From: Digestifier To: Linux-Misc@senator-bedfellow.mit.edu Reply-To: Linux-Misc@senator-bedfellow.mit.edu Date: Mon, 10 Oct 94 12:13:12 EDT Subject: Linux-Misc Digest #912 Linux-Misc Digest #912, Volume #2 Mon, 10 Oct 94 12:13:12 EDT Contents: Re: Is linux a multithreaded operating system? (David Barr) XFree3.1 + Spea Mercury P64 PCI (Joern Carstens) Re: Mail order Linux or CD-roms (Jeff Kesselman) Re: Word (Text) processors for Linux? (Byron A Jeff) Re: Mystery Chip...AMD (Brad Matthew Garcia) Re: Newbies? (was Re: Hmmm) (Starblood) Re: Dialup problem (Klaus Lichtenwalder) Re: Curious: Why is Linux DOOM so much slower than DOS doom (To Kar Keung Isaac) Re: getting linux to work dail-up (Lars Hofhansl) OLD LINUX CDROMS (Gideon H. Chonia) Oracle for Linux?! (Andrej Sostaric, TF Maribor, 062 25-461 (442)) ez (was Re: Word (Text) processors for Linux?) (Budi Rahardjo) Re: Beautifying Linux/Xfree (Terence S. Murphy) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: barr@pop.psu.edu (David Barr) Subject: Re: Is linux a multithreaded operating system? Date: 9 Oct 1994 21:17:30 -0400 In article , Jeff Kesselman wrote: >So yes, UNIX is multi-threaded in the sens that there are multiple threads >of control operating in a time-sliced fashion. The term 'threading' is >often used in multi-tasking system however to denote a 'lesser form' of >multi-taskign that goes on completely within a single process. Not quite. Most UNIXes (including Linux) are not multi-threaded at all. Multi-tasking is simply multiple "tasks" (call them threads, call them processes, it doesn't matter) executing simultaneously. Traditionally, the smallest schedule-able "task" is a process. If you want two things to be able to execute simultaneously, you make two processes. Multi-threading extends this such that you can have multiple threads per process, and each thread can be scheduled on its own. If one thread in a process performs a read() and has to wait, other threads can continue executing. The difference between a "thread" and a "process" in a multi-threaded system is that a "thread" shares the same address space as other threads in the same process. With processes, in order to share memory, you need to use something like the SYSV shm*() family of syscalls. >thsi is >also sometimes called 'light-weight multi-tasking'. UNIX (and Linux) I think you're thinking of what Sun calls "light weight processes", which is a hokey pseudo-threaded system for non-multithreading kernels. Under LWP, system calls in one thread block all threads in the process from executing. There are thread libraries for Linux (pthreads) that will allow this sort of multithreading for Linux, but don't confuse that with a multithreading operating system. (Like Solaris) These are called "user-level" threads, and are not nearly as useful as one with a kernel that supports threads. (and if your kernel supports real threads, you can compile the pthread library to do real threading) --Dave ------------------------------ From: phantom@cs.tu-berlin.de (Joern Carstens) Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.help Subject: XFree3.1 + Spea Mercury P64 PCI Date: 10 Oct 1994 01:12:30 GMT Hi all ! Did anybody get a Spea Mercury P64 graphic card combined with XFree3.1 to work ?? I tried the xf86config programm to config the card but no modes worked. If I start the server manually with X -bpp 32 (X is linked to XF86_S3) sometimes I get a correct screen, sometimes not. Even -bpp 16 or -bpp 8 sometimes work, but I can't tell how or when or why. I played with the settings for ChipSet, ClockChip and some of these settings, but none of them worked out. Some comments are found in the manuals for the S3 cards and the used chips but none of the recommended settings give a better result. The RamDAC is configured correctly, the card is recognized as a S3 Vision 964, so everything basic is correct. It seems that the card sometimes gets the timing right, sometimes not. Anybody any idea ?? Thanks in advance for any help -- Joern Carstens, Phone: +49 (0)30 6871337 Mail: phantom@cs.TU-Berlin.DE ------------------------------ From: jeffpk@netcom.com (Jeff Kesselman) Subject: Re: Mail order Linux or CD-roms Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 01:05:51 GMT In article <374287$8pc@selway.umt.edu>, Jalal J Jemison wrote: >Does anyone know about a CD-rom version of linux which would >be much easier to install... Or any mail order groups that >mail out linux >Thanks > I knwo you didn't realize this, but this is potential flame-war bait. Everyone has different experiences. I've found Yygdrasil very easy to install, others swear by Slackware. There are about as many pro and con stories as there are users. JK ------------------------------ From: byron@gemini.cc.gatech.edu (Byron A Jeff) Crossposted-To: comp.unix.questions Subject: Re: Word (Text) processors for Linux? Date: 9 Oct 1994 20:45:36 GMT In article <1994Oct8.141920.8660@midway.uchicago.edu>, Richard L. Goerwitz wrote: -Sergei Naoumov writes: -> ->It can be easily done with XEmacs. LaTeX is not a text processor. It's a ->different thing -- typesetting system. - -Right on. The point here is that most people prefer for these two things -to be integrated, and not artificially separated. Separation here is an -artifact of the 80s. - -Now I realize that many people - particularly people who like to get into -the internals of every system they encounter - like LaTeX as it is. Just -recognize, folks, that you are in the minority. Also, recognize that the -rest of us aren't just stupid. We simply have different priorities. - -I can just see it now: Renegade Unixoid takes over as project manager for -the next revision of Word, and decides to strip it of its GUI; anyone not -willing to go along considered brain dead.... You and I are in agreement on this, Richard. Linux is in desparate need of it's own wordprocessor, not a typesetter. The problem is what's be best/fastest way to accomlish this. Some observations 1) Must be native. Until we reach a point where emulation is standard and stable in Linux distributions we need a unpack and go package. 2) Simple. Unfortunately that means that Richard's pet peeve - multiligualness must be put on the back burner. Only the most used functions need to be available (font styles and sizing, basic paragraph formatting, tables among others) must be available. The obscure, rarely used but "must be in there for completeness sake" kinds of functions that all the commercial Wordprocessors have need to be carefully evaluated and left off if a demonstrated need for it is not shown. 3) Multi-layered interface. I know GUI's are cool. I know that WYSIWYG is hot. But frankly a GUI/WYSIWYG interface isn't much good when I'm sitting in front of a terminal, or telnetting over a slow link, or when I'm stuck on a 386-25 Laptop with 4 MB of memory, or even the rare occasions when I have to use a DOS/Windows machine. Oftentimes it's not useful or feasible to use a GUI/WYSIWYG interface. However I agree and admit that GUI/WYSIWYG is useful. So I think a multilayered Text/(S)VGA/ X interface would be useful. That way the product can be used over the variety of physical interfaces that Linux, X, and networking makes available. Folks neither TeX, groff, or another other typesetter, or emulated WP like WordPerfect under DOS/WINDOWS or SCO is going to cut it here. A Wordprocessor is such a critical resource in a computing system that Linux has the potential of never making inroads beyond its supposed "hacker/Unix junkie" clientele. Linux needs it's own Wordprocessor. Something simple, elegant, and moderately powerful. And we need it yesterday. The question is how to accomplish this? BAJ -- Another random extraction from the mental bit stream of... Byron A. Jeff - PhD student operating in parallel - And Using Linux! Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332 Internet: byron@cc.gatech.edu ------------------------------ From: garcia@ece.cmu.edu (Brad Matthew Garcia) Crossposted-To: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.systems,comp.os.linux.admin Subject: Re: Mystery Chip...AMD Date: 10 Oct 1994 11:44:09 GMT In article <3740ss$4kj@venera.isi.edu>, daniel@isi.edu (Daniel Zappala) writes: |> |> But doesn't Intel sell a chip that upgrades a 486DX-33 into a 486DX2-66? |> How do they manage that? |> |> |> Daniel In some cases, the old chip must be yanked and the new chip inserted in its place. So it updates a 486-33 computer system to a 486-66, but the chip itself is replaced. I know there are (for some systems) ways to upgrade w/o yanking the old chip. Does anyone know more about these, or was I misinformed? -- Brad M. Garcia Carnegie Mellon University ____/ ____/ ____/ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering __/ / __/ "The only Engineering department in the world where _____/ _____/ _____/ the secretaries have the most powerful computers." ------------------------------ From: we47932@vub.ac.be (Starblood) Crossposted-To: alt.fan.linus-torvalds Subject: Re: Newbies? (was Re: Hmmm) Date: 10 Oct 1994 07:32:56 GMT (ccnet.ccnet.com> Organization: Brussels Free Universities (VUB/ULB), Belgium Distribution: A computer genius (stevenl@ccnet.com) wrote: : Roderick Hoekstra (rdrckhks@dordt.edu) wrote: : : Nyaa, I got you all beat. I started with Slackware 1.2.0, : : Kernal, what, I don't remember right now. (It was a summer : : project, and CS took my computer away at the end of summer -boo : : hoo-) I think, though that it's 