irclog2html for #gllug on 20050212

00:08.43*** join/#gllug eye69_ (magnus@ipv6.upcore.net)
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09:17.36*** part/#gllug Tarragon (~Tarragon@spc1-stkp3-3-0-cust204.bagu.broadband.ntl.com)
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10:08.27*** join/#gllug Marios_ (~mkoumide@82-45-239-23.cable.ubr01.enfi.blueyonder.co.uk)
10:08.43Marios_morning
10:17.28*** join/#gllug Leeds (~richardc@host-212-158-207-148.bulldogdsl.com)
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10:18.53Leedsmorning Tarragon
10:19.01TarragonMoin
10:19.22Marios_morning Leeds, Tarragon
10:19.40Leedsmorning Marios_
10:19.47TarragonMoin Marios_
10:20.33TarragonNote to self. Check diary before going out to crosscountry race. Today is 12th and not 19th Doh!
10:20.59LeedsTarragon: a good lesson for us all, indeed
10:21.51AngelChild:D
10:22.13TarragonFelt so stupid when I turned up all ready for the race only to see Saturday morning footballers getting ready and no-one else about.
10:22.30Leedsheh
10:22.36AngelChildbetter than being a week late :)
10:23.12LeedsTarragon: I managed to be a day early for a hospital appointment in December, and was nearly an hour early for the same appointment this week, but I remembered before I left...
10:24.29AngelChildahh, slackware is my kind of distro
10:24.33AngelChildit's just so... lazy...
10:24.50Leeds:-)
10:25.01Leedsyet, so reliable
10:25.33AngelChildand it's package management system just uses tarballs xD
10:26.33Leedsright, no fuss, no hassle, it just works
10:26.50*** join/#gllug JAV (~JAV@105.Red-80-34-40.pooles.rima-tde.net)
10:27.06AngelChildand you can install it while you go get your washing :)
10:27.58Marios_Leeds: I ain't coming to Brussels
10:28.18LeedsMarios_: :-(
10:28.20TarragonIsn't there some problem with Slack at the moment, in that packages are being removed?
10:28.40Marios_Leeds: I am going to the US for 2-3 weeks middle of March
10:28.47Leedsah
10:29.16LeedsTarragon: in what sense?  Pat has said that he doesn't like maintaining GNOME, when there are external people already doing a better job, but I wouldn't call it a problem
10:29.49TarragonSo there is no problem to install those packages if you want?
10:30.12Leedsapparently
10:36.56Jangowhat procedure do you have to go through nowadays to update the system?
10:37.02Jango(slack)
10:53.37TarragonJango, Use the slackware tool - swaret
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11:12.07*** join/#gllug Leeds (~richardc@host-212-158-207-148.bulldogdsl.com) [NETSPLIT VICTIM]
11:24.01*** join/#gllug Jango (~Jango@pgnn.demon.co.uk)
11:26.41itsbruce"no fuss, no hassle, it just works" applies to rpm or dpkg, fwiw.  Any bad rep they have for unmanageability is entirely down to fuckwits who would make even more of a mess on Slack.
11:27.30AngelChildemerge xD
11:33.08itsbruceJust don't start about dependency hell or I will come round and tattoo this on your back: http://opencurve.org/~sunny/zealot.html
11:34.25AngelChildI need three monitors
11:34.37AngelChildone for coding, one for code output and one to show me what's currently emerging xD
11:34.41Jangoi need 2 tfts
11:34.55Jangoi already got 3 monitors, but they take up too much desk space
11:35.06Jangoand you forgot, 1 for irc ;)
11:36.35AngelChildah yes
11:36.40AngelChildso i did xD
11:38.07Jangoyou ever played with distributed emerging/compiling?
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14:11.29*** join/#gllug ikea (ikea@ruggigt.hemlig.net)
14:11.36ikeawei!
14:11.49ikeathis channel isn't listed on that lonix page of yours...
14:12.02ikeaanyway, let's get down to teh shiat.
14:12.05ikeaAnyone here?
14:12.08AngelChildnope
14:12.11AngelChildwe're all dead :D
14:12.22ikeaAngelChild: sure
14:12.26ikea:P
14:12.38ikeaanyway
14:13.08ikeaI'm going to london on a 'holiday' from my military service (I'm a tank driver in the swedish army)
14:13.22ikeaand I need somewhere to crash.
14:13.23AngelChildahh
14:13.31AngelChildtry into 10 downing street
14:13.34ikeaHopefully some of you guys are open minded enough to solve this :)
14:13.37AngelChildor trafalgar square, at speed
14:13.42ikeahuh?
14:13.50AngelChildcrahs what anyway, car, plane?
14:13.52AngelChild;p
14:14.42ikea:P
14:14.46ikeasomewhere to sleep tehn
14:14.48ikea*teh
14:14.50ikeadammit!
14:14.51ikea*tehn
14:14.53ikea*then
14:14.55ikeathere we go :)
14:15.47ikeaIf you can't set me (and to other fellows) up with somewhere to sleep, at least tell me where it's cheap to stay for two night (_really_ cheap that is)
14:16.05ikeaWe don't ming sleeping in some cellar or whatever, as long as it's warm
14:16.07AngelChildthe street :)
14:16.09AngelChildoh
14:16.14AngelChildwell
14:16.26ikea*two
14:16.28AngelChildyou could try like novatels or travellodges or similar, or random pubs
14:16.43ikeaAngelChild: random pubs? :)
14:17.03AngelChildi know very little about london, which makes my presence in this channel a little sketchy but nvm xD
14:17.08ikea:P
14:17.17ikeaanyone in here who actually live in london? :)
14:18.10*** join/#gllug Leeds (~richardc@host-212-158-207-148.bulldogdsl.com)
14:19.08Leedsikea: London isn't a cheap place to stay :-(
14:19.53Leedsand you want to be careful with a name like that - could cause a riot around here...
14:20.33AngelChild:o
14:21.35ikeaheh
14:22.02ikeaLeeds: well, that's why I'm looking for someone who's willing to lend me some floor space to spend two nights on
14:22.08GeorgeAngelChild: sucker.
14:32.02*** join/#gllug morsing (~morsing@80.46.110.1)
14:56.06Jangoi thought AngelChild was already dead?
14:56.06*** join/#gllug rdancer (~r--t@rdancer.user)
14:56.40Leedsnope, just sleeping, I think
14:57.30Jango* AngelChild dies
14:57.48Jangoi keep dropping my minieggs on the floor :(
14:58.16ikeaJango: minieggs?
14:58.36Jangoyea, cadbury's mini eggs
14:58.40Jangothey are chocolate
14:58.47ikeaok
14:58.51ikeaJango: got some space over?
14:58.52Jangoand i've got a whole bag here :)
14:58.59Jangonope :/
14:59.05ikeadoh
14:59.22Jangoikea's been in the news a bit here
14:59.27ikeasomebody in here should be able to host three people for two nights.
14:59.31ikeaJango: for what?
14:59.36Jangocos our trashy edmonton people trying to kill each other
14:59.50Jangowhen they opened up a new store at midnight, 7000 people gatecrashed it
14:59.50Leedsikea: this may be a little strange, but I'm not sure that asking complete strangers if you can stay with them, out of no-where, is the best way to go about it
15:02.44rdancerwhere should i put nfs exports for individual hosts, and boot images to be retrieved over tftp -- /exports and /tftpboot doesn't look like the right place?
