The SLUUG Cronicle

October 2002

St. Louis UNIX Users Group


HTML version: http://www.sluug.org/cronicle/


Table of Contents



Calendar of Events

Oct 1 Tuesday MOSLUG 7:00pm -11:00pm
Oct 3 Thursday SLACC 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Oct 3 Thursday SILUG - O'Fallon 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Oct 7 Monday SILUG - Carbondale 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Oct 8 Tuesday Advanced LUG 6:30pm -10:00pm
Oct 8 Tuesday LUCI - Newbie Night 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Oct 8 Tuesday CCSL - Dinner Meeting ($ - RSVP) 5:30pm - ?
  TOPIC: Marketing a Small Business
Oct 9 Wednesday SLUUG - General Meeting 6:30pm - 9:00pm
  TUTORIAL: Where are the Instructions?
  TOPIC: Webmin
Oct 14 Monday Columbus Day (observed)
Oct 14 Monday SLUUG - Steering Committee 6:15pm - 8:30pm
Oct 15 Tuesday STLWEBDEV 6:30pm - 9:00pm
  TOPIC: DreamWeaver MX
Oct 16 Wednesday BDPA 6:00pm - ?
Oct 17 Thursday St. Louis LUG 7:00pm - 9:00pm
  TOPIC: GUI Design for non-Programmers
Oct 20 Sunday CWE-LUG 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Oct 22 Tuesday Hazelwood LUG 6:30pm - 9:00pm
Oct 22 Tuesday LUCI 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Oct 22 Tuesday Wireless SIG 6:30pm - 9:00pm
Oct 24 Thursday St. Charles LUG 6:30pm - 9:00pm
Oct 27 Sunday Time Change (fall back)
Oct 28 Monday STLBSD 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Oct 31 Thursday Halloween
 
Nov 13 Wednesday SLUUG - General Meeting 6:30pm
  TUTORIAL: vi
  TOPIC: Broadband
Nov 18 Monday SLUUG - Steering Committee 6:15pm
Nov 21 Thursday St. Louis LUG 7:00pm
Nov 26 Tuesday Hazelwood LUG 6:30pm

NOTE: More information on these groups, including locations and web sites, can be found in the "Meeting Locations" section below.


Next General Meeting is Wednesday, October 9


6:30 pm Tutorial Where are the Instructions? by Carl Fitch
7:00 pm Announcements Standard Introductions & Procedures
7:05 pm Q & A An opportunity to ask technical questions
7:15 pm Break Social, off-line conversations, book sales
7:20 pm Admittance to building may not be possible after 7:20.
7:30 pm Presentation Webmin by Richard Teachout



Tutorial

Where are the Instructions?
by Carl Fitch

Abstract:

When you download a free copy of Linux or BSD, you get a great operating system, but you don't get any printed manuals or instructions. There's a lot of online documentation on the Internet and included with the operating systems. However, finding the right document is not always so easy. For example, while the man (manual) pages include good information on various commands, you have to know the name of the command to ask for the right man page. In this tutorial, Carl will explore the various sources of documentation and guide us in locating the information we need.

Bio:

Carl Fitch is an active member of SLUUG and the St. Louis LUG. He is one of the founding members of the new St. Charles LUG. Carl is also active in SLACC, the St. Louis Area Computer Club, the oldest computer club in St. Louis.



Presentation

Webmin
by Richard Teachout

Abstract:

Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration of UNIX systems and services. Using any browser that supports tables and forms (and Java for the File Manager module), you can setup user accounts, Apache, DNS, file sharing and so on. All past and future versions of Webmin are available under the BSD license. This means that on Linux, UNIX, and other platforms, Webmin may be freely distributed and modified for commercial and non-commercial use. The software is available for free download at http://www.webmin.com in many forms (RPMs, Solaris packages, source tarballs, etc.).

