LINUX MAGAZINE DVD

SERVICE
As a special bonus for our readers,
we are including on this
month’s DVD a full year of
Linux Magazine in a convenient, searchable
archive. Look for that article you
missed, and relive the best moments of
the year in Linux. All articles are reproduced
in high-resolution PDF format.
Cover Stories
Each issue features three or more related
articles on a special theme. We covered a
wide range of topics in 2004. Cover story
topics on this month’s DVD include:
•DVD Burning: You’ll learn about the
DVD burning process. We’ll show you
some GUI applications for writing
DVDs, and we’ll review six DVD writers.
•Distro Tests: We compare and contrast
the most popular Linux distributions,
including Mandrakelinux, Suse Linux,
Debian, Xandros, and Fedora Core.
•Linux Security: We look at Adamantix,
a hardened Debian derivative, and we
examine the PaX memory protection
kernel patch. We also compare Linux
firewalls.
•New Desktops: You’ll learn about configuring
Gnome and migrating personal
data to Evolution, Galeon, and
Mozilla. We also look at KDE 3.2, KOffice,
and Gnome Office.
•Networking: You’ll study tools for the
network, including CUPS, DHCP
18
Linux Magazine DVD
LINUX MAGAZINE DVD
server, and Suse’s System
Configuration Profile Management
(SPCM).
• Hardware Tips: How
to buy a printer, how to
configure Linux for a
digital camera, and how
to create an ultra-quient
PC.
• Software Setup: We examine
Linux software setup tools, such as
Suse’s YaST and Debian’s Aptitude.
You’ll also learn some new techniques
for using configure and make.
•Internet Phones: Topics include Softphones,
Voice over IP Basics, and the
Asterisk software phone system.
• Spam: Techniques for managing spam
on Linux systems.
•Network Options: Network tools and
techniques, including NdisWrapper,
HostAP, the Postfix mail server, and
Samba migration.
• Printing: A deep look at printing in
Linux, including in-depth articles on
CUPS and the Ghostscript printing system.
You’ll also learn how to create a
pseudo-fax printer, and we’ll show
you how to use muttprint to format
text-based email.
• Scripting Secrets: Advanced Bash techniques
and a tutorial on searching text
tables with AWK. We also look at
what’s coming in Perl 6.
Our cover stories will help you build a
Figure 1: Nostalgia buffs will love our December
story on emulating old computer systems
like the Commodore and the Sinclair
Spectrum.
18 ISSUE 52 MARCH 2005 WWW.LINUX- MAGAZINE.COM
deeper understanding of Linux.
Advanced Techniques
Our advanced technical articles teach
you new technologies and show you
new tools for age-old problems. You’ll
find articles on BitTorrent, PHP Nuke,
VPN security, and filesystem tuning.
You’ll learn about the network time protocol,
and you’ll discover how to rescue
data you thought you’d lost. Other
higlights include:
•Blogging tools
•Apache performance tuning
•Mozilla XUL
•Clustering filesystems
•Powerline and cable modems
• NTFS from Linux
•Palmtop synchronization
You’ll also explore technologies such as
the APM and ACPI power management
standards, and you’ll learn advanced
techniques for tools such as
GnomeMeeting and YUM package
manger.
Reviews
Browse for reviews of the latest books
and tools. You’ll find reviews of several
applications and distributions, including
OpenExchange, VMWare, Suse 9.1, and
Sun Java Desktop, as well as more specialized
tools like the Plan Maker spreadsheet
and Mount Everything, an application
for mounting Windows file systems
in Linux.
Administration Tips
Marc André Selig’s monthly Admin
Workshop column is a tutorial on the
tools admins use every day. Also
included are tips and insights from
columnist Charly Kühnast and special
feature articles for working admins. Topics
include Big Sister, Mobile IP, Reiser 4,
and the smartmontools – an early warning
system for failing hard drives.
