Manual Configuration for automounting your ntfs and fat32 partitions

This is a problem I faced earlier when winduhs partitions were not automatically shown to me. I have the bad habit of keeping all songs there and wanted it automatically mounted. I didn't find a comprehensive clear solution anywhere which told me everything the way I wanted it. So I am mentioning it here to help others.
For doing this you shall need to be root.

1. As root run a 'fdisk -l ' to recognise the partition numbers and types. Note these. The listing on my system looks like this:-

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 1274 10233373+ 12 Compaq diagnostics
/dev/sda2 * 1275 5950 37557418+ 6 FAT16
/dev/sda3 5950 10030 32768000 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda4 10030 17931 63470630 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 10030 14103 32721920 b W95 FAT32
/dev/sda6 14104 15378 10238976 b W95 FAT32
/dev/sda7 15379 15499 971901 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda8 15500 17931 19535008+ 83 Linux

The Device boot mentioned in first column is the partition number you want.

2. For all vfat partitions make a new entry in the /etc/fstab file as follows:-

  /dev/sda3       /mnt/f          vfat    users,rw,auto,iocharset=utf8,umask=000        0       0

The above means that the partition /dev/sda3 should be mounted to /mnt/f. It shall be a utf8 charset and shall be accessible to all users. You must make the /mnt/f directory too after making the entry in the file.(Thats 'mkdir /mnt/f' as root in case you didn't know).

3. For the ntfs partitions which you want read write the ntfs-3g driver package must be installed (Debian etch users can get it from backports.org). Once that is done make an entry like this:-

  /dev/sda2       /mnt/c/dev/sda2       /mnt/c          ntfs-3g defaults        0       0

The above means that the ntfs partition /dev/sda2 shall be mounted to /mnt/c.

4. Repeat the same procedure for all the partitions that you have. Make sure that the mounting directories are created by you.

5. After next reboot all ntfs and vfat shall be mounted in r-w for all users! (Ignore the warning about utf8 you get in bootup for vfat. Thats the only charset that works).

6. Incase you have a multiboot with many linux distros where you want another distro's ext3 partition also mounted make a similar entry:-

/dev/sda8 /mnt/g ext3 users,rw,auto,umask=000 0 0

7. Last but not the least if you want to use linux partitions in Winduhs please use the ext2(works for ext3 also) driver from www.fs-driver.org

Hope this helps someone. If you have problems, please comment.

Some small poems

I like writing occasionally. Till few years back I used to write small poems when in the mood. I don't claim them to be great but they were definitely a creative outlet for me in times of stress. I am posting some recent tit bits here. 1. Journey
poem writing is a journeythought searching the tourney

clarity leads to money

hillarity makes it funny

2. Start to End Start is what you need to begin,

thoughts you need to search within,
work you need to continue

and then only you can end the milieu

things end some time or other,
they complete and meet another

they change with the weather

they keep moving hither and thither

birds of a feather flock together

those of different ones block together

good friends clock together

good enemies track each other

what is one without the other

just a child without a mother.

3. WOW what makes your heart go wow,
what makes your senses go wow,
the search for the holy cow,

the struggle to complete your vow

the fight to earn your chow

the ecstacy of meeting what you wanted to show,

every thing you like and the heart goes wow

4. OK are things in life just ok,
all the work and just ok,
why do small things seem ok,
i struggled to make them ok,

please dont say just ok

they are more than just ok

5. Come into my Garden i beg your pardon

come into my garden

there are some lovely posies

and a thousand roses

you say you are great

but only your eyes are great

what i write are just words

when you read they become more than words

all this is mere word play,
life is a much bigger playwhere all just have rules to play

and these get broken every day

Why I like Debian?

Debian is my favourite GNU/Linux Distro for the following reasons:-
1. It has the best packaging system (APT) in the world.
2. It is run by a community and not influenced by any company.
3. It has one of the largest number of packages and supports the most number of architectures. Due to this I can work on any architecture without changing the basics. i have seen debian working even on a small arm board.
4. It is flexible. It is easy to customise and this is the reason why so many distributions have been spawned by it including Ubuntu, Knoppix, Damn Small Linux, Mepis and many more.
5. They have the best quality control I have seen in any distribution.
6. You have the option between installing source packages and binary packages.
7. Everything I use is free. If it is not I am made aware of it. They fight for freedom. (A special set of people debian-legal take care of such issues).
8. They are one of the oldest distributions (since 1993) and know their job well.
9. I have the option to choose between stable and new packages.
10. Using debian is fun.
11. There are many sites like debianhelp.org which help you if you get stuck.
12. Many people complain that their releases are slow. But I find the testing version good enough for use. So I am not worried about that.
13. backports.org and debian-multimedia.org often gives packages which are not available so I am not really at a loss too.
14. Due to large number of packages and libraries even when I download the sources I usually get the libraries easily from the repos.
15. I have a lot of options for customisation.
16. Many useful tools are available.