Richard has been using Webmin for many years (early 1999), and two years ago created http://Webmin.ThirdPartyModules.com as a source for the public to list and get assistance with creating modules. He has written numerous modules for Webmin, and contributed code for the public releases. If you aren't using, or haven't even seen Webmin yet -- you need to be at this meeting. If you are already using it, come see what's coming, and what else it can do that you may not even know! Bring your questions!

Bio:

Richard started, and currently manages, a St. Louis based Internet web development and consulting company, 1st Nationwide Web, Inc. The company today handles website development, website hosting, computer and network consulting, on-site and remote server administration, cluster creation and management, as well as various other related services. He has been involved with the Internet since early 1994, and has personally been involved with the design of hundreds of websites.

Richard is also one of the two RHCEs (Red Hat Certified Engineers) the company has on staff. He has experience with several flavors of UNIX, including Linux, as well as web integrations, programming in 7+ languages including Perl/CGI, PHP, C++, VB, ASP, Java, and others.

You can visit Richard's website at http://www.1stNationwideWeb.com and learn more about what services they provide, or email him directly at richt@1stNationwideWeb.com with any queries.

Ideas, questions and suggestions are welcome; please contact Christine Wanta (presentations@sluug.org).



Book Sales

The O'Reilly and Associates line of books is available at each monthly general meeting as a convenience to our members. Proceeds from the book sales go toward running the organization. Most months we feature special offers on titles related to that month's presentation or tutorial topic. Discounts off retail prices are offered to all attendees.

Books that are not available at the meetings may be ordered to be picked up at the next SLUUG general meeting. Contact Sue Hurst (booksales@sluug.org).

October Special:

Books with a red sticker
(discontinued titles and older editions)
- 70% off
Falling Leaves Special - 30% off
All other books - 25% off

Falling Leaves Special in a Nutshell:

We'll take a cue from Mother Nature this month and let go of the leaves and nuts from our trees for 30% off. Word processors and editors generate pages (leaves), so any title related to "leaves" will be discounted. Of course, all of the "Nutshell" books qualify for the Falling Leaves Special, as do any books that relate to a tree structure. Get creative here!



Next St. Louis LUG Meeting Is October 17

GUI Design for non-Programmers
by Craig Buchek

Abstract:

GNOME / KDE Bake-Off

GNOME and KDE have earned their places as the primary graphical interfaces on UNIX-based systems. GNOME is based on a widget set (things like buttons, scroll bars, etc.) written in C called GTK+. KDE is based on a widget set written in C++ called Qt. Until recently, if you wanted to create an application using either widget set, you had to program in the native programming language. Bindings for various other languages have been introduced, allowing you to choose the best language to use based on other factors. But even more important is the development of graphical GUI designers.

GUI designers let you design the interface without having to do any programming -- you attach program code to be executed when a button is pressed, a menu item is selected, etc. Separation of programatic code from the GUI makes sense for several reasons. Code is generally procedural in nature, but GUIs are best constructed in a descriptive manner -- describing which components go where. So it is best to divide the 2 processes. Each process requires a different way of thinking, and some people are good at one and not the other. Creating or modifying GUIs is a good way that non-programmers can contribute to the Free Software community.

In this presentation, Craig will show the use of GLADE and Qt Designer, which can be used to build GUIs for GNOME and KDE applications, respectively. He will demonstrate them by creating a simple graphical program from scratch with each. Little or no programming will be done, but the result will still be 2 running programs. The audience will then vote on which system provides the better GUI-building environment -- GNOME or KDE.

Bio:

Craig Buchek is just this guy, ya know?

Comments, questions, and ideas for the St. Louis Linux Users Group are welcome; please send email to linux@sluug.org.



Meeting Locations

SLUUG - St. Louis UNIX Users Group (http://www.sluug.org)
General Meeting

Meets the 2nd Wednesday of the month, 6:30pm to 9:00pm. Free and open to the public.
Sunnen Products
7910 Manchester (at Hanley)
St. Louis, MO
Directions: Take I-64 (US 40) to the Hanley exit south. Turn left at Manchester, then an immediate right into Sunnen driveway.

