geekstuff

2006-01-06T22:17:00.000Z

Recently, Linus Torvalds himself has told everyone that GNOME is a big heap of poo and that the world should switch to KDE immediately to save us from turning into mindless drones.

Desktop wise, personally, I have experienced the ‘delights’ of PWM, XFCE, FVWM, IceWM, Enlightenment and when I began my first conquests in Linux, back in the mid-late nineties I used KDE 1, as I’m sure it was the default desktop with Red Hat Linux in days of yore. I dabbled with version 2 in 2001 as well.

But for the main part, I have been a steady GNOME user in throughout the rest of my desktop time though. When I got a decent spec PC (rather than a PII/450) in 2004, I put away lightweight desktops for good and used Gnome with Debian and later, I found the wonders of Ubuntu.

However, I looked at a few SuSE setups, which by default, were running KDE 3.x and recently, I found it to be pretty nice. My once-upon-a-time gripe with KDE was that there seemed to be too many ways to do things - too many apps in the K menu, all doing similar things.

On top of that, there really wasn’t much difference functionally between Gnome and KDE in the bad old days. All of that has changed. I have to admit it but I had become a GNOME supporter without giving it a second thought. Bias had made me think that KDE was reserved for people who were either German, had orgasms over ‘ubersliK graphics’ (flashy annoying rounded icons with penguins etc on), or had a seriously odd affliction for the letter K. I disregarded KDE as an option also because I knew that Ubuntu didn’t ship with KDE - I thought that because the people at Ubuntu choose the best software for their distro; I would be using the best: Gnome.

I didn’t find out until recently (just before the release of Breezy Badger, Ubuntu 5.10,- October ‘05) that Ubuntu could have KDE, you just needed to install it:
sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop
Duh!

Indeed, a number of Ubuntu ninjas (including Alistair Riddell) had spawned off a sister distribution, kubuntu, using KDE instead of Gnome by default. I thought, if it’s good enough for Linus, and people like Alistair Riddell are behind this then it’s gotta be half decent. I installed KDE on my Ubuntu/GNOME setup and logged in. I even opted to use the kdm login manager, rather than gdm to make it more authentic!

I’m so dumb: I love KDE. All this time, I’ve been waiting for updates to GNOME, first came 2.0, then the next milestones 2.5, 2.10 and with Breezy, 2.12. Each release was visibly better, but a lot of these important updates weren’t core Gnome - they were contributed by Ubuntu themselves, and it still lacked a few things that would make it slick.

But why am I so converted to KDE? - Here are the main reasons:

KDE has it all in one bag: Konqueror really is a kick-ass filemanager/web browser/everything (more on this in a bit).

KMail is an outlook beater. I liked Evolution, but I feel more at home with KMail - it’s intuitive and quick. I like the fact that it pops up a notification when your mail comes in. Simple little touches that make my life easier. It’s got inbuilt contacts, RSS readers, directory services, news readers and much more.

The Control Panel is easy to use and all in one place, unlike the barrage of Gnome-based tools. You can edit your ‘K’ main menu by simply right clicking on it, like (dare I say it) Windows has been doing since 1995. This still lacks without addons in Gnome.

When you start up KDE, it remembers all of the applications you used the last time you were in KDE, and starts them up for you. I always had to wait for GNOME to start up and then have to fire up Firefox and then Thunderbird. No more of that, Konqueror and Kmail come up too, as well as Kontact (an instant messenger that does all the popular types, MSN, AOL, Yahoo, IRC, etc).

K3B is great at burning any kind of media. If you like Nero in Windows, this is definitely it’s equivalent. GNOME has 3 different applications for burning cds: one for data (gnome baker), one for cd audio (serpentine) and Nautilus, the file manager, also burns CDs as well. Why have three average cd burners when you can have one great one?

However, The killer apps (for me) are amaroK (audio player) and Konqueror. Why?
1) Amarok is the finest media player I’ve ever enountered. I play music which for once, is organised the way I want it. Organise by Artist then Album, no problem, what about Album then Artist, no problem, in fact almost any possible combo is available for organising your tunes. The coolest things about amaroK though is the fact that amarok has MusicBrainz support, to figure out what music you are playing, and grab the tags for it, rather than you have to fill it in. It’ll download album covers from the net for you and show you the album cover when you start it playing on the on-screen display. It shows you the lyrics of the current song you are playing, and also all the information about the band or artist you ever wanted from Wikipedia, all at a click of a button in amaroK. Killer.

