Subject: Linux-Misc Digest #572
From: Digestifier <Linux-Misc-Request@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>
To: Linux-Misc@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: Linux-Misc@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU
Date:     Mon, 8 Aug 94 07:13:33 EDT

Linux-Misc Digest #572, Volume #2                 Mon, 8 Aug 94 07:13:33 EDT

Contents:
  Re: Coherent & Linux (Was : A Truly Unbiased Opinion) (Rick Kelly)
  NIS for Linux ? (Yong Chen)
  Is this news group archived? (Philip Siming Zhan)
  Re: WABI vs. SoftWindows? (James Vlcek)
  Re: Format DATs? (John Waycott)
  Re: Multi-threaded linux-kernel (Tim Smith)
  Re: Multi-threaded linux-kernel (Patrick J. Volkerding)
  Slackware 2.0: Mounting CD Drive (Jeff Skone)
  INN: NEWNEWS brokedown yesterday. (Clay Luther)
  Re: Multi-threaded linux-kernel (Sam Hartman)
  linux and modems (Richard Buse)
  Re: source of TCP/IP (was I hope this wont ignite a major flame ...) (John Waycott)
  Re: `mkisofs' ? (Frank Munkert)
  *** PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE POSTING *** (misc-2.07) (Ian Jackson)

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

Crossposted-To: comp.os.coherent
From: rmk@rmkhome.com (Rick Kelly)
Subject: Re: Coherent & Linux (Was : A Truly Unbiased Opinion)
Reply-To: rmk@rmkhome.com (Rick Kelly)
Date: Sun, 7 Aug 1994 23:31:50 GMT

Chris Mauritz (ritz@ritz.mordor.com) wrote:
: Rick Kelly (rmk@rmkhome.com) wrote:
: : David Willmore (willmore@iastate.edu) wrote:
: : : rmk@rmkhome.com (Rick Kelly) writes:

: : : You call yourself a sysadmin? ;)  NFS export the darn drive and mount
: : : it on the target machine.  The tape solution is much more complex.

: : But first explain to the people on the machines that have CD-ROM drives
: : that they can't use AnswerBook or all the other millions of doc sets
: : that are now on CD-ROM.

: Um, you're further showing that a CD-ROM is becoming a "standard" piece
: of equipment.  Hell, I remember when a hard disk was a "luxury" item,
: but now you can't get by without one.  CD-ROM's are so cheap these days
: I don't understand your stubbornness in terms of springing for one...
: unless it's because your OS doesn't support it.  <grin>

Well, let's see.  My NetBSD machine has support for CD-ROM, and my
Coherent machine has support for CD-ROM, but my realtime minicomputer
doesn't.

If I felt that I had to have an OS, and that I had to load it from a
CD-ROM, the I would buy a CD drive.

Other than that there isn't anything on CD-ROM that I'm interested in.

: : : CDROM with remote drive:

: : : 1. walk over to CDROM attached machine.
: : : 2. put disk in carrier and insert into player.
: : : 3. mount disk to NFS exported dir.
: : : 4. login (from anywhere) to target machine--install software.

: : It's finding a free drive that's the problem.  And the majority of the
: : CD drives are on DOS/WINDOWS machines where thet seem to be a necessity
: : these days.

: Yep.  Wave of the future and all that.  No sense fighting it.  Besides,
: it makes more sense than floppies on a cost/bit basis.

What?  DOS/WINDOWS and CD drives?  Blech!

: : : With a remote tape drive: (remember, if the CDROM drive is going
: : : to be remote, the tape drive has to be too.  hell, CDROM drives are
: : : so much cheaper than tape drives, they're probably more common.)

: : Every UNIX box has a tape drive.

: I don't agree.

They do where I work.  They do here.

: : : P.S. If you think CDROM is a cool software distribution media you'll love
: : : MD.  Smaller, same low production cost, comes in a split RW/RO version, etc.

: : I like MO drives.  Dual purpose.

