• Linux Frequently Asked Questions with Answers (Part 6 of 6)

    From rkiesling@rkiesling@mainmatter.com to comp.os.linux.misc,news.answers,comp.answers on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 04:22:37
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    Archive-Name: linux/faq/part6
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    Last-modified: 12/04/2001
    Expires: Mon, 12 Nov 2001 05:00:00 GMT

    /pub/linux/packages/GCC/ for binutils-2.6.0.2.bin.tar.gz.

    9.5. GCC Says, "Internal compiler error."

    If the fault is repeatable (i.e., it always happens at the same place
    in the same file--even after rebooting and trying again, using a
    stable kernel) you have discovered a bug in GCC. See the GCC Info
    documentation (type F1-i in Emacs, and select GCC from the menu) for
    details on how to report the error. Make sure you have the latest
    version, though.

    Note that this is probably not a Linux-specific problem. Unless you
    are compiling a program many other Linux users also compile, you
    should not post your bug report to any of the comp.os.linux groups.

    If the problem is not repeatable, you may be experiencing memory
    corruption. Refer to the answer: ("Make Says, "Error 139."")

    9.6. Make Says, "Error 139."

    Your compiler (GCC) dumped core. You probably have a corrupted, buggy,
    or old version of GCC--get the latest release or EGCS. Alternatively,
    you may be running out of swap space. Refer to: ("The Machine Runs
    Very Slowly with GCC / X / ...")

    If this doesn't fix the problem, you are probably having problems with
    memory or disk corruption. Check that the clock rate, wait states, and
    refresh timing for your SIMMS and cache are correct (hardware manuals
    are sometimes wrong, too). If so, you may have some marginal SIMMS, or
    a faulty motherboard or hard disk or controller.

    Linux is a very good memory tester--much better than MS-DOS based
    memory test programs.

    Reportedly, some clone x87 math coprocessors can cause problems. Try
    compiling a kernel with math emulation ("How To Upgrade/Recompile a
    Kernel.") no387 kernel command line flag on the LILO prompt to force
    the kernel to use math emulation, or it may be able to work and still
    use the '387, with the math emulation compiled in but mainly unused.

    More information about this problem is available on the Web at http://www.bitwizard.nl/sig11/.

    9.7. Shell-Init: Permission Denied when I Log In.

    Your root directory and all the directories up to your home directory
    must be readable and executable by everybody. See the manual page for
    chmod or a book on Unix for how to fix the problem.

    9.8. No Utmp Entry. You Must Exec ... when Logging In.

    Your /var/run/utmp is screwed up. You should have

    /var/run/utmp

    in your /etc/rc.local or /etc/rc.d/*. See, ("I Screwed Up the System
    and Can't Log In to Fix It.") Note that the utmp may also be found in
    /var/adm/ or /etc/ on some older systems.

    9.9. Warning--bdflush Not Running.

    Modern kernels use a better strategy for writing cached disk blocks.
    In addition to the kernel changes, this involves replacing the old
    update program which used to write everything every 30 seconds with a
    more subtle daemon (actually a pair), known as bdflush. Get
    bdflush-n.n.tar.gz from the same place as the kernel source code ("How
    To Upgrade/Recompile a Kernel.") and compile and install it. bdflush
    should be started before the usual boot-time file system checks. It
    will work fine with older kernels as well, so there's no need to keep
    the old update around.

    9.10. Warning: obsolete routing request made.

    This is nothing to worry about. The message means that your version
    route is a little out of date, compared to the kernel. You can make
    the message go away by getting a new version of route from the same
    place as the kernel source code. ("How To Upgrade/Recompile a
    Kernel.")

    9.11. EXT2-fs: warning: mounting unchecked file system.

    You need to run e2fsck (or fsck -t ext2 if you have the fsck front end
    program) with the -a option to get it to clear the "dirty" flag, and
    then cleanly unmount the partition during each shutdown.

    The easiest way to do this is to get the latest fsck, umount, and
    shutdown commands, available in Rik Faith's util-linux package ("Where
    Are the Linux FTP Archives?") You have to make sure that your
    /etc/rc*/ scripts use them correctly.

