November meeting

[Robert]

Hi all,

The November meeting is just over a week away. Does anybody have
anything they wish to present?

Robert

[Eric Wanchic]

Nothing set in stone yet. I've been working on getting some speakers to
talk on next month's meeting, but no promises for Nov. yet. Thought
about talking about Karmic, and any new features. Also thought about
trying to show Google Whack again.

Eric

[Robert]

I suspect there will be much upgrading happening over the next few days.
Maybe a short ubuntu upgrade story share may be cathartic for some and
make James feel really good about his Gentoo install :-)

I can talk about load balancing with linux.

Robert

[Dave McCarty]

Since it is the official release of Ubuntu 9.10 we could do installs and
troubleshoot (if there are any issues)

Dave

[Robert]

I think the proviso for doing this is if we can get enough network in to
the room, and if BTI are happy with us doing that.

If we are doing that, then I also think the small meeting room in the
BTI building is a better lace for that.

Nate, what are your thoughts.

Also, we could probably do with some side-show entertainment for those
of us who have already done the deed (or run another distro), and while
we watch the blue line cross the screen.

Robert

[Nate Swenson]

Hey guys,
Yes - lets plan on meeting at the BTI building again (the HDQ meeting room will be unavailable anyway).  We don't have wired access available for guests, but wireless is of course available.  If someone does not have wireless (or it is not working), I could bring in an access point or a switch so we could share the wireless connection.  Would that be sufficient?

 - Nate

[Dan Falconer]

I agree on needing something to do while waiting for the blue line to fill up.  Assuming I can make it (and this sickness doesn't kill me), I can offer up my Xbox 360.  I've also got a project manager system that I've been meaning to do a presentation on... I can do that by my elbows, though, and hopefully get some discussion going about it.

--
Best Regards,


Dan Falconer
http://CrazedSanity.com || http://www.Buzzkill.org

[Dave McCarty]

Having watched the slow process of updating 3 computers today -- I would
suggest that if we do anything around the 9.10 release we just do
troubleshooting if anyone has any issues they want to bring to the
meeting.

Dave

[Eric Wanchic]

I like that idea (^_^). To continue and answer past posts, Nate, I think
the switch is definitely a must. Personally, I think the wired
connection would be more preferable, but if you can bring a switch, I
could bring a Mirror to help easy the download. As a matter of fact, I
could bring a 8-port gigabit switch if you can facilitate getting the
wireless into our little lan setup.

The mirror will make the download of the install files...with all
updates needed, take about 5 mins, and then around another 25 mins to
install all the updates.

I have to say, I've really like my upgrade. A lot of my tweaks from the
previous 9.04 have been integrated in this release, so not much to fix.
I had a few drawbacks a new tweaks only because I was using a beta
realease, so no reason to complain until release day. I'll try and
download the new DVDs by Thursday.

Eric

[Nate Swenson]

OK.  I'll plan on bringing a switch, some Ethernet cables, and a wireless router.  However, I'll have to steal my wireless router from home.  Would anyone happen to have a spare wireless router or access point we could borrow?  It would save me a little bit of hassle.  If not, no big deal.

 - Nate

[member krownos]

I Have the same one that i brought to the install fest that i can bring along to the meeting.

[Nate Swenson]

Thanks, but I think I've found one already.  I've got a Linksys WRT54G that I cannot install custom firmware on (its not mine), a 3COM 10/100 switch, a few Ethernet cables, and Basin's Guest Wireless Internet connection. 

I'm thinking I could just bring the switch and we can use that to share files amongst ourselves.  Those who have wireless working can download files for those who do not.  The Linksys can serve as our DHCP server.  Think that'll work?

 - Nate

[Nate Swenson]

If someone would like to try and share their Internet connection on our little network, that would be cool too.  Just a thought....
 - Nate

[member krownos]

Do we have a router to use for tonight. If not i have a Linksys WRT54G that all ready has the ddwrt firm ware installed on it.

