Are there simple line-powered MP3 recorders?

That looks interesting. However, there are things in a Windows system that even the administrator can't touch. Try deleting a file called 'LPT1' for instance. Or creating a directory with Cygwin and trying to delete it from the Windows command line.

I like computers that do what they're bloody well told.

Cheers,

Phil Hobbs

Me too. That is why i use Linux. Of course understanding how to set up the permissions is part of the issue.

Like everything else there, free-will donations. Some items are bought and then donated directly, such as a very nice grand piano. In that case the donor wished to remain anonymous which is very common in Lutheran congregations. Even after he or she passes away nobody will be told.

I've learned about bash and sudo by now. But with CAD systems this really gets in the way. Libraries whether supplied with the SW, acquired, or self-created all ought to be under the same "Lib" subdirectory. In Linux you cannot do that. You could theoretically copy them all into /home/phil/geda/lib but then you cannot start the program from the usual GUI interface anymore. Because it would then not see those libraries. Honestly, that doesn't make much sense to me.

T'is one reason I never joined a big company :-)

As far as I found out so far (and I may be wrong here) that change does not stick. A half hour later you open a file from the GUI and decide you need a new model for a super gizmo mux chip. Then bam, "You do not have permission to write ...".

The file system is something I seriously do not like about Linux. I just do not like to be second-guessed by some software. Other than that it seems a pretty nice OS so far.

Oh, I can do that by hand. But many of those files are on customer servers now and I often have to deal with them there. Else you could just auto-open them all and mod according to where no error window pops up.

Yep, DOS has had the most profound effect on personal computing.

Well, first I made the decision that I will absolutely not have a dual boot system because that all but kills productivity. So I got Sun VirtualBox. Then I downloaded Ubuntu, installed it as a virtual machine on this new VirtualBox. Installing applications such as gschem and PCB Designer is a breeze in Linux. You go to a package manager (I used Synaptics) look around what's there and check the boxes of the stuff you want. Then click install and have a coffee. After that I was in business.

Then, while drawing some mock schematics I found out the limitations in gEDA and they are so serious for an analog guy like me that I will probably select KiCad as my next CAD system. But that decision isn't final just yet. Mostly the issues have to do with things like explicit power symbols and designator re-numbering. Yeah, there are workarounds for some of these issues but most require to close the schematic, go to the terminal, do stuff on the command line, then re-open gschem, re-load the schematic. So things that take five seconds with my current CAD now take minutes. Other issues seem to only be fixable if I use what SW pros call a "fork". I just learned that from the gEDA NG, it means you would now be using a version that will not necessarily remain compatible with the main program that almost everyone else is using. That isn't quite what I had in mind for a new CAD system.

The plus side of gEDA is a stellar support and help, and friendly people in the newsgroup. Also lots of helper applications. And when you look for one in the package manager just scrolling through all that Linux SW out there can make you drool. There is a ton of good stuff.

BTW, once you get it loaded open up someone elses schematic and play around in it. For me that is usually the best way to learn the ropes.

On a sunny day (Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:23:32 -0800) it happened Joerg wrote in :

I am not sure, but I think that is not correct. man chown

for example if there is a user joerg, then, as root you can do:

mkdir mylibs

ls -ld mylibs drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 48 2008-11-08 00:42 mylibs/

Change the owner, and group now you program should see it: chown joerg:joerg mylibs drwxr-xr-x 2 joerg joerg 48 2008-11-08 00:42 mylibs/

That directory can be anywhere.

Or chown joerg:users drwxr-xr-x 2 joerg users 48 2008-11-08 00:42 mylibs/

It could be, but a serious audio professional from Germany recommended three models and this was one of them. For a church the fact that it can be completely configured from remote and that you can download recordings the same way is a huge upside. Certainly in our case because our IT guru lives way out in the boonies.

Anywhere, as in anywhere but root. At least that's what people told me. This means you now need to start stuff like gschem from the new directory where the libs are, by command line. Because it will otherwise not see its gafrc and thus not load your libraries.

