It’s 8:30pm so I’m back on the Linux machine. Just messing around. And crashing.

Thanks to advice from vthe comment board, I found out that I should be using Samba to enable linux to open files on the XP machines on my network. I got the Samba file easily enough. Unlike in XP, double-clicking on a downloaded file in Opera doesn’t launch the app you need to open it, at least not with compressed files. But doing so in the Gnome equivalent of Windows Explorer does. So, the files unzipped nicely. (I’m creating directories in my tree as if I knew what I were doing; I don’t know what the expectations are for where you put downloaded executables.) But when I doubleclicked on one of the files, I got a segmentation fault from Gnome for nautilus-text-view. At least it didn’t bring down the entire system, but XP handles crashes pretty well, too (in my naive experience).

Now I’m trying to read the pdf doc for samba, but the pdf reader (ghost viewer) is unable to open it. Sigh. But xpdf does fine. Oy veh, it’s an 85 page manual that first wants me to run ./configure in my source directory, but I don’t know how to get to a command line. Aha! Found the terminal. Navigate to the directory. Tab completion works! I’m feeling like a regulah unix hacker here. Run ./configure…and it fails because “no acceptable cc found in $PATH.” I have no idea where a cc is except in an email msg and I somehow doubt that that’s what it’s looking for. So, I’m hosed. No samba for me. Wait, maybe it’s already compiled. There’s a RedHat directory. It doesn’t open with the “text viewer” app on te popup menu, but it does with gedit. The readme says that I can produce the RPMS just by typing “sh makerpms.sh.” I have no idea what an RPMS is, but apparently I want one, so back to ther terminal. And…it can’t find the right directories and it doesn’t like the parameters. Thus ends my Samba adventure for tonight.

My system is running slow for a 1.7mh machine. There’s lag even when typing. I think something isn’t right, but I don’t know where to turn…all part of the discomfort and fun of traveling to lands where you don’t speak the language.

Categories: Uncategorized dw