[Nate Swenson]

Sure - go ahead and bring that along.  I have one from a coworker, but it doesn't have the dd-wrt firmware.  Thanks!
 - Nate

[Eric Wanchic]

You can bring it anyway, there might be more I'm not thinking about
here. I've brought my too, and here's why:

Accessing the mirror properly requires a little more services, and I
wasn't really thinking about it until this morning. In order for this to
work, properly, I'll need a dhcp, providing DNS, and probably 2 wi-fi.
Bear with me...

Step 1 - Nate get's his wi-fi to act as a router/gateway between BTI's
wireless to our impromptu network.

Step 2 - Need a Server (I'll provide a laptop, already configured) that
provides DHCP & DNS. My idea is the DHCP will:
- Properly assign individual IPs (ok, duh), and force IP to my DNS mac
Address
- Provide the gateway address back to Nate's Wireless
- Provide the DNS IPs to everyone, local as well as outside

and the DNS will:
- properly allow access to the mirror via http

Step 3 - Need access to THE MIRROR (I'll provide my second laptop). My
such a big deal? I've perfected a way to upgrade your Ubuntu Install
through my mirror. That means download 99% of all the update/install
files in about 1-2 mins. Anything else is from conical...1%. Then it's
the 30 mins of actual install.

BTW, I'll make sure my laptop can play movies this time ;)

Step 4: Provide a pass-tru wireless Router. (Which I've already set-up).
This means, if there are those of you that can only upgrade via wireless
connection, you'll need to go thru mine to access the mirror properly,
otherwise if you go-through BTI's, you'll only get conicals site.

So, that's what I know so far (O_o). I need food now.

ERic

[Eric Wanchic]

Quick Question, who will be bringing i386 machines, and/or amd64 machines?

[member krownos]

I plan on bringing my i386 machines laptop and a acer aspire netbook.

[Eric Wanchic]

Well, When I attempted to update my i386 laptop, I realized the i386
packages never downloaded (O_o). I guess I don't have to many i386, so I
never noticed. I'm downloading them now, but I'm not sure I'll be done
in time. So, I'm playing it one hour at a time, but assuming the
majority is actually i386, it's might not be worth it to do the mirror
at this time. But I do have the isos at least :)

I'll keep the mailing-list posted.

Eric

> <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org>>>

> wrote:
>
> If someone would like to try and share their Internet
> connection
> on our little network, that would be cool too. Just a
> thought....
> - Nate
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 4:07 PM, Nate Swenson
> <na...@bismanlug.org <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org>

> <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org

> <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org>>> wrote:
>
> Thanks, but I think I've found one already. I've got a
> Linksys WRT54G that I cannot install custom
> firmware on (its
> not mine), a 3COM 10/100 switch, a few Ethernet
> cables, and
> Basin's Guest Wireless Internet connection.
> I'm thinking I could just bring the switch and we
> can use that
> to share files amongst ourselves. Those who have
> wireless
> working can download files for those who do not.
> The Linksys
> can serve as our DHCP server. Think that'll work?
>
> - Nate
>
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 3:33 PM, member krownos
> <kro...@opensuse.us <mailto:kro...@opensuse.us>

> <mailto:kro...@opensuse.us <mailto:kro...@opensuse.us>>>

> wrote:
>
> I Have the same one that i brought to the
> install fest
> that i can bring along to the meeting.
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 2:10 PM, Nate Swenson
> <na...@bismanlug.org <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org>

> <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org>>>

> wrote:
>
> OK. I'll plan on bringing a switch, some
> Ethernet
> cables, and a wireless router. However,
> I'll have to
> steal my wireless router from home. Would
> anyone
> happen to have a spare wireless router or
> access point
> we could borrow? It would save me a little
> bit of
> hassle. If not, no big deal.
>
> - Nate
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 1:48 PM, Eric Wanchic
> <ewan...@qwest.net

> <mailto:ewan...@qwest.net> <mailto:ewan...@qwest.net

[David McCarty]

I can bring my AMD64  Desktop if it is needed. If not I'll leave it home since it has been upgraded to 9.10. In fact only the AMD64  and the Xubuntu upgade went through without a glitch of the 4 machines I have done. My netbook is running 9.04 under Eeebuntu and that group has decided to delay their next upgrade till January at which time it will be based on Debian Unstable instead of Ubuntu.  Probably will be renamed at that time DEeebian or something similar.

