F I D O N E W S Volume 17, Number 46 06 Nov 2000 +----------------------------+---------------------------------------+ | The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: | | FidoNet community | "FidoNews" | | _ | 1-714-639-0377 1:1/23 | | / \ | | | /|oo \ | | | (_| /_) | | | _`@/_ \ _ | | | | | \ \\ | Editor: Warren Bonner | | | (*) | \ )) | editor@fidonews.org | | |__U__| / \// | wdbonner@pacbell.net | | _//|| _\ / | | | (_/(_|(____/ | | | (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. | | | -- JOSEPH PULITZER | +----------------------------+---------------------------------------+ Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1 Editorial ................................................ 1 2. CORRECTIONS .............................................. 3 CORRECTIONS .............................................. 3 3. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .................................... 4 Letters on the Ed's Desk ................................. 4 4. ARTICLES ................................................. 10 ARTICLES ................................................. 10 5. COLUMNS .................................................. 12 Column.col ............................................... 12 6. FIDONET BIOGRAPHIES ...................................... 14 Biographies of Fido ...................................... 14 7. GETTING TECHNICAL ........................................ 15 -=*TECHNICAL*=- .......................................... 15 8. NET HUMOR ................................................ 24 *HUMOR* .................................................. 24 9. QUESTION OF THE WEEK ..................................... 27 QUESTION ................................................. 27 10. FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING ................................ 28 Software List ............................................ 28 11. FIDONET BY INTERNET ..................................... 30 12. FIDONEWS INFORMATION .................................... 35 FIDONEWS INFORMATION ..................................... 35 FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 1 6 Nov 2000 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= wdbonner@pacbell.net Saturday morning November 4, 2000. Good morning to all of you! Great morning lots of sunshine here! Grab a cup of your favorite brew and bear with Ol'wdb a couple of moments while I refresh your memory as to why this is a great day. It is the day before national election day in the United States. And just in time to make those monumental decisions of who to trust to guide your country's powerful engines of economy, environment, and safe well being of all citizens. To know the issues and be prepared before you cast your ballot, be it absentee or at your local designated voting place. To vote `helter skelter' is a waste of your voting privilege. So take a few and read the issues in your voting packet; then make a list to shorten your time in the booth. Many men and women have given their lives so you can have that privilege, (thousands and thousands); and millions more have fought beside them. Freedom is not easily won, don't waste it in total disregard because your plate is full now... To do so may cause an empty belly later. The rights we enjoy did not come on a silver platter, rather by the most devastating destruction free men could devise to stay free. Look forward to your privilege in casting your vote, it is the one that counts!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An excerpt from Darrell's requested submission in Letters to Editor "Uhm, Warren, a friendly bit of advice for you, you might want to reconsider publishing "supermarket tabloid" articles like the one Mr. Grant sent you. It really makes Fidonet look cheap and sleazy, and heaven knows, Fidonet is in enough trouble as it is. That's it Ol' WDB! Have a great day and keep up the good work! Signed: The Region12 Nodelist Clerk!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Editors note: Accepting your "friendly bit of advice", Darrell, and it is taken with reciprocal friendly feelings. However, how can I `accept' your article for publication and not put my other foot into the same sand box? Letters to the editor are just that, and if requested, this editor-pro-tem will print them as long as they are civil in language, and meet the MakeNews.exe's parameters. My personal opinion has no place politically on ANYONE's message. I will not "tamper" with the content of a request, whether I like it or not. The content is the author's and not mine to change, if I find reason to believe it likely to be disruptive to the harmony of Fido, I will return it to sender for modification. Also, in my opinion, contrary to your belief that it diminishes Fido to publish submitted letters of opinion; I think it gives voice to those who otherwise have no voice. That may be good for Fido... And it FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 2 6 Nov 2000 may bring many back to the table. To limit freedom of speech would be the death knell of fidonews. JMHO Ed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 3 6 Nov 2000 ================================================================= CORRECTIONS ================================================================= ==================================================== From: "SYSOP" To: Subject: Re Fidonews Date: Sunday, October 29, 2000 10:48 AM Editor, 2 weeks ago I sent you this Email and asked you to post the links in the Fidonews section of the snooze. You graciously published my Email in the snooze but forgot to add the links to the news section. Would you mind terribly adding the links to the news portion? Thank you Shannon Talley Letter to the editor, Fidotel has been offline for quite some time..... However, I have recently purchased new computers, upgraded software, and have acquired a very reliable xDSL line. Would you please post the following links to the FidoTel Fidonews resource in future issues of the Fidonews? web: http://www.fidotel.com/public/fidonews FTP: ftp.fidotel.com (comprehensive archive of every Fidonews ever published) Thank you, Shannon Talley 1:275/311 sysop@fidotel.