This is so much easier in Windows SW. You don't need to do anything, just start to create your own libraries and remain disciplined enough not to mess with original libraries. I've had that discipline for over

On a sunny day (Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:53:41 -0800) it happened Joerg wrote in :

Script, put this in /usr/local/sbin/mygschem

cd whereveritis gschem

make it executable: chmod +x /usr/local/sbin/mygschem

now link your GUI or whatever so the icon starts mygschem

That is how I run all the win stuff like swcad

grml: ~ # cat /usr/local/sbin/swcad cd "/root/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/LTC/SwCADIII/" wine scad3.exe grml: ~ #

So all I have to to is type swcad. You could add an icon too, but I mostly use rxvt (sort of an xterm).

You may need to add 'sudo' before those commands.

Anyways I am always root :-) Some people are scared of that...

Ok, yes, I could make a GUI icon. So far I've always started aps from the "Applications" Pulldown Menu in Ubuntu.

That's just the thing. Often Linux decides to not let me do stuff unless sudo is issued. I like things to happen right now, pronto. Well, that's how we are in America ;-)

How can you make yourself "always root"? That would solve a lot of problems.

You mean shared libraries (.so) or component libraries?

The usual methods are to make symbolic links from wherever the library is really to the /usr/lib directory (or someplace similar, e.g. /usr/local/lib), to use the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable (works like PATH in Windows or LIBPATH in OS/2). There's another method that's cleaner but I can never remember.

Cheers,

Phil Hobbs

why? that seems like a really bad idea.

sure you can, I can think of atleast three different ways...

run the app with elevated permissions change the ownership if the lib dir use a unification filesystem (this works a little like addpath did in dos)

You could theoretically copy

most applications allow a personal configuration file where you can specify that sort of stuff, most GUIs also allow you to make custom launchers and/or custom menus

Because it would then not see

You shouldn't do this. But I login as root, too, because I'm developing Linux drivers, adjusting system files all the time etc., so it is easier not to sudo all the time.

For KDE, which I like more than Gnome, because it feels more like Windows, you can configure KDM: change AllowRootLogin in kdmrc. I think for Gnome it is very easy, too:

With Linux it seems you almost have to because the directory system is a bit messy. IMHO it is, for example, not a good idea at all to have CAD linraries split into two directories in very different places.

Thanks! That ought to fix it. But my Linux is a bit on hold right now because I found gEDA not to suit my needs as well as KiCad seems to do. But whether gschem or KiCad I have to say that both are quite reliable. I really gave both a run lately and none crashed, not once. I can't even count anymore how often I have crashed OrCad.

The component libraries.

Ok, I'll have to look into that some more but the folks from the Linux caucus have said that you can only store non-root and then must "hand-crank" the app from there. Although Frank just posted a method to boot as root, then I could write into the real directoey for libraries just like I did the last 20 years or so. But anyhow, now I finally found a CAD software that suits me better and it's Windows-based. So I'll take a sabbatical from Linux :-)

That is how most CAD systems work. I've done that for >20 years now, with various CAD systems, works like a champ. To me it makes no sense to have some library parts in the den and some others in a storage locker at the other side of town.

Seems I still have to learn. And obviously also not believe all the tutorials I've read because they said there is no other way but to store under /home/..., add a gafrc there and start the app from there as well. Meaning command line. But meantime I have come across several tutorials in other areas of Linux and virtual machines that were plain wrong. So I became careful.

Not gEDA. If you don't start it from the directory where the custom library parts are it will not allow you to use such parts because it fails to see your gafrc file in there.

This is one of the reasons I am testing KiCad now. It has IMHO a more clear directory structure.

"Discipline, comrades, iron discipline." --- George Orwell, "Animal Farm".

But really. To install from source, run configure, then make, then log out, log in as root, Chdir to the source, run install, then log out and log in as yourself. It should work then - the installer should make it available on your GUI menu(s).

And if it's a Redmond^H^H^H^HHat RPM or a Slack package, all you have to do is run its installer. (in Slackware, that would be installpkg.)

Have Fun! Rich

Make? You mean re-compile it all? That wouldn't quite be my cuppa tea ;-)

It's Ubuntu.