[ILUG] De Euro

[Declan Moriarty]

On Thursday 03 January 2002 18:30, Paul Kelly wrote:
> Declan Moriarty wrote:
> >>xmodmap -e 'keycode 26 = e E currency'
> >>xmodmap -e 'keycode 54 = c C cent'
> >
> > This gives me '?' (I see O with a circumflex) on Alt-Gr_e, and '¢'  (A
> > circumflex) on Alt-Gr_c. That's under kmail. In a terminal,  In a
> > terminal, I get the cent sign, but the euro comes out like an 'o' with
> > the 4 ends of an 'x' but not the middle.
>
> That means the font you are using in X doesn't support the euro and
> instead prints that pseudo-currency symbol.
>
The end of this matter is that it's difficult to impossible to get the euro 
out of Xfree 3.3.6, unless you want to take a crash course in keyboards, 
localisations, (going extinct) xmodmaps, key definitions, overrides, et al.
Then you'll find ISO-10646 isn't supported in the packages :-(.
ISO-10646, btw is the standard font set for unicode fonts. Instead of all the 
above, they are moving to unicode, which means every defined character 
including the euro will be extractable from every keyboard, probably with a 
mapping. It sounds like an excuse for getting rid of half working software to 
replace it for years with alpha and beta stuff. 

<Departing from reality at this point>

        Let us imagine you wanted to install a computer toilet: In windoze, 
you could insert a cd, load the drivers, and reboot. It 
would function well, but there would be no protection against the pc flushing 
itself down it's own toilet, with consequent damage; t
his could be done by any executable, Wordprocessor macro, ActiveX extension, 
M$ Outlook, or any of the security holes in ie. Hackers
 would gleefully lay traps and wreak havoc.

 Linux would be different..You would have a bowl, seat, and autolocking lid, 
controlled by 7 of 26 possible conflicting yet interdep
endent kernel modules; You would set up device nodes, rebuild a kernel, and 
play with modules.conf. Then configure a daemon whose co
nfig file would be in some weird subdirectory 
/etc/rc.d/init.d/abc.d/SomethingElse.d/Servers/Daemons/Device_Handlers/plumbing/jacksb
owls, or suchlike unless it was in the other 'obvious' place 
/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/lib/X11/Furniture/fittings /server_config/floor1/bat
hroom, or some other place you hid it with a commandline option. Passwords 
for the lid would have to be set up and validated, protoc
ols for interaction with the toilet would have to be defined, configured, and 
built in to kernel (2nd rebuild).Timings, flush detail
s and permitted users would have to be installed. The output would have to be 
piped to an appropiate place, and /dev/null would not 
be used because of security issues (3rd Rebuild). Then,debug everything (10th 
kernel rebuild!) and maybe, just maybe, the facilities
 could be used; you would get in only after interrogation by the daemon, and 
could perform under the watchful eye of syslog noting e
very action, with the jacks daemon and the kernel checking permissions of 
every move.  Shutting the door would be absolutely out of 
the question, as privacy would be a security hole, and great precautions 
would be taken against any hacker either using the faciliti
es, or climbing back up the pipe.The kernel would check permissions of the 
bowl contents before flushing. If root forgot to flush...
 the watchful kernel would not allow anyone else to either. But it would work 
PERFECTLY, and never crash. Got the idea?.


-- 
	Regards,


	Declan Moriarty




Applied Researches - Ireland's Foremost Electronic Hardware Genius

	A Slightly Serious(TM) Company

Experience is like a comb, 
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