Scripting
Mike Schilli’s Perl Snapshot column
brings advanced Perl programming techniques
to the everyday. You’ll enjoy his
KNOW HOW
W
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Building wikis w
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Wikis are tailor-ma
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Wiki is the
Web – “wik
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make thin
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The Full Picture
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central repository.
de for this task.
A
ith MoinMoin Wiki
efore content managesystems
started to
ar for website managerovided
a kind of “open
February column, in which he shows
how to write a Perl script that will monitor
an eBay auction, or his November
column, in which he shows how to
access OpenOffice from Perl. You’ll also
find other features on scripting topics,
including articles on Lua (a language
favored by game developers) and PHP.
Desktop Tools
We bring you the best of the Linux desktop.
Our regular columns cover a broad
range of Linux user topics from KDE to
Gwenview cannot replace a versatile tool like The Gimp. But if you simply need to organize your digital images or shoot
off a slideshow, this image viewer is a good choice. Being capable of handling any image format supported by KDE,
means that this application can handle whatever you need. BY STEFANIE TEUFEL
Packaged
Free Windows
picture paints a thousand words, File Reader plug-in for Qt 3) developed If the four-panel view in the program
or so the saying goes. And that by Lignum Computing allows Gwenview window is too cluttered for your liking,
might explain the masses of digi- to browse even GIMP (.xcf) files.
you can use the Window menu to
tal artwork that clutter up so many
change the view. If you have not added
machines. The only problem is that there
comments to your image collection, you
are thousands of formats, and your The current version of the program is will not need the file info display. To dis-
favorite graphics package may only available on the project homepage at [1]. able it, select Window / Hide file info in
understand one or two of them. Gwen- As the developers provide ready-made the menu.
view is a program that can load, display, packages for most major distributions,
and save any image format supported by installing the program should not prove
KDE. Even graphic artists who regularly too difficult. After completing the instal- You can modify the look & feel of your
use the Gimp image processing package lation, you can type gwenview & to image viewer using the View menu by
will find a friend in Gwenview: the launch the program. The initial window opting to view the filenames of the direc-
QXCFI component (the GIMP XCF Image should be similar to Figure 1.
tory contents in the top right panel
tive Group Writing
Figure 1: The initial Gwenview window has four panels. Figure 2: Large thumbnails are a good indicator of the file contents.
pages, allowing any visiedit
the HTML content.
abbreviation for WikiWikii
wiki” is derived from
nd means “quick” or
nd the open authoring sys- restored at any time, should a page be MySQL, Oracle, or PostgreSQL. The softy
is quick. The MoinMoin deleted or damaged by mistake. Also, ware then uses this data to create the
is one of the better-known wikis allow you to assign special access public HTML pages.
tions of this technology. controls that can restrict editing to regis- Besides taking a look at the original
click to launch the embedtered users, if required.
wiki, you might like to visit what is curand
access the content and The first wiki website was published rently the biggest wiki on the Web, the
f the page they want to mod- by Ward Cunningham in 1995, and it is Wikipedia [3], which offers innumerable
lly, an Edit link is provided to still online [1]. At the time, Cunningham articles on pages in multiple languages.
gs easier.
wrote an email message saying that he It is an example of how well information
trast to “real” HTML, which had programmed a new kind of database can be organized with a wiki.
at tags, wikis have a special “I’ve put up a new database on my web If you are thinking of running a wiki
at needs only a few simple for- server(…). It’s a web of people, projects yourself, you will be spoilt for choice of
commands.
and patterns accessed through a cgi-bin software – there are over 100 different
iki web page version control sys- script.” [2].
wiki engines [4], most of which are
sure that older versions can be This meant opening up his HTML Open Source. In this article we will be
pages to the general public. The foot of looking at the MoinMoin engine, and
each wiki page contains a link that takes introducing its syntax.
users to the editor where they can add
to, or modify, pages. Fortunately, there is
no need to write HTML code to do so. Before we launch into the wiki installa-
Cunningham wanted to make things eastion, let’s first ensure that a few other
ier for the authors and so chose a services are running on your machine.
simpler syntax.
