Jay Sulzberger wrote in to tell us about this meeting: “The food is good and plentiful, the company excellent, and every *n*x
sysadmin should know something about simulation of quantum chaotic systems
on free *n*x clusters.” Read on for all the details:

This meeting is open to the public.

There is a $15 fee for those who are not members of UNIGROUP, the senior
New York City *n*x user froup.

The food is good and plentiful, the company excellent, and every *n*x
sysadmin should know something about simulation of quantum chaotic systems
on free *n*x clusters.

Jay Sulzberger 
Corresponding Secretary LXNY
LXNY is New York's Free Computing Organization.
http://www.lxny.org




=============================================
UNIGROUP OF NEW YORK MARCH 2001 ANNOUNCEMENTS
=============================================

   --------------------------------------------------
1. UNIGROUP'S MARCH 2001 GENERAL MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT
   --------------------------------------------------

      When:  Thursday, March 15, 2001

     Where:  The Chase Manhattan Bank
             55 Water Street (enter at Old Slip)
             South Tower
             13th Floor, Conference Room C

      Time:  6:15 PM - 6:30 PM  Registration
             6:30 PM - 6:40 PM  Ask the Wizard,
                                Questions, Answers and Current Events
             6:40 PM - 6:50 PM  Unigroup Business
             6:50 PM - 9:30 PM  Main Presentation

             ----------------------------------
     Topic:  Linux Clustering: Beowulf Clusters
             ----------------------------------

   Speaker:  Jozef Skvarcek, Ph.D.
             Unix Administrator, Datek Online


  Meeting Introduction:
  ---------------------

  The March 2001 Unigroup meeting is on Linux Clustering.  The main
  presentation will made by Jozef Skvarcek, Ph.D,, who is an end user of
  Beowulf.  He has designed Beowulf clusters and has designed and coded
  applications to make use of them.  Beowulf is a freely available
  open-source add-on to Linux which provides support for multi-node
  clustering.  With such a cluster, a group of inexpensive machines can
  appear to act as a single much larger system.  Depending on the size of
  the workload, the design of the application, and the horsepower and
  number of cluster members, mainframe computing power can be achieved.

  We also have another guest speaker, Andrew Flesch from TurboLinux.  Andrew
  will briefly describe TurboLinux's commercial closed-source multi-platform
  (Unix, Linux, NT) clustering solution, EnFuzion, and describe how EnFuzion
  cluster implementations differ from Beowulf cluster implementations.

  For a good introduction to Beowulf, see the Beowulf Web site's
  Introduction and Overview page listed below.


  Web Resources:
  --------------

   1. The Beowulf Project                http://www.beowulf.org
   2. Introduction to Beowulf            http://www.beowulf.org/intro.html
   3. Beowulf 2nd Generation Clustering  http://www.scyld.com/
   4. Beowulf Underground                http://www.beowulf-underground.org/
   5. Top Clusters                       http://www.topclusters.org/
   6. IEEE Computer Society/Clusters     http://www.ieeetfcc.org/
   7. Jacek's Beowulf Page               http://www.sci.usq.edu.au/staff/jacek/beowulf/
   8. Beowulf FAQ                        http://www.dnaco.net/~kragen/browulf-faq.txt
   9. TurboLinux                         http://www.turbolinux.com
  10. TurboLinux EnFuzion                http://www.turbolinux.com/products/enf/index.html
  11. BSP / Bulk Synch. Parallel Model   http://www.bsp-worldwide.org


  Book:
  -----

  Building Linux Clusters by David HM Spector, O'Reilly, 2000


  Giveaways:
  ----------

  Caldera  has donated three "cartons" of
  Caldera OpenLinux 2.3 for giveaways at Unigroup meetings.  These
  are full, boxed distributions (3 CDs + Manuals).  OpenLinux is
  a leading commercially supported Linux Operating System!
  We gave out most of them at our January meeting, but we still
  have some left to give out (raffle off) as door prizes at
  this meeting.

  Andrew Flesch of TurboLinux  should
  be bringing a variety of giveaways to this meeting which should
  include: White Papers, T-Shirts and CD-ROMs.

  Unigroup appreciates Caldera's and TurboLinux's support!


  Description of Talk:
  --------------------

  Few of us are aware of how much our everyday life depends on supercomputers.
  The price of an ordinary good, such as a pair of jeans, is carefully
  calculated using complicated market simulations.  The weather map we see on
  TV is a result of another high performance parallel application.  There is
  an obvious need for supercomputing power in the academia.  The money, the
  lack of robust funding for a commercial MPP (Massively Parallel Processors)
  resp., in the later case creates a need for computing technologies that a
  Beowulf cluster is an example of.