Map:   http://www.sluug.org/info/map_sunnen.html

(NOTE: A security guard from Sunnen is scheduled to be at the door from 6:20pm to 7:20pm to allow entry. After 7:20, the door will be unattended and you may not be able to enter.)

SLUUG - St. Louis UNIX Users Group (http://www.sluug.org)
Steering Committee

Meets the Monday following the 2nd Wednesday of the month, 6:15pm to 8:30pm. Open to the public. This is where we make decisions on what topics to cover and other administration of the group. If you want to get involved, this is a good place to start.
Daugherty Systems
One City Place, 2nd floor
Creve Coeur, MO 63141

St. Louis Linux Users Group (STLLUG) (http://www.stllinux.org)

Meets the 3rd Thursday of each month, 7:00pm to 9:00pm. The room is reserved starting at 6:00pm. (Ask a librarian to let you in if it is locked.) Members are encouraged to come early to mingle and/or give informal demos or presentations. Free and open to the public. (Formerly known as the Linux SIG.)
Indian Trails Library
8400 Delport Drive (at Midland)
St. Louis, MO
Directions:   Take I-170 to Page east. Turn left at North-South. Turn left at Midland. Drive 2 blocks and turn left on Delport. The library is on your left.

Map:   http://www.stllinux.org/directions/

St. Charles LUG (http://www.sluug.org/~stclug)

JUST FORMED! We expect that meetings will usually be held at 6:30pm to 9:00pm on the 4th Thursday of each month, except during December, which will probably not have a meeting.
This is a SIG of SLUUG, intended for all Linux users in the Western and Northern parts of the greater metro area.
Ponderosa
513 South Main St. (just north of I-70)
O'Fallon, MO

Hazelwood LUG (http://www.sluug.org/~hzlug)

Generally meets the 4th Tuesday of each month, 6:30pm to 9:00pm. (NOTE: Start time is now 6:30.) Free and open to the public. This is a SIG of SLUUG, intended for Linux newbies.
Prairie Commons Library
915 Utz Lane (between Howdershell and Dunn)
Hazelwood, MO

CWE-LUG - Central West End LUG (http://www.sluug.org/~cwelug/)

Generally meets on the third Sunday of the month from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. Meetings are now held at the ACLU building.
ACLU
4557 Laclede (just east of Euclid)
St Louis, MO 63108

Advanced LUG

JUST FORMED! Meetings are not yet on a regular schedule.
This group is intended to be a venue for advanced topics as well as a time to work on Open Source projects as a group.
The meeting location for September is:
WDT Solutions
9450 Manchester, Suite 204
Rock Hill, MO

MOSLUG - MO Open Source LUG (http://www.nbtsc.org/~iguanacog)

Meets on the 1st Tuesday of the month, from 7:00pm to 11:00pm. Meetings are free and open to everyone. This is a Linux Users Group (LUG) for all levels, from new beginners to the more advanced users.
Culpeppers Restaurant (basement)
312 S. Kirkwood Road
Kirkwood, MO 63122

STLBSD - St. Louis BSD Users (http://www.stlbsd.org)

Just started holding official meetings. Look for guys with little red daemons on their shirts at SLUUG and LUG meetings.

