Hi all,


I connect my flat screen Samsung to my TV tuner to watch TV normally
without any issues...
recently when I swith back to the computer the screen resolution is
changing from 1600-900 to 1.24-786...with pages stretching all over the
screen ( including the initial Mageia window...with the max min option
almost hidden at the top of the right screen...)

I tried to change back to the old resolution via System Settings but
under Display the max resolutin I get is the 1024-786...
So I tried MCC Hardware Configure Server settings ( which under
resolution gives me 1600-900 but it is not on the screen...) ...I select 1600-900 again and Test it...
I get the question
'is this the resolution ...?' and it is not so I click No...and am back
to square one...I keep doing the same thing and once the resolution was
the one requested...clicked yes and restarted the computer...it was ok no changed again after watching TV and the resoluiton is back to 1024-786
and this time no matter how many times I tried through both system
Setting and MCC there is no way I could get the 1600-900...
wondering if there is a command ine command which could do the job...I
did goole but on this issue I find only references to Ubuntu...so I
prefer not to even try...
Any help is welcomed...

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
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Reply-To: wes@nowhere.net

On 9/13/20 3:46 AM, santo wrote:

wondering if there is a command ine command which could do the job.

Might help.

https://www.commandlinux.com/man-page/man1/xrandr.1.html
--
http://wesnewell.ddns.net
https://github.com/wesnewell/Functionality

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On Sun, 13 Sep 2020 08:50:16 -0500, Wes Newell wrote:

On 9/13/20 3:46 AM, santo wrote:

wondering if there is a command ine command which could do the job.

Might help.

https://www.commandlinux.com/man-page/man1/xrandr.1.html

Hmmm way above my level...surely I will make disaster if I try something
with this...

went on /etc/X11 directory and I noticed a xorg.conf.old file with this
entry towards the beginning of the file:


Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor1"
VendorName "Plug'n Play"
Option "PreferredMode" "1600x900"

and the actual xorg.conf with this at the same place:

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor1"
VendorName "Plug'n Play"

Maybe the missing entry regardng the "PreferredMode"
is what is causing the issue?

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
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On Sun, 13 Sep 2020 14:47:44 +0000, santo wrote:

On Sun, 13 Sep 2020 08:50:16 -0500, Wes Newell wrote:

On 9/13/20 3:46 AM, santo wrote:

wondering if there is a command ine command which could do the job.

Might help.

https://www.commandlinux.com/man-page/man1/xrandr.1.html

Hmmm way above my level...surely I will make disaster if I try something
with this...

went on /etc/X11 directory and I noticed a xorg.conf.old file with this entry towards the beginning of the file:

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor1"
VendorName "Plug'n Play"
Option "PreferredMode" "1600x900"

and the actual xorg.conf with this at the same place:

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor1"
VendorName "Plug'n Play"

Maybe the missing entry regardng the "PreferredMode"
is what is causing the issue?

Setting Preferred Mode will make that the preferred mode for all
purposes, but if it is your maximum resolution I would certainly use it.

If you go into MCC to hardware and to Set up the graphical interface, you
get a choice of driver, monitor, and resolution. You can tinker with
that. Plug n Play and generic xx-inch flat panel generally work for most monitors, with some features dependent on selecting the correct driver
and monitor.

Cheers!

jim b.


--
UNIX is not user-unfriendly, it merely
expects users to be computer-friendly.





--
UNIX is not user-unfriendly, it merely expects users to be computer-
friendly.





--
UNIX is not user-unfriendly, it merely expects users to be computer-
friendly.

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On 14/9/20 2:09 am, Jim Beard wrote:

If you go into MCC to hardware and to Set up the graphical interface, you
get a choice of driver, monitor, and resolution. You can tinker with
that. Plug n Play and generic xx-inch flat panel generally work for most

As Jim says, Santo

If you click on Resolution and then the resolution box, you will get a
short list of possibilities PLUS "Automatic" and "Custom".
If you click custom you will get a much larger list

--
faeychild
Running plasmashell 5.15.4 on 5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 kernel.
Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 installed via Mageia-7-x86_64-DVD.iso


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 13 Sep 2020 08:46:43 +0000, santo wrote:

Hi all,

I connect my flat screen Samsung to my TV tuner to watch TV normally
without any issues...
recently when I swith back to the computer the screen resolution is
changing from 1600-900 to 1.24-786...with pages stretching all over the screen ( including the initial Mageia window...with the max min option
almost hidden at the top of the right screen...)

Since the day Plasma (aka KDE5) began, I've never had satisfactory
results with connecting a TV (or beamer). In fact, in the beginning it
didn't work at all. Updates have shown some improvement, but I gave up in
the end. So while I normally use Plasma for every day work, I use Xfce
when I have to connect a second screen. Works perfectly.

Just my 2 cts.

Herman Viaene

I tried to change back to the old resolution via System Settings but
under Display the max resolutin I get is the 1024-786...
So I tried MCC Hardware Configure Server settings ( which under
resolution gives me 1600-900 but it is not on the screen...) ...I
select 1600-900 again and Test it...
I get the question 'is this the resolution ...?' and it is not so I
click No...and am back to square one...I keep doing the same thing and
once the resolution was the one requested...clicked yes and restarted
the computer...it was ok no changed again after watching TV and the resoluiton is back to 1024-786 and this time no matter how many times I
tried through both system Setting and MCC there is no way I could get
the 1600-900...
wondering if there is a command ine command which could do the job...I
did goole but on this issue I find only references to Ubuntu...so I
prefer not to even try...
Any help is welcomed...

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 13 Sep 2020 08:46:43 +0000, santo wrote:

Hi all,

I connect my flat screen Samsung to my TV tuner to watch TV normally
without any issues...
recently when I swith back to the computer the screen resolution is
changing from 1600-900 to 1.24-786...with pages stretching all over the screen ( including the initial Mageia window...with the max min option
almost hidden at the top of the right screen...)

I tried to change back to the old resolution via System Settings but
under Display the max resolutin I get is the 1024-786...
So I tried MCC Hardware Configure Server settings ( which under
resolution gives me 1600-900 but it is not on the screen...) ...I
select 1600-900 again and Test it...
I get the question 'is this the resolution ...?' and it is not so I
click No...and am back to square one...I keep doing the same thing and
once the resolution was the one requested...clicked yes and restarted
the computer...it was ok no changed again after watching TV and the resoluiton is back to 1024-786 and this time no matter how many times I
tried through both system Setting and MCC there is no way I could get
the 1600-900...
wondering if there is a command ine command which could do the job...I
did goole but on this issue I find only references to Ubuntu...so I
prefer not to even try...
Any help is welcomed...

Nothing works of what I can do...very disappointing that I cant get beck
the original screen resolution...especially considering that this Samsung
flat screen gives as optimal resolution exactly 1600-900

:-(

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On 16/9/20 9:07 pm, santo wrote:

Nothing works of what I can do...very disappointing that I cant get beck
the original screen resolution...especially considering that this Samsung flat screen gives as optimal resolution exactly 1600-900

:-(

Have you dinked around with the xrandr command

https://tinyurl.com/y9a3vmot



--
faeychild
Running plasmashell 5.15.4 on 5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 kernel.
Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 installed via Mageia-7-x86_64-DVD.iso


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Wed, 16 Sep 2020 21:28:09 +1000, faeychild wrote:

On 16/9/20 9:07 pm, santo wrote:

Nothing works of what I can do...very disappointing that I cant get
beck the original screen resolution...especially considering that this
Samsung flat screen gives as optimal resolution exactly 1600-900

:-(

Have you dinked around with the xrandr command

I was afraid to dink around with it as I found it a bit intimidating but
then given that nothing was working I gave it a try...after a couple of horrible result i finally managed to understand it thanks to example
given in the Man page...

I scrolled the Xorg.conf file and found the line referring to the
1600x900 60 which is the resolution I wanted...then

[santo@localhost ~]$ xrandr --newmode "1600x900" 119.00 1600 1696
1864 2128 900 901 904 932 -HSync +Vsync

[santo@localhost ~]$ xrandr --addmode VGA-0 1600x900
[santo@localhost ~]$ xrandr --output VGA-0 --mode 1600x900

and gives me the resolution I wanted
:-)

....only I have to run those commands everytime I boot into Mageia...

Now I have to see if I can save them into a script to create a single
command and have the run at boot probably by saving it into my /Home/bin directory and adding it into the profile...but this will be the topic of another post in the near future
:-)
Thank you for reminding me and to Wes for pointing to this command...

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
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On Sun, 20 Sep 2020 07:00:01 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

Now I have to see if I can save them into a script to create a single
command and have the run at boot probably by saving it into my /Home/bin directory and adding it into the profile...but this will be the topic of another post in the near future

I suggest you do not need the script, just a configuration file change.

As a rule, configuration changes can be made by using a drop in file.

If an application supports a drop in directory (.d) then I highly
recommend creating your on override file instead of modify the
app's configuration file.

That way if a new app configuration file is released you do not loose
your changes or have to fold your changes back into the file.

Also makes clean installs go faster if you have a script to
link/copy in your drop in files using a script.

Contents of the drop in file depends on the application and/or what
it is doing. Usually a configuration file or script.

For some examples run,
locate .d/ | grep -vE "libexec|share|lib64|macros|dracut|rc.d"

Generally speaking, configuration file contains just what you want to
change. Not a complete copy plus your changes .

If app configuration file has sections, you just provide the section
words followed by the desired change.

These drop in files, are usually in a .d directory and may be required
to have a name type, depending on application. Execution order depends
on file name.
man page usually has the details. Drop in directories may not exist.
If so, you use mkdir to create one.

If you were to do a
ls -al /etc/X11/
you may see that there are a few drop in directories, one of which is xorg.conf.d

Since you only want only one resolution, you would create a drop in file
for the screen section with just what you want.

Your /etc/X11/xorg.conf calls out an Identifier "xxxx" and Device "xxx"
With that knowledge your drop in file, /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/xx__screen.conf would have something like

Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen1"
Device "device1"
Monitor "monitor1"
DefaultColorDepth 24

Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1600x900" 119.00 1600 1696 1864 2128 900 901 904 932 -HSync +Vsync
EndSubsection
EndSection



In the above example the keyword DefaultColorDepth VALUE directs xorg
to use the Depth 24 subsection setting.

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On 2020-09-20, santo <santo@auroville.org.in> wrote:

On Wed, 16 Sep 2020 21:28:09 +1000, faeychild wrote:

On 16/9/20 9:07 pm, santo wrote:

Nothing works of what I can do...very disappointing that I cant get
beck the original screen resolution...especially considering that this
Samsung flat screen gives as optimal resolution exactly 1600-900

:-(

Have you dinked around with the xrandr command

I was afraid to dink around with it as I found it a bit intimidating but then given that nothing was working I gave it a try...after a couple of horrible result i finally managed to understand it thanks to example
given in the Man page...

I scrolled the Xorg.conf file and found the line referring to the
1600x900 60 which is the resolution I wanted...then

[santo@localhost ~]$ xrandr --newmode "1600x900" 119.00 1600 1696
1864 2128 900 901 904 932 -HSync +Vsync

[santo@localhost ~]$ xrandr --addmode VGA-0 1600x900
[santo@localhost ~]$ xrandr --output VGA-0 --mode 1600x900

and gives me the resolution I wanted
:-)

...only I have to run those commands everytime I boot into Mageia...

You should be able to put those details into /etc/X11/xorg.conf Not sure
what the format is however.

Now I have to see if I can save them into a script to create a single command and have the run at boot probably by saving it into my /Home/bin directory and adding it into the profile...but this will be the topic of another post in the near future

xrandr is an X command, and needs a display (in X terms) to operate on I believe. So, not at boot but at the start of X I believe.

:-)
Thank you for reminding me and to Wes for pointing to this command...

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On Sun, 20 Sep 2020 15:46:03 -0000 (UTC), William Unruh wrote:

On 2020-09-20, santo <santo@auroville.org.in> wrote:

You should be able to put those details into /etc/X11/xorg.conf Not sure
what the format is however.

Format is easy since there is already the automatic configured settings
in the file.

Not a good idea to modify system/vendor configuration files when drop in
file feature is available, especially for xorg.conf.

I have seen posts in the past to delete/remove/rename xorg.conf which
caused it to be regenerated upon next boot.

I have deleted mine a few times over the years while dinking with mine.

I use a drop in file on my mythtv node (mtv) to use my
Panasonic Industry Company 58" tv or my
HP vs19e 19" Flat-Panel LCD monitor
depending on which one is connected during boot.

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On Sun, 20 Sep 2020 14:37:03 -0400, Bit Twister <BitTwister@mouse-potato.com> wrote:

I have seen posts in the past to delete/remove/rename xorg.conf which
caused it to be regenerated upon next boot.