The list could go on and on. Due to all these reasons I recommend Debian GNU/Linux to all.

Free Software Vs Open Source

The free software movement was started by Richard M Stallman in the 1980s. (www.stallman.org). The aim of the movement in popular opinion is to forward the cause of community based software development. As opposed to proprietary softwares whose makers often restrict many things, it aims to eliminate all restrictions. This includes but is not Limited to the availability of source code. The story of how it started can be found in one of stallman's essays which normally comes with emacs documentation. C-h C-p would tell the history of the movement and the organisation (Free Software Foundation) founded by Stallman to further the cause. It is a nice read and would make many things clear.
Free software is about the freedom to use the software and it does not talk about cost of the software. (unfortunately there is no word in english which conveys this). It has famously been said "Free as in freedom not as in free beer".
In hindi there is a word called "mukt" which conveys the concept clearly. For this reason in India it is being called mukt software by many. (For similar reasons many in Europe call it libre software since it stands for liberty not cost).
Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.
If a software can give all these rights to you it is free software else it is not.

There has been a term in vogue called "Open Source" which has lead to lots of confusion. I am not talking about the Open Source Definition here. (It provides some of these things). But when closed minds talk all they can think of from the term is that code is available. Code being available is not the only aspect of free software. For this reason I recommend to all to not use this term because when people talk about "open source" thats what they think of. Its possible for a software to be open but not free. The software which meet the requirements of freedom are free and others are non-free.
Each distribution has its own guidelines for deciding this. (For example, my favourite distribution Debian has what they call the Debian Free Software Guidelines , DFSG for short. You can read it on their site www.debian.org).
There are many examples of "open source" but non-free software.
One small example I can think of immediately which is maybe not the best one to start with but here goes. My office had bought a PC-Add on card from a company. We wanted to use this on linux. He had provided windows drivers but his linux drivers were binary only. They were not working. I requested the company for the source. They gave the source to me but I had to sign a Non-disclosure Agreement with them. Due to this agreement I can modify the source and give to them. But I can not give it to you. This is restrictive software. The code is available but non-free.
Sometimes components of software are free while others are not there. Some years back KDE itself being free depended on the Qt library which was not released under GPL(GNU Public License- the most popular copyleft licence under which most free software is released. See www.gnu.org for more details). so kde although itself free depended on a non-free software library. (Debian normally places such softwares in the contrib section and the non-free components in the non-free section). The issue was resolved when Qt's regulating company Trolltech fell in line. Our efforts and refusing to use them can bring many other companies in line.
Another good example is java. They have been talking about releasing Java and many people have falsely started thinking that its free. Thats not the case. Java can be free only when ALL of its components are released under a free licence. A piecemeal approach wont work.(the classpath for example. AWT and swing to my knowledge are not completely 'out'). I therefore suggest to all to use GNU classpath tools and not the non-free java jdk. Using such softwares ensures you are using free components only. The Java jdk is a trap. You won't even realise when you are using features specific to sun's implementation which is non-free. There is a great need for developers who can work with GNU to put missing features missing in GNU's efforts.

I hope I have cleared some misconceptions here.
So use free software. Don't use the confusing term "open source".
Do add your comments so that I can improve this post.

Focus

Focus is a must to achieve anything, however small. One must concentrate on the task at hand. If we pay full attention to what we are doing we increase the chances of doing that well. I am not a fan of so called multitasking. One should do only one job at a time and do our best at it. Do your best and leave the rest. That is the slogan to be followed if one wants to be successful. And if inspite of it you don't reach your goal, don't loose heart. Tomorrow is after all another day. persistence pays of in the long run.
When you focus you can look at everything very objectively and take the right decisions.

Stand up for yourself

Sometimes inspite of your best efforts you don't seem to be doing things right. It could be that one subject in which you always reach bottom of the class even if you work very hard. It could be the results of your pursuit for something.
It could also be that you made a choice in life and everybody comes hollering at you, demanding to know how could you do it?! Without being judgemental about your past choices or decisions my advice for that is to stand by them. The decisions you make are made at a particular time with certain thoughts. They are never right or wrong. Don't let second, third and future thoughts trouble you. Whatever decision you made was right at that time. Leave things at that. Thinking about them again doesn't change them. So one must learn to accept them and stand by them. Tell yourself, "I made that decision in a particular frame of mind. It was right at that point of time and I refuse to get affected by what others say of it now. I stand by my decision. "
Once we accept our old decisions its so easy to move forward with life.
Judging can sometimes be such a waste of time, isn't it?
It doesn't change anything but you loose the precious moments you had in hand. So don't judge. Just move forward.Stand by yourself no matter what. (Always try to take informed decisions though.)