OS Talk - All Forums

How did you hear about OSTalk?

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:03:35 +0000

I'm just curious, given our history and relationship with other forums and the fact that our mods are also quite active on other forums, just how our members came about our site.

IE9 Preview

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:49:18 +0000

For ye web dev folks-they have a preview wrapper you can play with, to test.

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/20...mpaign=rss

PS-IE8 got 20/100 on Acid3...IE9 Preview gets 50/100

Quality FOSS gfx drivers and 'user-friendly' distros

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:48:24 +0000

Most of the 'user-friendly' distros (I don't mean Arch guys, I mean distros for n00bs) are considered so primarily because they just run on anything (yes yes I know we can all tell a tale of some obscure box Ubuntu wouldn't run on, but most of the time it does a better job of just working than Windows). A big part of that is how easy it is to install the non-free drivers such as flgrx or NVIDIA drivers. However, with open drivers rapidly catching the non-FOSS drivers for ATI, and NVIDIA improving too albeit more slowly, it may no longer be absolutely essential to use non-free drivers to get a decent user experience.
Now what that means is that distros like Debian etc will not be significantly harder to install and get up and running than Ubuntu. It's at the point where now I (as a frankly piss-poor to intermediate user) am pretty comfy roaming around a debian system, and can get an arch box up and running pretty quickly with a minimum of fuss.
The question one has to ask then is what is Ubuntu's place in the market? Where do the likes of Ubuntu, Mandriva, etc fit in when ease-of-use/installation is universal?

htop-vi-0.8.3.patch

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:21:05 +0000

Since htop was the only app I had left that doesnt use vi keys and I couldnt find an alternative or a patch, I decided to just do it myself.

h/j/k/l = scroll
? = help
L = list open files with lsof
d = kill

Code:

diff -crB htop-0.8.3/htop.c htop-vi-0.8.3/htop.c

*** htop-0.8.3/htop.c    2009-06-23 09:45:09.000000000 -0400

--- htop-vi-0.8.3/htop.c    2010-03-16 05:53:04.000000000 -0400

***************

*** 104,116 ****

        mvaddstr(7, 0, "In monochrome, meters are displayed through different chars, in order: |#*@$%&");

     }

     mvaddstr( 8, 0, " Status: R: running; S: sleeping; T: traced/stopped; Z: zombie; D: disk sleep");

!    mvaddstr( 9, 0, " Arrows: scroll process list             F5 t: tree view");

     mvaddstr(10, 0, " Digits: incremental PID search             u: show processes of a single user");

     mvaddstr(11, 0, "   F3 /: incremental name search            H: hide/show user threads");

     mvaddstr(12, 0, "                                            K: hide/show kernel threads");

     mvaddstr(13, 0, "  Space: tag processes                      F: cursor follows process");

     mvaddstr(14, 0, "      U: untag all processes");

!    mvaddstr(15, 0, "   F9 k: kill process/tagged processes      P: sort by CPU%");

     mvaddstr(16, 0, " - ] F7: higher priority (root only)        M: sort by MEM%");

     mvaddstr(17, 0, " + [ F8: lower priority (+ nice)            T: sort by TIME");

  #ifdef HAVE_PLPA

--- 104,116 ----

        mvaddstr(7, 0, "In monochrome, meters are displayed through different chars, in order: |#*@$%&");

     }

     mvaddstr( 8, 0, " Status: R: running; S: sleeping; T: traced/stopped; Z: zombie; D: disk sleep");

!    mvaddstr( 9, 0, " h/j/k/l: scroll process list             F5 t: tree view");

     mvaddstr(10, 0, " Digits: incremental PID search             u: show processes of a single user");

     mvaddstr(11, 0, "   F3 /: incremental name search            H: hide/show user threads");

     mvaddstr(12, 0, "                                            K: hide/show kernel threads");

     mvaddstr(13, 0, "  Space: tag processes                      F: cursor follows process");

     mvaddstr(14, 0, "      U: untag all processes");

!    mvaddstr(15, 0, "   F9 d: kill process/tagged processes      P: sort by CPU%");

     mvaddstr(16, 0, " - ] F7: higher priority (root only)        M: sort by MEM%");

     mvaddstr(17, 0, " + [ F8: lower priority (+ nice)            T: sort by TIME");

