Houston Linux Users Group

2nd Saturday means HLUG! Don't lose your data!!

2010-03-10T17:09:16+00:00

Join us Saturday, February 13th at HAL-PC for another exciting HLUG meeting! Ron Lyle, our fearless leader, is planning a presentation on the dos and don'ts on data backup of the Linux desktop for home users.

If you're using Linux as a server setup, you've probably got all sorts of crazy shell scripts backing up things. But what if you're a 'standard' Linux user, just using a desktop setup for daily work? Word processing, spreadsheets, pictures, etc? You don't want to risk losing all your precious data, do you? But, there aren't a kajillion off the shelf backup solutions for the Linux desktop like there are for other OSes. That's where THIS presentation comes to your rescue!

Of course, you have to JOIN us at HAL-PC, Saturday from 2-4pm. Help US help YOU. :-)

4th Saturday: Linux SIG takes on Social Networking!

2010-03-10T17:09:16+00:00

Look, Linux folks ARE social! Stop by HAL-PC Saturday from 2-4pm and learn to network! From your linux box!

The subject is Social Networks the names are
1. FaceBook: Val
2. Meetup: Rick
3. Linked In: Jorid, Joey

What we do not have time for this week, can be continued
on the next meeting.

Ron

Kojo (that's me!) was supposed to discuss Twitter and LinkedIn, but won't be able to make the meeting this week. Next time!

HAL-PC SAMBA SIG Updates

2010-03-10T17:08:07+00:00

The HAL-PC Samba/Network Administration SIG (sometimes also called the Samba/Open Networking SIG, much to SIG Leader Rick Archibald's dismay!) is kind of a spin-off of HLUG (most Samba members are also HLUG members), so we'll be including updates from their meetings here as well.

You may be thinking, "Why would a Latin dance group have spun out of a Linux User Group?!?", but it's not THAT Samba, it's THIS Samba, the one that helps Linux and Windows share network resources. See? Doesn't that make more sense? So, beyond Samba, they discuss other networking issues as well.

The current project underway is mail server setup. Thanks to Robert Spotswood for summarizing the meetings and sending me his notes. I'll be posting those or a summary of them after each meeting.

I MAY also include pictures from the meetings. They'll be here. But, since we're not really photographers, this may or may not be an ongoing thing. It's a work in progress.

The Samba SIG meets on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month from 2-4 in SIG Room C at HAL-PC. You know what that means don't you? It means almost EVERY SATURDAY you can have Linux-y goodness! You KNOW that's what you want...

By the way, a listing of ALL the HAL-PC SIGs is here. A calendar of WHEN those SIGs meet is here. You know, in case you wanted more to do.

Wednesday Night: Get Your Tech Up!

2010-03-10T17:07:38+00:00

So, the Wednesday night Linux Workshop is in full swing! It goes from 6-9pm. Afterwards, a bunch of the group is going to Antidote Coffe in the Heights. You are encouraged to join in!

ALSO! In case you're not able to make it to HAL-PC, tonight, tune in to Technology Bytes on KPFT (90.1 FM in Houston or listen live from their web site or with your favorite stream catcher) from 8-10pm.

If you can't find a tech answer between THOSE two, it probably doesn't exist. I'm just sayin'...

Wednesday Night: HLUG Workshop and Technology Bytes

2010-03-10T17:07:38+00:00

A quick reminder; Linux Workshop tonight at HAL-PC from 6-9pm. And be sure to tune in to Technology Bytes, 8-10pm at www.kpft.org or 90.1 FM in Houston.

HLUG Linux Workshop: It's already started!!

2010-03-10T17:07:38+00:00

It's Wednesday night, so you should know the drill by now. Get thee to HAL-PC and partake of the Linux Workshop goodness! Get help with thine own vexing Linux questions! Assist others with issues that, verily, cause them to be vexed.

Basically, we're trying to avoid and eliminate all things "vexing". 6-9pm. Dinner/socializing afterwards, to be announced at the Workshop.

ALSO! Do NOT forget about Technology Bytes. 8-10pm on KPFT or live streamed over the internet(s), if you're not in the Houston area. Speaking of Technology Bytes, if you didn't attend their last Geek Gathering, here's what you missed. The lovely woman in the first picture is Victoria Leigh, model/photographer/makeup artist. The smiling man next to her is her husband. He works for Ubuntu, dealing with OpenOffice.org bugs. See what Linux can do for you? I'm just saying. Don't blame me, it's not like I didn't tell you! The Geek Gathering's are the first Friday of every month at The Coffeegroundz.

That is all.

What IS the HLUG Linux Workshop?

2010-03-10T17:07:38+00:00

I'm glad you asked! The Wednesday Night Workshop (WNW...not to be confused with Neverwinter Nights...NWN) is where people with questions about, trouble with or interest in Linux get together to work it all out! Bring your computer/keyboard/mouse and we'll supply the monitor/power/network connection (wired and WiFi) and get things taken care of!

Trying to install Linux? We can help! Got Linux installed, but can't get a piece of hardware working? We can help! Need to get a certain piece of software installed or configured on your Linux install? We can help! Want to dump your other OS and replace it with Linux? We can help!

