Subject: Linux-Misc Digest #716
From: Digestifier <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 94 15:13:13 EDT

Linux-Misc Digest #716, Volume #2                 Tue, 6 Sep 94 15:13:13 EDT

Contents:
  Weird permissions problem-no login (jason sodergren)
  Newest kernel version to fix memory problems... (Gabe Krupa)
  Re: Western Digital 212 MEG Hard Drives  **NICE PRICE**!!! (Russ Olson)
  Re: Western Digital 212 MEG Hard Drives  **NICE PRICE**!!! (Russ Olson)
  Re: Linux is a GNU system and the DWARF support (Sven Goldt)
  Re: calentool 2.3X for Unix/Solaris/Linux released (Kevin K. Lewis)
  [hpgl, ps, ...] --> xfig-format? (Trink Andreas)
  ATI Mach64 Alpha driver Arrived:!!!!!!
  Linux Tech Support Job Offering (Michael_Johnston)
  Re: Whats the best _CHEAP_ ISA video card for Linux/Xfree? (John Lellis)
  Reminiscence... (Matthew Donadio)
  Re: gcc 2.6.x upgrade (Orhan Unal)
  Re: BOCA 8 port NIGHTMARE !!! (Justin Scott)
  Re: 486dx4 vs Pentium 60 (Justin Scott)
  Re: gcc 2.6.x upgrade (Nicholas J. Leon)
  Re: Looking for term2.x applications (Davor Jadrijevic)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [email-masked] (jason sodergren)
Subject: Weird permissions problem-no login
Date: 6 Sep 1994 13:53:50 GMT

Hello everyone.

I'm having a strange problem with linux 1.1.49; hopefully someone has some
insights:  
Was trying to compile dosemu when I noticed that I had mangled /usr/include
contents through a previous experiment... I reloaded /usr/include from the
Slackware gzip.  Immediately after this, no user except root can login to
the machine- execute permission on the shell is denied to anyone with
a group id other than 0.  Permissions on the shell programs=755; same on
the /bin dir.  No /etc/nologins file.  Everything in /etc/shells looks ok.
/etc/passwd and /etc/group look OK.  Problem also affects su- can't su to a
 user from root.  The only way 
a user can login is if I set gid to 0 for that user AND the shell program
permissions include world execution. 

I've tried recompiling/installing kernel from clean source dist.; also tried
kernel 1.1.47- same problem.  

I find it hard to believe reinstalling the includes did this.  Am I 
(most likely) missing something blatantly obvious?

Thanks for any pointers; they may save me from a from-scratch reinstall.

-Jason Sodergren / [email-masked] / [email-masked]

------------------------------

From: [email-masked] (Gabe Krupa)
Subject: Newest kernel version to fix memory problems...
Date: 6 Sep 1994 10:00:49 -0400

I've been watching the /proc/meminfo file lately to see how memory intensive
some of the programs I run in the background are and I noticed something fairly
disturbing to me.  After running a while with normal usage (say a day or two)
without being shutdown and rebooted, memory seems to be marked as used, even
though all ''memory expensive'' programs have been killed.

At one point, 11 mb worth of buffers were shown as being used and I thought
that it had to do with playing audio cd's through my cdrom.  So I stopped
doing that.  It didn't help.  So I unmounted all nfs file-systems.  Ditto.

I'm stumped.  It seems that the kernel should return all alloced memory to the
general memory pool after a process terminates even if that process never freed
the memory itself.  So I tried mallocing a meg or so and exiting, but that did
not seem to be the cause.

If anyone knows the cause of this, and if there is a kernel patch that will fix
it, please let me know.  I'm running kernel ver 1.0 and haven't seen the need
to look for a later version until now.

Please reply here or directly via email.

A thousand thanks in advance for any help you may be able to offer,
Gabe Krupa
[email-masked]

------------------------------

From: [email-masked] (Russ Olson)
Subject: Re: Western Digital 212 MEG Hard Drives  **NICE PRICE**!!!
Date: 2 Sep 1994 08:47:03 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Norm Walker) says:
>
>
>connor 420M are only 269 canadian!
>latest price
>-- 
>Merritt Secondary School - Computer Support Teacher

I just bought a Conner CFA540A for US $265 

Russ Olson
Norfolk, VA

[email-masked]

------------------------------

From: [email-masked] (Russ Olson)
Subject: Re: Western Digital 212 MEG Hard Drives  **NICE PRICE**!!!
Date: 2 Sep 1994 08:48:22 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Norm Walker) says:
>
>
>connor 420M are only 269 canadian!
>latest price
>-- 
>Merritt Secondary School - Computer Support Teacher

I just bought a Conner CFA540A for US $265!

