Comments:
if [ "$PS1" ] ...if [ -t 0 ] ...
No root. It's frustrating how often the instructions for installing or configuring some Unix software begin with "Log in as root..." Unless you're the sysadmin, your employer and web host are unlikely to give you root access. The common solution for installing software if you're not root is to build it (and its dependencies) from source and install it in your home directory. This works, but it's a pain. I usually install things into ~/opt/packagename-version, like this:
~/opt/vim-6.3My login script checks ~/opt for lib/ and bin/ subdirectories and adds them to $LD_LIBRARY_PATH and $PATH, respectively, in reverse ASCII order, so higher version numbers of the same package will be at the front of the path and take priority. In the example above, "vim" would resolve to ~/opt/vim-7.0/bin/vim instead of ~/opt/vim-6.3/bin/vim. I make sure to keep my script (~/.ccgrc) in a state that allows me to source it arbitrarily often, so that, if I install a new package, I need only
~/opt/vim-7.0
source ~/.ccgrc to pick up the new paths.
That's all I've come up with so far. If you're not examining the source code, installing from source is no more or less secure than installing a binary, so, unless I need to customize build options for some reason, I'd rather save time and install a binary. I'm hoping that Zero Install will solve that problem. It would also be nice to have Debian-style automatic installation of dependencies. With disk space being so cheap and human time being so precious, I'm beginning to think that simply distributing statically linked binaries might be the easiest short-term solution.
IRIX networking. When moving an SGI IRIX box to a different subnet, edit /etc/config/static-route.options so that the gateway IP address is correct:
$ROUTE $QUIET add net default 192.168.0.1
SGI logo in Netscape on IRIX. Set the environment variable
SGI_ANIM in your shell to the value
/var/netscape/communicator/anim_cube.dat to get the original,
spinning-cube SGI logo as the "throbber" animation in Netscape. There are
animations in that directory too.
2008-09-27 update: Screenshots:
Best. Logo. Ever.
UI for SGI Presenter display in IRIX. Since SGI Presenter panels
are pretty rare, here's a screenshot of the IRIX UI for a Presenter:
Not very exciting, but since SGI has given up on IRIX, somebody should
preserve this info. I have a 1600SW flat panel on my O2, but,
unfortunately, I can't get a screenshot of its UI, because it doesn't
work. Desktop-->Customize-->Flat Panel just dumps core.
Thinkpad T41p, Ubuntu 8.04.1 LTS, and clicking hard drive.
The Hitachi HD in my T41p makes a 'tick-tick' noise about every five
seconds. It becomes annoying quickly. To make it stop:
sudo hdparm -B 254 /dev/sda I set it in /etc/init.d/rc.local.
Rhythmbox playback interrupted when inserting audio CD. I tend to play music all the time, even when I'm ripping an audio CD into my digital collection. Rhythmbox was always stopping playback and switching to the audio CD listing every time I put a CD in. It turns out, this is Nautilus's fault. Open a Nautilus window, go to Edit, Preferences, Media, and under "Media Handling," change "CD Audio" to "Do Nothing." Problem solved.
Turning 'Caps Lock' into an additional Ctrl key on T41p and Ubuntu 8.04.1 LTS. Go to [GNOME], System, Keyboard Prefs, Layouts, Layout Options, "Ctrl key position" and choose "Make CapsLock an additional Ctrl." Unfortunately, a long-standing bug makes the Caps Lock-indicating light toggle every time you press CapsLock, even when it's acting as a Ctrl key. Create ~/.Xmodmap and add the line "clear Lock". Because of another long-standing bug, this makes the situation worse, because NumLock will now turn itself on and off. To fix *that* problem, add one more line to .Xmodmap: "keycode 77 = Num_Lock". That seems to fix everything.
In Ubuntu 8.10, this bug is fixed. It does not exist in openSUSE 11.1.
2008-12-26
Compiz and Fitts' Law. With "Desktop Cube" and "Rotate Desktop" plugins enabled, Compiz steals 2 or 3 pixels along the edge of the screen. As a result, you can't throw your mouse at the edge and hit the scrollbar (Fitts' Law and all that). A bug has been filed, but for now, the only solution appears to be disabling "Rotate Desktop" and "Desktop Cube" (and "3D Windows") and reverting back to the less visually interesting "Desktop Wall" plugin. Disabling all the edge-flip stuff in Rotate Desktop did not solve the problem. The cube was nice, but for me, usability trumps eye candy.
UI for SGI 1600SW Flat-Panel Display in IRIX 6.5. Finally got a
screenshot:
2008-08-17
Custom video modes on the SGI O2.
2008-09-21
Disabling blinking cursor in gnome-terminal.
In Ubuntu 8.04 (GNOME 2.22), gnome-terminal must be recompiled.
Patch. In case the patch disappears: somewhere around line 250,
set terminal_widget_set_cursor_blinks(screen->priv->term,
FALSE);
In Ubuntu 8.10 (GNOME 2.24), there is a setting in gnome-terminal, but there is not yet a UI for it. In gconf, set /apps/gnome-terminal/profiles/Default/cursor_blink_mode to the string "off".
Follow the excitement here and here and here.
2008-12-26
Updated 2008-12-26.