2) Konqueror is a file manager. No, it’s a tabbed web browser that can split it’s windows up into segments to allow pages or file managers side by side. No, wait, it’s a split screen xterm viewer as well. Heck, it’s even a control panel/centre as well. I can’t tell you how useful it is to be able to code a website in an xterm and watch the website come to life in the same screen in real time. I love the fact you can type fish:/// then the name of a server in, and you can use ssh in Konqueror to show your files on your other boxes just as easily as your local machine. Killer.
Not only are the applications more mature in KDE than GNOME, the overall desktop works faster, looks a lot slicker and provides better help than GNOME does. KDE made me switch email and web browser (something I don’t like doing) from Firefox and Kmail not because I was forced to, but because they were better. And I loved Firefox.

I’m not going back to GNOME. I’ve heard about the new enhancements down the pipeline for GNOME, and some sound really swell, they even reckon that they’ll speed it up a lot more through some awkward hackery, but it won’t beat what KDE provides now and KDE 4 will be out some time after the summer and from what I’ve heard, it’s going to rock lots, it’s just a shame it won’t be out for the Windows Vista release, because I think it’ll serve as a great counterbalance for that argument.

Krazy!

Ali Ross.

Check out the Ultimate Linux Newbie Guide Today! – The easiest way to become a Linux user. No jargon, no rubbish, just straight forward facts on what you need to know. – Features Many helpful chapters on using and choosing Linux, a user forum, a step-by-step Linux installation Guide and up to the minute Linux news.

Ultimate Linux Newbie Guide [http://www.linuxnewbieguide.org]

2005-11-19T13:25:00.000Z

I'm happy to announce the Ultimate Linux Newbie Guide is up and running. It's a site for complete Linux (or even Computer) novices. The reader will enjoy a no-nonsense guide to Choosing, Using and Installing Linux onto a computer system.

Amonst it's highlights, the site features an installation guide, loaded with images of a
Linux Installation (Ubuntu 5.10) as well as an introduction to the Linux desktop, for both KDE and GNOME. Importantly (because it keeps coming up on newbie forums), there is a chapter devoted to obtaining software, as well as one devoted to installing it.
I actually ran this site years ago (2000-2003), but the site was lost when my ISP at the time had a few bothers. I didn't have an up to date backup, so the project got shelved. I always felt sad about that decision, so around six months ago I made enquiries into seeing if I could get the site from some old archive somewhere.

Luckily, the good people at the Web Archive (also known as the Wayback Machine) could help me out. Within a few months I got the old content back, almost unscathed, from 2003. Since then I've been retyping large sections of it to bring it up to date and it is mostly finished now. There is still a lot to do on the Desktop side of things but it's looking pretty good now, and there are loads of visitors daily.

I hope that it's a valuable contribution to those who are thinking about crossing over to Linux, but just need that 'sit-down and talk it over' approach to getting it all 'upstairs' before going ahead with it.

If you like the site, please link to it on your own blog or site, so that other Linux newbies can benefit from it.

Cheers!

Al.

SHARP MM1110 TFTP Install with Debian Sarge

2004-08-11T19:15:00.000+01:00

Hello all,

Well. I have the Sharp MM1110 (known as a Sharp MM10 in the USA) and I
write this as Debian Sarge is installing upon it.

This blog entry will apply to anyone with a Sharp MM10 wishing to install
Sarge on one, or anyone with a similar laptop (eg an IBM without a floppy
or CD drive).

The installation was done completely by network installation, no external
drives are required.

PREREQUISITES FOR INSTALLATION:

* Sharp MM11110 or similar laptop
* Another PC/Server on the same network running Linux (I used a PC with RH9)
* Broadband Internet connection or better (for downloading Sarge via HTTP)

SOFTWARE USED:

* DHCPd: http://www.isc.org/index.pl?/sw/dhcp/
* ATFTPd: ftp://ftp.mamalinux.com/pub/atftp/
* PXELINUX: http://syslinux.zytor.com/pxe.php
* SARGE NETINST IMAGES: http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/testing/main/installer-i386/rc1/images/netboot/

QUICK OVERVIEW OF TASKS AHEAD:

* Install DHCP Daemon on server (to allocate IP to Sharp, and to tell it to do
a TFTP boot).
* Install a TFTP Daemon on server (to allow the Sharp to boot the installer
kernel).
* Download and place the Debian Sarge Netinstall files in your tftpboot folder.
* Installation of Sarge.

TASK 1: Installing & Configuring a DHCP daemon.

I used Red Hat 9 for my server, so I used the version of dhcpd that came with
that. It's based on ISC DHCP.

View your /etc/dhcpd.conf. This is how my one looks:

ddns-update-style ad-hoc;
default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;

#this is for the tftp server..
allow booting;
allow bootp;

subnet 62.3.116.104 netmask 255.255.255.248 {
range 62.3.116.106 62.3.116.108;

option domain-name "xbolt.net";
option subnet-mask 255.255.255.248;
option broadcast-address 62.3.116.111;
option routers 62.3.116.109;
option domain-name-servers 62.3.116.105, 62.3.116.106;

group {
#tftp server address
next-server 62.3.116.105;
filename "/tftpboot/pxelinux.0";

#static assignment....
host chewbacca {
hardware ethernet 00:10:4B:49:EC:71;
fixed-address 62.3.116.105;
}

host skywalker {
hardware ethernet 08:00:1F:B3:23:30;
fixed-address 62.3.116.108;
}
}
}

A quick explanation of the above:

The first three lines:
ddns-update-style ad-hoc;
default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;
Are all default stuff and should be included to make dhcpd happy.