15:02.54ikeaLeeds: that's is the absolute cheapest way to do it :)
15:03.40Leedsikea: yes, but it's not much good if it doesn't work
15:03.42ikeaLeeds: I don't mind meeting new people. And I don't think somebody would want to steal from me either
15:03.53ikeaLeeds: I wouldn't find out if I didn't try anyway
15:04.23rdancerikea: what about a hostel?
15:05.18morsingHow is everyone?
15:05.23ikeardancer: found some place for 70 pound, two nights, three pople
15:05.32ikeamorsing: in need of a place to stay :)
15:05.49rdancerikea: millenniumlodge.com :: two nights, three pople, GBP 60
15:06.00ikeardancer: but that's still a bit to expensive. I would rather spend that on alcohol
15:06.24Leedsikea: oh, you're planning to have a couple of drinks each?  London is an expensive place to drink...
15:06.51Leeds:-)
15:06.58ikeaLeeds: sweden isn't that cheap either...
15:07.09ikeadon't think there is so big diffrence.
15:07.19ikeathat din't make sense. nevermind.
15:07.26Jangoit's probably cheaper to drink coke :P
15:07.29ikeaLeeds: what's a beer?
15:07.35rdancerbeerwise, GBP 10 / person / night is good enough
15:07.45Leedsikea: a fermented drink made from hops, barley and so on
15:07.53ikea:P
15:07.58ikeawhat does it cost?
15:08.25Leedsmost expensive I've seen is a fiver for a 330ml glass - but that was stupid
15:08.29ikeadammit. need to spend a few seconds more before I type stuff...
15:08.33ikea'a fiver' ?
15:08.39Leedsfive pounds
15:08.57Leedsare you guys in euroland or still using krona?
15:09.06ikeakronor
15:09.32Leedsah, okay... I'm good at converting to euros :-)
15:09.37Leedsibot change 5 gbp to skk
15:09.43rdancerwill ss5 netboot over udp only? -- i.e. can i just allow udp on ingress of the server, so that the packet filtering is not torned down completely?
15:09.49rdancerheh
15:10.13ikeaibot change 5 gbp to sek
15:10.16rdancerLeeds: you going to .sk?
15:10.43Leedsbloody european hold-outs - would be much easier if everyone just used US$ as the good lord intended
15:10.53Leedsrdancer: nope, not planning on it
15:10.58ikeahmm
15:11.27Leedsikea: in most places, you're looking to pay about half that for a ping (570ml or so)
15:11.29Leedspint!
15:11.30ikea4 gbp would be what a 0,5l beer would cost in sweden
15:11.39rdancerLeeds: it's <iso country code><monetary unit abbreviation>
15:11.53rdancerLeeds: CZK, SEK, SKK
15:12.05rdancereven GBP, and USD
15:12.39Leedsrdancer: I know - it was a slip of the brain... I keep getting caught out because the standard abbreviation for the Israeli currency is NIS, but ibot wants ILS
15:13.49rdancerLeeds: hmm, i wonder who makes up these abbrevs
15:14.10rdancer``XE.com - ISO 4217 Type Currency Code List''
15:14.15rdancera-ha
15:14.20Leedsrdancer: yes, they're a standard...
15:14.44LeedsNIS is New Israeli Shekel - it's like calling them Pounds Sterling - it's the full name of the currency
15:14.57rdancer``ILS Israel, New Shekels''
15:15.05Leedsikea: are you going to FOSDEM?
15:16.03rdancerLeeds: calling it NIS seems to me like calling that one CC (for ``Czech Crown'')
15:21.09rdanceribot: change 1 GBP to XDR
15:21.18rdanceribot: bah!
15:21.19ibothmm... bah is everyone's other favourite word (see heh)
15:21.25morsingNetgear Home router seriously sucks!
15:21.40rdancermorsing: ng sucks in general
15:22.06morsingWhat's a good configurable router with a CLI?
15:22.14morsingFor less than #400
15:22.25rhowe_morsing: Soekris net4801 :)
15:22.28LeedsPC running Linux?
15:22.38Leedsor any other decent OS
15:22.44morsingNo harddrives or fans please
15:22.50rhowemorsing: Soekris net4801
15:22.56morsingHow much?
15:22.57Leedsmini-itx machine with CF storage
15:23.03morsingMini MAC?
15:23.03rhowemorsing: US$250 or so
15:23.33morsingrhowe: How do I install it?
15:23.36Leedsmini mac only has one built-in network socket - you'd have to add the other on USB or firewire
15:23.44Leedsand it has both a fan and a hard drive...
15:24.11rhowemorsing: Lemme think how much I spent on mine.. it was about US$280 or so, plus 60 quid of wireless kit, plus my existing ADSL modem/router jobbie (although you can get a PCI DSL card for a tenner), plus 45 quid for 1G CF
15:24.17clyphoxI was very close to buying one this week
15:24.23morsingI only need one NIC
15:24.47rhowemorsing: Debian sarge'll install via TFTP, the BSDs too, I suspect
15:24.51morsingrhowe: Which DSL card did you get?
15:24.52clyphoxbut just can't do it when I compare the price with the ones with the US apple site
15:25.02morsingI'd like FreeBSD on it
15:25.06rhowemorsing: I have the Bewan one, but I'm not using it yet. No PCI DSL card has open source drivers
15:25.07clyphoxapple is ripping us off.. its wrong imo :-(
15:25.27morsingrhowe: I've got a modem anyway so no worries
15:25.29rhowemorsing: Soekris seem to favour the BSDs, and I can see why really. www.soekris.com
15:25.56rhowemorsing: the net4801's one of the higher end ones. You can get slower ones for less
15:26.26clyphoxsoekris rocks
15:26.35rhoweYeah, I'm liking mine a lot
15:26.44rhoweWill probably get one or two more next month
15:26.52clyphoxwhat kinda case r u using? have problems getting a good psu?
15:27.48rhoweI'm using the case they supplied, although if I want to put the PCI DSL card in, I'll need a larger one (it's a full-height card). The supplied PSU seemed to be faulty, and it's not worth sending it back to the US for replacement, so I'm using a PSU from an external CD rewriter
15:27.57morsingrhowe: Have you written a HOWTO? Have you got a list of all the bits I need to order?
15:28.00Leedsclyphox: 24 hours from now I'll be on a plane to the US - and we can get our employee discount in Apple stores now, so I can see myself buying one next week
15:28.50rhowemorsing: It was pretty much entirely a no-brainer for Linux. Debian sarge just worked, aside from having to configure GRUB to use the serial console, and everything else was as you'd do for a regular Linux box
15:29.30rhowemorsing: There's a little tiny kernel patch you can apply, which I did. I don't see what difference it really makes though, apart from adding an entry to menuconfig - there are no code changes
15:30.22rhowemorsing: I need to rebuild it though - I'd like to use jffs2 instead of ext2, otherwise the CF card's going to die soon
15:30.41rhowemorsing: Also, note the 128Mb non-upgradeable RAM. I don't know if that'll be a problem for what you're doing
15:31.10ikeardancer: FOSDEM?
15:31.17morsingrhowe: I need 32MB RAM and 128MB disk
15:31.22morsingAnd a NIC
15:31.41rhowemorsing: OK, well a 128M CF card is peanuts these days - you may as well go 256 for the price
15:31.48ikeastill noone in here offering me a place to stay? :)
15:32.02rhoweikea: I don't have a place of my own, so I'm in no position to
15:32.05morsingStay where? In Aylesbury?