I don't have one as it overrides the automatic detection by X11 which works ok on my system. It is not regenerated on boot, but is recreated if you use drakx11
to change any settings.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

--
Change dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org to davidwhodgins@teksavvy.com for
email replies.

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On Sun, 20 Sep 2020 16:18:04 -0400, David W. Hodgins wrote:

On Sun, 20 Sep 2020 14:37:03 -0400, Bit Twister

<BitTwister@mouse-potato.com> wrote:

I have seen posts in the past to delete/remove/rename xorg.conf which
caused it to be regenerated upon next boot.

I don't have one as it overrides the automatic detection by X11 which works

ok

on my system. It is not regenerated on boot, but is recreated if you use

drakx11

to change any settings.

Well, that sounds odd. I never use drakx11 and I have to assume it is
created during install. I do confess I have not deleted xorg.conf since
mga5 or mga6.

Just now tested xorg.conf in a VM guest. Moved xorg.conf to bkup/,
rebooted and no xorg.conf created. I know it did in the past.

Apparently all my X11 experience is becoming obsolete.
Thank you for your feedback. and all your work with the Mageia community.

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On Sun, 20 Sep 2020 05:40:06 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

If you were to do a
ls -al /etc/X11/
you may see that there are a few drop in directories, one of which is xorg.conf.d

Since you only want only one resolution, you would create a drop in file
for the screen section with just what you want.

Your /etc/X11/xorg.conf calls out an Identifier "xxxx" and Device "xxx"
With that knowledge your drop in file,
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/xx__screen.conf would have something like

Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen1"
Device "device1"
Monitor "monitor1"
DefaultColorDepth 24

Subsection "Display"
Depth 24 Modes "1600x900" 119.00 1600 1696 1864 2128 900 901 904
932 -HSync +Vsync EndSubsection
EndSection

I created the script and saved in my ~/bin directory so I can get the resolution I wanted but as you suggested otherwise I tried it...

I have tried the whole week to understand this drop in file business...I
may have understood the idea behind it ( maybe) but definetly I do not
seem to understand how to use it.
I am trying to create a res_screenc.conf file and save it into xorg.conf.d
but if I use e.g. your example above then running startx gived me an
error message...

'119 is not a right keyword in this section'

and then I have to delete the file...probably the format of the file I am creating is not correct ...

I tried and experimented using entries in the Xorg.conf file but no success...either I get the 1024x786 resolution or the error message about
the entry after "1600X900" being an invalid keyword.

p.s.
....also in a crazy moment I saved the script into /etc/profile.d it did
not give me the resolution I wanted but somehow clicking on Konsole it
would automatically shift to the 1600X900 resolution wanted...

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On Sun, 27 Sep 2020 10:46:42 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

On Sun, 20 Sep 2020 05:40:06 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

If you were to do a
ls -al /etc/X11/
you may see that there are a few drop in directories, one of which is
xorg.conf.d

Since you only want only one resolution, you would create a drop in file
for the screen section with just what you want.

Your /etc/X11/xorg.conf calls out an Identifier "xxxx" and Device "xxx"
With that knowledge your drop in file,
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/xx__screen.conf would have something like

Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen1"
Device "device1"
Monitor "monitor1"
DefaultColorDepth 24

Subsection "Display"
Depth 24 Modes "1600x900" 119.00 1600 1696 1864 2128 900 901 904
932 -HSync +Vsync EndSubsection
EndSection

I created the script and saved in my ~/bin directory so I can get the resolution I wanted but as you suggested otherwise I tried it...

I have tried the whole week to understand this drop in file business...I
may have understood the idea behind it ( maybe) but definetly I do not
seem to understand how to use it.

Keep in mind the drop in file contents are strictly dependent/defined
by the app using it.

I am trying to create a res_screenc.conf file and save it into xorg.conf.d but if I use e.g. your example above then running startx gived me an
error message...
'119 is not a right keyword in this section'

Frap, I screwed up. I mixed Modes and ModeLine, need to move your custom
mode line into a monitor section. You need to reference /etc/X11/xorg.conf
to verify names/identifier and format.
Basically this drop in is adding the ModeLine "1600x900" to Monitor section
and setting default depth 24. I am not sure about the 24. You need to
see if you can find that value with whatever tool you used to get/set
your 1600x900 mode line.

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor1"
VendorName "Plug'n Play"

ModeLine "1600x900" 119.00 1600 1696 1864 2128 900 901 904 932 -HSync +Vsync EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen1"
Device "device1"
Monitor "monitor1"
DefaultColorDepth 24

Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1600x900"
EndSubsection
EndSection


If you still have problems post contents of your
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/res_screenc.conf
and
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
files.

and then I have to delete the file...probably the format of the file I am creating is not correct ...

I tried and experimented using entries in the Xorg.conf file but no success...either I get the 1024x786 resolution or the error message about
the entry after "1600X900" being an invalid keyword.

p.s.
...also in a crazy moment I saved the script into /etc/profile.d it did
not give me the resolution I wanted but somehow clicking on Konsole it
would automatically shift to the 1600X900 resolution wanted...

Yep, when a terminal is clicked up, /etc/bashrc is executed which executes
all the files in /etc/profile.d


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 27 Sep 2020 10:46:42 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

You seem to be using Pan/0.145. Either it or the editor being used
is changing the format of the post by wrapping reply lines lines.

This leads to problems in either what you saved and used or causes
respondents to think your files are not in the correct format. :-(

It would be helpful if you were to keep that from happening.


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 27 Sep 2020 09:18:26 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Sun, 27 Sep 2020 10:46:42 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

You seem to be using Pan/0.145. Either it or the editor being used is changing the format of the post by wrapping reply lines lines.

This leads to problems in either what you saved and used or causes respondents to think your files are not in the correct format. :-(

It would be helpful if you were to keep that from happening.

The problem is with wrapping when that messes up lines of shell script.
Hitting w will toggle from wrap lines to don't wrap, and vice versa, but
I have never figured out how to make sure which way it is toggled when
sending a post.

I suppose an empty line or a line with just a space on it could be added
after every line to prevent line wrap from messing things up, but if
anyone knows a better way, I would be interested.

Cheers!

jim b.

--
UNIX is not user-unfriendly, it merely expects users to be computer-
friendly.

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 27 Sep 2020 09:11:27 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

If you still have problems

sigh!...

posting from my junk account

well...something went horribly wrong...
:-(

I was trying to fooling around with the res.screen.conf file without
success but everything was fine...then I decided to play a Go Game on Panda.net and run the script in my home/bin directory to get the 1600x900 resolution...finished the Game I wanted to power off the computer but I
miss clicked and cliked Logout instead of power off...ever since then I
can not boot into my normal ID ( Santo )
I get an error message

"...a timeout in .Xauthority ...change will be ignored...( try to
remember by memory the message...)
the message repeat itself a few times the the screen go black...

I can boot int root and junk obviously but not into santo...
Any help welcome...

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 27 Sep 2020 09:18:26 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Sun, 27 Sep 2020 10:46:42 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

You seem to be using Pan/0.145. Either it or the editor being used is changing the format of the post by wrapping reply lines lines.

yes it is 0.145

This leads to problems in either what you saved and used or causes respondents to think your files are not in the correct format. :-(

It would be helpful if you were to keep that from happening.

wrap text is selected...more than this I do not know what or how to avoid
that from happening ...


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Thu, 1 Oct 2020 14:58:44 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

On Sun, 27 Sep 2020 09:11:27 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

If you still have problems

sigh!...

posting from my junk account

well...something went horribly wrong...
:-(

I was trying to fooling around with the res.screen.conf file without
success but everything was fine...then I decided to play a Go Game on Panda.net and run the script in my home/bin directory to get the 1600x900 resolution...finished the Game I wanted to power off the computer but I
miss clicked and cliked Logout instead of power off...ever since then I
can not boot into my normal ID ( Santo )
I get an error message

"...a timeout in .Xauthority ...change will be ignored...( try to
remember by memory the message...)
the message repeat itself a few times the the screen go black...

I can boot int root and junk obviously but not into santo...
Any help welcome...

First off, I see no information about your setup.

I can highly recommend creating a file with some basic information like
Desktop Manager, Desktop Environment, media used for install, kernel,....

You store that info in a file and tell your Usenet client to attach it
to all your posts. Usual default is $HOME/.signature

Since I bulti-boot and have no desire to have to modify it manually,
I created a script to automagically keep it relative to whatever I boot, Cauldron, mga6, mga7,....

As to your problem. our new and improved gui login scripts will not let
you login if there is an error. :(

Having been in that ditch more than once, anytime I change startup/login
files I will click up a terminal and run
su -l $USER
just to make sure I have not created an error.

Offhand, my guess is you script needed root priv, so script did a
su
run some command
exit

As a result there may be some fines in your account owned by root.
Easy test to verify all files in your account are owned by you is

find $HOME \( -not -user $USER -or -not -group $USER \) -exec ls -al '{}' \;

since junk/root work go ahead and do a su -l santo
and run the find command.

Since you cannot login at current runlevel (gui/runlevel5) you will need
to change $HOME to something like /home/santo

Depending on Display Environment, the x session error file should have
some information about the problem.

As root
/usr/bin/updatedb
locate session-error

Example script to generate a signature file
-------8<------8<---cut below this line---8<------8<------8<
#!/bin/bash #***********************************************************************
#* gen_sig_file.sh - generate $HOME/.signature file Version 1.0
#*
#* Automatically overwrites $HOME/.signature on each login
#* with basic information about your setup.
#*
#* When you post to Usenet your Usenet client can append it to your
#* post which helps respondents to provide more detailed replies.
#*
#* You need to place the script somewhere in your $PATH environment.
#* echo $PATH to see possible locations.
#*
#* Save as gen_sig_file.sh
#* chmod +x gen_sig_file.sh
#*
#* Script Test Procedure:
#* gen_sig_file.sh
#* cat $HOME/.signature
#*
#* Install:
#* For all users:
#* cp gen_sig_file.sh /etc/profile.d
#* or put a link in /etc/profile.d back to gen_sig_file.sh
#* that everyone can read/execute.
#*
#* For a single user:
#* echo $PATH to see possible locations.
#*
#* put $HOME/wherever/gen_sig_file.sh location in user's shell's
#* startup script, for example ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bashrc
#*
#* Login test:
#* click up a terminal
#* su - $USER
#* cat $HOME/.signature
#*
#* Modify your Usenet client to add/append $HOME/.signature
#* to your posts and post a message in one of the Usenet test groups
#* to verify it works as desired.
#*
#***********************************************************************

Sig_fn=$HOME/.signature
Sig_fn=$PWD/.signature
DE=""
DM=""
DISTRO=""

type -p lsb_release > /dev/null 2>&1
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
set $(lsb_release -d | grep Description)
if [ $# -gt 1 ] ; then
shift
DISTRO="$@"
fi
fi

if [ -e /etc/sysconfig/desktop ] ; then
. /etc/sysconfig/desktop
DM="$DISPLAYMANAGER"
fi

if [ -e /etc/release ] ; then
DISTRO=$(cat /etc/release)
fi

if [ $(uname -s) = "Darwin" ] ; then
DISTRO=$(sw_vers | sed -ne $'s/ProductVersion://p')
fi

set -- $(systemctl status display-manager.service | grep PID:)
DM=$(echo $4 | tr -d '() ')

echo -en "-- \nRunning " > $Sig_fn
echo "$DISTRO using" >> $Sig_fn
echo "Kernel $(uname -r) on $(uname -m) DM=$DM DE=$XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP" >> $Sig_fn

#***********end gen_sig_file.sh ***************************


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On Thu, 01 Oct 2020 10:36:24 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

First off, I see no information about your setup.

not sure what you need from me here...

As to your problem. our new and improved gui login scripts will not let
you login if there is an error. :(

:-((

Having been in that ditch more than once, anytime I change startup/login files I will click up a terminal and run
su -l $USER
just to make sure I have not created an error.

Offhand, my guess is you script needed root priv, so script did a
su run some command exit

As a result there may be some fines in your account owned by root.
Easy test to verify all files in your account are owned by you is

find $HOME \( -not -user $USER -or -not -group $USER \) -exec ls -al
'{}' \;

since junk/root work go ahead and do a su -l santo and run the find command.

Since you cannot login at current runlevel (gui/runlevel5) you will need
to change $HOME to something like /home/santo

for the moment I can send you this outputs...

[santo@localhost ~]$ find $HOME \( -not -user $USER -or -not -group $USER
\) -exec ls -al '{}' \;
find: ‘/home/santo/Documents.old/.mybit’: Permission denied
-rw-rw-rw- 1 root root 162 Oct 1 16:12 /home/santo/.Xauthority [santo@localhost ~]$ su -l $USER
Password:
[santo@localhost ~]$

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
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On Thu, 1 Oct 2020 15:52:43 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

On Thu, 01 Oct 2020 10:36:24 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

First off, I see no information about your setup.

not sure what you need from me here...

