Monday, July 6, 2009

Re: [BLUG] suso.org logo on the www.bloomingtonlinux.org website

Mark Krenz wrote:
>
> Actually, I've thought a few times that it might be neat to have a
> BLUG presentation on how a web hosting provider works or something like
> that and use Suso as the example. But that should be up to other people
> to decide if we'd want that or not. We once had another meeting where a
> business presented and it turned more into a sales pitch and left a
> bitter taste in everyone's mouth.

That I'd like to see. Do it at the office so we can see the hardware setup.

--
Mark Warner
MEPIS Linux
Registered Linux User #415318

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Re: [BLUG] suso.org logo on the www.bloomingtonlinux.org website

On Mon, Jul 06, 2009 at 09:56:21PM GMT, Williams, Jeffery Allen [jefjewil@indiana.edu] said the following:
> I noticed the "Hosted by Suso.org" icon at the bottom of the http://www.bloomingtonlinux.org/ webpage. Isn't suso.org providing the web space as well? I ask because, to me "Hosted" implies good but impartial. That is, we like the service of suso.org now, but we chose them because they had the best banner ad at launch. I suspect that suso.org is really our benefactor. Shouldn't that credit be displayed in the little logo at the bottom? Shouldn't it say something like "Web space donated by suso.org", not just "hosted"? That way we can say, "We like the service of suso.org and they have a heart too."
>

Thanks Jeffery. What it comes down to is that we started Suso as a
real business a few months before I started up the BLUG meetings again in
2004 and also bought bloomingtonlinux.org. To me, it doesn't really
matter, the banner is just a way of us trading a little bit of
advertising for free web space and whatever. I always felt that I
should try to keep them mostly seperate, unless it makes sense to talk
about it. I even configured my .muttrc so that when I post to the list,
it uses my other e-mail address, not my Suso one.

Actually, I've thought a few times that it might be neat to have a
BLUG presentation on how a web hosting provider works or something like
that and use Suso as the example. But that should be up to other people
to decide if we'd want that or not. We once had another meeting where a
business presented and it turned more into a sales pitch and left a
bitter taste in everyone's mouth.

--
Mark Krenz
Bloomington Linux Users Group
http://www.bloomingtonlinux.org/
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Re: [BLUG] new to the mailing list

On Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:17:17 -0400, Mark Krenz <mark@slugbug.org> wrote:

> I once heard that Plan 9 is so clean that you can actually start the
> windowing system (X windows?) inside a terminal inside the windowing
> system. Similar to Xnest, but this was way before Xnest.

I never really made it far enough along with Plan9 to see all it had to
offer. However, I have come to appreciate mouse interfaces more, and Plan
9 wasn't afraid to use the mouse.

Aaron W. Hsu
--
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its
victims may be the most oppressive. -- C. S. Lewis
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Re: [BLUG] new to the mailing list

On Tue, Jul 07, 2009 at 02:15:23AM GMT, Aaron W. Hsu [arcfide@sacrideo.us] said the following:
>
> Mouse chording is working very well. Actually, the whole system is rather
> nice. I haven't actually timed myself to see whether it is faster, but I
> don't think I am particularly less productive with it, that's for sure. It
> really takes reuse and dynamic interface to a new level.
>

I once heard that Plan 9 is so clean that you can actually start the
windowing system (X windows?) inside a terminal inside the windowing
system. Similar to Xnest, but this was way before Xnest.


--
Mark Krenz
Bloomington Linux Users Group
http://www.bloomingtonlinux.org/
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Re: [BLUG] new to the mailing list

On Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:37:40 -0400, Steven Black <blacks@indiana.edu>
wrote:

> On Fri, Jul 03, 2009 at 01:43:18PM -0400, Aaron W. Hsu wrote:
>> Well, I've been playing with a new text editor that isn't usually seen
>> in
>> the normal Linux circles called Acme (from Plan 9), and if someone
>> hasn't
>> already presented on it, I'd be glad to give a presentation of it, if
>> someone wants a reason to host a meeting. :-)
>
> This isn't wily, it is actually acme? Are you using the stand-alone
> complex (SAC)? How's the mouse chording working for you?

I tried using Acme SAC, and I had one strange crash situation that I
didn't like, so I grabbed plan9port, and started using it. I like it
better for integration.