15:32.09rdancer!fosdem
15:32.13rdancer~fosdem
15:32.14ibot[fosdem] the Free and Open source Software Developers' European Meeting, a 2 day event, organized by volunteers, to promote the widespread use of Free and Open Source software. http://www.fosdem.org, or on the 21st and 22nd of February in 2004
15:33.29rdancerikea: gbp 60 for b'n'b & free shuttle to/from victoria stn. is almost free ;-)
15:35.00rhowemorsing: Soekris also produce hardware crypto cards, which only really have decent drivers for BSD, from what I can see
15:36.39morsingIs the net4801 the model to go for or are any of the others good enough?
15:38.17rhoweDepends what you're doing
15:38.54rhoweYou've got two main criteria - features and spec. Do you need miniPCI? Do you need PCI? Do you need IDE? etc and how much power do you need?
15:39.39rhoweSo use your feature requirements to reduce the list of possibles and then decide which one to buy based on a performance/cost tradeoff
15:40.51rhoweI wouldn't go for one that's overspec just because you might possibly want to do more with it later - best just to buy another when you actually need a more powerful box, I'd say.
15:41.39clyphoxhmm I want lart board again
15:41.45rhowelart?
15:41.47clyphox<afk now
15:41.51clyphoxyeah lart..
15:41.55clyphoxkewl stuff
15:42.19clyphoxnot as usefull as soekris but more fun hehe
15:42.35morsingibot lart
15:42.43rhoweibot lart clyphox
15:47.57morsingSo I need PSU, CF card as well. #160?
15:48.03morsing#170?
15:57.37ikeamorsing: london, somewhere
15:58.53ikeahmmmpf. missing FOSDEM with two days.
16:00.13ikeaDo you guys go out alot?
16:00.32ikeaSomething tells me that you spend more time indoors
16:00.39ikeaI know I do anyway.
16:00.51morsingMmm... beer. I mean... milk
16:00.57ikeaNeed some guidance once I arrive in london...
16:03.18ikeahmmm
16:03.33ikeado the underground run 24/7?
16:04.54ikeacould anyone check if it's possible to get from Luton airport to central london on a thursday around 24:00? (please)
16:07.01morsingikea: No. Stops at 1:00
16:07.27ikeamorsing: all the lines? :/
16:07.47morsingikea: You might be able to get to London but the tube will have stoped so you can't get anywhere
16:07.58morsingikea: Yes, all the lines.
16:08.10ikeamorsing: there must be some way to get around.... bus?
16:08.41morsingWell, first problem is a train from Luton. Is that possible?
16:08.47ikeamorsing: we arrive around 23:30 in Luton.
16:08.51ikeaI have no idea.
16:09.03ikeait's 5 miles though. Almost walking distance ffs.
16:09.26morsingThere's an express bus from Luton airport to Watford Junction. From there you can get a train to London.
16:09.54morsingI just don't think the bus is still running at that time
16:10.18*** part/#gllug itsbruce (~bruce@i-194-106-60-104.freedom2surf.net)
16:11.54ikeamorsing: dammit.
16:12.02ikeawhat does a taxi cost?
16:12.28morsingikea: To London around 2500SEK
16:12.45morsingTo Watford around 800SEK
16:12.59morsingOk, 2500SEK might be a stretch :--)
16:13.23morsingI've done MK to WJ which was 90 pounds
16:13.41Leedsthere's also the easybus - cheap minibus to Hendon
16:13.50morsingAt 23:30?
16:13.57LeedsI don't know how late it runs
16:13.59morsingAnd what would you do in Hendon?
16:14.13Leedsmorsing: night bus to town?
16:14.35morsingThe Easybus goes to Watford as well
16:14.38Leedsbetter being in Hendon at midnight than Watford, I think
16:14.44Leedsno it doesn't
16:14.45morsingWatford rocks!
16:14.54morsingLeeds: Yes it does
16:15.09Leedslast easybus is 2000 anyway
16:15.19Leedsmorsing: since when?  their website just says Hendon and MK
16:16.12morsinghttp://www.mkdayout.btinternet.co.uk/milton_keynes_airport_links.htm
16:16.29morsingLeeds: Well, some rail link (easy or not)
16:17.44morsingIkea: Who are you and why are you coming over here?
16:18.26Leedsmorsing: sure - there are other busses, but easybus is very cheap
16:19.07morsingIf he's willing to pay a cab does it matter?
16:19.18*** join/#gllug Marios_ (~mkoumide@82-45-239-23.cable.ubr01.enfi.blueyonder.co.uk)
16:19.53Leedsnot really, but he seems to be price-sensitive, since he's looking for free digs - adding 50 quid for cabs makes quite a difference
16:20.37Marios_Leeds: in M25 how is the direction designated?
16:21.14LeedsMarios_: clockwise and anti-clockwise is the simplest way
16:21.26Leedsotherwise the direction obviously changes a lot dependong on where you are :-)
16:21.46Marios_yes I understand that but on the signs...what do exactly have there?
16:22.01LeedsI don't know - I avoid going on the M25
16:22.03Marios_I have to go Heathrow pick a friend up...
16:22.06Marios_ohh i see
16:38.37*** join/#gllug floo (~gary@host-84-9-93-152.bulldogdsl.com)
16:38.49morsingfloo!
16:38.49floohello!!
16:38.55floohi morsing
16:39.00morsingGoing to FOSDEM?
16:39.15flooI hope to
16:39.17*** join/#gllug rhowe (~rhowe@82.133.8.12)
16:39.21morsingTrain?
16:39.23floou?
16:39.29morsingI am yes
16:39.35flooI think it's best don't you?
16:39.49morsingYup - tunnel and everything considered
16:39.59Leedsfloo: you don't fancy flying? :-)
16:40.01floowill get pissed first so i don't panic through the tunnel
16:40.16morsingSound
16:40.24flooleeds! now then!
16:40.36floowot arr re accomm
16:41.22floor we making our own?
16:41.42floolucky sod!
16:44.35floohmmm I've just found an email from Dan about cheap hotels
16:44.54Leedshe has already booked stuff...
16:45.12flooright so I'd better do it myself then
16:45.26flooshame I missed that...not to worry
16:46.20floobrb
16:49.28flooback now
16:53.28Leedshmm... 6x DVD writing
16:59.38morsingMmm... Writing
17:01.30floomorsing: how are you getting on with mandrake?
17:02.37morsingI hate KDE
17:02.54flooyou can have gnome if you want
17:03.00morsingI'm scrapping it if anyone can get me two 3com 2000T cards!
17:03.18morsing#I need the PC for something else now
17:03.26flooscrapping Mandrake??
17:03.43morsingYes
17:03.48morsingFor FreeBSD
17:04.15floowhy don't you like Mdk then?
17:04.50morsingIt doesn't suit me and I need FreeBSD on the PC
17:05.04morsingFor a new internet server
17:05.20floou need to know ur stuff with freebsd don't you?
17:05.41morsingNot too bad. Not as bad as Solaris definately
17:05.48flooI've heard it's doesn't make a good desktop
17:06.04morsingDon't know. I don't use desktops
17:06.43floointriguing
17:06.48morsingWhy?
17:07.10flooi can't imagine how one doesn't use a desktop
17:07.18flooor do u mean u don't use X
17:07.47morsingI do use X but mainly to have more than one shell to work with
17:08.21floohmm... don't kknow if I'd like that
17:08.39flooI play games and watch dvds andsurf the web on mine
17:09.19morsingI surf the web as well. I don't play games (never have) and I have a DVD-player
17:09.38flooright
17:10.00flooif I was to just have a shell I'd be forever doing 'startx'
17:10.44flooso have u booked everything for fosdem?
