Bug Day 9 : Dec 10, 2003 : No more running with scissors, let's play in a safe mode.
by Jef Spaleta
Bug Day Theme:
Vesa Driver Testing for use as an Xfree 'safe mode' option.
Mike Harris has asked for testing of the Vesa video driver, which
could be used for a "safe mode" in Fedora. The problem is that many
BIOS's Vesa modes are broken, so he needs a good blacklist of broken
situations with the Vesa driver.
Testing a card for use with the Vesa driver involves reconfiguring the
X config(this will most likely have to be done by hand editting the
config file, i don't know if r-c-xfree86 can be used for this, I'm sure
someone will tell me if it can) to use the vesa driver (man vesa) and
then reviewing the X log output to determine which graphics modes the
Vesa driver supports for the video hardware.
Each supported video mode listed in the X log should be tested to see
if there is an obvious failure/problem. A simple start of the X
server, and fire up an app or two with no on screen corruption or
crash is a good enough quick test. Then, for any failures we need a
bug report, with config file, log file, full details, and lspci -vvn
Filing a Bug:
*Please also use this Summary string when filing a bug
Vesa Driver Testing Failure for [video card name]
*give as much detail as you can in the description. If multiple modes
have problems, please detail all of them here.
*attach the output of the lspci -vvn command
*attach for each problematic mode:
X config file
X log file
*When filing a bug please set the tracking bug I have created as a
blocker for the bug you file.
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=111786
That way all relevant bug reports will show up in the dependency list
for this tracking bug report. Setting the tracker (111786) as a blocker
will help make sure your bug report on this testing issue is not lost in
the vast sea of bug reports.
Files of note:
/etc/X11/XF86Config config file
/var/log/XFree86.0.log log file
Other things to note:
There is a lot of room here for someone to better define the exact steps
that are needed to do the vesa driver testing to make it easier for more
users to run this test. I would appreciate any good faith effort to
make it easier to have people participate in this safe mode testing.
A couple of suggestions already thrown my way:
1) an easy to follow step by step guide to reconfiguring the X setup
to run the vesa driver tests. If someone wants to take a crack at this
you can use the http://www.fedora.us/wiki/VesaDriverTesting wikipage to
write up a useful, detailed guideline. Or email me a draft and i'll
place it in a revered location in the triage wiki area.
2) script tools to automate the testing process. I really don't have an
idea about how reasonable it is to automate. But if there is a clever
way to script it to get more people to run the vesa tests... i'm all for
it.
-jef"ow! my eye! my doctor says i'm not supposed to get jigs in it"spaleta
20 years, 6 months
Re: The Future of Fedora.
by Nils O. Selåsdal
On Tue, 2003-12-09 at 23:51, Alexey Eremenko wrote:
> I am new to the Linux world, while I came from Windows XP world.
>
> I made it 2 weeks ago and still has some trouble here and there in
> getting parts of the new Fedora Core 1 to work.
>
> Anyway, I joined Linux, because I love open-source, I see Fedora as a
> fast-growing OS.
>
> Here, I will mostly focus on the Fedora Core 1 as a home operating
> system,
> because making linux available to everyone - means he MUST be easier.
>
> I am a Pro, and a Realist. I see a lot of advantages of Windows, (and
> of Linux) which many others linuxoid doesn't see.
>
> Still I had a lot of problems in installing (and running) Linux.
> Linux is way less comfortable to use than Windows XP.
> It's a VERY important point to understand in "The Future of Fedora".
>
> I just want to please the Fedora developers make the following things,
> so this OS would be easier to manage for average home user.
>
> 1) Passwords: Linux MUST have an ability to work without passwords for
> those who desire it.
> I hate passwords, especially on my personal computer.
> It's a very BIG disadvantages of the Fedora Core 1 -
> It requires at least 6 letter password.
> Not to mention I msut create a user.
> I want to work ALWAYS as a root. (like a do in Windows XP as
> Administrator by default)
>
> Why a free system such as Linux FORCES me to create passwords, and
> a user.
> Password may be a nice feature for servers, but for home PCs they
> are useless,
> and they will just annoy beginners, and home users.
> Believe me, there are other ways to be the same reliability and
> security,
> without the annoying passwords.
>
>
Oh no. No no no. Enforcing a few simple rules like this is what will
make Linux more secure, less vunerable to viruses,worms, crackers etc.
Sure it's a bit more hazzle to type the root password every now and
then. Though no more hazzle than trying to restore your system after
you got cracked or infected.
--
Vennlig hilsen/Best Regards
Nils Olav Selåsdal
System Engineer
UtelSystems a/s
w w w . u t e l s y s t e m s . c o m
20 years, 6 months
Re: Fedora Core 2 wishlists
by Nils O. Selåsdal
On Tue, 2003-12-09 at 19:39, Chuck Mead wrote:
> Michael Schwendt wrote:
> > On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 13:09:25 -0500, Trae McCombs wrote:
> >
> >
> >>This is to say nothing against XFCE, as it seems to be a very capable
> >>window manager.
> >
> >
> > If memory serves correctly, there's a XFCE package ticket at
> > http://fedora.us, so in case XFCE will not be included within Fedora Core,
> > people could work together on publishing it as add-on packages and
> > future Fedora Extras.
> >
>
> Already done for the current version:
>
> [xfce4rpms]
> name=Fedora Compatible XFCE4 Packages
> baseurl=http://www.moongroup.com/yum-repository/fedora/linux/1/i686/xfce4...