Anyone planning on going to eat prior to the meeting?

Dave

---

From: Eric Wanchic <ewan...@qwest.net>
To: bism...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thu, November 5, 2009 12:22:09 PM
Subject: [BisManLUG] Re: November meeting

[Eric Wanchic]

It's up to you if you want to bring it. My mirror is just so everyone's
ubuntu 9.10 upgrade is fast, and I thought I would get the i386 files
downloaded in time, but I did. So if you want to upgrade your ubuntu to
9.10, fast, that's why I'm bringing the mirror.

I'm game for paradiso.

....mmm. Well, My mirror is great. downloaded all the needed files in 1
min on my i386 acer. However, it is actually going to take ~1 hour to
install/upgrade packages. Ok, that gives everyone a sample gauge.

Eric

David McCarty wrote:
> I can bring my AMD64 Desktop if it is needed. If not I'll leave it
> home since it has been upgraded to 9.10. In fact only the AMD64 and
> the Xubuntu upgade went through without a glitch of the 4 machines I
> have done. My netbook is running 9.04 under Eeebuntu and that group
> has decided to delay their next upgrade till January at which time it
> will be based on Debian Unstable instead of Ubuntu. Probably will be
> renamed at that time DEeebian or something similar.
>
> Anyone planning on going to eat prior to the meeting?
>
> Dave
>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Eric Wanchic <ewan...@qwest.net>
> *To:* bism...@googlegroups.com
> *Sent:* Thu, November 5, 2009 12:22:09 PM
> *Subject:* [BisManLUG] Re: November meeting

> <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org> <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org

> <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org>>> wrote:
> >>
> >> If someone would like to try and share their Internet connection
> >> on our little network, that would be cool too. Just a thought....
> >> - Nate
> >>
> >>
> >> On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 4:07 PM, Nate Swenson
> <na...@bismanlug.org <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org>

> >> <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org>>> wrote:
> >>
> >> Thanks, but I think I've found one already. I've got a
> >> Linksys WRT54G that I cannot install custom firmware on (its
> >> not mine), a 3COM 10/100 switch, a few Ethernet cables, and
> >> Basin's Guest Wireless Internet connection.
> >> I'm thinking I could just bring the switch and we can use that
> >> to share files amongst ourselves. Those who have wireless
> >> working can download files for those who do not. The Linksys
> >> can serve as our DHCP server. Think that'll work?
> >>
> >> - Nate
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 3:33 PM, member krownos
> >> <kro...@opensuse.us <mailto:kro...@opensuse.us>

> <mailto:kro...@opensuse.us <mailto:kro...@opensuse.us>>> wrote:
> >>
> >> I Have the same one that i brought to the install fest
> >> that i can bring along to the meeting.
> >>
> >>
> >> On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 2:10 PM, Nate Swenson
> >> <na...@bismanlug.org <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org>

> <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org <mailto:na...@bismanlug.org>>> wrote:
> >>
> >> OK. I'll plan on bringing a switch, some Ethernet
> >> cables, and a wireless router. However, I'll have to
> >> steal my wireless router from home. Would anyone
> >> happen to have a spare wireless router or access point
> >> we could borrow? It would save me a little bit of
> >> hassle. If not, no big deal.
> >>
> >> - Nate
> >>
> >>
> >> On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 1:48 PM, Eric Wanchic
> >> <ewan...@qwest.net <mailto:ewan...@qwest.net>

[Collin Scull]

I plan to be at Paradiso around 5:30.

Collin

[David McCarty]

1.) I just installed 9.10 NBR as a dual boot on my on my netbook. I'm trying to redirect my user to my home directory which is on a separate partition (sda2). I tried to change it in the User/Group but everytime I restart the computer it is using the home directory in the new partition for 9.10. Any suggestions on how to permanently reset the home directory?

