the time. 

   I  tried  telling  CMOS that there was no second drive because someone
   suggested that method to get linux to recognize a larger drive, but my
   drive is 3GB. I have DOS on a master drive and two linux partitions on the
   slave drive, with one linux in each, and RAMdisk and loop versions in DOS
   partitions. 

   I am able to mount the linux partitions when running from the RAMdisk or
   loop versions and then switch to run linux on them: 
mount /dev/hdb1 /mnt
chroot /mnt

   This puts hdb1 on / and I can then use linux on the ext2 partition. 

     [Kapil] But this is essentially what most initrd-based start up procedures
     do anyway! So, though I haven't used BasixLinux, I would guess that the
     problem is with the start scripts on your ext2 partition in /etc/rcS.d or
     some such.

   This is a minor nuisance and I suppose I could put it in an rc file, or just
   use the smaller version unless I needed the larger one. 

   I am writing out of curiosity - why are so many computers difficult to boot
   with linux? 

     [Kapil] The glass could also be half full! Given the variety of hardware
     that Linux runs on it is surprising that so many computers boot with it at
     all. :-)

   Is there a better fix for this one? Is there a better fix for the other
   three besides installing Win98 DOS on them (and having to use a boot floppy
   to defragment the DOS partitions after that) or rebooting with a Win98 boot
   disk to go from DOS to linux? 

   I also have one Northgate 386 SX 20MHz 4.7MB RAM laptop which has no cursor
   in linux. Cirrus video, 256K video RAM, mono VGA. The cursor is plain white
   when used in color VGA. The computer in theory can output to a color monitor
   in 800x600 resolution. 

     [Kapil] Is this with or without X? The question is not clear enough. Are
     you in graphics mode or text mode?

   Does laptop video treat software cursors oddly? A cursor appears when I use
   a text editor. There is a cursor while booting to DOS and in DOS. 

   Another 386 with identical speed, RAM and video won't boot linux at all -
   the screen goes black and I need to reboot. What might cause this problem? 

     [Kapil] Try booting with the additional option "vesafb=off". Some of the
     older hardware may not respond well to being switched to graphic mode.

   Thanks for your help a couple of years ago getting my first linux set up
   to work with both TTL and VGA monitors. 

     On behalf of The Answer Gang, you're welcome... (/me turns to our Gentle
     Readers) and anyone among our readership who'd like to jump in on the
     problem (our header does say "...and You!" after all) is welcome to send
     replies  to  you,  and  encouraged  to Cc: tag (The Answer Gang) at
     linuxgazette.net. -- Heather
            ____________________________________________________

Python conferences in the US and Europe

   Sat Dec 18 16:26:34 2004
   Mike Orr ([27]LG Contributing Editor)

     Mike sent this to his local Python user group, and to our Answer Gang. I
     think it's an interesting question, one all you pythonistas out there
     might   be   willing   to   express  an  opinion  about.  Reply  to
     [28]tag@linuxgazette.net; Mike will let his pal know if we get some
     reasonable statistics, and juicy replies may end up in a future mailbag.
     -- Heather

   I got an interesting call from a friend of mine, a PyCon regular who, as it
   turns out, lives in Sweden. There's been a discussion on the PyCon list
   about whether the $175 conference fee is too high, too low, or just right.
   That got her asking me what would it take to get more Americans to present a
   talk at EuroPython (in Sweden next July -- [29]http://www.europython.org)
   and Python UK (in England next April -- [30]http://www.accu.org/conference),
   and   more  Europeans  to  PyCon  (in  Washington  DC  next  April  --
   [31]http://pycon.org). I thought I'd throw the question out to y'all for
   ideas. Not everyone here is interested in Python, but the same thing applies
   to Linux and other free software projects.

   She said that she could guess why why not many American presenters would go
   to Europe, but she wanted to ask somebody on this side of the pond in case
   there  were  factors  she wasn't aware of. I said the main problem for
   Americans (besides the expense) is that most people only get two weeks'
   vacation per year, so they have to use the time selectively. She asked why
   that was, since in Sweden the minimum is six weeks and most people get nine.
   I said I don't know, it's just a longstanding tradition. She asked why
   people don't demand more. I said people are much more concerned about health
   care, and more vacation time is lower in their priorities.

   She said that for her, the main problem with coming to American conferences
   is the expense. That seems to be outside our control since the conference
   fee  is  minimal  already,  and we can't do anything about airfares or
   accommodation fees. 'Course the falling dollar will help. :)