17:37.13*** join/#gllug rdancer (~r--t@rdancer.user)
17:37.40rhowemorsing: They can sell you a PSU, but the one they sent me is very intermittent, which isn't so good for a PSU
17:37.53rhowemorsing: It's weird - sometimes it works just fine, other times it won't even boot
17:41.00morsingfloo: I've never done 'startx'
17:41.13morsingrhowe: So what are you using?
17:41.43rhowemorsing: A PSU from a BenQ external CDRW from work. Not a decent permanent solution - someone's going to want to use the thing before too long :)
17:42.12rhowemorsing: The board doesn't have any particularly fancy power requirements
17:42.41rhoweFairly high current, but that's about it
17:45.06morsing200amps?
17:45.51rhoweheh, can't remember offhand
17:46.02rhoweThough the PSU is about 2m away
17:46.06rhoweWant me to check?
17:46.37morsingNo - I'm good
17:47.27rhoweWell I did anyway - 12V 1.5A is what Soekris supplied me with
17:48.36Jangomy psu supplies 30-odd amps on the 12V rail :/
17:49.06rhoweNecessary for your average PC these days
17:50.42*** join/#gllug itsbruce (~bruce@i-194-106-60-104.freedom2surf.net)
17:51.24rhoweCan't see why not, so long as you can switch quickly and cleanly when main power fails
17:51.55morsingWell, I wouldn't need to switch then. The battery would power the 12v-to-230v inverter all the time.
17:52.09rhowePerpetual battery?
17:52.37morsingNo - a car battery charger on the battery
17:52.50rhoweAh
17:53.10rhoweSounds quite inefficient - step-down to 12V then step-up to 240 again
17:53.17itsbruceSheesh.  I have just spent some little time convincing my boss that it is *not* a good idea for servers to get their addresses from dhcp
17:53.26rhoweAlso, are batteries happy being on charge 24/7?
17:53.32morsingGood inverters have 90-95% efficiency
17:53.42rhoweitsbruce: Actually, it can work really well
17:53.57rhoweitsbruce: So long as you can rely on your DHCP service :)
17:54.04itsbruceNo, it's mostly very stupid.  There are occasions where it makes sense, but dhcp is unreliable and insecure
17:54.25rhoweInsecure is the main problem, yes, but unreliable?
17:54.37itsbruceIt's a point of failure waiting to bite you
17:55.12itsbruceA dhcp service can be perfectly robust but any combination of accidents can prevent a client contacting a dhcp server
17:55.13rhoweYou can just run dhcpd on sufficient hosts that the risk of failure becomes less than say, the risk of your switches failing
17:55.41itsbruceAt which point you lose any gain in administrative ease
17:55.55rhoweIn most of those situations though, it doesn't matter if it has an address or not, since it's likely isolated from the network anyhow
17:56.24stephenitsbruce: our servers at work mostly use DHCP, works fine.
17:56.28itsbruceAye, but he was arguing for all of our services to work that way.  Madness.
17:56.44itsbrucestephen: it's unnecessary.  How often do you change their ip addresses?
17:57.14itsbruceAnd how many are you responsible for?  Hundreds in my case but I still don't want them dhcp-ing.
17:57.26stephenyes, several hundred
17:57.54stephenand there's other network information that may change, such as DHCP servers or default gateway
17:58.12itsbruceSo why risk a situation where the only thing to have failed on your network be the dhcp server, but this then causes failure of systems all over?
17:58.21itsbrucestephen: So use cfengine or rdist or whatever
17:58.25stephenwe have more than one DHCP server
17:59.37itsbruceStill not swayed.  I took some time early on to roll out cfengine and I can make any changes like that in a secure and predictable manner.  Don't have to wait for leases to expire...
18:00.06itsbruceDon't have to worry about dhcp spoofing, nothing stops working if the cfengine master goes away, big win.
18:00.37rhoweWhat's the worst that DHCP spoofing could do anyway?
18:00.57rhoweGive two servers the same address, or a different one, or change their default gateway
18:01.22rhoweJust basically break things. Hardly a security risk (nothing security-concious relies on the IP address as a means of authentication now, does it?)
18:01.27itsbruceWhich can cause chaos.  Also, you could point services at your own DNS servers and fuck a whole lot of security
18:01.54itsbruceSo why risk it?  For the machismo?
18:02.18rhoweWell if something's spoofing DHCP on your server segment, then one of the servers or a router got cracked
18:02.29rhoweSo chaos has already begun
18:02.50itsbruceBalls.  Someone could simply have had access to a switch they should have.
18:02.52rhoweIf only DHCP could be signed
18:03.14rhoweDHCPsec :P
18:03.31itsbruceAnd both security and reliability are about incremental steps, not about not bothering at all because one thing may be compromised
18:04.08rhoweIncremental steps starting with the things most likely to cause a problem
18:04.34itsbruceThat is not an argument for making it easier for them to cause a problem
18:05.08rhoweIt is if there are benefits to be gained.
18:05.19itsbruceAnd we haven't even discussed the more likely cause of problems: human fuckup, rather than human malice
18:05.24rhoweFor you, there aren't, since you see cfengine as perfectly adequate
18:05.50itsbruceI find adequate an odd word to describe cfengine compared to dhcp
18:05.56evangineerhave found a couple of partial soutions for decrypting pdfs, but nothing that does a good enough job to enable scripted pdf form filling.
18:07.16rhoweWithout knowing more about cfengine, I wouldn't know of a better word to use
18:08.37itsbruceI still stand by the point that server ip address changes are rare, as are route and gateway changes to production networks, so that dhcp offers a very tiny time gain with big potential problems
18:09.09itsbruceAnd that the work required to make it fireproof more than eats up that time gain, and that nothing makes it secure
18:10.05itsbruceAnd that one human error with dhcp can then bring a whole network down, whereas statically configured systems only break when they are actively interfered with
18:11.10itsbruceEspecially since having multiple dhcp servers doesn't protect you from a misconfiguration on just one of them
18:11.32itsbruceIt just makes it harder to predict which services will be fucked up
18:13.16rhoweHm, I guess when you're running a network of *nix boxes, it's possible to manage them pretty much as effectively in other ways, and avoid some of the pitfalls that DHCP has..
18:13.30itsbruceAye.
18:13.39rhoweHowever, I don't run a network of *nix boxes :P
18:14.02itsbruceAnd some of the server management tools have windows clients.  Cfengine included, so there, nyahh nyahh
18:14.38rhoweI still say that what I really want is an authenticated DHCP :)
18:14.52itsbruceI have often thought that
18:14.56rhoweThat way, I could do totally unattended Debian installs
18:15.45morsingrhowe: Why not?
18:16.27rhowemorsing: 'cause work runs stuff that's tied to SQL server, and they use Citrix for remote access to MS Word. There are ways around it, but we have bigger fish to fry, IT-wise
18:16.58rhowemorsing: On top of that, they're now in the process of buying a timesheet system which runs on ASP.NET :/
18:17.07morsingrhowe: I thought you were leaving that job?
18:17.57morsingStupid BOR write failures
18:18.33rhowemorsing: Hrm, no immediate plans to
18:18.54rhowemorsing: Still want to fix up a few things before I go
18:18.58morsingYou got promoted?
18:19.05rhowemorsing: Give it 6 months to a year :)
18:19.13rhoweheh, not a chance
18:19.18rhowe$boss'd have to move to Japan first
18:19.23itsbrucerhowe: I've been in that trap.  You just have to give up on it
18:19.24rhowe(and therefore quit)
18:19.46itsbruceBecause there are always things that need to be fixed before you go
18:19.54rhoweitsbruce: Well, currently it's a job I can have for literally as long as I want - decades, even.