    NB: Don't try to check a file system that's mounted read/write. This
    includes the root partition if you don't see

    VFS: mounted root ... read-only

    at boot time. You must arrange to mount the root file system read/only
    to start with, check it if necessary, and then remount it read/write.
    Almost all distributions do this. If your's doesn't, read the
    documentation that comes with util-linux to find out how to do this.

    Note that you need to specify the -n option to mount so it won't try
    to update /etc/mtab, since the root file system is still read-only,
    and this will otherwise cause it to fail.

    9.12. EXT2-fs warning: maximal count reached.

    This message is issued by the kernel when it mounts a file system
    that's marked as clean, but whose "number of mounts since check"
    counter has reached the predefined value. The solution is to get the
    latest version of the ext2fs utilities (e2fsprogs-0.5b.tar.gz at the
    time of writing) from the usual sites. ("Where Are the Linux FTP
    Archives?")

    The maximal number of mounts value can be examined and changed using
    the tune2fs program from this package.

    9.13. EXT2-fs warning: checktime reached.

    Kernels from 1.0 onwards support checking a file system based on the
    elapsed time since the last check as well as by the number of mounts.
    Get the latest version of the ext2fs utilities. ("EXT2-fs warning:
    maximal count reached.")

    9.14. df Says, "Cannot read table of mounted file systems."

    There is probably something wrong with your /etc/mtab or /etc/fstab
    files. If you have a reasonably new version of mount, /etc/mtab should
    be emptied or deleted at boot time (in /etc/rc.local or /etc/rc.d/*),
    using something like

    $ rm -f /etc/mtab*

    Some old Linux distributions have an entry for the root partition in
    /etc/mtab made in /etc/rc* by using rdev. That is incorrect--the newer
    versions of mount do this automatically.

    Some old distributions also have a line in /etc/fstab that looks like:

    /dev/sdb1 /root ext2 defaults

    The entry for /root should read simply /.

    9.15. fdisk Says, "Partition X has different physical/logical..."

    If the partition number (X, above) is 1, this is the same problem as
    in fdisk: Partition 1 does not start on cylinder boundary. If the
    partition begins or ends on a cylinder numbered greater than 1024,
    this is because the standard DOS disk geometry information format in
    the partition table can't cope with cylinder numbers with more than 10
    bits. You should see ("How To Get Linux to Work with a Disk.")

    9.16. fdisk: Partition 1 does not start on cylinder boundary.

    The version of fdisk that comes with many Linux systems creates
    partitions that fail its own validity checking. Unfortunately, if
    you've already installed your system, there's not much you can do
    about this, apart from copying the data off the partition, deleting
    and remaking it, and copying the data back.

    You can avoid the problem by getting the latest version of fdisk, from
    Rik Faith's util-linux package (available on all the usual FTP sites). Alternatively, if you are creating a new partition 1 that starts in
    the first cylinder, you can do the following to get a partition that
    fdisk likes.

    * Create partition 1 in the normal way. A `p' listing will produce
    the mismatch complaint.
    * Type u to set sector mode and do p again. Copy down the number
    from the End column.
    * Delete partition 1.
    * While still in sector mode, re-create partition 1. Set the first
    sector to match the number of sectors per track. This is the
    sector number in the first line of the p output. Set the last
    sector to the value you wrote down in the step above.
    * Type u to reset cylinder mode and continue with other partitions.

    Ignore the message about unallocated sectors. They refer to the
    sectors on the first track apart from the Master Boot Record, and they
    are not used if you start the first partition in track 2.

    9.17. fdisk Says Partition n Has an Odd Number of Sectors.

    The PC disk partitioning scheme works in 512-byte sectors, but Linux
    uses 1K blocks. If you have a partition with an odd number of sectors,
    the last sector is wasted. Ignore the message.

    9.18. Mtools Utilities Say They Cannot Initialize Drive X.

    This means that mtools is having trouble accessing the drive. This can
    be due to several things.

