response 14 of 79:

Feb 13 18:50 UTC 2007

don't use firewire but WPA/PSK works for me with a netgear card and madwifi
drivers + wpa_supplicant. also had it working with some intel/broadcomm
chipsets.

response 16 of 79:

Sep 28 16:02 UTC 2007

Has anyone tried using apt-get/dpkg with Linux - Is there a way to
select between file:/ and http:// while installing a pkg?? 

I have copied deb iso's 1-4 to disk and made them accessible to apt-get
via file:/whatever, in sources.list. I also have the http:// lines.

Most times i want to install from CD but sometimes i need to install
from the net, which is why i have retained the http:// lines. Now if i
do a apt-get install something, most times because the online repo's
have the latest copy, apt will download the package!! So i keep the
http:// lines hashed out BUT then every time i unhash them to DL
something, i need to apt-get update - that re-downloads the meta-data
and i lose around 5-6MB/event! Also un-hashing is a pain in the butt!

Can't i tell apt to just use the disk files or to ignore the
latest-version??? I DON'T want to use dpkg -i because it involves a lot
of typing (long path and then i have to hunt for the pkg-files on disk)!

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

Also, is there a decent color picker tool for Linux. I'm not running
KDE/Gnome because it's way too slow! I want some sort of stand-alone app
that is light and can support ANSI, RGB, Hexadecimal notation. It should
also show how things look for some sample text. Anything??

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

Any way to unload all the kernel modules that debian loads? I don't use
USB/Parallel Port/Thermal/Processor/rtc/pcspkr/ and many more. I googled
it and some sites suggest blacklisting, but the man pages seem to
indicate a different purpose (man modprobe.conf)??

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

I've already asked on USENET (they are slow as molasses) and
IRC/local-LUG (they didn't know). Any decent online resources??

response 18 of 79:

Sep 29 05:29 UTC 2007

Re #17: Working :) Not quite what i wanted, but good enough i hope.

Package: *
   Pin: origin ""
   Pin-Priority: 999

If it's a completely new package that's not on disk then it will do a
net install; also, if the pkg exists on disc and the net has a newer
version it will do a disc install which is great! BUT, what if i want
the latest package that is on disc?? I'm generally content with a old
version of emacs/xmms/WM, BUT i do want the latest xchat/browser
packages.

Found a great color picker in xcolors! But, the clicking to scroll up
and down is a pain (it has no "drag the scrollbar"). You have to right
and left click, to move up and down. WTH is Linux brilliantly elegant in
some ways and totally f! in other ways! Grr!

kernel modules: apparently blacklisting is the correct way but the
syntax is weird: install module-name /bin/true .

Thanks mcnally.

PS: Time is acting weird!! hwclock --localtime --systohc sets the time
okay in Linux but in Windows it's gets completely broken! If i use
nisttime.exe in windows, then Linux gets broken! I think windows is
using utc whereas i'm setting localtime on Linux. FUD! <sigh> (But I'm
liking Debian - it's almost perfect. 

response 20 of 79:

Sep 30 17:22 UTC 2007

NONSENSE!

"This item is for discussion of the GNU/Linux system originally written
by Finnish (then) student Linus Torvalds."

Linus Torvalds wrote the Linux kernel - not the GNU/Linux system. Shit!
Give Eric S. Raymond some credit for founding GNU and the FSF, and the
GNU developers for making Linux possible FOR ONCE!

I realize that GNU is credited elsehwere as being seperate from Linux in
the post BUT the first line is still utter nonsense.

response 22 of 79:

Sep 30 18:41 UTC 2007

 re #20:
 > Give Eric S. Raymond some credit for founding GNU and the FSF, and the
 > GNU developers for making Linux possible FOR ONCE!
 
 Umm.. speaking of "NONSENSE!"
 Do you want to take another shot at that?

response 24 of 79:

Oct 8 19:05 UTC 2007

Yeah, don't mess with him or he'll come after you with his katana.

response 26 of 79:

Jan 1 07:15 UTC 2008

dude, just do ls /bin /usr/bin /usr/sbin to find command names and then
man cmdName for more information on the command. Eventually with usage,
you will remember. You can also press the Tab key to auto-complete if
you use the bash shell. So: ifc<Tab> should auto-complete the command
for you. If it doesn't press <Tab> again and you should get a list of
commands that match the letters ifc.

response 28 of 79:

Jul 30 14:56 UTC 2008

This could happen to you...

http://xkcd.com/456/

response 30 of 79:

Jul 19 19:07 UTC 2012

Are people still actively using GNU/Linux around here?

I just left working for the Free Software Foundation after four years,
but remain a GNU developer -- GNU FM and GNU social are my two projects,
and I found Grex because I am looking to set up a Backtalk system for
some fellow GNU developers.

Hello.

response 32 of 79:

Sep 1 19:05 UTC 2012

My suspicion is that a lot of people are probably still running GNU/Linux (and
yeah, I messed up saying that the entire system was written by Torvalds; I
should have proofed better before publishing).

response 36 of 79:

Oct 21 02:15 UTC 2012

Interestingly enough, I also use the Xubuntu distribution of Linux primarily,
as with post #31.  This is probably related to the unusual choice by Canonical
to ship Ubuntu main version with an unconventional Desktop Environment.

One of my recent hobby projects is to get an SGI O2 machine up and running,
able to compile software.  An experienced Unix admin suggested I get NetBSD
onto it, rather then try to compile with the proprietary OS that it came with
(IRIX) which is obsolete.  It will be my chance to become more familiar with
NetBSD.

My current level of knowledge is such that it doesn't make much of a
difference which OS I am working on, whether it be Linux or BSD variant.  Bash
scripting should be the same for simple scripts.  I have a plan to check out
the three oldest Linux distributions, in order of increasing difficulty:
Ubuntu, then CentOS(RedHat) and finally Slackware.  What I will be able to
practically do with that knowledge is not determined, but I have little
planning in my life and a person has to start somewhere.

And finally, I suppose I will rise up to the level of knowing the importance
of differences between the OSes, and I can check out OpenBSD here, NetBSD on
my O2 (if I ever get it running) and FreeBSD somehow.  FreeBSD seems to be
the OS of choice for many free shell accounts out there, so it shouldn't be
a problem to find one for tinkering with, though for me right now I'm only
starting with bash scripts, so it doesn't matter which OS I am working with
right now... as long as I can script without fear of erasing my important
files with some silly mistake.