Michael Meskes Issue #34, February 1997 Here’s a program that will watch your computer for those nasty system hang ups and reboot it as needed in your absence. Starting with version 1.3.51 the Linux kernel provides a watchdog driver. Not only does it take care of hardware watchdogs, but it also implements a software watchdog. It was created by Alan ...

Michael Hall Issue #34, February 1997 A document layout language, lout can also be used to generate graphs in PostScript. Most documentation tools can also make graphs. This article will show you how to use lout, a document layout language, to create graphs. At the end we will have a script which creates a history graph of system activity. First ...

Amit Margalit Issue #34, February 1997 XBanner turns your boring, staid XDM login screen into one of those cool things you’ll want to show all your friends (nonchalantly, of course). XBanner was invented and designed from the beginning to serve one purpose—to beautify the login screen XDM usually generates. This beautification is accomplished by drawing a piece of text in ...

Dan Wilder Issue #34, February 1997 One reader’s quest has come to a successful conclusion. The vi editor and kin are used (if maybe not always loved) by many who value a small, nimble, no-frills programmer’s editor. The keystrokes are somewhat cryptic, but mostly just terse. With a small but sufficient command set, a rudimentary set of modes, and no ...

Michael Barabanov Victor Yodaiken Issue #34, February 1997 While Linux seems a natural solution for many applications, when milliseconds become critical, a robust multitasking environment may be too busy. RT-Linux gets the system under control to meet real-time computing needs. If you wanted to control a camera or a robot or a scientific instrument from a PC, it would be ...

Larry Ayers Issue #34, February 1997 Emacs aficionados will point out that Emacs is intended to be left running all of the time; in some ways the editor doubles as an operating environment or shell. Introduction Most Linux users have probably used the Gnu Emacs text editor at one time or another, if only out of curiosity. Originally intended as ...

Phil Hughes Issue #33, January 1997 Where does Caldera go next? LJ Interviewed their President and CEO Bryan Sparks to find out. I had an opportunity to talk to Bryan Sparks at the Unix Expo trade show in New York on October 9. In the past, Caldera has offered a different sort of Linux to the market—one aimed at the ...

Evan Leibovitch Issue #33, January 1997 Is Free SCO OpenServer free in response to Linux? Perhaps, in part, but the two operating systems aren’t really in competition with each other. The SCO package looks surprisingly like a typical Linux distribution. One CD-ROM, two boot floppies, and a leaflet tucked inside a compact package. Primary support is on the Internet, using ...

Kenneth E. Harker Issue #33, January 1997 Looking for something fun to do with your Linux box? One of the most impressive applications available for Linux is SatTrack 3.1 for Unix. Looking for something fun to do with your Linux box? One of the most impressive applications I’ve seen available for Linux is SatTrack 3.1 for Unix by Manfred Bester. ...

David A. Bandel Issue #33, January 1997 The ins and outs of disk maintenance—what we all should know and DO. Here’s a hypothetical situation for you to think about. You’re working on your Linux box, calling up an application or data file, and Linux hesitates while reading the hard disk. Then, scrolling up the screen (or console box), you see ...