Trying out Linux doesn't have to mean downloading a 700MB CD image and then having to burn it onto a CD. Thanks to the university software mirrors you have at least three places where you can go to get CD images for free.
Option 1:
http://mirror.cs.auckland.ac.nz/ - The Department of Computer Science software mirror. Clicking on the 'iso' or 'linux' folders will give you access to a large variety of the most popular distributions, including some less known ones. The mirror is kept fairly up to date and if they don't have what you're looking for you can always email the CS mirror maintainers and ask them nicely to help you out. The mirror has a host of other software as well and it's all FREE!!
Option 2:
http://intraftp.ece.auckland.ac.nz/ - The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering FTP server. Although compared to the Computer Science mirror the FTP server has a sparse collection of Linux distro's, they do host an Ubuntu and Debian software repositories, which have most of the software programs you are ever gonna need.
Option 3:
http://dist.ec.auckland.ac.nz/ - This is the server which all of the Linux machines in the labs get their updates from. Not much in the way of CD images here, just a Debian, Ubuntu and possibly RedHat repository.
Once you've chosen your distro, download it to /tmp, under Linux or C:\usertmp. under Windows and then burn it to disc (most of the CS lab computers have CD burners). If you try to save the CD image to your afs drive (H: drive) it will most likely tell you that it can't do it due to a lack of space. The default allocation for Science students is about 300MB. If you download to the temporary folders though, don't expect to be able to access your files the next time you log in. The files in those directories are deleted regularly.
Friday 10 August 2007
Sunday 5 August 2007
Keep your Ubuntu System up to date for free
Have you ever been at home just browsing the net, when all of a sudden that orange update icon pops us? You click on it only to discover a new version of Open Office and an associated 200MB download. You look at your internet usage only to find that you are only 250MB away from your monthly limit with two days to go. So reluctantly you click to download and install the package and then realize you have to go find something to do for half an hour while the package downloads.
This how-to tells you how to avoid having to waste time and bandwidth by using the university's repository. It should be particularly useful for people with slow connection speeds or low monthly data allocations.
To do this we need to first write down the names of the packages that need updating, their version numbers and which section of the repository they are from (main, universe, multiverse).
1. Start up Synaptic and click on the section 'Installed (upgradable)' in the left hand listbox. In the right hand section of the window you should see the packages that need upgrading.
e.g. tcpdump from version 3.9.5-2 to 3.9.5-2ubuntu1
2. Right click on a package and select 'Properties'. In the 'Common' tab, there is a line which says 'Section: .....'
Packages from the main repository will just have the section name. Packages from the universe repository will have '(universe)' at the end of the line. Packages from the multiverse repository will have '(multiverse)' at the end of the line.
e.g. for our example package tcpdump it says 'Section: Networking' meaning that it is in the main repository.
We now have the info we need. Now we can go to uni and navigate to http://intraftp.ece.auckland.ac.nz/. This is the ftp server of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and is only available at uni. The server has a lot of software available, so feel free to look around.
3. The part we are interested in is the ubuntu repository. So we are going to navigate to ubuntu --> pool --> [the repository of your package] --> [the first letter of your package] --> [the name of your package] -->
e.g. -> ubuntu --> pool --> main --> t --> tcpdump -->
4. Once there, simply find the files which match the version number of our upgrade and end in .deb
e.g. tcpdump_3.9.5-2ubuntu1_amd64.deb
tcpdump_3.9.5-2ubuntu1_i386.deb
5. Select the file which matches your processor architecture and save it to your USB drive.
6. Take it home and double click on the file. You will get a warning saying that the package is available through the internet and that you should install it from there. Ignore it and install the package.
If you have a laptop or you feel like taking your computer to uni one day the process is even easier. Simply open your sources.list file and add
and then run apt-get or synaptic.
This method is also good for upgrading or installing new software.
This how-to tells you how to avoid having to waste time and bandwidth by using the university's repository. It should be particularly useful for people with slow connection speeds or low monthly data allocations.
To do this we need to first write down the names of the packages that need updating, their version numbers and which section of the repository they are from (main, universe, multiverse).