These include Apache [5], for example.
The Wiki engine stores the content Most current distributions include pack-
er as ASCII text, or externally ages with versions 1 and 2 of the web
ch as server. You will not normally need to
GLOSSARY
GI is the abbreviation for Common
way Interface. It provides an interface
een external programs, or scripts, and
eb server.While HTML pages are static,
allow for content generation at runtime.
grams in the web server’s “cgi-bin”direcrun
automatically by the server
r example,
Figure 2: Views of a penguin with the 3D graphics tool AC3D.
com
Pre-Flight Check
COVER STORY
There is no better place to view error
messages than when compiling a
program. Configure scripts are especially
critical – time to find a way out
of the error-prone labyrinth. At first
it might seem full of bugs, but the
application you want to build may be
easier to fix that you would otherwise
expect.
BY ANDREA MÜLLER
T
Hosting with root
access from
£15 per month
Configure
MoinMoin Sources
huhnix:/moin-1.1 # python setupU
.py install --record=install.log
running install
running build
running build_py
creating build
creating build/lib
creating build/lib/MoinMoin
[...]
More than a Viewer
The --record=install.log parameter
writes an overview of the steps to the
install.log file. The next step is to discover
the user and group IDs that your
Apache server uses. You can grep the
Apache configuration file to find these
values. On Suse Linux 8.2, for example,
type the following:
Linux Magazine DVD
the command line. You’ll learn about the
StreamTuner Internet radio application
and the GnuCash money management
system. Also included are articles on
window managers, retro-gaming tools,
and groupware applications such as
Kontact.
Community
Our Community section is your window
to the global com-
KTools
D
LINUX MAGAZINE
(Details), or you can use thumbnails in Gwenview will apply the
various sizes. Figure 2 shows the top selected texture tiled
right panel with Large thumbnails. Avoid onto your desktop as a
the large thumbnails if your hardware is background pattern.
resource-challenged as this option does The Configure external
require a fair amount of computational tools menu item (see
performance.
Figure 4) allows you to
The bottom right panel in Figure 2 add an external program
shows another Gwenview feature: cor- of your choice. For
rect displaying of images that use an example, if you prefer a
Alpha Channel to define transparency different image process-
values. Gwenview uses a traditional ing program to The
checkerboard background, which is not Gimp, click on the Add
part of the image, to display
button, type the
transparent areas of the
name of the
image.
program in the
Like any other well-
Name box and select the appliscreen mode, and a slideshow function.
behaved KDE application,
cation file for Command. The You can scale the image view by select-
Gwenview provides typical
File Associations menu allows ing View / enlarge, View / reduce.
file management facilities for
you to specify if this program Alternatively, click on the various magni-
copying, moving, deleting
should be used for all files or fying glass icons to scale images up or
and renaming files. You can
images, or only for a special file down.
access these functions via
type. Finish up by clicking on To view the image at maximum size
the dropdown menu that
Apply to display the new entry on a single screen, select Fullscreen. You
appears when you right-click
under External Tools in the can then reduce the image display to
a file or via the File menu. Gwenview’s dropdown.
its normal size by clicking on the win-
developers have also implemented a KIO
dow icon with the red arrows. When
Slave that allows you to access Windows
you select Slideshow…, Gwenview will
shares, tar archives, zip files, and similar Besides configuring external programs, prompt you to specify the delay between
file sources via KDE.
Configure Gwenview (see Figure 5) pro- each image before you start. You can
Besides standard file operations, the vides configuration options for other also choose to display the images in a
dropdown (see Figure 3) has a lot of details. Should the first file in a folder be continuous loop (see Figure 6). Simply
other goodies. For example, you can displayed automatically, or not? Should choose your preferred settings and then
select Sort to sort your images by name, Gwenview display the name of the cur- it’s “Action!” ■
date, or size.
rent file in red, or another color? Do you
want full screen mode to display the
path to the file? This is where to define
As previously mentioned, Gwenview is your preferences. Last but not least,
not meant to replace your favorite image Gwenview has a zoom feature, a full-
editor. But it does provide simple
image manipulation features that
allow you to rotate or flip images.