  #ifdef HAVE_PLPA

***************

*** 120,136 ****

  #endif

        mvaddstr(18, 0, "                                         F4 I: invert sort order");

     mvaddstr(19, 0, "   F2 S: setup                           F6 >: select sort column");

!    mvaddstr(20, 0, "   F1 h: show this help screen              l: list open files with lsof");

     mvaddstr(21, 0, "  F10 q: quit                               s: trace syscalls with strace");

     attrset(CRT_colors[HELP_BOLD]);

!    mvaddstr( 9, 0, " Arrows"); mvaddstr( 9,40, " F5 t");

     mvaddstr(10, 0, " Digits"); mvaddstr(10,40, "    u");

     mvaddstr(11, 0, "   F3 /"); mvaddstr(11,40, "    H");

                                 mvaddstr(12,40, "    K");

     mvaddstr(13, 0, "  Space"); mvaddstr(13,40, "    F");

     mvaddstr(14, 0, "      U");

!    mvaddstr(15, 0, "   F9 k"); mvaddstr(15,40, "    P");

     mvaddstr(16, 0, " + [ F7"); mvaddstr(16,40, "    M");

     mvaddstr(17, 0, " - ] F8"); mvaddstr(17,40, "    T");

                                 mvaddstr(18,40, " F4 I");

--- 120,136 ----

  #endif

        mvaddstr(18, 0, "                                         F4 I: invert sort order");

     mvaddstr(19, 0, "   F2 S: setup                           F6 >: select sort column");

!    mvaddstr(20, 0, "   F1 ?: show this help screen              L: list open files with lsof");

     mvaddstr(21, 0, "  F10 q: quit                               s: trace syscalls with strace");

     attrset(CRT_colors[HELP_BOLD]);

!    mvaddstr( 9, 0, " h/j/k/l"); mvaddstr( 9,40, " F5 t");

     mvaddstr(10, 0, " Digits"); mvaddstr(10,40, "    u");

     mvaddstr(11, 0, "   F3 /"); mvaddstr(11,40, "    H");

                                 mvaddstr(12,40, "    K");

     mvaddstr(13, 0, "  Space"); mvaddstr(13,40, "    F");

     mvaddstr(14, 0, "      U");

!    mvaddstr(15, 0, "   F9 d"); mvaddstr(15,40, "    P");

     mvaddstr(16, 0, " + [ F7"); mvaddstr(16,40, "    M");

     mvaddstr(17, 0, " - ] F8"); mvaddstr(17,40, "    T");

                                 mvaddstr(18,40, " F4 I");

***************

*** 139,145 ****

        mvaddstr(18, 0, "      a:");

  #endif

     mvaddstr(19, 0, "   F2 S"); mvaddstr(19,40, " F6 >");

!    mvaddstr(20, 0, "   F1 h"); mvaddstr(20,40, "    l");

     mvaddstr(21, 0, "  F10 q"); mvaddstr(21,40, "    s");

     attrset(CRT_colors[DEFAULT_COLOR]);

--- 139,145 ----

        mvaddstr(18, 0, "      a:");

  #endif

     mvaddstr(19, 0, "   F2 S"); mvaddstr(19,40, " F6 >");

!    mvaddstr(20, 0, "   F1 ?"); mvaddstr(20,40, "    L");

     mvaddstr(21, 0, "  F10 q"); mvaddstr(21,40, "    s");

     attrset(CRT_colors[DEFAULT_COLOR]);

***************

*** 530,536 ****

           break;

        }

        case KEY_F(1):

!       case 'h':

        {

           showHelp(pl);

           FunctionBar_draw(defaultBar, NULL);

--- 530,536 ----

           break;

        }

        case KEY_F(1):

!       case '?':

        {

           showHelp(pl);

           FunctionBar_draw(defaultBar, NULL);

***************

*** 562,568 ****

           CRT_enableDelay();

           break;

        }

!       case 'l':

        {

           OpenFilesScreen* ts = OpenFilesScreen_new((Process*) Panel_getSelected(panel));