    Often this is due to the permissions on floppy drive devices
    (/dev/fd0* and /dev/fd1*) being incorrect. The user running mtools
    must have the appropriate access. See the manual page for chmod for
    details.

    Most versions of mtools distributed with Linux systems (not the
    standard GNU version) use the contents of a file /etc/mtools to
    determine which devices and densities to use, in place of having this information compiled into the binary. Mistakes in this file often
    cause problems. There is often no documentation about this.

    For the easiest way to access your MS-DOS files (especially those on a
    hard disk partition) see How do I access files on my DOS partition or
    floppy? Note--you should never use mtools to access files on an
    msdosfs mounted partition or disk!

    9.19. At the Start of Booting: Memory tight

    This means that you have an extra-large kernel, which means that Linux
    has to do some special memory-management magic to be able to boot
    itself from the BIOS. It isn't related to the amount of physical
    memory in your machine. Ignore the message, or compile a kernel
    containing only the drivers and features you need. ("How To
    Upgrade/Recompile a Kernel.")

    9.20. The System Log Says, "end_request: I/O error, ...."

    This error message, and messages like it, almost always indicate a
    hardware error with a hard drive.

    This commonly indicates a hard drive defect. The only way to avoid
    further data loss is to completely shut own the system. You must also
    make sure that whatever data is on the drive is backed up, and restore
    it to a non-defective hard drive.

    This error message may also indicate a bad connection to the drive,
    especially with home brew systems. If you install an IDE drive, always
    use new ribbon cables. It's probably is a good idea with SCSI drives,
    too.

    In one instance, this error also seemed to coincide with a bad ground
    between the system board and the chassis. Be sure that all electrical connections are clean and tight before placing the blame on the hard
    drive itself.

    [Peter Moulder, Theodore Ts'o]

    9.21. "You don't exist. Go away."

    This is not a viral infection. It comes from programs like write,
    talk, and wall, if your invoking UID doesn't correspond to a valid
    user (probably due to /etc/passwd being corrupted), or if the session (pseudoterminal, specifically) you're using isn't properly registered
    in the utmp file (probably because you invoked it in a funny way).

    9.22. "Operation not permitted."

    One or more of the file's or directory's attribute bits are set
    incorrectly. If the "I" bit is set, for example, you won't be able to
    change file permissions with chmod.

    The solution is to use lsattr to display file and directory
    attributes, and chattr to set and unset them. The programs'
    documentation is contained in their manual pages.

    [Paul Campbell]

    9.23. programname: error in loading shared libraries: lib xxx..so. x: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory.

    A message like this, when the program that you're trying to run uses
    shared libraries, usually means one of two things: the program was
    either compiled on a machine that had a different set of libraries or
    library paths than yours; or you've upgraded your libraries but not
    the program.

    Executable programs that are linked with dynamic libraries, expect the
    full pathname of each of the library files it requires. So do the
    shared libraries, if they rely on other libraries. This is so the
    shared object dependencies remain as unambiguous as possible, and also
    as a security measure.

    Short of recompiling the executable file for the libraries on the system--probably the most desirable alternative in the long run--you
    can try to determine which libraries the executable file needs with
    the command: "ldd programname." The output will be a list of the
    shared libraries on the system that the program needs to run, as well
    as the missing libraries. You can then add the library packages, or if
    the libraries already exist in a different directory, you can create a
    symbolic link so the program can find it. For example, if the program
    requires /usr/lib/libncurses.so.2, and your machine has
    /lib/libncurses.so.2, you can create a link where the program expects
    to find the library; e.g.:

    # cd /usr/lib && ln -s /lib/libncurses.so.2 .

    You should note, however, that creating library links like these
    should be considered a security risk, and the additional links you
    create will not be compatible with future upgrades. It's simply a
    quick fix for backward compatibility.

    Also, it may take some guesswork to determine in exactly which of the
    system library directories the program expects to find a shared
    library file, because ldd will not list the paths of libraries it
    can't find. A program most likely will tell the run-time linker,
    /lib/ld.so, to look for shared libraries in /lib, /usr/lib,
    /usr/local/lib, or /usr/X11R6/lib, if it's an X client. But that
    doesn't mean that libraries can't be installed elsewhere. It helps to
    have some idea of the original library configuration before
    proceeding.