: So do I, but they still aren't manufactured in quantities that will
: bring the price down to earth.  A nice $500 4mm DAT drive works well
: for infrequently accessed files and gives you 2 gigs of r/w storage
: ('course I just use mine for backup).  Does Coherent support SCSI
: DAT drives?  Mine runs like a champ on BSDI/386 and is also supported
: under Linux.

Is compressed mode also supported?  Just wondering.  That gives you
5.2 gigs of storage.

I don't know if Coherent supports 4mm or 8mm because I haven't tried
yet.  It would probably support any tape device that could write 512
byte blocks.


-- 

Rick Kelly  rmk@rmkhome.com  rmk@bedford.progress.com

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

From: yochen@eehpx22 (Yong Chen)
Subject: NIS for Linux ?
Date: 7 Aug 1994 04:19:36 GMT

Is there any NIS software available for Linux ?

I am trying to put users' home directories on one PC and mount that
part on all the other PCs through NFS.  The problem I got is that
I have to setup accounts on all the PCs for every user.

Anyone has any hint to solve this ?

Thanks,
Yong Hua Chen
chen@fspark.ece.uiuc.edu




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

Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.help
From: szhan@watdragon.uwaterloo.ca (Philip Siming Zhan)
Subject: Is this news group archived?
Date: Mon, 8 Aug 1994 03:44:56 GMT


Are the news group comp.os.linux.**** archived? Where?
Thanks.

Phil


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

Crossposted-To: comp.sys.hp,comp.sys.hp.apps,comp.sys.sun.apps,comp.windows.x,comp.windows.x.apps,comp.unix.unixware
From: vlcek@epimbe.com (James Vlcek)
Subject: Re: WABI vs. SoftWindows?
Date: Mon, 8 Aug 1994 03:52:55 GMT

Brandon Allbery writes:
>In article <Cu6r7v.7vA@epimbe.com>, vlcek@epimbe.com (James Vlcek)
>says:
>| I've
>| been admonished by many Linuxoids "they've only just started working
>| on WINE - give them time!"  What the hell - I'm going to tell my
>| customers that?  Get real!

>You sound like some of the stupider clients I've had to work with:
>"if it doesn't exist *now*, it obviously never will".

*snort*  The stupider of your clients would be those who accept
assurances that functionality missing today will provided by
hackerware that's due to be ready, oh, maybe a year or so from now.

I have to ship product *today*.  If it doesn't exist *today* (as in
*now*), then it doesn't exist.  Meaning: I can't ship it.  Period.
End of story.

I'm deeply touched by these tales of hard-working Linuxoids piecing
together the WINE emulator, but the fact of the matter is that they're
a LONG way from anything remotely shippable.  When they do get there,
the rest of the market will have advanced as well - and will still be
out of reach.

>So Linux must obviously be dead and not at all worth pursuing *at*
>*all*, huh?  All that attitude does is make sure that it's true.

As I've said, it's a great intro to UNIX for hobbyists, hackers, and
high schoolers.  Let's not confuse it with a serious commercial
offering.  We pushed UNIX once already onto an unready public, and
many of them now bear an unnatural hatred for it because of that past
misguided advocacy.

Jim Vlcek
vlcek@epimbe.com

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

From: waycott@indirect.com (John Waycott)
Subject: Re: Format DATs?
Date: 7 Aug 1994 05:18:54 GMT

In article <31s1qm$kd@apollo.west.oic.com>, dillon@apollo.west.oic.com
(Matthew Dillon) says:
>
> Also, note that you cannot generally use audio DAT tapes in DAT-based
> backup tape drives.  Audio DAT media is simply not up to par with the
> density used by most DAT backup drives.  
>

We ran into this with our Conner drive. The unit we had required AUDIO
DAT tapes and didn't recognize the digital tapes properly. So, I think
the problem is more one of tape formulation than quality. The fix to
use computer data DAT tapes was just a change in the firmware.

The tech support guy at Conner told us that all new tapes, both audio
and computer data would be the same, using the "MRS" standard.
We checked with Maxell, and they said basically the same thing -
there new tapes for audio and computer data were the same.

