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some stuff from C.O.L.A.





yes, I know this is a long post, but it's a chopped down version of a
chopped down version of the digest I get from COLA. I hope there's
something for everyone here...

=====


I have recently written a program called EXEPAK.  It does for Linux
binaries what the old DOS program "PKLITE" did for DOS binaries-- it
creates self-decompressing compressed linux binaries.

It can be downloaded at:

http://w3.one.net/~api/exepak-1.0.tar.gz

It will also be up at sunsite soon.  Enjoy.

=====

From: "Joseph J. Austin" <joe@htmlscript.com>
Subject: htmlscript v2.99 -- free for linux users
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 1997 18:35:34 GMT



The lastest distribution of htmlscript (v2.99) is available *free*
(normally $495) to Linux users until 31 August 1997.  This is NOT a
crippled, "trialware," time locked, or old release -- it is the full
current distribution of the product.

Download the software at:

http://linux.htmlscript.com

The htmlscript engine is a server side scripting language that adds
procedural programming features to HTML which are pre-processed
on the web server.  The syntax is patterned after HTML (e.g. <IF>,
<EVALUATE>, <WHILE>, <EXPORT>, <IMPORT>, <LET>, <CALL>, <HIDE>,
<EXIT>, <DEBUG>, <FILE>, <MAIL> &[Macro], etc.

Htmlscript has many administrative features, including virtual
domain support, which make it easy for sysadmins to provide a very
server-safe scripting environment.  Users like the product because of
its ease of use and bundled (free) template applications (Message Forum,
Quiz System, Web Site Analysis Tools, Category Based Index, etc.).

Several hundred ISP's and hosting services offer htmlscript access
as a standard feature.  Currently, 150,000+ registered domains
have been htmlscript enabled.

We are providing v2.99 at no charge to increase the base of domains
that are capable of running KoolCat, our low cost/feature rich
Commerce Catalog solution which is written in htmlscript.  Even if
you are not interested in KoolCat, you'll certainly find many useful
features and we invite you to install and use the engine to its
fullest extent.

Htmlscript Corporation
2629 Ariane Drive
San Diego, CA 92117
619-490-2570
http://www.htmlscript.com/
=========

From: "Thomas Haberland" <thaberland@hawkeye.net>
Subject: Hawkeye - new LINUX Web server released
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 1997 18:43:16 GMT
Reply-To: THaberland@geosuserclub.com



08/08/97
========

The Hawkeye Project 
(c) by Roland Haenel and Thomas Haberland, Germany


"Hawkeye" is the name of a new Linux Web server program, which was
released to the public today.

Hawkeye is a complete Internet/Intranet server suite, implementing the
most important Internet protocols for information interchange. Think
of it as an integrated Web, Mail, News, File and Chat server.
Traditionally, all of these services are provided by seperate servers.
Such a scenario can be a real horror to set up and maintain. Hawkeye
solves this problem by letting all services operate on a single SQL
database. You don't have to worry how to give your users access to
your FTP server and installing mail accounts - just create a user in
Hawkeye's database and he can receive and send Internet mail, send
postings to news groups, upload and download files, chat with other
users... 

Hawkeye is ideal for Internet content providers who want to provide
several services to their customers, as well as for companies who want
to run and maintain their Intranet efficiently. With Hawkeye, you
don't have just another boring Web Site, you can have interactive
functions, SQL database services, discussion groups and chat boards!
Hawkeye itself can be installed in a couple of minutes, and there is
no Unix wizadry necessary to set up the software. In fact, once
running, every detail can be configured by using your favourite web
browser and operating system.

Because Hawkeye supports the Radius format, a connection between a
modem rack with a Radius database and a Hawkeye Server is no problem.

A short list of the most important functions of Hawkeye: 

- - HTTP 1.0 Server, HTTP 1.1 coming soon
- - POP3 / SMTP Server (E-Mail) 
- - NNTP Server (Newsgroups) 
- - FTP Server (File area) 

- - Chat Rooms, as many as you want

- - if you want: automatic handling user homepages

- - the function "who is online" displays a list of users logged in to
  your server

The entire configuration is done by using a Web browser. The so-called
"administrator's tools" implement an HTML interface to the underlying
SQL database

User administration is done by implementing "user group". Permissions
are assigned by making your users members of any number of these
groups. This concept is very flexible  and allows you to restrict
access to certain parts of your system very easily. The configuration
itself usually  takes only a few minutes.

A number of HTML sample pages for all functions are part of the
Hawkeye distribution archive. The new WebMaster can use them for his
own purpose or create new pages and define his own layout.