SLACC - St. Louis Area Computer Club (http://www.slacc.com)

Meets the 1st Thursday of every month, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.
Thornhill Library
12863 Willowyk Drive (off Fee Fee)
Creve Coeur, MO

STLWEBDEV - St. Louis Web Developers (http://www.stlwebdev.org)

Meets the 3rd Tuesday of the month from 6:30pm to 9:00pm. Meetings are free and open to everyone. This is an open group to facilitate communications between diverse professions involved in Internet/Intranet design and development. STLWEBDEV is also the St. Louis chapter of the International Webmasters Association and the HTML Writers Guild (IWA-HWG).
CityPlace One Auditorium
One City Place
Creve Coeur, MO 63141

Wireless SIG (http://www.stlwebdev.org/sigs/wireless)

Meets the 4th Tuesday of the month, from 6:30pm to 9:00pm. Meetings are free and open to everyone. Refreshments at 6:30, program begins at 7:00. This group is a cooperative effort of both the St. Louis Web Developers and the St. Louis Java Users Group.
CityPlace One Auditorium
One City Place
Creve Coeur, MO 63141

CCSL - Computer Consultants of St. Louis (http://www.ccsl.org)
Monthly Dinner Meeting

Meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month at Cheshire Inn. RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED. Cost is $20 for members, $25 for non-members. Call 314-995-4652 (by the previous Friday) or email meeting@ccsl.org for reservations. Social hour starts at 5:30pm, meeting starts at 6:30pm.
Cheshire Inn
6306 Clayton Rd.
St. Louis, MO

SILUG - Southern Illinois LUG (http://www.silug.org)
O'Fallon meeting

The SILUG O'Fallon meeting is generally on the first Thursday of the month. It runs from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.
O'Fallon Public Library
120 Civic Plaza
O'Fallon, IL

SILUG - Southern Illinois LUG (http://www.silug.org)
Carbondale meeting

The SILUG Carbondale meeting is the 1st Monday of the month, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.
Life Sciences III
1059 Auditorium
SIU-Carbondale
Carbondale, IL

LUCI - Linux Users of Central Illinois (http://www.luci.org)

All LUCI meetings are held at the same location, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. General meetings are on the 4th Tuesday of the month, and Newbie night is held on the 2nd Tuesday of the month.
Illinois State Museum Research & Collections Center
1011 East Ash St.
Springfield, IL 62703

BDPA (http://www.bdpa-stl.org)

BDPA (Black Data Processing Associates) is a member-focused organization that exists to provide professional development programs and services to position its members at the forefront of the IT industry. Its members, minority and non-minority, share a desire to bridge the Digital Divide.
Meetings are held at 6:00pm on the 3rd Wednesday of the month, and are free and open to the public.
Computer Village
4411 N. Newstead (at Pope and Carter)
St. Louis, MO 63115

CORCC - County Older Residents Computer Club (http://www.a-zuc.com/corcc/)

Meets (almost) every Friday from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. Provides free classes for seniors 55 or older. For info, call Jackie Oughton at 314-838-9050 or Barbara Stevenson at 314-739-2454.
Prairie Commons Library
915 Utz Lane (between Howdershell and Dunn)
Hazelwood, MO

We publish meeting schedules of groups in the St. Louis region that may be of interest to our members. If you would like to have info added about your group, please mail the newsletter editor (editor@sluug.org) or call any of the SLUUG officers.


Articles:

WARNING: These articles may express personal opinions and SLUUG exerts no more editorial control over such content than does a public library, bookstore, or newsstand. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed herein are those of the respective authors and not necessarily supported by SLUUG. SLUUG does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content, nor its merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.


InstallFest Update

The November InstallFest has been pushed back to the second weekend in January. Carl Fitch and Karen Rinke are working hard to make the arrangements and organize the event. The tentative location for the InstallFest is the CompUSA on St. Charles Rock Road in Bridgeton. More information and details will be released in the next month.



New Python User Group

by Patrick K. O'Brien

There is a new St. Louis Python User Group now forming. Python is a simple but powerful Open Source programming language. The group will also focus on Jython (an implementation of Python written in Java) and Zope (a web application server written in Python). If you currently program in Python, or would like to learn this wonderful language, you should consider joining this group.

Membership is free and open to anyone in the St. Louis area. The group is already off to a great start with their own Wiki, mailing lists, SourceForge project, and more. Meetings and study groups will be scheduled soon. [The first meeting will be an informal get-together in conjunction with the regularly-scheduled CWE-LUG meeting on October 20.] Additional details are available on the Python St. Louis website at http://www.pystl.org/.



