Hello Bob.

01 Jul 03 15:48, you wrote to me:

 RT>> Run Maximus as user maximus, and belonging to group
 RT>> squish, reason being that
 RT>> other Fido programs already use fido, bbs. ftn as users
 RT>> and groups, and thus
 RT>> cause conflicts. Maximus and squish, are not likely to
 RT>> be used by any other
 RT>> fidonet software, now and/or in future.

 BJ> As to user and group stuff, Max/Squish isn't forced to any particular
 BJ> user name / group name at the moment.  I do have a problem with BinkD
 BJ> running under user ftn and squish running under user maximus, both
 BJ> under group ftn, on my Debian 3.0r1 (Woody) based system.  Squish
 BJ> places files in the outbound area in the current setup with a umask of
 BJ> 600 instead of 660, which then hangs BinkD from being able to properly
 BJ> send outbound files.  Reception by BinkD and processing by Squish is
 BJ> working.  So, I need to change the umask for squish to 660, probably
 BJ> by burring how squish is run under a shell script.....  Or finding a
 BJ> rc file that is currently setting the umask to 600 and change that to
 BJ> 660 for the account squish is running under....

Right, now, I want it to work without my having to modify, too many items, 
ie. I don't want to deviate from the standard install, until, I have it 
working, and know how it functions, then it makes life easier when I do 
something, and it breaks, if you understand what I am getting at, ....

 RT>> Then again, not many people are going to try running
 RT>> Maximus and MBSE BBS on
 RT>> the same system.

 BJ> Only a few of us, but as software developers, we're more likely to try
 BJ> both out.....

Hmmm ...., and when I break something I keep on breaking it, until it works 
or I give up, which in this case could have less than desirable effects on my 
MBSE BBS system. :-((

 RT>> In my case, it is problematic running MBSE BBS and Maximus on the
 RT>> same system, even if one stops MBSE, and then runs Maximus, with
 RT>> MBSE user bbs, is the username that a new user is instructed to
 RT>> use, when he dials into a MBSE BBS for the first time. User bbs,
 RT>> does not have a password, and takes one imeidiately to the new
 RT>> user login/registration screen.

 BJ> Thats just a matter of configureing different accounts for running
 BJ> different things.  This gets back to how you set the accounts up (i.e.
 BJ> the install scripts) rather than the programs themselves.....  So far,
 BJ> everything above can be tweaked via how one creates users and groups,
 BJ> and how /etc/passwed works, etc.

Yes, and is not a problem, if I understand what is going on, and everthing 
works, which it currently is/does not, and if I make changes, before I have 
it working, I have no idea, where the problem is and where "I"
broke it, if 
it works, then I can make an "adjustment" and check what breaks,
fix it, and 
move on, but until then, I cannot, I don't like unmapped minefields, and try 
and not create them.

 BJ> I'm hopeing to see fido type connections (mailers), maximus, fax and
 BJ> possibly voice mail handled all via mgetty using a capable modem.....
 BJ> For max, one will probably be tolled to log into a specific account,
 BJ> leaving shell logins to linux on other accounts an option.  Maximus
 BJ> uses it's own, internal accounting, and doesn't use the Unix/Linux
 BJ> UID/GID stuff, and I don't expect that to change, since the intent is
 BJ> to eventaully have Maximus running under Linux and OS/2, and probably
 BJ> Win32 systems.....  Possibly others if other folks decide to
 BJ> contribute to porting it.

That does make that suggestion rather difficult to implement. 

 RT>> For a mailer use ifcico, or Qico with the above getty's. This
 RT>> method, is prefered as it allows one to use your com ports with
 RT>> other programs like minicom or seyom (terminal programs) to
 RT>> connect to other BBS systems. Comports on Intel systems being
 RT>> scarce items, and with Linux boxes being able to connect to the
 RT>> internet via the same ports and modem as the BBS uses, makes
 RT>> sense.

 BJ> And is the style I expect for handling the modem....

 RT>> BinkleyTerm XE also works a treat, with the exception
 RT>> that it takes complete
 RT>> control of the comport, and does not allow it to be
 RT>> used by other programs
 RT>> while it is running. To use the comport you have to
 RT>> kill Binkley, do what you
 RT>> want to do, and then restart Binkley, which is not
 RT>> required with the getty's
 RT>> mentioned above.

 BJ> I believe BinkleyTerm should be able to be configured to be called
 BJ> from MGETTY, but I haven't tried that yet.  Most folks who come from a
 BJ> DOS, Win or OS/2 background expect Binkley to run as you have stated,
 BJ> and have probably brought their control files over from their past
 BJ> systems, and continue to think in those terms.....  But, I thought I
 BJ> remembered that Binkley could be handed a hot comm port if properly
 BJ> configured.....  That should work with MGETTY, but may need a tweak in
 BJ> code to handle the intial handshake detection that MGETTY has to
 BJ> eat.....

Hmmm ..., I am not aware of that ability, namely that binkley can, be 
configured to "take" a hot comm port, from another process, wouldn't make 
much sense from my point of view, but then, there might be some logic to such 
madness. :-))

 RT>> It might be of value, if you take a look at the way
 RT>> MBSE BBS'es setup scripts
 RT>> work, they are quite good, tho not perfect, it might be
 RT>> educational, then again, it might be "old news".

 RT>> Hopefully this post makes some sense to all. :-))

 BJ> Thanks for the comments.....  I don't think it will have an immediate
 BJ> impact because there are some issues needing to get worked before the
 BJ> install process gets further tailored.....  But I may be wrong about
 BJ> what Wes and Bo (and others) are currently working on first....

Not expecting anything there soon either, just some thoughts on Maximus on 
Linux/FreeBSD as a whole, and, I have even less idea how, and on what the 
other folks involved are doing.

 BJ> Take care.....

You too, friend,

Russell

--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.4.7