LinuxFocus July 2000 issue
 |
| The new LinuxFocus server in
Amsterdam |
What happened to LinuxFocus? As
you might have noticed LinuxFocus was suddenly off the web from end
of May to 13th of June. At least the main server was not reachable
any more. Most of the mirrors were still up and running. Our main
server which used to be located in Spain broke down. Because we did
not really trust our old server any more a new replacement machine
had already been built from different computer components but it
was not so easy to find a new Internet Service Provider to host the
machine.
The time and effort that many volunteers invest into LinuxFocus is
certainly worth thousands of dollars if we would sell it as a
magazine but the idea behind LinuxFocus is to provide the magazine
for free to you and we hope that you enjoy learning and reading
about Linux.
The data volumes that LinuxFocus transfers are quite high and as we
don't charge for it we need of course a sponsor to support us. It
turns out that it is rather easy to find ISPs who see here a chance
to make the big money by putting banners with advertisements on
every page but these ISPs don't really seem to value free software
and the work of the people behind it.
Linux is a powerful movement but at the same time this shows also
that it is very vulnerable. Vulnerable because we don't have the
same amounts of money as big companies do. Companies can finance e.g a
lobby to get the laws changed such that it fits their interest. The
proposals for patent laws in Europe (see
petition.eurolinux.org ) 
are just another
example of that. An example of laws that will help to support
the monopoly of a number of powerful companies but are not in the
interest of the general public.
Luckily there are still good people in this world and LinuxFocus
has now a new home in the Netherlands in Amsterdam. Netsystem.nl normally provides
Internet services to companies. They have very good connectivity to
one of the main Internet exchanges in the World. Consider them if
you should need an ISP for your company in the Netherlands.
The Articles
Graphics
Pseudo 3D with
Gimp , by Andre Pascual
Gimp is a software exclusively 2D, but with a few tricks and thanks
to the numerous tools that are available, it is possible to create
an image in pseudo 3D.
Hardware
Software Development
System Administration
Applications
The LinuxFocus Tip
How do you delete a file called "-xx"? You can of course use a
graphical file manager and select the file graphically but how do
you delete it with the rm command?
rm will normally interpret the -xx as an option because it starts
with a minus sign. There are two ways to avoid that:
- Make sure the file name does not start with a minus: For files
this is always possible. You can e.g use the full absolute path to
the file. (e.g rm /tmp/-xx assuming that the file -xx is in
/tmp)
You can also write -xx as ./-xx :
rm ./-xx
- Most unix commands accept a double minus (--) to indicate that
this is the end of the options list.
rm -- -xx
will therefore tell rm that -xx is a file and not an option.