Run the script I posted in my reply.

[santo@localhost ~]$ find $HOME \( -not -user $USER -or -not -group $USER
\) -exec ls -al '{}' \;
find: ‘/home/santo/Documents.old/.mybit’: Permission denied
-rw-rw-rw- 1 root root 162 Oct 1 16:12 /home/santo/.Xauthority

There is your problem. root root /home/santo/.Xauthority

As root
chown santo:santo /home/santo/.Xauthority
also
chown santo:santo /home/santo/Documents.old/.mybit


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
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On Thu, 01 Oct 2020 11:51:45 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Thu, 1 Oct 2020 15:52:43 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

On Thu, 01 Oct 2020 10:36:24 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

First off, I see no information about your setup.

not sure what you need from me here...

Run the script I posted in my reply.

[santo@localhost ~]$ find $HOME \( -not -user $USER -or -not -group
$USER \) -exec ls -al '{}' \;
find: ‘/home/santo/Documents.old/.mybit’: Permission denied -rw-rw-rw- >> 1 root root 162 Oct 1 16:12 /home/santo/.Xauthority

There is your problem. root root /home/santo/.Xauthority

As root
chown santo:santo /home/santo/.Xauthority
also
chown santo:santo /home/santo/Documents.old/.mybit

Yes...this got me back to santo...phew! Thanks a lot...:-)

I wonder how this has happened...
do you still want me to run the script?

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Fri, 02 Oct 2020 02:44:44 -0400, santo <santo@auroville.org.in> wrote:

Yes...this got me back to santo...phew! Thanks a lot...:-)
I wonder how this has happened...

It happens when using su and then running any gui program, instead of using
su --login, which can be abbreviated as just "su -".

do you still want me to run the script?

The script just creates as .signature file that can be appended to all
usenet messages to include info that makes debugging easier. Up to you
whether you want to do that or not.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

--
Change dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org to davidwhodgins@teksavvy.com for
email replies.

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Fri, 2 Oct 2020 06:44:44 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

Yes...this got me back to santo...phew! Thanks a lot...:-)

To be clear, the problem was that .Xauthority was owned by root
instead of santo

I wonder how this has happened...

You running "su" instead of "su - root" or "su -"
I make it a habit to always use su - root for great majority of the time.

do you still want me to run the script?

My suggestion is to have your Usenet client append a file containing some
basic information about your setup, and you asked what info.

If you were to run the script and look at $PWD/.signature
You would see some basic information about your system.
By the way, the $PWD/.signature line needs to be removed.
That was a leftover from testing.

As an example on my system
Running Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using
Kernel 5.5.15-desktop-3.mga7 on x86_64 DM=lightdm DE=xfce
you can see my DE is xfce. Yours could be Plasma so me providing xfce
commands may not work in your DE.

If someone sees that you are running Plasma, then they could give you
exact instruction on where/how to set something you would need to change.

As in David's reply it is up to you.


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
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On 10/1/20 11:44 PM, santo wrote:

On Thu, 01 Oct 2020 11:51:45 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Thu, 1 Oct 2020 15:52:43 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

On Thu, 01 Oct 2020 10:36:24 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

First off, I see no information about your setup.

not sure what you need from me here...

Run the script I posted in my reply.

[santo@localhost ~]$ find $HOME \( -not -user $USER -or -not -group
$USER \) -exec ls -al '{}' \;
find: ‘/home/santo/Documents.old/.mybit’: Permission denied -rw-rw-rw- >>> 1 root root 162 Oct 1 16:12 /home/santo/.Xauthority

There is your problem. root root /home/santo/.Xauthority

As root
chown santo:santo /home/santo/.Xauthority
also
chown santo:santo /home/santo/Documents.old/.mybit

Yes...this got me back to santo...phew! Thanks a lot...:-)

I wonder how this has happened...
do you still want me to run the script?

Not sure what you did in Mageia but in Mandriva
it would have been the use of "su" when you should
be using "su -"
That is "su space hyphen" which avoid altering
your /home permissions.

bliss

--
bliss dash SF 4 ever at dslextreme dot com

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
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On 2020-10-02, David W. Hodgins <dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:

On Fri, 02 Oct 2020 02:44:44 -0400, santo <santo@auroville.org.in> wrote:

Yes...this got me back to santo...phew! Thanks a lot...:-)
I wonder how this has happened...

It happens when using su and then running any gui program, instead of using su --login, which can be abbreviated as just "su -".

Then that is bug. Using $HOME rather that getting home from /etc/passwd
is very careless programming.

do you still want me to run the script?

The script just creates as .signature file that can be appended to all
usenet messages to include info that makes debugging easier. Up to you whether you want to do that or not.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
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On Fri, 2 Oct 2020 14:13:47 -0000 (UTC), William Unruh wrote:

On 2020-10-02, David W. Hodgins <dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:

On Fri, 02 Oct 2020 02:44:44 -0400, santo <santo@auroville.org.in> wrote: >>> Yes...this got me back to santo...phew! Thanks a lot...:-)

I wonder how this has happened...

It happens when using su and then running any gui program, instead of using >> su --login, which can be abbreviated as just "su -".

Then that is bug. Using $HOME rather that getting home from /etc/passwd
is very careless programming.

It is not a bug.
$HOME was set from /etc/password during login.

Lots of apps use $HOME as part of the filespec for
read/writing files.

The bug is between the chair and the keyboard not the software.
The user should always use "su - root" or "su -" unless the user knows
the ramifications/feature of using just su.



--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On 2020-10-02, Bit Twister <BitTwister@mouse-potato.com> wrote:

On 2020-10-02, David W. Hodgins <dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:

On Fri, 02 Oct 2020 02:44:44 -0400, santo <santo@auroville.org.in> wrote: >>>> Yes...this got me back to santo...phew! Thanks a lot...:-)

I wonder how this has happened...

It happens when using su and then running any gui program, instead of using
su --login, which can be abbreviated as just "su -".

Then that is bug. Using $HOME rather that getting home from /etc/passwd
is very careless programming.

It is not a bug.
$HOME was set from /etc/password during login.

It IS a bug, because on an su, $HOME is NOT copied from /etc/passwd. It
remains what it was befor the su.

Lots of apps use $HOME as part of the filespec for
read/writing files.

Yes, and for most that is fine. For X it is not.

The bug is between the chair and the keyboard not the software.
The user should always use "su - root" or "su -" unless the user knows
the ramifications/feature of using just su.

Oh crap. The purpose if computers is to help people , not people having
to help the computer. Especially for something like writing .Xauthority
by root, it should NOT be using $HOME.
It is a bug to require people to adapt to the bug, rather than writing
it properly from the word go.





--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Fri, 2 Oct 2020 17:26:54 -0000 (UTC), William Unruh wrote:

On 2020-10-02, Bit Twister <BitTwister@mouse-potato.com> wrote:

On 2020-10-02, David W. Hodgins <dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:

On Fri, 02 Oct 2020 02:44:44 -0400, santo <santo@auroville.org.in> wrote: >>>>> Yes...this got me back to santo...phew! Thanks a lot...:-)

I wonder how this has happened...

It happens when using su and then running any gui program, instead of using
su --login, which can be abbreviated as just "su -".

Then that is bug. Using $HOME rather that getting home from /etc/passwd
is very careless programming.

It is not a bug.
$HOME was set from /etc/password during login.

It IS a bug, because on an su, $HOME is NOT copied from /etc/passwd. It remains what it was befor the su.

Lots of apps use $HOME as part of the filespec for
read/writing files.

Yes, and for most that is fine. For X it is not.

The bug is between the chair and the keyboard not the software.
The user should always use "su - root" or "su -" unless the user knows
the ramifications/feature of using just su.

Oh crap.

You say crap, I say bullcrap to you.

As an end user, I see your point, a little bit.

Especially for something like writing .Xauthority
by root, it should NOT be using $HOME.
It is a bug to require people to adapt to the bug, rather than writing
it properly from the word go.

Then again, I would assume you would say
su
rm /$home
should not be allowed which results in rm removing everything in /
instead of $HOME as expected.

The purpose if computers is to help people , not people having
to help the computer.

Sounding a little like a Micro$oft mantra to me and your statement is
not valid as to what you mean.

Current user computers can only do what people have told it to do.
It is just an idiot piece of machinery that can do whatever it is told
to do at a high rate of speed, repeatedly.

As a software developer and maintenance programmer you need software that
is portable and testable. Being able to just change an environment variable like $HOME and run tests is a great/fantastic ability for any testing/tester.

Whoever is at the keyboard is communicating with the computer and is responsible knowing what the command does and preferably 'all' the ramifications of using the command.

For example, a little while back I wanted to build another one of my
system configuration scripts, So I was able to include a file of
environment variables which allowed me to make the scripts use /home/bittwister/test as /.

Your desired methodology would prevent such activity.




--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
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On 2020-10-02, Bit Twister <BitTwister@mouse-potato.com> wrote:

On Fri, 2 Oct 2020 17:26:54 -0000 (UTC), William Unruh wrote:

On 2020-10-02, Bit Twister <BitTwister@mouse-potato.com> wrote:

On 2020-10-02, David W. Hodgins <dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:

On Fri, 02 Oct 2020 02:44:44 -0400, santo <santo@auroville.org.in> wrote:

Yes...this got me back to santo...phew! Thanks a lot...:-)
I wonder how this has happened...

It happens when using su and then running any gui program, instead of using
su --login, which can be abbreviated as just "su -".

Then that is bug. Using $HOME rather that getting home from /etc/passwd >>>> is very careless programming.

It is not a bug.
$HOME was set from /etc/password during login.

It IS a bug, because on an su, $HOME is NOT copied from /etc/passwd. It
remains what it was befor the su.

Lots of apps use $HOME as part of the filespec for
read/writing files.

Yes, and for most that is fine. For X it is not.

The bug is between the chair and the keyboard not the software.
The user should always use "su - root" or "su -" unless the user knows
the ramifications/feature of using just su.

Oh crap.

You say crap, I say bullcrap to you.

As an end user, I see your point, a little bit.

Excellent.

Especially for something like writing .Xauthority
by root, it should NOT be using $HOME.
It is a bug to require people to adapt to the bug, rather than writing
it properly from the word go.

Then again, I would assume you would say
su
rm /$home
should not be allowed which results in rm removing everything in /
instead of $HOME as expected.

Nope. The user typed $home, and I agree with you that they should know
what they are doing with a command like this. (of course that command
would not do anything either way, because / and /$home are both
directories and rm refuses to remove directories unless you explicitly
give it the -r option.

The purpose if computers is to help people , not people having
to help the computer.

Sounding a little like a Micro$oft mantra to me and your statement is
not valid as to what you mean.

Current user computers can only do what people have told it to do.
It is just an idiot piece of machinery that can do whatever it is told
to do at a high rate of speed, repeatedly.

That is why I blamed the programmers, not the computer.

As a software developer and maintenance programmer you need software that
is portable and testable. Being able to just change an environment variable like $HOME and run tests is a great/fantastic ability for any

testing/tester.

There are many things which are convenient. That does not mean they are
right or are not a bug. If just typing rm erased the whole disk, that
would be wonderfully convenient if you wanted to wipe the whole disk,
but would still be a bug.

Whoever is at the keyboard is communicating with the computer and is responsible knowing what the command does and preferably 'all' the ramifications of using the command.

Oh come off it. that is really really terrible design. That is like
saying anyone driving a car should know exactly how everything in the
car works. It is the job of the software writer to ensure that even the ignorant doing something stupid cannot easily destroy stuff.

For example, a little while back I wanted to build another one of my
system configuration scripts, So I was able to include a file of
environment variables which allowed me to make the scripts use /home/bittwister/test as /.

You can of course do anything you want to yourself. If you now try to
foist that off on users I would disallow it.
(Did you actually mean ./ not /.?)

Your desired methodology would prevent such activity.

Damn right if you are doing this for others. For yourself, go ahead. I
presume that 20 years in the future you will still retain detailed
knowledge of this weirdness in your script, and not do something stupid
with it.




--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On 2/10/20 1:36 am, Bit Twister wrote:

#* to your posts and post a message in one of the Usenet test groups
#* to verify it works as desired.
#*
#***********************************************************************

Sig_fn=$HOME/.signature
Sig_fn=$PWD/.signature

OK It's a slow morning here

I've been derailed
Don't two conflicting definitions of "Sig_fn" cause a problem?


--
faeychild
Running plasmashell 5.15.4 on 5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 kernel.
Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 installed via Mageia-7-x86_64-DVD.iso


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On 10/2/20 2:07 PM, faeychild wrote:

On 2/10/20 1:36 am, Bit Twister wrote:

#*     to your posts and post a message in one of the Usenet test groups
#*     to verify it works as desired.
#*
#***********************************************************************

   Sig_fn=$HOME/.signature
   Sig_fn=$PWD/.signature

OK  It's a slow morning here

I've been derailed
Don't two conflicting definitions of "Sig_fn" cause a problem?