  Beowulf clusters fall somewhere between MPP and NOW (Network of
  workstations).  The nodes in the cluster are dedicated to the cluster and
  they are connected via their own private network.  All the nodes are within
  the administrative jurisdiction of the cluster. The building of such cluster
  is based on the idea of providing COTS (Commodity off the shelf) to satisfy
  given computational needs. The similar philosophy applies to the software
  too, the OS (Linux) and the tools are open source, public and therefore easy
  to get.  That is pretty much the definition of a Beowulf cluster.
  Surprisingly, there is no "Beowulf" software to be installed. Beowulf is a
  technology of clustering Linux Computers to form a parallel, virtual
  supercomputer.  [Note that Scyld's Beowulf v2 implementation does boot a
  special cluster operating system on remote nodes, Unigroup is planning
  a followup meeting on this technology].

  Of course, the message passing libraries like MPI and PVM are used in order
  to increase the productivity. The parallelization of a given application
  is achieved by first identifying the concurrent parts of the application and
  then by executing them on different processors with the help of the message
  passing libraries. The way the application is broken into the parallel
  parts is perhaps both the most important and the most difficult (at least if
  we seek to get the maximum performance from a given hardware).

  There is no prescribed way how to build "genuine" Beowulf cluster.  Jozef
  will present the setup he used in the past as an illustration.  Also, he
  will illustrate the parallelization on one of his research problems.


  Speaker Biography:
  ------------------

  Jozef Skvarcek studied in the Ph.D. program in Physics at the City
  University of New York between 1994 and 2000, specializing in theoretical
  quantum optics.

  While working as a research assistant in the group of Prof. M. Hillery
  and Prof. J. Bergou at Hunter College, he created and ran high performance
  parallel programs that simulated physical processes, namely the interaction
  between an atom and electromagnetic field inside a microwave cavity.
  Jozef designed and implemented a Beowulf cluster to perform those
  simulations.

  After graduation in 2000, Jozef started to work at Datek Online.  Jozef
  teaches undergraduate classes in Astronomy at Hunter College and he
  continues to stay in touch with his former research group.


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Complimentary Food and Refreshments will be served.  This now includes
  salads and sandwiches (eg. turkey, roast beef, chicken, tuna,
  grilled eggplant)!

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Directions:
     55 Water Street is between Water Street & Front Streets at Old Slip...
     about 7 blocks south of Fulton St. and the South Street Seaport.
     Take 4 train to Bowling Green & Walk Due East;
     Take 2/3 trains to Wall Street, Walk East to Water St.
          then walk South 5 blocks;
     Take M/J trains to Broad St., Walk East to Water St.;
     Take N/R trains to Whitehall St., Walk North East to Water St.
     There is parking on the street (after 6:30-7pm) and there is a lot
          right in the building, entrance on Old Slip.
     Walking from Wall St., follow William St. south which bends around
          and leads you to Hanover Sq. and Old Slip is across Water Street.

  Room Location Specifics:
     Enter the building at Old Slip.  To get to the South Tower of the
     complex, you enter the building at Old Slip at the "North Tower"
     doors.  This entrance is is immediately to the right of the main
     entrance, towards Water Street... ie. Use the right-most side doors
     rather than walking straight ahead at the Old Slip entrance.
     Go past the guard's desk (mentioning you are heading for Unigroup,
     sometimes there is a sign-in) to the elevator bank and go to the 13th
     floor.  When you get to the 13th floor, follow the signs leading you
     to the meeting room.

     The signs will lead you from the elevator, through a set of doors
     (soda machine will be on your left), then past the cafeteria.  After
     the cafeteria, you see another "lobby" area.  Walk past the cash
     machines, make a left and look for a sign marking the meeting room.
     Conference Room C will be on your left.

     If you come very early, we may not have the signs in place yet, but
     hopefully these directions will get you to the meeting room.
     If you arrive before Unigroup Board Members, please be patient and
     wait for us to arrive.

  -----

  Fee Schedule:
         Yearly Membership (includes all meetings):      $ 50.00
       * Non-Member Single Meeting:                      $ 20.00
         Student Yearly Membership:                      $ 20.00
         Non-Member Student Single Meeting (with ID):    $  5.00
         Cash, Check, American Express.
       * Employees of Chase (with ID) can attend general meetings at no charge.

