Boot Messages
When linux boots there is a plethora of messages which really bugs me. Can I have a simple message like "Welcome To Linux" when I boot into linux instead of those overwhelming messages (those telling me my processor type, HDD type etc...or the ones telling me that the startup services are ' [ OK ] ' )
Mail Server
Can I set up my own mail server ? In the PCQ's latest issue there are instructions on setting it in intranet. Can I set it up on my workstation ? Is there some site giving all the instructions Has someone among you tried it?
Linux and Multimedia
Yesterday I played a mpg file for the first time on linux and I was very disppointed by the performance . The file was almost played in slow motion :-( Windows media player gave me a better performance.Guess Linux and multimedia don't go well together .
Kernel Comiplation
I am relatively new to linux and when I get some major problems I get atleast one suggestion to ' compile the kernel ' . What does it mean? I only know C and Pascal programming . Can someone enlighten me please.
Welcome to the world of UNIX (and work-alikes)!
--- Nikhil Joshi nikhiljosh@runbox.com wrote:
Boot Messages
When linux boots there is a plethora of messages which really bugs me. Can I have a simple message like "Welcome To Linux" when I boot into linux instead of those overwhelming messages (those telling me my processor type, HDD type etc...or the ones telling me that the startup services are ' [ OK ] ' )
These messages are an essential part of your startup schema, and enable you to verify whether the bootup has happened properly. You get them in Windows too, albeit in a diferent form. If you're running Win9x, just hit "Esc" when the Windows splash screen appreas, and you'll soon be disabused of any notions you had that the Windows starup is entirely GUI based. Win NT entirely sidesteps the issue by not showing any startup diags - you have to check Event Viewer for get at the details of the startup error messages. Rather a roundabout way of getting to know that your bootup had problems, IMO.
I guess you *could* substitute pretty pictures for the startup system, but you'll have to dig around to find out how. I wouldn't bother, though, because the startup messages are your main clue to system boot and subsequent performance. And, yes, all Unices start up this way. If you really want to figure out how, check the documentation in the /usr/src/linux hierarchy (assuming you've installed the kernel source).
Mail Server
Can I set up my own mail server ? In the PCQ's latest issue there are instructions on setting it in intranet. Can I set it up on my workstation ? Is there some site giving all the instructions Has someone among you tried it?
Check /usr/doc/HOWTO, or /usr/share/doc/HOWTO, or if these are unavailable, go to http://linuxdoc.org/HOWTO. Look for the mail related HOWTOs. Linux offers you a vast range of options on setting up mailservers. I'd recommend qmail or postfix (for details on both, check the archives, which will point you to how to obtain, set up and use them), or alternatively, do a google search for them. I assume you're familiar with IP networking and have some background in mail server operation, else the HOWTOs will give you all that you need.
Linux and Multimedia
Yesterday I played a mpg file for the first time on linux and I was very disppointed by the performance . The file was almost played in slow motion :-( Windows media player gave me a better performance.Guess Linux and multimedia don't go well together .
No idea on this, since I'm not into multimedia. Maybe someone on the group could help. BTW, what is your RAM and video config, since problems here could reflect on your multimedia performance?
Kernel Comiplation
I am relatively new to linux and when I get some major problems I get atleast one suggestion to ' compile the kernel ' . What does it mean? I only know C and Pascal programming . Can someone enlighten me please.
Well, the kernel is written in C (mostly) so you ought to find it easy to grep through the kernel sources. A tiny portion of the kernel (~3000 lines, IIRC) is in assembly, mainly the startup and bootloader routines.
Kernel compilation means recompiling your kernel after you have made changes to the kernel. You don't need to be a programmer to do this; there are utilities availbale for you to tweak your kernel for various options, ranging from processor type to multimedia settings. Get the Kernel-HOWTO from http://linuxdoc.org and read it through. It will give you all that you need, and then some, on kernel compilation and options.
An experiment you can try in the meantime, if you have the kernel sources installed (you ought to have a few dozen megabytes of files and directories in /usr/src), is to go to the /usr/src/linux directory, su to root and type "make xconfig" if you're running X, or "make menuconfig" if in text mode. This will give you a complete list of settable kernel options. CAVEAT: make sure you're completely familiar with your hardware config before tweaking anything or you might end up with a dead system. Also, keep your boot and rescue floppies handy, just in case.
HTH,
Krishnan
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On Jul 14, 2001 at 12:46, Nikhil Joshi wrote:
When linux boots there is a plethora of messages which really bugs me. Can I have a simple message like "Welcome To Linux" when I boot into linux instead of those overwhelming messages (those telling me my processor type, HDD type etc...or the ones telling me that the startup services are ' [ OK ] ' )
You probably need to recompile your kernel for that. There is a patch available. Look for "framebuffer".
Can I set up my own mail server ? In the PCQ's latest issue there
Yes. Define mail server.
are instructions on setting it in intranet. Can I set it up on my workstation ? Is there some site giving all the instructions Has
Yes.
someone among you tried it?
Most of us do.
I am relatively new to linux and when I get some major problems I get atleast one suggestion to ' compile the kernel ' . What does it mean?
Kernel-HOWTO. The core of the Linux system, the kernel, is < 1MB in size but has several megabytes of source code which may be under /usr/src/linux. Recompile that with appropriate parameters by reading the Kernel-HOWTO.
PS: Fix your line length to 70 characters.