Sponsors

For more information about sponsoring the St. Louis UNIX Users Group, contact Dave Mills (sponsorship@sluug.org).


Quotes

If you aren't outraged, you aren't paying attention.
 -- BitGeek on Slashdot

Palladium prevents security vulnerability the way the U.S. 
government's "War on Drugs" prevents illegal drug use. In 
actuality, the real purpose of the "War on Drugs" is to prevent
competition by small illegal drug manufacturers, which would lower 
the price. The big manufacturers are selling more drugs now than 
before the "War on Drugs", and at artificially high prices. 
 -- Futurepower(R) on Slashdot

What I discovered was that government is still the last big company 
around. The place where no one ever gets fired, or laid off. Where 
the new technology approval board is run entirely by people whose 
only IT training is in Cobol and Unisys 2200. The few really smart 
people are full of great ideas, but they are rendered inert by the 
great mass of "lifers".
 -- Anonymous Coward on Slashdot

Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing
section in a pool.
 -- delta407 on Slashdot

It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.
 -- Alfred Adler

Once something's been approved by the government, it's no 
longer immoral. 
 -- Reverend Lovejoy (The Simpsons)

Give a man a match, and he'll be warm for a minute, but set him 
on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

Archeologists believe the Aztecs committed ritual human sacrifice
to postpone the end of the world. ... As proof of concept that 
Human Sacrifice works I would like to point out that the world 
hasn't ended yet.
 -- Treeluvinhippy on Slashdot

If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done?
 -- Uli's moose

Robert: I smell the beginnings of a flame war.  :-)
Scott:  That's 'cause you're on the wrong side. :)

My VAX 6420 will crush all of your PCs--literally.
 -- vaxzilla on Slashdot

You were the lucky post that finally made the "uninformed comment" 
bucket overflow.
 -- Christopher Thomas on Slashdot

The Bolder Pledge: Under no circumstances will I ever
purchase anything offered to me as the result of an
unsolicited email message. Nor will I forward chain
letters, petitions, mass mailings, or virus warnings to
large numbers of others. This is my contribution to
the survival of the online community.


Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

As our membership grows, we have had some inquiries about the possibility of having Special Interest Groups in several areas. If you are interested in starting or participating in a SIG for System Administration, Networking, C, Object Oriented Programming, a specific vendor, etc., please contact any officer of the group.

Volunteering

SLUUG administration is volunteer based. We're always looking for volunteers to help with presentations, web page development, managing corporate sponsorships, and many other tasks. If you would like to help out contact Christine Wanta (volunteer@sluug.org).

Contacts

  President president@sluug.org Ed Wehner
  Vice-President vice-president@sluug.org Scott Granneman
  Secretary secretary@sluug.org Buck Pyland 
  Treasurer treasurer@sluug.org Mike Kriz 
  Linux Users Group Chair linux@sluug.org Craig Buchek
  Board of Directors board@sluug.org Rich Seibel
Ed Wehner
Craig Buchek
Robert Citek
Stan Reichardt
  Presentations presentations@sluug.org Christine Wanta
  Corporate Sponsors sponsorship@sluug.org Dave Mills
  O'Reilly Book Sales booksales@sluug.org Susan Hurst
  Newsletter Editor editor@sluug.org Craig Buchek
  PR reporter@sluug.org Stan Reichardt
  Steering Committee Info info@sluug.org Gary Meyer
  BBS Questions bbs@sluug.org Gary Meyer
  Official Correspondence SLUUG Mailing Address PO Box 411302
St. Louis, MO 63141


Submitting Articles to the SLUUG Cronicle

If you would like to submit an article to the Cronicle of general interest to the members of the St. Louis UNIX Users Group, send your info or complete article to editor@sluug.org. The deadline for article submissions is the second last day of the month.


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