18:20.14rhoweitsbruce: Well yes, but in this case my aim is to unload mod_php4 from apache on the web server
18:20.18rhoweitsbruce: Almost there
18:20.34rhoweAnd to get hylafax running, which my boss seems incapable of doing
18:20.44rhowe(zetafax on Windows is the biggest waste of space I've ever ever seen)
18:20.59itsbruceIt's painful, indeed
18:21.06rhoweWe're on v7.0
18:21.17rhoweOr maybe it's 7.1 after patching.. not sure
18:21.34rhoweAnyway, the SMTP server crashes *immediately* after starting
18:21.46rhoweoccasionally it manages to pass a fax to the mail server, but only rarely
18:22.14rhoweSince we've dumped Exchange, SMTP is the only delivery method available
18:22.20morsingGood
18:22.35rhoweI could probably write a perl script to do a better job of the Zetafax SMTP server, actually..
18:22.37itsbruceAlways glad to hear of a triumph over Exchange.
18:22.46rhowehmm... maybe worth refreshing my knowledge of perl
18:23.37rhoweI'm pretty sure it's just a case of extracting the email address from a file filled with stuff, attaching a file to a blank email with possibly a date, and sending it out via SMTP
18:23.52rhoweOr we could just divert faxes to a paper fax machine
18:24.37rhoweWe have a brooktrout fax board. Don't know whether to junk it or pay out for the commercial hylafax brooktrout support (I think it's by a company called ifax)
18:26.50rhoweitsbruce: I was suprised, btw, that debconf can get configuration info from LDAP - looks interesting :)
18:26.55morsingWould anyone be interested in ordering some Soekris?
18:27.12rhowemorsing: Yes, but not until next month :P
18:27.25rhowe(or, to be precise, FOSDEM)
18:27.30rhoweSince payday is the 25th
18:28.45morsingOkay, maybe we could find some more people who wants one
18:29.02rhoweCan you wait until the 25th?
18:29.25morsingOf course
18:29.39rhoweOK
18:30.02morsingThere's a Danish company importing them
18:30.09itsbruceI am also interested.  Want to use one as a home gateway and run openbsd on it
18:30.23itsbruceMorsing: there's a german company too.  Does good rates
18:30.58morsingrhowe: was anything mysteriously added to your package?
18:31.01rhoweYeah, the Danish one seemed to be of the opinion that US$1 = GBP 1, ISTR
18:31.13rhowemorsing: How do you mean?
18:33.05itsbruceAnd there's also a Belgian company, gives all the proceeds to OpenBSD.  How do these rates compare? http://soekris.kd85.com/
18:33.40morsingrhowe: taxes by the gov
18:34.15rhowemorsing: Oh no - I used their free US ground shipping to get it to our NYC office, and then they fedexed it to me from there, billing it to one of our clients (you didn't hear me say that :)
18:35.05rhoweitsbruce: Hrm. IIRC I looked at kd85 last time... lemme see
18:35.35rhoweIt's hard to beat the dollar exchange rate, especially when it's free shipping. Since we're paying for shipping this time, it might be worth using one of the European outfits
18:35.50rhoweibot change eur 255 to usd
18:35.59rhoweibot change 255 eur  to usd
18:36.02itsbruceA quick look seems to indicate that kd85 thing 1 euro = 1 dollar, which is almost correct
18:36.31rhoweibot change 1 usd to eur
18:37.07itsbruceibot change 160 eur to usd
18:38.01rhowenet4801 board and case is US$249 in the US, and US$327 from kd85 - That's a $75 price hike, which I can't see being absorbed by delivery
18:38.19itsbruceNo.
18:38.28rhowe13" x 10" x 3" box, weighs 3 to 6 lbs. Can fit 1-2 net4501 or net4511 with case and power supply, or 2 net4521 units with case only. USD 35-50
18:38.49rhoweAlthough that doesn't include VAT ;)
18:39.03*** join/#gllug irm (~chatzilla@82-43-93-7.cable.ubr08.croy.blueyonder.co.uk)
18:39.23rhoweibot 249 * 1.175
18:39.24ibot292.575
18:39.26itsbruceAnd Soekris offer volume discounts, also
18:39.53rhoweYes, but unless you're really talking about volumes, it's negligable
18:40.13rhoweMight just cover shipping costs
18:40.24itsbruceCortex offer significantly better prices than kd85, now that I check
18:40.36rhoweAlso, I doubt we'd all be ordering the same models...
18:41.34rhoweibot change 199 eur to usd
18:41.44rhoweThat's more like it
18:42.19morsingI'll be going to DK in March
18:42.44morsingrhowe: Only one model looked interesting to me
18:42.54morsingAll the others were very small
18:43.08rhowemorsing: net4801?
18:43.15morsingYes
18:43.17morsing-50
18:43.23rhoweYup
18:43.33rhoweThat's what I'm IRCing through
18:45.22morsingHang on! Soekris is *danish* I didn't know that :-)
18:46.06rhowehaha
18:48.16morsingCan I get a graphics adapter for it?
18:48.27rhoweIt has a PCI slot, yes
18:48.41rhowePeople have made thin clients out of them, for example
18:49.49itsbruceHmm.  Would there be a chance to grab these things while actually in Belgium?
18:49.50morsingThat's what I was thinking. It does PXE booting as well? I need two then
18:50.11rhoweI'm reading about PoE, quite interesting
18:50.30rhoweNo need for a PSU if I get a power over ethernet box
18:50.31morsingPoE?
18:50.37morsing?!?
18:50.45itsbruceWe use PXE for our application servers
18:50.50rhowewww.poweroverethernet.com
18:51.25rhoweWhen it says that the Soekris supports PoE, I can't really tell if it means that it supplies power to its cables, or whether it can be powered from the cables, though :)
18:51.31rhoweI suspect the latter, but I dunno
18:51.31morsingWhy are CF cards killed by read and writes?
18:51.40itsbrucerhowe: it's the latter
18:52.08rhowemorsing: They degrade. After some number of write, erase, write cycles, they stop working
18:52.10itsbrucemorsing: The technology only allows a certain number of changes.  After that it just wears out.  More expensive ones last longer
18:52.34morsingWhat?!? Why wasn't I told about this when I bought one?
18:52.43morsingI want my money back
18:53.06itsbruceUSB key disks have exactly the same problem.  This is why most sensible OSen cache all writes to a USB key disk and only flush them at unmount.
18:53.58rhoweThis is also why we have jffs2, a filesystem which is designed to work well on flash devices and minimise wear
18:54.19morsingjfs2 or jffs2?
18:54.28rhowejffs2
18:54.28itsbruceUnfortunately, the disk is likely to fail midway through a write, so when a disk wears out it is likely to be corrupted.
18:54.34rhoweJournalled flash file system
18:54.48morsingJournalling it would write even more...
18:55.04itsbruceNo, not if you cache all the updates
18:55.22morsingBut then it's not journalling and doesn't make sense
18:55.37morsingWell, maybe it is...
18:55.50itsbruceWell, you don't cache them all but you can sequence them and do them in the fewest number of bursts
18:56.27itsbruceAnd it is journalled, just more prone to lose data.  But the journal means it's easier to recover if there is a failure mid-write
18:56.59rdancer#openbsd: ``we are secure, we are secure, we are secure, ...'' -- ``isn't a ftp install a bit insecure, given that the archives are not signed or anything?'' -- ``stfu you troll!@$#%; we are secure, ...''