You can either use the Edit menu
INFO
or the dropdown to Rotate left,
[1] Gwenview: http://gwenview.sourceforge.
Rotate right; Mirror or Flip.
net/download
The External Tools option in the
dropdown provides even more
functionality. For example, you
GLOSSARY
choose GIMP to tell Gwenview to
Alpha Channel An additional channel
open the image with The Gimp – of
besides the RGB (red/green/blue) channels
course, this assumes you have
normally used by image files.The Alpha
installed the program on your
Channel specifies the degree of transparency
machine. If you particularly like an
for each pixel of the image.
image or texture, you can select
KIO Slaves allow KDE applications transpar-
External Tools / Use as wallpaper to
ent access to such varied media as network
drives, or compressed archives.The KDE KIO
use the image as a background for
server automatically handles the details of
your desktop. If you select Exter-
the specific formats.
nal Tools / Tile as wallpaper,
Figure 3: The dropdown
menu
provides a whole
bunch of features.
huhnix:/moin-1.1 # egrep "^UserU
|^Group" /etc/httpd/httpd.conf
User wwwrun
Group nogroup
Configuration Details
mkdir mywiki
cp -r data mywiki
cp cgi-bin/* mywiki
chown -R wwwrun.nogroup mywiki
chmod a+rx mywiki/*.cgi
LINUX USER
Figure 5: Modify Gwenview to suit your personal preferences.
Perfect Configuration
From Source Code to the Finished Product: Understanding configure Error Messages
Figure 4: Add your own external programs.
Linux Magazine DVD
Linux Magazine DVD
Using the Installer
The installer is designed
to take away the pain of
system installations.
Each modular component
will either perform its task
and move on to the next or
provide an error screen and a
chance to try alternative
actions. This means that in
the majority of cases, you
will not see the installer but
just a series of questions
when configuring your computer
system.
Figure 1: The Debian installer main menu screen.
ebian GNU/Linux is about to As Debian GNU/Linux is
go through a version change. The designed for all levels of experience, you
current stable version has been may prefer the old style where you con-
around for a long time and is about to trol each step. In this case you will need When first adding packages to your sys-
be superseded. “Sarge” is the code name to add the boot parameter
tem you can chose the simple
for the testing version and we expect
installation option which uses the
any day for it to be officially named
“Tasksel” program. For those who feel
as the new stable version with the cur-
more adventurous, you can the adrent
stable stream “Woody” being To cope with any screen device, the vanced package installation which will
retired.
installer display is character based rather use “dselect”.
One of the delays has been the pro- than using a temperamental graphical
ject’s decision to include the new user interface. Instead of selecting options
“Debian Installer”. The installer is in- with a click of the mouse, you can use the
tended as a replacement for the aging TAB or RIGHT ARROW keys to move for-
boot floppy system, that although has ward and the LEFT ARROW key or
provided sterling service, is now looking SHIFT-TAB to move back. Selecting an
somewhat aged. This new installer is option is via the UP ARROW or the
the path for future Debian distributions, DOWN ARROW, with the SPACEBAR used
providing a more modular and easy to check any check boxes. The ENTER or
to use system. This system will also RETURN key activates the choice.
allow greater extensibility for whatever After you have installed the base sys-
the future may bring. With this in mind tem, you will be asked to configure some
we have taken the latest Debian DVD options such as your time zone and the
build made with the new jigdo (Jigsaw creation of the root and users’ passwords.
Download) tool to give you the future The system will now use the DVD
early.
as its source for the other packages
that you want to install.