All of this happened about nine months ago.
  
===================================
John Waycott
waycott@indirect.com

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

From: tzs@u.washington.edu (Tim Smith)
Subject: Re: Multi-threaded linux-kernel
Date: 7 Aug 1994 05:22:22 GMT

Larry McVoy <lm@stanford.edu> wrote:
>Does this sort of announcement worry others as much as it worries me?
...
>>The new kernel (called Linux Viper, linux 2.0) is still in design phase,

The main problem, it seems to me, is their calling it "linux 2.0".  A
kernel should not be called "linux" unless it is from or approved by Linus.
They should call it "Viper 1.0, based on Linux", or something like that.
(For purposes of this paragraph, device drivers should not be considered
to be part of the kernel, so adding or removing device drivers should not
cause one to cease calling one's kernel "linux").

I don't see anything wrong with people going off on their own to make
systems that do what they want.  Isn't that one of the reasons for having
source availability?  That's certainly one of the reasons I obtained Linux.
I spent several years as a kernel hacker, and over that time I implemented
my own versions of most things that go into a kernel (process management,
memory management, device drivers, networking...the only thing I think I
missed was doing my own file system).  Someday, I'd like to put together
a complete system that follows my ideas of how things should be done.
It seems to me that the best way to do this is to take some existing
system that is fairly complete and available in source form, such as
Linux or {Free,Net}BSD, and modify that, rather than doing my own
from scratch.  Linus started with Minix.  What's wrong with others
starting with Linux?

--Tim Smith

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

From: gonzo@magnet.mednet.net (Patrick J. Volkerding)
Subject: Re: Multi-threaded linux-kernel
Date: 7 Aug 1994 05:34:57 GMT

In article <321r2e$t8n@news.u.washington.edu>,
Tim Smith <tzs@u.washington.edu> wrote:
>Larry McVoy <lm@stanford.edu> wrote:
>>Does this sort of announcement worry others as much as it worries me?
>...
>>>The new kernel (called Linux Viper, linux 2.0) is still in design phase,
>
>The main problem, it seems to me, is their calling it "linux 2.0".  A
>kernel should not be called "linux" unless it is from or approved by Linus.
>They should call it "Viper 1.0, based on Linux", or something like that.

I agree, and I also raised that point in an email reply to the 
post. (haven't heard back yet)

Something else that I'm surprised no one has commented on is that this new 
kernel is allegedly going to be released "for non-commercial use." I 
don't think this type of restriction is allowed, since any kernel derived 
from Linux would be subject to the GPL.

Pat

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

From: jeffs@alfred1.u.washington.edu (Jeff Skone)
Subject: Slackware 2.0: Mounting CD Drive
Date: 7 Aug 1994 05:46:53 GMT

I've made a partition on the hard drive, but am now running into trouble 
getting the (read) CD-ROM drive mounted. How do I do this? (I have a 
panasonic CR-562 drive.) Is it suppost to be done manually? I tried to 
run setup and designated the CD drive to be the source. After that I'm 
told: "Mount Error. There was an error attempting to mount the CD-ROM 
device."

Also, I've heard that you must specifically designate your CD drive as 
read-only or not. How is this done?

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

From: clay@monsta.metronet.com (Clay Luther)
Crossposted-To: news.software.nntp
Subject: INN: NEWNEWS brokedown yesterday.
Date: 8 Aug 1994 02:39:51 -0500

Yesterday, the NNTP NEWNEWS command broke down on our INN system.

Whenever a user (a newsreader) issues a NEWNEWS group yymmdd hhmmss command
to INN/NNTP, regardless of the yymmdd hhmmss issued, the same articles are
presented.  In effect, it lies about what is new news!

