Paul E Condon wrote:
On Wed, Jan 11, 2006 at 03:48:49AM -0500, Chinook wrote:I've got /netatalk/ installed and minimally configured on Debian and set all the appropriate switches in OS X, and I can look at and move files back and forth from either box if I initiate (mount) the server on my Mac. I have not yet installed Howl (mdnsresponder) on the Debian box as I'm not sure of the benefit.There are, of course, a couple problems and I'm reluctant to screw with things on Debian as I've already messed it up enough once to have to rollback (restored backup).1) I've got a Belkin 4 port router and my Mac's host name shows up in its configuration, but the Debian box host name there is blank (the url is correct). Debian is connected to it and can access the internet and my Mac (if I connect from my Mac). However when I configured Debian it recognized the domain name (the router) and has in the hostname file the proper host name, but that host name does not show up when looking at the router configuration (which I access from my Mac with Safari or my Debian box with Firefox). The proper url (192.168...) does but the host name is blank. When I connect to (mount) the Debian box as an AppleTalk server from my Mac, I used the url. Does anyone know why the Debian host name is not getting through to the router?2) Also, even though I can get the connection up (initiate it) from my Mac, I can't seem to figure out how to get it up (initiate it) from my Debian box. The Gnome network control only shows a stupid windoze net icon (gotta get rid of that). With the net tools on Debian I can ping and trace the Mac url (192.168...) so it seems to know where to find the Mac. I'm missing something obvious here %-\I have not played with the separate /vsftp/ thingy yet. Any suggestions, off color comments :-) whatever are appreciated. I'm gonna sleep on it.Thanks, Lee C "*nix is user friendly - it's just picky about it's friends."On 2): Just as you needed to load netatalk to get your Linux box to act as a server for Macs, you also need to load some sort of server softwarefrom Apple onto your Mac to get it to act as a server. But in the case of the Mac it is a more difficult problem. You also have to load ontoyour Linux box software that makes it behave as an Appletalk/Appleshare *client*. I'm not aware of such being available, but you might find it by googling. It could very well exist, I have never felt the need to look, because I have always viewed the Mac as a quintessentially clientmachine.
I'm happy with the Linux box being the AppleTalk server - I just wonder why from the server I can't initiate a connection to the Mac client while I can the other direction.
I can easily ssh user@192.168.2.xx from the Linux box where I have cli access via Darwin (Apple Unix) in the logon account, so the minimum functionality is there. That's about where it stops though - e.g. the Debian package hsftp (which is just a convienience layer on ssh) can't get through and the g4l I previously mentioned is a real bust so I can forget about both of them. Additionally, although petty, the blank Linux box hostname in the router configuration table seems to me an indication of the lack of overall completeness. I tried the dhcp3 suggestion and like the other reply found it didn't help (the suggestion was appreciated). I'm aware that some of the issues I have could be as simple as say a port status, but I can't seem to find the solution.
As far as your suggestion below, my expertise lies more in engineering modeling and graphics software development than in networking. We all have our strong suits where we can be the most productive.
On 1): There are a lot of loose ends in the implementation of Mac/Linux connection. You have already discovered the core functionality and got it working. It appears that no one has actually progressed beyond that to get the whole thing cleaned up in all its aspects. Host names failing to appear in router status tables is not the sort of thing that seems to be an interesting problem to the people to have the skills to solve it. If you are looking for a project where you can do original work and that gets you into the guts of both Linux and Mac, this may be it.
To all - Read all the way through before getting your hackles up :-) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Actually using Linux alongside Mac OS X gives one a sense of what Linux could be without being under the iron fist of a proprietary commercial organization. Though from a user perspective I'm appalled at the overreaching control Apple exerts, they have produced a heck of a product from the superior GUI of OS X on top of the very intuitive Darwin Unix and the most complete and organized development environment (ObjC/Cocoa and Xtools) I've ever worked with. Linux could be even better, but it will take a paradigm shift. Being over simplistic, I've found in my SE career (beginning in the early 60s) that there are three stages to technological change and more specifically to software evolution. The cycle begins with the innovators/geeks/ whatever :-) and progresses through the practical SE developers until the suits get control and milk it to death (i.e. ending evolution). Linux and open source are a radical approach that may just succeed, but it's got to move beyond the innovators without falling under the complete control of the suits. As an example of unproductive tangents you-all might recall the recent discussion about a beginners list. Linux needs to enlarge its community and broaden its appeal, not segregate those that follow to a lesser status. Doing so is taking a narrow-minded and selfish approach (no disrespect intended). I understand how some of you feel - I've helped some on the Apple forums and get annoyed at the kiddies (whatever their age). One berated me because I told him that he can't delete content in the /System folder to make more room for his iTunes, and another because his Mac was not as simple to use as his iPod. I guess that what I'm saying is that the Linux community has to become more responsible and professional (with all due respect to all the hard work that has been done) in the same way (ideally) that we mature from hormone machines to parents.
So ends the sermon of the day :-) Lee C "Life is judged with all the blindness of life itself." -- George Santayana