Hawkeye is running under the LINUX operating system and requires the
"Linux" SQL database "MySQL" (http://www.tcx.se).

Hardware requirements are much like what you would need to build a
normal Linux system. For optimal performance, we recommend a Pentium
machine withat least 16 Megabytes of RAM. Hawkeye itself uses very
little Harddisk space, so the size depends mainly on your site.

Hawkeye is developed by Roland Haenel and is supported by Thomas
Haberland (Aachen, Germany).

You may use the server for free if you use it for private,
non-commercial purposes. If you make any kind of profit with the
Hawkeye server or are a government agency, you have to pay a licence
of US-$ 250. Combined multi-licences are possible. Part of this
licence is a registered copy of the MySQL database engine (a $200
value).


Contact:

Roland Haenel:      rh@hawkeye.net 
Thomas Haberland:   thaberland@hawkeye.net 


Hawkeye Web Home Site: 

  http://hawkeye.net


Roland Haenel, 
Thomas Haberland 
Aachen, Germany
August 8, 1997

==============

  __        ____  __ _     
  \ \      / /  \/  | |    
   \ \ /\ / /| |\/| | |    
    \ V  V / | |  | | |___ 
     \_/\_/  |_|  |_|_____|
                         
  WML -- Website META Language
  Version 1.0.0 (08-08-1997)

  <URL:http://www.engelschall.com/sw/wml/>

  Copyright (c) 1996-1997 Ralf S. Engelschall, All rights reserved.
  ______________________________________________________________________

  WML is a free HTML generation toolkit, internally consisting of 9
  independent languages.  The main idea of WML is a sequential filtering
  scheme where each language provides one of 9 processing passes. So WML
reads
  an input file, applies passes 1-9 (or optionally only the passes
specified)
  and finally produces one or more output files. It operates as a powerful
  offline HTML generation toolkit for webdesigners who work under Unix.
While
  not trivial and idiot proof it provides most of the features real
hackers
  always wanted for HTML generation: 

    Pass 1: Source Reading and Include File Expansion 
    Pass 2: Meta HTML Macro Construct Expansion 
    Pass 3: Perl 5 Programming Construct Expansion 
    Pass 4: M4 Macro Construct Expansion
    Pass 5: Divert Filter
    Pass 6: Character and String Substitution 
    Pass 7: HTML Fixup 
    Pass 8: Line Stripping and Output Fixup 
    Pass 9: Output Splitting and Final Writing 
  
  It can be used both trivially like
     $ wml -opage.html page.wml
  to create a single output page and in an advanced way like
     $ wml -oENuUNDEF:page.html.en@u+x \
           -oDEuUNDEF:page.html.de@u+x page.wml
  to create two (or more) output pages - an english and a german one.

  To sum it up, this program is for you when..
    ...you are a Webdesigner.
    ...you really create Webareas and not just single Webpages.
    ...your primary HTML creation platform is Unix.
    ...you love the idea of HTML generation.
    ...you hate the HTML code of WYSIWYG editors.
    ...you want to use favorite programming features.

  But, this program is *NOT* for you when...
    ...you are just a WWW user.
    ...you create a few Webpages in your live only.
    ...your primary HTML creation platform is Windows or Macintosh.
    ...you don't know about or even hate generation tools.
    ...you don't have any problems with WYSIWYG editors.
    ...you hate programming languages.
  ______________________________________________________________________

  Implementation:  - ANSI C, Perl 5
  Requirements:    - Unix derivate
                   - Perl 5.003 or 5.004 interpreter
                   - ANSI C compiler
  Distribution:    - freely available
                   - no charge
                   - GNU General Public License
  Status:          - Genesis: Dezember 1996
                   - first public release
                   - stable

                                       Ralf S. Engelschall
                                       rse@engelschall.com
                                       www.engelschall.com
==========
Web Site:  http://www.linux.org/
Comments to:  suggestions@linux.org

Since the initial registeration of linux.org with the InterNIC on May
10th, 1994, Linux Online (formerly Linux Promotions) has had an
arrangement with an outside webmaster to provide content for our site,
www.linux.org.  This arrangement started with Liem Bahneman while he
was at school at the University of Washington.  It followed him to
Specialized System Consultants (SSC) where he continued to manage the
content of the site.  About a year ago, Liem moved on to a better
position, and we continued to work with SSC to provide content. 
Although the content was initially hosted on our server, it was moved
to SSC a while back as the demand for bandwidth increased beyond what
our internet connection at the time was capable of handling.  Eighteen
months ago, we installed a T-1 line to service the home page which
still resided on our site, as well as the ftp.linux.org archives. 