Here are some examples, edited for clarity and brevity; these were run at
940808 023000 +/- 5 minutes:


Trying 192.245.137.13...
Connected to monsta.metronet.com.
Escape character is '^]'.
200 monsta.metronet.com InterNetNews server INN 1.4 20-Mar-93 ready
MODE reader
200 monsta.metronet.com InterNetNews NNRP server INN 1.4 20-Mar-93 ready (posting ok).
NEWNEWS news.software.nntp 940808 000000          <- 2.5 hours ago
230 New news follows
<31rd77$a8j@news.cc.geneseo.edu>
<inn-faq-1-776059214@Warren.MENTORG.COM>
...
<324amm$h6n@pirates.cs.swt.edu>
. 
NEWNEWS news.software.nntp 940808 030000          <- 30 minutes in the future
230 New news follows
<31rd77$a8j@news.cc.geneseo.edu>
<inn-faq-1-776059214@Warren.MENTORG.COM>
...
<324amm$h6n@pirates.cs.swt.edu>
. 
NEWNEWS news.software.nntp 950101 000000          <- Jan 1, 1995
230 New news follows
<31rd77$a8j@news.cc.geneseo.edu>
<inn-faq-1-776059214@Warren.MENTORG.COM>
...
<324amm$h6n@pirates.cs.swt.edu>
. 


This just started happening yesterday after running INN on my system (a
linux box) for about a month.

What's broken?  The history file?  The active file?  Why did it just break?
How do I repair it?

Thanks!
-- 
Clay Luther                           clay@monsta.metronet.com
Systems Administrator                 clay@gojira.monsta.com
Monsta, Inc.                          (214) 407-0029

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

From: hartmans@bga.com (Sam Hartman)
Subject: Re: Multi-threaded linux-kernel
Date: 7 Aug 1994 00:53:35 -0500

In article <ann-24900.776147438@cs.cornell.edu>,
Bouwmeester L. <L.H.A.Bouwmeester@research.ptt.nl> wrote:
>Hi linuxers,
>
>A couple of times of times I have seen requests about whether Linux
>was supporting threads on kernel level. Well, I can safely announce that
>work is going on in that area for quite some time now. 
> [deletia]
>The new kernel (called Linux Viper, linux 2.0) is still in design phase, which
>is near completion. Coding will start very soon. When the first code is
>actually running, we'll make a new announce because then we can estimate
>when the first releases shall be available for non-commercial use.
        I take it that you are not planning on basing your work on the
current Linux, which is covered under the GPL.  In all probability a
non-comercial only version of Linux based on the current kernel would be
against copyright law.

        Also, I am curious about how the Linuxs project, particularly as it
relates to HURD, will be effected by threading.  My understanding is that
Mach is a multi-threaded kernel.  Did HURD design in support for this?  Will
Linuxs have this support?

--Sam

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

Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.help
From: richgb@cs.mu.OZ.AU (Richard Buse)
Subject: linux and modems
Reply-To: richgb@cs.mu.OZ.AU (Richard Buse)
Date: Mon, 8 Aug 1994 07:30:45 GMT


I am looking at setting up a system which will have probably 16 modems (9600 type) connected to it. Can Linux handle this bank of modems and if so, what software is needed to drive them.

Thanks
Richard Buse
richgb@cs.mu.oz.au


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

From: waycott@indirect.com (John Waycott)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.386bsd.misc
Subject: Re: source of TCP/IP (was I hope this wont ignite a major flame ...)
Date: 7 Aug 1994 06:18:10 GMT

In article <Cu0L6w.Ms1@calcite.rhyolite.com>, vjs@calcite.rhyolite.com (Vernon Schryver) says:
>
>In article <31pc9l$ctp@oscar.agcs.com> robertsw@agcs.com (Wallace Roberts) writes:
>>hpeyerl@sidney.novatel.ca (Herb Peyerl) writes:
>
>> ...
>>>This is an example of some of the Linux device-drivers I've seen:
>>>
>>>        short error = rx_status & 0x3C00;
>>>        outw(inw(ioaddr + 0x0A) | 0x00C0, ioaddr + 0x0A);
>>>
>>>... the above is completely meaningless.
>>
>>if you're writing (or fixing) a device driver, you are expected to have
>>the h/w manuals handy.  comments are unnecessary if you have the device
>
>If you had any significant professional experience, you'd know that is
>"horse pucky."  In real life, you often, probably usually do not have
>the manual when you need to make a fix.  You usually must write drivers

Absolutely true. Even worse is when the hardware has a bug and the above
code is there to get around it. When Joe Maintenance programmer gets the
job of making some changes, he analyzes this code, looks at the manual and
determines the code is junk and promptly removes it. I've seen this happen
many times. 

