to identify networking as the potential cause of a service issue using server-resident tools to generate this data (tcpdump, ping, traceroute, etc.); familiarity in interpreting the output of these tools; familiarity with common network topologies, protocols, and tools; have some notion of common network security exploits -- and their remedies; understanding of troubleshooting at the packet level. Skilled in leading projects, especially in deploying live end-user systems. Proven technical troubleshooting experience. Database administration experience a plus. Programming or debugging of web applications running under Java VM. In-depth knowledge of Linux, networking, and shell scripting. Knowledge of Python programming a plus. Experience with MySQL a plus. Programming and troubleshooting skills in C/C++ and/or Java a plus. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Ability to handle periodic on-call duty as well as out-of-band requests. BA/BS in Computer Science or a related technical discipline. For immediate consideration, please send a text (ASCII) or HTML version of your resume to jpolo(a)google.com. Important: The subject field of your email must include Senior Systems Administrator/Architect, Google.com (SRE) %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Senior Software Engineer/Unix System & Network Administrator, Google.com (SRE) Positions available in Mountain View, CA; New York, NY; Kirkland, WA; Zurich, Switzerland; and in our European Operations HQ in Dublin, Ireland. Are you part ace coder, part adrenalin junkie? Do you have a knack for seeing a problem and immediately discerning the likely solution? Maybe you've been coding for years, are bored with the old design-build-review-test-ship-repeat routine, and yearn for some faster-paced challenges? Or perhaps you're a seasoned software engineer who is also a genius at jockeying networks and administering UNIX clusters. We're looking for top-notch thrill seeking, software engineers to join the Google.com team. Google.com engineers are in the thick of everything involved with keeping Google running, from code-level troubleshooting of traffic anomalies to maintenance of our most cutting edge services; from monitoring and alerts to building new automation infrastructure. We are aggressively building this elite team of high level engineers in this mission critical environment. All team members must have strong analytical and troubleshooting skills, fluency in coding, good communication skills, and most of all enthusiasm for tackling the complex problems of scale which are uniquely Google. Google.com engineers tackle challenging, novel situations every day, and work with just about every other engineering and operations team in the process. Qualifications: Strong programming/scripting skills in any of the following: C, C++, Java, Perl, Python. Senior Level experience with Unix system administration. Strong understanding of networking; understanding of how to isolate, diagnose, and resolve service delivery components (service delivery components include servers, networks, and applications); be familiar with the functionality, operating, and failure modes of key networking devices (routers, switches, bridges, firewalls, hardware load balancers); be able to identify networking as the potential cause of a service issue using server-resident tools to generate this data (tcpdump, ping, traceroute, etc.); familiarity in interpreting the output of these tools; familiarity with common network topologies, protocols, and tools; have some notion of common network security exploits -- and their remedies; understanding of troubleshooting at the packet level. Strong project management skills, especially in deploying live end-user systems. In-depth knowledge of Unix (preferably Linux), and shell scripting. Proven technical troubleshooting experience. Excellent analytic ability, strong communication skills, and a strong sense of urgency. Ability to handle periodic on-call duty as well as out-of-band requests. 6-15+ years experience for Senior SWE position, or 3-8 years experience for SWE position. BA/BS in CS, or equivalent experience. For immediate consideration, please send a text (ASCII) or HTML version of your resume jpolo(a)google.com. Important: The subject field of your email must include Senior Software Engineer/Unix System & Network Administrator, Google.com (SRE) - -- 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 iD8DBQFC3uPWHl0iXDssISsRApoZAKCFM90GjptxEWkJ+HcTGgdBz155ywCfd+Av Twtek2hmubn1uSWXZxewmUs= =tlcM -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Portable MP3 (and ogg) players and Linux
by Andy Stewart 03 Aug '05

03 Aug '05

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 HI gang, I'm starting to investigate the purchase of a new toy - a portable music player. My preferences would be: - - flash, not hard drive, based - - standard batteries (AA,AAA, etc) - - works reasonably well with Linux - - plays ogg (nice but not necessary - aren't the files smaller than mp3) - - plays mp3 I currently have a perfectly functional RioVolt 250 and my only complaint is that it is quite bulky relative to what is available today. I was considering some of the offerings by iRiver, as there seems to be some support by the Linux community. Does anybody own an iRiver flash based player, and what is your experience with it? Does anybody have other recommendations in this area? Maybe we should make this the topic of a meeting??? 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 iD8DBQFC6s8qHl0iXDssISsRAm6QAJ92gZGJWjLnEHGHJejWuZiAhTZh0QCfcQpz 3EJaVxol5W6btG6a+4sRk8Y= =NZnt -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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