Russ Olson
Norfolk, VA
[email-masked]

------------------------------

From: [email-masked] (Sven Goldt)
Crossposted-To: gnu.misc.discuss
Subject: Re: Linux is a GNU system and the DWARF support
Date: 6 Sep 1994 15:00:48 GMT

H.J. Lu ([email-masked]) wrote:
: which is due in a few weeks. I think noone should call GNU is a vaporware
: now since the Linux/GNU system is running on x86. I was told if Linux had

And on the linux channel NORMAL he wrote:
:It looks like Linux will be/is pretty much a part of the GNU project.
:Please read my article in comp.os.linux.misc for details.

:We seem to have to work on some copyright issues on the Linux C
:library. If yuou have contrbuted anything to the Linux C library,
:please get in touch with me ASAP.

So then please keep that in mind which can be found in the linux libc 
sources in a file called crt0.S:

/* Notice of general intent:
 *
 * The linux operating system generally contains large amounts of code
 * that fall under the GNU General Public License, or GPL for short.
 * This file contains source code that by it's very nature would always
 * be linked with an application program, and because of this a GPL type
 * of copyright on this file would place restrictions upon the
 * distribution of binary-only commercial software.  Since the goal of the
 * Linux project as a whole is not to discourage the development and
 * distribution of commercial software for Linux, this file has been placed
 * under a more relaxed BSD-style of copyright.
 *
 * It is the general understanding of the above contributors that a
 * program executable linked to a library containing code that falls
 * under the GPL or GLPL style of license is not subject to the terms of
 * the GPL or GLPL license if the program executable(s) that are supplied
 * are linked to a shared library form of the GPL or GLPL library, and as long
 * as the form of the shared library is such that it is possible for
 * the end user to modify and rebuild the library and use it in
 * conjunction with the program executable.
 */

--
*****************************************************************************
*    # THE MOST IMPORTANT FINANCIAL QUESTION IS:  Where is the money ? #    *
*****************************************************************************

------------------------------

From: [email-masked] (Kevin K. Lewis)
Subject: Re: calentool 2.3X for Unix/Solaris/Linux released
Date: 06 Sep 1994 15:00:46 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] writes:

   Hi, I just compiled the calentool program on linux 1.1.47,
   it works fine execpt when I choose "week", in which case it core dumps.
   Any idea ?

I've seen this, but I haven't had much time to investigate.  If it's
the same problem, the core should be from a floating point exception.
I'm sure someone will fix this soon (possibly me).

   Thanks.

   --
   wj
--
Kevin K. Lewis               | My opinions may be unreasonable
[email-masked]       | but such is the voice of inspiration

------------------------------

From: [email-masked] (Trink Andreas)
Subject: [hpgl, ps, ...] --> xfig-format?
Date: 6 Sep 1994 15:26:58 GMT

Hello!

I will port a great skript (written with winword) to tex.
I will too port the pictures embedded in th script.
I can easily generate metafiles (.cpl).
I can also generate hpgl or ps-files using corel-draw.

But how can I convert files files into a xfig-file. I only found
plot2fig on tha archie servers, but this isn't usefull.

Has anyone a good idea?

Thanks, Andi

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 6 Sep 1994 08:48:29 CDT
From: <[email-masked]>
Subject: ATI Mach64 Alpha driver Arrived:!!!!!!

I found Alpha driver from MIT on sunsite.unc.edu in directory
/pub/Linux/X11/X-servers, file name is XF_SVGA_Mach64.tar.gz
Make sure you read Readme file after un-taring the file.
I have it nd it works with no problems.
Eaven comes with source code.
I am useing it on GW2000 P90 17"LE 1776 minitor 1024x764
If you manage to work send E-mail to the autor, his E-mail
you can find in one if the files that come with it..
Robert J.G
E-mail [email-masked]

------------------------------

From: [email-masked] (Michael_Johnston)
Subject: Linux Tech Support Job Offering
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 1994 15:09:19 GMT

Morse Telecommunication, Inc., publisher of Slackware Professional Linux 
and The Linux Quarterly CDROM, currently has an opening for a qualified 
Linux technical support staff member.