Debian is not like the familiar
RPM-based distributions. It
favors the .deb packaging
system which has strong
dependency tracking and
good cooperation between
packages and system integration.
To install a package at
a later date, you just need
to run the following com-
Figure 2: The Debian installer detecting your hardware. mand:
Figure 6: Selecting slideshow parameters.
compile the sources manually. Moin-
Moin [6] is a Wiki based on the Python
[7] scripting language. Make sure that
Python is installed on your machine, by
You only need the first line once in the
typing python -V, and if not, install the
configuration file; the second line is
Python packages from your distribu- Red Hat Linux users will need to parse required for each wiki instance on the
tion’s installation CDs.
/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf instead, and server – make sure you change the name
Debian Linux uses /etc/apache/httpd. and path. Avoid calling your wiki wiki if
conf.
you can, as this can cause name conflicts
The MoinMoin sources can be down- Now change to the moin directory (cd with internal software components.
loaded from the project homepage. Type /usr/share/moin/ or cd /usr/local/share/ Finally, re-launch the web server
tar xzvf moin-1.1.tar.gz to unpack the moin/) to create a new Wiki instance: (/etc/init.d/apache2 restart for Apache 2,
archive, then change to the new direc-
/etc/init.d/apache restart for Apache 1,
tory created by this process (cd
and /etc/init.d/httpd restart for Red Hat
moin-1.1) and assume root privileges.
Linux). If you then access the URL
Python can help you install the software.
http://localhost/mywiki/ with your brow-
The command is as follows:
ser, you should see the wiki welcome
page (see Figure 1).
Debian users will need to change the IDs
in the chown line to www-data.www- When you are trying out your new wiki,
data, and Red Hat Linux users to apache. it makes sense to take your first steps in
apache. The two entries then
need to be added to the
Apache configuration file (this
is /etc/httpd/httpd.conf for
Apache 1 and /etc/apache2/
httpd.conf for Apache 2 on
Suse Linux, /etc/apache/httpd.
conf for Debian, and /etc/
httpd/conf/httpd.conf for Red
Hat Linux):
Alias /wiki/ U
"/usr/share/moin/U
htdocs/"
MoinMoin Wiki
Figure 1: Good morning – MoinMoin shortly after take off. Figure 2: Using MoinMoin as a template.
ScriptAlias /mywiki "/usr/localU
/share/moin/mywiki/moin.cgi"
Sandbox
KNOW HOW
his is something that every Linux In this article, we will be looking at the else. These files tell you if it is possible to
user will experience sooner or error messages you may encounter when use the normal three card trick to build
later. You are unable to find a running ./configure. To compile software the program, or if you need to edit a file
binary package for that much sought correctly, it is important to know how to first. Also, many programmers use these
after program for our distribution To resol e these errors
files to inform users of additional soft
Table 1: MoinMoin Syntax
Wiki Syntax HTML Syntax Displays as
"italics" italics italics
"'bold'" bold bold
##comment comment not displayed as output
[[BR]] hard newline
New line Paragraph
= Heading = Heading Heading
== Subheading == Subheading Subheading
=== Level 3 === Level 3 Level 3
==== Level 4 ==== Level 4 Level 4
===== Level 5 ===== Level 5 Level 5
—- (four dashes) horizontal line
www.linux-magazine.com April 2004
DEBCONF_PRIORITY=medium
munity of Linux users and developers.
Monthly columns such as Brave Gnu
World and Projects on the Move raise
awareness of promising Open Source
projects. You’ll walk with the intrepid
souls who sallied forth on the Linux
Beer Hike. And you’ll learn about important
conferences, summits, and seminars
in the world of Open Source, including
events such as KDE akademy, Oscon,
and LinuxWorld UK. ■
apt-get install packagename
Why run Debian?
