autorun curiosity...

[Dave Laird]

Good morning, everyone...

James, if you're looking in, could you please take a look at the nearest
Debian system and tell me if autorun is automatically loaded at boot time?
If so, I am *very* curious how often it checks for a new CD inserted into
any given CD drive. Somewhere between RedHat 8.0 and 9.0 they radically
changed the source for autorun, and now it pulses the IDE buss about once
every ten seconds (1000 miliseconds) according to the man page, and it is
simply bothering me. It didn't use to do that.

I've disabled it. I can mount/unmount my own CD's, thank you, but I am
curious if this was a RedHat "convenience" or something autorun does across
the Linux platforms, as the most recent compile was in March of this year.

Hmph.

Dave
--
Dave Laird (***@kharma.net)
The Used Kharma Lot / The Phoenix Project
Web Page: http://www.kharma.net updated 10/12/2003
Usenet News server: news.kharma.net
Musicians Calendar and Database access: http://www.kharma.net/calendar.html

An automatic & random thought For the Minute:
Fill what's empty, empty what's full, scratch where it itches.
-- Alice Roosevelt Longworth

[James Vahn]

Post by Dave Laird
James, if you're looking in, could you please take a look at the nearest
Debian system and tell me if autorun is automatically loaded at boot time?

I see two. One is kernel based, the other is a GNOME user space app.
Neither of them are installed here.

Package: autofs
Description: A kernel-based automounter for Linux
Autofs controls the operation of the automount daemons. The
automount daemons automatically mount filesystems when they
are used and unmount them after a period of inactivity. This
is done based on a set of pre-configured maps.
. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The kernel automounter implements an almost complete SunOS style
automounter under Linux. The automounter is supported by Linux
kernels 2.0.31 and higher. Automounter support must be activated
while compiling the kernel.

Package: magicdev
Description: A GNOME daemon for automatically mounting/playing CDs
Magicdev is a daemon that runs within the GNOME environment and
detects when a CD is removed or inserted. Magicdev handles running
autorun programs on the CD, updating the File Manager, and playing
audio CDs.


--

[Dave Laird]

Good afternoon, James...

Thanks for the speedy reply. This was beginning to really set my teeth on
edge. ;-(

Post by James Vahn
I see two. One is kernel based, the other is a GNOME user space app.
Neither of them are installed here.

Smart man! I just uninstalled the working copy here, as well, which must
have been kernel-based, as it ran *only* in KDE, which seems pretty odd,
considering I didn't turn it on. It must run by default... de fault of the
programmers. 8-)

Post by James Vahn
Package: autofs
Description: A kernel-based automounter for Linux
Autofs controls the operation of the automount daemons. The
automount daemons automatically mount filesystems when they
are used and unmount them after a period of inactivity. This
is done based on a set of pre-configured maps.
. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Yes, that's the good old Linux standby I was originally about to blame for
the circumstances, but no more.

Post by James Vahn
The kernel automounter implements an almost complete SunOS style
automounter under Linux. The automounter is supported by Linux
kernels 2.0.31 and higher. Automounter support must be activated
while compiling the kernel.

Guess what? The automounter is now turned on in the pre-packaged RedHat 9.0
kernel (see my first hunch above). It's a good thing I included the source
in the installation, as I just rebuilt my kernel the modular way, without
all the garbage in it. You'd be surprised how small you can make a kernel
and still have all the functionality. <grin>

Post by James Vahn
Package: magicdev
Description: A GNOME daemon for automatically mounting/playing CDs
Magicdev is a daemon that runs within the GNOME environment and
detects when a CD is removed or inserted. Magicdev handles running
autorun programs on the CD, updating the File Manager, and playing
audio CDs.

This is one of those things that so highly commends Gnome as a desktop,
although I really *like* KDE. The other is that nifty tool in the tool bar
that tells you, without losing your concentration, if you need to check to
see what packages need updating. At the rate they went with 9.0, we may have
to update the entire 9.0 tree and start over. ;-(

Thanks for the help!

Dave
--
Dave Laird (***@kharma.net)
The Used Kharma Lot / The Phoenix Project
Web Page: http://www.kharma.net updated 10/12/2003
Usenet News server: news.kharma.net
Musicians Calendar and Database access: http://www.kharma.net/calendar.html

An automatic & random thought For the Minute:
Put a rogue in the limelight and he will act like an honest man.
-- Napoleon Bonaparte, "Maxims"

[James Vahn]

Post by Dave Laird
Smart man! I just uninstalled the working copy here, as well, which must
have been kernel-based, as it ran *only* in KDE, which seems pretty odd,
considering I didn't turn it on. It must run by default... de fault of the
programmers. 8-)

I kinda like their kdf, it pops up a list of devices and the mouse will
mount/umount them. It's installed to the panel bar at the bottom of the
screen for easy clickage. Don't know if it automounts though..