I have a file of signatures which I keep in KWrite and use with Thunderbird when I need to do so. Here are two examples the first when technical information is valuable.

Dell E6540
CPU: Quad Core Intel Core i7-4800MQ (-MT MCP-) speed/min/max:
1254/800/3700 MHz Kernel: 5.8.10-pclos1 x86_64
Mem: 6432.2/15927.8 MiB (40.4%) Storage: 4.09 TiB (28.1% used)
Procs: 318 Shell: inxi: 3.1.04
VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 4th Gen Core Processor
Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 06) and
VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Mars
XTX [Radeon HD 8790M]

The other is for a laugh.
- I have an athletic nose, it runs in all weathers...

bli

--
bliss dash SF 4 ever at dslextreme dot com

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
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On Sat, 3 Oct 2020 07:07:21 +1000, faeychild wrote:

On 2/10/20 1:36 am, Bit Twister wrote:

#* to your posts and post a message in one of the Usenet test groups
#* to verify it works as desired.
#*
#***********************************************************************

Sig_fn=$HOME/.signature
Sig_fn=$PWD/.signature

OK It's a slow morning here

I've been derailed
Don't two conflicting definitions of "Sig_fn" cause a problem?

Heheh, they are not really in conflict, last one wins.
I did not want my $HOME/.signature file overwritten so I just pick
another location where I was testing and forgot to remove the test
location declaration.


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Fri, 02 Oct 2020 17:06:57 -0400, William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> wrote:

That is why I blamed the programmers, not the computer.

One thing to keep in mind is that most of the core programs in unix/linux were written long before the writing of the software for gui programs. As is common in core programs, backward compatibility is considered extremely important since
the core programs are frequently used in scripts.

It's the gui programs that fail to recognize that they are running under su instead
of su --login, that are causing the problems by relying on the environment variables
to decide which directories and/or files to use.

As there are far too many gui programs to ensure they all handle su without --login
properly, and su will not be changed to ensure backward compatibility, it's up to
the user to learn when using su without --login is ok, and when the --login option
(or it's abbreviation of just "-") must be used. In general, su - should always be
used.

Some distributions have chosen to protect their users by strongly encouraging their
users to only use sudo, and never to use su. I do not agree with that approach.
While sudo has it's uses, su --login makes more sense in many cases.

The ~/.Xauthority file is likely not the only one that had it's ownership changed
by running a gui program after using su without --login. I recommend using "su -"
to become root, and then running "chown -Rc tester:tester /home/tester" (replacing
tester with the appropriate loginid). Just be careful to review the results. When
I run it on my home directory, I have to fix the group of the following directories
and files ...

# tree -ifaug /home/dave|grep -v '\[dave dave \]'
[dave mail ] /home/dave/mail
[dave mail ] /home/dave/mail/.imap
[dave mail ] /home/dave/mail/.imap/dovecot.list.index.log
[dave mail ] /home/dave/mail/.imap/INBOX
[dave mail ] /home/dave/mail/.imap/INBOX/dovecot.index
[dave mail ] /home/dave/mail/.imap/INBOX/dovecot.index.cache
[dave mail ] /home/dave/mail/.imap/INBOX/dovecot.index.log

Regards, Dave Hodgins

--
Change dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org to davidwhodgins@teksavvy.com for
email replies.

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On 3/10/20 8:13 am, Bit Twister wrote:

On Sat, 3 Oct 2020 07:07:21 +1000, faeychild wrote:

On 2/10/20 1:36 am, Bit Twister wrote:

#* to your posts and post a message in one of the Usenet test groups >>> #* to verify it works as desired.
#*
#*********************************************************************** >>>
Sig_fn=$HOME/.signature
Sig_fn=$PWD/.signature

OK It's a slow morning here

I've been derailed
Don't two conflicting definitions of "Sig_fn" cause a problem?

Heheh, they are not really in conflict, last one wins.
I did not want my $HOME/.signature file overwritten so I just pick
another location where I was testing and forgot to remove the test
location declaration.

Good! I'm glad it wasn't me. I stared long and hard trying to find what
I could be missing - it's usually something obvious. :-)

regards

--
faeychild
Running plasmashell 5.15.4 on 5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 kernel.
Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 installed via Mageia-7-x86_64-DVD.iso


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On 2020-10-02, David W. Hodgins <dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:

On Fri, 02 Oct 2020 17:06:57 -0400, William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> wrote:

That is why I blamed the programmers, not the computer.

One thing to keep in mind is that most of the core programs in unix/linux

were

written long before the writing of the software for gui programs. As is

common

in core programs, backward compatibility is considered extremely important

since

the core programs are frequently used in scripts.

It's the gui programs that fail to recognize that they are running under su

instead

of su --login, that are causing the problems by relying on the environment

variables

to decide which directories and/or files to use.

As there are far too many gui programs to ensure they all handle su without

--login

properly, and su will not be changed to ensure backward compatibility, it's

up to

the user to learn when using su without --login is ok, and when the --login

option

(or it's abbreviation of just "-") must be used. In general, su - should

always be

used.

In which case that should be the default. Then su - could be a special
case where the - indicates that it is missing the reading of
..bash_profile.
In any case, it is a bug. Maybe hard to fix, but that does not make it
any less of a bug.

Some distributions have chosen to protect their users by strongly

encouraging their

users to only use sudo, and never to use su. I do not agree with that

approach.

While sudo has it's uses, su --login makes more sense in many cases.

The ~/.Xauthority file is likely not the only one that had it's ownership

changed

by running a gui program after using su without --login. I recommend using

"su -"

to become root, and then running "chown -Rc tester:tester /home/tester"

(replacing

tester with the appropriate loginid). Just be careful to review the results.

When

I run it on my home directory, I have to fix the group of the following

directories

and files ...

# tree -ifaug /home/dave|grep -v '\[dave dave \]'
[dave mail ] /home/dave/mail
[dave mail ] /home/dave/mail/.imap
[dave mail ] /home/dave/mail/.imap/dovecot.list.index.log
[dave mail ] /home/dave/mail/.imap/INBOX
[dave mail ] /home/dave/mail/.imap/INBOX/dovecot.index
[dave mail ] /home/dave/mail/.imap/INBOX/dovecot.index.cache
[dave mail ] /home/dave/mail/.imap/INBOX/dovecot.index.log

Regards, Dave Hodgins

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
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On Fri, 02 Oct 2020 19:38:47 -0400, William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> wrote:

In which case that should be the default. Then su - could be a special
case where the - indicates that it is missing the reading of
.bash_profile.
In any case, it is a bug. Maybe hard to fix, but that does not make it
any less of a bug.

It's only a bug if it's unintended behaviour. It's intended to work the way it does to maintain both backward and cross distribution behaviour.

The most common explanation I've heard for why it's never been altered, is that
with few exceptions where it's already handled properly such as mcc, most gui programs are not supposed to be run as root. Also, changing it's default would break many existing scripts that use it.

The idea of least privileges is integral to linux design. Programs should only have
the permissions needed to do their intended tasks, and not be allowed to access or
modify things that they don't need in order to do that task. Anything that uses
untrusted input, such as media players and web browsers should never be run as root.
As the most file managers allow specifying network file access such as samba, ftp,
nfs, etc., they also should not be run as root. The program vlc is a good example.
It can play media such as a network stream from a site accessed over the internet.
That untrusted input combined with a large code base including plugins written by
many different authors puts vlc at high risk of being abused if allowed to run as
root.

It's sticking to those design principles that keeps linux much safer to use than
other operating systems.

Chalk it up as a learning experience. Always use "su -", never just "su". Don't
run gui programs as root, except where the switch from user to root is handled by
things like pkexec, which mcc uses.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

--
Change dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org to davidwhodgins@teksavvy.com for
email replies.

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On 2020-10-03, David W. Hodgins <dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:

On Fri, 02 Oct 2020 19:38:47 -0400, William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> wrote:

In which case that should be the default. Then su - could be a special
case where the - indicates that it is missing the reading of
.bash_profile.
In any case, it is a bug. Maybe hard to fix, but that does not make it
any less of a bug.

It's only a bug if it's unintended behaviour. It's intended to work the way

it

does to maintain both backward and cross distribution behaviour.

If someone created a command called copy, which erased the file, that
would be a bug, even if it was the intended behaviour. While Alice in Wonderland argues that words are purely arbitrary, it is a nonsense
position to take.

The most common explanation I've heard for why it's never been altered, is

that

with few exceptions where it's already handled properly such as mcc, most

gui

programs are not supposed to be run as root. Also, changing it's default

would

break many existing scripts that use it.

I will buy that last reason, but that does not mean that it has not
become bad design over time.

The idea of least privileges is integral to linux design. Programs should

only have

the permissions needed to do their intended tasks, and not be allowed to

access or

modify things that they don't need in order to do that task. Anything that

uses

untrusted input, such as media players and web browsers should never be run

as root.

But doing say sudo konsole, to run the konsole as root to do root stuff
is surely one of the tasks that is, if not entirely without danger, is
so often done so as to be standard. And if a side effect is to destroy
the users ability to run X then that is a bug.

As the most file managers allow specifying network file access such as

samba, ftp,

nfs, etc., they also should not be run as root. The program vlc is a good

example.

It can play media such as a network stream from a site accessed over the

internet.

That untrusted input combined with a large code base including plugins

written by

many different authors puts vlc at high risk of being abused if allowed to

run as

root.

Fine, and many such programs refuse to run as root. Nothing wrong with
that. And some programs are entirely appropriate to be run as root, and
in fact mandatory to be run as root (eg vipw)

It's sticking to those design principles that keeps linux much safer to use

than

other operating systems.

I certainly do not disagree. But if doing something which is appropriate
for root to run and it breaks something else, that is a bug.

Chalk it up as a learning experience. Always use "su -", never just "su".

Don't

And sometimes one wants to stay in the directory in which one already is
after the switch to root. In that case su rather than su - is the most convenient. And dangerous. In the case under discussion, apparently (we
do not really know what happened) the attempt to run something as root
resulted in .Xauthority having its ownership converted to root.root.
That I still consider a bug. Yes, it is possible to evade that bug, but
just because a bug can be kludged does not make it not a bug.

run gui programs as root, except where the switch from user to root is

handled by

things like pkexec, which mcc uses.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

--
Change dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org to davidwhodgins@teksavvy.com for
email replies.

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On 10/2/20 9:00 PM, William Unruh wrote:

On 2020-10-03, David W. Hodgins <dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org> wrote:

On Fri, 02 Oct 2020 19:38:47 -0400, William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> wrote: >>> In which case that should be the default. Then su - could be a special

case where the - indicates that it is missing the reading of
.bash_profile.
In any case, it is a bug. Maybe hard to fix, but that does not make it
any less of a bug.

It's only a bug if it's unintended behaviour. It's intended to work the way it
does to maintain both backward and cross distribution behaviour.

If someone created a command called copy, which erased the file, that
would be a bug, even if it was the intended behaviour. While Alice in Wonderland argues that words are purely arbitrary, it is a nonsense
position to take.

The most common explanation I've heard for why it's never been altered, is that
with few exceptions where it's already handled properly such as mcc, most gui
programs are not supposed to be run as root. Also, changing it's default would
break many existing scripts that use it.

I will buy that last reason, but that does not mean that it has not
become bad design over time.

The idea of least privileges is integral to linux design. Programs should only have
the permissions needed to do their intended tasks, and not be allowed to access or
modify things that they don't need in order to do that task. Anything that uses
untrusted input, such as media players and web browsers should never be run as root.

But doing say sudo konsole, to run the konsole as root to do root stuff
is surely one of the tasks that is, if not entirely without danger, is
so often done so as to be standard. And if a side effect is to destroy
the users ability to run X then that is a bug.

As the most file managers allow specifying network file access such as samba, ftp,
nfs, etc., they also should not be run as root. The program vlc is a good example.
It can play media such as a network stream from a site accessed over the internet.
That untrusted input combined with a large code base including plugins written by
many different authors puts vlc at high risk of being abused if allowed to run as
root.

Fine, and many such programs refuse to run as root. Nothing wrong with
that. And some programs are entirely appropriate to be run as root, and
in fact mandatory to be run as root (eg vipw)

It's sticking to those design principles that keeps linux much safer to use than
other operating systems.

I certainly do not disagree. But if doing something which is appropriate
for root to run and it breaks something else, that is a bug.