    ==>  Unigroup is the Greater NYC Regional Area Affiliate
         of UniForum - an International Unix Users Group.
         Our Joint Membership Program with UniForum is currently
         on hold due to circumstances at UniForum.
         For information about UniForum visit http://www.uniforum.org.

  -----

  Please mark this meeting on your calendar and join us!
  Please tell your friends about Unigroup!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   -----------------
2. UPCOMING MEETINGS
   -----------------

   We have a series of meetings in the works.
   - High Availability / Fault-Tolerant Hardware Cluster Configurations
   - NetBSD
   - Building a Firewall using FreeBSD and Linux
   - Unix Office Tools:  Word Processors, Spreadsheets, Accounting Packages.
   - Emacs
   - PKI
   - GNU Development Environments
   - Meetings on a variety of Sun/Solaris/Java topics

   Please let us know about any other meeting topics that you may be
   interested in.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   -------------
3. PRIOR MEETING
   -------------

   Our thanks go to Jeff Altman from The Kermit Project at Columbia
   University for presenting a meeting on Secure TCP/IP Communications.

   We learned that current Kermit implementations are more than a tool for
   reliable communications, they are in fact a must-have tool in your
   security toolkit as they now provide secure and authenticated telnet
   and ftp.  Jeff dove into the details of the security protocol
   negotiations and how you can use the standard telnet protocol to
   implement security for secure client connections.

   Jeff made his presentation slides available on the web.  For a link,
   visit the Unigroup announcement page for that meeting:
     http://www.unigroup.org/unigroup-0101.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   -----------------------
4. COMPAQ GENERATION LINUX
   -----------------------

   Lynne Hummel of Compaq let us know about a Compaq program for Linux
   developers, here is the announcement:

   Join Generation Linux!
   Generation Linux is a FREE program for Linux developers.  When you join,
   you get: support, services, porting and solution development assistance,
   quick online access to hundreds of Linux books from Macmillan, visibility
   with Compaq field organizations and customers, eligibility to win a great
   Compaq Linux product.  You also get a free Alpha SDK and a
   Jumpstart CD Free.  To join, go to:
     http://csa.compaq.com/CSA_GenLinux.shtml

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   ------------------------
5. TRADE SHOW ANNOUNCEMENTS
   ------------------------

   The Internet & E-Business Conference & Exposition will be held in NYC
   at the Javits Center on April 2-4, 2001.  See
     http://www.iebexpo.com/newyork.asp
   for more information and for free expo hall admission.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   --------------------
6. UNIGROUP INFORMATION
   --------------------

   Unigroup is one of the oldest and largest Unix User's Groups serving the
   Greater New York City Regional Area since the early 1980s.  Unigroup is a
   not-for-profit, vendor-neutral and member funded volunteer organization.
   Unigroup holds regular and special event meetings throughout the year on
   technical topics relating to Unix and the Unix User Community.   Unigroup
   is also the Greater NYC Regional Area Affiliate of UniForum - an
   International Unix Users Group.

   Thanks to Chase, Unigroup holds regular meetings planned for the Third
   THURSDAY of Odd Months at The Chase Manhattan Bank, 55 Water Street, NYC.
   Chase has been a long time sponsor of Unigroup, allowing us the use of a
   meeting room and presentation equipment.

   Planned meeting dates are: 3/15/01, 5/17/01, 7/19/01, 9/20/01...
   Watch for our Special Event meetings at the various trade shows in NYC
   as well as "field trips" to the facilities of local hardware and
   software vendors.

   =========================================================================
   = For Unigroup Information, Events and Meeting Announcements be sure to =
   = visit our World Wide Web Home Page:                                   =
   =       http://www.unigroup.org                                         =
   =========================================================================

   For further information or to get on the Unigroup Electronic Mail Mailing
   List send an EMail message to:
        unilist@unigroup.org

   To contact the Board of Directors of Unigroup, send an EMail message to:
        uniboard@unigroup.org

   To contact the Newsletter Editor, send an EMail message to:
        editor@unigroup.org

   If you have recently attended a meeting and you are not receiving
   Email announcements, please send us an Email and we will make
   corrections to our lists.

   Please Email the Board with any suggestions, especially potential meeting
   topics and speakers.  Unigroup welcomes contributions and content
   suggestions for our newsletter.  Unigroup is a volunteer organization and
   we need your assistance!  Please let us know if you can help!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope to see you all at our next meeting!

