The UNIX® CRONicle

February 1997

Official Publication of the STL!/unix/usr/group

UNIX® is a registered trademark of the Open Group
Linux® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds
Online version: http://www.sluug.org/cronicle/


Table of Contents


Next Meeting Details

Wednesday, February 12, 1997 at 6:30 PM
Sunnen Products, 7910 Manchester

6:30 PM Note: No tutorial this month only!
7:00 PM Call For Help (An opportunity for you to ask technical questions of the group)

7:15 PM Social, off-line conversations, & book sales

7:30 PM Presentation "Network Security and Firewalls" by Rick Hicks, Hussmann Corporation


Presentation

"Network Security and Firewalls" by Rick Hicks, Hussmann Corporation

Rick Hicks, Network Specialist at Hussmann Corporation, was responsible for connecting Hussmann Corporation to the Internet and maintains other systems there, including Silicon Graphics, Sun, and Netware platforms.

Rick's presentation will cover the following:


Upcoming Meetings

Main Meeting February 12, 1996 at 6:30 PM

Sunnen Products
7910 Manchester
St. Louis, MO

Steering Committee February 18, 1996 at 6:00 PM

Daugherty Systems
One City Place (2nd floor)
Creve Coeur, MO

Linux SIG February 20, 1996 at 7:00 PM
The Apache Web Server & CGI Programming, by Matthew Feldt, Linux SIG Chair

Bridgeton Trails Public Library
3455 McKelvey Road
St. Louis, MO 63044

CTI SIG February 5, 1996 at 6:30 PM
Post-Dispatch's "PostFax System" by Richard Shockey, Nuntius

Bridgeton Trails Public Library
3455 McKelvey Road
St. Louis, MO 63044


Meeting Directions

The STL!/unix/usr/group meets the 2nd Wednesday of every month at Sunnen Products, 7910 Manchester Blvd, just east of Hanley on Manchester.

Directions From Downtown

  1. Take 40 West to the Hanley exit.
  2. Turn left (south) onto Hanley.
  3. Turn left (east) onto Manchester, then turn right ASAP into the Sunnen Products driveway.

The SLUUG Steering Committee meets the Tuesday following the general 2nd Wednesday meeting at 6:00 PM in the 2nd floor training room of Daugherty Systems, One City Place in Creve Coeur.

The SLUUG Linux SIG (SLUUGLS) meets the 3rd Thursday of every month at the Bridgeton Trails Public Library.

The SLUUG CTI SIG (SLUUG CiTI) meets the 1st Wednesday of every month, location to be announced.


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 call Dave Mills at 230-5151, extension 103, or contact any officer of the group.


St. Louis Unix Users Group - Linux SIG (SLUUGLS)

PRESENTATION: Matthew Feldt, Chair of the St. Louis Linux Users Group - Linux SIG, will discuss installation, configuration and maintenance of the Apache Web server.

Taken from the Apache README: Apache is an HTTP server designed as a plug-in replacement for the NCSA server version 1.3 (or 1.4). It fixes numerous bugs in the NCSA server and includes many frequently requested new features, and has an API which allows it to be extended to meet users' needs more easily.

In addition simple CGI (Common Gateway Interface) programming will be discussed. CGI provides a method of executing programs on the Web server to create dynamic HTML content. Examples of CGI programs will be provided in C, C++ and Perl. Some public domain CGI libraries will be reviewed as well.

LOCATION DIRECTIONS:
Bridgeton Trails Public Library
3455 McKelvey Road

From 270: Exit St. Charles Rock Road east,
make right onto McKelvey Road,
Library is on the right (west) hand side of McKelvey.
From Lindberg: Exit St. Charles Rock Road west,
make left onto McKelvey Road,
Library is on the right (west) hand side of McKelvey.

For more information on SLUUGLS refer to the WWW home page for the group at http://www.stllinux.org/ or contact Matthew Feldt at linux@www.feldt.com.


Computer Telephony Integration User's Group (SLUUG CiTI)

Post-Dispatch's "PostFax System" Creator To Address the February CTI User's Group

ST. LOUIS, MO - Creator of the locally popular Post-Dispatch's "PostFax" System and Nuntius President, Richard Shockey, is set to address the Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) User's Group on February 5, 1997 at Bridgeton Trails Library.

Shockey will address the basics of fax on demand as it relates to computer telephony, other high performance fax applications, and industry trends on the subject as well as the direction of the industry and how it will compete against the World Wide Web. A second guest is yet to be announced.

The meeting is to be held Wednesday, February 5th (6:30 PM - 8:30 PM approx.) Bridgeton Trails is located at 3455 McKelvey Road (one block south of St. Charles Rock Road).