    Also be sure to run ldconfig after creating the symbolic link, so that
    ld.so has an updated view of the system's libraries. You should also
    make certain that all of the library directories are listed in
    /etc/ld.so.conf, and perhaps in the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment
    variable.

    9.24. "init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes."

    In most distributions this means that the system is booting by default
    into runlevel 5, which is supposed to respawn (re-start again after
    it's been exited) a graphical login via xdm, kdm, gdm, or whatever,
    and the system can't locate the program.

    However, "Id" can also indicate the absence or misconfiguration of
    another program, like mingetty, if init tries to respawn itself more
    than 10 times in 2 minutes.

    Id "x" is the number in the leftmost column of the /etc/inittab file:

    # Run gettys in standard runlevels
    1:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty1
    2:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty2
    3:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty3
    4:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty4
    5:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty5
    6:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty6

    Commenting the offending line out and then fixing the errant program
    and testing on the command line will allow you to see any error
    messages that go to standard error output (console) if the errors are
    not going to the system log file. Uncomment the line and restart init
    with "kill -SIGHUP 1" or "telinit q" to cause init to reinitialize and
    reread the /etc/inittab file.

    Some systems, however, rewrite /etc/inittab when booting. In that
    case, refer to the init man page, and/or the settings in
    /etc/sysconfig/init.

    Refer to the init and /etc/inittab man pages for detailed information.

    [Carl King]

    9.25. FTP server says: "421 service not available, remote server has closed connection."

    If an FTP server won't allow logins, it is probably configured
    correctly, but the problem is probably with authorizing users at
    login. FTP servers in current distriubtions often authorize users with
    the Pluggable Authentication Modules library, in which case there
    should be an authorization file /etc/pam.d/ftp. A generic
    authorization file looks like this. (The line break on the first
    "auth" line is for readability. The entry is actually a single, long
    line).

    #%PAM-1.0
    auth required /lib/security/pam_listfile.so item=user \
    sense=deny file=/etc/ftpusers onerr=succeed
    auth required /lib/security/pam_pwdb.so shadow nullok
    auth required /lib/security/pam_shells.so
    account required /lib/security/pam_pwdb.so
    session required /lib/security/pam_pwdb.so

    Also, make sure the /etc/ftpusers file, or whatever users file is
    named in the first "auth" line, is configured correctly.

    Btw, the sample ftp file above is actually theftpd/ftp.pam.sample file
    from the ftpd-BSD-0.3.1.tar.gz package. Many thanks to David A. Madore
    for this much needed port.

    10. The X Window System

    10.1. Does Linux Support X?

    Yes. Linux uses XFree86 (the current version is 4.0, which is based on
    X11R6). You need to have a video card which is supported by XFree86.
    See the XFree86 HOWTO for more details. Most Linux distributions
    nowadays come with an X installation. However, you can install or
    upgrade your own, from "ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/X11/Xfree86-*"
    and its mirror sites, or from http://www.xfree86.org/.

    10.2. How To Get the X Window System to Work.

    The answers to this question can, and do, fill entire books. If the installation program wasn't able to configure the X server correctly,
    Linux will most likely try to start the X display, fail, and drop back
    into text-only terminal mode.

    First and foremost, make certain that you have provided, as closely as possible, the correct information to the installation program of your
    video hardware: the video card and monitor. Some installation programs
    can correctly guess a "least common denominator" screen configuration,
    like a 640-by-480 VESA-standard display, but there are many possible
    video hardware configurations that may not be able to display this
    standard.

    The X Window System configuration file is called (usually)
    /etc/XF86Config, /etc/X11/XF86Config, or
    /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XF86Config.