Wednesday nights, 6-9pm at HAL-PC Global HQ!! Followed by dinner...somewhere.

ALSO! Be sure to tune in to Technology Bytes Radio, ALSO Wednesday night from 8-10pm. And don't miss the Geek Gathering, this Friday at The Coffeegroundz!

Wednesday Night is Tech Extravaganza in Houston!

2010-03-10T17:07:38+00:00

So, what do you do on a Wednesday night in the fourth largest city in America? You GEEK OUT, of course! Here's how:

6pm: Arrive at HAL-PC for the Wednesday night Linux Workshop, brought to you by HLUG! Bring a PC/keyboard/mouse (we've got monitors/ethernet/WiFi) and get answers to your Linux questions. Get help installing distros, drivers, specific packages or just hang out. It goes on until 9pm. HAL-PC is here .
8pm: While you're at HAL-PC, getting your Linux fix, tune in to Technology Bytes, 8-10p CST 90.1FM on your radio. Or take your web browser or stream catcher to www.kpft.org or http://www.geekradio.com/ Get answers to any OTHER computer questions. Of course, as a Linux geek, you can probably PROVIDE answers. Join in their IRC and share your wisdom!
9pm: The HLUG crew usually goes out to eat afterwards.

How's THAT for battling Hump Day?!?

2 views of last Saturday's Samba SIG

2010-03-10T17:06:38+00:00

What'd you miss last Saturday?

Rick Archbald says:

W/o Rob't spotswood (sick), the Samba SIG didn't make much progress on
the mail server project. We did convince ourselves that KirraMail
doesn't install easily & isn't worth fighting w/ for having a 2nd mail
server on the network. We also discovered that the last release of
VMware 2.0 is useless. If we knew that either VBox or VMware would
save the complete state, including RAM, of a VM (this may be a
"stupid" question), then we could run Kirra in a VM, & have it have
some continuity.

Ron Lyle offers this view:

We built a vmware KerraMail mail server just to see if we could set up a mail server. The samba SIG went well and I found thanks to Rick, some Google special searches under UNIX (google/linux, google/gov, and google/bsd) We learned that vmware doesn't do snapshots and virtual box does.

They'll be back at it on the 3rd Saturday of the month. That's the 19th for those scoring at home.

Samba: TODAY from 2-4!!

2010-03-10T16:58:30+00:00

The quest to build an ISP-grade mail server continues! Stop by HAL-PC to join in on the fun and learning! Tech up!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Review Preview: one of the most universal of truths...

2010-03-10T08:52:22+00:00

(This is from Eric Raymond's The Art Of Unix Programming, which I'm currently reading.)

"The most basic argument for prototyping first is Kernighan & Plauger's:
90% of the functionality delivered now is better than 100% of it delivered never”.

News Item

2010-03-04T08:51:56+00:00

It appears that Oracle is being a good neighbor with respect to open source-ing some things, or rather continuing to (subsequent to the Sun acquisition). This story indicates that the OpenSolaris project will undergo basically no change and that a commitment is being made to its future. Certainly this will benefit Oracle by the encouraging of experimentation with file systems and software features now under its control (like ZFS, the combined file system and LVM) but I see the continuing maintenance and free availability of any decent (-nix-oid) system as a good thing. In the words of the nerd-rock band DEVO, "duty now for the future"!

The Anti-Book-Review Times Two

2010-03-01T15:48:19+00:00

Since I have two computing-related books to review and have not finished them yet, I'll let you in on the locations thereof. Both have online free versions in various places; here's some that I know about.

THE ART OF UNIX PROGRAMMING by Eric Raymond

Mr. Raymond has been around programming since way the hell back and offers this best-practices book that can do at least three things: document the early computing culture, acclimatize programmers to the Unix world that may have come from other environments and focus the efforts of other programmers who are Unix-native. Here's one of the book's many online homes:

Click HERE

NMAP NETWORK SCANNING
The Official Nmap Project Guide to Network Discovery and Security Scanning
by Gordon “Fyodor” Lyon

Living at the venerable nmap.org, this is a less-than-complete version (buy it to get everything) but this version is merely lacking in all examples and extended discussions. All the basics are here. The tool's free and the bad guys use it, too, so if you're a White Hat Wannabe like me, you have no choice but to get right with Nmap.

Click HERE

So now, let's see if I can finish these before you do - and before you scoop me on your blog.

SAMBA SIG Updates

2010-02-26T16:51:54+00:00

Here's what you missed last Saturday at the SAMBA SIG (and yes, I DO alternate my capitalization of "Samba". Sue me) We're continuing our goal of building an ISP-Grade mail server.

Today we got the spam script working and spammed our new server. Over a 100 MB
connection, it took about 14.5 minutes to send 10,000 messages. During that
time, CPU usage on the mail server shoot up to around 90%. However, even
during the storm, the webmail interface was still responsive. Nevertheless, it
showed that we need anti-spam measures.