Post by Dave Laird
It's a good thing I included the source in the installation, as I
just rebuilt my kernel the modular way, without all the garbage in
it. You'd be surprised how small you can make a kernel and still have
all the functionality. <grin>

Yeah, and all that source code is good for something else too-
load tests! :-) I just proved out some bad RAM with it moments ago.

Post by Dave Laird

Post by James Vahn
Package: magicdev
Description: A GNOME daemon for automatically mounting/playing CDs

This is one of those things that so highly commends Gnome as a desktop,
although I really *like* KDE.

The office packages have been better than KDE's too, so I run those on
the nicer KDE desktop. Abiword claims to have improvements in the areas
of Word compatibilty, and likewise Gnumeric with Excel.


--

[Dave Laird]

Good *early* morning, James...

Post by James Vahn
I kinda like their kdf, it pops up a list of devices and the mouse will
mount/umount them. It's installed to the panel bar at the bottom of the
screen for easy clickage. Don't know if it automounts though..

It's another kind of trickery, I think, but not automount.

Post by James Vahn

Post by Dave Laird
It's a good thing I included the source in the installation, as I
just rebuilt my kernel the modular way, without all the garbage in
it. You'd be surprised how small you can make a kernel and still have
all the functionality. <grin>

Yeah, and all that source code is good for something else too-
load tests! :-) I just proved out some bad RAM with it moments ago.

<chuckling> OTOH, I remember a time not *TOO* long ago when I was slashing
and cutting away at a Linux kernel to get it pared down to size when, all of
a sudden, my Mickey Mouse monitor, the really junky piece of trash I use in
the server room for three different boxen, suddenly stopped working in color
entirely. I thought, "...well, it probably died anyway, because I think I
paid $25 for it at a yard sale." Well, as it turned out, I had eliminated
the part of the kernel which supported its emulation (Sony 800x600), and it
was over six weeks, when I next moved the monitor to another server, that I
realized my mistake. <wry grin>

Post by James Vahn

Post by Dave Laird

Post by James Vahn
Package: magicdev
Description: A GNOME daemon for automatically mounting/playing CDs

This is one of those things that so highly commends Gnome as a desktop,
although I really *like* KDE.

The office packages have been better than KDE's too, so I run those on
the nicer KDE desktop. Abiword claims to have improvements in the areas
of Word compatibilty, and likewise Gnumeric with Excel.

There is some *fresh* news, however, in that department. Because I share
data between my house and my office, and have a considerable amount of data
already in MS-Office/Word/Excel format, I have to stick pretty close to the
MS-Standard, even if I am running Linux. ;-)

Well, they say the third time's a charm. I've been *trying* unsuccessfully
for over two weeks to download the latest and greatest version of Open
Office, which is now 1.1.0, as it purports to directly support MySQL tables.
Finally night before last I managed to capture an uncorrupted copy of the
tarball and installed it, and to my utter surprise, it is about *twice* as
fast as 1.0.1, and has more new features than a hen house with color
television sets and a lavatory in every nest.

I have ten *deadly* files, all generated in MS-Word, all containing special
formatting, database tables and graphics, which are my personal testing
ground for Word-compatibility. To date, Abiword is the only one word
processor to even come close to passing the brutal test of compatibility,
until *yesterday*, when Open Orifice took and 100% passed the test. yowsa! I
have tested and re-tested, and I must admit it, Sun has done more fixin' on
Open Orifice than any product I've examined in the last three years. This
sucker ROCKS-- it's fast, the conversions are flawless (thus far) and I can
finally use a wealth of MySQL tables and data directly, using their
rendition of Java or ODBC for Linux, of course. ;-)

It's another important step closer to the day when the Linux desktop will
dominate, rather than be dominated. <grin> I thought that up myself.

Dave
--
Dave Laird (***@kharma.net)
The Used Kharma Lot / The Phoenix Project
Web Page: http://www.kharma.net updated 10/12/2003
Usenet News server: news.kharma.net
Musicians Calendar and Database access: http://www.kharma.net/calendar.html

An automatic & random thought For the Minute:
The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.
-- Richard Bach, "Illusions"

[James Vahn]

Post by Dave Laird
Well, they say the third time's a charm. I've been *trying* unsuccessfully
for over two weeks to download the latest and greatest version of Open
Office, which is now 1.1.0, as it purports to directly support MySQL tables.

It still isn't saving .XLS files properly though. :(


--

[Dave Laird]

Good evening, James...

Post by James Vahn

Post by Dave Laird
Well, they say the third time's a charm. I've been *trying*
unsuccessfully for over two weeks to download the latest and greatest
version of Open Office, which is now 1.1.0, as it purports to directly
support MySQL tables.