-Rob Weiner
 Unigroup Executive Director
 unilist@unigroup.org
 http://www.unigroup.org

ZDNET: “Squarely targeting consumer Windows users who
want to give Linux a try, the $25 Icepack Linux
provides a usable installation wizard complete with a
partition resizer, a colorful and configurable GUI, and
excellent hardware recognition. It supports neither
dynamic IP addresses nor floppy-based bootups, but
otherwise it delivers a reasonable introduction to
Linux.”

“You’ve read the Newsforge and Slashdot posts describing the death of LinuxWorld.com. To borrow the old phrase, reports of
our demise have been exaggerated. ITworld.com’s editorial director, Mark Schlack and LinuxWorld.com’s editor in chief,
Kathy Badertscher, have written a letter to explain the changes taking place.” Could there be hope? Read on at LinuxWorld.com. Also, here’s a press release at BusinessWire.

LWN offers up the latest edition of its weekly publication.

Julian Harris writes “Alligata Server Edition 2 for Linux is shipping, http://www.3glab.com/products

This new version includes;
– Kannel core code certified WAP 1.1 compliant
– addition of Phone-as-SMSC support for some handsets.
– access logging
– numerous bugs and memory leaks removed
– Support for HTTP proxies
– supports more WAP phones

Alligata Server Edition 1 remains available for free download from http://www.3glab.com/downloads under BSD style licence”

The following is a press release from Libranet Linux:Jon Danzig writes “

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jon Danzig

Libra Computer Systems

www.libranet.com
jon@libranet.com

LIBRA COMPUTER SYSTEMS ANNOUNCES ‘THE LIBRANET LINUX 1.9.0 RELEASE’

NORTH VANCOUVER, BC, March 13, 2001 – Libra Computer Systems, producer of the Libranet Linux Distribution today announced the release of ‘LIBRANET LINUX 1.9. 0’.

Libranet Linux is based on the Debian GNU/Linux distribution.

The Libranet Linux distribution further builds on Debian by selecting, packaging and configuring the latest and best applications. Libranet assembles a pre-configured home or office desktop packaged onto an easy to install CD.

The CD installs over 1GB of top rated software including industry standards such as the Netscape communications suite.

Among the list of packages installed, users will find XFree86 4.0.2, KDE 2.1, GNOME, and the Linux kernel 2.4.2.
Several window managers are included and a host of applications packages.

Users can choose between using the standard ext2 filesystem or the fast ReiserFS filesystem.

Jon Danzig, President of Libra Computer Systems commented, “With this release we have assured Libranet the top place in Debian based distributions. The level of sophistication of Libranet 1.9.0 makes it the most comprehensive desktop system available. The step by step install process combined with our unrivaled Libranet Adminmenu make installing and configuring this system a pleasure. While making things easier for new Linux users, we have not by any means ignored the experienced user. The full power of GNU/Linux remains unbridled, and with full access to ongoing developments in the Linux world, experienced users will find Libranet to be the powerful desktop they expect from today’s technology.”

The CD sells for the low price of $20.00 and can be purchased on line at the Libranet website.
Prior to purchasing the CD, users may check their hardware compatibility free of charge.

Libranet offers support for registered users, a growing users mailing list and access to installed documentation.
Recently a fledgling Support Solutions Database has been added to the site.

Libra Computer Systems is a privately held company based in North Vancouver, BC, Canada.

For further information, visit www.libranet. com
or email jon@libranet.com.

###

“

– By Dan Berkes –


It wasn’t too long ago that the Open Source community thrilled to the news that Linux was destined for the handheld market. Now, however, such announcements barely elicit a half-raised eyebrow from many. Where are the really innovative Linux deployments happening these days? Why, TV land, of course. That’s where all the magic happens.
Because Linux isn’t wedded to a single processor — or a single anything else, for that matter — it has a versatility factor that’s quite attractive. It’s this factor that’s caught the attention of professional developers and hobby hackers. The end result is an operating system that works just as well on desktop computers as it does in PDAs or when shoehorned into a game console.

Embedded Linux is the power behind a parade of Internet appliances and personal digital assistants scheduled to hit the market in 2001. Familiar brand names like Gateway, Sony, Nokia, and Ericsson have embraced Linux like an old familiar friend, as any corporation might do when presented with an OS that will save it a few million bucks on development costs.