18:57.10rhoweHm, wouldn't it be nice if Soekris were at FOSDEM? :)
18:57.31*** join/#gllug Eeyore (~Eeyore@82-35-40-151.cable.ubr02.camd.blueyonder.co.uk)
18:57.55itsbruceIn practice, with a soekris box you would want to boot to a ram disk if at all possible.  It's most suitable for routers, for that reason
18:58.11itsbruceThat way you only updat the flash disk when you want to do a config change.
18:58.40EeyoreIf i have a machine running hardware RAID1 and i'm running out of disk space is it easy to move the stuff to an identical machine running RAID1 with bigger disks installed? Or is there any easy way to upgrade the disks inplace?
18:58.47rhoweYeah, ideally, but I don't yet know how much of that 128M I'll be using - probably not too much
18:59.17Eeyorei've used ghost before to move to a machine with bigger disks but i'm not entirely sure how/if it handles raid
18:59.25itsbruceEeyore: did you put LVM on top of the raid?
18:59.33Eeyorevery unlikely
18:59.36Eeyoreredhat 7.3
18:59.53itsbruceOh, is this software raid?
18:59.55EeyoreLKM is some recent software thing isn't it?
19:00.01EeyoreKVM
19:00.03Eeyoredamn
19:00.04EeyoreLVM
19:00.17Eeyoreno it's hardware, does hardware usually support LVM?
19:00.20itsbruceLVM isn't exactly recent.  Been stable for a long time, now
19:00.34itsbruceIf it's hardware, then Ghost won't even be aware of the RAID
19:00.38morsingLVM and HW has nothing to do with eachother
19:00.58EeyoreSo if ghost doesn't know it raid it might work?
19:00.58morsingMmm... pizza
19:01.10Eeyorei don't think LVM was in redhat 7.3
19:01.10morsingIt will work
19:01.10itsbruceSure it'll work.  Ghost will just see a disk
19:01.22rhowemorsing: I'm also looking at putting a small order in with aria soon for little bits and pieces. If you've anything you want, and fancy splitting the delivery, let me know
19:01.30itsbruceEeyore: No, it wasn't.  Isn't in RHEL either.  Pile of crap.
19:01.55rhowemorsing: I'm only after cables, fans and cable converters. Not worth spending a tenner on delivery just for those
19:02.03EeyoreIt's in FC3 it's running on this machine now with LVM on software raid1, not sure what it does though.
19:02.37itsbruceLVM = Logical volume management.  It lets you forget about where your physical partitions are.
19:03.08EeyoreI'm not sure i ever knew where my physical partitions were, what does that mean in practice?
19:03.23itsbruceErm, I'm not sure if I have the stamina for this
19:03.41Eeyoresorry, it's not that important only of academic interest
19:03.46Eeyorei may try ghosting
19:04.57rhoweTry reading
19:04.58morsingrhowe: What's the address? I don't know what they're selling
19:05.08rhowemorsing: www.aria.co.uk - general PC bits
19:05.25Eeyoreit's a shame none of these raid systems let you just add disks for extra space.
19:05.26rhowemorsing: Will probably place the order in the coming week
19:05.33Eeyorelike a dynamic raid5 reconfiguration.
19:05.41rhoweEeyore: You mean, like LVM? :PO
19:05.49Eeyoreah! so thats what it can do!
19:06.00Eeyorehandy
19:08.37rdancercan i scroll the terminal output on the ss5's openbootprompt?
19:08.41rdancer*how
19:09.29eye69Evening.
19:09.30morsingCan LVM add space to a RAID5?
19:09.32morsingEvening
19:09.33EeyoreThough i presume LVM sits on top of raid and is unaware of it, so it's not quite the same thing
19:09.39morsingHow's sweeeden?
19:09.43Eeyorenot from what i've read so far
19:09.57morsingLVM is not RAID
19:09.58eye69It's alright. Munching crisps.
19:10.06Eeyoreyou could add another raid group and place it within the same LVM but i don't think you could use it extend a RAID
19:10.14morsingIt manages logical volumes but people are confused by it
19:10.34eye69Some RAID controllers can extend existing arrays.
19:10.53Eeyoreshame i configured it in raid 1
19:10.57morsingI don't understand why people use RAID
19:11.10eye69morsing: Data security?
19:11.19Eeyoreurrm, you it provides protection from failing disks?
19:11.22morsingLike mirroring?
19:11.35stephenmirroring is RAID level 1
19:11.35itsbruceLike
19:11.37morsingDoing it in hardware is not even better
19:11.45eye69Yes, RAID1, RAID10/01, RAID5...
19:11.50itsbruceThere are advantages to hardware raid
19:11.53Eeyoreyes or raid 5 which allows any single to disk to fail and gives you space = size *disks-1
19:12.01morsingstephen: Not really. Technically RAID is a term for the hardware
19:12.27stephenwell, in the abstract, RAID 1 mirrors two disks
19:12.28morsingEeyore: Software is much more flexible than that
19:12.36itsbrucemorsing: Stephen is right, mirroring is RAID 1
19:12.41eye69RAID0 should be called AID, not RAID.
19:12.50morsingYes, but RAID is hardware
19:12.56Eeyoresoftware raid is quite crap really
19:13.06morsingEeyore: No it's not
19:13.08Eeyoreit's ok but requires manual intervention
19:13.16Eeyoreu can't just hotswap disks.
19:13.43morsingHow come all the biggest and most proffesional server don't use hw raid but sw mirroring only?
19:13.44itsbrucemorsing: software raid is also hardware, the difference is where the management is done
19:14.01Eeyoreand i think the machine has to be down whilst it reimages a new disk
19:14.08itsbruceAnd there is absolutely nothing in the RAID spec to say where the management should be done
19:14.13Eeyoresure
19:14.17morsingEeyore: You're now specifically talking Linux!
19:14.23EeyoreI just mean in practice
19:14.40morsingIn practice Linux probably
19:14.44itsbruceHardware raid offeres the advantage that it is available when the OS is down
19:14.57morsingYeah that's handy!
19:15.05itsbruceEeyore would have a harder time copying the data from one software box to another
19:15.09eye69Eeyore: No.
19:15.12Eeyorei'm not talking theoretically. I just mean in practice i haven't seen reliable hotswappable software RAID that just works transparently.
19:15.32morsingHave you worked with AIX, HP-UX and Solaris?
19:15.37EeyoreNo.
19:15.41EeyoreI am talking linux
19:15.55morsingThis is why Linux can't compete with proper servers
19:15.59Eeyorei thought SPARCS had hardware raid
19:16.13morsingNot the entry and midrange boxes
19:16.17Eeyoreand also the IBM servers, i thought they all used hardware too
19:16.21Eeyorethe ones i've used have
19:16.30morsingIBM servers never use hardware RAID
19:16.41itsbrucemorsing: Hang on, if the high-end boxes use hardware raid, doesn't that make it more respectable? ;)
19:16.43Eeyorei have 4 netfinity servers with hardware raid
19:17.06Eeyoreso that clearly isn't true
19:17.18morsingI've worked with more than 200 IBM servers in four different companies prices going up to #2000000 and none have used hw raid
19:17.31morsingEeyore: I'm not talking small PCs
19:18.20EeyoreOk anyway, i'm sure your right, all the hardware i use is low end el-cheapo stuff and the reliable kit uses hardware raid.
19:18.56itsbruceMorsing: sorry, but IBM do offer hardware raid controllers on some of their P-Series boxes, I know that
19:19.14morsingI know they do but I've never heard of anyone using them
19:19.27itsbruceWell, it's a big world in the IBM user space
19:19.32Eeyoreas a software developer i'm sure that software raid is much better if the hardware is capable of handling hot swapping and what not
19:19.42morsingAnd they are optional
19:20.02eye69morsing: Most servers I've worked on have had proper hardware RAID.