In order to get the spam script running, we used another machine, then booted
with Knoppix 6.0.1 and installed sendmail (what the script requires). Knoppix
5.3.1 would not work with sendmail for some reason.

In the next meeting, we need to try to add some polish to our testing mail
server. The current list of items to address is:

1) Anti-spam measures and anti-virus measures. Current plans are to use
Amavis. It will be interesting to see what the load is on the server if we
repeat the spam storm with the measures in place.

2) Implement quotas. We can't have one user fill up the hard drive.

3) Change the squirrelmail url to something better and more standard, such as
webmail.samba.lan.

4) Install a list manager. Mailman has been suggested.

It is likely it will take more than one meeting to accomplish all this.

Join in in two weeks!

Wednesday Night Linux Workshop

2010-02-24T15:34:05+00:00

Wednesday night means Linux Workshop at HAL-PC, 6-9pm.

Be there!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone (which runs a version of OS X, which is a *nix)

Samba SIG Updates: "In our last episode, our heroes..."

2010-02-20T10:39:04+00:00

Here are the notes from the February first Saturday Samba SIG meeting. Remember, the third Saturday is THIS Saturday! 2-4pm at HAL-PC in SIG Room C.

Pardon the bad formatting, I'm in a bit of a time crunch. I'll try to beautify it later.

Today work continued on the mailserver. Robert attempted to set up three interfaces to manage the users without resorting to raw sql statement and got two of them working. GRSoft MailManager is working and is a web based front end. Ispwebadmin we never got working. The final one is a bash script by manu that, although limited, works just fine. While this one won't be used much, it does leave open the possibility for a mass setup of email accounts with a little hacking of the script.

We also got squirrelmail working too. Next up is one of two things, to be decided on in the coming two weeks:

1) Set up a test network with some kirramail servers to test out the postfix mail server and make sure everything is working.

2) Set up virus and spam filtering on the new mailserver. We've got a volunteer to be the evil spammer. He will try to counter our measures to block spam (on the test network). He will have the advantage on knowing what countermeasures we are using.

Come join in !!

Samba SIG Updates: "A long time ago, on a server far, far away..."

2010-02-18T20:07:24+00:00

This coming Saturday is the 3rd Saturday of the month, which means the Samba & Network Admin SIG will be going on at HAL-PC from 2-4pm.

Luckily for all of us, Robert Spotswood has been good enough to condense the activity from prior meetings. You can subscribe to the Samba SIG email list to get these announcements, but I'll also be posting them here. Here then, are the notes from the January meetings.

Subject: update for 01/09/10
Date: Monday 11 January 2010
From: Robert S
To: "SambaSIG Announce"

Rick and I continued to work through the Postfix/Dovecot tutorial. We have now completed it through the authenticated SMTP page. At this point we have a mail server that can send and receive emails, although so far we have only tested it via telnet. If telnet works, so should any regular email client. However, in doing tests that weren't in the tutorial, we discovered a problem with testing it further.

Gunn (at least I think this is his doing) has wisely chosen to block all outbound port 25 connections for most of HAL. This means we can't send email outside HAL to accounts we own. On the flip side, it also means a spammer can't enter HAL, use one of the public computers and leave HAL with a black eye. A good trade-off IMHO. The solution Rick and I came up with to play with the email server further is to set up our own mini-Internet with another email server (or two!). We can use the lab machines next door to SIG C, two of which have DVD drives and removable HD trays. The plan is to get two HDs, put them in removable trays, plug the trays into the two machines, install KirraMail on them, and set them up as other temporary email servers with fake domains so we can send and recieve email from other mail servers. We will need a couple of old HD's donated. We also will need to set up a DNS server for all of them to use, so the email servers can find the MX servers. Rick suggested Dell could write the config and zone files, and all we have to do is plug in the correct IPs once we know them. Can you do it Dell?

We will also have to adjust the resolv.conf on the two (or three) email servers to point to the DNS server, and maybe the client test machines. Since all the other computers get their DNS info via DHCP, this shouldn't cause any
problems with the rest of HAL while we do this. We can also use this setup for trying the other email server configs we will
be looking at.

Questions? Comments?

And THEN!!!

From: Robert S
Date: Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 10:32 PM
Subject: last meeting (01/15/10)
To: SambaSIG Announce

This time Dell, with just a little assistance from the crowd, set up a DNS server template with three "fake" domains. This is necessary to begin building an email server test environment. The reasons we need this were discussed in the 01/09/2010 update. At this point, it is complete and all we may have to do is change a 6 IP addresses once we know what they are, and reload the config. One HD has been donated to Rick to get an install from his KirraMail CD. We could use another. Anyone? In the meantime, this is enough to being testing the Postfix/Dovecot setup we have, which will hopefully happen next meeting.

We also have a DHCP failover lab coming up, but nothing is scheduled yet.

There you have it, notes from the January meetings. The first Saturday of February will be posted soon. Stay tuned!

hlug: Who's going to @texaslinuxfest

2010-02-18T02:19:40+00:00

hlug: Who's going to @texaslinuxfest

hlug: RT @dsilverman: At the station getting ready for Technology Bytes, 8-10p CST 90.1FM or www.kpft.org. fair warning: it's a fundraiser.