1. Start up Synaptic and click on the section 'Installed (upgradable)' in the left hand listbox. In the right hand section of the window you should see the packages that need upgrading.
e.g. tcpdump from version 3.9.5-2 to 3.9.5-2ubuntu1
2. Right click on a package and select 'Properties'. In the 'Common' tab, there is a line which says 'Section: .....'
Packages from the main repository will just have the section name. Packages from the universe repository will have '(universe)' at the end of the line. Packages from the multiverse repository will have '(multiverse)' at the end of the line.
e.g. for our example package tcpdump it says 'Section: Networking' meaning that it is in the main repository.
We now have the info we need. Now we can go to uni and navigate to http://intraftp.ece.auckland.ac.nz/. This is the ftp server of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and is only available at uni. The server has a lot of software available, so feel free to look around.
3. The part we are interested in is the ubuntu repository. So we are going to navigate to ubuntu --> pool --> [the repository of your package] --> [the first letter of your package] --> [the name of your package] -->
e.g. -> ubuntu --> pool --> main --> t --> tcpdump -->
4. Once there, simply find the files which match the version number of our upgrade and end in .deb
e.g. tcpdump_3.9.5-2ubuntu1_amd64.deb
tcpdump_3.9.5-2ubuntu1_i386.deb
5. Select the file which matches your processor architecture and save it to your USB drive.
6. Take it home and double click on the file. You will get a warning saying that the package is available through the internet and that you should install it from there. Ignore it and install the package.
If you have a laptop or you feel like taking your computer to uni one day the process is even easier. Simply open your sources.list file and add
| Code: |
| deb http://intraftp.ece.auckland.ac.nz/ubuntu/ feisty main restricted universe multiverse |
This method is also good for upgrading or installing new software.
Sunday 3 June 2007
Post Graduate Diplomas
In computer science at undergraduate level, the lecturers usually talk to each other to make sure there are no conflicting tests/assignments because they know if they take the time to space out the assignments it will lead to higher quality assignments due to the students not being forced to hand in two assignments on the same day.
This does not happen at post graduate level. If anything the lecturers seem to be in their own world, oblivious to anything else but their own topic of study. Handing out assignments like Saadist, each considering his topic to be of greater importance than the others. More than once this semester I've had due dates where I've had to hand in two assignments on one day and another the day before/after. It's the 'study break' now. Lectures are officially finished, so it should be time to study. But not if you're doing post grad comp sci. I've got two assignments to hand in on the tuesday after Queen's Birthday monday. Wonderful timing again, seeing as how the university will be closed on the monday. Exams are coming up, I'm falling into my usual pre-exam depression. Wondering if I'll be able to pass all/any of my exams. If I fail everything I can always go and join the army :) That's what I tell myself every time I fall into this self-doubting phase before exams. I always try to imagine the worst case scenario and then re-assure myself that it wouldn't be that bad. The worst part would be the guilt and shame I would feel if I failed miserably. I would feel that way because I know that I could have done better. My problem is not so much a problem of ability, but of motivation. In recent years I haven't felt much motivation to do anything. Actually that's not true. I have felt inspiration, but not from university. It's probably a sign that I should enter the workforce.
This does not happen at post graduate level. If anything the lecturers seem to be in their own world, oblivious to anything else but their own topic of study. Handing out assignments like Saadist, each considering his topic to be of greater importance than the others. More than once this semester I've had due dates where I've had to hand in two assignments on one day and another the day before/after. It's the 'study break' now. Lectures are officially finished, so it should be time to study. But not if you're doing post grad comp sci. I've got two assignments to hand in on the tuesday after Queen's Birthday monday. Wonderful timing again, seeing as how the university will be closed on the monday. Exams are coming up, I'm falling into my usual pre-exam depression. Wondering if I'll be able to pass all/any of my exams. If I fail everything I can always go and join the army :) That's what I tell myself every time I fall into this self-doubting phase before exams. I always try to imagine the worst case scenario and then re-assure myself that it wouldn't be that bad. The worst part would be the guilt and shame I would feel if I failed miserably. I would feel that way because I know that I could have done better. My problem is not so much a problem of ability, but of motivation. In recent years I haven't felt much motivation to do anything. Actually that's not true. I have felt inspiration, but not from university. It's probably a sign that I should enter the workforce.