Chalk it up as a learning experience. Always use "su -", never just "su". Don't

And sometimes one wants to stay in the directory in which one already is after the switch to root. In that case su rather than su - is the most convenient. And dangerous. In the case under discussion, apparently (we
do not really know what happened) the attempt to run something as root resulted in .Xauthority having its ownership converted to root.root.
That I still consider a bug. Yes, it is possible to evade that bug, but
just because a bug can be kludged does not make it not a bug.

run gui programs as root, except where the switch from user to root is handled by
things like pkexec, which mcc uses.

Regards, Dave Hodgins

--
Change dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org to davidwhodgins@teksavvy.com for
email replies.

Some people say that using sudo in the manner of Ubuntu is very
bad, Since the user password is used to access all root permissions jt
is very easy to make serious mistakes.
Sudo should only grant limited permission depending on the
particular user.
There are good reasons why sensibly designed OSes have root
accounts with a real root password to get root privileges, Those of
us who are not running servers with muttiple users can get by with
with remembering that if we do not use "su -" we will have to
regain our permissions with a properly optioned "chown" command.
Despite the fact that I have had to "chown" my privileges
back for various partitions and volumes more than one time I never
get the line quite right and have to experiment. I find this
cuts into my time so I always use "su -".

bliss who read a long statement by a competent Linux
user and coder on this subject the other day.

--
bliss dash SF 4 ever at dslextreme dot com

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On Sat, 03 Oct 2020 00:00:04 -0400, William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> wrote:

And sometimes one wants to stay in the directory in which one already is after the switch to root. In that case su rather than su - is the most convenient. And dangerous. In the case under discussion, apparently (we
do not really know what happened) the attempt to run something as root resulted in .Xauthority having its ownership converted to root.root.
That I still consider a bug. Yes, it is possible to evade that bug, but
just because a bug can be kludged does not make it not a bug.

It's a bug in your opinion. It is not a bug in my opinion. Wanting to save typing
two characters instead of learning to use the command as it was designed to be used is not what I consider a bug.

If you don't want to get into the habit of only using "su -" instead of "su", then learn not to run dolphin or other gui programs that are not designed to be
run as root, after using "su".

For the very rare times I want to stay in the same dir, I run "echo $PWD" copy the path to the clipboard, then after using "su -", run cd and paste the path in. Really, how often is that necessary?

Regards, Dave Hodgins

--
Change dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org to davidwhodgins@teksavvy.com for
email replies.

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On Fri, 02 Oct 2020 08:14:25 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Fri, 2 Oct 2020 06:44:44 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

Yes...this got me back to santo...phew! Thanks a lot...:-)

To be clear, the problem was that .Xauthority was owned by root instead
of santo

I wonder how this has happened...

You running "su" instead of "su - root" or "su -"
I make it a habit to always use su - root for great majority of the
time.

Normally I use su - when running urpmi --auto-update which is the only
reason I need to be root...so far...

but I remember using only su while fiddling with this resolution
issue...I feel a bit shy to admit it given the reaction it has created...

do you still want me to run the script?

My suggestion is to have your Usenet client append a file containing
some basic information about your setup, and you asked what info.

I need to know if it is enough to save the script into my /home/bin
directory or where it is the right place to save it in orfer for it to do
what is required...

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On Sat, 3 Oct 2020 14:15:05 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

Normally I use su - when running urpmi --auto-update which is the only
reason I need to be root...so far...

but I remember using only su while fiddling with this resolution
issue...I feel a bit shy to admit it given the reaction it has created...

Think nothing of the reaction created. No harm has been done. :)

I need to know if it is enough to save the script into my /home/bin
directory or where it is the right place to save it in orfer for it to do what is required...

As the script header indicates, you can place it wherever you like that
is normally found in your $PATH variable, depending on your requirements.
your home bin is ok if you are the only user on the system.

Do remove the
Sig_fn=$PWD/.signature
line.

The only other consideration is if you want to run the script anytime
you change kernel or release, or modify ~/.bash_profile to run the
script.

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On Sat, 03 Oct 2020 10:41:01 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Sat, 3 Oct 2020 14:15:05 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

Do remove the
Sig_fn=$PWD/.signature
line.

I did remove the above line this is what is left...

Sig_fn=$HOME/.signature DE=""
DM=""
DISTRO=""

type -p lsb_release > /dev/null 2>&1 if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
set $(lsb_release -d | grep Description)
if [ $# -gt 1 ] ; then
shift DISTRO="$@"
fi
fi

....etc...

when I run it I get the this error message...

[santo@localhost bin]$ gen_sig_file.sh
/home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 5: basic: command not found /home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 8: post: command not found /usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games:/usr/lib64/qt5/bin:/ home/santo/.local/bin:/home/santo/bin:/home/santo/Downloads/node-v12.18.2- linux-x64 to see possible locations.
/home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 19: /etc/profile.d: Is a directory /home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 20: read/execute.: No such file or directory
/home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 26: startup: command not found /home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 31: your: command not found /home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 32: verify: command not found /home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 37: syntax error near unexpected
token `then'
/home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 37: ` type -p lsb_release > /dev/
null 2>&1 if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then'
[santo@localhost bin]$


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On Sun, 4 Oct 2020 07:37:50 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

On Sat, 03 Oct 2020 10:41:01 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Sat, 3 Oct 2020 14:15:05 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

Do remove the
Sig_fn=$PWD/.signature
line.

I did remove the above line this is what is left...

Sig_fn=$HOME/.signature DE=""
DM=""
DISTRO=""

Yup, that looks like pan reformatted the script, but I have no idea
if the reformat is now in the source code or just in your reply. :(

the above code lines should read

Sig_fn=$HOME/.signature
DE=""
DM=""
DISTRO=""

when I run it I get the this error message...

[santo@localhost bin]$ gen_sig_file.sh
/home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 5: basic: command not found /home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 8: post: command not found

I am going guess some other pan feature is causing problems.

Line 5 does not have "basic" in it but line 6 does.
Line 8 does not have "post" but line 9 does.

Here is the deal, Line 1 is code, but lines 2 through 42 are comments,
and there should be no errors flagged between those lines.

All the lines starting with line 1 through 42 should have "#" as the
first character on the line.

When you run the script, nothing should be sent to the terminal.
You should just get another terminal prompt. If that is what happens
then you should have a new $HOME/.signature file with some basic info.

For testing/checking you can
rm $HOME/.signature
gen_sig_file.sh
cat $HOME/.signature

and see the new $HOME/.signature contents.

Oh yeah, You might want to add computer model and video card info
to the script.

And you might want to get the script running in the test account just
in case you have to post from there.

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On Sun, 04 Oct 2020 06:21:28 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Sun, 4 Oct 2020 07:37:50 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

On Sat, 03 Oct 2020 10:41:01 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

I am going guess some other pan feature is causing problems.

Line 5 does not have "basic" in it but line 6 does.
Line 8 does not have "post" but line 9 does.

Here is the deal, Line 1 is code, but lines 2 through 42 are comments,
and there should be no errors flagged between those lines.

All the lines starting with line 1 through 42 should have "#" as the
first character on the line.

Alright, installed pan. I see that pan wrap caused the line 5 and 7
problems.

Did not play with pan very much, spent way too much time just trying to
just edit the article command. Anyway this is what I did.


For saving script I will recommend the following:

Click View-> Body Pane
uncheck Wrap Article Body
check Use Monospace Font
uncheck Mute Quoted Text
uncheck Show Smilies as Graphics
uncheck Show bold, underline, italic
uncheck Highlight URLs


To save script,
click up a terminal
cat > some_filename_here

click back in pan screen

Click Edit->Select Article Body

Then click at the bottom of the terminal and hit your mouse paste button
hit carriage return
and then Ctrl+d

Now you can edit some_filename_here and chop out everything you do
not want.

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Alright, installed pan. I see that pan wrap caused the line 5 and 7
problems.

first of all apologies for my late replies but time spam between India
and the US is huge...I go to sleep when you wake up sort of...so the
delay...

yes I realised that Pan makes some formatting changes when copy and paste
as a result some of the lines where uncommented...fixed that and other
lines I could figure out the problem... and have now only this error messages...

[santo@localhost bin]$ gen_sig_file.sh*
/home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 46: shift: DISTRO=Description::
numeric argument required
/home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 67: Kernel 5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM= DE=: command not found
[santo@localhost bin]$

For saving script I will recommend the following:

OK will do that later if the new error message above may suggest another 'easier' solution...

thanks in advance...

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OK will do that later if the new error message above may suggest another 'easier' solution...

That "if" is wrong...what I meant was 'unless' meant


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On Mon, 5 Oct 2020 14:30:27 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

Alright, installed pan. I see that pan wrap caused the line 5 and 7
problems.

first of all apologies for my late replies but time spam between India
and the US is huge...I go to sleep when you wake up sort of...so the
delay...

Think nothing about it. I am use to delays.

yes I realised that Pan makes some formatting changes when copy and paste
as a result some of the lines where uncommented...fixed that and other
lines I could figure out the problem... and have now only this error messages...

[santo@localhost bin]$ gen_sig_file.sh*
/home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 46: shift: DISTRO=Description::
numeric argument required
/home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 67: Kernel 5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM= DE=: command not found
[santo@localhost bin]$

For saving script I will recommend the following:

OK will do that later if the new error message above may suggest another 'easier' solution...

The errors still indicate script is not what was posted.

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
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On Mon, 5 Oct 2020 14:33:11 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

OK will do that later if the new error message above may suggest another
'easier' solution...

That "if" is wrong...what I meant was 'unless' meant

The line numbers content do not match the same line number of the posted script.

No way for me to guess what your script looks like.

All you need to do is take note of your current settings, set my suggested settings, open the original posted script, open an editor, select all, and paste into editor screen. The use of cat and whatnot was because I remember
you did not know what editor was being used in pan and you could use
a gui file manager to click on the file you just created.


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On Mon, 05 Oct 2020 14:30:27 +0000, santo wrote:
<snip>

[santo@localhost bin]$ gen_sig_file.sh*
/home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 46: shift: DISTRO=Description::
numeric argument required /home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 67:

You need one or more newlines in the area starting type -p and ending
with shift DISTRO="$@". I think &1 should be followed by a newline,
another preceding set, another after ), another preceding shift.

Kernel 5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM= DE=: command not found [santo@localhost bin]$

At the end of the script, above #***, each of three echo should be
preceded with a newline. After the first one, it is a single > $Sig_fn.
For the last two, you add to the file created by that, by
using >> $Sig_fn.

You may need parenthesis around each $DM and $XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP,
i.e. $(DM) $(XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP)

<snip>

Bit,

If the above does not clear Santo's problem (and it may not), perhaps you could resend the script, with NEWLINE appearing at the beginning of every newline. That would allow Santo to create the file with NEWLINE at
every line, and then delete the NEWLINEs before saving.

Cheers!

jim b.



--
UNIX is not user-unfriendly, it merely expects users to be computer-
friendly.

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On Tue, 6 Oct 2020 15:06:31 -0000 (UTC), Jim Beard wrote:

<snip>

You may need parenthesis around each $DM and $XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP,
i.e. $(DM) $(XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP)

Not so grasshopper. Your suggestion tells bash to return the results
of executing the resulting command inside of the parentheses

<snip>

Bit,

If the above does not clear Santo's problem (and it may not), perhaps you could resend the script,

Well, I installed pan, found the reply/post containing the script,
created the instructions on what to uncheck/check, did the indicated
operation, and used diff to verify I had an exact duplicate.

with NEWLINE appearing at the beginning of every
newline. That would allow Santo to create the file with NEWLINE at
every line, and then delete the NEWLINEs before saving.

That is way too much work and does not clear all problems. I was impressed
I had some kind of smiley face after "grep PID" until I disabled
Show Smilies as Graphics.


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On Tue, 06 Oct 2020 15:06:31 +0000, Jim Beard wrote:

On Mon, 05 Oct 2020 14:30:27 +0000, santo wrote:
<snip>

[santo@localhost bin]$ gen_sig_file.sh*
/home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 46: shift: DISTRO=Description::
numeric argument required /home/santo/bin/gen_sig_file.sh: line 67:

You need one or more newlines in the area starting type -p and ending
with shift DISTRO="$@". I think &1 should be followed by a newline,
another preceding set, another after ), another preceding shift.

Kernel 5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM= DE=: command not found
[santo@localhost bin]$

At the end of the script, above #***, each of three echo should be
preceded with a newline. After the first one, it is a single > $Sig_fn.
For the last two, you add to the file created by that, by using >>
$Sig_fn.

You may need parenthesis around each $DM and $XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP,
i.e. $(DM) $(XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP)

<snip>

Bit,

If the above does not clear Santo's problem (and it may not), perhaps
you could resend the script, with NEWLINE appearing at the beginning of
every newline. That would allow Santo to create the file with NEWLINE
at every line, and then delete the NEWLINEs before saving.

