Summer 2001 System Updates

• The majority of the CS Suns will be upgraded to Solaris 8 over the summer months. This change should be largely transparant to you as a user, but here are some changes to note:
  • Netscape version 6 is available, in addition to the 4.7x release. To start version 6, just run netscape6. Note that versions 6 and 4.7x can peacefully coexist, so you can run both versions at the same time without conflicts.

  • The newest Forte/Workshop 6 compilers are installed. See the Sun Documentation for information about the enhancements over the current version 5 compilers installed on the Solaris 2.7 machines.

  • The Java Development environment Forte for Java, release 2.0, Community Edition has been installed. To run this, just run the command forte4j. If you have run the older 1.0 version of Forte for Java and get errors when you run this new version, try moving your forte4j_user directory (created by the 1.0 version) as there appear to be some conflicts between the two versions.

  • The default version of the Java JDK/SDK installed in /usr/bin is version 1.2. You can access version 1.3 in /usr/j2se/bin and version 1.1 in /usr/java1.1/bin. The various versions in /l are also still available.

  • The latest KDE 2.1.1 desktop environment is installed. Thanks to Travis Bauer, there is also a document available to guide you through the process of Configuring KDevelop on the Suns.

  • SSH version 2 is now the default. If you need to use SSH version 1, you will have to explicitly use the ssh1 version (ie. use ssh1, scp1, ssh-add1, etc). See the ssh2 FAQ entry for more information about making the transition to ssh2.

  • All windowing environments (CDE, KDE, GNOME, OpenWindows) now run under the SSH Agent by default. If you use ssh-add to load your keys, they will automatically be accessible from your entire login session.

  • The SunForum 3.0 data conferencing software is installed. This is a conferencing tool based on the T.120 and H.323 standards and can interact with other applications based on these standards, such as NetMeeting. Just run sunforum to start it up. Search for "sunforum" in the Software Database for more information.

  • The Sun CD read and write tool, cdrw is installed. This tools allows the reading and writing of CDs, including the ability to extract audio tracks from audio CDs. See the cdrw man page for more information.

  • There is software available to sync your palm pilot with your CDE applications. In CDE, you can select PDASync from the Desktop_Apps folder in the Application Manager, or you can run sdtpdasync from the command line. For more information, start up application and click on the help icon.

  • The PC Launcher is installed. This is a tool to run applications on a remote PC. I have not tried this yet, but it looks pretty interesting. See the sdtpcaction man page for more information.

  • If you use the exmh mail program with CDE, you may notice that you cannot open the application after is has been iconified with a simple double-click. You can, however, open it with a triple-click. I'm working on this one...

  Currently, cello in LH125 is a generally accesssible Solaris 8 machine you can try. More machines will be upgraded soon. Note that you can tell if a Sun is running Solaris 8 by looking at the login banner. The words "Solaris 8" will appear under the Sun logo in the login banner if it is running the newer OS version. Once you get logged in, you can use the config command to give information about the machine, which includes the OS version.

  Please give Solaris 8 a try and let us know if you run into any trouble. If you would like to have the Sun you are using upgraded, let us know and we will try to get it upgraded as soon as possible.

• With the help of a matching grant program from Sun Microsystems, we have purchased a large number of new Sun Blade 100 workstations. These workstations should arrive and be installed in grad student labs and offices during the month of June.

• The LH035 and LH008 teaching labs are being upgraded and these rooms will remained locked until further notice. Contact system staff if you need access to these labs.

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