PLUG-discuss digest, Vol 1 #2096 - 12 msgs
Craig S.
plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
Fri, 29 Mar 2002 20:26:29 +0000
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Random numbers (Craig S.)
> 2. Re: Random numbers (der.hans)
> 3. Re: installed kernel configuration (Robert A. Klahn)
> 4. Re: Recommedations for 10/100 Laptop NIC/BSD Discs? (Gontran)
> 5. Re: installed kernel configuration (Todd Hought)
> 6. Re: Random numbers (Monika)
> 7. Re: /etc/fstab entry for Samba resource (Derek Neighbors)
> 8. TecOA Meeting Update (Jay)
> 9. Request from acacedmic researcher (fwd) (Eric Johnson)
> 10. RE: /etc/fstab entry for Samba resource (Kurt Hudson)
> 11. my CD doesn't work (Lynn David Newton)
> 12. Re: my CD doesn't work (Kevin Brown)
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 05:03:16 +0000
> From: "Craig S." <castone@getnet.net>
> To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> Subject: Re: Random numbers
> Reply-To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>
> > Message: 7
> > Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 22:41:31 -0700
> > From: "John (EBo) David" <ebo@leml.la.asu.edu>
> > Subject: Re: Random numbers
> > To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> > Reply-To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> >
> > KevinO wrote:
> > >
> > > Craig S. wrote:
> > > a completely random (ok this is impossible in practice ...
> > >
> > > You CAN get truly random numbers but it requires a little specialized hardware
> > > to do it. Make your noise using an analog technique and then sample and
> > > digitize it. With a little care and not much money it is very possible.
> >
> > there was a scientific amirican artical about 10 years ago on building a
> > chaos white noise random generator usinging a diode operated in it's
> > unstable region and sampled... They got the thing to sit there and
> > wonder all over the place. Appearently the dude that made it was able
> > to get the built for just a couple of dollars at radio shack. You would
> > likely be able to build it with an old junk radio or TV ;-)
> >
> > EBo --
> >
> > -- __--__--
> >
> >
>
> ok, here is what I understand the definition of randomness to be. It is a arbitrary
> selection of value between two magnitudes. Now I visualize that varying value as
> entropy in a bigger picture (after all even though we have a upper and lower bound
> for the selection of value infinity is much much larger than either bound.) As n in
> the magnitude tends towards positive and negative infinity this entropy starts to
> become a neglible factor and we can interpolate values within the bound with a high
> degree of precision. Now in the physical world we don't have a infinite number of
> circuits to crunch numbers. So the trick becomes bounding these limits with a large
> enough value to make the randomness neglible or to sample the value enough times
> within the bounds to make a determination of what the value is not. Once we know
> the irrelevant values a determination can be made as to what the value is.Either
> way determining a new bound or sampling values takes time. So what we want in
> encryption or selection of random numbers is to make being able to determine the
> original values so time consuming that the information is either useless by the
> time the answer is found or the cost of determining the values exceeds what those
> values are worth. That is the core of a good encryption scheme. Of course as
> technologies advance so must encryption standards so that the cost of decryption
> stays higher than the value of the data.
>
> I havew tried to cover about 4 pretty deep subjects in two paragraphs. Coupled with
> the knowledge that I am not a encryption expert (just a knave in the trade) there
> is much that can be expanded on. But it is at least an insight as to why I made the
> statment I did about random number selection.
>
> Craig S.
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 17:05:29 -0700 (MST)
> From: "der.hans" <PLUGd@LuftHans.com>
> To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> Subject: Re: Random numbers
> Reply-To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>
> Am 29. Mar, 2002 schwätzte Monika so:
>
> > As it was mentioned, for most applications psudo-random numbers are enough
> > (i.e. for games). But as cryptographic protocols are becoming more common,
> > there will soon be a need for real random numbers that can be used as session
> > keys or just random numbers for authentication, encryption and secret exchange
> > protocols.
>
> That's what I'm thinking about. As we move to needing larger and larger keys
> we'll have more need for lots of random data. We're gonna need more and
> we'll need it faster.
>
> I don't want 'em based on any of my physical or mental characteristics.
>
> ciao,
>
> der.hans
> --
> # This line intentionally left blank.
> # kill telnet, long live ssh - der.hans
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 18:13:28 -0700
> From: "Robert A. Klahn" <rklahn@acm.org>
> To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> Subject: Re: installed kernel configuration
> Reply-To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>
> The real answer here is "Dont ever loose your .config". If you rolled your own kernel, you will find it in /usr/src/linux (or wherever you built your source out of, but "linux" is the default).
