Date Posted Joe's (temporary) Blog 2006-09-24 I'm gonna do the blog manually for a little while.  Let me explain. I googled blog software and got this huge list of available programs.  I settled on WordPress because it looked like it would be pretty easy to set up, and some guy (who came up on Google) likes it.  Okay, I guess if it sucks I can try something else. Did I say it was easy?  The only thing it needed that I had set up already was the Apache web server.  This thing uses PHP (it installs by default in SUSE when you opt for the Apache). The documentation says this version of WordPress requires two things, PHP 4.2 or greater and MySQL 3.23.23 or greater.  Oh, and a web server that can run those two things (Apache with Linux recommended).  No problem, I got all that. WordPress also requires something called a "Apache mod_rewrite" module.  Actually, the documentation calls this "optional."  I found out it is not.  I dug around SUSE's system setup program, Yast (yast2) and found that this item is included in the main Apache software.  So, I should be good to go, right? Well, since I already had Apache running (this website won't run without it) in order to make WordPress to work, I needed MySQL to work.  I went into Yast/System Services/System Services (runlevel) and started the MySQL daemon.  Following the directions in the dialog box that popped up, I opened a shell (that's the equivalent of a "command prompt" to you Windows types).  I executed two commands, one to set the root password, and the other to connect MySQL to the host (I was gonna try to explain "host," but I want to keep this short!). That done, I went back to Firefox and called the WordPress install routine and got a message saying something to the effect that PHP wasn't set up right.  I dinged around with it, even rebooting to see if that was the trouble, and eventually discovered that mod_rewrite has to be manually activated in the Apache setup in Yast.  So, I did that and finally got the WP setup program to work which promptly informed me that it couldn't find the wordpress database!  Okay, WordPress won't create the database, you have to do that manually, also.  I did (using "mysqladmin") and now I got blog software. It's a little more than I expected.  This program looks more like forum/bbs software than any blog I've ever seen, so I'm gonna hafta play with it for a while to understand it. So, this stuff will be manual for a while, with no feedback capability (sorry!).  Also, I will re-post whatever I write in the regular WordPress blog. Joe 2006-10-15 It's been a while since my last entry, my apologies (that's assuming anyone is reading these!).  I've been trying to list books like crazy on my eBay store, all the while dealing with my Dad who's having serious medical issues.  He's buying a house that will allow him to do everything he needs (and wants) on one level as opposed to the five-level place he's been living in since 1975. Anyhow, I've been testing Mandriva's newest offering, 2007 PowerPack, on a spare computer I've got gathering dust in the bedroom.  I've noticed recently there's a tendency toward nannyism in some of the distros.  I found that Debian, Freespire and Mandriva don't want to allow graphical root logins.  Further, as silly as this is, there is no simple way to fix that (for those of us who may need to work that way). Digging around, I figured out (at least in Mandriva) how to kill that.  It only happens when kdm is used for the login process.  I found that when I set the login screen to be controlled by "xdm," I can login root just fine, it's just kdm that blocks it.  Here's how to fix it (at least in Mandriva): Open a text editor (kwrite or whatever your favorite is) in root mode.  If you don't have an icon for that, go to the main KDE menu button (usually at the far left end of the task bar) and select "Run Command" or equivalent.  Type the name of the text editor you want to use in the "Command" box, then click the "Options" button.  Select "Run as a different user" and type "root" into the Username box.  Type the root password into the Password box and click "Run." When the text editor appears, open the file, "/etc/kde/kdm/kdmrc" and search for the line for the command, "AllowRootLogin." Change "false" to "true" and save. Just logging out should be enough for the changes to take place, but if it doesn't you may have to restart the X server (ctrl-alt-backspace) or reboot.  I rebooted just to save kaka and time. You will now be permitted to login as root. I notice that on SUSE 10.1, where I can login as root, this file is located in /opt/kde3/share/config/kdm.  I also notice that the AllowRootLogin parameter is set as false, which makes me wonder if SUSE is using some kind of proprietary login manager instead of kdm. If for some reason, such as the OS was installed without a user account where you could get to this file, you should still be able to log on in in shell/text mode and correct the problem with vi.  That, of course, assumes you know more about Linux/Unix than the average user. If I seem a little slow in getting a proper blog system set up here, please be patient.  I eventually want to get this website ported to a separate computer which will allow me to mess with my regular pc without having to take down the web server.  As it is, I'm doing a lot of testing and other stuff which causes me to need to reboot from every couple of days to every couple of weeks.  A good Linux server can run for months, or longer, without rebooting and I intend to maintain that kind of reliability for my website. So, until next time, happy computing! Joe Return All content unless otherwise marked Copyright © 2006 - 2007 Joseph B. Short - All Rights Reserved