Mouse chording is working very well. Actually, the whole system is rather
nice. I haven't actually timed myself to see whether it is faster, but I
don't think I am particularly less productive with it, that's for sure. It
really takes reuse and dynamic interface to a new level.

Aaron W. Hsu
--
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its
victims may be the most oppressive. -- C. S. Lewis
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[BLUG] suso.org logo on the www.bloomingtonlinux.org website

I noticed the "Hosted by Suso.org" icon at the bottom of the http://www.bloomingtonlinux.org/ webpage. Isn't suso.org providing the web space as well? I ask because, to me "Hosted" implies good but impartial. That is, we like the service of suso.org now, but we chose them because they had the best banner ad at launch. I suspect that suso.org is really our benefactor. Shouldn't that credit be displayed in the little logo at the bottom? Shouldn't it say something like "Web space donated by suso.org", not just "hosted"? That way we can say, "We like the service of suso.org and they have a heart too."

2 cents,

Jeffery

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Re: [BLUG] Old PCs

On Mon, Jul 06, 2009 at 12:08:40AM -0400, David M. Moore wrote:
> I'm trying to do some house cleaning over the next few weeks. Among
> other things, I've got anywhere from 8 to a dozen or so older PCs.
> We're talking PIIs and PIIIs here, and possibly a couple of Pentiums,
> 486s, and I think there's even a 286 or 386 machine in the pile. I
> also have some loose motherboards of the same sort of vintage. None
> will have memory or hard drives. The PC carcasses *I think* all have
> CD drives, as well as processors. I also have a few CRT monitors.
>
> This stuff is spread throughout my house (its a big house) and is
> nowhere near ready for anyone to pick them up. That would be at least
> two or three weeks down the road. But I want to know if anyone here
> is even interested in having this kind of stuff (free of course). I
> live just off SR46 in Bartholomew County (Columbus) just a few miles
> past the Bartholomew/Brown county line.
>
> Otherwise if no one is interested, conveniently one of my clients is a
> large scrap metal processor and I'm just going to start carrying stuff
> over there every time I pass it.

Interestingly, I think almost all the computers I own are also from this
age range. I think my wife would kill me if I accepted all eight, but
I'd be very interested in some of them. I was thinking if someone else
is interested we could split it up so each person has the opportunity
to take similarly aged components. However if I'm the only one foolish
enough to be interested, I'd be happy to take the cream of your crop
off your hands (which, interestingly enough, would include some of the
free-floating parts. I may be able to upgrade some of my boxes...).

I also wanted to remind people that FreeDOS 1.0 has been out for some
time. A 286 -- even without a hard drive -- makes a pretty nice dumb
terminal. With a network card and a hard drive or a carefully crafted
boot floppy, you're looking at basically a dumb terminal that uses SSH
instead of a serial line. (Assuming you just want to use it as a gateway
to a real machine.) Also a reminder: Dumb terminals are great for kids!

Cheers,

--
Steven Black <blacks@indiana.edu> / KeyID: 8596FA8E
Fingerprint: 108C 089C EFA4 832C BF07 78C2 DE71 5433 8596 FA8E

Re: [BLUG] ssh and screen

For those unaware of it.

I have a laptop with two user accounts. One for work. One for play.

Sometimes I need to SSH in to work after-hours, but I'm logged in to
my play account. I know it won't be for long, I just need to check
something out.

I don't have the same SSH keys available via both accounts. They have
different SSH keys, and my play one can't connect in to my work boxes.

ssh $OTHERUSER@localhost
ssh-agent screen

My laptop is configured to block SSH connections from the network, but
it has SSH running locally with PAM-based passwords. (I've taken to
doing this as some applications complain about the controlling PTY not
belonging to the UID if I just do a "su $OTHERUSER -". In this context I
think either method should work just as well.)

ssh-agent allows you to specify a program to launch. If you specify a
program, it will automatically quit when that application dies. This
means you can have it start screen, get all the benefits of an SSH agent
within all the screen windows, and when you're done it automatically
disappears.

Very handy.