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 4 6 Nov 2000 ================================================================= LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ================================================================= ============================================================= From: "Ardith Hinton" To: Subject: FidoNews Poem Date: Sunday, October 29, 2000 10:18 AM Hi Warren: You perhaps didn't receive my resend of my submission? I'll try it this way: *Ed:(Sorry this is the first time I've received this request). Surf(ac)ing London, Frankfurt, and New York Are very faraway... But lots of people that I know Access them every day. With all these far-flung places, They've great libraries there... And one can go and visit them Without moving from one's chair. Special equipment for Her Nibs?? That's on a web page, too. There are so many things to see... So many things to do! But while you're busy surfing, We beg you... don't forget The good times that you've had with us, Your friends in Fidonet. A.H. 2000 Ardith ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ENGLISH Centuries ago, English was mostly spoken by a few million people in the British Isles, and there were a few local dialects such as Irish English. But in the last century, the language has exploded across the world and diversified, picking up many words and pronunciation styles from local tongues. Measured by the number of people for whom English is their first language, 72% speak American English and 16% use British English. 6% use Canadian English, 5% use Australian English and 1% use New Zealand English. There are also dozens of minor dialects, including Caribbean, South African, (Asian) Indian, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh. FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 5 6 Nov 2000 Even within American English there are significant regional differences. Boston English is different from the language spoken in Atlanta, and Chicago English is different from both of them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~~ 81) Sun 29 Oct 00 8:21p By: michael kleerbaum To: Warren Re: FidoNews [03/03] Internet info St: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Warren, + -- -- -- -- -- -- - FIDONEWS AVAILABILITY - -- -- -- -- -- -- + | | | Freq FIDONEWS @ 1:140/1, or 1:396/1 | | ftp://ftp.sstar.com/fidonet/fnews/ | | ftp://ftp.nwstar.com/fidonet/fidonews/ | | http://www.fidonews.org | | email subscription: majordomo@fidonews.org | | (subject: help body: list) | | ftp mail: ftpmail@fidonews.org (subject: help) | | | + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + All issues from 1984 to 2000 are also available at www.was-ist-fido.de You can get them, without speaking a word german. :) Just klick on the FidoNews-Button. Michael --- CrossPoint v3.20 R * Origin: www.was-ist-fido.de: Sag's weiter! (2:2432/203) ~~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~~~ (9056) Mon 30 Oct 00 11:22a By: Winston Smith To: All Re: [--- Tick And Hatch ---] St: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I would just like to take this opportunity to say, "Thank you, FidoNews!" for your article on "Tick" and "Hatch". For a while now, I thought that all of this talk about "Tick" referred to the SMTP ".TIC" protocol handshaking. I was not aware that there was actually a separate program for FidoNET file propagation that was literally called "Tick", or for that matter, that "Hatch" was more than just a metaphor. Thank you for your excellent article! --- Platinum Xpress/Win/Wildcat5! v3.0pr3 * Origin: Lost in the SuperMarket - Peabody, MA - 978-531-8416 (1:101/101) FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 6 6 Nov 2000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From: HDBrass@aol.com Full-name: HDBrass Subject: God's answering machine To: WarBonD777@aol.com Hope you enjoy! ======================================================= Thought you might enjoy this one. It's for those who have tried to get service or help via the phone. We have all learned to live with voice mail as a necessary part of modern life. But have you ever wondered what it would be like if God decided to install voice mail? Imagine praying and hearing this: Thank you for calling My Father's House. Please select one of the following options: Press 1 for Requests. Press 2 for Thanksgiving. Press 3 for Complaints. Press 4 for All Other Inquiries. I am sorry, all of our angels are busy helping other sinners right now. However, your prayer is important to us and will be answered in the order in which it was received, so please stay on the line. If you would like to speak to: God - press 1. Jesus - press 2. The Holy Spirit - press 3. If you would like to hear King David sing a Psalm while you are holding, please press 4. To find out if a loved one has been assigned to Heaven, press 5. Enter his or her Social Security number, then press the pound key. If you get a negative response, try area code 666. For reservations at My Father's House, please enter: JOHN followed by 3-16. For nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth and where Noah's Ark is, please wait until you arrive here. Our computers show that you have already prayed once today. Please hang up and try again tomorrow. If you need emergency assistance dial 1(900) GOD-WHYME (This is a toll call.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~END~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From: HDBrass@aol.com Subject:Pass this on To: ========================================================= Glass of Milk One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He Drank it slowly, and FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 7 6 Nov 2000 then asked, "How much do I owe you?" "You don't owe me anything," she replied. "Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness." He said..... "Then I thank you from my heart." As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and Quit school. Year's later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor's gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to the case. After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent it to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words..... "Paid in full with one glass of milk". (Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly. Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed: "Thank You, God, that Your love has spread abroad through human hearts and hands." ~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~ From: "darrell" To: Subject: An article for you Date: Saturday, November 04, 2000 6:51 AM Here is my submitted article. Hello Warren! Seems a rather confused sysop submitted an article to you last week. In my usual hospitable manner, I would like to help him out and introduce him to the concept of reality. Hence I submit this to you for publishing in next week's 'Snooze. First of all, nobody here in Region 12 seems to know what Mr. Grant is talking about. Now while that doesn't surprise me, it may surprise some of our readers, who may have mistakenly thought that Mr. Grant knows what he is talking about. Fortunately I am here to set the record straight. :) FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 8 6 Nov 2000 As best as I can figure, someone from Region 12 became disgruntled with the R12EC and moved away. It seems he found an ear with Mr. Grant and told a rather unbelievable tale of woe regarding his time here. Either that or Mr. Grant made it all up. Either way, it's the stuff fairy tales are made of. :) We in Region 12 allow sysops to come and go from here as they please, so if one chooses to go somewhere else, this is not particularly shocking to us in any way, especially considering the fact that certain sysops don't get along too well with some of the other kids in the sandbox. As you know, Warren, we in Region 12 have long been advocates of free geographical movement of sysops. On to Mr. Grant's fantasies ... - He alleges that if a sysop in Region 12 doesn't agree with the way things are done here he is looked down upon. What does this mean? Sysops here have differing opinions all the time, nothing shocking or newsworthy there. - Mr. Grant alleges that if a sysop in Region 12 chooses not to vote in the annual elections, he's apparently casted as an "outsider", and his nodelisting may even get pulled for "inactivity in the R12 echos, or some other foolishness. This is very strange, Warren, and not surprisingly, apparently nobody here knows anything about this either. The R12C certainly didn't pull any node numbers, and I don't know of any Region 12 NCs that have done this either. I'd have to say Mr. Grant is again delusional on this one. - Mr. Grant alleges that "It seems the elfishness even extends to the holy and anointed mail mover and "defender of the dogma" of Region 12, to whom someone apparently forgot to mention that the moving of echomail should not involve politics. Heaven forbid that an R12 node might try to crash route a netmail; the Fido "free region" is internet aware, don't you know; and has perfect routed netmail lines that never lose mail. Why bother with a silly little thing like POTS connectivity? Who still uses modems these days anyhow?" Hmm ... more delusions apparently, Warren, and just who is Mr. Grant quoting? Himself? ROTFL! Many of us have modems here and we route netmail all the time. Poor Mr. Grant. - Mr. Grant further alleges that "the elfin antics of the top banana in the R12 bunch; it seems recently this "nodelist clerk" took a dislike to the sudden appearance of a certain node number of which he did not approve, in the path lines of a certain member of his region's echomail. Now this little detail perturbed this nodelist clerk so much that he just felt he had to fire off an immediate netmail to the offending node in order to voice his displeasure. Huh? Is he talking about me, Warren? I've read quite a few nose-stretchers in my time in this hobby, and while I certainly do consider Michael Grant to be a few bricks short of a full load, I FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 9 6 Nov 2000 could care less who chooses to exchange mail with him. I fear Mr. Grant needs help. I sincerely hope he finds it. As for firing off a netmail to the offending node, poor Mr. Grant has completely lost it here, since I have sent no such netmail and would challenge Mr. Grant to produce this netmail. He can't of course, unless he fabricates one, something he seems quite good at, fabrication that is. :) - Mr. Grant wonders "Now is it just me, or does anyone else out there wonder just what business it is for a "nodelist clerk" where one of his regions sysops pulls his echomail from? To answer his question, this nodelist clerk could not care less where a sysop pulls their mail, but he knew that. - Mr. Grant further wonders aloud "The last time I checked, getting an echomail feed from a different source than the "approved" one was not a Fido crime, and not even against any policy that a region might choose not to recognize. Mr. Grant is delusional yet again, Warren, as we have no "approved" source. Our sysops freely get their mail anywhere they please. One need only check the routing charts for evidence of that. Perhaps Mr. Grant can produce proof of this bit of imagination as well. :) - Here Mr. Grant identifies himself and makes another rather dubious statement, "Yes, Ol' WDB, you guessed right; the node number which the R12 ElfLo-* err, "nodelist clerk" objected to so much to was none other than 1:134/11; my own happy Fido home on the range. Again, Warren, I have made no such objection, and challenge Mr. Grant to provide proof of this. Oh dear, if he cannot, we'll be forced to believe he is a liar, or extremely delusional, or both. Too bad, so sad. Uhm, Warren, a friendly bit of advice for you, you might want to reconsider publishing "supermarket tabloid" articles like the one Mr. Grant sent you. It really makes Fidonet look cheap and sleazy, and heaven knows, Fidonet is in enough trouble as it is. That's it Ol' WDB! Have a great day and keep up the good work! Signed: The Region12 Nodelist Clerk! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 10 6 Nov 2000 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= =============================================================== "Information Please" When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember well the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother used to talk to it. Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person her name was "Information Please" and there was nothing she did not know. "Information Please" could supply anybody's number and the correct time. My first personal experience with this genie-in-the-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer. The pain was terrible, but there didn't seem to be any reason in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy. I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway. The telephone! Quickly, I ran for the foot stool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to my ear. "Information Please," I said into the mouthpiece just above my head. A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear. "Information." "I hurt my finger..." I wailed into the phone. The tears came readily enough now that I had an audience. Isn't your mother home?" came the question. "Nobody's home but me," I blubbered. "Are you bleeding?" the voice asked. "No," I replied. "I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts." "Can you open your icebox?" she asked. I said I could. "Then chip off a little piece of ice and hold it to your finger," said the voice. After that, I called "Information Please" for everything. I asked her for help with my geography and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math. She told me my pet chipmunk, that I had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts. Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary died. I called "Information Please" and told her the sad story. She listened, then said the usual things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But I was inconsolable. I asked her,"Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?" She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, "Paul, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in." Somehow I felt better. Another day I was on the telephone. "Information Please." "Information," said the now familiar voice. FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 11 6 Nov 2000 "How do you spell fix?" I asked. All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my friend very much. "Information Please" belonged in that old wooden box back home and I somehow never thought of trying the tall, shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall. As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me. Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy. A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about half-an-hour or so between planes. I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then, without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, said, "Information Please." Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well. "Information." I hadn't planned this, but I heard myself saying, "Could you please tell me how to spell fix?" There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, "I guess your finger must have healed by now." I laughed, "So it's really still you, " I said. "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time. "I wonder," she said, "if you know how much your calls meant to me. I never had any children and I used to look forward to your calls." I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister. Please do," she said. "Just ask for Sally." Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered, "Information." I asked for Sally. "Are you a friend?" she asked. "Yes, a very old friend," I answered. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this," she said. "Sally had been working part time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago." Before I could hang up she said, "Wait a minute. Did you say your name was Paul?" "Yes, Ireplied." "Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you. The note said, "Tell him I still say there are other worlds to sing in. He'll know what I mean." I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant. Never underestimate the impression you may make on others. Whose life have you touched today? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 12 6 Nov 2000 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= Ol'Codger's Column wdbonner@pacbell.net RULES OF THE AIR 1. Every takeoff is optional. Every landing is mandatory. 2. If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger. If you pull the stick back, they get smaller. That is, unless you keep pulling the stick all the way back, then they get bigger again. 3. Flying isn't dangerous. Crashing is what's dangerous. 4. It's always better to be down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down here. 5. The ONLY time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire. 6. The propeller is just a big fan in front of the plane used to keep the pilot cool. When it stops, you can actually watch the pilot start sweating. 7. When in doubt, hold on to your altitude. No one has ever collided with the sky. 8. A 'good' landing is one from which you can walk away. A 'great' landing is one after which they can use the plane again. 9. Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't live long enough to make all of them yourself. 10. You know you've landed with the wheels up if it takes full power to taxi to the ramp. 11. The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival. Large angle of arrival, small probability of survival and vice versa. 12. Never let an aircraft take you somewhere your brain didn't get to five minutes earlier. 13. Stay out of clouds. The silver lining everyone keeps talking about might be another airplane going in the opposite direction. Reliable sources also report that mountains have been known to hide out in clouds. 14. Always try to keep the number of landings you make equal to the number of take offs you've made. 15. There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately no one knows what they are. FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 13 6 Nov 2000 16. You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck. 17. Helicopters can't fly; they're just so ugly the earth repels them. 18. If all you can see out of the window is ground that's going round and round and all you can hear is commotion coming from the passenger compartment, things are not at all as they should be. 19. In the ongoing battle between objects made of aluminum going hundreds of miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose. 20. Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually comes from bad judgment. 21. It's always a good idea to keep the pointy end going forward as much as possible. 22. Keep looking around. There's always something you've missed. 23. Remember, gravity is not just a good idea. It's the law. And it's not subject to repeal. Avoid "Mile High Club" and Turtles. 24. The three most useless things to a pilot are the altitude above you, runway behind you, and a tenth of a second ago. 25. Lastly, ALWAYS check the runway number, then double check! ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 14 6 Nov 2000 ================================================================= FIDONET BIOGRAPHIES ================================================================= ====================================================== ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 15 6 Nov 2000 ================================================================= GETTING TECHNICAL ================================================================= ======================================================== *LINUX OS* By Janis Kracht 1:2320/38 (janis@filegate.net) Though many of us have converted our Operating Systems, bbs software, echomail tossers, and mailers to new ones many times, changing one's setup to run under Linux can be perhaps more challenging than anything else ever experienced . Hopefully this article will be of some help if you have just switched to Linux, or if you are about to do so. I'll show you some comparisons between DOS and Linux so that you can see that Linux isn't as foreign as it might at first seem, and then I'll provide some scripts that I've written to perform various functions on my bbs system. Lastly, I'll also include a few notes regarding some things you should _make sure_ do when you install linux. Security under Linux is a very large topic however, so I will cover that in more detail in a later article. First off, let's look at some commands that you might commonly use under DOS, and their Linux counterparts. As you'll see, there are some commands that do not have an equivalent under DOS (i.e., I'm not counting DOS GNU utilities, etc. since these are not generally part of the standard DOS distribution.) Tip: It would probably be a good idea to type 'man command', or 'info command', or 'command --help' without the quotes to see all the options of these Linux commands. ==================================================================== DOS Linux Description ==================================================================== command.com sh Simplistic command interpreter n/a bash Advanced command interpreter n/a perl Interpreter for perl scripts n/a awk Interpreter for awk scripts n/a chsh Change shell Directory Management ==================================================================== DOS Linux Description ==================================================================== dir ls -l Long format directory dir dir Long format directory dir /w ls Wide format directory cd cd Change directory rm rmdir Remove a directory md mkdir Make a directory deltree /Y rm -rf Recursively delete a directory tree n/a pwd Dispay the current working directory path Some Linux examples: FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 16 6 Nov 2000 ls -d .* Show only "." directories. (these are often configuration files, etc. for various programs). The -d indicates that only the directory name should be shown, not the contents. ls -ltr Sort by date, reverse order. ls --color=auto Turn on color for file types in directory list. ls -1 -1 (one) shows file names in column list with no other info [janis@filegate]$ ls -1 absHOWTO.zip games.zip Mail/ newfiles/ [janis@filegate]$ _ File Management ==================================================================== DOS Linux Description ==================================================================== copy cp Copy a file move mv Move a file touch touch Set the timestamp on a file del rm -f Delete a file type cat Print a file to the screen n/a chown Change ownership of a file n/a chgrp Change group ownership of a file attrib chmod Change access permissions of a file rawrite dd Write directly to a device subst? ln Create a link to a file Some Linux examples: mv firstdoc.txt seconddoc.txt rename firstdoc.txt mv /janis/*.txt /afiles move *.txt to directory afiles. Tip: When moving groups of files with the same filename, such as mv *.tic *.bad, you must specify a different directory. To move files such as *.bad to *.tic, you can use the script in this article, mvbad2tic. ==================================================================== Aliases ==================================================================== You can tell the system to use aliases of the commands you use. Enter these in your /etc/profile to make them global or ~/.bash_profile to make them local. alias del='rm' alias copy='cp' alias move='mv' alias ren='mv' FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 17 6 Nov 2000 alias type='cat' alias rd='rmdir' alias md='mkdir' alias help='man' You can also enter them on the command line, just for that session. If you type: alias md='mkdir' you can then use md instead of mkdir. Searching and Sorting ==================================================================== DOS Linux Description ==================================================================== find grep Search for a string in a text file dir /s find Search for a file n/a locate Search for a file via a database n/a updatedb Create searchable database of files sort sort Sort a file n/a tr Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters from standard input. Some Linux examples: Tip: ctime option in the find command will show status of a file that was last changed n*24 hours ago. daystart measure times (for -ctime, and other options for find) from the beginning of today rather than from 24 hours ago. [bbs@filegate /home/bbs]$ find /home/ftp/pub -daystart -ctime 00 /home/ftp/pub/gamesnet/g_cons/descript.ion /home/ftp/pub/gamesnet/g_cons/CC0CPC10.ZIP /home/ftp/pub/gamesnet/g_cons/C19WKWK7.ZIP /home/ftp/pub/gamesnet/g_cons/C50STR14.ZIP /home/ftp/pub/gamesnet/g_cons/CABPRT20.ZIP /home/ftp/pub/gamesnet/g_cons/CBCGRB02.ZIP [bbs@filegate /home/bbs]$ _ Disk Management ==================================================================== DOS Linux Description ==================================================================== fdisk fdisk Modify the partition table format mke2fs Create a filesystem on a partition format fdformat Format a floppy disk chkdsk e2fsck Test a filesystem for errors n/a swapon Turn on a swap partition n/a swapoff Turn off a swap partition n/a mount Attach a filesystem to the root filesystem n/a umount Detach a filesystem from the root filesystem chkdsk df View amount of disk space available dir/s du View amount of disk space used by a directory recursively FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 18 6 Nov 2000 Some examples of Linux commands: The mount command with no parameters specified shows you the devices currently mounted. [bbs@filegate ~]$ mount /dev/hda1 on / type ext2 (rw) none on /proc type proc (rw) /dev/hdb1 on /export type ext2 (rw) none on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,mode=0622) [bbs@filegate ~]$_ Getting Help with Commands: ==================================================================== DOS Linux Description ==================================================================== help man Get help on a command n/a apropos Get help on a general topic n/a whatis Search the whatis database n/a makewhatis Make the whatis database n/a file Classify a file Editing and Printing ==================================================================== DOS Linux Description ==================================================================== edit pico Editor for novices n/a vi Editor for advanced users print lpr Print a file n/a sed Stream editor n/a joe Wordstar compatible editor n/a emacs Programming environment and editor edlin ed non-visual editor Backup, Compression, and Archival ==================================================================== DOS Linux Description ==================================================================== n/a bzip2 A block-sorting file compressor, using Burrows-Wheeler block sorting text compression algorithm, and Huffman coding bzcat Decompresses files to stdout bunzip2 A block-sorting file compressor, bzip2recover recovers data from damaged bzip2 files pkzip zip Create a zip file pkunzip unzip Extract files from a zip file n/a gzip Compress or decompress files via GNU zip. n/a tar Tape archiver n/a compress Lempel-Ziv compression program ==================================================================== Archivers: What's available: ==================================================================== Archivers which you may have used under DOS are available: FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 19 6 Nov 2000 name: date of last update for Linux: ==================================================================== zip 10/13/98 unzip 11/30/98 lha 6/28/99 unarj 6/22/99 pkzip251 4/15/99 arc 5/29/99 rar 6/21/00 ==================================================================== Viewing multiple Archives: ==================================================================== As you probably know, under DOS unzip -v filename.zip will list the contents of one archive. To list the contents of multiple zip or rar archives, enclose the argument in quotes: unzip -v "*.zip" ex.: [bbs@filegate bbbs]$ unzip -v "*.zip" Archive: nodelist.zip Length Method Size Ratio Date Time CRC-32 Name ------ ------ ------- ----- ---- ---- ------- ------ 1706292 Defl:N 560625 67% 09-14-99 15:57 a18214bc NODELIST.253 ------- ----- --- ------------ 1706292 560625 67% 1 file Archive: ppphowto.zip Length Method Size Ratio Date Time CRC-32 Name -------- ------ ------- ----- ---- ---- ------ ---- 158718 Defl:N 48642 69% 10-16-99 20:32 b4ad98a9 PPP-HOWTO -------- ----- --- ------- 158718 48642 69% 1 file 2 archives were successfully processed. =============================================================== tar/gzip: =============================================================== Tar and gzip are used commonly on Linux. Often you'll see archives with tgz extensions, .gz, or no extension at all. You can use the file command to see how the file is archived/stored if there is no extension or if you are just curious: [bbs@filegate bbbs]$ file ZPMF025D.TGZ ZPMF025D.TGZ: gzip compressed data, deflated, last modified: Thu Jun 8 04:55:16 1995, max compression, os: Unix So you'd need to un-gzip this file first, then un-tar it. gzip -d ZPMF025D.TGZ This results in the file ZPMF025.tar To list the contents of the tar file, type tar tf filename.tar To extract the tar, type tar xf filename.tar FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 20 6 Nov 2000 There are options to "keep old files" with both gzip and tar which you may also want to include on the command line. The default action is to remove the original tar. See tar --help, and gzip --h for more info. This shortcut extract both the tar and gzip files in one command: tar xvzf filename.tar.gz The "z" flag says "un-gzip before un-tarring". The same flag works in reverse when tarring. =============================================================== Some BASH Scripts =============================================================== One of the neatest things about *nix systems is that any file can be made executible by simply changing the attributes of the file. Of course, if the text file doesn't have any useful commands in it, it won't "do" anything . Here are some scripts I've written for my bbs - none of these contain any startling ideas, and I don't doubt a number of them could be done better, but you can feel free to modify them as you like or need. info bash will show you the system's man pages for these scripting keywords. To use these scripts, save them to a file and then make them executible with 'chmod a+x filename' without the quotes. To call them you can type 'sh filename' without the quotes, where filename is the name of the script. Again, scripting is a very broad subject ... looks like I will be writing yet another article concerning that subject later :) =============mvbad2tic==================== #!