2010-02-18T01:35:47+00:00

hlug: RT @dsilverman: At the station getting ready for Technology Bytes, 8-10p CST 90.1FM or www.kpft.org. fair warning: it's a fundraiser.

hlug: Linux Workshop tonight at HAL-PC! 6-9pm! Also listen to @baldheretic @dsilverman @bcanon @geekradio on Technology Bytes. 8-10pm www.kpft.org

2010-02-17T22:18:09+00:00

hlug: Linux Workshop tonight at HAL-PC! 6-9pm! Also listen to @baldheretic @dsilverman @bcanon @geekradio on Technology Bytes. 8-10pm www.kpft.org

HLUG Video Archives

2010-02-16T11:31:56+00:00

If you look in the upper-left hand corner (look now!), you'll see a link to our Video Archive. For those too lazy to look (you know who you are), the direct link is: http://video.houstonlinux.org/

They haven't been updated in quite awhile, but the information is STILL quite interesting. Everything from an overview of Linux (which has surely changed since the video was made) to TCP/IP networking basics (an evergreen topic) to the History of HLUG (and what a history it is!)

So, if you're not able to make it to a meeting or you just want to know more about a topic, be sure to check out our video archive. We hope to start recording our meetings again at some point in the future, but we don't know exactly WHEN that's going to happen.

Also, don't forget about the Wednesday Night H-Town Tech Extravaganza! More on that later.

hlug: RT @dsilverman: on the air with Technology Bytes, 8-10p CST, 90.1FM www.kpft.org ... we answer your computer questions.

2010-02-11T03:34:30+00:00

hlug: RT @dsilverman: on the air with Technology Bytes, 8-10p CST, 90.1FM www.kpft.org ... we answer your computer questions.

hlug: RT @mintcast: Texas Linux Fest will be in Austin, TX, April 10. More info at http://ping.fm/CoAY5

2010-02-11T03:34:17+00:00

hlug: RT @mintcast: Texas Linux Fest will be in Austin, TX, April 10. More info at http://ping.fm/CoAY5

hlug: Are YOU Linux?!? Will these be "I'm a Penguin" videos? Linux Foundation Announces 2010 "We're Linux" Video Contest: http://bit.ly/9wtiIM

2010-02-10T19:54:12+00:00

hlug: Are YOU Linux?!? Will these be "I'm a Penguin" videos? Linux Foundation Announces 2010 "We're Linux" Video Contest: http://bit.ly/9wtiIM

hlug: What to do this Friday night?!? Come to @coffeegroundz for the @geekgathering. Linux folks and MORE! Plus, CGz is a GREAT place!

2010-02-06T00:11:48+00:00

hlug: What to do this Friday night?!? Come to @coffeegroundz for the @geekgathering. Linux folks and MORE! Plus, CGz is a GREAT place!

hlug: Four of us are now at Byzantio! Come join us! http://www.byzantiohouston.com 403 W. Gray 77019

2010-02-04T03:49:15+00:00

hlug: Four of us are now at Byzantio! Come join us! http://www.byzantiohouston.com 403 W. Gray 77019

hlug: RT @dsilverman: OMG!!1! It's Wednesday, so tonight is Technology Bytes, 8-10p CST 90.1FM, www.kpft.org. We answer your computer questions.

2010-02-04T00:08:10+00:00

hlug: RT @dsilverman: OMG!!1! It's Wednesday, so tonight is Technology Bytes, 8-10p CST 90.1FM, www.kpft.org. We answer your computer questions.

hlug: Linux Workshop starts in TWELVE minutes!! 6-9pm CST at HAL-PC. Don't Tweet & drive!!

2010-02-03T23:58:49+00:00

hlug: Linux Workshop starts in TWELVE minutes!! 6-9pm CST at HAL-PC. Don't Tweet & drive!!

Well, happy December and stuff!

2009-12-29T12:20:25+00:00

First, some housekeeping details: you may have noticed that I don't update quite as often as in the past. I am no longer an officeholder at the Houston Area League of PC Users, but that organization continues improvement efforts and reorganization as we speak, or type (check their site for the latest).

Second, I continue to press onward with technological interests such as the open source movement, computer security, backup methodology, unusual internet content, publishing, et cetera.

Thirdly, I'll use this blog to prognosticate and pass on interesting tidbits to whomever reads this blog, as well as for my own use (as an online link repository, for example).

Upcoming topics here may include...

The Nmap book by the Nmap guy
BackTrack 4 final release changes and progress
Recent TRK changes and improvements
Adventures In Learning Perl (hopefully without attacking competing languages much)
Adventures In Deleted File Recovery (or Oops I Did It Again, and in a different oddball file format this time)

So stay tuned and let's see what I come up with.

hlug: Holiday Party - "Meet Willie" (Sorry, Simmons not Nelson.) Details at Meetup: http://bit.ly/4UBY6t. Find the RSVP here: http://bit.ly/65C9oR

2009-12-25T00:39:45+00:00

hlug: Holiday Party - "Meet Willie" (Sorry, Simmons not Nelson.) Details at Meetup: http://bit.ly/4UBY6t. Find the RSVP here: http://bit.ly/65C9oR

hlug: HLUG/HAL-PC Samba & Network Admin. mailing list is up: http://bit.ly/753Y2Q. Current project is buiding an ISP-grade mail server.