           OpenFilesScreen_run(ts);

--- 562,568 ----

           CRT_enableDelay();

           break;

        }

!       case 'L':

        {

           OpenFilesScreen* ts = OpenFilesScreen_new((Process*) Panel_getSelected(panel));

           OpenFilesScreen_run(ts);

***************

*** 613,619 ****

           break;

        }

        case KEY_F(9):

!       case 'k':

        {

           if (!killPanel) {

              killPanel = (Panel*) SignalsPanel_new(0, 0, 0, 0);

--- 613,619 ----

           break;

        }

        case KEY_F(9):

!       case 'd':

        {

           if (!killPanel) {

              killPanel = (Panel*) SignalsPanel_new(0, 0, 0, 0);

diff -crB htop-0.8.3/Panel.c htop-vi-0.8.3/Panel.c

*** htop-0.8.3/Panel.c    2009-06-02 15:17:57.000000000 -0400

--- htop-vi-0.8.3/Panel.c    2010-03-16 05:52:59.000000000 -0400

***************

*** 329,339 ****

  bool Panel_onKey(Panel* this, int key) {

     assert (this != NULL);

     switch (key) {

!    case KEY_DOWN:

        if (this->selected + 1 < Vector_size(this->items))

           this->selected++;

        return true;

!    case KEY_UP:

        if (this->selected > 0)

           this->selected--;

        return true;

--- 329,339 ----

  bool Panel_onKey(Panel* this, int key) {

     assert (this != NULL);

     switch (key) {

!    case 'j':

        if (this->selected + 1 < Vector_size(this->items))

           this->selected++;

        return true;

!    case 'k':

        if (this->selected > 0)

           this->selected--;

        return true;

***************

*** 359,371 ****

        }

        return true;

     #endif

!    case KEY_LEFT:

        if (this->scrollH > 0) {

           this->scrollH -= 5;

           this->needsRedraw = true;

        }

        return true;

!    case KEY_RIGHT:

        this->scrollH += 5;

        this->needsRedraw = true;

        return true;

--- 359,371 ----

        }

        return true;

     #endif

!    case 'h':

        if (this->scrollH > 0) {

           this->scrollH -= 5;

           this->needsRedraw = true;

        }

        return true;

!    case 'l':

        this->scrollH += 5;

        this->needsRedraw = true;

        return true;

How do you keep files in sync across computers/disks?

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:08:06 +0000

How do you keep files and directories synchronised across computers and external disks?

I use several computers (a desktop, a laptop, a computer at work) and have a few external drives (2 flash drives and one external hard disk) and I have a hard time keeping all these files across the different disks up to date.

I am currently revisiting rsync and unison (which I used a long time ago), but would like to know how you all manage this.

Extrinsic rewards in gaming (aka 400 points for grooming your dog in crappy fb game)

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:19:22 +0000

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27646..._Tasks.php

I have to agree with this, though the focus here is on achievements in console games. The problem is however much more cynically exploited with casual gaming, in particular the shitty facebook games where you have to run a farm or groom a dog or whatever. It's almost all repetitive dull tasks and ooooh you get a shiny gold coin for clicking a million times (drag-multiple-selection anyone?). There's no skill in these games, just repetition and reward. Pavlovian bollocks basically. People are becoming little more than trained rats pushing a button for food.

While reward in games is useful, the problem I have with these games is that EVERYTHING is rewarded, and that there is no substance to the games, no challenge. It's all an exercise in getting points, buying in-game money, getting your friends to join so you get more points (oooh and the advertisers give the game makers more money and they get more personal details) etc. It's not gaming. It's ruining gaming. I say end Facebook now before it's too late.

Maintain protection for the Elephant?

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 07:00:14 +0000

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/no_more_bloo...446&v=5563

silence silence silence. worth gold when you listen to music on the PC.

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:22:02 +0000

How do you guys get the most silent PC .
I am getting annoyed with the cases that I get my computers in. already bought some new and damn expensive cases to upgrade some of the old ones with. noice still a problem.