    If you need to manually configure the X server, there are several
    possible methods:

    * Try to use the XF86Setup program, which can help identify the
    correct X server and monitor timings for the video hardware.
    * Make sure that the X server has the correct options. If you log in
    as the superuser, you should be able to use X --probeonly to get a
    listing of the video card chipset, memory, and any special
    graphics features. Also, refer to the manual page for the X
    server. (E.g.; man X), and try running the X server and
    redirecting the standard error output to a file so you can
    determine, after you can view text on the screen again, what error
    messages the server is generating; e.g., X 2>x.error.
    * With that information, you should be able to safely refer to one
    of the references provided by the Linux Documentation Project.
    ("Where can I get the HOWTO's and other documentation? ") There
    are several HOWTO's on the subject, including a HOWTO to calculate
    video timings manually if necessary. Also, the Installation and
    Getting Started guide has a chapter with a step-by-step guide to
    writing a XF86Config file.

    Also, make sure that the problem really is an incorrect XF86Config
    file, not something else like the window manager failing to start. If
    the X server is working correctly, you should be able to move the
    mouse cursor on the screen, and pressing Ctrl-Alt-Backspace will shut
    down the X server and return to the shell prompt in one of the virtual terminals.

    10.3. Where To Find a Ready-Made XF86Config file.

    If you can't seem to get X working using the guidelines above, refer
    to the XFree86 HOWTO, recent versions of Installation and Getting
    Started, and the instructions for the XF86Setup program. The contents
    of the XF86Config file depend on the your exact combination of video
    card and monitor. It can either be configured by hand, or using the
    XF86Setup utility. Read the instructions that came with XFree86, in /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/etc. The file you probably need to look at most is README.Config. You should not use the sample XF86Config.eg file which
    is included with newer versions of XFree86 verbatim, because the wrong
    video clock settings can damage your monitor. Please don't post to comp.os.linux.x asking for an XF86Config, and please don't answer such requests. If you have a laptop, look at the Linux Laptop Web page
    ("How To Find Out If a Notebook Runs Linux.") Many of the installation
    notes also have the XF86Config file for the display. If you have a
    desktop machine, there are a few sample XF86Config files at ftp://metalab.unc.edu/. Refer also to the XFree86 FAQ
    http://www.xfree.org/FAQ/ and the monitor timings list http://www.xfree.org/#resources/, and in the /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/
    directory of your X distribution.

    10.4. What Desktop Environments Run on Linux?

    Linux with XFree86 supports the KDE, GNOME, and commercial CDE desktop environments, and extended window managers like WindowMaker. Each uses
    a different set of libraries and provides varying degrees of MS
    Windows-like look and feel.

    Information on KDE is available from http://www.kde.org/. The KDE
    environment uses the Qt graphics libraries, available from
    http://www.qt.org/. The desktop uses its own window manager, kwm, and
    provides a MS Windows-like look and feel.

    The GNOME home page is http://www.gnome.org/. The environment uses the
    free GTK libraries, available from http://www.gtk.org/, and window
    managers like Enlightenment, http://www.enlightenment.org/, SawFish, http://www.sawfish.org/. There's also a Web page for GNOME
    installation and upgrade that functions much like Debian's apt-get
    utility with a friendly GUI front end. It's at: http://www.helixcode/com/desktop/.

    The commercial CDE environment uses the Motif libraries and a
    variation of the Motif mwm window manager, dtwm, and provides a suite
    of desktop and session-management utilities. Several vendors have made
    the source code of Motif available and provided binary packages for
    Linux distributions. As a starting point, download and installation
    information is available at http://www.opengroup.org/openmotif/.

    A free version of Motif, called LessTiF, is available from http://www.lesstif.org/.

    WindowMaker, http://www.windowmaker.org/ is a window manager that has
    many desktop environment-like features. It provides support for
    GNUstep, http://www.gnustep.org/, a clone of the commercial NeXTStep environment.

    10.5. xterm Logins Show Up Strangely in who, finger.

    The xterm that comes with XFree86 2.1 and earlier doesn't correctly
    understand the format that Linux uses for the /var/adm/utmp file,
    where the system records who is logged in. It therefore doesn't set
    all the information correctly. The xterms in XFree86 3.1 and later
    versions fix this problem.