The prospective candidate should be familiar with Linux in general and 
Slackware Linux in particular. Experience with networking configuration, 
kernel reconfiguration and  troubleshooting general day-to-day 
difficulties are a must. Additionally, some experience with C and C++
programming and/or shell programming would be a major plus.

The candidate should also display good communication skills for both 
online and direct end-user support capacities. We are looking for someone 
who knows Linux and who can speak clearly and concisely to end-users. 

This opening is for our Long Beach, New York office, located on the south 
shore of Long Island. There is long term potential for some 
telecommuting, but the position initially will be 100% in our offices. 
Hours will be 9AM to 5PM, EST, Monday through Friday. We offer a 
comfortable work environment and excellent opportunity for advancement.

Please send your resume with salary requirements to Michael Johnston at
(516) 889-8665. We will not accept phone calls or email about this 
position. We will contact you within 1 week of receipt of your resume and 
salary requirements to setup an interview if we are interested in meeting 
with you.

Be aware that we are not paying relocation fees at this time. If you are 
interested in this position, you should, ideally, be within reasonable 
commuting distance of our office.

------------------------------

From: [email-masked] (John Lellis)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.admin
Subject: Re: Whats the best _CHEAP_ ISA video card for Linux/Xfree?
Date: 6 Sep 1994 15:42:09 GMT

Dirk Eddelbuettel ([email-masked]) wrote:
: Very well that the ATI Mach32/Ultra/Ultra Pro are advocated for, but could
: someone give me hints for the best    performance/price    ratios ?

: My system is a 486DX-33, 16MB, ISA bus, 1024x768 interlaced 14'' SVGA 
: monitor so I am looking for an accelerated card that gives me 800x600 and 
: 1024x768 (but not more, no 2 MB cards needed) and that will be faster than 
: the 512 kB Oak Oti67 it will replace (this one sucks: TOTAL  3012.000000 
: xStones  reported by xbench).

: I am looking for something like
:       Orchid Fahrenheit                     140 USD       
:       STB Powergraph                        125 USD
:       STB Horizon                           95  USD    
:         cards with Cirrus Logic 5428 chips    price ? 
:       
: Comments, recommendations, flames, welcome under <[email-masked]>

My generic S3 801 VLB (US$ 85) gives me essentially the same performance as
the ATI Graphics Ultra Pro I use at work.  Fonts in X are a bit small on my
15" KFC monitor @1280x768 (really wish I had a 17" Viewsonic 7 like at work)
but in terms of bang for the buck I can't complain at all.

I'd look at spending the extra $$ for the second MB - mine cost me US$60 via
mail order and it's worth it to be able to run in the 1280x1024 resolution.

--

John Lellis ([email-masked])

--
... Our continuing mission: To seek out knowledge of C, to explore
strange UNIX commands, and to boldly code where no one has man page 4.

------------------------------

From: [email-masked] (Matthew Donadio)
Subject: Reminiscence...
Date: 6 Sep 1994 15:56:34 GMT

I just got done reading hlu's post about Linux being a GNU system, so
I decided that it is about time for another post about the good old
days.  I've been using Linux since 0.12 (Jan 92) and it's amazing what
it has become.

Do you remember...