>
>Wrong.  People who write garbage code like that are amatuers who won't
>get the job offers from outfits worth working for.

Unfortunately, they do get job offers and cause the rest of us grief.
Even more unfortunate is most managers don't know better and even prefer
this kind of programming because they can get the product out the door
quickly and beat the competition. Of course, now the original programmer
has left the company and the manager can't understand why the maintenance
programmers are having such a difficult time trying to get all the bugs out
of the new feature they just added.

===================================
John Waycott
waycott@indirect.com

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

From: ln_fmu@sle20.pki-nbg.philips.de (Frank Munkert)
Crossposted-To: alt.cd-rom,comp.sys.sun.misc
Subject: Re: `mkisofs' ?
Date: 8 Aug 1994 06:18:43 GMT

In article <31vfju$d65@almaak.usc.edu>, ajayshah@almaak.usc.edu (Ajay Shah) writes:
> I recently heard about the existence of `mkisofs', or free Unix
> software which creates ISO 9660 file systems which can be put on
> CD-R.
> 
> Is this for real?
> 
> Does it work with "all" CD-ROM recorders or some specific models?
> Specifically, is the cheap Ricoh CD-R drive supported?

Mkisofs is a premastering program, i.e. it creates a binary file (a so-called
"image") which represents an ISO 9660 file system structure. Mkiosfs, however,
does not actually write this image to a CDROM recorder. You need a special
driver for this task; these drivers normally are supplied by the manufacturer
of the CDROM recorder.

> Does it work with all Unix?  The platforms I care for are SunOS and
> Linux.  I can do smalltime porting from one Unix to another.

Mkisofs has been written for Linux. It also compiles under SVR4. There should
be no problems porting Mkisofs to SunOS.

- Frank

==========================================================================
Frank Munkert                        |  Email:   ln_fmu@pki-nbg.philips.de
Philips Kommunikations Industrie AG  |           fmu@msc.n.eunet.de
Nuernberg, Germany                   | 

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

From: ijackson@nyx.cs.du.edu (Ian Jackson)
Subject: *** PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE POSTING *** (misc-2.07)
Date: 8 Aug 1994 04:03:17 -0600

Please do not post questions to comp.os.linux.misc - read on for details of
which groups you should read and post to.

Please do not crosspost anything between different groups of the comp.os.linux
hierarchy.  See Matt Welsh's introduction to the hierarchy, posted weekly.

If you have a question about Linux you should get and read the Linux Frequently
Asked Questions with Answers list from sunsite.unc.edu, in /pub/Linux/docs, or
from another Linux FTP site.  It is also posted periodically to c.o.l.announce.

In particular, read the question `You still haven't answered my question!'
The FAQ will refer you to the Linux HOWTOs (more detailed descriptions of
particular topics) found in the HOWTO directory in the same place.

Then you should consider posting to comp.os.linux.help - not
comp.os.linux.misc.

Note that X Windows related questions should go to comp.windows.x.i386unix, and
that non-Linux-specific Unix questions should go to comp.unix.questions.
Please read the FAQs for these groups before posting - look on rtfm.mit.edu in
/pub/usenet/news.answers/Intel-Unix-X-faq and .../unix-faq.

Only if you have a posting that is not more appropriate for one of the other
Linux groups - ie it is not a question, not about the future development of
Linux, not an announcement or bug report and not about system administration -
should you post to comp.os.linux.misc.


Comments on this posting are welcomed - please email me !
--
Ian Jackson  <ijackson@nyx.cs.du.edu>  (urgent email: iwj10@phx.cam.ac.uk)
2 Lexington Close, Cambridge, CB4 3LS, England;  phone: +44 223 64238

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


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