Believe it or not, there was a time only a few years ago when Linux in any place but a desktop computer elicited “oohs” and “aahs” from an awestruck audience. When Agenda Computing recently announced that its VR3 Linux-based PDA would arrive early this spring, it received a barely perceptible smile and nod. What does it take to get us excited over a new use of Linux these days?

Sylvania’s Computer Products division might have something that will make the jaded whistle with wonder. Coming this summer to North American electronics stores is the SPC2700iHD — or Internet/TV — a digital television that combines a high-quality video entertainment system with a user-friendly Internet service.

Previous attempts at combining a television signal with Internet access have been met with less than unbridled consumer enthusiasm. Microsoft’s WebTV, the clear leader in the television/Internet “convergence” market, has sold far less than two million units since its introduction in 1996, and the company won’t disclose how many actual subscribers it has. A roster of similar products announced at the time of WebTV’s launch, including an integrated television/Internet devices from electronics maker Curtis Mathes, failed to materialize.

It could be that Sylvania is in the right place at the right time. Its new Internet/TV will offer two very new technologies in one convenient package. The 27″ television set is capable of receiving digital television signals, the new format that’s gradually repelacing analog broadcasts in the United States. Next, it’s presenting Internet access through an embedded appliance powered by Linux, the operating system that many would say is gradually replacing proprietary operating systems all over the world.

To design this new device, Sylvania teamed up with embedded appliance designer Ch. 1 Inc., of Santa Ana, Calif. Ch. 1 supplies the computer inside the Internet/TV, a small device that runs an embedded Linux operating system powered by National Semiconductor’s Geode processor. With 64MB of RAM and a solid-state storage device capable of storing television program information and running Web, e-mail, chat, and digital music playback devices, the Internet/TV should be anything but underpowered.

Why Linux? Sylvania and Ch. 1 representatives said that Linux cost less than developing a from-scratch operating system, or licensing an existing one. By using a low-cost operating system with a proven track-record of success — not to mention robust Internet and multimedia capabilities — Sylvania is able to push the Internet/TV to market “substantially faster.”

The device will run as a standalone unit via the built-in 56K modem, or can run as part of a high-speed network with its Ethernet port. Use an existing Internet account, or pay an extra $10 per month to use the Ch.1 ISP. There’s an ample supply of input and output connections for video and technology on back — everything from coax to USB to S-Video is supported, so you can hook up all of your gadgets.

At a suggested retail price of $899, the Sylvania Internet/TV is one of the less expensive digital televisions available for purchase. No demonstration has been offered yet, but Ch. 1 and Sylvania officials have described its look and feel as “a sophisticated blend of Internet and television content.”

Not that you need the backing of a multi-million dollar corporate subsidiary to have the same kind of fun with Linux. All that’s required is some spare time, a lot of patience, and the electronic components of a video game console system — a system you might find at a very low price if certain rumors are to be believed.

There’s a nasty rumor going around that the Sega Dreamcast will soon go the way of the way of so many gaming consoles before it. Oddly enough, those rumors have been fueled by an official denial from the official Sony camp, who stated they would continue to support and develop for their console, but that new units would not be produced after March 2001.

In the meantime, you’re likely to find great deals on the Dreamcast from fearful retailers eager to dump the system before Sega drops any sort of bomb. Their loss is your gain: If you’re not interested in gaming, then that Dreamcast will serve as a handy living room Linux box. Add on the optional network adapter, and you’re all set to telnet with abandon from your couch.

The dedicated community of developers at Dreamcast Linux have put together an impressive collection of tools and documentation — everything one needs to get Linux up and running on the console, from the obligatory mini-HOWTO to an impressive Dreamcast Technical Manual. It does help in this case that every hardware setup will be the same, of course.

You may be able to bring Linux to your living room without shelling out a shocking amount of cash in the process. A spare computer and a supported video card with video out capabilities should do the trick, and have you perusing your newsgroups from the comfort of your La-Z-Boy in no time at all. This is, after all, the world of Open Source, where there’s always more than one road to the same destination.

NewsForge editors read and respond to comments posted on our discussion page.

CNN Interviews Ian LeGrow, executive vice president of creative products at Ottawa-based Corel Corp. at Comdex Canada West 2001.

Slashdot discusses a Spanish article at Reforma on the adoption of Linux in Mexico City, and the savings that creates.

International Data Group reports that Intel’s P2P evangelist, Bob Knighten believes that if you aren’t running a P2P application now, you will be soon. “Clients already taking part in P2P systems include PCs and PDAs (personal digital assistants), and the network is already moving toward the support of cell phones and fixed-line phones…”