Linuxers June 2001

linuxers@mm.ilug-bom.org.in

91 participants
164 discussions

block yahoo and MSN
by swami 07 Jul '01

07 Jul '01

hi Linuxers, I am using redhat 6.2 and my squid version is 2.3.stable1-5. I want to block or put user authentication for Yahoo Messenger and MSN messenger in squid, can anybody tell how to do it?

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Re: Re: [ILUG-BOM] Compressed files
by Nikhil Karkera 03 Jul '01

03 Jul '01

------------- Original Message -------------- Aseem <aseem(a)ports.cmc.net.in> wrote: On Fri, 29 Jun 2001, N. Shrikant wrote: > Are *.gz files really compressed into smaller sizes? try yourself. on linux note the file size before compression. and then then compress it with gzip, bzip2, winzip. and you will find that all these utilities do compress the files. compression you get depends on file format. i found that gzip compresses more for text files while bzip2 was good for binary file compression. i found both gzip and bzip2 better than winzip when it comes to maximum amount of compression. ---------------------- End --------------- Yep, you are right, compression results do depend on the file format. Compression basically reduces redundancies in data. Some file formats are already in compressed form. Like JPEG, MP3 etc. An MP3 file is just a compressed WAV file. So compressing these file formats won't give you very high compression ratio, since most of the redundancies have already been eliminated. Try saving a (fairly large) BMP as a JPEG file. Notice the reduction in size, which is a result of compression. If, interested in compression techniques, you'll find loads of reading material on the Net. If you know someone from the engineering fraternity, try getting hold of books like 'Computer Networks' by Tanenbaum, or 'Principles of Comm. Systems' by Taub & Schilling. Look for Information Theory in the latter. These are the books I came accross. There are many more. Regards, Nikhil. ____________________________________________________ Buy Feng Shui Package for Rs. 151/- only, at http://shopping.rediff.com/shopping/fengshui_mailer.htm

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Reminder: ACM Seminar on Data Compression, Friday June 29
by Durgesh D Rao 02 Jul '01

02 Jul '01

Dear Colleague, This is to remind you of the following ACM event. Once again, sorry for the delayed email. - Durgesh, for ACM Mumbai ACM Seminar Friday, June 29, 2001 - 6:30 p.m. Title: Data Compression Speaker: Sayyed S. A. A., NCST Venue: Lecture Theatre, NCST, Juhu Abstract:Data compression techniques are applied to files to reduce their size, which in turn increases the capacity of data storage and speeds up data transmission. Data compression draws heavily from information theory, which deals with the probability of some symbol appearing in the input. For totally random sources, each symbol is equally likely, but random sources are uncompressible. This means that the more probable an event, the less information it contains. Data compression techniques also work on this principle. If we look at real-world files, we find a lot of redundant data in them. Data compression exploits this redundancy to its advantage. I intend to give an overview of data compression About the Speaker: Mr Sayyed is a consultant in the Database and Knowledge Engineering division at NCST Juhu. His interests include Databases, compression and encryption. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Durgesh D Rao (DDR) | Email: durgesh(a)ncst.ernet.in Research Scientist, KBCS Division | Ph: 6201606x372(w), 7563437(r) National Centre for Software Technology | Fax: +91-22-6210139 Gulmohar Rd 9, Juhu, Mumbai 400049, INDIA.| Web: www.ncst.ernet.in/~durgesh ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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NIC drops output
by Satish Dasi 01 Jul '01

01 Jul '01

Hi this is a newbie here I have 2 NICs both recognized by kudzu as RTL 8139 and RTLtoo. However after i changed the ip address on eth0 it started to behave strangely. Both the cards didnt ping their own ips neither the ips of the network machines to which they were connected. Is there a prob with the cards or with Linux generic divers????? Pls help me out in this Thanx in advance Satish

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Re: [ILUG-BOM] The Simputer
by Mayuresh A Kathe 01 Jul '01