1.0.8? Yeah, I'm pretty sure : : it is. : Don't got me beat. Thats when I started too. (And yes, it is 1.0.8. I : think slackware is still in that one, even with 2.0) What are you guys talking about?? I think nobody will beat me. My first linux system will probably be Slackware 5.0. That will probably be the first release that supports the IBM PS/2 architecture :(. -- _ \ \ \ \_____________________________ ( ------- | -------------------------------------- ( ( ) _____________| ----- Tourwe Tom | ( ( ) / | | ( ------- / | 2nd year of Computer Science | | ------- | at the | | | | FREE UNIVERSITY OF BRUSSELS | | | | | | | | e-mail: we47932@is1.vub.ac.be | |________| |________________________________| ``It's not a case of telling the truth Some lines just fit the situation Call me a liar ... You would anyway.'' ------------------------------ From: klaus@gaston.m.isar.de (Klaus Lichtenwalder) Subject: Re: Dialup problem Date: Sun, 9 Oct 1994 22:00:23 GMT rob@pe1chl.ampr.org (Rob Janssen) writes: >Use my special program for the ZyXEL, available from sunsite in directory >/pub/linux/system/Serial. >For me it works all the time. Plus you can use it as a FAX and an answering >machine as well... Never tried Rob's software, but I'm (among others ;-) using mgetty+sendfax, one of the better (IMHO) packages, especially if you're using a ZyXEL modem. Sorry, Rob, again, I never tried your software... Klaus -- __________________________________________________________________________ Klaus Lichtenwalder, Dipl. Inf., Buschingstr. 65 D-81677 Muenchen, F.R. Germany, Fax +49-89-98292755 email: Lichtenwalder@ACM.org, klaus@gaston.m.isar.de ------------------------------ From: kkto@ipc14.csd.hku.hk (To Kar Keung Isaac) Subject: Re: Curious: Why is Linux DOOM so much slower than DOS doom Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 11:10:18 GMT In article jeffpk@netcom.com (Jeff Kesselman) writes: >> >>Well, first off, I've heard that the code for Linux DOOM is pure C, whereas >>the DOS version has some optimized assembly in it for speed. So you should >>expect less performance. The following is just my guess, and I don't know whether there is workaround... First, DOOM in DOS have the permission to do anything on the machine, but Linux one can't. The DOS one actually use DMA to transfer data from memory to DMA, while the Linux one call X to display an image. What it means, with shared memory, is to copy the data to an area provided by X, then wait X to find whether any clipping is necessary (e.g. if another window obscure the DOOM window that shouldn't be displayed), and finally the X server will copy that to the video memory after a color mapping. That long process should be the bottleneck of linxdoom. Second, DOOM in DOS is near to the sole memory user. In Linux, it must compete with all other clients, like the Xserver, the 4 virtual console, the window manager, all system daemons, etc., and must also compete CPU time with them. This is another bottleneck of the linxdoom. That means that DOS is unique in providing such an environment. Even SGI doom can't beat it. (However, the superb computational speed and pipeline of the SGI should be able to compensate the problem completely) Isaac. ------------------------------ From: lars@hboix1.enet.dec.com (Lars Hofhansl) Crossposted-To: alt.os.linux,comp.os.linux.help Subject: Re: getting linux to work dail-up Date: 10 Oct 1994 12:47:38 GMT Reply-To: lars@hboix1.enet.dec.com In article <3770hp$crj@vanbc.wimsey.com>, jzielin@vanbc.wimsey.com (Jacob Zielinski) writes: > >Has anyone be able to hook their modem up so that you can dail into linux? > >The people on #linux suggested agetty, and mgetty. But I didn't get to far >with those to commands. Could somebody who as done this explain how or at >least point me toward some docs. > >Thank you > Hi Jacob, I don't know which getty the best; personally I use agetty. In /etc/inittab you insert a line like d1:56:respawn:/sbin/agetty -mt60 38400,19200,9600,4800 /dev/ttyS1 (Several baudrates enables baudrate switching, when the autobaud function (-m) failes) Now you have to setup your modem to "pick up the phone". On Hayes-compatible modems you do that with ATS0=n where n is the number of rings the modems should wait before it picks up the phone (you will most probably want to set n to 0). You can send the command using sezon,kermit or minicom... For me "echo -nf ATS0=0" works, but I heard that doesn't for everyone. That's all I did to set it up, and it works for dialin and dialouts; problems may arise when using UUCP on the same line. In that case you should switch over to uugetty (or getty_ps)... good luck, Lars ------------------------------ From: k042240@rzu.unizh.ch (Gideon H. Chonia) Subject: OLD LINUX