>
> In RedHat, if you are using the default kernel for your distribution level, you can recreate the .config by downloading the kernel source (www.kernel.org) and doing a make oldconfig. QoS is ON in the RedHat 2.4.9 kernels, which is what RedHat 7.2 is based upon, with all the various QoS modules compliled as modules.
>
> In Debian, you will find a copy of the .config in /boot, called "config-<version>", without the dot in front. <distro_war> Much nicer. </distro_war>
>
> If you are going to try and use QoS on a 2.2 kernel, think twice. Things in QoS got a lot better in 2.4. You may also find the Linux Advanced Routing and Traffic Control HOWTO at http://lartc.org/HOWTO//cvs/2.4routing/output/2.4routing.html useful, if you have not found it yet.
>
> Bob.
>
> > From: "Benjamin Bostow" <ben@viatornetworks.com>
> > To: "PLUG" <plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us>
> > Subject: installed kernel configuration
> > Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 14:16:49 -0700
> > Organization: Viator Networks, Inc.
> > Reply-To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> >
> > This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
> >
> > ------=_NextPart_000_0014_01C1D72C.5E522860
> > Content-Type: text/plain;
> > charset="us-ascii"
> > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
> >
> > Is there a way to find out what your current kernel configuration is? I
> > am trying to find out what kernel modules are installed and whether
> > functions such as QoS are enabled.
> >
> > Ben
> >
> > ------=_NextPart_000_0014_01C1D72C.5E522860
>
> --
> Robert A. Klahn
> rklahn@acm.org
> AIM: rklahn
> Yahoo Messenger: klahn
> IRC: rklahn@irc.openprojects.net
>
> "Hope has two beautiful daughters: Anger and Courage. Anger at the way
> things are, and Courage to struggle to create things as they should be." -
> St. Augustine
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 14:59:38 -0700
> From: Gontran <gontran@gontran.net>
> To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> Subject: Re: Recommedations for 10/100 Laptop NIC/BSD Discs?
> Reply-To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>
> * Tony Wasson (ajwasson@inficad.com) wrote:
> >
> > Anyone in town have recent BSD discs? I just put a 40GB drive in my laptop
> > and I'm itching to load a BSD variant on it.
>
> OpenBSD 3.0? Ready copies: you pickup :)
>
> Gontran
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 14:26:04 -0700 (MST)
> From: Todd Hought <thought@scudder-enterprises.com>
> To: PLUG <plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us>
> Subject: Re: installed kernel configuration
> Reply-To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>
> If you built your own kernel and have the tree on your machine (usually in
> /usr/src/linux) just do a make xconfig/menuconfig and what's listed is
> what your kernel has in it.
>
> On Fri, 29 Mar 2002, Benjamin Bostow wrote:
>
> > Is there a way to find out what your current kernel configuration is? I
> > am trying to find out what kernel modules are installed and whether
> > functions such as QoS are enabled.
> >
> > Ben
> >
>
> Fear the man who uses Dave's Insanity Sauce regularly.
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 20:27:15 -0700 (MST)
> From: Monika <monika.s@asu.edu>
> Subject: Re: Random numbers
> To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> Reply-To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>
> > > (i.e. for games). But as cryptographic protocols are becoming more common,
> > > there will soon be a need for real random numbers that can be used as session
> > > keys or just random numbers for authentication, encryption and secret exchange
> > > protocols.
> >
> > That's what I'm thinking about. As we move to needing larger and larger keys
> > we'll have more need for lots of random data. We're gonna need more and
> > we'll need it faster.
>
> Unfortunately long random number are only part of the solution. As Craig
> mentioned, the time and effort taken to break a key should be less than the
> secret is worth. In most cases, it is much easier and cheaper to steal a key
> or use bribery or blackmail in order to extract the key, than it is to build a
> very very expansive machine that can crack keys.
>
> Monika
>
> >
> > I don't want 'em based on any of my physical or mental characteristics.
> >
> > ciao,
> >
> > der.hans
> > --
> > # This line intentionally left blank.
> > # kill telnet, long live ssh - der.hans
> >
> > ________________________________________________
> > See http://PLUG.phoenix.az.us/navigator-mail.shtml if your mail doesn't post to the list quickly and you use Netscape to write mail.