On Jul 14, 2001 at 14:36, Satya wrote:
On Jul 14, 2001 at 12:46, Nikhil Joshi wrote:
When linux boots there is a plethora of messages which really bugs me. Can I have a simple message like "Welcome To Linux" when I boot
Can I set up my own mail server ? In the PCQ's latest issue there
And if you're running a server, you're better off seeing the boot messages once in a while. Diagnostics.
Sometime on Jul 14, Satya assembled some asciibets to say:
On Jul 14, 2001 at 14:36, Satya wrote:
On Jul 14, 2001 at 12:46, Nikhil Joshi wrote:
When linux boots there is a plethora of messages which really bugs me. Can I have a simple message like "Welcome To Linux" when I boot
Can I set up my own mail server ? In the PCQ's latest issue there
And if you're running a server, you're better off seeing the boot messages once in a while. Diagnostics.
Well, if he's running a server, then he shouldn't be switching off his machine, so that takes care of seeing the messages everyday. He could probably leave it on for the next five years if he wanted to.
Philip
On Sun, 15 Jul 2001, Philip S Tellis spewed into the ether: <snip>
Well, if he's running a server, then he shouldn't be switching off his machine, so that takes care of seeing the messages everyday. He could probably leave it on for the next five years if he wanted to.
Not recommended. Even the kernel needs to be patched sometimes, and that needs a reboot. Thats the only thing needing a reboot though, so you can have a few months of uptime.
Devdas Bhagat
Sometime Today, Nikhil Joshi assembled some asciibets to say:
A few points first. Don't post to newsgroups/maillists in HTML, and restrict your line length to about 72 characters. Your ISP should have mentioned this to you when they gave you an Internet account. If they didn't, then shame on them.
When linux boots there is a plethora of messages which really bugs me. Can I have a simple message like "Welcome To Linux" when I boot into linux instead of those overwhelming messages (those telling me my processor type, HDD type etc...or the ones telling me that the startup services are ' [ OK ] ' )
Let's say something goes wrong while you're booting up. Say you've got some new hardware, or some software has been corrupted (by power failure or hard disk corruption). Wouldn't you like to know about it? If you just had a welcome to linux message, you wouldn't know anything. One of the reasons so many of us like linux is because it tells us everything instead of hiding it behind a splash screen. You could do the splash screen too. There's a project on freshmeat that does this. Search for it on freshmeat. The other thing about linux, is that it lets us do what we want, so if we want to be blind, it will let us. You could also write a program using svgalib that changes the graphics mode and draws a bitmap to screen. Shouldn't be more than a few lines, and then you can stick it in rc.sysinit.
Can I set up my own mail server ? In the PCQ's latest issue there
Well, if you see something like `Starting sendmail' in those startup messages, then you already have your mail server up and running. And you didn't have to do a thing. Configuring it though, is a completely different nightmare. Read through the sendmail docs in /usr/doc/sendmail... or /usr/share/doc/sendmail...
You should also read the Howtos. somewhere in /usr/doc or /usr/share/doc or at linuxdoc.org
Yesterday I played a mpg file for the first time on linux and I was very disppointed by the performance . The file was almost played in slow motion :-( Windows media player gave me a better
Chances are, you were running it at the wrong sampling frequency. You may have to tweak the settings in your mpg software. Get it to play at double rate or half sampling rate. Check the man page for the software you use. Unlike windows, linux drivers for multimedia were written by users like you and I, and not by the original hardware manufacturers. Sometimes, the windows drivers use undocumented features that the linux drivers aren't aware of.
In other cases, it just may be that linux lets you do everything for yourself, while windows makes you do everything the windows way. Sometimes the windows way is what you wanted in the first place, many times it isn't. With linux, you always have the choice.
I am relatively new to linux and when I get some major problems I get atleast one suggestion to ' compile the kernel ' . What does it
You don't have to be a programmer to compile. The kernel has already been programmed, you just have to recompile it. I suggest you first go through the kernel-HOWTO, and then play around with make menuconfig in /usr/src/linux
Telling you any more right now could harm you.
Philip
Don't post to newsgroups/maillists in HTML,
ain't HTML supposed to be cool and convenient ? I mean with HTML I can easily send links and the formatting is also great . Most mail clients are supposed to support HTML right?
Your ISP should have mentioned this to you when they gave you an Internet account. If
they
didn't, then shame on them.
with the quality of support given by most isp's we really can't expect this :) can we?
Sometime Today, Nikhil Joshi assembled some asciibets to say:
Don't post to newsgroups/maillists in HTML,
ain't HTML supposed to be cool and convenient ? I mean with HTML
No. Text is universal. That's what makes something cool and convenient.
I can easily send links and the formatting is also great . Most mail
You can do that with text too. http://www.ilug-bom.org.in/ is a link, and I did it with plain text.
clients are supposed to support HTML right?
Most yes. All no. It's okay when you are sending personal mails to your friends who you know have a client that supports html. It's not when you mail a newsgroup or mailing list where there are hundreds of people. If even one of them cannot read html mail (as was the case with me a few months ago), then it defeats the purpose of sending the mail.
Text can be read by everyone, even those who do not use a mail client. I do this all the time.
Your ISP should have mentioned this to you when they gave you an Internet account. If
they
didn't, then shame on them.
with the quality of support given by most isp's we really can't expect this :) can we?
I know. Ironically though, the newsgroups FAQ used to be on VSNL's site (their very first site). And it was mentioned in there (including the shame on them part). VSNL has never educated their users to netiquette. They don't even do anything to prevent spamming.
Philip
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Devdas Bhagat -
Nikhil Joshi -
Philip S Tellis -
S. Krishnan -
Satya