/bin/sh # the above must be the first line in the script. # the # symbol specifies a comment line list="`ls -1 *.bad`" for file in $list do f=`basename $file .bad`.tic mv $file $f done ============end mvbad2tic=============================== =============make_zic================================== #!/bin/sh # make_zik takes a file and it's accompanying # tic and puts them both in one zip archive aka # Allfix's zic option dir -1 -I*.tic -I*.sh -Iticlist-Iarchives >> archives dir -1 *.tic >> /home/bbbs/binkd/work/ticlist for file in `cat archives` do for tics in `cat ticlist` do FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 21 6 Nov 2000 if test=`grep $file $tics` then f=`basename $tics .tic` zip -jm0 $f.zic $file $tics fi done done mv *.zic /home/bbs/binkd/barry chown bbs.bbs /home/bbbs/binkd/barry/* chmod 775 /home/bbbs/binkd/barry/* ============end make_zic=================== Next, mvfile2in.sh move files from a users inbound. It uses another file you must create named dirlist. dirlist contains the names of your users' home directories which will most likely be the same as the username. You can create this file with the command: dir /home/* -1 > dirlist Edit it to remove other entries you don't want, like ftp, etc. which may be in the /home directory. =======mvfile2in.sh====================== #!/bin/sh cd /home/bbbs # move files from a users' inbound to the bbs' inbound # tests to see if user is online before moving anything. cd /home/bbbs for f in `cat /home/bbbs/dirlist` do if ps aux | grep ^$f then echo "===user $f online===" elif test -e /home/$f/*/*.bsy then echo "$f bsy-flag exists" else echo "===safe to move files from $f===" mv /home/$f/in/* /home/bbbs/inbound fi done =================end mvfile2in.sh================== get_desc can be used to import file descriptions to a files.bbs or descript.ion type file list. =======================get_desc================== #!/bin/sh # import file_id.diz to files.bbs or descript.ion type file dir -1 *.zip > dirlist for f in `cat dirlist` do unzip -pC $f file_id.diz >> FILE_ID.DIZ if [ -f FILE_ID.DIZ ] ; # this script uses an abbreviation for the the test command, [ and ]. # I believe Pertti Heikkinen posted this in the bbbs.english echo. then FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 22 6 Nov 2000 tr '\n\r' ' ' tmp.ff echo $f `cat tmp.ff` >> descript.txt rm -f FILE_ID.DIZ tmp.ff fi done ====================end get_desc======================= ============================================================== Some Install Concerns for the SysOp Installing Linux =============================================================== The first concern is pretty simple. When you log into your system it will be very tempting to login as root, or the superuser, because user root has no limitations, can run any program, read/write any file.. and ...also can delete every single file on your system . Issuing a command like rm -r from the / directory as user root will surely go through the entire directory tree and do just what you told it to do (rm -r deletes recursively... . ) Of course there will be times when you must log on as root to do things such as install your apache web server, configure your ppp connection, etc., but that is really the only time you should log in as root. Likewise, you should never log in as root in XWindows as user root, except as above. XWindows can destroy your data if you are user root and are playing with commands. _Big_ Tip: Use the adduser command to create other users on your system which you can use on a daily basis. To add a user, as root, type: adduser username where username is the name you have selected, 8 characters or less. Linux will let you use longer names for the users, but will truncate them. The adduser command adds the user to the passwd file in /etc/passwd, and unless you specify otherwise, creates a directory off /home which is that user's 'home' directory. These limited-access users can only harm the files they own in their home directory. Next you assign that user a password with the passwd command by typing: passwd username The passwd command prompts you for this users' password, 8 characters or less since again it will be truncated if it's over 8 characters. The password you choose should be a combination of upper and lower case alpha characters and numbers. Tip: Try to make the password something that means something to you, then use the letters of the words to make up your password. Here's an example of what I mean ... I love Chocolate cake I'll take two thanks = IlccIt2t The last section of this article is pretty important. With the number of systems online 24/7, these issues cannot be ignored. If you think your system is safe from those who would test and probe your system FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 23 6 Nov 2000 for ways of gaining illegal entry, think again. Tip: After installing linux, the very first thing you should do is pull up your favorite text editor, and edit the inetd.conf file which lives in /etc (/etc/inetd.conf). _Comment out_ every single line in that file except for the one that refers to ftp if you figure to use ftp. If you think this sounds drastic, well, it is. And it's necessary. If you leave the file as is, you are leaving an incredible number of ports and services open to trouble-makers who will (most likely) be port-scanning your system over and over again looking for weak points. You probably won't need any of the services you are commenting out - and some of them, like rlogin, are incredibly famous for having holes where hackers can gain access to your system. Tip: Use ssh, (Secure Shell) instead of telnet. Comment telnet out from inetd.conf. If you think are going to need telnet so that you can telnet into your system remotely, DON'T. Use Secure Shell instead. If Secure Shell isn't already on your system, go to http://rpmfind.net/ and download and install it. Tip: If your distribution of linux installs wu-ftpd, install a different ftp daemon, such as Bero-ftpd, or Proftpd. Why the switch? Well, Wu-ftpd has been known over the years to have holes where creeps can gain illegal access to your system. Technically speaking these holes are plugged with new releases, but ... in general it is a good idea to install one of the other daemon's mentioned. Tip: All of the above is good, but don't rest easy yet.. Another