    10.6. How to Start a X Client on Another Display.

    To start a X client on another system that has a running X server, use
    the following commands:

    * Use xhost on the server system to allow the client system use the
    display. If the server's IP address is 192.168.20.1, enter the
    command:

    $ xhost + 192.168.20.1

    * On the client system, open a telnet connection to the server
    system.
    * In the telnet session, start a xterm in the background with the
    -display and -e options. For example, if the IP address of the
    machine running the server is 192.168.20.1 and the client program
    name is named "clientapp," use the following command:

    $ xterm -display 192.168.20.1 -e clientapp &

    [Pierre Dal Farra]

    11. How to Get Further Assistance

    11.1. If this Document Still Hasn't Answered Your Question....

    Please read all of this answer before posting. I know it's a bit long,
    but you may be about to make a fool of yourself in front of 50,000
    people and waste hundreds of hours of their time. Don't you think it's
    worth spending some of your time to read and follow these
    instructions?

    If you think an answer is incomplete or inaccurate, please e-mail

    Read the appropriate Linux Documentation Project books. Refer to:
    ("Where Is the Documentation?")

    If you're a Unix or Linux newbie, read the FAQ for
    comp.unix.questions, news.announces.newusers, and those for any of the
    other comp.unix.* groups that may be relevant.

    Linux has so much in common with commercial unices, that almost
    everything you read there will apply to Linux. The FAQ's, like all
    FAQ's, be found on ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/ (the
    mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu can send you these files, if you don't have
    FTP access). There are mirrors of rtfm's FAQ archives on various
    sites. Check the Introduction to *.answers posting, or look in news-answers/introduction in the directory above.

    Check the relevant HOWTO for the subject in question, if there is one,
    or an appropriate old style sub-FAQ document. Check the FTP sites.

    Try experimenting--that's the best way to get to know Unix and Linux.

    Read the documentation. Check the manual pages (type man man if you
    don't know about manual pages. Also try man -k subject and apropos
    subject. They often list useful and relevant, but not very obvious,
    manual pages.

    Check the Info documentation (type F1-i, i.e. the F1 function key
    followed by "i" in Emacs). This isn't just for Emacs. For example, the
    GCC documentation lives here as well.

    There will also often be a README file with a package that gives
    installation and/or usage instructions.

    Make sure you don't have a corrupted or out-of-date copy of the
    program in question. If possible, download it again and re-install
    it--you probably made a mistake the first time.

    Read comp.os.linux.announce. It often contains very important
    information for all Linux users. General X Window System questions
    belong in comp.windows.x.i386unix, not in comp.os.linux.x. But read
    the group first (including the FAQ), before you post. Only if you have
    done all of these things and are still stuck, should you post to the appropriate comp.os.linux.* newsgroup. Make sure you read the next
    question first. "( What to put in a request for help. )"

    11.2. What to Put in a Request for Help.

    Please read the following advice carefully about how to write your
    posting or E-mail. Making a complete posting will greatly increase the
    chances that an expert or fellow user reading it will have enough
    information and motivation to reply.

    This advice applies both to postings asking for advice and to personal
    E-mail sent to experts and fellow users.

    Make sure you give full details of the problem, including:

    * What program, exactly, you are having problems with. Include the
    version number if known and say where you got it. Many standard
    commands tell you their version number if you give them a
    --version option.
    * Which Linux release you're using (Red Hat, Slackware, Debian, or
    whatever) and what version of that release.
    * The exact and complete text of any error messages printed.
    * Exactly what behavior you expected, and exactly what behavior you
    observed. A transcript of an example session is a good way to show
    this.
    * The contents of any configuration files used by the program in
    question and any related programs.
    * What version of the kernel and shared libraries you have
    installed. The kernel version can be found by typing "uname -a,"
    and the shared library version by typing "ls -l /lib/libc*."
    * Details of what hardware you're running on, if it seems
    appropriate.

    You are in little danger of making your posting too long unless you
    include large chunks of source code or uuencoded files, so err on the
    side of giving too much information.

    Use a clear, detailed Subject line. Don't put things like "doesn't
    work," "Linux," "help," or "question" in it--we already know that.
    Save the space for the name of the program, a fragment of an error
    message, or summary of the unusual behavior.