Unfortunately, in the past few months, SSC has begun pursuing its own
direction and we at Linux Online have found it incompatible with the
original goals and purposes that we set forth over three years ago when
we implemented the web site.

Therefore, at 00:00 EDT August 9th, 1997, Linux Online will be
replacing the home page for www.linux.org with all new text and
graphics.  In addition, we have carefully searched the internet for
quality Linux information and have developed all new content that is
hosted on our own web server. These pages have been in development for
the past two months, and include almost everything we could find on the
'net related to Linux!  We also hope that by making these changes, we
have eliminated all broken links and access issues that so many of our
visitors have written to us about in recent months.

Here at Linux Online, we're excited about our new site, and we welcome
you to come visit, explore our new pages, sign up for URLWatch(tm), and
hopefully find the information you need to maximize your Linux
experience!  We also welcome, and encourage your comments about the
site -- what works, what could use improvement.  And if you know of any
Linux resources we've missed, please send a message to our Suggestion
Box at suggestions@linux.org -- we've implemented as many of the
suggestions from our visitors that we possibly could, and wish to thank
each and every person who has assisted us in this transition!

As some of you may know, we've been providing email aliases
(@linux.org) and subdomains for quite some time.  Along with our new
site, we are looking to expand the FREE services provided by Linux
Online to the community.  In the coming weeks, new forms will be put
online under the "Services" choice on the home page.  These will
include:

  1) Email alias: available for developers of the Linux kernel,
applications, ftp/www site maintainers,

  2) DNS entries: currently assigned are uk.linux.org, il.linux.org,
cz.linux.org and nz.linux.org -- national linux organizations may begin
requesting similar domain assignments,

  3) Mailing lists: for development projects, user groups, and other
related issues.

  4) FTP sites: private areas for exchanging files involved in
development projects.

  5) Advertising:  a limited number of opportunities for non-profit,
non-commercial Linux services or events to place a banner ad on our
site

  6) Suggestion Box: If you can think of a way which we can help Linux
grow we would like to hear about it!

  7) Search Engine:  We will begin implementing a search engine for all
linux content on the web.  This will allow submission of URLs which 
will be spidered and databased here.  With a single query, you will be
able to find everything we know of on the web.

Your participation in the new web site is essential!  We have created
areas with lists of compatible hardware, available applications, places
to buy linux items, places to get help, user groups, etc.  If you know
of something that we've missed, your group isn't listed or you have a 
widget with a linux driver, please send an email to our Suggestion Box 
(suggestions@linux.org), and your information will be added online during 
our next update!  Only with your help can we be sure that we haven't left 
someone out from our extensive lists.

An exciting feature of the new web site is URLWatch(tm)!  With this
local service, we will provide you with an email message notifying you
when your favourite pages on our site are updated!  We scan our site
every night at 2:00 a.m., and if you are signed up for any pages that
have been modified during the past twenty-four hours, we send you an
email listing the URL's for all changes.

Signing up is easy, fill in your email address in the box at the bottom 
of each page you want to be updated for, and submit it.   In each email 
you will get a unique ID and password that will allow you to visit the 
site and change your personal list of URL's.  We are excited about this 
service, and look forward to keeping you up to date with the latest Linux 
information!

Along with the new look and feel of the site, we have created all new
reciprocal link buttons.  After receiving a number of negative comments
about the original blue background buttons, we have redone them. 
Included in the new zip file (located at 
http://www.linux.org/services/linkus.zip and linkus.tgz) are three
different buttons showing our new logo:  visitmini.gif is an 88x31
button similar to the standard Netscape/MSIE NOW! buttons;
visitnorm.gif is a 176x62 button with the same message and graphics;
visitbanr.gif is a 400x60 animated banner ad with several important
rotating points about Linux.  These GIFs are there for the taking, and
can be used freely to indicate links back to our site.

Visitors to the site will notice that the pages have a banner ad
associated with them.  Let me take a moment to explain why we are doing
this, and what we intend to do with the proceeds.  Linux Online has been 
supported by our parent company, Innovative Logic Corp now for over three 
years.  During that time, the need for bandwidth, servers and maintenance 
has grown.   We now deliver over 5000 files and 37500 www accesses per
day, 
based simply on the old home page and the ftp site.  The new site will
only 
increase those numbers, and will subsequently require more bandwidth, more 
hard drive space, and more backup solutions.  

If we are successful in selling banner ads on the site, (which is yet
to be seen), the proceeds will be used to purchase better servers, 
increase the bandwidth to provide multiple T1s with wide open ftp access, 
and support staff time -- to the point of hiring full time personel -- 
to maintain the web servers and ftp archives.  The ads will be restricted 
to Linux related vendors.  You won't find ads for cars, boats,
applicances, 
auction sites, dish soap or adult materials!  As part of our
not-for-profit 
philosophy, we will be posting a financial summary to the website on a 
monthly basis starting with the month of August.

