February 2001 - openSUSE Edu - openSUSE Mailing Lists

Re: [suse-linux-uk-schools] Open Source in Schools: Meeting 12th March 2001
by prytherch＠talk21.com 09 Feb '01

09 Feb '01

>i hope that this meeting will be extremely useful in moving towards a more >collective approach for open source in schools. seconded ;-) >a couple of points to consider before and the during the meeting: >1. Should it be an open source or a Linux umbrella? i'm think here of a) >FreeBSD (esp given Chris Dawkins presencs) b) educational content, much of >which is becoming web-based, not Linux-based, but not in the main open >source. Its been given the Open Source title and Linux is the cornerstone, >and this leads into... "Should it be an open source or a Linux umbrella?" Well, *just* promoting Linux may well be seen to be precluding, say, freeBSD. Promoting Free Software (or OSS) in general, one can still focus on Linux (In my project I have used GNU/Linux as the focus, but also pushed the *principle* of Free Software). Pragmatically, the issue is to a certain extent that Linux has the publicity (and the developers). The Free Software Foundation Europe, for example, is very interested in [all] Free Software in education, but in considering some sort of Europe-wide campaign for later in the year, they will (probably) be pushing GNU/Linux for schools. >2. That despite the best efforts of some, the current Open Source / Linux >schools audience is not mainstream and we are at times a small group >preaching to the converted, perhaps what we should be looking at it lobby the >wider audience, including Governement, LEAs, manufacturers and professional >organisations, rather than each other. Some strategy for that would be >interesting, including the publication of case studies etc It surely goes without saying that this is the prime target for our efforts. As far as government is concerned, Malcolm, I would hope that you could give us a few hints about how we should approach this. Manufacturers: I'd like to think of a growing market in schools for PCs pre-installed with a free Unix, but expect that most demand would be for dual boot machines - and MS will not allow Windows to be pre-installed alongside another OS. As to professional associations, yes - case studies would be useful here, but most people in education still look to the government (and becta) before going off on their own and changing their OS, so we'd have to make a convincing case 8-). > All those with an interest in the use of Linux and Open Source in > education are welcome to attend - please let me know if you are planning > to be there. Count me in - Richard Smedley Richard(a)sc.lug.org.uk -------------------- talk21 your FREE portable and private address on the net at http://www.talk21.com

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Linux recycled Unix ?
by Malcolm Herbert 09 Feb '01

09 Feb '01

hi any comments on this quote today ? > Customers, he said, misunderstood what Linux was, thinking that it > was brand new technology rather than just recycled Unix. "We're not > changing the rules of physics in the universe here" and that the > best Linux can offer is "better technology for the same money." > There is, he said, "a wake-up call" sounding "for many. Malcolm -- --------------------------------------- Dr Malcolm Herbert Director, Academic Business Development Red Hat Europe t: +44 1483 734955 m: +44 7720 079845 -------------------------------------- "To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer" Farmers Weekly, 1977

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failure notice
by John Newell 08 Feb '01

08 Feb '01

Hi. This is the qmail-send program at lists.suse.com. I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses. This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out. <suse-linux-uk-schools(a)ns2.suse.com>: Sorry, only subscribers may post. If you are a subscriber, please forward this message to suse-linux-uk-schools-owner(a)suse.com to get your new address included (#5.7.2) --- Below this line is a copy of the message. Return-Path: <johnn(a)zuken.co.uk> Received: (qmail 1211 invoked from network); 7 Feb 2001 11:02:36 -0000 can I start with a question from a network newbie..... I want to use my linux box to look at the activity of a number of ports on a network switch. (I hope that I have the terminology correct). The problem is this: I do not have enough ports on the switch to connect all the rj45 ports available and make them all live. Every so often I take a look at the activity on the switch lights and record it on paper and then "guess" which ports have not had an activity on them for some time. I then pull the cables and patch into a port that some one wants me to make active. I sometimes get it wrong. In larger schools and organizations I know there is a way of getting port stistics available. Someone said that I can get this list from using snmp? Is this so? Is this yet another way to use this fantastic OS? Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated - even "RTFM" as long as you say which "M" ;-). Thanks John

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RE: [suse-linux-uk-schools] CD-Rom sharing
by Simon Wood 07 Feb '01

07 Feb '01

> -----Original Message----- > From: James & Cyb> èle [SMTP:CJC@stonycobbles.freeserve.co.uk] > Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2001 7:07 PM > To: Schools List > Subject: [suse-linux-uk-schools] CD-Rom sharing > > Have got the SAMBA network to share a windows C-Rom > > question 1: How many IDE CD-Roms can I attach to one Linux PC. [Simon Wood] Twice as many as you have IDE interfaces (i.e. 3 on a normal machine assuming that you have one harddisk) > question 2: Can I simply drop the contents of a CD-Rom onto the hard drive, > set up a share for them and access them that way? > > James Carter > [Simon Wood] You can create a binary copy of the contents of a CD to a file on the disk with: dd if=/dev/hdc of=cd_image_1.iso bs=1024K assuming /dev/hdc (secondary master) is you cdrom drive, 'bs' just sets the block size and speeds up the copy. Then you can mount this image as if it were a normal CD with: mount -t iso9660 -o loop cd_image_1.iso /fake_cdrom1 Just get samba to share this directory, and windows to connect to it. This will perform quite a bit better than a normal CD, it's MUCH faster and will be able to cope better with multi-users (i.e a classroom full of kids). I'm not sure how this effects the copyright on the disk matterial, I assume if you legally allowed to share a CD drive it is no different to sharing the image of the CD via a hard disk. Perhaps this is your home work.... Hope this helps, Simon W.

