KCLUG December 2005

kclug@kclug.org

37 participants
39 discussions

Linux on older laptops
by curt 04 Jan '06

04 Jan '06

Hi All, This should start a raging debate! Are there any opinions regarding a good choice of distro for an older laptop? Thinkpad T22 w/384MB ram and Thinkpad T23 w/512MB ram. My only priorities are quick boot times, wireless support, firefox or opera web browsers and a decent word processor that can save files in .doc format. I've considered DSL, but would prefer reiserfs support. Thanks, Curt

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[OT] Laptop Harddrives
by Josh Charles 01 Jan '06

01 Jan '06

My laptop harddrive went out on me today, and unfortunately my laptop is no longer under warranty, so I'm faced with the double task of A) Seeing if I can get the little bit of data that was not yet backed up off of it, and B) replacing it. I went to the manufacturer website to see about getting a replacement from them, but it was going to cost $400! My question is this: are laptop harddrives pretty much like tower harddrives in that they are standard sizes and I don't neccesarilly need a drive from the manufacturer? I looked through google, and I saw hints towards this, but I just want to be sure. The specs from the manufacturer are as follow: 40.0GB ATA-100 EIDE hard disk drive - 4,200 RPM, 2.5-inch form factor, 9.5mm height The thing that bothers me is the "form factor." It's an HP laptop, but the drive from the factory is Toshiba. Any help will be greatly appreciatted! Thanks, Josh

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ToC, Fast Indexes, OOo and AmiPro
by Jack 31 Dec '05

31 Dec '05

Hello, I am hoping someone out there uses OpenOffice and specifically uses the indexing function. I am hoping there is a macro or some trick to quickly add index entries for a document. Currently, I am trying to add an index for a genealogy book, I've written (still in alpha mode). This book covers about 135 pages at letter size paper and about 600 people. While the index will build all links to the individual,that means tagging 600 entries. Not fun. I know I should have done this as I created it, but it was created en-mass from a database and then edited. I originally had this in AmiPro, but I'll discuss that later. Is there anything to make it faster, or do I just need to bite the bullet? Secondly, I'd like to know why OpenOffice doesn't import AmiPro documents? Just a rant I guess. <more ranting> Has anyone used AMiPro in Linux? I used to use in on Windows machines and remember it being quite nice. AmiPro seems like a nice program in Linux, except very buggy. It moves footnotes around between openings of a document, loses the formatting on footers and has some strange default settings on paragraph styles. Not to mention buggy indentation, and several other bugs I don't remember. It has not been fun converting a document from AmiPro to OpenOffice. Also it has no capability to build a Table of Contents or the indexing function I'm using in OpenOffice. At least not one that can update automaticallly. That is not to say OpenOffice doesn't have issues. Like changing the next page style on a page changes it for every page of that type, everywhere in the document! However once you get over that learning curve for OpenOffice, it's got a lot of great stuff. </enough ranting for now> Lastly, I'm curious if there are any peopel out there writing books in Linux and what they use? I've heard of Latex and such things for layout, but not really sure why you'd want to use them. They just look confusing as Hell. Brian JD

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Re: Linux on older laptops
by Brian Kelsay 30 Dec '05

30 Dec '05

On 12/29/05, Luke-Jr <luke(a)dashjr.org> wrote: > On Thursday 29 December 2005 08:57, Leo Mauler wrote: > > As for wireless support, learn this keyword: "ndiswrapper". > > ndiswrapper is just a hack to use immoral drivers. Not a real solution at all. > > The actual driver, however, should be picked up by hotplug, though... Seems to > detect my orinoco-compatible card fine. The only exception I can think of to > this would be a Broadcom-based card, in which case you get to test out the > new bcm43xx driver: http://bcm43xx.berlios.de/ > That is as good as a non-answer. "Seems to detect my orinoco-compatible card fine." Orinocos were among the first Linux supported wireless cards. Those and the prism chipsets. Do what works if it saves you from buying more hardware. I actually looked for an Orinoco card when I wanted a wireless, but couldn't find one in my price range. I ended up with a card that had a linux driver written by the chipset mfg. Luckily they provided source that worked with the 2.4 series of kernels, but had to be recompiled for each and every kernel version difference. I ended up getting a Netgear card that had an Atheros chipset, that I knew had a Linux driver. Much less hassle.

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RE: Linux on older laptops
by Kelsay, Brian - Kansas City, MO 29 Dec '05

29 Dec '05

Try Mepis. You can choose reiser at install and all those other items are in the distro or avail. via apt-get or a GUI pool that accesses the repository. In fact the only thing you will have to add on your own from your list is Opera and it is a breeze. -----Original Message----- From: kclug-bounces(a)kclug.org [mailto:kclug-bounces@kclug.org] On Behalf Of curt Hi All, This should start a raging debate! Are there any opinions regarding a good choice of distro for an older laptop? Thinkpad T22 w/384MB ram and Thinkpad T23 w/512MB ram. My only priorities are quick boot times, wireless support, firefox or opera web browsers and a decent word processor that can save files in .doc format. I've considered DSL, but would prefer reiserfs support. Thanks, Curt

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FW: Vacancy Position Description
by Kelsay, Brian - Kansas City, MO 27 Dec '05