01 Jul '01

> The main thing is that IISc will not be building the simputer. Only its > specification. The specification is released openly under the SGPL, and > anyone can build an implementation. The software is downloadable under > the GPL. Got that... But, what I am trying to point out (unsuccessfully) is that, I admire the things done at IISc (had interacted with one of the guys) but based on the things done at IISc (including the true goal of reaching the masses) companies like Encore are taking a free ride on getting the government to subsidize certain operations of theirs, that is really sick, beacuse for them its primarily business. Any ways, just for a bit of info about Encore, they have a whole lot of old 486 laptops lying with them which they are ready to sell off at dirt cheap rates (remember my earlier post regarding the same?), that just goes to prove the condition of the company... Well, its their job, let them do it as per what they think is right. > Anyway, I thought the project was good, and you didn't. Lets leave it > at that. Yup, sorry if I gave an impression that I want to prove you wrong or that I am right, just that I am really feeling sick about the whole issue of Simputer. Warm Regards, ~Mayuresh

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Re: [ILUG-BOM] Simputer
by Mayuresh A Kathe 01 Jul '01

01 Jul '01

> The product is an Open Source hardware project, which has naturally used the > Open Source approach to its software development as well. The IISc has > undertaken the devlopment, with the active cooperation of many others. Now > that it has reached the kickoff stage, it is possible to reach out and > commercialise the production. So Encore (as I understand from the mails, I > do not recall seeing any announcment to that effect, but then I haven't > surfed thru the site either for a couple of fortnights) is one of the > companies that has decided to do this. Encore has not one of the companies that has decided to do this after the project is over, rather Encore has had vested interests since begining and has been investing on the hardware heavily. So simply put, the situation is like: Encore developed the hardware and the IISc guys developed or rather put together the software, there are just a few instances where the IISc guys have litterally written the device drivers (I had interacted with one of them, a guy called Pai, don't remember is first name though) > If the ex-factory cost is 3k and the retail price is 6k, does anyone think > this is wrong? Vickram, the ex-factory costs can't be 3K, just the base component costs are 3K. As in my earlier mail, add the rest of the stuff and voila, you have a "White Elephant". ~Mayuresh

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Simputer
by Vickram Crishna 01 Jul '01

01 Jul '01

I have been browsing thru the debate on Simputer, and am curious about some of the directions this has taken. The product is an Open Source hardware project, which has naturally used the Open Source approach to its software development as well. The IISc has undertaken the devlopment, with the active cooperation of many others. Now that it has reached the kickoff stage, it is possible to reach out and commercialise the production. So Encore (as I understand from the mails, I do not recall seeing any announcment to that effect, but then I haven't surfed thru the site either for a couple of fortnights) is one of the companies that has decided to do this. If the ex-factory cost is 3k and the retail price is 6k, does anyone think this is wrong? I very much doubt that the company will make any money at all on this for many years to come. Unless of course, it takes off like a rocket (a la i-mode in Japan) in which case I am sure that others will jump on the bandwagon and the price will fall. Till then the 3k gross margin per piece will flow out like water, absorbed by thirsty distribution, marketing and overhead costs. Why am I so interested? As some of you will know from my earlier mail, I have initiated the Hawking Communicator project in Open Source (www.radiophony.com/hawking.html) and at some point this project too will move towards commercialisation. I am keen to discuss all aspects of this with as many groups of people as possible, so that we as developers are properly prepared to do whatever it takes to get the software used. This is not the forum for such a discussion, so please do join in the development discussion at Yahoo!groups (/radiophony) or mail me directly. Vickram Crishna

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Re: [ILUG-BOM] The Simputer
by Mayuresh A Kathe 01 Jul '01

01 Jul '01

>>just that I am really feeling sick about the whole issue of >>Simputer. > > Tell me more! Sameer, which area would you like to know more about? ~Mayuresh

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Re: [ILUG-BOM] The Simputer
by Mayuresh A Kathe 30 Jun '01