As part of our banner ad rotation, we will be reserving a limited
number of impressions per month to be used at no charge to non-profit,
non-commericial Linux sites.  We want to help promote your upcoming
Linux event, or any services you may offer on a complimentary basis to
the Linux community.  We feel strongly that, by working together, we
can promote the benefits of Linux and provide quality resources for new
and experienced Linux users.

We are very excited about the new web site, and the impression that
visitors will get of Linux while making use of our extensive resources.
Please take a few moments, drop by the site, and send us your
comments. With your involvement, we can continue to expand Linux'
market share and chip away at the commercial OS vendors!

   Michael McLagan
   Administrative Contact, Linux Online
   http://www.linux.org/

=========

Linux Systems Labs, The Linux Publishing Company is pleased to announce: 
 
                ----->  SLACKWARE 3.3 CD-ROM  <-----

  Keep your Linux box up to date with the latest Slackware release!

  **** Help Support Linux *****
  We are pleased to offer this great CD-ROM for only $1.95.  We are also
  offering the same product for $6.95 and $26.95.  These prices include a
  $5.00 and $25.00 donation to Linus Torvalds.

  We are also shipping Official Slackware 3.3 for only $15.95

  This version contains the 2.0.30 Linux kernel, plus recent versions of
  these (and other) software packages:
      o Kernel modules         2.0.30
      o PPP daemon             2.2.0f
      o Dynamic linker (ld.so) 1.9.2
      o GNU CC                 2.7.2.2
      o Binutils               2.8.1.0.1
      o Linux C Library        5.4.33
      o Linux C++ Library      2.7.2.1
      o Termcap                2.0.8
      o Procps                 1.01
      o Gpm                    1.10
      o SysVinit               2.69
      o Shadow Password Suite  shadow_970616 (based on shadow 3.3.2)
      o Util-linux             2.6

  Linux Systems Labs will gladly send a copy of this Slackware 3.3 CD-ROM
  to any Linux User Group who requests one.  To take advantage of this
  offer please send email to sales@lsl.com.  Please include an brief
  description of the group and any URL that may describe the LUG.  Also,
  include an address for shipping.  

  For more information on this great new CD-ROM please visit our 
  web site at: http://www.lsl.com/slackware-3.3.gpl/

========

August 1997 -- Pacific HiTech, Inc. Announces TurboLinux 1.0

    TurboLinux 1.0, a new Linux distribution fully compatible with RedHat
Linux, will be released on August 25, 1997.  It will be available in both
English and Japanese.  The English beta version of TurboLinux will be
available on CD-ROM free of charge at the Pacific HiTech office in Salt
Lake City, (or for $5.00 US/Canada, $9.00 international, shipping and
handling per order).
    We would appreciate your comments and bug reports..  Please visit
the TurboLinux web site for more information.

                      http://www.turbolinux.com

TurboLinux Features:

    Easy Installation and Setup - Hardware components (SCSI, Ethernet,
        and Video adapters) are automatically detected at installation.

    TurboDesk - This configurable desktop environment allows customization
        without editing text files. 

    AutoUpdate - Packages are seamlessly installed onto your system using
        either the interactive mode or the fully automatic mode. 

Other Features:
    Bootable CD - Boot directly from CD-ROM, or DOS (using LOADLIN),
        or a single boot floppy image.
    TurboPPPConfig - Setup your ppp connection during installation, or
        any time after.
    System Administration Tools - Including a graphical DNS nameserver 
        configuration program, a topographical TCP/IP network manager,   
        and more...
    X Applications - Including programs for Word Processing/Text Editing,
        Spreadsheets, Graphics, and more...
    Networking Applications - Including a full suite of TCP/IP, IPX,
        and Appletalk DDP utilities.
    Extra Utilities - Including many helper utilities such as clocks,
        calendars, datebooks, usage meters, desktop navigation tools,
        desktop locking tools, screen savers, and more...
    Upgradability - Seamlessly upgrade from one version to the next,
        while maintaining all of your data and settings.
    Hardware Support - Most popular hardware components currently sold for
        PCs are supported. 
    Documentation - Full documentation in both printed and HTML format.
    Technical Support - TurboLinux owners are entitled to e-mail technical
        support. 
=========

The traditional "SysV" scheme of implementing runlevels uses links
distributed over several directories under "/etc/rc?.d/*". The main
problem with the links is that you can't easily get a survey of your
setup. Yes, you can write a script like the one accompanied with this
package but this is not satisfactory because it's another layer
(another name of a program to know) and not editable.

