[ltp] 20 Questions

[Arcady Genkin]

"Jake Holmen" <jakeholmen@hotmail.com> writes:

> Q1) how do I set up a user/ permissions for my wife so that she can "shut 
> down" or "reboot" the computer when necessary, and have an icon on fvwm's 
> start list?  I don't want to have her dialling out as "root" user - too 
> tempting for script kiddies.

Have a look at "sudo" program. After you install + configure it she
can shutdown by executing "sudo halt" etc. This can be bound to a
clickable icon/shortcut, if needed.

> Q2) what's a good application to use to send and receive faxes (perhaps a 
> gui app, Wife's not to crash hot with command prompt stuff..)

I am not aware of stand-alone graphical fax programs, but AFAIK
magicfilter can provide a "fax" printer (to be printed to from any
app). You need to have a fax backend (sendfax) installed. Plus, either
mgetty+sendfax OR hylafax come with an X fax viewer.

Those programs can interact with user via local email -- hense the
incoming faxes can be managed in a similar fashion.

Also, there is a TeX driver for creating faxable files. LyX, being a
graphical LaTeX frontend, lets you create and send faxes through TeX
in a gui environment.

All this said, I haven't done this myself.

> Q3) Do I need to install kernel source and headers if I am going to be 
> re-making the kernel?   I thought if I could gunzip the current kernel, it 
> will install into the right directory tree structure and I can make bzImage 
> etc to my hearts content.   It's just that the kernel source and headers 
> take up about 65 Meg of usable space on a small HD.

You can compile your kernels on another box if you have one. Then just
copy a kernel over and run lilo. Now, if you use modules it's a bit
more complicated, but not very difficult. You just need to understand
where the modules go.

You will need the kernel headers if you will want to compile anything
on the laptop. But the headers alone hardly take up any space.

As an option, if you do install the sources, you can free up a
*little* space by removing code for other architectures and devices
that you most probably don't have on a laptop (e.g. scsi).
-- 
Arcady Genkin                                 http://www.thpoon.com
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
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