CDROMS Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 12:59:20 GMT Thanks to all who contributed in a way. We have sent the PC's and modems to Ghana, West Africa. We are now soliciting for OLD or USED LINUX CDROM. Any version is O.K. We just want them to start somewhere with Linux. Thank you all I know it is short, but that all we need. Gideon -- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % Name: Gideon Hayford Chonia % % Org: University Of Zurich, Computing Centre % % Tel. +41 1 257 4542 % % Fax. +41 1 257 4505 % % Internet: k042240@rzu.unizh.ch % % X.400: C=ch ADMD=arcom PRMD=switch O=unizh OU1=rzu S=k042240 % % Bitnet: K042240 at CZHRZU1A % % WWW: http://www.unizh.ch/~k042240 % % Bushmail: ....!Earth!Africa!Ghana!Pokoase!Yaovi % % % % ---------- Ich darf ge-Du-zt werden ---------- % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ------------------------------ From: ansos@uni-mb.si (Andrej Sostaric, TF Maribor, 062 25-461 (442)) Subject: Oracle for Linux?! Date: 10 Oct 94 14:17:07 +0200 Hello, dear Linux friends, just a short question. Are there any possibilities for Oracle to run under Linux (at least version 5)? Andrej Sostaric e-mail: ansos@uni-mb.si ------------------------------ From: rahardj@cc.umanitoba.ca (Budi Rahardjo) Crossposted-To: comp.unix.questions Subject: ez (was Re: Word (Text) processors for Linux?) Date: 10 Oct 1994 13:52:19 GMT byron@gemini.cc.gatech.edu (Byron A Jeff) writes: : Linux needs it's own Wordprocessor. Something simple, elegant, and moderately : powerful. And we need it yesterday. : The question is how to accomplish this? Who about Andrew's "ez" ? I think that's what you want. -- budi ------------------------------ From: blackbob@wwa.com (Terence S. Murphy) Subject: Re: Beautifying Linux/Xfree Date: 7 Oct 1994 22:55:04 -0500 I don't like the idea of a menu to set the appearance of X because it would be too limiting. What I think would be more helpful would be something like a BeautifyX-HOWTO, or something similar. For example, think of all of the different neat things there are to put in the root window. One can run xearth (my favorite!), run xfishtank, load a picture, set the solid color, and no doubt many other things that I don't know about. A menu couldn't solve the problem. The closest it could come would be to set up a prompt for the command to bring up the root window, which defeats the purpose of a menu. I think that a HOWTO file would be truly useful. It would be more of a tips file, actually. I'm sure that there are dozens of neat little toy programs that many people run, as well as several useful programs, that would really enhance X. By pooling all of our experiences into a file, a user could choose exactly what he wanted to do. One thing that would be neat would be a list of nice color combinations. Sometimes I see these discussed and I often test them out and like them enough to incorporate them enough into my configuration. And whenever I add a new program to my configuration, I'm at a loss to think of a new color combination. This could cover so many things like this. For example, what about setting up FvwmSound? Which sounds are nice tied to which events? Under xearth what angle of the earth looks the nice? What programs are useful to put on the GoodStuff bar? Which clocks look nice and how can they be configured? Which monitor programs are useful to include on startup? There are so many questions like this and I'm sure everyone has his preferences, but we would all learn from others tastes and incorporate them as our own. A menu program works under MS-Windows because everything is configured by the OS. Under X, though, most visual things are determined by individual user programs which have nothing in common, so it would be very difficult to have a menu aided configuration. This is why I think a file containing experienced users' tips and experiences would be far more useful. -- Terry Murphy | UIUC Frosh/CS Major | "The whole world has been made again" - Marillion | There ought to be an alt.fan.linus-torvalds! | "The S.A.T is not geared for the lower class so why waste time even trying to pass?"-Gang Starr "I never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude"-H.D.Thoreau ------------------------------ ** FOR YOUR REFERENCE ** The service address, to which questions about the list itself and requests to be added to or deleted from it should be directed, is: Internet: Linux-Misc-Request@NEWS-DIGESTS.MIT.EDU You can send mail to the entire list (and comp.os.linux.misc) via: Internet: Linux-Misc@NEWS-DIGESTS.MIT.EDU Linux may be obtained via one of these FTP sites: nic.funet.fi pub/OS/Linux tsx-11.mit.edu pub/linux sunsite.unc.edu pub/Linux End of Linux-Misc Digest ******************************