I rewrote the "rc"-program so it handles _one_ config file instead of
many links in "/etc/rc?.d/*". Apart from the IMHO more intuitive
configuration file it's fully compatible with the traditional SysV
scheme. You can always fetch the newest version from
ftp://www.shop.de/linux/local and soon from sunsite.

Here's an extract from a sample config file:

        # This is the configuration file for /etc/init.d/runlevel.conf
        #
        #format:
        #<sort> <off>   <on>            <script>
        05      -       0               /etc/init.d/halt
        05      -       1               /etc/init.d/single
        05      -       6               /etc/init.d/reboot
        10      0,1,6   2,3,4,5         /etc/init.d/sysklogd
        12      0,1,6   2,3,4,5         /etc/init.d/kerneld
[..]
        89      0,1,6   2,3,4,5         /etc/init.d/cron
        99      -       2,3,4,5         /etc/init.d/rmnologin
        99      0,1,6   2,3,4,5         /etc/init.d/xdm

The syntax should be fairly obvious:

      * comments begin with the numbersign #

      * The first column is a criteria for inserting new entries.
        As there is no consens about a numbering scheme among
        systems claiming themselves to be SysV compatible,
        these numbers are not very useful but kept for higher
        psychological compatibility.

      * The second column consists of a comma-seperated list of
        runlevels in which the script should be switched "off"
        - or -
        a single "-" if the script should never be stopped (with
        that sort-number).

      * The third column consists of a comma-seperated list of
        runlevels in which the script should be switched "on" 
        - or -
        a single "-" if the script should never be started (with
        that sort-number).

      * The last column specifies the full name of the script.


"r2d2" uses built-in bash functions only and does not rely on any
external program installed (my highest principle is: if you need to
fork, something is messed up). Performance is quite good because
evaluating a single file is faster than several hundred symbolic links
under /etc.  On my old 486/66 the delay between starting "r2d2" and
the first script executed is about 2 seconds.

A script named rclink2file.sh to convert your current link-setup into
a configuration file is available as well as an almost compatible
"update-rc.d"-program. To edit the configuration file you can use your
favourite editor. :-) 

After unpacking the tar file you may want to try it out by issuing the
commands

        ./rclink2file.sh > runlevel.conf
        export PRELEVEL=N    # previous runlevel, N = Booting
        ./r2d2 2             # "switch" to runlevel "2"

You don't need to be root to do this and to be on the save side,
"r2d2" only prints the commands it would execute for now.

IMPORTANT NOTE: if you like the alternate method you should think
carefully about potential incompabilities with your distribution and
potential problems with upgrading before you replace the old one.

The disadvantages (which don't apply to the method with links) as far
as I can see them:

      * Modifications require the whole file to be rewritten, which
        is a source for errors. On the other side this is only as bad
        as with /etc/passwd.
      * Inserting and removing entries is not done via
        "well-understood" utilities like "ln" and "rm". On the other
        side the scheme with links is not widely understood at all,
        so "ln" and "rm" don't really help.

      * The "sort numbers" are not evaluated by "r2d2".

      * Only very few system administrators (mad or heros?) have
        reported the usage of "r2d2" in a production environment
        to me, so the testbed is very small. 


Advantages beside the easeness:

      * You can easily make backups of the config file and use
        standard software like "diff" to compare "working" and
        "not working" configuration files. Try that with a bunch
        of several hundred symlinks.

      * The "sort numbers" are not evaluated by "rc". :-)

      * No special tool required, you can use your favorite editor
        to maintain the configuration manually.

      * Symbolic runlevels like "reboot" can be easily supported
        (although the numbers are more comprehensive).

      * The sort-numbers could be replaced by symbolic names, too.

      * "Update-rc.d" is quite fast (2-3s on an old ISA-486 = up to
        10 times faster than the old one).


Of course even more complicated setups can be expressed in the
configuration file:

        #Format:
        #<sort> <on-> <off-levels>  <script>
        15      0       -               /etc/init.d/foo
        17      1       -               /etc/init.d/foo
        19      6       -               /etc/init.d/foo
        14      -       5               /etc/init.d/foo
        80      -       2               /etc/init.d/foo
        84      -       3,4             /etc/init.d/foo


A man-page is planned for future releases. The mailinglist for
discussion is r2d2@shop.de, which has an archive under
http://www.shop.de/linux/archives/r2d2. To subscribe send an email
with the text "subscribe" to r2d2-request@shop.de, e.g. by executing
        echo "subscribe" | mail r2d2-request@shop.de.

- -Winfried