    Put a summary paragraph at the top of your posting.

    At the bottom of your posting, ask for responses by email and say
    you'll post a summary. Back this up by using "Followup-To: poster."
    Then, actually post the summary in a few days or a week or so. Don't
    just concatenate the replies you got--summarize. Putting the word
    "SUMMARY" in your summary's Subject line is also a good idea. Consider submitting the summary to comp.os.linux.announce.

    Make sure your posting doesn't have an inappropriate References:
    header line. This marks your article as part of the thread of the
    article referred to, which will often cause it to be junked by
    readers, along with the rest of a boring thread.

    You might like to say in your posting that you've read this FAQ and
    the appropriate HOWTO's--this may make people less likely to skip your
    posting.

    Remember that you should not post E-mail sent to you personally
    without the sender's permission.

    11.3. How To Email Someone about Your Problem.

    Try to find the author or developer of whatever program or component
    is causing you difficulty. If you have a contact point for your Linux distribution, you should use it.

    Please put everything in your E-mail message that you would put in a
    posting asking for help.

    Finally, remember that, despite the fact that most of the Linux
    community are very helpful and responsive to E-mailed questions,
    you're likely asking for help from unpaid volunteers, so you have no
    right to expect an answer.

    12. Acknowledgments and Administrivia

    12.1. Where To Send Comments.


    Contributions to the FAQ may be in any format. Comments and
    corrections are gratefully received. Again, that email address is:

    If you wish to refer to a question in the FAQ, it's better to do so by
    the question heading instead of number. The question numbers are
    generated automagically, and I don't see them in the source file.

    I prefer comments in English to patch files--context diff is not my
    first language.

    12.2. Formats in Which This FAQ Is Available.

    This document is available as an ASCII text file, an HTML World Wide
    Web page, Postscript, PDF, and as a USENET news posting.

    Section and item numbers are generated with Perl. HTML is generated
    from SGML source using the Jade DSSSL interpreter by James Clark. Text
    versions are generated using lynx and edited with sed, which are part
    of most Linux distributions.

    The Usenet version is posted regularly to news.answers, comp.answers,
    and comp.os.linux.misc. It is archived at ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/comp/os/linux/misc/.

    For Postscript and PDF versions, please contact the FAQ maintainer.

    If you would like to receive the archived version of the FAQ by
    E-mail, send the following in the body of an E-mail message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu:

    send faqs/linux/faq

    Text, HTML, and SGML versions are available from the Linux archives at metalab.unc.edu, and from http://www.linuxdoc.org/, but they may be
    out of date, owing to lack of time on the LDP maintainers' parts.

    The latest text and HTML versions are available at
    http://www.mainmatter.com and directly from the FAQ maintainer,

    12.3. Authorship and Acknowledgments.

    This FAQ is compiled and maintained by Robert Kiesling,
    activists all over the world.

    Freddy Contreras, the_blur_oc@hotmail.com, designed and GPL'd the
    Linux Frequently Asked Questions logos that appear on
    www.mainmatter.com.

    Special thanks are due to Matt Welsh, who moderated
    comp.os.linux.announce and comp.os.linux.answers, coordinated the
    HOWTO's and wrote substantial portions of many of them, Greg Hankins
    the former Linux Documentation Project HOWTO maintainer, Lars
    Wirzenius and Mikko Rauhala, the former and current moderators of comp.os.linux.announce, Marc-Michel Corsini, who wrote the original
    Linux FAQ, and Ian Jackson, the previous FAQ maintainer. Thanks also
    to Roman Maurer for his many updates and additions, especially with
    European Web sites, translations, and general miscellany.

    Last but not least, thanks to Linus Torvalds and the other
    contributors to Linux for giving us something to talk about!

    12.4. Disclaimer and Copyright.

    The GNU Free Documentation License

    Copyright (c) 2001 Robert Kiesling. Permission is granted to copy,
    distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by
    the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no
    Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license
    is included at: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html#FDL.

    I would be happy to answer any questions regarding the copyright. My
    email address is rkiesling@mainmatter.com.

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