"Fax on demand is just another brilliant aspect of CTI," states Robert Becnel, an active CTI member. "Richard brings a lot of credibility to this topic due to his involvement with the PostFax system."

Mr. Shockey has also participated in several industry forums that are developing methods for sending faxes across the Internet.

Nuntius is a national fax on demand vendor that has its headquarters here in St. Louis. Nuntius's clients include the St. Louis Post-Dispatch "PostFax System", Siemens-Rolm, NCR, Internal Revenue Service, Omega Engineering among hundreds of others.

The following CTI User's Group will meet on March 5th and will feature Barron Communications President, Kenneth Barron. The topic is yet to be confirmed.

Date/Time: Wednesday, February 5, 1997; 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM (approx)
Location: Bridgeton Trails Library (Rm #1) - 3455 McKelvey Road
St. Louis, MO (one block south of St. Charles Rock Road)
(see map at http://www.ctitek.com/ctiusers/library_map.html)
Cost: None. New members welcomed monthly free of charge.
Note: All 1997 meetings will be held on the first Wednesday of the month.

For more information on SLUUG CiTI contact Tony Zafiropoulos at tonyz@ctitek.com or (314)537-3959.


Article: SLUUG Elections in February

SLUUG elections will be held at the February 12 meeting. Offices open for election and current office holders include:

	Current  Title and Officer              New Term
	
	Director, Dave Mills                    3 years,  2/97 - 2/00
	Director, Rich Seibel                   3 years,  2/97 - 2/00
	
	President, Dave Mills                   1 year, 2/97 - 1/98
	Vice President, Gary Meyer              1 year, 2/97 - 1/98
	Secretary, Rich Seibel                  1 year, 2/97 - 1/98
	Treasurer, Steve Pautz                  1 year, 2/97 - 1/98
	
	Presentation Manager, Rich Seibel       1 year, 2/97 - 1/98
	Meeting Host(ess), none                 1 year, 2/97 - 1/98
	Book Sales Manager, Fred Govier         1 year, 2/97 - 1/98
	Sponsorship Manager, Paul Backer        1 year, 2/97 - 1/98
	News Editor, Steve Totten               1 year, 2/97 - 1/98
	News Publisher, Sanjiv Bhatia           1 year, 2/97 - 1/98
	Web Manager, Matthew Feldt              1 year, 2/97 - 1/98
	ITEC Booth Manager, Chris Wanta         1 year, 2/97 - 1/98
	ITEC Presentation Manager, Tony Z.      1 year, 2/97 - 1/98
	BBS Manager, Gary Meyer                 1 year, 2/97 - 1/98
	Newbie Tutor, Steve Pautz               1 year, 2/97 - 1/98
	Membership Database Mgr, Klaus Mueller  1 year, 2/97 - 1/98

The following people have already been nominated to the following positions:

	 Candidate                    Position
	 Dave Mills                   Director
	 Rich Seibel                  Director
	 Gary Meyer                   President
	 Rich Seibel                  Vice President
	 Steve Pautz                  Treasurer
	 Fred Govier                  Book Sales Manager
	 Ed Wehner                    Sponsorship Manager
	 Steve Totten                 News Editor
	 Sanjiv Bhatia                News Publisher
	 Jim Ford (Knight)            BBS Manager & Web Manager
	 Matthew Feldt                Web Manager
	 Sanjiv Bhatia                ITEC Booth Manager
	 Dave Mills                   ITEC Presentation Manager
	 Klaus Mueller                Membership Database Manager

All members in good standing are encouraged to vote. To be a member in good standing, you only need to have attended at least two meetings in the past 12 months (Special Interest Group meetings are included).

It is not too late to place a name into nomination for any of these positions. Contact any member of the Nominations Committee:

Remember, this is your organization. Be sure to attend February 12 and cast your vote!


Article: New SLUUG Post Office Box

The St. Louis UNIX Users Group has a new P.O. box. All official correspondence with SLUUG should now be sent to:

	St. Louis UNIX Users Group
	P.O. Box 1184
	Fenton, MO  63026-1184

Article: ITEC Expo in May

The ITEC Information Technology Exposition and Conference is coming to St. Louis on May 21 and 22 at Cervantes Convention Center. Many of you are familiar with the ITEC Expo, either as an previous attendee or as a volunteer in the SLUUG Booth. SLUUG will be participating again this year, and we will need volunteers for the booth. If you are interested, please email Chris Wanta (cfw1@mail.sluug.org).

We also need your ideas for presentations and speakers for the show. What presentations would you like to see? What speakers? What topics, in your opinion, would be of most interest to the general business public? Email your ideas to Dave Mills (mills@mail.sluug.org) or bring them to the next meeting.