30 Jun '01

>>Now tell me Philip, if you have used a handheld computer, is it >>easier/faster to type or scribble? >>Mind you, scribbling is not the same as writing. >>And the hand writing recoqnition technology can never be perfected, > > Did you read about the stuff called "tapatap" that they describe on their > website? From what I gather, they have devised a very rudimentary input > mechanism for very simple interaction when requird. Keep in mind that the > device is intended for _illiterate_ villagers, and nobody expects them to > enter any data in it. That is mentioned explicitly in the wired.com article. Now now Sameer, there you go again... Have you ever worked on a handheld? I too probably wouldn't have except for a rich friend of mine. What do you think would it mean by a rudimentary input system? Do you think just by placing a few taps you can access any data? For accessing data, you need to place queries, and queries need explicit search parameters, how do you suppose that can be achieved? >>the best of technology companies like Apple, Palm and a few Russian >>(who pioneered it) companies have tried and failed miserably. > So WHAT? Even the GNU people were unable to create a kernel for their > system until a University student from Finland came along ... Again, Sameer, have you ever thought about how handwritting recognition works? Have you thought or tried to code a handwriting recognition interface? Do you know how difficult it is? Or rather do you know a simple character like "A" can be written in more styles than one by multiple people with different personality types? That "A" is just from the Roman script, have you thought the complexity of deciphering any of the Indian scripts (I would consider Devnagari to be the simplest). >>Have you figured out the BOM of the Simputer? > I have to confess absolute ignorance in this regard! Thats OK... >>Once you are through with the above, tell me if its possible to create >>a "Simputer" (as the creators have envisaged) > People from the original Simputer team at IISc have established a > commercial venture just to do that - called Picopeta something ... Hmnn... >>One of the best projects in India?? > > Reminds me of the fact that India was the first country in the world to use > satellite communication for mass rural education, that too when India > didn't even have a single communcitation satellite of her own ... > > I think that what the IISc people are trying to do is to turn the concept > of a "computer" on its head. They are trying to use technology to help > people in a way comfortable to them - this is a place where we have to keep > back all our presumptions about human-computer interaction based on the PC. > Think of it as an interactive TV set if you want, designed to disperse > informatin rather than handle complex computing tasks. Now what do _you_ think is the concept of a "computer"? As you mentioned that "They are trying to use technology to help people in a way comfortable to them", that is exactly what _Human Computer Interaction_ is all about... So we cannot keep back all our presumptions about Human Computer Interaction... > I had always hoped to get close to the Simputer project if I had been able > to get into the IISc for my post-graduation; but I guess that won't be > happening now! If you hoped to get to IISc, well thats good, thats a neat place with lot of facilities... But if you hoped to get close to the Simputer project, forget it, its not worth it... Just a bunch of techies don't make great computing devices, for that you need to have experts on HCI and somebody with a clear vision about what is to be done. Warm Regards, ~Mayuresh

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Zen, network topology, and Linux.
by Satya 30 Jun '01

30 Jun '01

Hypothetically... I have a DSL connection to the World. A hub is plugged into it, and 2-6 computers into the hub. Naturally, the computers have a class C (?) between them, which should not be routable from the World. The computers have their own connection to the World through the hub and DSL. I think the whole thing is a star topology, at least for the internal network. Is what I have described above correct, and possible? I suppose ideally, one of the Linux boxen would get the DSL line and act as firewall to the rest through the hub? Now... whichever way, how do I do it on Linux? ipchains alone is enough? -- Satya. <URL:http://satya.virtualave.net/> US-bound grad students! For pre-apps, see <URL:http://quickapps.cjb.net/> Within five minutes, ReRob learned that walking through the basement of Fuller Labs wearing futuristic body armor and pushing a variable-geometry motorcycle raises eyebrows. Telling students that this is the true power of UNIX didn't help. -- Undocumented Features I.

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Linuxers June 2001