It still isn't saving .XLS files properly though. :(

[Dave whips out his Excel spreadsheet from across town and gives it a
thump.] ARGGHHH! That was supposedly numero uno on the Bug List last month!
I see where they *did* fix the TrueType font quiz that sometimes took place
across all applications, though. If you tried to load a Times-Roman TTF from
Winoze that competed against their own version of Bitstream TTF, you always
would default to the lighter (IMHO) Bitstream font, not the one you
selected. Now it works as it should.

Not only that, it loads about four times faster than 1.0.1 and doesn't do
what I call "anonymous crashes" anymore. The debugging software didn't seem
to have a clue why, it just crashed when you were working in a database.
<sigh> That seems to be fixed too, but now you have to have Java installed
for it to work at all. <mutter, mutter>

If it ain't one proprietary system, it's another.

Did you hear the Gates speech today about the "new-and-improved" Windoze? I
gather he's re-inventing the file system, or something to that effect. I so
wanted to hear the announcement today, but I've been working on a system
that has 1.15 *terabytes* of disk space, and having way too much fun
watching the numbers fly by. 8-)

Dave

[James Vahn]

Post by Dave Laird
[Dave whips out his Excel spreadsheet from across town and gives it a
thump.] ARGGHHH! That was supposedly numero uno on the Bug List last month!

It seems to fail to export formulas. Easy to test, save-as .XLS and
then load it back in. Makes me wonder. I mean if it's that easy to
prove, why does the bug exist? It's almost as if they don't want the
function to work.

I also wonder what effect (if any) that Sun's potential for demise will
have on OpenOffice. Linux is killing Sun.

Post by Dave Laird
Did you hear the Gates speech today about the "new-and-improved" Windoze?

Again already? He says that a lot. Did you hear about them trying to put
hooks into the BIOS ?? Computer no workee unless Windows is there. New
computers have no CD. Break Windows and buy a new computer. Quite the
racket.


--

[Dave Laird]

Good afternoon, James!

Post by James Vahn

Post by Dave Laird
[Dave whips out his Excel spreadsheet from across town and gives it a
thump.] ARGGHHH! That was supposedly numero uno on the Bug List last month!

It seems to fail to export formulas. Easy to test, save-as .XLS and
then load it back in. Makes me wonder. I mean if it's that easy to
prove, why does the bug exist? It's almost as if they don't want the
function to work.

Harumph! It didn't work for me, either, and I'm a regular contributor to the
bug list. The number of people who carped about this very item pre-BETA
1.1.0 makes me wonder if you're not right. I'm going to draft a note to one
of the tech team members and see what he's got to say about it. Before I can
deploy this, I have to have Excel-compatibility working fully, not breaking
down and falling on its ear in export.

Post by James Vahn
I also wonder what effect (if any) that Sun's potential for demise will
have on OpenOffice. Linux is killing Sun.

I'd been asking that same question myself, but it seems that Open Office is
actually the intellectual property of Sun, but the rights to develop and use
it are granted under the Gnu license, to everyone willing to participate. I
would *hope*, given how far they have come in the last year toward their
mission statement, that if Sun dies, Open Office will continue as a project
of its own. They are *so* close to actually making it an open
platform-independent set of applications it almost hurts.

It's to the point now where I actually have a set of macros written for Open
Office that work better than those I've maintained for MS-Word for over a
decade. That's the story of my life. I get to where I actually *like* an
interface, a piece of software, and a set of tools and the next thing you
know they file for bankruptcy and the software disappears forever. Remember
RBase for DOS/Windows? At one point I had over a half-million lines of RBase
code in production, with 19 applications in use. Today there are still
(incredible as it might seem) three companies using RBase applications to
maintain their business inventories. <sigh> I could'a been a contendah...

Post by James Vahn

Post by Dave Laird
Did you hear the Gates speech today about the "new-and-improved" Windoze?

Again already? He says that a lot. Did you hear about them trying to put
hooks into the BIOS ?? Computer no workee unless Windows is there. New
computers have no CD. Break Windows and buy a new computer. Quite the
racket.

I hope to shout!! You know what I say about Gates' BIOS schemes? Have chip
burner will travel. Hehehe. Catch me if you can. That's why I so love open
source. The only one responsible if it bombs is you.

Of course, so long as they manufacture and sell computer cases and power
supplies, I'm in business. There isn't a machine in my network anywhere that
I didn't build from trusted components, even that antique single Pentium 233
sucker that runs Samba shares behind the firewall downstairs. <grin>

Dave
--
Dave Laird (***@kharma.net)
The Used Kharma Lot / The Phoenix Project
Web Page: http://www.kharma.net updated 10/12/2003
Usenet News server: news.kharma.net
Musicians Calendar and Database access: http://www.kharma.net/calendar.html

An automatic & random thought For the Minute:
There's no such thing as a free lunch.
-- Milton Friendman