2009-12-25T00:37:29+00:00

hlug: HLUG/HAL-PC Samba & Network Admin. mailing list is up: http://bit.ly/753Y2Q. Current project is buiding an ISP-grade mail server.

I've made a momentous discovery.

2009-11-18T20:23:59+00:00

Although I am mostly ashamed at having been talked into establishing a Facebook account, I have found something about that system that's actually socially redeeming. Somebody established "INTERCAL Enthusiasts" on FB. I'm not even a proper programmer and this is funny to me:

Here is the "Hello, world" program in INTERCAL:

DO ,1 - #13
PLEASE DO ,1 SUB #1 - #234
DO ,1 SUB #2 - #112
DO ,1 SUB #3 - #112
DO ,1 SUB #4 - #0
DO ,1 SUB #5 - #64
DO ,1 SUB #6 - #194
DO ,1 SUB #7 - #48
PLEASE DO ,1 SUB #8 - #22
DO ,1 SUB #9 - #248
DO ,1 SUB #10 - #168
DO ,1 SUB #11 - #24
DO ,1 SUB #12 - #16
DO ,1 SUB #13 - #214
PLEASE READ OUT ,1
PLEASE GIVE UP

For more of whatever the above is, go to

The Intercal Place

, which is outside FB and should be given the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Yes, from OUR Congress.

hlug: Been v.v.v. busy w/ HLUG & HAL bus., no time to tweet. 13 at the WEEKLY Workshop this week, 4 at the Happy Hour afterwards. Come join us!

2009-11-12T18:07:24+00:00

hlug: Been v.v.v. busy w/ HLUG & HAL bus., no time to tweet. 13 at the WEEKLY Workshop this week, 4 at the Happy Hour afterwards. Come join us!

Tech Fest A Resounding Success

2009-09-27T20:59:39+00:00

About a half-dozen denizens of Hal were present at the "users groups" table that Tech Fest afforded us, and the one other group that showed, the Houston Java Users Group. As for us, we got over six sheets' worth of email contacts and I'd guess that it totals to over 100 people expressing interest (Chris or Jim Ward may have the sheets and therefore could give an accurate count).

The scene was mostly .net developers but about 20% of the subjects were applicable to other things. It was well attended by head hunters, too; I'll be there next year.

NEWS

2009-09-02T14:52:27+00:00

HAL-PC FUNDRAISER POSTPONED
Due to various time constraints, the Sept. 7th BBQ has been put off at least 6-8 weeks. Stay tuned to the Hal-PC site for re-scheduling notices.
LINUX 101 ROCKS YOUR SOCKS
I dropped into the Linux 101 SIG (special interest group) meeting after the executive committee broke up for the night (and John Davis and me had finished talking about the Houston Punk scene) and saw that they are drawing about the healthy half-dozen or so that my SIG used to draw (I think they're doing OK as well). And I'm not just pimping them because they (Linux 101, 1st Tue. of Month, 7pm, Hal-PC) looked at the latest Linux Mint. But that helped.

hlug: Linux 101 tonight, Workshop & Happy Hour tomorrow -- http://www.meetup.com/houston-linux/

2009-09-01T15:36:29+00:00

hlug: Linux 101 tonight, Workshop & Happy Hour tomorrow -- http://www.meetup.com/houston-linux/

TECH FEST at Univ. of Houston

2009-08-28T15:31:22+00:00

Hit this link for what's happening on September the 26th. Seminars!
Presentations! Job and app training possibilities! More geekiness! Such a deal.

BBQ MADNESS

2009-08-28T15:03:40+00:00

On Labor Day, the Hal-PC folk would like to see you at the Volunteer Appreciation / Fund Raising Event! It's open (to other than registered volunteers with enough time logged) to all for a $15 donation that will help upgrade computers and such. Hours (for eating) are 1-6pm. Time to geekily parTAY. Check the link for directions to the Galleria-area HQ building.

New HLUG SIG Leader Elected

2009-08-26T22:56:42+00:00

As I understand it, we have a new leader: Ron Lyle! Congratulations to he who stepped up to the plate. An election was held and Ron won (this would have been last Saturday; I was... let's just say "on call"). So under Ron's direction, meetings continue as the masthead of this blog states: every second and fourth Saturday, 2pm at Hal.

In other news, it's been suggested to me (by Jim Ward) that the Presidency of HLUG, as opposed to the Special Interest Group leadership position for the scheduled time slot, become a separate position (I think he had in mind an emeritus capacity). It seems doable to consider me a publicity figurehead at least in order to continue with this blog and other promotional activities, in spite of my employer's shift changes and their effects, which take me out of the scheduled flow. Also, having a President (in addition to a SIG Leader) maintains a connection with the structure of HLUG that originally merged with Hal about ten years ago; continuity is good.