Well, I have prepared a version of what I suggested above, and tinkered
with it a little. I use Gnome/Wayland and have no desktop-manager.service
file so I get an error message on that and DE= in the output.

Every NL in the following marks the start of a new line, and should be
deleted once that is true. Any line in the following that does not have
a NL at the start should be a continuation of the preceding line.

NL#!/bin/bash NL#***********************************************************************
NL#* gen_sig_file.sh - generate $HOME/.signature file Version 1.0
NL#*
NL#* Automatically overwrites $HOME/.signature on each login
NL#* with basic information about your setup.
NL#*
NL#* When you post to Usenet your Usenet client can append it to your
NL#* post which helps respondents to provide more detailed replies.
NL#*
NL#* You need to place the script somewhere in your $PATH environment.
NL#* echo $PATH to see possible locations.
NL#*
NL#* Save as gen_sig_file.sh
NL#* chmod +x gen_sig_file.sh
NL#*
NL#* Script Test Procedure:
NL#* gen_sig_file.sh
NL#* cat $HOME/.signature
NL#*
NL#* Install:
NL#* For all users:
NL#* cp gen_sig_file.sh /etc/profile.d
NL#* or put a link in /etc/profile.d back to gen_sig_file.sh
NL#* that everyone can read/execute.
NL#*
NL#* For a single user:
NL#* echo $PATH to see possible locations.
NL#*
NL#* put $HOME/wherever/gen_sig_file.sh location in user's shell's
NL#* startup script, for example ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bashrc
NL#*
NL#* Login test:
NL#* click up a terminal
NL#* su - $USER
NL#* cat $HOME/.signature
NL#*
NL#* Modify your Usenet client to add/append $HOME/.signature
NL#* to your posts and post a message in one of the Usenet test groups
NL#* to verify it works as desired.
NL#*
NL#***********************************************************************
NL
NL Sig_fn=$HOME/.signature
NL DE=""
NL DM=""
NL DISTRO=""
NL
NL type -p lsb_release > /dev/null 2>&1
NL if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
NL set $(lsb_release -d | grep Description)
NL if [ $# -gt 1 ] ; then
NL shift
NL DISTRO="$@"
NL fi
NL fi
NL
NL if [ -e /etc/sysconfig/desktop ] ; then
NL . /etc/sysconfig/desktop
NL DM="$DISPLAYMANAGER"
NL fi
NL
NL if [ -e /etc/release ] ; then
NL DISTRO=$(cat /etc/release)
NL fi
NL
NL if [ $(uname -s) = "Darwin" ] ; then
NL DISTRO=$(sw_vers | sed -ne $'s/ProductVersion://p')
NL fi
NL
NL set -- $(systemctl status display-manager.service | grep PID ; DM=$
(echo $4 | tr -d '() ') )
NL
NL echo -en "-- \nRunning " > $Sig_fn
NL echo "$DISTRO using" >> $Sig_fn
NL echo "Kernel $(uname -r) on $(uname -m) DM=$DM
DE=$XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP" >> $Sig_fn
NL
NL#***********end gen_sig_file.sh ***************************

Cheers!

jim b.


--
UNIX is not user-unfriendly, it merely expects users to be computer-
friendly.

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Thu, 8 Oct 2020 14:03:16 -0000 (UTC), Jim Beard wrote:

Well, I have prepared a version of what I suggested above, and tinkered
with it a little. I use Gnome/Wayland and have no desktop-manager.service file so I get an error message on that and DE= in the output.

Ok, I fixed desktop-manager.service to not error out. But I need to know
what distribution media you used for install and is GNOME the only DE installed?

I need to know enough to create your setup to test my script.

FYI:

NL#***********end gen_sig_file.sh ***************************

You need one more NL to guarantee a carriage return after the last line.

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 04 Oct 2020 17:21:14 +0000, Bit Twister wrote:

To save script,
click up a terminal cat > some_filename_here

click back in pan screen

Click Edit->Select Article Body

Then click at the bottom of the terminal and hit your mouse paste button
hit carriage return and then Ctrl+d

Now you can edit some_filename_here and chop out everything you do not
want.

ok...did this as well but somehow did get error messages as
well...believe me I tried but obviously I make some mistakes am not
aware of...so I retyped the script...now I do not get any error messages
and the .signature file looks like this:

[santo@localhost ~]$ gen_sig_file.sh
[santo@localhost ~]$ cat .signature
--
RunningMageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using
kernel 5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM= DE=
[santo@localhost ~]$

is this the outcome wanted?...

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Fri, 09 Oct 2020 13:06:12 +0000, santo wrote:

On Sun, 04 Oct 2020 17:21:14 +0000, Bit Twister wrote:

To save script,
click up a terminal cat > some_filename_here

click back in pan screen

Click Edit->Select Article Body

Then click at the bottom of the terminal and hit your mouse paste
button hit carriage return and then Ctrl+d

Now you can edit some_filename_here and chop out everything you do not
want.

ok...did this as well but somehow did get error messages as
well...believe me I tried but obviously I make some mistakes am not
aware of...so I retyped the script...now I do not get any error messages
and the .signature file looks like this:

[santo@localhost ~]$ gen_sig_file.sh

[santo@localhost ~]$ cat .signature

RunningMageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using
kernel 5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM= DE=
[santo@localhost ~]$

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Fri, 09 Oct 2020 13:07:53 +0000, santo wrote:

ok...did this as well but somehow did get error messages as
well...believe me I tried but obviously I make some mistakes am not
aware of...so I retyped the script...now I do not get any error
messages and the .signature file looks like this:

[santo@localhost ~]$ gen_sig_file.sh

[santo@localhost ~]$ cat .signature

RunningMageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using kernel 5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM= DE= [santo@localhost ~]$

I really do not know what else to do to avoid the format look like this...
:-(

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Thu, 08 Oct 2020 09:50:50 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Thu, 8 Oct 2020 14:03:16 -0000 (UTC), Jim Beard wrote:

Well, I have prepared a version of what I suggested above, and tinkered
with it a little. I use Gnome/Wayland and have no
desktop-manager.service file so I get an error message on that and DE=
in the output.

Ok, I fixed desktop-manager.service to not error out. But I need to know
what distribution media you used for install and is GNOME the only DE installed?

I need to know enough to create your setup to test my script.

FYI:

NL#***********end gen_sig_file.sh ***************************

You need one more NL to guarantee a carriage return after the last line.

I installed Mageia 7 from a DVD iso, and installed only Gnome DE as part
of the upgrade.

However, it was an upgrade of Mageia 6 rather than a clean install.
Mageia 6 was likewise from a DVD but I seem to remember installing
both Gnome and KDE4 desktops, and there is a bunch of kde stuff in
my current Mageia 7. I use k3b and okular, and maybe a few other
apps originating in kde.

Cheers!

jim b.

--
UNIX is not user-unfriendly, it merely expects users to be computer-
friendly.

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 13:07:53 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:
\

[santo@localhost ~]$ gen_sig_file.sh

[santo@localhost ~]$ cat .signature

RunningMageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using
kernel 5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM= DE=

Your retype is still having problems.

I would have expected DM and DE to have values.

Do you know what your Desktop Environment is, kde, plasma, gnome,..... ?
Do you remember what install media/iso was used?



--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 13:58:01 -0000 (UTC), Jim Beard wrote:

I installed Mageia 7 from a DVD iso,

That is a bit vague as to which one.

and installed only Gnome DE as part
of the upgrade.
However, it was an upgrade of Mageia 6 rather than a clean install.
Mageia 6 was likewise from a DVD but I seem to remember installing
both Gnome and KDE4 desktops,

Well that bites, because if so, I would have thought display-manager.service would have been set.

and there is a bunch of kde stuff in
my current Mageia 7. I use k3b and okular, and maybe a few other
apps originating in kde.

So, guessing there is some file in your user account, telling the
system which DE is to be used.

Click up a terminal and run the following
cd
grep -i session= .???* 2> /dev/null | grep -v .xsession






--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 12:05:56 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 13:07:53 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:
\

[santo@localhost ~]$ gen_sig_file.sh

[santo@localhost ~]$ cat .signature

RunningMageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using
kernel 5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM= DE=

Your retype is still having problems.

I would have expected DM and DE to have values.

Do you know what your Desktop Environment is, kde, plasma, gnome,..... ?
Do you remember what install media/iso was used?

I have added some code and changes.
pan_settings.txt

For saving script I will recommend the following:

Click View-> Body Pane
uncheck Wrap Article Body
check Use Monospace Font
uncheck Mute Quoted Text
uncheck Show Smilies as Graphics
uncheck Show bold, underline, italic
uncheck Highlight URLs

Re-read the article to make sure above changes take effect.

To save script,
click up a terminal
cat > some_filename_here

click back in pan screen

Click Edit->Select Article Body

Then click at the bottom of the terminal and hit your mouse paste button
hit carriage return
and then Ctrl+d

Now you can edit some_filename_here and chop out everything you do
not want.
----8<----8<----8<----8< cut below this line ----8<----8<
#!/bin/bash #***********************************************************************
#* gen_sig_file.sh - generate $HOME/.signature file Version 1.0
#*
#* Automatically overwrites $HOME/.signature on each login
#* with basic information about your setup.
#*
#* When you post to Usenet your Usenet client can append it to your
#* post which helps respondents to provide more detailed replies.
#*
#* You need to place the script somewhere in your $PATH environment.
#* echo $PATH to see possible locations.
#*
#* Save as gen_sig_file.sh
#* chmod +x gen_sig_file.sh
#*
#* Script Test Procedure:
#* gen_sig_file.sh
#* cat $HOME/.signature
#*
#* Install:
#* For all users:
#* cp gen_sig_file.sh /etc/profile.d
#* or put a link in /etc/profile.d back to gen_sig_file.sh
#* that everyone can read/execute.
#*
#* For a single user:
#* echo $PATH to see possible locations.
#*
#* put $HOME/wherever/gen_sig_file.sh location in user's shell's
#* startup script, for example ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bashrc
#*
#* Login test:
#* click up a terminal
#* su - $USER
#* cat $HOME/.signature
#*
#* There should be no =Unknown values. If so script should be
#* modified to generate a value, or just hard code a value.
#*
#* Modify your Usenet client to add/append $HOME/.signature
#* to your posts and post a message in one of the Usenet test groups
#* to verify it works as desired.
#*
#***********************************************************************

Sig_fn=$HOME/.signature
DE="Unknown"
DM="Unknown"
DISTRO="Unknown"
KERNEL="Kernel=$(uname -r) on $(uname -m)"
Service=display-manager.service


type -p lsb_release > /dev/null 2>&1
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
set $(lsb_release -d | grep Description)
if [ $# -gt 1 ] ; then
shift
DISTRO="$@"
fi
fi

if [ -e /etc/sysconfig/desktop ] ; then
. /etc/sysconfig/desktop
DM="$DISPLAYMANAGER"
fi

if [ -e $HOME/.dmrc ] ; then
set -- $(IFS='=' ; echo $(grep ion= $HOME/.dmrc))
DE=$2
fi

if [ -n ${XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP:-"$DE"} ] ; then
DE=$XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP
fi

if [ -e /etc/release ] ; then
DISTRO=$(cat /etc/release)
fi

if [ $(uname -s) = "Darwin" ] ; then
DISTRO=$(sw_vers | sed -ne $'s/ProductVersion://p')
fi

systemctl --quiet is-active $Service 2> /dev/null
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
set -- $( systemctl status $Service | grep PID: )
DM=$(echo $4 | tr -d '() ')
fi

echo -en "-- \nRunning " > $Sig_fn
echo "$DISTRO using" >> $Sig_fn
echo "$KERNEL DM=$DM DE=$XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP" >> $Sig_fn

#***********end gen_sig_file.sh ***************************

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Fri, 09 Oct 2020 12:28:42 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 13:58:01 -0000 (UTC), Jim Beard wrote:

I installed Mageia 7 from a DVD iso,

That is a bit vague as to which one.

Mageia-7-x86_64.iso 4.1 GB 2 Jul 19

and installed only Gnome DE as part of the upgrade.
However, it was an upgrade of Mageia 6 rather than a clean install.
Mageia 6 was likewise from a DVD but I seem to remember installing both
Gnome and KDE4 desktops,

Well that bites, because if so, I would have thought
display-manager.service would have been set.

and there is a bunch of kde stuff in my current Mageia 7. I use k3b
and okular, and maybe a few other apps originating in kde.

So, guessing there is some file in your user account, telling the system which DE is to be used.

I boot to run level 3, and the command used to start gnome is,

XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland dbus-run-session gnome-session

Click up a terminal and run the following
cd grep -i session= .???* 2> /dev/null | grep -v .xsession

[jim@sorrel bin]$ cd
[jim@sorrel ~]$ grep -i session= .???* 2> /dev/null | grep -v .xsession [jim@sorrel ~]$

Cheers!

jim b.

