Linuxers August 2006

linuxers@mm.ilug-bom.org.in

108 participants
171 discussions

YUM and Pirut
by Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray 07 Aug '06

07 Aug '06

I find both YUM and Pirut quite slow as compared to APT and Synaptic. I don't think this has anything to do with my Internet connection, since I have used APT (and Synaptic) on the very same machine and connection as YUM and Pirut. Is this really an issue with YUM? Regards, Debarshi -- ,= ,-_-. =. ((_/)o o(\_)) `-'(. .)`-' \_/

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Re: Is GNU/Linux only for Geeks?
by BombayNews 07 Aug '06

07 Aug '06

Wouldn't it be better if someone took a simple version of linux like Ubuntu Dapper (actually that's the only flavor I know!!) threw in another CD with Automatix, PLF repositories and a few desktop icons that can be installed with one click after OS is fired up. Suddenly the first-time user of linux would have a very workable competitor to Windows XP. What do people here think of this? Shiv Kumar

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Re: [ILUG-BOM] Is GNU/Linux only for Geeks?
by Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray 07 Aug '06

07 Aug '06

>> trouble with its Wifi, one had trouble with both its CD-ROM and Wifi, >> and one has issues with the sound-card. >> >> None of these are highly sophisticated H/W (imagine trouble with CD-ROM). >> > I would just have returned those as defective. *If it doesn't work, > return it*. > Your problem was most likely with the motherboard though. But in atleast two of the cases the problem got solved with the very latest versions of GNU/Linux. The Wifi card which was not working in FC5 started functioning in Ubuntu Dapper and the latest Knoppix, while the unresponsive CD-ROM had no problems in the latest Knoppix. It is true that geeks & hackers with some effort can fix most of these issues. I don't claim to be a geek, but I feel even those belonging to the 'uber' class would not always have the time to manually rectify their hardware problems. After all, 'out-of-the-box' is a good thing to have, and Ubuntu has achieved it to a large extent. Cheers, Debarshi -- "I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That's deep enough. What do you want, an adorable pancreas?" -Jean Kerr

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Re: [ILUG-BOM] Is GNU/Linux only for Geeks?
by Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray 06 Aug '06

06 Aug '06

> I always thought that as time has gone by, driver support for > GNU/Linux (barring a few troublesome manufacturers like ATI, Lexmark, > etc.) has been fairly good. What kind of drivers are you talking about > that should be sold on CDs? > If you're talking about driver CDs like you have for motherboards, > mice, etc then that's the manufacturer's headache. Generally every > distro that is released has up-to-date drivers for the latest hardware > (provided they're stable). What more are you looking for? Although it may appear so, it is not so simple always. Acer is one manufacturer whose hardware is always troublesome on GNU/Linux. It might be Acer's fault that they ship non-standard H/W, but I feel the FOSS world needs to do something about this. I have seen 4 Acer systems, all laptops. One whose battery was not detected, one had trouble with its Wifi, one had trouble with both its CD-ROM and Wifi, and one has issues with the sound-card. None of these are highly sophisticated H/W (imagine trouble with CD-ROM). Cheers, Debarshi -- "I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That's deep enough. What do you want, an adorable pancreas?" -Jean Kerr

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GNU Sourceinstall
by Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray 06 Aug '06

06 Aug '06

Following is taken from today's digest from info-gnu announcing release of GNU Sourceinstall 2.2: Message: 2 Date: Sat, 5 Aug 2006 03:01:33 -0400 From: Claudio Fontana <claudio(a)gnu.org> Subject: Source Installer 2.2 released To: info-gnu(a)gnu.org Message-ID: <20060805070133.GA7147@fencepost> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii GNU Source Installer 2.2 released --------------------------------- This is to announce the availability of libsrcinst-2.2, sourceinstall-2.2, sourceinstall-gtk-2.2. GNU Source Installer is a package manager for GNU policies-compliant source packages. This release offers bugfixes and new functionality. For a complete list of changes, see the ChangeLogs for each component: http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/sourceinstall2/libsrcinst/ChangeLog?roo… http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/sourceinstall2/sourceinstall/ChangeLog?… http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/sourceinstall2/sourceinstall-gtk/Change… For more information see the home page at http://www.gnu.org/software/sourceinstall or the project page at http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/sourceinstall Downloads are available on ftp.gnu.org: ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/sourceinstall/libsrcinst-2.2.tar.gz ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/sourceinstall/sourceinstall-2.2.tar.gz ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/sourceinstall/sourceinstall-gtk-2.2.tar.gz Install in this order. Signatures: ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/sourceinstall/libsrcinst-2.2.tar.gz.sig ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/sourceinstall/sourceinstall-2.2.tar.gz.sig ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/sourceinstall/sourceinstall-gtk-2.2.tar.gz.sig Signed by Claudio Fontana: http://savannah.gnu.org/users/sick_soul You can keep up with the latest development code by using CVS (see savannah project page), or fetching the latest CVS builds on ftp.gnu.org. -- "I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That's deep enough. What do you want, an adorable pancreas?" -Jean Kerr