I agree to such an arrangement if it's amenable to the new leader and the membership. Also, I'll be describing/pimping/reviewing the meetings here into the future (and naturally able to review something when I am not called upon to work Saturday and therefore could show up at the meeting).

See some of you at the Hal Board meeting tomorrow night.

hlug: tomorrow (Wed.) - Linux Workshop (6pm at HAL-PC) & Happy Hour (9:30 at Byzantio)

2009-08-25T18:08:54+00:00

hlug: tomorrow (Wed.) - Linux Workshop (6pm at HAL-PC) & Happy Hour (9:30 at Byzantio)

hlug: Added OpenSourceJobs-Charlie McClaskie South Florida ...an IT Recruiter/Columnist for Linux-Mag.comOpenSourceJobs Post if you don't like.

2009-08-21T09:04:06+00:00

hlug: Added OpenSourceJobs-Charlie McClaskie South Florida ...an IT Recruiter/Columnist for Linux-Mag.comOpenSourceJobs Post if you don't like.

hlug: 1st Byz(antio) tweet -- Workshop report: 12 at the meeting at HAL, 6 went to Byzantio, 5 joined us there; 17 total.

2009-08-20T03:43:25+00:00

hlug: 1st Byz(antio) tweet -- Workshop report: 12 at the meeting at HAL, 6 went to Byzantio, 5 joined us there; 17 total.

Well Howdy

2009-08-19T15:08:14+00:00

Labor Day BBQ Plans Forming:
Watch the Hal-PC home page for details on the upcoming feedfest. It's a volunteer appreciation event and is being put together as we speak (type).

Saturday HLUG meet:
The 22nd is the second meeting date of the month and so far, there's no new President. I may be able to make it in order to help facilitate an election but if I'm not there, I give my blessing to a quorum present. Here's my suggestion for upcoming topics that I think would make good presentations ---

VMware
Virtual Box
VMware VS Virtual Box
IPv6
current developments in TRK (may have an expert for this)
current developments at insecure.org (I'm looking into this)

More Thoughts On Unconfiguration (if that's a word):
Previously (under the rubric "Off-Topic") I posted on Mac OS 9.1's ability to wipe settings and prefs in a way that distantly suggested sys-unconfig in Solaris. The distant relationship is that one is able to change some things without reinstalling the whole shebang (which can take many, many hours with some of Sun's products as we know). Can someone at a future meeting tell me if this is now possible in some Linux or other? I don't mind admitting that I don't know.

hlug: What a 3rd & 4th tweet today -- I must be insane -- or worse, really getting into this.

2009-08-14T14:23:46+00:00

hlug: What a 3rd & 4th tweet today -- I must be insane -- or worse, really getting into this.

hlug: Just added @ConnectLinux & @linuxinstall to our followings -- let me know if they are good, bad, or ugly ...

2009-08-14T14:23:17+00:00

hlug: Just added @ConnectLinux & @linuxinstall to our followings -- let me know if they are good, bad, or ugly ...

hlug: I hate tweeting more than 1ce a day, BUT ... big HAL-PC Labor Day BBQ Benefit just approved & announced. ... Save the date, details TBA

2009-08-14T14:20:06+00:00

hlug: I hate tweeting more than 1ce a day, BUT ... big HAL-PC Labor Day BBQ Benefit just approved & announced. ... Save the date, details TBA

hlug: Workshop rpt: 14 attended; 9 went to Byzantio; 2 regulars joined us there & found 2 new friends already there. Sounds like 16 or 18 total!

2009-08-14T14:17:35+00:00

hlug: Workshop rpt: 14 attended; 9 went to Byzantio; 2 regulars joined us there & found 2 new friends already there. Sounds like 16 or 18 total!

Mac OS9 Reinstalls: It may seem off-topic...

2009-08-13T13:23:20+00:00

...and on a Linux basis, it is. But I dabble in all kinds of systems and I just discovered something that might be useful to one or two of you.

PROBLEM:
You have a late-1990's-era Mac (that you aren't using to run NetBSD or FreeBSD or some Linux coded to those processors) with OS9 or 9.1 and you forgot the password. Rather than research which file the password's in (which is probably visible using the version of Norton Utilities or the equivalent app for that OS), you elect to reinstall. But this wipes your unsaved files about which you may have forgotten, as well as preferences, settings, drivers, scripts, OS upgrades and apps, all of which will need to be relocated and installed. How to avoid this?

SOLUTION:
Don't worry about it.

It just so happens that the installer for OS 9.1/9.2 (and maybe further down... can't remember) has a curious set of options under the button labeled so. Using the "Options" button and several other checkboxes that come into play, you get three install choices. You could (in the presence of a pre-existing OS) reinstall:

* Without checking the "clean install" box
* With a check in the "clean install" box
* By selecting the "erase disk" choice (thus making a "clean install" check irrelevant)

Apparently these (ordered) options produce the following results:
* preserves settings and preferences
* wipes setting and preferences; leaves everything else
* bare-metal install - all user-added material lost

I tried the first option and still got the login for the password I couldn't remember. I then tried the second option since I wanted to avoid the third. The result of the second - amazingly - was that I was presented with the opportunity to set a new password, and upon getting in, saw all the apps, files and settings that I'd been afraid I'd lose, and in the places I'd originally put them.