Most people who chose Debian GNU/Linux
agree that the apt-get package system is far
superior to rivals, whether that is RPM,
urpmi, yum or apt4rpm. Beyond that lie
other more meaningful reasons. Debian
does not seek to be constantly releasing
new versions to increase sales. In fact,
Debian is run by volunteers who form a
community.The GPL is at the heart of the
Debian community and this granting of
freedom is the real reason why Debian users
are so passionate about their OS.
Debian also takes the issue of security very
strongly to heart. An example can be seen
each month by looking at how many security
notices Debian announces compared to
other distributions.This open form of information
ensures that you are in a position to
maintain the security of your computer at
all times.
The apparent slow change in versions also
ensures that the system has the stability
you require.This does not stop you from
running applications with some 12,000
packages available on the Debian mirrors
for a range of processor architectures.
Contact Info
Editor
John Southern,
jsouthern@linux-magazine.com
Competence Centers
Competence Center Software:
Patricia Jung, pjung@linux-magazine.com
Competence Center Hardware:
Mirko Dölle, mdoelle@linux-magazine.com
Competence Center Network & Security:
Achim Leitner, aleitner@linux-magazine.com
Correspondents & Contributors
Jono Bacon, Elisabeth Bauer,
Rene van Bevern, Zack Brown, Joe Casad,
Alison Davies, Mirko Dölle,
Tobias Eggendorfer, Hans-Georg Eßer,
J. D. “Iliad” Frazer, Oliver Frommel,
Steven Goodwin, Georg C. F. Greve,
Telsa Gwynne, Hagen Höpfner,
Charly Kühnast, Yuwei Lin, Martin Loschwitz,
James Mohr, Michael Schilli,
Carsten Schnober, Tim Schürmann,
Jörg Schumann, Marc André Selig,
Ralf Spenneberg, Stefanie Teufel
Proofreading & Polishing
Ian Travis, itravis@linux-magazine.com
Layout
Judith Erb, Elgin Grabe, Klaus Rehfeld
Cover Design
Pinball, info@pinball-werbeagentur.de
Great software on the DVD
ce 15.07.2004 19:17 Uhr Seite 97
Advertising: www.linux-magazine.com/Advertise
All countries (except Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
Brian Osborn, ads@linux-magazine.com
phone +49 6509 910 495
fax +49 6509 910 497
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Osmund Schmidt
anzeigen@linux-magazine.com
phone +49 6335 9110
fax +49 6335 7779
Management (Vorstand)
Hermann Plank, hplank@linux-magazine.com
Rosie Schuster, rschuster@linux-magazine.com
Business Unit Management
Brian Osborn, bosborn@linux-magazine.com
Product Management
Hans-Jörg Ehren,
hjehren@linux-magazine.com
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SERVICE
Linux Magazine DVD
The Linux Magazine Debian GNU/Linux
DVD contains hundreds of applications
to cater for whatever task you want to
perform. For desktop environments and
window managers we have a large
choice from the popular KDE or GNOME
options to the more unusual Blackbox
and Sawfish.
If you want to try some office work on
your new Debian system, you can start
off with either OpenOffice 1.1.0, KOffice
or the GNOME office applications such
as Gnumerics and Abiword. Gnucash
will keep your money organized and for
the old school text only users there is
always Emacs or Vim to master.
The program development side is not
forgotten in the mass of applications
supplied on the DVD. GCC supplies a
host of language compilers, alongside
Perl and Python. KDevelop and Anjuta
provide fully Integrated development
environments.
Figure 3: Running KDE with XMMS, KNotes, Konqueror and Klondike.
You can run your own servers such as
the ever popular Apache web server and readers and ftp transfer agents abound. The DVD disc is full of all the tools and
Samba to share data and information Email clients, Newsfeed viewers and utilities that you would expect from a
with any MS Windows computers you instant messengers are also included. modern Linux distribution plus many,
have attached to a local network, as well That’s not to forget all the multimedia many more. All of which are easily
as increase your security with GnuPG applications, games, productivity tools, installed onto the system from over 4.3
and the Shorewall firewall.
documentation and file utilities that are GBytes of compressed files, ensuring
Of course, these days, a modern sys- also included on the DVD.
that your tastes are catered for. ■
tem needs to be Internet ready and
aware. Debian GNU/Linux provides
numerous ways to browse and explore
the Web. These range from the ubiquitous
Mozilla and Nautilus to text only
applications such as Lynx and Links.