I been using the laptop a lot for watching televison online. this works perfect almost but when wathcing dvds the noice from the dvddrive is simply too loud to be useful . so I will start up using my old desktop again for media center.

one thing I been thinking of is isolation on the inside of the PC case. same material as used in cars. will the heat be too much inside a case like this. it needs air and the more isolation it will need the more air. but something gotta be done about the fans making noice in the case I use for the media center.

how do others create noiceless computers. imagine lots of gamers and other home theatre system builders would make total noiceless PCs if possible.

Miniature Slackware Distribution

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:04:18 +0000

Now that MiniSlack has changed to Zenwalk, and Vector took a direction I am all too happy with, I was thinking of making a new MiniSlack. My though is that it would be insanely minimalistic upon install, but you would still have networking and Slackpkg available to grow the system. What features would the community here like to see? What packages would be critical for you? Would you want both x86 and AMD64 versions, or only one of the two?

Grr @ Red-Shirt Protesters

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:18:27 +0000

For those who don't know, I'm in Thailand, a couple of hours south of Bangkok. Anyway, a bunch of idiots under instruction from a criminal who got kicked out of the country are invading Bangkok at the moment. I'm kinda hoping this won't be the 3rd coup since I arrived in the beautiful, amazing, but definitely crazy country. Fingers crossed.

[ANY OS] Adblock for ANY browser (no plugins or extensions required)

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:26:54 +0000

This is a really simple one that im sure many of you already know, but Ill just post it anyway. Ive only recently discovered it since I started using uzbl.

1. Go to this url and copy the text into a new file named hosts, but be sure to only grab the intended text and not the page title or anything. Save it to your desktop or wherever.

http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/

2. Its well commented for a reason, READ IT.

3. Backup your existing hosts file. Depending on which OS you are using this could be in different places. If you follow step 2 you will find the location for your specific OS.

3. Open your original hosts file and copy the uncommented lines into your clipboard. (this is important as most peoples computers have custom host names)

4. Find this section of the new hosts file and replace it with your localhost lines that you copied, then save.

Code:

#

127.0.0.1     localhost

127.0.0.1     localhost.localdomain

255.255.255.255    broadcasthost

::1        localhost

127.0.0.1     local

#

For example mine looks like this now

Code:

#

127.0.0.1               localhost.localdomain   localhost       Arch

#

5. Replace your old hosts file with the new one, ensuring that the new file has the same permissions the old one had. (Depending on your OS there may be some additional steps required , if you followed step 2 you will already know that)

6. Reboot and enjoy

Additional Notes:

This hosts file gets updated regularly, so be sure to update yours once in a while.

[Arch] Here is a very clear, clean & quick, review of Arch:

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:59:44 +0000

https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/378030/3ffd3af2da3a4537/

error 401

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:01:45 +0000

never seen this before. can anyone expain to me what is the cause is of this ? ts a musical store online I cliked the link on.

Code:

You are not authorized to view this page

The Web server you are attempting to reach has a list of IP addresses that are not allowed to access the Web site, and the IP address of your browsing computer is on this list.

Please try the following:

    * Contact the Web site administrator if you believe you should be able to view this directory or page.

HTTP Error 403.6 - Forbidden: IP address of the client has been rejected.

Internet Information Services (IIS)

Technical Information (for support personnel)

    * Go to Microsoft Product Support Services and perform a title search for the words HTTP and 403.

    * Open IIS Help, which is accessible in IIS Manager (inetmgr), and search for topics titled About Security, Limiting Access by IP Address, IP Address Access Restrictions, and About Custom Error Messages.

Will Wright and Brian Eno Play with Time

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:31:15 +0000

This is a fora tv extract of 6 min kinda entertaining.
http://fora.tv/2006/06/26/Will_Wright_an...s_Into_Art

dell got a slap on the wrist on danish tv.