> #gpgcheck=1
They are also waiting at
https://bugzilla.fedora.us/show_bug.cgi?id=1090
;)
--
Vennlig hilsen/Best Regards
Nils Olav Selåsdal
System Engineer
UtelSystems a/s
w w w . u t e l s y s t e m s . c o m
20 years, 6 months
Re: MySQL client libraries licensing (was Fedora Core 2 wishlists)
by Nils O. Selåsdal
On Wed, 2003-12-10 at 09:12, Yovko Lambrev wrote:
> Warren Togami wrote:
> > We really need to have an auto-responder that searches for certain
> > strings like this...
>
> Sorry, Warren it won't work if the problem still exist. I don't want to
> argue but I cannot agree so easy. With all my respect to you and Mr. Cox.
>
> I believe that this new Fedora community is much more open than the
> RedHat's one! I have been an user, fan and admin of the old RedHat Linux
> for more than 7 years and I feel myself closely enough to all the
> RedHat's issues, problems, feelings... Usually I'm here reading... I am
> not core developer till now here but I feel Fedora/RedHat like my kind
> of distribution. I have been an user and admin of MySQL for more than
> 2-3 years also and I feel it like my kind of database and my kind of
> open community.
>
> I knew about the problem you mentioned but I still don't know the
> Fedora's solution... SuSE and Debian already has their solutions. To
> throw out of the box MySQL 4.x is not the solution at all!
>
> Let's go through the facts:
> MySQL 3.x client libraries - LGPL
> MySQL 4.x client libraries - GPL (whole MySQL 4 is GPL)
> PHP license is not GPL (it is much more BSD-like)
> Fedora Core is GPL. All the software in Fedora Core 1 is GPL
No, not at all. There are a wide varity of licenses in Fedora.
> So...?
> We cannot put MySQL 4.x in Fedora collection because it is GPL but we
> will allow PHP which is not?!! Let's throw out the kernel also!? I just
> can't agree...
It is not only about MySQL being GPL.
Its about the mysql license beeing incompatible with projects that link
to its libraries.
One solution is to just throw mysql out of PHP. It may move someone
over to PostgreSQL, which is a good thing ;)
> Let's find a real solution... As far as I know there is no contacts
> between Fedora/RedHat community and MySQL developers. Why? I will inform
> about this issue a few of my friends from MySQL and will ask them for
> help. I think this is the right way to find a solution. I will write to
> Mr. Zak Greant also - he is ex-PHP and current MySQL community advocate
> - very friendly and helpful guy and will ask him for advice.
Would be nice. People elsewhere ought to be aware of this. What
do other distros do ?
--
Vennlig hilsen/Best Regards
Nils Olav Selåsdal
System Engineer
UtelSystems a/s
w w w . u t e l s y s t e m s . c o m
20 years, 6 months
Re: Fedora Core 2 wishlists
by Thomas Chung
Hello,
I would like to introduce Open Webmail - http://openwebmail.org
I've been with this project since version 1.5 and I had a privilege to witness
the product being mature enough to deploy in large organizations and universities.
Please read the list of features at http://openwebmail.com/openwebmail/
and let me know if you'd like a demo account on my personal server.
Thank you so much for your time.
Thomas Chung
20 years, 6 months
Re: Fedora Core 2 wishlists
by M A Young
Steven Pritchard wrote:
>On Tue, Dec 09, 2003 at 07:12:12PM +0000, M A Young wrote:
>> On Tue, 9 Dec 2003, Bill Rugolsky Jr. wrote:
>> > o kernel-utils split. UML tools should be in a separate package,
>> > as should the S.M.A.R.T. stuff. These tools change at varying paces;
>> > combining them creates an administrative headache.
>>
>> This is partially done already, in the sense that the UML tools at least
>> dropped out of kernel-utils shortly before FC1, however they haven't
>> reappeared as a separate package yet.
>
>I actually have such a package that I haven't submitted to fedora.us
>yet. (Available on request.)
So do I. There is a 3rd version already in the QA queue at
https://bugzilla.fedora.us/show_bug.cgi?id=929
Michael Young
20 years, 6 months
SpamAssassin 2.61 released!
by Warren Togami
Thank goodness for upstream developers who supply GPG signatures.
BTW, when updating the rawhide spamassassin, please change from the gz
to bz2 source. After some intense functionality testing I believe this
would be a good update candidate for FC1.
https://bugzilla.fedora.us/show_bug.cgi?id=1116
spamassassin for rh80 and rh90 only
Warren
20 years, 6 months
Sane defaults with alternatives as a general case need [ was Re: Fedora Core 2 wishlists ]
by Jef Spaleta
Bill Nottingham wrote:
>Basically, in my opinion, spending a lot of time implementing an
>infrastructure to support choosing between 6 web browsers is better
>spent *fixing* one of the web browsers to support all of the
>features you need.
This assumes that all possible usage needs can be encompassed
in the one true application that fills a certain role. Aren't some
design/usage goals just completely contradictory in some cases.
Even if you can come to a clear consensus as to what a 'needed' feature
is in the never-ending sea of desired features. Can you encompass all
expected usage situations into every application?
I don't know how far the argument about 'the general case' holds when we
replace the concept of sane defaults for the general case and replace it
with an argument for a single choice that meets a general case need
across all application roles. In my mind, the general case argument is
best stated as:
"In general...most people's needs will be satisfied reasonable by most
of the chosen sane defaults, and individuals will most likely in general
need to make a few custom application selections to override the default
for their particular individual needs."
I personally see the need for some sanely default uncomplicated
mechanism to override default application choices in the general case
usage situation. I don't expect more than exactly 3 people in the
userbase to find that all the default applications meet all their usage
needs reasonably well. I expect most people will feel they need to make
at least one customized choice, as a general rule.
-jef
20 years, 6 months