[My guess is that the first two options address only the System Folder and that the third option covers the whole disk. Kinda almost reminds me of sys-unconfig in Solaris.]

Love Macs or hate them, there's a rationale to Macs that once learned, you can repair to and count on, since that unchanging rationale makes its own internal sort of sense. And here comes my theory about the relative business models: that's because there's time to write things that way, as long as you're not part of some organization that aims at being the low-cost leader via saving money on allowed programming hours, then pressing users into service as beta testers... but that would be baseless supposition, right?

hlug: Workshop (6-9 HAL) & Happy Hour (9:30-?? Byzantio) tonight. Either, or, both, & ...

2009-08-12T09:04:42+00:00

hlug: Workshop (6-9 HAL) & Happy Hour (9:30-?? Byzantio) tonight. Either, or, both, & ...

2009-08-08T22:37:51+00:00

LOTS OF NEWS ABOUT HLUG

1.Last Saturday's Show: The Recent BSD Activity
2.Last Saturday's Show: Synfig's Capabilities
3.The New President Of HLUG

The show of Saturday the 8th saw me get not only the announced topic out of the way, but two others that I'd been wanting to bring up. BSD's movements of late constituted the two unknowns; the announced subject was (at Russell's suggestion) something about Synfig, a tool that could become almost as big as Open Office – at least for the animation community.

The two big differences to my mind between Linux and BSD (the movement beginning in 1993 (93-FreeBSD, 94-NetBSD, 95-OpenBSD, roughly) would be that the license is different, and secondly that the product orientation is way different. By orientation, I mean that the maintainers of these distributions seem to concentrate upon server use and if one wants a full-feature desktop, one can install it oneself. There might be a change in this orientation of theirs in the wind; the first reason that I believe this is the following offering.

PC-BSD is a distribution that takes FreeBSD and puts KDE on top of it. It's a three-CD load and I can't say too much about it because I tried to load the thing onto four different machines at my house and nothing took it. I didn't even get to command line; the install froze about halfway through. Now, one attendee said that he'd gotten it to load in a VM but I'm about ¼ Luddite, so I'm behind on getting any of those virtual products working at my place. I'll complain that any distro that can't load on my stuff needs work at the installer, but that may be just me...

Next reason I think BSD's low opinion of desktop products may be changing is something that I did get going, namely BSD Anywhere. This is a live-CD-only distro that failed on a few of my machines (notably the dual core) but worked on a Dell P3 550mhz with 512 ram from 2002. It's an OpenBSD product running Enlightenment as a desktop and includes a recent Firefox and Thunderbird load (visible on an CDE/NeXT/OSX-like dock at the bottom center of the screen) and although it was a little slow at surfing on this old of a computer, it was serviceable. The really sneaky thing about this distribution was the fact that the GUI (Enlightenment) didn't even list one tenth of the available applications! And if you went to the .org's website, the easily located list under “software” revealed the presence of such tools as netfwd, hydra, iperf, nmap... the list went on and on. I had no idea that this distro qualified as a Security Distribution like Back Track, but it does. Apparently, command-line only versions of the “stealth” apps are the ones included...

Synfig is a tool on which I am absolutely incompetent, but by loading it onto my Core2duo, I could at least prove that it could be installed on Fedora 11 and could run fairly well. This 2-D cartoon illustration system was best demonstrated by the demo reel at the website, but having the tool installed and running allowed my to show what a great job the .org did in putting together the help Wiki. Never liked those things before but this one's slick. And Synfig shows yet again what the Open Source movement can do. Fifty years ago only big animation houses like Disney could afford to do art like this. Today? The capability is free to all. Don't miss the demo movie: they do a scene that mimics the film "Ice Age" perfectly.

OH YES... one little program note. I'm no longer President of HLUG since my employer will now have me on rotating Saturdays, throwing 50 percent of meeting dates askew, so that puts me out. I'll still be attending meetings when possible, plus attending the Wednesday workshops and doing all the Board of Directors stuff. It's just that the conflict with this particular office can't be solved. So be thinking of who you want as President and I'll help as and when I can.

Also, as HLUG moves into the future, I'll note its activities at this blog as well as whatever interests me personally (which I do anyway). My interest in promoting Linux is the same, and so mandates spreading the word about HLUG and Hal-PC in any event.

hlug: lolcat worth posting here: "Kitteh " - http://cheezburger.com/tw/?v1-173944 #lol #ichc Don't forget - Workshop 6-9pm & Byzantio after

2009-08-05T11:57:35+00:00

hlug: lolcat worth posting here: "Kitteh " - http://cheezburger.com/tw/?v1-173944 #lol #ichc Don't forget - Workshop 6-9pm & Byzantio after

Hello Again And Welcome

2009-07-29T18:27:56+00:00

Last Saturday's presentation on Subversion, the ubiquitous version control system, consisted in large part of a history of the entire issue of such systems' necessity. How does one organize a project to write a multi-thousand-line program using more than one programmer? As long as one person's writing the program, the problem never comes up. But hand the job to a department of two or more programmers and one needs a way to synchronize the effort.