> >
> > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
> >
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 7
> Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 21:57:14 -0700
> From: Derek Neighbors <derek@gnue.org>
> To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> Cc: lynn.newton@cox.net, lug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> Subject: Re: /etc/fstab entry for Samba resource
> Organization: GNU Enterprise
> Reply-To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>
> > I think the last thing I tried was this:
> >
> > //currdev/curdev /mnt/xyz smbfs username=MYUSERNAME,password=MYPASSWORD 0 0
> >
> > but it didn't work. Does anyone know the right mojo?
> That is the proper mojo. What is the message it gives you when it fails? Im suspecting you have a path,permission,username,password or smbshare problem :)
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 8
> Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 22:00:54 -0700 (MST)
> From: Jay <jay@kinetic.org>
> To: azipa@yahoogroups.com
> cc: PLUG Discuss <plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us>,
> <tecoa-discuss@lists.tecoa.org>
> Subject: TecOA Meeting Update
> Reply-To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>
> Wednesday's TecOA (Technology Officers' Association) meeting was a
> great success! It was a real breath of fresh air to actually come out of a
> meeting having accomplished something tangible! :)
>
> Topic: How to articulate the business value of an organization's
> technology leader to the company's non-technology executives.
> Deliverable: Elevator-pitch about how a technology leader can add a
> significant positive impact to any company.
>
> This topic was tougher to tackle than we anticipated. Nonetheless, we
> emerged from the meeting successful. Although this elevator pitch was
> written for a CTO, it really applies to any senior technology leader in
> your organization. The statement is also purposely broad, as it was not
> written with any specific company in mind. For individual use, it should
> be fine-tuned to meet your particular needs. The output of the meeting is:
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> The CTO ensures technology use will maximize profit by effectively
> applying technology to business goals. The strategic mission of the CTO is
> to protect the current business investments in technology and ensure
> future technology investments align with business objectives. The CTO is
> responsible for providing the technical direction, leadership, and
> guidance to every aspect of the company.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> We hope this statement will be useful to others opening the lines of
> communication and understanding between an organization's technology and
> non-technical leaders. If you are interested in TecOA or would like to
> attend future meetings, please check out our web site at http://tecoa.org.
>
> --
> ~Jay
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 9
> Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 22:06:50 -0700 (MST)
> From: Eric Johnson <ej@netasm.com>
> To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> Subject: Request from acacedmic researcher (fwd)
> Reply-To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>
> If anyone is interested...
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 16:27:16 -0600
> From: Paul Dholakia <dholakia@rice.edu>
> To: contact@plug.phoenix.az.us
> Subject: Request from acacedmic researcher
>
> Dear Mr. Carruth:
> I am a faculty member in the Jones school of management at Rice
> University in Houston, Texas. We are conducting an academic research
> project, studying social interactions online, and how communities
> organized around products or brands are formed, from a sociological
> perspective...
> In this regard, the entire open-source movement, and particularly LINUX
> user groups and online bulletin boards provide a wonderful context to
> study these sociological issues.
>
> We are conducting a survey of members of LINUX user groups/ online
> bulleting boards seeking information on different elements of their
> thoughts, feelings, and motivations of participating in such groups, and
> the value of the group to them... The survey can be completed via email
> or mail, as the participant prefers...
>
> Of course, this research is strictly academic, and has no commercial
> links or interests. We hope to publish this research in a sociology
> journal.
>
> As a small token of our appreciation for participants' time, and in the
> spirit of the philosophy underlying the open-source movement, we will
> donate $500 total to the five favorite organizations/ groups of our
> participants' choice (we ask the participant?s to nominate their
> favorite groups in the survey).
>
> I am writing to seek your help in conducting this research, first
> through participating, and second, through encouraging your user group
> members to participate in the research.. This will not take more than
> ten minutes of your (and their time).
>
> We welcome all help, and look forward to hearing from you.
>
> Best wishes,
> Paul Dholakia
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Dr. Paul Dholakia
> Assistant Professor of Management
> Rice University
> 314 Herring Hall - MS 531
> 6100 Main Street
> Houston TX 77005-1892
> Tel: 713-348-5376
> Fax: 713-348-5251
> http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~dholakia
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 10
> From: "Kurt Hudson" <kurt@hudlogic.com>
> To: <plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us>
> Subject: RE: /etc/fstab entry for Samba resource
> Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 23:03:36 -0700
> Organization: HudLogic, Inc.
