LinuxFocus July 2000 issue

The new LinuxFocus server in Amsterdam

What happened to LinuxFocus? As you might have noticed LinuxFocus was suddenly off the web from end of May to 13th of June. At least the main server was not reachable any more. Most of the mirrors were still up and running. Our main server which used to be located in Spain broke down. Because we did not really trust our old server any more a new replacement machine had already been built from different computer components but it was not so easy to find a new Internet Service Provider to host the machine.
The time and effort that many volunteers invest into LinuxFocus is certainly worth thousands of dollars if we would sell it as a magazine but the idea behind LinuxFocus is to provide the magazine for free to you and we hope that you enjoy learning and reading about Linux.
The data volumes that LinuxFocus transfers are quite high and as we don't charge for it we need of course a sponsor to support us. It turns out that it is rather easy to find ISPs who see here a chance to make the big money by putting banners with advertisements on every page but these ISPs don't really seem to value free software and the work of the people behind it.
Linux is a powerful movement but at the same time this shows also that it is very vulnerable. Vulnerable because we don't have the same amounts of money as big companies do. Companies can finance e.g a lobby to get the laws changed such that it fits their interest. The proposals for patent laws in Europe (see petition.eurolinux.org )

are just another example of that. An example of laws that will help to support the monopoly of a number of powerful companies but are not in the interest of the general public.

Luckily there are still good people in this world and LinuxFocus has now a new home in the Netherlands in Amsterdam. Netsystem.nl normally provides Internet services to companies. They have very good connectivity to one of the main Internet exchanges in the World. Consider them if you should need an ISP for your company in the Netherlands.

The Articles

Graphics

Pseudo 3D with Gimp , by Andre Pascual
Gimp is a software exclusively 2D, but with a few tricks and thanks to the numerous tools that are available, it is possible to create an image in pseudo 3D.

Hardware

Using Serial Line LCD displays under Linux , by Guido Socher
This article shows how to use the BLC2021 PC-Bay Insert serial line display from Matrix Orbital under Linux.

Software Development

Developing Gnome Application with Python (Part 1) , by Hilaire Fernandes
This article is especially written for beginners in Gnome programming and GNU/Linux. It shows how to use Python and the Gui-builder Glade to build graphical applications.

System Administration

Virtual Network Computing, as known as VNC , by Georges Tarbouriech
The dream of the network administrator comes true

Introduction to LDAP under Linux , by Atif Ghaffar
This article explains how to use the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol under Linux

Applications

An Introduction to Perl's XML::XSLT module , by Egon Willighagen

Installing Debian packages of LinuxFocus , by Egon Willighagen
An article on how to install the Debian package of LinuxFocus.

The LinuxFocus Tip

How do you delete a file called "-xx"? You can of course use a graphical file manager and select the file graphically but how do you delete it with the rm command?

rm will normally interpret the -xx as an option because it starts with a minus sign. There are two ways to avoid that:

Make sure the file name does not start with a minus: For files this is always possible. You can e.g use the full absolute path to the file. (e.g rm /tmp/-xx assuming that the file -xx is in /tmp)
You can also write -xx as ./-xx :
rm ./-xx
Most unix commands accept a double minus (--) to indicate that this is the end of the options list.
rm -- -xx
will therefore tell rm that -xx is a file and not an option.

Directory index for persons translating this issue.