Monday 28 May 2007
Network Printing Part 2 - the 'lpr' method
Now that we know how to get the ip address of the printer and how to send files to it, lets examine another way of sending files to the printer. The 'lpr' method.
What is lpr? You might well ask. A full description can be found here and here. Basically 'lpr' is a client printing program which sends files to the server printing program, 'lpd'. An example of how an actual print server is set up can be found at this support site, where they tell staff how to set up their own computers to work with the university printers.
The thing about network printers is that some of them have built in lpd functionality. Meaning that they act like their own lpd server, accepting files sent by the client program, lpr. So to send the file using lpr type (in the command line):
lpr -S [ip address of printer] -P [ip address of printer] [path to your printable file]
and voila! the document prints.
What is lpr? You might well ask. A full description can be found here and here. Basically 'lpr' is a client printing program which sends files to the server printing program, 'lpd'. An example of how an actual print server is set up can be found at this support site, where they tell staff how to set up their own computers to work with the university printers.
The thing about network printers is that some of them have built in lpd functionality. Meaning that they act like their own lpd server, accepting files sent by the client program, lpr. So to send the file using lpr type (in the command line):
lpr -S [ip address of printer] -P [ip address of printer] [path to your printable file]
and voila! the document prints.
Network Printing Part 2 - the 'ftp' method
One of the properties of a network is that any device on the network can send files to any other device on the network (unless the router is configured to block traffic). This means that bypassing the print server (computer next to the printer) becomes as easy as figuring out the ip address of the printer and sending it the file. Finding out the ip address of the printer is relatively easy. Most printers have a function to print out their settings. So in order to find the ip address, just browse through the menu on the front panel of the printer until you find an option which says 'print configuration/settings' and the printed page should have the ip address of the printer.
The next step is to get the file we want to print into the right format. To do this in Adobe Acrobat, simply go to the regular print page and place a tick in the 'print to file' tickbox in the bottom left hand corner. The file will appear in the same place as the original document. Now to send the file to the printer. First:
Open an FTP connection to the printer, (at the command line) type:
ftp open [the ip address of the printer]
Once you establish the connection, send the file:
put [path to the printable file]
And that's it! The printer should automatically print the file upon receiving it, no login, no charge.
The next step is to get the file we want to print into the right format. To do this in Adobe Acrobat, simply go to the regular print page and place a tick in the 'print to file' tickbox in the bottom left hand corner. The file will appear in the same place as the original document. Now to send the file to the printer. First:
Open an FTP connection to the printer, (at the command line) type:
ftp open [the ip address of the printer]
Once you establish the connection, send the file:
put [path to the printable file]
And that's it! The printer should automatically print the file upon receiving it, no login, no charge.
Network Printing Part 1 - How it works
The printers in the computer science labs (and most of the university) are network printers. One of the properties of network printers is that they function just like any other device on the network i.e. they are each assigned an ip address. The printer is a simple device, its only function is receiving files and then printing them, therefore a printer by itself doesn't have the functionality to restrict access to it by ip address or by any other method. Printers also cannot be used to run any custom software e.g. software which logs you in and charges you NetAccount for the printnig costs. This poses a problem for the university, who would like to charge users for printing files. So, in order to solve this problem, when you print from any of the lab machines, the file to be printed is not sent directly to the printer but is in fact sent to the print server (the computer next to the printer). This computer has the job of logging you in and charging you before sending the file to the printer.
The printer itself receives files in one of two ways. Either:
1. a file is sent through the ftp protocol to the printer (the printer has a simple ftp server)
or
2. a file is sent directly to the printer port of the printer
The printer itself receives files in one of two ways. Either:
1. a file is sent through the ftp protocol to the printer (the printer has a simple ftp server)
or
2. a file is sent directly to the printer port of the printer
Welcome
Hi, my name is Srdan Dukic. I am a student living in New Zealand, originally from former Yugoslavia. I have a bachelors degree in Computer Science from the University of Auckland and I am currently working on my PostGraduate Diploma in Computer Science.
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