...when the only choice when getting a distribution was getting the root 
        disk first, or the boot disk first?
...alt.os.linux?
...comp.os.linux?
...the first attempt at a split?
...the FidoNET feed?
...gcc-1.38?
...no logins?
...X386 1.2? (not XFree86)
...libc 2.2.2?
...when nobody believed that hlu created a bootable root disk?
...shoelace?
...only having the minix fs?
...when no software would work?
...ftp's dropping every 15 seconds?
...the original net code?
...bir7 making _20_ patches available in _1_ evening?
...no man pages?
...64Meg limits?
...minix ports?
...real-time mailing lists?
...when the mailing list would flood your mailbox?
...having to use kermit to grab all software?
...reinstalling every four hours?
...pax?
...when you had the INSTALL guide memorized?
...sectors 508 and 509?  
...Linus said 1.0 would be out by Christmas 92? :)
...when three was the magic number for syncs before powerdown? 
...no mail?
...when a new kernel would break little used binaries like login and getty?
...when a new lilo would break little used binaries like login and getty?
...having a choice between a wd8003 card and a wd8013 card?
...no ping?
...new filesystems were a dime-a-dozen?
...when Linux nuked all traces of his FPU emulator for the new one?
...the new select() call?
...when compiling the kernel on a 4MB 386sx took 13 minutes ?
...when the first virtual memory was included to have it run on a 2MB
   machine ?
...when the VCs were implemented ?
...`doshell' ?
...when the word of `finger [email-masked]' went round ?
...when AST told Linus where to go ?
...when the shared libraries had the DATE in their names ?
...when introducing the VFS broke infrequent used binaries like bash and ls ?
...when the first preALPHA TCP/IP patches simply cleaned your harddisk ?
...when the extfs was the sensation ?
...`libobz' ?
...six kernel images in one evening ?
...signal/noise ratio on alt.os.linux was >> 1

Thanks to Dirk Hohndel for the last ten or so.

--
Beaker aka Matt Donadio   | Life is short,     ---   __ o    __~o    __ o
[email-masked] |    ride like    ----    _`\<,   _`\<,   _`\<,
--- Penn State Cycling ---|      the wind.    ---  ( )/( ) ( )/( ) ( )/( )

------------------------------

From: [email-masked] (Orhan Unal)
Subject: Re: gcc 2.6.x upgrade
Date: 6 Sep 1994 17:29:50 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Nicholas J. Leon) writes:
>I was wondering if anyone could mention when (if its not already available) a version
>of GCC will be available that provides Pentium optimizations. Since I just loaded
>Linux on my new p5-90, I would love to see the speed increase when a pent. specific
>compiler.  
>
>I remember reading a Dr. Dobbs journal a while ago about the guys at Watcom and their
>first test of the Pentium. If I remember right, they remarked that the difference
>between 486 ops and Pent. ops was about 15-20% when they patched their C compiler.
>I would like to see this for myself <grin>
>
>N!
>

Well, you're in luck. There is an "unofficial" version of gcc-2.5.8 
from Intel people with Pentium optimizations on sunsite.unc.edu in
/pub/Linux/Incoming. I think it's called gcc2.5.8p or some sort.

Hope this helps.

-- 
--
********************************************************
*  Orhan Unal  *  Email: [email-masked]  *
********************************************************

------------------------------

From: [email-masked] (Justin Scott)
Subject: Re: BOCA 8 port NIGHTMARE !!!
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 1994 15:58:14 GMT

Harald Milz ([email-masked]) wrote:

: Or in other words: the Boca BB1004/1008 does not offer the necessary
: signal lines for modems. They lack DTR, DCD and friends.

Everything that I have ever owned by Boca, and anything that anyone I 
know had that was made by Boca were the biggest pieces of junk I've ever 
seen.  Everything from modems to mutli-port boards, to whatever else they 
claim to make that doesn't do the job that it is supposed to do.

I had a Boca 14.4k that never connected above 2400bps... and everything 
was configured right.  If you want a multi-port board, go with DigiBoard 
products.  I'm unsure if they have Linux drivers as of yet, but they are 
excellent products.  I have a PCx/16e in one of my SCO boxes, and it 
performs flawlessly.  You can configure it (on-the-fly) to have modem 
controll or not, simply by doing:

disable ttyi1a
enable ttyi1A

to turn on modem control.

Very easy and simple.

=========================================================================
Justin H. Scott         |  System Administrator | Solidiform, Inc.
[email-masked]             |      817-831-2626     | Fort Worth, TX
=========================================================================
My Views And Opinions Are Not Necessarily Those Of My Employer, Friends,
Family, Dog, Or Any Sort Of Artificial Intelligence Program That I May Know.