thing you must do is contantly stay aware of upgrades to the software you use. If, for example, a new version of bero-ftpd is released, install it. Upgrades under linux are not always done to make the software prettier or sexy . The site that maintains the software you use will always post what type of upgrade the software is and whether it is a security upgrade. ~~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 24 6 Nov 2000 ================================================================= NET HUMOR ================================================================= ====================================================== Smart NFL Quarterbacks Barry Switzer, clearly upset about the Dallas Cowboys' losing record, decides to find out from Steve Mariucci what his secret is. So Switzer travels up to a 49er practice and asks Mariucci, "Coach, how is it that your team is so good? What's your secret?" Mariucci responds by calling Steve Young over. "Steve, who's your father's brother's nephew?" Young answers, "Why coach, that's easy: it's me." Mariucci turns to Switzer and says, "That's the secret, Barry: a smart quarterback. You've got to have a smart quarterback." Thinking he's finally got all the tools he needs, Switzer returns to Texas and the Cowboys workout. He promptly calls over Troy Aikman. "Aikman! Who's your father's brother's nephew?" Troy looks perplexed, thinks a minute, then asks, "Coach, can I get back to you on that?" Switzer, disgusted, says, "O.K." During practice, Aikman calls over Deion Sanders. "Deion, coach just asked me the weirdest question". Deion asked, "What was that?" "who's your father's brother's nephew?" Sanders replies, "Duh! That's easy. It's me!" After practice, Aikman catches up with Switzer. "Coach, I think I've got it. My father's brother's nephew is Deion Sanders." Switzer, angry, reprimands, "NO, NO, NO! You idiot! It's Steve Young!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hot Air A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend an hour ago I would meet him, but I don't know where I am." The woman replied, "You are in a hot air balloon approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees North latitude and between 79 and 80 degrees West longitude." "You must be a Republican," said the balloonist. "I am," said the woman, "but how did you know?" FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 25 6 Nov 2000 "Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I still have no idea what to make of your information, = and the fact is I am still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help." The woman below responded, "You must be a Democrat." "I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?" "Well," said the woman, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault." ~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~ Voice Mail We have all learned to live with voice mail as a necessary part of modern life. But have you ever wondered what it would be like if God decided to install voice mail? Imagine praying and hearing this: Thank you for calling My Father's House. Please select one of the following options: Press 1 for Requests. Press 2 for Thanksgiving. Press 3 for Complaints. Press 4 for All Other Inquiries. I am sorry, all of our angels are busy helping other sinners right now. However, your prayer is important to us and will be answered in the order in which it was received, so please stay on the line. If you would like to speak to: God - press 1. Jesus - press 2. The Holy Spirit - press 3. If you would like to hear King David sing a Psalm while you are holding, please press 4. To find out if a loved one has been assigned to Heaven, press 5. Enter his or her Social Security number, then press the pound key. If you get a negative response, try area code 666. For reservations at My Father's House, please enter JOHN followed by 3-16. For nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth and where Noah's Ark is, please wait until you arrive here. Our computers show that you have already prayed once today. Please hang up and try again tomorrow. This office is closed for the weekend to observe a religious holiday. Please pray again Monday after 9:30 a.m. If you need emergency assistance dial 1(900) GOD-WHYME (This is a toll call.) Note: This is only a spoof on Voice Mail operated companies, and has no religious connotation what-so-ever. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Snicker From: donotreply via Dave Cobel FIDONEWS 17-46 Page 26 6 Nov 2000 George loves the race track. One day he was there betting on the ponies and nearly losing his shirt when he noticed this priest who stepped out onto the track and blessed the forehead of one of the horses lining up for the 4th race. Lo and behold, this horse - a very long shot - won the race. George was most interested to see what the priest did the next race. Sure enough, he watched the priest step out onto the track as the 5th race horses lined up, and placed his blessing on the forehead of one of the horses. George made a beeline for the window and placed a small bet on the horse. Again, even though another long shot, the horse the priest had blessed won the race. George collected his winnings and anxiously waited to see which horse the priest bestowed his blessing on for the 6th race. The priest showed, blessed a horse, George bet on it, and won! George was elated. As the day went on, the priest continued blessing one of the horses, and it always came in first. George began to pull in some serious money, and by the last race, he knew his wildest dreams were going to come true. He made a quick stop at the ATM and withdrew every penny he owned, and awaited the priest's blessing that would tell him which horse to place the bet on. True to his pattern, the priest stepped out onto the track before the last race and blessed the forehead, eyes, ears and hooves of one of the horses. George placed his bet - every cent he owned and watched the horse come in dead last. George was dumbfounded. He made his way to the track, and when he found the priest, he demanded, "What happened, Father? All day you blessed horses and they won. The last race, you bless a horse and he loses. Now I've lost my life savings, thanks to you!