Cheers,

--
Steven Black <blacks@indiana.edu> / KeyID: 8596FA8E
Fingerprint: 108C 089C EFA4 832C BF07 78C2 DE71 5433 8596 FA8E

Re: [BLUG] To all 'screen' lovers

On Fri, Jul 03, 2009 at 04:25:29PM +0000, Mark Krenz wrote:
> Anyone ever run screen in ubuntu recently? They have this special
> config that has some status info at the bottom and a config menu to
> change profiles. I didn't know you could do that kind of stuff with it.
> Pretty cool.

That would be 'screenie'.

The normal screen package is still normal.

I'm not down with screenie. I think a work associate had issues with it.
I recommended he uninstall screenie.

Then again (1) I use large-font terminal windows, and want my real
estate, (2) I don't use predefined profiles, nor do I see their value,
(3) I already customize my .screenrc.

I'm a big fan of:
## Auto-title my windows
# Used with a normal PS1 and PROMPT_COMMAND='echo -ne "\033k\033\\"'
shelltitle "$ |bash"
## Screen-based blanker/screensaver
# requires 'bsdgames' to be installed
blankerprg rain -d 100
idle 300 blanker

--
Steven Black <blacks@indiana.edu> / KeyID: 8596FA8E
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Re: [BLUG] new to the mailing list

On Fri, Jul 03, 2009 at 01:43:18PM -0400, Aaron W. Hsu wrote:
> Well, I've been playing with a new text editor that isn't usually seen in
> the normal Linux circles called Acme (from Plan 9), and if someone hasn't
> already presented on it, I'd be glad to give a presentation of it, if
> someone wants a reason to host a meeting. :-)

This isn't wily, it is actually acme? Are you using the stand-alone
complex (SAC)? How's the mouse chording working for you?

I've seen wily in the package lists for years. I think I actually
tried the Plan9-like Window Manager at one point.

--
Steven Black <blacks@indiana.edu> / KeyID: 8596FA8E
Fingerprint: 108C 089C EFA4 832C BF07 78C2 DE71 5433 8596 FA8E

Re: [BLUG] new to the mailing list

On Fri, Jul 03, 2009 at 10:48:51AM -0400, Dave Cooley wrote:
> Welcome Charles, Aaron, and Sidarth!

There is a WIKI: http://www.bloomingtonlinux.org/wiki/Main_Page It
doesn't always get updated as regularly as it should be (I say this as I
note the "Future Meetings" list meetings in March and February.) But it
can have useful information in it.

> We haven't actually had a meeting in a bit. Normally, at the meetings
> somebody (anybody) will present a software package they use (that maybe
> the rest of us aren't familiar with), a new distribution they've been
> playing with, a new version of something, a new piece of hardware that
> works great with Linux, etc.

It could even be how to do something particularly cool in Linux.

I gave a presentation on boot-time theming, and easily creating a custom
screen saver. I compiled my research and notes on it and put the document
in the wiki: http://www.bloomingtonlinux.org/wiki/Easy_Effective_Theming

It was the only presentation I've done for the BLUG, and while it was
rather old school (sans slides), it seemed to go rather well.

> We have members who are very new to Linux and computers in general, and
> we have members who are IT Professionals who work with Linux every day.

Linux is fun and easy to use. It happens to be fun and easy to use
regardless of your education or prior experience. We have a fair amount
of diversity, not just in terms of experience with IT or Linux, but
in terms age and life experiences. To me, this makes a group more
interesting as different people explore different aspects of Linux.

> BLUG doesn't have much of a structure; there are no "dues" or any
> official "membership", and there isn't really a leader. We'll get back
> to having meetings again soon (as soon as somebody plans one).

We have had leaders in the past, but leading the BLUG can be a fair
amount of work. (Shoot, preparing for a single presentation can be a
fair amount of work.)

Personally, I think our BLUG could benefit from more leadership. I
also think that it could benefit from finding out what works for other
LUGS/GLUGS and knowing what has been tried and fails. Whether this is
a shared investment in some "How to run an awesome LUG" book, or if
this is research online or something more... I think could even include
the possibility of actually having some folks sit down and visit with
another LUG.

I do think our LUG could be more awesome. That being said, between
work and my family commitments, I don't have a lot of resources I can
personally commit.

--
Steven Black <blacks@indiana.edu> / KeyID: 8596FA8E
Fingerprint: 108C 089C EFA4 832C BF07 78C2 DE71 5433 8596 FA8E