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Re: [ILUG-BOM] Is GNU/Linux only for Geeks?
by Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray 05 Aug '06

05 Aug '06

> wont be able to do it - give her mandrake or ubuntu and it will be a > breeze. Debian GNU/Linux is even difficult to pronounce let alone > install. I wonder why they dont say Ubuntu GNU/Linux or Redhat GNU/ > Linux or Umm.... my Chinese friend finds it difficult to pronounce your name, or for that matter mine. That does not mean its difficult to converse with him. Atleast I don't find so. Regards, Debarshi -- "I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That's deep enough. What do you want, an adorable pancreas?" -Jean Kerr

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Re: [ILUG-BOM] Is GNU/Linux only for Geeks?
by Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray 05 Aug '06

05 Aug '06

> What's ubergeeks? (Kdict could not find it for me ;) ) Uber stands for 'super' in German, I suppose. Cheerio, Debarshi -- "I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That's deep enough. What do you want, an adorable pancreas?" -Jean Kerr

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Re: [ILUG-BOM] Setting up pacenet internet on ubuntu
by kunal gangar 05 Aug '06

05 Aug '06

Hello, I am also using Pacenet internet in Mumbai. I have installed Novell's Suse Enterprise Linux and haven't been able to connect to the net. Please tell me how do I connect it? I have installed etherenet but im not able to know the numbers. Any help would be appreciated. Regards. Kunal Gangar.

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Re: [ILUG-BOM] Is GNU/Linux only for Geeks?
by Debarshi 'Rishi' Ray 05 Aug '06

05 Aug '06

> huh? i usually use yum to install stuff. for drivers i download the RPMs > and install them if they're not provided by yum. Rest other times its > generally: ./configure && make && make install for me :). Also, there > was something called as sourceinstall. A nice project. Dont knnow what > became of it. Sourceinstall is still being developed. Its a GNU package now and Clauio Fontana is the maintainer. Although I do not use due to my storage limitations, I have seen brisk activity on the sourceinstall lists. Cheers, Debarshi -- "I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That's deep enough. What do you want, an adorable pancreas?" -Jean Kerr

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Re: Is GNU/Linux only for Geeks?
by Roshan 05 Aug '06

05 Aug '06

> Its mainly the applications .. i dont think the os > is of importance to > people as long as they can get their work done and > find help when > needed. Arent' there enough applications in most distros. It is a long list. > Linux will take off in a big way if the big distro > manufacturers like > RedHat ( Fedora ) and Novel ( Open SuSe ) provide > self installing driver > packages for their distros based on the latest > available motherboards. Fair enough. > GNU/Linux is only for geeks - that too, ubergeeks. > Because only a > ubergeek can distinguish between GNU/Linux and linux > - or worry about > the difference. What's ubergeeks? (Kdict could not find it for me ;) ) > For the rest are things like Ubuntu, > Mandriva, Suse > which work out of the box - the only thing > preventing them from > dominating is inertia Do they for every hardware? > No, not quality but compatibility. What will they do > with a free OS that will not > be 100% compatible to their needs? Yes, compatibility with different hardware. For any _normal_ user who surfs the web, uses Word Processor, spreadsheet cannot sit down and type commands to configure different hardware. Looking at the replies to the list, 1. Techies should not be lazy to migrate 2. Extensive Driver support and hardware compatibility for devices is required. 3. Software / Applications are compatible. But users need to be informed that .odt (or .sxw) and .doc are file formats for OOo and MS-Office. But OOo have wide variety of options. There's Kopete / GAIM for IM. 4. Awareness in general terms of what is "free" and what is "quality". 5. Community support and awareness through modes that would reach many. (FM Radio / Magazines / TV?) __________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Answers: Share what you know. Learn something new http://in.answers.yahoo.com/

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Linuxers August 2006