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CD-Rom sharing
by James & Cybèle 06 Feb '01

06 Feb '01

Have got the SAMBA network to share a windows C-Rom question 1: How many IDE CD-Roms can I attach to one Linux PC. question 2: Can I simply drop the contents of a CD-Rom onto the hard drive, set up a share for them and access them that way? James Carter

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Re: Laptops
by Derek Harding 05 Feb '01

05 Feb '01

Hi folks, If you use a MS network at school you will proably have little problem setting these machines up but if you use Netware and utilise the policies facilities, be aware that it will change the action of the laptop when NOT connected to the network. I run Linux on my own and it integrates well with the school and home networks. When I was doing consultancy, I never had to make big changes, usually only the IP address etc. Star Office or (with its Ameringlish dictionaries) Applix seem fine suites (or Corel but it costs a little more) or the freebie Wordperfect is excellent. In ten or fifteen years, expect many claims under health and safety for failing to meet the workstation requirements (screen size and view causing neck injuries, poor keyboard ergonomics causing RSI of fingers, wrists and elbows, etc.). I kid you not - there are times when I can't touch a keyboard for the finger pain - voice recognition is no option in a class! -- Best wishes, Derek Harding, (BA MIAP) ICT & Network Manager hardingd(a)warlingham.surrey.sch.uk

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Linux print server - how do i get Win 95 machines to see it?
by Phillip Deackes 03 Feb '01

03 Feb '01

On my our school RM Connect 2.4 network I have one machine connected to a laser printer. The machine is used solely for this purpose and runs Windows 95. I installed Linux on it and the printer worked fine, but whatever I did I could not get the other machines on the network to see it at all. The Samba configuration baffled me completely. Does anyone have any advice or hints they can offer, please? -- Phillip Deackes Using Debian Linux

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Laptops Question ....
by Edgehill E-Mail Service 02 Feb '01

02 Feb '01

Hi All, This may seem a little off-beam, but the list is largely people in the appropriate field ... We are thinking of embarking on a Laptops-for-All scheme within the school, and would like to provide both wholly-owned and lease-lend laptops. I would like to hear (OFFLIST is probably best) from anyone who has gone through the horrors of installing a laptop on every pupil in their school. I need to be able provide our Head with a decent set of pro's, con's and possibilities. I also need to be able to quote experiences to her. Once I have produced the documents (which will, naturally, be unbiassed,) I intend to make this available to others on the list. It is my firm wish that I be able to put Linux on those lap-tops, but I doubt that our users could cope. Regards, Paul. Paul P. Ellison <SysAdm(a)edgecoll.clara.net> Information and Communications Technology Manager Edgehill College Northdown road Bideford Devon EX39 3LY Tel: 01237 471701 (Switchboard) 01237 426231 (Direct) Fax: 01237 425981 -------------------------------------------------------------- Legal Advisory: Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, 2000. --------------------------------------------- You are warned that all electronic communications are subject to interception for regulatory, quality control and crime detection purposes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Edgehill IT Department Email Service. Please check sender's address from body of Message for return address. Find us at: www.edgecoll.clara.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Routing
by Dave Williams 02 Feb '01

02 Feb '01

Another chance for me to display my ignorance :-) All that follows is based on SuSE 7.0. I am changing our ip address range from 172.19.50.x (255.255.255.0) to 172.16.y.x (255.255.252.0) - reason - more numbers. However, while moving over I need to let machines on both ranges communicate eg. clients printing to print servers etc. Is this possible? If I set up 2 interfaces on the server (derby) with ifconfig eth0:0 172.19.50.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 ifconfig eth0:1 172.16.0.2 netmask 255.255.252.0 and turn ip forwarding on with yast, should machines on the 2 ip ranges be able to communicate. eg. ping each other I've tried it and they don't. Am I trying something silly and if not what other steps do I need? Dave Williams

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suse 7.0 firewall help
by Dave York 02 Feb '01

02 Feb '01

Hi I can't configure suse 7.0 to run a simple firewall. HELP! Can someone list what I have to do in English please to configure a firewall on a box with a ppp dialup and a nic for the internal network (eth0) I need masq. We are soon to get a 10Mb internet access so then it will be 2 nic's Is the setup a lot different from the above? At the moment when I say yes to ip_forward and/or start firewall in rc.config, I get lots of permission denied statements on boot. Many thanks ================================================================== Dave York

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