The next two lines are all about telling the dhcpd server that it will accept
BOOTP or network booting.

allow booting;
allow bootp;

The next part of the config groups the rest of the config by subnet, setting up
my clients. I used to run a static IP network here, and generally still want to
do so; so instead of allowing dynamic IP allocation to hosts, I read the MAC
address from ifconfig eth0 on each host and use the format

host xyz {
hardware-address MAC:ADD:RES:S
fixed-address 123.456.789.012
}

This allows the host to always have the same IP address, as long as it's MAC
address is the same.

#tftp server address
next-server 62.3.116.105;
filename "/tftpboot/pxelinux.0";

Is probably the most important part, since it tells dhcpd where the tftp files
reside (ie what you will be providing via tftp).

next-server is the IP address of your TFTP server.

I chose the standard folder /tftpboot to hold my tftp stuff. Pxelinux.0 is the
file that dhcpd passes control to after the tftp download. Pxelinux is a subset
of SYSLINUX, created by H. Peter Anvin, which you will see almost on all linux
distros. To download SYSLINUX (which includes the PXELINUX stuff, as well as
pxelinux.0) visit http://syslinux.zytor.com/pxe.php.

TASK 2: Installing & Configuring a TFTP daemon.

Once you have configured dhcp, you can then get to installing your TFTP server.

I started to use the TFTP daemon which came with Red Hat, but I couldn't get it
working, so I went with atftpd in the end of the day, which is available at:

ftp://ftp.mamalinux.com/pub/atftp/

There are a few security issues with it, so I suggest you ensure you are
using the latest version, and you check for patches and patch it accordingly
before you use it however.

I disabled /etc/xinetd.d/tftpd and created a new file /etc/xinetd.d/tftp-udp:

# tftp-udp

service tftp
{
id = tftp-udp
disable = no
socket_type = dgram
protocol = udp
wait = no
user = nobody
nice = 5
server = /usr/local/sbin/atftpd
server_args = /tftpboot --no-blksize
}

The file follows normal inetd or xinetd syntax, however, the server_args are
very important - if the /tftpboot folder is not specified, TFTPd will not know
where to provide the files from. The last option --no-blksize took me a long
time to figure out that it was required.

Before restarting xinetd (service xinetd restart) ensure that the permissions
of the /tftpboot folder are accessible by 'nobody'. A chmod 755 should be fine.

TASK 3: INSTALLING DEBIAN

Visit
http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/testing/main/installer-i386/rc1/images/netboot/
and download the latest netboot/netinstall image (pxeboot.tar.gz).
Included in this archive is a ready-made pxelinux configuration file
(pxelinux.cfg/default). This should be sufficient to get the debian sarge
installer running. The debian installer should also be present in the /tftpboot
folder called debian-installer. Here is what my tftpboot folder looked like
after unpacking the pxeboot.tar.gz file:

drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Aug 1 17:39 debian-installer
-rw------- 1 ajross ajross 7731200 Aug 10 14:09 pxeboot.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11824 Aug 1 17:39 pxelinux.0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Aug 1 17:39 pxelinux.cfg

Note that the permissions of the stuff is at least readable by everyone - this
is so that the tftp server can provide the files.

So, to recap, we have placed the netinstall image in the correct place, with
the right permissions, set up a tftpboot folder with the right permissions, set
up a tftpd server with the correct settings (and it is now running), set up a
dhcp server and ensured that it is running as well.

If all of the above passes the 'Yup, that's done' test, then move over to the
laptop. First off, whip an ethernet cable into it's port and switch it on,
pressing F12 at the nice sharp splash screen on boot. Choose 'Network Boot'
from the boot menu, and watch it get an IP.

If it doesn't get an IP, then you need to check your DHCP server settings.

If it gets an IP and fails at the point that it looks for a TFTP server, then
try restarting your xinetd server:

/sbin/service xinetd restart

If that fails, check over your TFTPd settings, consider using another TFTPD
server also. I'm only saying the one I used (eventually) worked for me.

Finally, the next step should be the booting of the debian-installer, which
should present you with the Debian splash logo. If you don't get this far,
check the integrity of your served files on /tftpboot and check your
pxelinux.cfg/default settings are accurate (if you don't use the folder
/tftpboot for serving your tftp files, this would definitely need to be
changed).

If everything has gone to plan, Debian should now be able to install over the
Internet and you should now be grinning like a cheshire cat as you wipe the
sweat from your brow!