--
UNIX is not user-unfriendly, it merely expects users to be computer-
friendly.

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 20:21:24 -0000 (UTC), Jim Beard wrote:

On Fri, 09 Oct 2020 12:28:42 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 13:58:01 -0000 (UTC), Jim Beard wrote:

I installed Mageia 7 from a DVD iso,

That is a bit vague as to which one.

Mageia-7-x86_64.iso 4.1 GB 2 Jul 19

and installed only Gnome DE as part of the upgrade.
However, it was an upgrade of Mageia 6 rather than a clean install.
Mageia 6 was likewise from a DVD but I seem to remember installing both
Gnome and KDE4 desktops,

Well that bites, because if so, I would have thought
display-manager.service would have been set.

and there is a bunch of kde stuff in my current Mageia 7. I use k3b
and okular, and maybe a few other apps originating in kde.

So, guessing there is some file in your user account, telling the system
which DE is to be used.

I boot to run level 3, and the command used to start gnome is,

XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland dbus-run-session gnome-session

Click up a terminal and run the following
cd grep -i session= .???* 2> /dev/null | grep -v .xsession

[jim@sorrel bin]$ cd
[jim@sorrel ~]$ grep -i session= .???* 2> /dev/null | grep -v .xsession [jim@sorrel ~]$

Ok, no user customization file.

XDG_SESSION_TYPE makes me wonder why my script did not set DE on your
system. What is the result of

env | grep XDG



--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Fri, 09 Oct 2020 15:38:37 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 20:21:24 -0000 (UTC), Jim Beard wrote:

On Fri, 09 Oct 2020 12:28:42 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 13:58:01 -0000 (UTC), Jim Beard wrote:

I installed Mageia 7 from a DVD iso,

That is a bit vague as to which one.

Mageia-7-x86_64.iso 4.1 GB 2 Jul 19

and installed only Gnome DE as part of the upgrade.
However, it was an upgrade of Mageia 6 rather than a clean install.
Mageia 6 was likewise from a DVD but I seem to remember installing
both Gnome and KDE4 desktops,

Well that bites, because if so, I would have thought
display-manager.service would have been set.

and there is a bunch of kde stuff in my current Mageia 7. I use k3b
and okular, and maybe a few other apps originating in kde.

So, guessing there is some file in your user account, telling the
system which DE is to be used.

I boot to run level 3, and the command used to start gnome is,

XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland dbus-run-session gnome-session

Click up a terminal and run the following
cd grep -i session= .???* 2> /dev/null | grep -v .xsession

[jim@sorrel bin]$ cd [jim@sorrel ~]$ grep -i session= .???* 2>
/dev/null | grep -v .xsession [jim@sorrel ~]$

Ok, no user customization file.

XDG_SESSION_TYPE makes me wonder why my script did not set DE on your
system. What is the result of

env | grep XDG

[jim@sorrel ~]$ env |grep XDG
XDG_MENU_PREFIX=gnome-
XDG_VTNR=1
XDG_SESSION_ID=42
XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland
XDG_SESSION_CLASS=user
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=GNOME
XDG_SEAT=seat0
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1xxx
[jim@sorrel ~]$

Cheers!

jim b.

--
UNIX is not user-unfriendly, it merely expects users to be computer-
friendly.

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 23:25:40 -0000 (UTC), Jim Beard wrote:

On Fri, 09 Oct 2020 15:38:37 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

XDG_SESSION_TYPE makes me wonder why my script did not set DE on your
system. What is the result of

env | grep XDG

[jim@sorrel ~]$ env |grep XDG
XDG_MENU_PREFIX=gnome-
XDG_VTNR=1
XDG_SESSION_ID=42
XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland
XDG_SESSION_CLASS=user
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=GNOME

Ah HA, gnome does not have XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP.

Created a mg7 gnome VirtualBox.

Your DM is gdm and X session type is wayland instead of x11.

Ok, new and improved script to support gnome installs.

----8<---8<---8<---8< cut below this line ---8<---8<---8<---8<---8<
#!/bin/bash #***********************************************************************
#* gen_sig_file.sh - generate $HOME/.signature file Version 2.0
#*
#* Automatically overwrites $HOME/.signature on each login
#* with basic information about your setup.
#*
#* When you post to Usenet your Usenet client can append it to your
#* post which helps respondents to provide more detailed replies.
#*
#* You need to place the script somewhere in your $PATH environment.
#* echo $PATH to see possible locations.
#*
#* Save as gen_sig_file.sh
#* chmod +x gen_sig_file.sh
#*
#* Script Test Procedure:
#* gen_sig_file.sh
#* cat $HOME/.signature
#*
#* Install:
#* For all users:
#* cp gen_sig_file.sh /etc/profile.d
#* or put a link in /etc/profile.d back to gen_sig_file.sh
#* that everyone can read/execute.
#*
#* For a single user:
#* echo $PATH to see possible locations.
#*
#* put $HOME/wherever/gen_sig_file.sh location in user's shell's
#* startup script, for example ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bashrc
#*
#* Login test:
#* click up a terminal
#* su - $USER
#* cat $HOME/.signature
#*
#* There should be no =Unknown values. If so script should be
#* modified to generate a value, or just hard code a value.
#*
#* Modify your Usenet client to add/append $HOME/.signature
#* to your posts and post a message in one of the Usenet test groups
#* to verify it works as desired.
#*
#***********************************************************************

Sig_fn=$HOME/.signature

DE="Unknown" # Display Environment gnome, plasma, xfce....
DM="Unknown" # Display Manager lightdm, sddm, gdm, ...
DISTRO="Unknown"
KERNEL="Kernel=$(uname -r) on $(uname -m)"
Service="display-manager.service"
ST="Unknown" # Session Type tty, x11, wayland or mir.


type -p lsb_release > /dev/null 2>&1
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
set $(lsb_release -d | grep Description)
if [ $# -gt 1 ] ; then
shift
DISTRO="$@"
fi
fi

if [ -e /etc/sysconfig/desktop ] ; then
. /etc/sysconfig/desktop

if [ -n ${DISPLAYMANAGER:-"$DM"} ] ; then
DM="$DISPLAYMANAGER"
fi

if [ -n ${DESKTOP:-"$DE"} ] ; then
DE=$DESKTOP
fi
fi

if [ -e $HOME/.dmrc ] ; then
set -- $(IFS='=' ; echo $(grep ion= $HOME/.dmrc))
DE=$2
fi

if [ -n ${XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP:-"$DE"} ] ; then
DE=$XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
fi

if [ -n ${XDG_SESSION_TYPE:-"$ST"} ] ; then
ST=$XDG_SESSION_TYPE
fi

if [ -e /etc/release ] ; then
DISTRO=$(cat /etc/release)
fi

if [ $(uname -s) = "Darwin" ] ; then
DISTRO=$(sw_vers | sed -ne $'s/ProductVersion://p')
fi

systemctl --quiet is-active $Service 2> /dev/null
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
set -- $( systemctl status $Service | grep PID: )
DM=$(echo $4 | tr -d '() ')
fi

echo -en "-- \nRunning " > $Sig_fn
echo "$DISTRO using" >> $Sig_fn
echo "$KERNEL DM=$DM DE=$DE ST=$ST" >> $Sig_fn

#***********end gen_sig_file.sh ***************************

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

Click up a terminal and run the following
cd

Didn't know that one, Bits

same as "cd ~"

regards



--
faeychild
Running plasmashell 5.15.4 on 5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 kernel.
Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 installed via Mageia-7-x86_64-DVD.iso


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sat, 10 Oct 2020 13:02:09 +1100, faeychild wrote:

Click up a terminal and run the following
cd

Yeah, some terminal launches do not leave you at $HOME. :(

Didn't know that one, Bits

same as "cd ~"

Yup, use of tilde (~) can be useful at times.
just for fun paste all the following:

cd $HOME/.config
pwd
cd /etc/profile.d
pwd
cd ~-
pwd

and look at the results.


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On 09.10.2020 at 22:02, Bit Twister scribbled:

On Sat, 10 Oct 2020 13:02:09 +1100, faeychild wrote:

Click up a terminal and run the following
cd

Yeah, some terminal launches do not leave you at $HOME. :(

Didn't know that one, Bits

same as "cd ~"

Yup, use of tilde (~) can be useful at times.
just for fun paste all the following:

cd $HOME/.config
pwd
cd /etc/profile.d
pwd
cd ~-
pwd

"cd ~-" is redundant. ;)

"cd" without any parameters takes one back to one's home directory, and
"cd -" takes one back to the previous directory. ;)

--
With respect,
= Aragorn =


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Strider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sat, 10 Oct 2020 07:33:04 +0200, Aragorn wrote:

"cd ~-" is redundant. ;)

"cd" without any parameters takes one back to one's home directory, and
"cd -" takes one back to the previous directory. ;)

Yes it does in that case. The great majority of my tilde usage is where I
use it in this example "cp ~-/some_fn ."

Using cd ~- was a poor example about "~-" usage.


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Fri, 09 Oct 2020 13:07:17 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 12:05:56 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

Do you know what your Desktop Environment is, kde, plasma, gnome,..... ?

Kde

Do you remember what install media/iso was used?

DVD downloaded from Mageia site ( hope this is the right answer...)

Re-read the article to make sure above changes take effect.

Yes the whole formatting has changed for the better :-)

To save script,

done...no error messages ...

..signature looks like this...

Running Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using Kernel=5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM=sddm DE=

DE= still no value

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sat, 10 Oct 2020 07:56:58 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

On Fri, 09 Oct 2020 13:07:17 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Fri, 9 Oct 2020 12:05:56 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

Do you know what your Desktop Environment is, kde, plasma, gnome,..... ?

Kde

Do you remember what install media/iso was used?

DVD downloaded from Mageia site ( hope this is the right answer...)

Re-read the article to make sure above changes take effect.

Yes the whole formatting has changed for the better :-)

To save script,

done...no error messages ...

.signature looks like this...

Running Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using Kernel=5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM=sddm DE=

DE= still no value

Ok, try this one

- ---8<---8<---8<---8<- cut below this line --8<---8<---8<---8<
#!/bin/bash #***********************************************************************
#* gen_sig_file.sh - generate $HOME/.signature file Version 2.1
#*
#* Automatically overwrites $HOME/.signature on each login
#* with basic information about your setup.
#*
#* When you post to Usenet your Usenet client can append it to your
#* post which helps respondents to provide more detailed replies.
#*
#* You need to place the script somewhere in your $PATH environment.
#* echo $PATH to see possible locations.
#*
#* Save as gen_sig_file.sh
#* chmod +x gen_sig_file.sh
#*
#* Script Test Procedure:
#* gen_sig_file.sh
#* cat $HOME/.signature
#*
#* Install:
#* For all users:
#* cp gen_sig_file.sh /etc/profile.d
#* or put a link in /etc/profile.d back to gen_sig_file.sh
#* that everyone can read/execute.
#*
#* For a single user:
#* echo $PATH to see possible locations.
#*
#* put $HOME/wherever/gen_sig_file.sh location in user's shell's
#* startup script, for example ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bashrc
#*
#* Login test:
#* click up a terminal
#* su - $USER
#* cat $HOME/.signature
#*
#* There should be no =Unknown values. If so script should be
#* modified to generate a value, or just hard code a value.
#*
#* Modify your Usenet client to add/append $HOME/.signature
#* to your posts and post a message in one of the Usenet test groups
#* to verify it works as desired.
#*
#***********************************************************************

Sig_fn=$HOME/.signature
Sig_fn=$PWD/.signature

DE="Unknown" # Display Environment gnome, plasma, xfce....
DM="Unknown" # Display Manager lightdm, sddm, gdm, ...
DISTRO="Unknown"
KERNEL="Kernel=$(uname -r) on $(uname -m)"
Service="display-manager.service"
ST="Unknown" # Session Type tty, x11, wayland or mir.


type -p lsb_release > /dev/null 2>&1
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
set $(lsb_release -d | grep Description)
if [ $# -gt 1 ] ; then
shift
DISTRO="$@"
fi
fi

if [ -e /etc/sysconfig/desktop ] ; then
. /etc/sysconfig/desktop

if [ -n ${DISPLAYMANAGER:-"$DM"} ] ; then
DM="$DISPLAYMANAGER"
fi

if [ -n ${DESKTOP:-"$DE"} ] ; then
DE=$DESKTOP
fi
fi

if [ -e $HOME/.dmrc ] ; then
set -- $(IFS='=' ; echo $(grep ion= $HOME/.dmrc))
DE=$2
fi

if [ -n ${XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP:-"$DE"} ] ; then
DE=$XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
fi

if [ -n ${XDG_SESSION_TYPE:-"$ST"} ] ; then
ST=$XDG_SESSION_TYPE
fi

if [ -e /etc/release ] ; then
DISTRO=$(cat /etc/release)
fi

if [ $(uname -s) = "Darwin" ] ; then
DISTRO=$(sw_vers | sed -ne $'s/ProductVersion://p')
fi

systemctl --quiet is-active $Service 2> /dev/null
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
set -- $( systemctl status $Service | grep PID: )
DM=$(echo $4 | tr -d '() ')
fi

echo -en "-- \nRunning " > $Sig_fn
echo "$DISTRO using" >> $Sig_fn
echo "$KERNEL DM=$DM DE=$DE ST=$ST" >> $Sig_fn
echo "put your video card and video driver here" >> $Sig_fn

#***********end gen_sig_file.sh ***************************

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sat, 10 Oct 2020 09:11:04 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

Ok, try this one

copied the script in .bash_profile
Logged out
Logged in

[santo@localhost ~]$ cat .signature
--
Running Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using Kernel=5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM=sddm DE= ST=tty
put your video card and video driver here

:-)

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 09:18:12 +0000, santo wrote:

On Sat, 10 Oct 2020 09:11:04 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

Ok, try this one

copied the script in .bash_profile
Logged out
Logged in

[santo@localhost ~]$ cat .signature

forgot...
also copied the outcome to a text file and added the link in Pan


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 09:19:38 +0000, santo wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 09:18:12 +0000, santo wrote:

On Sat, 10 Oct 2020 09:11:04 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

Ok, try this one

copied the script in .bash_profile
Logged out
Logged in

[santo@localhost ~]$ cat .signature

forgot...
also copied the outcome to a text file and added the link in Pan

OK...now I also check the signature box...hope it works...
SIGH!