------------------------------

From: [email-masked] (Justin Scott)
Subject: Re: 486dx4 vs Pentium 60
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 1994 16:07:53 GMT

Dan Pop ([email-masked]) wrote:
: In <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Peter Hahn) writes:

: >[email-masked] (Zach) writes:
: >
: >>Hi i'm looking to get a system to run Linux but was wondering if
: >>someone could advise me on weather I should get a 486dx4/100 or a
: >>Pentium 60. The 2 systems I am looking at cost almost exactly the same
: >>but the 486 has a 520 mb SCSI hd while the pentium has a 420 ide.
: >
: >>Any thoughts?
: >
: >Two arguments apperare in mind: First, a Pentium-60 benchmarks at 61 SpecInt,
: >a dx4-100 at 52 -- can't remember floating point exactly, but the difference
: >is tendencially even bigger. Second the memory interface of the Pentium is
: >much better than the 486 one. It is 64 Bit wide and knows of write back
: >cache.
: >
: >  There are even more reasons, but this two would be sufficient for me.

: You seem to ignore the fact that the performance of a Linux box does not
: depend exclusively on the cpu speed. The hard disk performance is also
: essential, and here the 486 box is at a clear advantage. The extra disk
: space is a bonus, too. 

: So, it's not going to be an easy choice :-)

Yeah.  The SCSI 486 system has the advantage in the drive area, something 
that the original poster forgot to mention (or got cut from the quotes 
before I saw it) was the amount of ram in each system.  I would say that 
if they have the same amount of ram, see if you can wheel-and-deal with 
the sales company to possibly put a Fast SCSI drive in for around the 
same price.  That way you would have the best of both worlds.  

I would have to say that if it comes down to the point where you want the 
Pentium, you would more than likely be wasting your time with an IDE... I 
use a 1.2 gig SCSI at work on my SCO box, and a 212 meg IDE at home on my 
Linux box, and I can notice a big difference in time (Of course there are 
other factors involved, such as the SCO box at work is a Multi-Processor 
486dx50 with 48 megs ram, and my comp at home is a 386sx16 with 5 megs 
ram :) )

But IDE and Pentium and Linux would be like cramming several thousand psi 
of a thick liquid through a stirring straw... it will be a slow and 
tedious process.

=========================================================================
Justin H. Scott         |  System Administrator | Solidiform, Inc.
[email-masked]             | Network Administrator | Fort Worth, TX
=========================================================================

------------------------------

From: [email-masked] (Nicholas J. Leon)
Subject: Re: gcc 2.6.x upgrade
Date: 6 Sep 1994 16:16:36 GMT

H.J. Lu ([email-masked]) wrote:
: In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (chris) writes:
: |> Hello !
: |> 
: |> Is there an easy way for upgrading to gcc version 2.6.x. I thought about something like 
: |> a pkg-tool package (-> Slackware).
: |> Or can I at least find the object libraries, binaries and include files prepared 
: |> for Linux somewhere (I do not necessarily want to compile and patch everything myself
: |> if someone already did so.)
: |> 
: |> Thanks for your help
: |> 
: |>    Chris

: Please wait. Once when gcc 2.6.x is stable enough, there will be an x86
: binary release. You just need to untar 2 files if you don't want to compile
: it yourself. That's all.

: H.J.

I was wondering if anyone could mention when (if its not already available) a version
of GCC will be available that provides Pentium optimizations. Since I just loaded
Linux on my new p5-90, I would love to see the speed increase when a pent. specific
compiler.  

I remember reading a Dr. Dobbs journal a while ago about the guys at Watcom and their
first test of the Pentium. If I remember right, they remarked that the difference
between 486 ops and Pent. ops was about 15-20% when they patched their C compiler.
I would like to see this for myself <grin>

N!

------------------------------

From: [email-masked] (Davor Jadrijevic)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.development
Subject: Re: Looking for term2.x applications
Date: 6 Sep 1994 16:17:42 GMT

Andrew Davison ([email-masked]) wrote:
: Perhaps I'm missing something important, but has anyone compiled any of
: the major applications (Mosaic, ncftp...) for term 2.x (specifically
: 2.0.4). If I try to run an app compiled for earlier term versions I get
: the error "Connect: Invalid Argument".

Strange; I run forbidden termtelnet on 2.0.4 still w/o problems,
also Mosaic+term, ncftp, irc works. Apart from that, there are some 
bugs still in 2.0.4 dealing with receiving duplicate packets.

: If nobody's done it yet, I might set aside some time to do it. 

That would be nice, especially to compile them with term shared libs.

: Regards,
:       Andy

Best regards, Davor.
--
<[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>
================ Davor Jadrijevic ====================

------------------------------

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End of Linux-Misc Digest
******************************