19:20.11morsingPCs?
19:20.21eye69x86 kit, yes.
19:20.52morsingI wonder if it's the low reliability of PCs that makes them ship with hw raid
19:20.58Eeyorewhen you say software raid are you sure it's not just software GUI for hardware raid interaction.
19:21.08morsingMmm... beer
19:21.18itsbruceAnd to nitpick, saying "Everybody does it this way" isn't necessarily an argument.  Look at RAID5, for example.  Used by default by many people even though it often isn't appropriate
19:21.56EeyoreI use it when i want redundancy and bigger space that 1 disc. Is that appropriate?
19:22.27itsbruceRAID 5 can fuck up in a way that makes the contents of the entire array unrecoverable
19:22.43itsbruceNow, I have some food to cook
19:22.43EeyoreIs that likely?
19:22.57Eeyorewhats the alternative?
19:23.09Eeyorecos i've had raid 5 disks fail and it seems quite handy
19:23.33itsbruceRAID 10 or 01, for example.  But the main thing is, don't treat RAID as if it eliminates the need for backups or data replication
19:23.55itsbruceIf you have live databases on RAID, whatever level, make sure you're replicating the data elsewhere
19:24.48Eeyoreoh yes of course
19:24.50eye69Of course not. RAID is so that you don't have to go through the necessary downtime for restoring backups if a disk fails.
19:25.07Eeyoreyou have to backup anyway, the data center could get by a comet.
19:25.18Eeyorehit by
19:25.19itsbruceeye69: You know that and I know that but it's surprising how many people think otherwise
19:25.58Eeyorei think postgresql replication is still somewhat in infancy but we take overnight dumps.
19:26.06eye69RAID wont protect against stupid admins, stupid users, failed filesystems, programs failing and deleting data etc...
19:26.21eye69Eeyore: Are you doing failover with that?
19:26.29itsbruceEeyore: Slony looks cool and has some features that Mysql replication does not
19:26.57EeyoreNo, it's not a critical system. we do failover on "critical systems" eg, ones that people scream about if they go down
19:27.01Eeyorethey still go down of course
19:27.28Eeyorefailover pairs like to fail at the same time.
19:27.34Eeyorecos often they have the same bugs.
19:27.38itsbruceDatabase failover still interrupts services, it just makes recovery quicker.  If you want real HA, you really need active-active clustering
19:28.28Eeyorewe run a version of heartbeat for a failover pair that has a memory leak. I nearly had a heart attack when i realised it was written in python.
19:28.30itsbruceAnd the only open source db that does that credibly is Ingres.
19:28.58Eeyorei remember ingres from uni
19:29.13Eeyorewhenever we had a database assignment it fell over.
19:29.27itsbruceThat may say more about the local admins than anything else
19:29.30Eeyorenot entirely true
19:29.36Eeyoreground to a halt
19:29.42evangineerEeyore: was the heartbeat written in pure python or did it use a C extension?
19:29.46itsbruceOr the local network and resources
19:29.57Eeyoreit says "running assignments on shared machines is stupid"
19:30.24EeyoreI didn't dig that closely, currently trying to upgrade but having issues with other bits and pieces.
19:31.03itsbruceEeyore: would you rather do the prep on isolated kit and then find it doesn't work when you bring it in?
19:31.18morsingDid you all remember to buy your ticket? The draw is happening now
19:31.47Eeyoreitsbruce: what are you talking about? the machine running out of diskspace or the failover-pair with a memory leak?
19:32.03EeyorePS: anyone want to swap jobs ;)
19:33.51Eeyoreoh the ingres assignments at uni.
19:33.58Eeyorei haven't thought about that for a long time
19:34.07Eeyorei decided RDBMS suck.
19:34.51EeyorePossibly a neccessary evil in many cases.
19:35.16EeyoreMy SQL lecturer wasn't up to much either.
19:45.14Copeevening
19:46.19itsbruceAh, now, nothing at all wrong with RDBMS or SQL.  Plenty wrong with some of the implementations
19:54.36EeyoreI'm from a heavily OO background and many people try to use RDBMS for storing model data that fits in memory
19:54.56Eeyoreit's fine for massive databases and complex generic queries
19:59.36Eeyorethanks for the advice anyway, ghost is worth a try.
20:13.48Copeibot 7.5 * 14
20:13.49ibot105
21:08.33itsbruceMeh.  Peter Childs.
21:34.30*** join/#gllug ikea (ikea@ruggigt.hemlig.net)
21:43.39*** join/#gllug irm (~chatzilla@82-43-93-7.cable.ubr08.croy.blueyonder.co.uk)
21:45.05EeyorePeter Childs
21:45.12EeyoreI saw his name on a mailing list
21:45.48EeyoreJust in case he was the same person who went to my University, i avoided going to the last meet just in case.
21:45.58Copelol
21:46.47Copehe's easy to spot - his spelling, typing and grammar are dreadful (although he may be dyslexic)
21:47.10EeyoreHe is dyslexic
21:47.31Eeyorewe had this thread on the local uni newsgroups.
21:48.07Copein which case I am glad that I never said anything on the list.
21:48.27EeyoreThe problem is that a lot of people are tollerant people that like to be inclusive and treat otherwise as they want to be treated.
21:48.44itsbruceDyslexia doesn't make you stupid.
21:49.01itsbruceIt also doesn't make you incoherent.
21:49.23Copeclearly not - one of my best friends is dyslexic, and also fiercely intelligent and an excellent programmer.
21:49.24Eeyoreand when these people walk into a room and want to throw themselves out of a window 2 minutes into a conversation - they become troubled and confused.
21:49.51Eeyorethis is the problem people often encountered with a certain person.
21:50.01itsbruceCope: so it is possible to think Peter Childs a twat and not be a bigot
21:50.14Copeitsbruce: absolutely :)
21:50.21EeyoreYou see.
21:50.27Jangoyea i also some insanely intelligent dyslexics
21:50.56Eeyoreone of our lecturers walked into the classroom one day (he was my fav lecturer actually)
21:51.26itsbruceJust once?  I can see why you liked him
21:51.27Eeyorehe unfolded a small paper airoplane on his desk without really thinking he read it
21:51.49Eeyorethen he looked up and said "who's peter childs?"
21:51.55CopeEeyore: trouble with peter is he frequently says thinks that are just plain rubbish, or not thought through - which gets grating after more than a few times.
21:51.55Eeyorewe glance nervously at peter.
21:52.09Eeyorehe continues "because apparently he's a twat".
21:52.16Copelol!
21:52.40EeyoreYou see, it was very harsh. But i just couldn't help laughing so much i nearly pissed my pants.
21:52.59Jangowhich uni?
21:53.03EeyoreKent
21:53.22Eeyoreor Canterbury as it was then known.
21:53.30Jangohmm, you still there?
21:53.44EeyoreNo, that was about 5-7 years ago
21:53.50Cope-2?
21:53.54Jangoah ok
21:54.10Jangoi think Cope deserves a slap for that :)
21:55.05EeyoreI wanted someone to volunteer to help me at this charity migrating to linux, but i had a nightmare that i went to the LUG meeting and peter volunteered.
21:55.21EeyoreI even started running through excuses in my head.
21:55.51itsbruceIt's easier to ask the question in a room where you know where he is, and make sure he's out of earshot, than on list without him reading it
21:56.12Eeyoreand that was even before i read the latest emails on the mailing list pretty much confirming it was the same peter childs
21:56.24Eeyoreprobably
21:56.36itsbruceEither that or the name is a curse
21:57.40Eeyorethat reminds me
21:58.06Eeyorehas anyone got an NT based client to connect to a Samba domain controller?