2.) When I tried to add Gparted to my programs I was unable to load it from symaptic package manager. When I tried to do it from apt-get I was told I didn't have permission even when I used sudo. I had to add root and then sudo root in order to try to add the program. Has something changed with Ubuntu where sudo is not truly sudo anymore? Bill Roberts said he has had a similar experience.

Dave

[Dan Falconer]

I'm assuming when you say "dual boot" you are referring to having Windows and Linux installed as the two bootable systems.  Is that correct?  I wouldn't mind an explanation of what "NBR" means.

Okay, on to the home directory thing.  When you change the home directory, you should also check your user's entry in "/etc/passwd" -- that is what has the final say as to where your home directory is.  Be careful when you edit it, though, as typos can cost dearly... it is a good thing that you can login directly as root (if I understood correctly).  Also make sure you don't have multiple identical entries for some reason.

As for sudo, you should check the sudoers file (/etc/sudoers), as it may shed some light on the problem.  In a graphical environment I've noticed that some of the sudo settings aren't taken into account: I used to set my sudoers so that my user would always be able to do so without a password: I seem to recall that it worked on CLI, but KDE would always ask me to put in a password--that is probably just trying to protect users from themselves, but it might also be related.

[Dave McCarty]

In this case dual boot is two distros of linux -- eeebuntu 3.0 and
ubuntu 9.10.(Creates an extremely long GRUB list to choose from) NBR is
NoteBook Remix which takes in account the smaller screens on netbooks
and uses slighly fewer resources.

On the Sudo command -- mine is setup to require a password but on some
commands (Eric's command to clear caches for example) it will create a
message that I don't have permission to run this command. I am running
these command on terminal. If I do it as su root it will run. I was
under the impression that when you use the sudo command that at that
point you have all the permission of the root user.

Remaining questions are: will it create problems that my user name is
the same in both distros? Or since I want them both to share my home
folder is it ok? If I recreate my user in 9.10 can I set the home
directory to the partition at that time?

Thanks for the input.
Dave

[Eric Wanchic]

When you sudo, try sudo -i, enter and see if it drops you to root@host.
Then try your commands. To exit out, type exit.

No, 9.10 still works the same way with sudo. At least it does in my
desktop & server environments.

ERic

[Dan Falconer]

Okay, if we're talking about two different Linux distros, it could (potentially) be a bit more complex.  If each distro has their own "passwd" file, you might be writing to the wrong one, or Linux might be.  Check to make sure that the only drives being mounted by Ubuntu are those that were built for Ubuntu; similarly, ensure that eeebuntu is only mounting its own drives.  I would venture a guess that one OS or the other is mounting drives incorrectly and causing the confusion.

Now, for your remaining questions:

Having the same user name on both distros shouldn't matter.  Unless, that is, one or both of the distros is sharing system files/mounts, which could be confusing.  If you have a single home directory that is shared between the two, then things could get confusing.  If I remember correctly, most everything that says it is going off a username or group name is actually using a UID and GID.  Imagine your uid:gid in eeebuntu is 1000:1000, but in ubuntu it is 500:500.  Your home directory might have appropriate permissions in one (i.e. ownership shows as "user:group"), but the other shows it as numbers.

Sharing a home directory between the two systems is fine.  Just remember (as stated above) to ensure the UID/GID matches for each of them.  This is similar to having LDAP authentication across many servers: generally the UID & GID are far out of the system's range to avoid conflicts, but also to ensure they are the same across the various servers.

When you create the user in ubuntu (9.10), you can specify home directory.  A GUI might have different options, but the "useradd" command allows "-d <homedir>".

[Dan Falconer]

Oh, another thing as far as sudo:  if you run a command with sudo and it doesn't work, just move up to root (as Eric touched on):  "sudo su -" will make you root.  For a long time I didn't even realize you could run commands through sudo--I thought it was just a cool mechanism for allowing users to become root without having to give out the password.