27 Dec '05

This is the job description for the job I mentioned last week as promised. Keep in mind that this is a foot in the door. You can make of it what you want or move on to something better after gaining some experience. There are some people that have been on this contract job for 10 years. I've been here for two. -----Original Message----- Subject: Vacancy Position Description Here is the requirements for the Junior Tech position that I will be interviewing. If you know anyone that might meet these requirements, have them send me a resume. Thanks Provide training to customers on application software use. Documentation, hardware and software configuration, work processes, problem resolutions, and other technical matters. Provide operating systems, network, internet, dial-in, networking, and applications software-troubleshooting support to staff and customers. Hardware troubleshooting or repair is required. Installation and configuration of personal computers and peripherals including operating systems, hardware and software to attach workstations to a Local Area Network. Will interact with all levels of customers and provide answers to questions in a professional manner. Exercise independent judgment in making decisions to resolve customers' issues. Should be familiar with industry standard desktop software packages. Other duties as needed and/or assigned. Requires two years of work experience in the field of hardware/software operations including at least one year of concentrated hands-on experience in the specific discipline's) of IT. Requires experience with Microsoft products, Windows XP. Requires thorough understanding of computer platforms and desktop operating system's). Knowledge of primary protocols. Experience in installation, configuration, and troubleshooting of personal computers and peripherals including operating systems, hardware/software to attach workstations to the network, various approved desktop applications, email client software, internet access tools, and remote access software for remote node and remote control applications. Skilled in solving a variety of problems. Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to communicate and interact with all levels of employees and staff. Must demonstrate ability to work independently and be resourceful. This position may require a criminal background check, fingerprinting, and completion of the required government security form. Mike Kuchinsky Technical Support Manager/Task Leader 816-823-2960

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Re: Eliminating duplicate lines
by Jim Herrmann 26 Dec '05

26 Dec '05

This worked great. Thanks! The uniq command actually accepts an input and output file. No pipe needed. Arthur Pemberton wrote: > I think the command is `uniq`. You just pipe your text to it. > Man page: http://www.computerhope.com/unix/uuniq.htm Thanks to Ron also. This may be easier to remember since it uses more common commands. Geoffrion, Ron P [IT] wrote: > cat filelist.txt | sort -u > filelist.unique

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Eliminating duplicate lines
by Jim Herrmann 23 Dec '05

23 Dec '05

A question for all you command line experts out there. I have a big list of email addresses that has lots of duplicates, and I want to get it down to just the list of unique addresses. I just know there must be an easy way to do this with GNU utilities, but I don't know how to do it. Can someone tell me the best way to do this? Thanks, Jim Herrmann

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Squid, Apache 2 and FC4
by Jon Moss 22 Dec '05

22 Dec '05

Anyone out there using Squid as a web accelerator or reverse proxy? Before I attempt to reinvent the wheel, I was curious about how you accessed site if to the "outside" world it's the same IP address? In other words, I have two webservers behind my wireless router and I only have two ports forwarded from the Internet to them (one for each server). I thought it would be "better" if I used squid instead and eliminated one of the forwarded ports. But how do I access the URL from the outside world? None of the documentation I've read on Squid has gone into that workflow process. Any suggestions would be great! -- Thanks very much, Jon Moss jon.moss(a)cnonline.net

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Web Administrator Open Position
by Ken Ortbals 21 Dec '05

21 Dec '05

We are currently hiring for a Web Administrator position. Below is the job description. Please respond to this email with your resume if you are interested in interviewing for this position. Community Resource Network Web ADMINISTRATOR Position Objective: To successfully support the internet related applications for Community Resource Network (CRN). CRN is a nonprofit Internet Service Provider and Application Service Provider that provides technology services to the Kansas City nonprofit community. Currently CRN has over 330 affiliate agencies and has demonstrated success in enabling Kansas City nonprofit affiliates to meet their missions by leveraging CRN technology solutions. Key Responsibilities: * Administration and configuration of all Web related applications including IIS, Apache/Stronghold, WebTrends, WebLogic, VNCS, Surveyor, Lyris, JobBank, Volunteer Bank and GIS. * Provide technical assistance as required to application development partners to enable web related applications to be effectively deployed. * Update and maintenance of the CRN website. * Database administration for MySQL and SQL Server. * eCommerce integration * Mail administration * Working with affiliate technical support staff to establish affiliate websites. * Assist in application troubleshooting to resolve problems in a timely manner. * Performance tuning on web applications running on Windows and Unix. * Effectively responding to help desk issues that are internet related. Qualifications: This position requires a combination of education and experience normally represented by a Bachelor's Degree and at least two working in a web-based application environment. Position requires strong website and email troubleshooting skills. This position also requires an individual to have: * Strong verbal and written communication skills. * Microsoft Windows and Unix Operating Systems experience * Application installation, configuration and support experience * Ability to resolve complex technical issues * ASP, Perl, PHP, Cold Fusion, Javascript, Java * Effective organizational and prioritization skills to manage concurrent projects and new customer installs as well as day to day network support issues. Ken Ortbals Executive Director Community Resource Network www.crn.org Office - (816) 960-0708 x104 Mobile - (816) 916-9698

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KCLUG December 2005