21:58.31itsbruceNT, no.  2k and XP, yes.
21:58.40Eeyoreyes 2k
21:58.46Eeyoreit requires a username# login?
21:58.51Eeyorethat 98 didn't
21:59.05Eeyorei think the # refers to a machine account.
21:59.19itsbruceYou don't *have* to
21:59.23Eeyoreso it seems to require 2 accounts?
21:59.43Eeyorei get something along the lines of unable to authenticate user# in the samba log
21:59.54itsbruceOnly if you want to join the domain.  You can treat it as just a workgroup and then you only need one account
22:00.01Eeyoreand the client complains of a problem with a the domain controller or password
22:00.22Eeyoreit is the primary domain controller
22:00.23Eeyoreor will be
22:00.47itsbruceIn order to get an NT/2k box joining a samba domain, you have to log in to the windows box as a local administrator...
22:00.49EeyoreI wonder if there is a way to tell samba to create machine accounts automatically or
22:01.11Eeyoreyes, i can do that.
22:01.41Eeyorei can also see the stuff on the machine by doing the normal \\samba-server
22:01.43itsbruceThen join the domain using a samba account with root-level priveleges on the samba box.  In that case, a properly configured samba set-up will create the machine accounts automatically
22:01.56Eeyoreah ha
22:02.10itsbruceBecause the NT box requests it when you join the domain.
22:02.29itsbruceDo be aware that this will not make existing accounts on the windows box part of the samba domain.
22:03.10itsbruceBut you will then be able to log into the windows box as anybody who has an account on the samba domain
22:03.24Eeyorethat sounds like what i am looking for cheers.
22:03.39Eeyorehopefully samba will put the stuff into LDAP for me
22:03.55Eeyorei tried entering the details into LDAP but i had issues due to my lack of ldap skills
22:04.09Eeyorelargely i think i created a # account with the wrong case and couldn't delete it.
22:04.58itsbruceWhen I say "Then join.. using a samba account...", you just apply to join the domain (right-click on My Computer, Properties, network identification).  Then, assuming the windows box finds the domain, you are prompted to give an administrative account/password for the samba domain
22:05.47EeyoreI see, as I was switching this linux box in to replace an NT domain controller i didn't do that bit as it was already configured.
22:05.47itsbruceEasiest thing is to give root a samba account but no samba share priveleges.  That way, it can only be used for domain joining/leaving.
22:06.04Eeyorefrom what you say, it seems like if i was doing the thing from scratch it might have worked
22:06.18Eeyorecool
22:06.19itsbruceAh.  Now, replacing an NT domain controller effectively means creating a new domain.  It's a painful migration
22:06.44Eeyoreheh, do you have an email address i could have?
22:06.51Eeyorethis could save me days
22:06.52itsbruceYou have to make local copies of domain accounts, leave the domain, join the new domain, create matching accounts and copy the details back.
22:07.40Eeyorei'm not really migrating that properly, all accounts have been re-setup in samba(ldap backed)
22:07.43itsbruceThis is necessary because NT domains have unique SIDs and all the security is tied to that
22:07.57Eeyorethe only thing was i tried making the domain controller have the same name in the hope that client machines would just work.
22:07.58itsbruceEeyore: aye, but you lose all the user preferences etc.
22:08.07Eeyorethey aren't using roaming profiles
22:08.11itsbruceNot only does it not work, it causes problems
22:08.54Eeyoreso if i name it differently, and do the admin login, and login to the samba drive as root using the right click properties thing then it might all work?
22:09.13itsbruceThe nice thing with Samba and domains is that the domain UID is just a piece of configuration data, so you can easily replace a Samba domain controller by copying that file and the windows boxes are happy.
22:09.32itsbruceWhich makes roaming profiles practical and safe-ish.
22:09.47Eeyorei'm not attempting roaming profiles, they aren't using them at the moment.
22:10.20Eeyoremainly it's there as a file server with automatic drive mappings/security for different groups.
22:10.24itsbruceEeyore: sure.  But you'll have to tell the windows boxes to leave their old domain first.  They'll bitch about not being able to find the old domain
22:10.35itsbruceBut they'll do it.
22:10.51itsbruceIf you do them all at once, then you can keep the old name as they'll have forgotten about it.
22:10.54Eeyorewhich has also been a pain due to lack of ACL, i'm switching the security groups based.
22:11.14itsbruceWhich version of Samba is it?
22:11.33Eeyoredon't know, it's the one installed with SUSE professional.
22:11.45Eeyoreplease don't tell me it should be debian (not my choice anyway)
22:11.57Eeyorelatest suse
22:12.12itsbruceThat's irrelevant.  It's just the version of Samba that matters. Hopefully it'll be 3.x
22:12.19Eeyorei would check now, but i don't have the access details to hand
22:12.36Eeyorewhen you say "all at once" what do you mean?
22:12.37itsbruceSeems it is, according to google
22:12.44Eeyorei think so yes.
22:12.55Eeyorebrb
22:13.33itsbruceI mean that if you get all the workstations to leave the domain, then put the samba replacement in, then get them to join the new domain, they won't notice that the new domain has the same name as the old one.
22:14.32itsbruceBut if you're trying to get these boxes to leave a domain and they try and they find a box that claims to be that domain and then it has the wrong SID, they'll be unhappy.
22:14.48itsbruceMind you, you can just disconnect them from the network while you get them to leave the domain.
22:14.56Copeitsbruce: sounds like you've played with this a lot :)
22:15.16itsbruceI spent a long time hitting windows workstations over the head.  Painful.
22:17.51itsbruceWindows security model is one of the things that makes the boxes so hard to maintain
22:20.31itsbruceFor example, if you are doing roaming profiles then they are stored on a domain controller.  But as an administrator you have no rights to see the contents of those profiles.
22:21.07itsbruceWhich means you can't even see how much disk space they are using and you certainly can't move them if you are running out of space.  
22:22.54Copenot a great design
22:23.39itsbruceWell, it is from the point of view of a paranoid CEO who doesn't want his admins to see his documents.
22:23.52itsbruceAnd Microsoft happens to have one of those.
22:25.12arcan you not force the perms so that the admin can look at the profile?
22:25.40itsbrucear: Only by taking ownership of the files, which breaks things.
22:26.21arah
22:27.13itsbruceThere are ways around it, but you have to have them in place before you start using roaming profiles.  And they aren't reliable.
22:27.32itsbruceIt makes backups a sod, also
22:27.49itsbruceMuch nicer to have it all on Samba, if you're going to do it.
22:37.45Copegoodnight all - see you tomorrow.
22:46.52Eeyoreprobably at some point the machines will all be switched to linux at which point we won't even need samba, but realisticlly it's taken my about 9 weeks to not complete the samba migration so they will be running with windows clients for some time...
22:47.17Eeyorealso i've got migrate exchange next.
22:48.35Eeyore9 weeks = 9 days as i only work saturday, and i've had networing issues and dodgy broadcom adaptor to deal with
22:48.54Eeyoreplus 1 day wasted working out where the port filtering rules were on win2k business edition.
22:49.12Eeyoreso i'm not as incapable as it sounds...
22:49.17Eeyorewell not quite.
23:50.43Leedsevening all
23:51.37Jangosup
23:51.52LeedsI've got about 12 hours...
23:52.05Jangoi've got about 12 seconds
23:52.20Jangojust wondering why i'm getting mail from work on a saturday
23:56.13LeedsI've had no work mail for about 24 hours

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