--
Running Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using Kernel=5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM=sddm DE= ST=tty
put your video card and video driver here

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 09:21:40 +0000, santo wrote:

SIGH!

--
Running Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using Kernel=5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM=sddm DE= ST=tty
put your video card and video driver here

Hope this is the last...resigh...!!

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 09:30:54 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 09:21:40 +0000, santo wrote:

SIGH!

Hope this is the last...resigh...!!

NOTE: do not put replies below the dash dash space.
Good Usenet client will delete everything below the dash dash


Running Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using Kernel=5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM=sddm DE= ST=tty
put your video card and video driver here


DE= still missing a value.
ST=tty indicates you may need to run gen_sig_file.sh from the DE
autostart directory.

Click up a terminal and run
env | grep XDG.
and paste results.

Also you did not replace this line with desired values.
"put your video card and video driver here"
run lspcidrake | grep Card:
to get values.


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 05:08:59 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 09:30:54 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 09:21:40 +0000, santo wrote:

SIGH!

Hope this is the last...resigh...!!

NOTE: do not put replies below the dash dash space.
Good Usenet client will delete everything below the dash dash

Running Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using Kernel=5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM=sddm DE= ST=tty
put your video card and video driver here

DE= still missing a value.
ST=tty indicates you may need to run gen_sig_file.sh from the DE
autostart directory.

Click up a terminal and run
env | grep XDG.
and paste results.

[santo@localhost ~]$ env | grep XDG.
XDG_MENU_PREFIX=plasma-
XDG_VTNR=1
XDG_SESSION_ID=9
XDG_SESSION_TYPE=tty XDG_DATA_DIRS=/var/lib/plasma5-profiles/common/share:/usr/local/share:/usr/shar XDG_SESSION_CLASS=user
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=KDE
XDG_SEAT=seat0
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1001 XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=/etc/xdg:/etc/xdg/kf5:/var/lib/plasma5-profiles/common/xdg

Also you did not replace this line with desired values.
"put your video card and video driver here"
run lspcidrake | grep Card:
to get values.

[santo@localhost ~]$ cat .signature
--
Running Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using Kernel=5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM=sddm DE= ST=tty
ATI Radeon HD 5000 to HD 6300 (radeon/fglrx): Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]|Kabini [Radeon HD 8400 / R3 Series] [DISPLAY_VGA]



--
/home/santo/signature.txt

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 12:22:12 +0000, santo wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 05:08:59 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 09:30:54 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 09:21:40 +0000, santo wrote:

SIGH!

Hope this is the last...resigh...!!

NOTE: do not put replies below the dash dash space.
Good Usenet client will delete everything below the dash dash


Running Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using
Kernel=5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM=sddm DE= ST=tty
put your video card and video driver here


DE= still missing a value.
ST=tty indicates you may need to run gen_sig_file.sh from the DE
autostart directory.

Click up a terminal and run
env | grep XDG.
and paste results.

[santo@localhost ~]$ env | grep XDG.
XDG_MENU_PREFIX=plasma-
XDG_VTNR=1
XDG_SESSION_ID=9
XDG_SESSION_TYPE=tty

XDG_DATA_DIRS=/var/lib/plasma5-profiles/common/share:/usr/local/share:/usr/shar

XDG_SESSION_CLASS=user
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=KDE
XDG_SEAT=seat0
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1001 XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=/etc/xdg:/etc/xdg/kf5:/var/lib/plasma5-profiles/common/xdg

Also you did not replace this line with desired values.
"put your video card and video driver here"
run lspcidrake | grep Card:
to get values.

[santo@localhost ~]$ cat .signature
--
Running Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using Kernel=5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM=sddm DE= ST=tty
ATI Radeon HD 5000 to HD 6300 (radeon/fglrx): Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

[AMD/ATI]|Kabini [Radeon HD 8400 / R3 Series] [DISPLAY_VGA]


I do not understand...Pan does not allow me to select a hidden file ( .signature)
as a signature so I saved the outcome in signature.txt and added that and this is the result...



--
/home/santo/signature.txt

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 12:22:12 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 05:08:59 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

DE= still missing a value.
ST=tty indicates you may need to run gen_sig_file.sh from the DE
autostart directory.

Click up a terminal and run
env | grep XDG.
and paste results.

Ah Frap, I forgot to remove
Sig_fn=$PWD/.signature
again, in the script.

Remove it from your copy.


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 07:48:48 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 12:22:12 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 05:08:59 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

DE= still missing a value.
ST=tty indicates you may need to run gen_sig_file.sh from the DE
autostart directory.

Click up a terminal and run
env | grep XDG.
and paste results.

Ah Frap, I forgot to remove
Sig_fn=$PWD/.signature
again, in the script.

Remove it from your copy.

ok...did that and manually wrote /home signature
in Pan profile preferences and...



--
/home/.signature

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 12:25:39 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

I do not understand...Pan does not allow me to select a hidden file (

.signature)

just pick a file, click ok, then edit the result to be whatever you like.

It just dawned on me, I needed to modify the script to add your video
info.
Hopefully this is the last scruot change.
----8<----8<----8<----8<-cut below this line ---8<----8<----8<
#!/bin/bash #***********************************************************************
#* gen_sig_file.sh - generate $HOME/.signature file Version 2.3
#*
#* Automatically overwrites $HOME/.signature on each login
#* with basic information about your setup.
#*
#* When you post to Usenet your Usenet client can append it to your
#* post which helps respondents to provide more detailed replies.
#*
#* You need to place the script somewhere in your $PATH environment.
#* echo $PATH to see possible locations.
#*
#* Save as gen_sig_file.sh
#* chmod +x gen_sig_file.sh
#*
#* Script Test Procedure:
#* gen_sig_file.sh
#* cat $HOME/.signature
#*
#* Install:
#* For all users:
#* cp gen_sig_file.sh /usr/local/bin/gen_sig_file.sh
#*
#* For a single user:
#* echo $PATH to see possible locations.
#*
#* Users should use the autostart feature to run gen_sig_file.sh
#* to set the ST and DE values.
#*
#* Login test:
#* click up a terminal
#* su - $USER
#* cat $HOME/.signature
#*
#* There should be no =Unknown values. If so script should be
#* modified to generate a value, or just hard code a value.
#*
#* Modify your Usenet client to add/append $HOME/.signature
#* to your posts and post a message in one of the Usenet test groups
#* to verify it works as desired.
#*
#***********************************************************************

Sig_fn=$HOME/.signature
# Sig_fn=$PWD/.signature

DE="Unknown" # Display Environment gnome, plasma, xfce....
DM="Unknown" # Display Manager lightdm, sddm, gdm, ...
DISTRO="Unknown"
KERNEL="Kernel=$(uname -r) on $(uname -m)"
Service="display-manager.service"
ST="Unknown" # Session Type tty, x11, wayland or mir.


type -p lsb_release > /dev/null 2>&1
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
set $(lsb_release -d | grep Description)
if [ $# -gt 1 ] ; then
shift
DISTRO="$@"
fi
fi

if [ -e /etc/sysconfig/desktop ] ; then
. /etc/sysconfig/desktop

if [ -n ${DISPLAYMANAGER:-"$DM"} ] ; then
DM="$DISPLAYMANAGER"
fi

if [ -n ${DESKTOP:-"$DE"} ] ; then
DE=$DESKTOP
fi
fi

if [ -e $HOME/.dmrc ] ; then
set -- $(IFS='=' ; echo $(grep ion= $HOME/.dmrc))
DE=$2
fi

if [ -n ${XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP:-"$DE"} ] ; then
DE=$XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
fi

if [ -n ${XDG_SESSION_TYPE:-"$ST"} ] ; then
ST=$XDG_SESSION_TYPE
fi

if [ -e /etc/release ] ; then
DISTRO=$(cat /etc/release)
fi

if [ $(uname -s) = "Darwin" ] ; then
DISTRO=$(sw_vers | sed -ne $'s/ProductVersion://p')
fi

systemctl --quiet is-active $Service 2> /dev/null
if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
set -- $( systemctl status $Service | grep PID: )
DM=$(echo $4 | tr -d '() ')
fi

echo -en "-- \nRunning " > $Sig_fn
echo "$DISTRO using" >> $Sig_fn
echo "$KERNEL DM=$DM DE=$DE ST=$ST" >> $Sig_fn

if [ -x /usr/bin/lspcidrake ] ; then
lspcidrake | grep Card >> $Sig_fn
fi

#***********end gen_sig_file.sh ***************************

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 13:12:01 +0000, santo wrote:
<snip>

ok...did that and manually wrote /home signature in Pan profile
preferences and...

After creating the .signature file,

In pan, select Edit, Edit Posting Profiles,
your profile name, Edit, and go down to the Signature area.

You should be able to check Use a Signature, then click
to the right of Signature Type: and find Text File.
Either type in the full path name or click on Open and
..signature will be among the dot files appearing at the
top of the list.

Cheers!

jim b.

--
Running echo Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using echoCard:Intel
810 and later: Intel Corporation|HD Graphics 530 [DISPLAY_VGA] (rev: 06)

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 08:16:44 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 12:25:39 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

I do not understand...Pan does not allow me to select a hidden file ( .signature)

just pick a file, click ok, then edit the result to be whatever you like.

It just dawned on me, I needed to modify the script to add your video
info.
Hopefully this is the last scruot change.

done...Edited my Posting profile writing /home.signature...keep my finger crossed...





--

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Mon, 12 Oct 2020 07:51:58 +0000, santo wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 08:16:44 -0500, Bit Twister wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 12:25:39 +0000 (UTC), santo wrote:

I do not understand...Pan does not allow me to select a hidden file ( .signature)

just pick a file, click ok, then edit the result to be whatever you like.

It just dawned on me, I needed to modify the script to add your video
info.
Hopefully this is the last scruot change.

done...Edited my Posting profile writing /home.signature...

keep my finger crossed...

OK...thanks jim for the tip which I saw later...
now I hope that this comment does not appear UNDER the signature...

--
Running Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using Kernel=5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM=sddm DE= ST=tty
Card:ATI Radeon HD 5000 to HD 6300 (radeon/fglrx):
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]|Kabini [Radeon HD 8400 / R3 Series] [DISPLAY_VGA]

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 14:15:20 +0000, Jim Beard wrote:

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 13:12:01 +0000, santo wrote:
<snip>

ok...did that and manually wrote /home signature in Pan profile
preferences and...

After creating the .signature file,

In pan, select Edit, Edit Posting Profiles,
your profile name, Edit, and go down to the Signature area.

You should be able to check Use a Signature, then click
to the right of Signature Type: and find Text File.
Either type in the full path name or click on Open and
.signature will be among the dot files appearing at the
top of the list.

Cheers!

jim b.

Thanks Jim...it did not occur to me to right
click somewhere in the screen...
I got the option to Show Hidden File
and could select .signature...
previously did not work because the path
I was typing ( /home.signature ) was not correct...
:-)

--
Running Mageia release 7 (Official) for x86_64 using Kernel=5.7.19-desktop-1.mga7 on x86_64 DM=sddm DE= ST=tty
Card:ATI Radeon HD 5000 to HD 6300 (radeon/fglrx): Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]|Kabini [Radeon HD 8400 / R3 Series] [DISPLAY_VGA]

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)