Free tickets for the show will be provided with the Cronicle Newsletter (both the email and snail mail versions). Please check the next few issues of the Cronicle for more news about the show. Also, be sure to visit http://www.sluug.org/~cfw1/ITEC97/ for additional information or to volunteer to help out. The site should be up by February 8.


Article: Telnet/Dialup into the Library

by Stan Reichardt

Did you know you can dial directly or telnet into the St. Louis County Library CATALOG server? Once connected you can do catalog searches for UNIX books (or any other lesser subject matter), renew charged out UNIX books (save a trip in your car and avoid a ten cent overdue fine), request that a hold be placed on a UNIX book, or even request purchases or post questions to the Library staff.

To establish a dialup connection, call directly to (314)569-1032 (with suggested parity N, data bits 8, stop bits 1). However; if you are going to be connecting to "michelob" anyway, save yourself some time by using the "telnet" capability of TCP/IP.

In addition, University City Public Library's catalog, while not yet available via the internet, allows direct dialup. Dial (314)727-3508 and use the password "library".

To access the St. Louis County Library CATALOG via the Internet, just telnet to slcl.lib.mo.us (199.181.178.100) and enter "catalog" at the 'Username' prompt (if given). Users not given a 'Username' prompt will be entered there automatically. No other public access to this system is allowed.

Once you are connected, just follow the prompts and menus. You can search for a book by title, author, subject, etc. When you have narrowed down your search for a particular book, you can request that a hold be placed on it. If it is at a remote branch you can designate where you want to pick it up. You will be mailed a postcard when it arrives.

In addition to routine catalog searches, you can access some information associated with your personal account. For example, you can check what date books are due to be returned or even renew the charge out date. To get to your personal account information type "pi" and follow the prompts.

To end your session you type in "quit", "end", or "exit".

Many of the UNIX books in the holdings are well worth reading. Increased demand will encourage more purchases. So check out what is there and "check it out".

Note that there are a number of UNIX and Internet books that just don't show up under the SUBJECT that you would expect them to be under. "Zen and the Art of the Internet" comes to mind as a specific example of weird cataloging. Ironicly, it was catalogued with mid-eastern philosophy books. Anyway, two of my personal favorites are:

Additional accesses by World Wide Web (WWW) browser URLs:

For more detailed instructions and for information about the SLUUG see the SLUUG BBS Users Manual on michelob.sluug.org at /sluug/newsletters/manual.txt.


St. Louis UNIX Users Group Steering Committee

The SLUUG Steering Committee meets the Tuesday following the general 2nd Wednesday meeting at 6:00 PM in the 2nd floor training room of Daugherty Systems, One City Place in Creve Coeur. The guard can direct you to the meeting location. Anyone is welcome to attend. If you would like to become more involved in the planning of SLUUG, feel free to join us at the next Steering Committee meeting. Meetings usually last 1.5 to 2 hours.


Donations Needed

SLUUGLS would like to set up a Linux Server to mirror Linux sites and provide Linux to the bulletin board users of SLUUG. In order to provide these services we are seeking a donation of a system with the following configuration:

Any donation, even parts will be appreciated. Thank you.

Matthew Feldt linux@www.feldt.com
http://www.feldt.com

Sponsors


SLUUG on the World Wide Web

The St. Louis UNIX Users Group maintains a WWW page at http://www.sluug.org/. Visit us to learn more about who we are and what we do, visit other UNIX user groups' WWW pages, sign up for a SIG, or just to browse.

Our web page has recently been redesigned and greatly improved. Much thanks to Matthew Feldt for all his efforts! Visit us and see what we have to offer.


/usr/groups/other

We publish other user group meeting schedules on a reciprocal basis. If you are a member of another non-profit group, please inform them of our policy and invite them to exchange meeting information with editor@mail.sluug.org, or call any of the SLUUG officers.


St. Louis Internet Users Group

The St. Louis Internet Users Group is devoted to discussing issues dealing with the Internet. Each meeting includes a presentation, question and answer session, and a discussion of new resources available on the Internet.

Meetings: 1st Tuesday of the month, 6:30 PM, auditorium, lower level, One City Place on Olive Street Road in Creve Coeur.

Contact: Jym Barnes at (314)926-8672 (jym@stl.net) or visit their Web home page, http://www.stl.net.


The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), St. Louis Chapter

Meetings: 2nd Monday of the month, 5:30 PM, Grone Cafeteria, 4409 Woodson Road, 2 blocks south of Lambert airport. Dinner at Grone's before the meeting.