> Reply-To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>
> Try this:
>
> //currdev/curdev /mnt/xyz smbfs username=MYUSERNAME%MYPASSWORD 0 0
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: plug-discuss-admin@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> [mailto:plug-discuss-admin@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us] On Behalf Of Derek
> Neighbors
> Sent: Friday, March 29, 2002 9:57 PM
> To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> Cc: lynn.newton@cox.net; lug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> Subject: Re: /etc/fstab entry for Samba resource
>
> > I think the last thing I tried was this:
> >
> > //currdev/curdev /mnt/xyz smbfs
> > username=MYUSERNAME,password=MYPASSWORD 0 0
> >
> > but it didn't work. Does anyone know the right mojo?
> That is the proper mojo. What is the message it gives you when it
> fails? Im suspecting you have a path,permission,username,password or
> smbshare problem :) ________________________________________________
> See http://PLUG.phoenix.az.us/navigator-mail.shtml if your mail doesn't
> post to the list quickly and you use Netscape to write mail.
>
> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 11
> From: Lynn David Newton <lynn.newton@cox.net>
> Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2002 00:53:27 -0700
> To: Phoenix Linux Users Group <plug-discuss@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us>
> Subject: my CD doesn't work
> Reply-To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>
> Group,
>
> Three days ago I upgraded my OS from RH7.1 to RH7.2.
> Now I can't access my CD drive. Here is what I have
> figured out so far, and I'm at a dead end.
>
> The first sign something was wrong was when I couldn't
> listen to audio CDs. I can't mount data disks either.
>
> o I have an ordinary CD drive and a CD burner.
>
> o The CD burner (a Plextor PX-W8432T) is the master on
> the second IDE port and the ordinary 52X CD is the
> slave. This means that I use the burner to boot the
> OS CD from, and to do installations. I don't remember
> why I had to set it up that way, but it worked for a
> long time.
>
> Here is what my IDE setup looks like:
>
> $ for i in hd[a-d]; do echo "---- $i ----"; ide_info $i; done
> ---- hda ----
> MODEL="WDC WD204BA"
> FW_REV="16.13M16"
> SERIAL_NO="WD-WMA071064891"
> ---- hdb ----
> open() failed: No such device or address
> ---- hdc ----
> MODEL="PLEXTOR CD-R PX-W8432T"
> FW_REV="1.05"
> SERIAL_NO=""
> ---- hdd ----
> MODEL="ATAPI 52X CDROM"
> FW_REV="VER-1.40"
> SERIAL_NO=""
>
> $ ls -l /dev/cdrom
> lrwxrwxrwx 1 root lnewton 3 Jun 7 2001 /dev/cdrom -> hdd
>
> (Note that I've got only one drive in the system. The
> slave position on port 0 is open.) This stuff all
> appears correct.
>
>
well it would appear that at bootup the ide bus thinks your main ide bus (ide0) has two devices on it. This could be caused by several things but the easiest fix I can think of is to try the other connector on the ide cable itself for the cdrom. Also make sure the cdrom is jumpered as a master and no c/s (if it has
that option). That should straighten out the ide bus.
> o I can't mount a normal CD drive. I tried it with the
> RH7.2 installation disk.
>
> # grep cdrom /etc/fstab
> /dev/cdrom /cdrom iso9660 noauto,user,ro,loop 0 0
> /dev/cdrom1 /mnt/cdrom1 iso9660 noauto,owner,kudzu,ro 0 0
>
> # mount /cdrom
> mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/loop1,
> or too many mounted file systems
>
I think for the cd to be read that cdrom or cdrom1 must be mounted as a scsi drive and the music cd read through it.
>
>
> ... output deleted ..
> /dev/cdrom exists but isn't accessible. ...
> ... output deleted ..
> Checking /dev/cdrom for cdrom...
> Testing /dev/cdrom for cooked ioctl() interface
> Device /dev/hdd is not a CDROM
> Testing /dev/cdrom for SCSI interface
> /dev/cdrom is not a SCSI device
>
> o I *can* burn copies on my burner (/dev/hda)
>
>
Again shouldn't the cdrom be mapped as a scsi device?
or is cdrom1 your setup for burning? If it is is it mapped as a scsi device? If it is Have you tried loading/reading the files through cdrom1 instead of cdrom?
Does Plextor have native drivers for linux so that the scsi emulation stuff is void?
> (gtcd) popped up and tried to play it. The counter
> was working, and it showed the right number of
> tracks. Of course, this is not selected as my audio
> device, so there was no sound.
>
> That's as far as I got. Can someone throw me a hint?
>
sorry I use xmms for playing audio files. Works great for mp3's but since I have basically no audio libraries at this time I haven't tried it with any other formats other than mp3.
Craig S.