[buug] Mouse problem in Linux

[ezekielk at iname.com]

On Wed, 07 Jun 2000, Master Rick Moen wrote:
> That's a useful thing in itself, but it's not what 
> you said you're trying to do.  You said you wanted 
> mouse support at the text-mode console, right?  
> I.e., when you're not running X.

No, I was caught up in the installation process, where I couldn't use the mouse. I know about using gpm in console. I figured you were suggesting I jump to another console and somehow force the installation routine to accept my com port mouse. Sorry for not being clear enough about my problem. 

> It's very likely that Corel doesn't tell you 
> anything about gpm specifically because they're 
> trying to de-emphasise Linux's non-X functionality. 

I admire their efforts to usurp the Evil Empire;
somebody's gotta do it! However, they should 
consider that as root, one may need to perform 
some troubleshooting and maintenance...for which 
we'd appreciate console utilities like "mc" 
and "minicom". 

And these are missing in Caldera...and thus I 
presume same for Corel (which I have since
removed). I couldn't live without "mc", as it
is really an efficient way to glid around the
hard drive, and edit scripts, move files, etc...
compared to GUI file managers. 

So I'm downloading "mc" and other utilities I'd
like to include.
 

> Thanks for taking the trouble.  Sounds like a lot 
> of work.

I just don't understand why *all mail clients and
services don't provide word wrap for both incoming
and outgoing. This one, iname.com, has ingoing 
wrap only. And apparantly, your own client may not 
have this ingoing option (if you are actually 
receiving messages, rather than viewing the 
archives).

> Yeah, a lot of people like Mandrake for desktop 
> use.  

Mandrake is very generous to a fault...tends to 
overwhelm the new Linux user. But I have come to
appreciate the Mandrake distro as a result of
trying out other distros...except SUSE, which
I understand is the *most generous of all (too
much for smaller HDs).

But Caldera does not intimidate new users by 
throwing everything in, including the kitchen
sink.  The installation is very user-friendly,
especially since the video/monitor section is
a breeze. And, during the lengthy processing of
moving and installing packages from CD to HD, you
can play a fun game of Pacman. This helps newbies
feel more welcome to Linux; a nice touch. It's a very
clean install, with resulting orderly desktop.

Caldera *does use a different ppp interface: one
that only lets you register one ISP. But I have
since learned about the "account" scripts which
I can create for as many more ISPs that I want.

> Um, hate to say it, but I didn't recommend that 
> book.  

I thought when you recommended "Learning Linux", it
was also a recommendation for all the author's
other books. Never mind.

> The book is a decent general book on Linux, 
> but doesn't have much to say about Debian's 
> unique features.  

Yes, I am *not impressed with the book, especially
since he just drops the reader in the middle
of package-install. Considering how tricky this
part is, I was disappointed.

> You might have a look at my Debian Tips file, 

I just did: you did a fine job on easing users
through this strange package installation. 
O'Reilly ought to add your well written 
explanation, give you credit, and share the
royalties.



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