"What Is All This Web Stuff, Anyway?" by Don Ellis

Summary: Not long ago, the Internet was a tool for coordinating research projects. A tiny, but very popular part of the Internet, The World Wide Web, was developed to allow sharing of documentation among a wide-spread audience with diverse equipment. This presentation will review several aspects of preparing HyperText Markup Language (HTML), the portable document format most commonly used on the Web. Expect to hear more than you ever thought you needed to know.

Biography: Don Ellis has worked for computer consulting firms since 1986, previously working in sales support for several prominent manufacturers. He has had assignments on UNIX systems, DOS PCs, and Macintosh installations. His current project is to develop web sites for CPI Corp, parent company of Fox Photo/CPI Photo and Sears Portrait Studios.

Arrangements: Begin the cafeteria style dinner and social when you arrive. Dinner and FREE lecture are in the back room. Non-members are welcome. No registration. Bring a friend!

Contact: Dayle Majors at (314)441-2895.


St. Louis Object Oriented Special Interest Group (OOSIG)

Meetings: The St. Louis OOSIG meets on the 3rd Thursday of alternating months from 4:30-6:30 pm. The location varies, usually alternating between the Creve Coeur Community Center and Southwestern Bell, downtown.

Contact: Mike Taterka, (314)344-5007 or 102142.1453@compuserve.com.


Missouri Society of Professional Engineers (MSPE)

MISSOURI SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS UNVEILS NEW INTERNET WEB SITE

On Saturday, January 18, Robert Becnel of the Information Technology Committee of Missouri Society of Professional Engineers (MSPE) unveiled the brand new Internet web site for MSPE at the Annual Winter Board Meeting in St. Louis.

Furthermore, the St. Louis Chapter has relocated it's home page to the new mspe.org domain. Please make note of the following:

MSPE web site: http://www.mspe.org
St. Louis Chapter of MSPE web site http://www.mspe.org/stlouis

MSPE e-mail address: mspe@mspe.org
St. Louis Chapter of MSPE e-mail address: stlouis@mspe.org

Information contained on the web site is highlighted by a home page site for each of nine (9) Missouri MSPE chapters. Additional material includes listing of board officers and staff contacts, description of the geographic areas consumed by the chapters as well as e-mail addresses for reaching all chapters.

Information Technology Committee Co-Chair, Tonis Zafiropoulos, has been very clear in acknowledgement and support of MSPE President Harbourt, "The mspe.org web site will be a high mark on the Harbourt administration of MSPE. President Harbourt has brought to the board and successfully enacted upon a philosophy and vision to lead Missouri's largest Professional Engineering society into the 21st Century."

MSPE would like to thank St. Louis-owned Network Publishing Technologies (NPT). Dave Reeves, the president of NPT, helped secure the mspe.org domain name and is providing hosting services for the web site. The Committee would like to extend a special acknowledgement to Reeves for his overwhelming support for the Engineering community in Missouri.


Computer Consultants of St. Louis

The next meeting of Computer Consultants of St. Louis is Tuesday, February 11, 1997 at 6:00 pm. We will meet at Patrick's Restaurant, 342 Westport Plaza. We will continue our discussion of topics of interest to those attending. For business a suggestion of dues has been raised and we still need officers. Joy Dressel has agreed to put notices in local papers for us for now.


Contacts

Address Changes
and Membership
Klaus Mueller Home: +1 (573) 334-6477
331 S Spring Ave
Cape Girardeau, MO 63703
mueller@mail.sluug.org

BBS Questions Gary Meyer Home: (314)781-8644
gary@mail.sluug.org
meyer@decus.org

Corporate Sponsors Paul Backer Work: (314)454-4002
FAX: (314)454-6158
pauldb1@slch.wustl.edu

Newsletter
Submissions
Editorial team: editor@mail.sluug.org

Publisher: Sanjiv Bhatia Home: (314)519-9272
Work: (314)516-6520
FAX: (314)516-5400
sanjiv@aryabhat.cs.umsl.edu

Editor: Steve Totten Home: (618)931-0037
http://www.sluug.org/~totten
totten@mail.sluug.org

O'Reilly Books Fred Govier Work: (314)342-7846
govier@mail.sluug.org

Presentations Rich Seibel Home: (314)878-0394
Work: (314)515-2725
rich@mail.sluug.org

Steering Committee
Information
Dave Mills Home: (314)452-3313
Work: (314)230-5151 ext 103
FAX: (314)230-5494
mills@mail.sluug.org

Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

Computer Telephone
Integration (CTI)
Tony Zafiropoulos http://www.inlink.com/~itek
tonyz@ctitek.com

Linux Matthew Feldt Home: (314)429-5433
http://www.feldt.com
linux@www.feldt.com


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, email it to editor@mail.sluug.org