[CLUE-Tech] Linux Newbie Help search

[Jed S. Baer]

On Sun, 27 Apr 2003 17:18:16 -0600
John Rosing <rosingj at earthlink.net> wrote:

> I am a seasoned user of ms computer products for the past 30 years 
> starting with Radio Shack TRS80. I have currently installed a downloaded

The TRS80 came out in 1973?

Let's do the time warp again! ;-)

> linux (9.0) from Red Hat on a partition with my Windows ME on an AMD 1.5
> 
> gig processor and connected with a broad band server with Sprint
> wireless.
> 
> Although my knowledge of DOS and Windows is quite adequate, the same is 
> woefully inadequate for Linux. I have been able to use Linux to surf the
> 
> net but find that my 400+ bookmarks on Windows are not available to me 
> on Linux.
> 
> Primary Question: How do I transfer my book marks from ms ME to Linux?

The best thing would be if Internet Exploder offered a way to export your
bookmarks in XBEL format. But since I don't expect M$ to be that friendly
or standards-compliant, I offer the following.

Well, last I checked (which has been a while), IE stores each bookmark as
a file (yes, that's it, use an entire disk cluster for the 40-80 bytes
typical for a bookmark! :-). So, you have to fiddle around a bit.

First thing is to mount your Windoze partition under linux. That will
require knowing which partition it is, and having it listed in /etc/fstab
-- a line looking something like:

  /dev/hda /windows vfat noauto,ro 0 0

Uh, that's assuming Windoze/ME uses VFAT, and not NTFS; otherwise use
"ntfs" in the above line. The "ro" is read-only, for safety's sake.

Also, the second parameter is a mount point. You should create one, which
is very easy. A mount point is just a directory. You can even have files
in it, although that's *very* not advised -- just use the mkdir command to
create a directory, and don't put anything in it. The mount command
attaches the filesystem to it. The directory can be anywhere. The above
example assumes you create the directory in the filesystem root, that is
"/", i.e.

  $ cd /
  $ mkdir windows

So then, you can use the mount command to mount the partition:

  $ mount /dev/hda

Now you can start having real fun. cd to the path where your bookmarks
are. I haven't any idea where this is these days, some long thing like:

  /windows/Program_Files/IE/blah/blah/blah/bookmarks/

or such.

If you don't know where it is, cd to the root of the filesystem, in this
case the /windows directory, and find them -- literally, using the find
command:

  $ find . -name \*google.com\*

Once you know where they are, you can then create a bookmark listing. I'd
do the following in my $HOME directory (or some other Linux directory
where you put work files):

  $ find /path/to/bookmarks -type f > bookmarks.txt

The "-type f" argument will make find skip directory files, and list only
"regular" files. Now, in bookmarks.txt, you have a listing of URLs, which
you can manipulate to your hearts content. Perhaps use Perl or awk to
renoberate each "filename" into an anchor tag. You'll have to strip the
leading directory names (use them for categorization, actually, IIRC).

There, isn't that easy? ;-)

> My subordinate questions:
> 
> 1) How do I get a "black screen" (equivalent to Dos prompt) from the 
> Linux window? (when I used a command line in the pannel, entered a 
> command and then hit enter, nothing happened and my typed line wiped
> out.)

Start up a terminal emulator. There are several. Which distribution are
you running? Which desktop environment?

If all else fails, use the command line in the pannel to run xterm.

> 2) How do I configure (mount) my dos partitions so that I can see them 
> in Linux without disturbing their content for dos use? (during the 
> instalation process I mounted the dos partitions as "/dosC" and "/dosE",
>   but they are not visible in the file manager.)

See above instructions for "ro" in /etc/fstab

> 3) How do I archive the "bookmark" directory (import, export, convert)? 
> so that it is useful in godzilla or netscape on Linux

See above, as I think you've restated the same question.

> 4) How do I communicate between computer 1 (in Linux mode) with computer
> 2 in ms ME mode through my existing hub? The internet connection through
> the hub to the Sprint wireless modem worked automatically. When both 
> computers are in ms ME mode they communicate seamlessly with each other.

Install/configure/use Samba. Might already be on your system.

> I really would like to receive some help because Linux seems to have 
> some advantages over ms and I would like to explore these.
> If for some reason you can not e-mail me I would appreciate a local 
> phone call at 303-850-9246.

Also, don't forget about things such as the LinuxFUNdamentals, where you
can show up with your machine ...

jed
-- 
I wouldn't even think about bribing a rottweiler with a steak that
didn't weigh more than I do. -- Jason Earl