TASK 4: PROBLEMS WITH DEBIAN AFTER INSTALLATION.

I had a wee problem after the installation completed - the machine would simply
crash on me 3/4 way through the init process. Eventually I worked out I could
Ctrl+C just before it hit that critical stage and try to guess what was making
it die on me -- turns out it was the HotPlug service.

If you really need HotPlug service (think pcmcia) then you may have problems
here (I can't help you, yet anyway). I disabled the HotPlug service by
Ctrl+C'ing around 5s before the crash and going into /etc/rcS.d and creating
the folder 'disabled' and moving S40hotplug into disabled.

I did upgrade the kernel to 2.6 at the same time using aptitude, but I don't
know if that helped me diagnose the fault - the fault still appears on 2.6 as
well as 2.4, but I did notice a performance hike on 2.6, so I would upgrade if
you like, and if you get adventurous, compile your own 2.6 so that it's
optimised for the Transmeta processor.

Sound also does not work, but I'll no doubt post on how to fix this later, and
that goes beyond the scope of this document anyway!

Until then,

HTH. Al.

Sharp M1110 Laptop

2004-07-31T00:06:00.000+01:00

The Sharp M1110 (in the US it's called the Sharp M10) is a *lovely* thin
laptop which has caught my eye a number of times but the pricetag has
always been too much to justify it. Now it is affordable: at 699.99, the
M1110 shall be mine!

I wish to use Debian Sarge (but of course) on this beastie, but I wonder
if anyone else out there is aware of any problems running Linux on this
particular machine. I see that there could be problems in the following
areas:

* Silicon Motion Lynx3D graphics card (support could be flaky)
* Is the transmeta 1ghz gonna be fast enough?
* trident sound system (AC 97), which has caused problems in the past on
sharp machines with crashing.
* finally, the machine has no cdrom, no floppy, no drives, so
installation will have to be in some form of net install. My crystal
ball says I will be using things like PXEBOOT to access a TFTP server
of the Debian DVD ISO to install -- is this a bad way to do it, is
there an easier and better way to do it? I've heard that the dock can
make the notebook work like one big usb hard drive when the pc is
switched off, hopefully making me able to write data to it's drive raw
that way.

This isn't really a blog, more like a question to the net, if anyone can
help, I'd be very much appreciative. As always, I'll let you know how I
get on ;)

For now,

Al.

MyDoom-o strikes

2004-07-27T01:13:00.000+01:00

Viruses (well, worms actually) have always been important, whether you are
a Windows user and get the brunt of them, or whether you are a sysadmin
protecting your win32 minions from death-by-email and some have been
significant over the years.

The first MyDoom virus that came out was probably one of the most
memorable of the recent viruses, but today's revision: MyDoom-O is
even more intelligent.

Rather than going through peoples address books, relying on the viruses
success of penetration to pass on the virus, MyDoom-O uses millions of
combinations to obtain valid email addresses using search engines such
as Google, Yahoo!, Lycos and Altavista. The big problem lies herein:
the virus, as it reaches critical mass is DDos'ing the search engines --
making the search engines unresponsive to everyone else. Not only
can this virus kill the search engines for a temporary amount of time,
it can also reach far more netizens than ever before because of it's
non-reliance on end-users machines.

Some viruses are boring and don't do much, but somebody thought
"hey, wouldn't it be fun to get the search engines to do the hard work"
(and maybe, as an afterthought, idealised on the fact that the search
engines might be DDOSed as a result). I certainly don't advocate
virii in any way shape or form, but every now and again, new viruses
come out that make a new revolution in the way that viruses will work
from then on. First, it was .COM or .EXE based (mainly assembly coded)
droppers which infected files and would do something nasty, or not so
nasty (like displaying a message on your screen once in a while), then it
was email distribution, then it was address book distribution and now
finally could it be search engine distribution, opening up the possibility for
globalised distribution for anyone who is mentioned on the net?

Google and the likes will no doubt familiarise themselves to the
calling-cards of such virii requests in the future, but will this cripple
search engines eventually? Who knows!

See ya.

My first blog

2004-07-26T12:57:00.000+01:00

Well,

It had to happen at some time. Blogmania seems to have gone crazy. In the
US, I hear that there are as much as 3 million blogsites now.

This was well and truly one thing I did not see coming, but as the pathetic
catcher-upper that I now am. Here I am, posting my very own blog.

From here on in, the blog you will (or will not) read is all about all
things slightly geeky in my life.

My passions lie in Linux, the free Unix-like operating system, Old computer
hardware and anything which is technically nostalgic (old OS's, BBS's, etc)

I will post to this site when I have something which fits these topics,
which should be quite often. In the meantime, you will always be able to
find more information on me, my computer museum and other rants at my
website: http://www.aliross.co.uk

Until the next time,

Al.