It occurs to me that the two systems we've examined in detail so far typify the two large conceptual categories of the vast enterprise of software development. Whereas the open source model (illustrated by the development of Linux, for instance) might logically benefit from a decentralized system (like Bazaar), the closed source or corporate model might logically benefit from a centralized system (like Subversion). Ed suggested that the differences between the two categories of systems were less serious than many supposed, and that the considerable configuration options in both were sufficient to accommodate most situations. Furthermore, the claim that one system ate up storage space at a greater rate than the other was shown to be possible in both types, depending upon configuration and one's perspective regarding client or server.

Oops. My tendency to oversimplification is making Ed sound like the fence-sitter that I am, rather than the advocate he may prefer to be... but I'm in a hurry.

Coming up two weeks from last Saturday (August 8th, second Sat. of the month) will be my presentation on an animation program that runs under Linux. Which one? Ah, that would be telling. Stay tuned.

hlug: @linuxquestions Why do I like LQ? ... How shall I count the ways? (w/ apologies to EBB - http://bit.ly/BkI14

2009-07-29T12:38:45+00:00

hlug: @linuxquestions Why do I like LQ? ... How shall I count the ways? (w/ apologies to EBB - http://bit.ly/BkI14

hlug: Workshop tonight -- every Wednesday -- 6-9pm & always (for now) Byzantio 9:30 - closing

2009-07-29T12:27:16+00:00

hlug: Workshop tonight -- every Wednesday -- 6-9pm & always (for now) Byzantio 9:30 - closing

hlug: 12 at the Workshop last night, 12 at Byzantio after, only 6 overlap. http://bit.ly/xNaiX

2009-07-16T13:47:48+00:00

hlug: 12 at the Workshop last night, 12 at Byzantio after, only 6 overlap. http://bit.ly/xNaiX

Again, Version Control! (anybody get the Harlan Ellison reference?)

2009-07-15T14:30:50+00:00

I'm well aware that in the world of version control systems, there's a decentralized model, of which Bazaar is a worthy example. We had a good presentation (click on "presentations" at left) from Russell Adams not long ago regarding the broad version control picture and that particular application. There is another perspective, though, being the centralized organizational approach, of which Subversion is a worthy example, and we'll have a show on that program at our next meeting (July 25th).

One reason for doing a Subversion show (in addition to having competent personnel to deliver it) is that nothing succeeds like success. Subversion is one of the leading version control schemes in IT today, and probably the most popular one in the open source movement right now. So we'll give it its due.

THIS SATURDAY rocked.

2009-07-12T17:48:18+00:00

Although the show on the 11th may not have been quite tight, the show checked off several subjects I've been keen upon. First of all, I got the core 2 duo running and showed off several nice things:

FEDORA 11: My over-the-wire upgrade from 10.3 to 11.x actually happened. I'd tried that twice before (in Mandriva/Mandrake and in Ubuntu 7.something) and blew away the MBR, the file system, everything. But going to Fedora 11 live ACTUALLY WORKED. The download and reboot/rebuild took about 8.5 hours, but what the heck.

BACK TRACK 4 pre-final release: The live DVD running KDE 4.whateversthelatestversion showed off its newfound stability, as well as the formidable arsenal of tools to do everything from network enumeration to penetration testing to password recovery to cisco-specific analysis and so on.

URBAN TERROR 4: A game based on the open-sourced Quake 3 engine and FREE, I showed off (and on Fedora this time, as opposed to Linux Mint, which I usually run in mixed company) to the small but teeming crowd how fast I could get my posterior handed to me.

There was more, but you had to be there.

UP NEXT: ED ON SUBVERSION (another perspective on version control)!

hlug: No Samba & Net. Admin. this Sat. -- HAL is closed for the holiday.

2009-07-01T14:47:16+00:00

hlug: No Samba & Net. Admin. this Sat. -- HAL is closed for the holiday.

hlug: Workshop tonight 6-9 Byzantio 9:30 - closing

2009-07-01T14:46:24+00:00

hlug: Workshop tonight 6-9 Byzantio 9:30 - closing

Developments

2009-06-30T14:55:14+00:00

First of all, the next presentation will give Russell a rest, consisting as it will of myself delivering the long-rumored ripoff of Linux Journal articles (one featuring references to BackTrack, as seen at HLUG presentations recently, and which we'll revisit a bit). We'll also snatch one or two looks at the way they do the "Linux Minute" on their website. This will happen on Saturday, July 11th at 2pm, at the Hal-PC HQ.

Second of all, Russell has uploaded the .pdf of his presentation slides from last Saturday's Linux accounting show, findable at the most recent entry under "presentations" at adamsinfoserv.com.

Third of all, some things being discussed for upcoming shows include a regex review and whatever we can talk Katrina into showing us before she's on assignment again. Mr. Spotswood also is continuing to test various open-source programs and he should have some comment on them before too long.