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Re: IRC Server
- NOTE - the following letter might annoy some of you, so delete
immidiatly when you're tired of reading on (possibly NOW).
since i read the list in chunks, this is just a set of answers to
questions i saw on the list, opinions, etc.
if anybody bothers replying to this letter, please include ONLY the
relevant part in your reply.
i'll discuss with myself the following LFAQ (List Frequently Answered
Questions):
A. My opinion about this list and it's usage and purposes.
B. PORTING ircd and other software to linux.
C. automatically filtering email to various folders.
D. BOCA modems 'unquoted statement' and some general modem theory.
E. PPP on linux 'unquoted statement'
----------------------------------------------------
A. My opinion about this list and it's usage and purposes.
the list was established to allow linux users in israel to converse.
so, stick to that as much as possible. this probably includes:
- hebrew and linux.
- activities concerning linux in israel
- getting help that's hard to get via phone (maybe even asking someone
really show you how to do something by visiting each other).
- discussing this list.
as a rule to ANY list
- don't send what you didn't try yourself.
- try to ask for 'where i can find info about....' rather then 'how do
i do ...'.
- if you cannot spend time on your pet (err.. PC) - BUY assistance.
if you try to get it for free here - at least don't give others the
impression you're trying to use and abuse them.
- be polite - even when you send hate mails.
- nobody expects the spanish inquisition...
----------------------------------------------------------
B. PORTING ircd and other software to linux.
i once compiled some irc server (not sure even which version) on linux.
the only Unnice thing was: any message sent to the server caused some
disk activity with a little delay. the reason for that might be swapping,
or some other illness. now, i'd like to share the idea with you all,
since it's relevant generally to ports for linux:
1. install the sources - usually easy with gunzip filename and tar xfoS
filename.tar
2. read the README files, setup things if requiered, and try to compile
(USUALLY 'make' for normal programs, or 'xmkmf' and then 'make' for
X-based programs).
2.5 if you don't know about C programming or Makefiles - do not continue,
unless you're known to be a lucky guy or girl
3. when you get the first
compiler error - check the source. if some
function was unknown - check if you have it on your system (man
function - ONLY if you have a good set of man pages).
most of the errors occure from the usage of function calls that do not
exist on your system, but then you usually have something with a
different name (and perhaps different parameters) that does the same.
note - linux's gcc tends to complain alot about 'not matching'
parameters - this may safelly be ignored if the only difference is
between using 'char *lemech' and haivng a 'const char *lemech' in
the INCLUDE file that declares that function - and yes, check the
headers in the include files, not just inthe man page). if
requiered - try to add a
'type cast' when calling the function - to reduce complaints.
If you had a problem during linking - it's a matter of missing some
library on the link command line. here are some hints:
- linux uses gnu lex (named flex) , so if you have a line of '-ll' in
the make file regarding linking, change this to '-lfl'.
- you might try to use 'nm' to get the list of symbols out of
libraries which reside in /usr/lib/libXXXX.a usually - and find
if your missing symbol is in any of those (this is a last resort -
don't even try if you cannot 'grep' properly or do not have the
time).
5. finally, you might have dynamic libraries that don't support some
options. in this case, maybe a newer version of those will help,
or maybe giving up and asking someone who knows more about linux
will help.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
C. automatically filtering email to various folders.
as i know (or knew) - slackware used to contain a filtering program named
'deliver'. i didn't try to mess with it, but i do mess with a program
called 'procmail' that seems to work properly. here are a few hints:
- mail filtering usually begins with a creation of a '.forward' file
in your home directory, which has some line to start the filtering
program itself. in procmail - this is a complex line that i copied
from the manual pages. for those who do not know - the .forward
file is read by the mail server whenever it tries delivering email to
your mail box, and can be used to forward your email to one (or
several) other programs, as well as pipe it to the sdtandard input
of programs.
- after that, you write a configuration file for the filter package.
in procmail, this file contains some syntactic rules (what to
match in the letter's Header) and actions to be taked - erase the
file, put it in some folder, etc.)
- make as many tests as you can and remove the .forward file
IMMEDIATLY if you spot ANY problems or even suspect them, regarind
your mail - people won't be able to notify you via email that you
have email problem.
- Use a working package and NOT something you write on your own -
not using safe locking mechanisms will cause your mail box to be
trashed in case you get two letters simultanouaslly.
if anyone needs example configuration files for procmail - send me
email, and i'll send you such examples. they were dag out of the
manual page examples, and might save you some of your precious time
(that you lsot if you've read this letter so far).
note 2 - Using mail filters will cause the mail notification system
(mistakanlly called 'biff' sometimes) to give false notifications
about arriving letters - you'll get a notice about each such email
letter - but not necessarly see the correct header printed on screen).
when i get a solution for that - i might let you know (unless my
boss dissallows that).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
D. BOCA modems practice and some general modem theory.
well - modems knowledge is one of our 'secrets' but i'd say - try to
keep away of these modems if you have some better (and not much more
expensive) alternative. some models of bocca work great, while
others do not.
as for Yair Rajwan's message - this was the speed of communications
between the computer and the modem - NOT between the local modem and
the remote modem - 56700 is the theoreticall upper limit on the
speed of a 14,400bps modem using the v42.bis protocol for data
compression, and is achived RARELY on VERY sparse files. compressed
files will NEVER be transfered at a speed higher then 14,400bps,
hence defining this speed is good for WWW accesses of large pages, etc,
but irrelevant for FTP of compressed files from databases.
furthermore - it is ALWAYS better to compress the file before
transferring it, then relying on the modem's compression to be
efficient.
furthermore - a 14,400 bps modem still works at 2400 BAUD. even the
28,800 modems work at 2400 BAUD. the theoreticall limit for modems
that are allowed to make a delay of up to 2 bits in transmission is
a bit below 32,000 bps (not INCLUDING data compression done on top of
that), so faster modems requiere one of two:
1. allow for a higher delay.
2. (what is usually done) use a line with a larger bandwidth
(phone lines give you a range of 3.6Khz for data transmission -
remove this limit, and you can get to MUCH MUCH higher rates on
these SAME phisical lines). as far as i know, this is an
international standard, and not just a bezeq standard - the 3.6KHz
thingy. i might also be wrong, since i only assume so).
-------------------------------------------------------------
E. PPP on linux 'unquoted statement'
THEORETICALLY, in order to connect your machine using PPP, you need to
know two things:
1. how your software needs to be configured.
2. the 'chat' sequence requiered by the machien that gives your the
PPP access (your supplier).
the first part will be found in the software's documentation.
the second part - should be asked for from the supplier - or from
other people who use THE VERY SAME SUPPLIER IN THE VERY SAME TYPE OF
CONNECTION - and NOT as a general question of 'how do i start up PPP
if my supplier uses static addresses ? as this will (initially) get
you nowhere. also - it's not enough to ask this from someone who
connects to a different system that uses the same type of router that
your supplier does - it might have a different configuraiton, or a
different version of the product, etc, which may change things.
and since most people know how to use the router software even less
then they know how to configure sendmail, or do not have permission
to access alot of commands on their routers , or none at all - RTFM
is the LAST thing to do if you want to use PPP. even if you use a
university which gives you PPP conenction - you'll need to ask THEM
about this.
that's all for now,
guy keren
choo@actcom.co.il