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:30:14 +0000

We have a tv program that acts like the consumers watch dog that comes every week. they always takes up a dealer or brand that dont keep the promises on what they are selling or are breaking the law or doing other stuff that makes good entertainment or forms basis for consumer horror stories.

dell here in denmark is really bad customer service. they have leased the department out to other companies where one former employee told the program that some of the new employees where not even able to turn on the computer and log in on their fiirst day. in short they are not trained at all to deal with computers. gets a paper where standard answers is described and expected to get rid of customers as fast as possible. there is a agreement on how long a customer can take up time or they loose some part of te payment from dell if it takes longer.

the story the program where focuses on today was a woman buying a dell laptop for 33.000 danish kroner that never worked. it gave blue screen every time it was turned on and the repair man changed ram and all other sorts of things before the tv show where in on it they denied having responsibility conserning the problem and after the show where on the air she then got a new laptop. (that did work)

I was wondering now if anyone has bad things to say about dell computers. they where selling linux preinstalled at sometime I know. where there any problems on those other than people not getting xp and familiar system.

Valve's games coming to the Mac

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:07:25 +0000

I know this is late, and I didn't just discover this, but since there's no other thread, I figured I'd make one.

Valve is releasing their games for the Mac. The only 2/3 games I play often are all made by Valve, so I'm very happy to be able to get rid of my Windows partition.

Celebrities or the Government

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:12:56 +0000

Just something I thought I'd discuss here, have you ever noticed that generally people are more interested in Celebrities (Not the Chevrolet Model ) than what the governments doing.

Take for example I know people who could tell you what David Beckham did yesterday but do not know the name of the following:

The Prime Minister
High Up Members of Parliament
The Name of the US President
Even Members of the Royal Family!

This is something which needs to be sorted because you have to consider these same people are allowed to vote! So if they know more about celebs than the people they're voting for well it says a lot about them and it also shows why the government are allowed to get away with as much as they do.

What's your opinion on this?

The Holloween documents...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:22:11 +0000

You guys probably have known about & read this stuff years ago.

I nearly finished Halloween I, last night before I went to bed. I really do like Eric Raymond's mind, & reading the not meant to be leaked (this was acknowledged by MS) in depth documentation regarding OSS, FOSS, Linux etc, with Eric Raymond's comments throughout is, I find, incredibly interesting.

For anyone who hasn't spent the time, it is well worth the education imho:

http://catb.org/~esr/halloween/

Linux Fanboys still can't take any criticism

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:12:36 +0000

I just started writing in my Linux related blog again a few days back.

Today I wrote a small review of PCLinuxOS. I always stay neutral when writing a review. I listed some good things, and some less good things.

I was pretty positive about the distro, but that doesn't stop fanboys from going mad.

The first commenter already resulted to name calling.

Oh, not telling a piece of software was written or based on something else is blasphemy. It's Linux for crying out loud, everything is written by other people!.

I wonder what kind of comments my upcoming Ubuntu 10.04 review will provoke. lol

(link to review: http://linuxowns.wordpress.com/2010/03/0...a-review/)

Microsoft Proposes Internet Tax

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:56:55 +0000

Incredible. Since the Liberal Train rolled into Washington and people were saying such absurd things as "I won't have to pay my mortgage anymore, or make car payments, or pay doctor bills! The government's going to take care of me from now on," even the rich and powerful are looking for the government to fund solving their problems.

Here is an outrageous example:

Quote:A top Microsoft executive on Tuesday suggested a broad Internet tax to help defray the costs associated with computer security breaches and vast Internet attacks, according to reports.

Microsoft asking for an internet tax to fix the vulnerabilities of it's operating system is like Toyota asking for a gasoline tax to fund repairs to it's faulty cars! Even if you don't drive a Toyota, you would pay higher fuel prices and a portion would go to Toyota, to fund the repairs and pay for damages caused by their failures. This proposed internet tax is another bailout - this time for a huge mega-corporation that dominates something like 90% of the computer software market. And Linux users like me, and Mac users would be charged money to help Microsoft deal with all the problems caused by their failures. You may as well ask Jack the Ripper to babysit, and then pay him to clean up the blood after he murders a kid.

If an internet tax is actually passed by my government, I'll get off the internet entirely. Perhaps the way to go if that tax becomes reality, would be to go back to those old style BBSes (bulletin board systems) that preceded the internet. Of course, we'll need BBS software for Linux and Mac, because I'm sure Windows' popularity and market share will plummet if this request of theirs is granted.