Knode or Pan can be used as newsgroup
Installer components
• main-menu Controls which components are used for the installation
• languagechooser Choose your language for installation messages
• countrychooser Choose where you are in the world
• ddetect Finds hard disks attached to the computer
• pcmcia Configure PCMCIA devices for laptop networking
• kbd-chooser Choose your keyboard model
• netcfg Configure the network connections
• iso-scan Finds ISO filesystems on the computer
• choose-mirror Lets you choose the installation files location
• cdrom-detect Finds CD-ROM devices attached to the computer
• anna Installs packages from the chosen mirror
• partman The Debian preferred partitioning tool
• autopartkit Automatically partitions a whole hard disk if required
• partitioner Allows the partitioning of hard disks
• partconf Creates filesystems on your hard disk partitions
• base-installer Installs the basic system so Debian will run when rebooted
• kernel-chooser If more than one kernel exists, gives you the choice
• bootloader-installer Installs a boot loader so Debian will start without installation media
• baseconfig Configure the system after rebooting for the first time
• shell Execute a shell from the second console
• bugreporter Save problems to a floppy to report to Debian developer team
Contact Info / UserFriendly
Linux Magazine
Stefan-George-Ring 24
81929 Munich, Germany
info@linux-magazine.com
phone +49 89 9934 1167
fax +49 89 9934 1199
www.linux-magazine.com – Worldwide
www.linuxmagazine.com.au – Australia
www.linux-magazine.ca – Canada
www.linux-magazine.co.uk – United Kingdom
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www.linux-magazine.com March 2004
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looking for. Here, configure
checking for cl... no
is looking for a script file
configure: error: no
called imlib-config. As it
acceptable U
fails to find the script, – no
C compiler found U
–, it decides that gdk_imlib
in $PATH
does not exist on the developer
machine (checking for
The script checks whether
gdk_imlib… not found).
the files required to com-
You can type locate
pile the software really
imlib-config to find out
exist. The lines starting
whether the imlib-config
with checking tell you
file is missing on your
what it checks. The results
machine, or if configure
are shown at the end of
looked in the wrong places.
each line, no in this case.
Alternatively, use find,
In other words, the script
although this may take a
quits and outputs an error Figure 1: The “Development” package group category in Suse’s YaST tool contains lot longer, as it does not
message if it fails to find the packages needed for compiling.
perform a database search.
what it is looking for. In
If the search fails to
this case, the machine simply does not This basic set of tools will remove the come up with the goods, you can assume
have a suitable compiler in its $PATH. cause of most error messages. If error that the file really does not exist. In this
The PATH variable (variables are indi- messages continue to occur, you may case, you will need to install it. How do
cated by the dollar sign, an operator that need to do some detective work.
you go about locating the file in the
queries the value of the variable) contains
the search path for executables. Seek, and Ye Shall Find
thousands of packages that a distribution
comprises? The tools provided by the
Every distribution has a different set of Listing 1 shows the most common type Mandrake and Suse Linux distributions
directories in its path. The echo $PATH of configure error message.
make this easy. If you have Mandrake,
command outputs a list of the directories In our example, the configuration type urpmf imlib-config. This tells the
in the path.
script complains about a missing gdk_ package manager to consult the database
In this case, the shell was unable to imlib (your target application may be and show you the files and packages
find a C compiler, an application that missing krb5.h, or lidSDL.so). The line containing imlib-config (see Figure 2).
converts software written in the C programming
language into an e ecutable
that says checking for imlib-config… no urpmf gdk_imlib tells us that the devel-
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75
Configure
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COVER STORY
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