In Slackware this tool hasn’t been working for quite some time, it simply says that our operating system is not supported:
(My KDE is in Portuguese, but you’ll get the idea…)
I never bothered about it, as I prefer to do all configuring the ‘Slackware-way’: editing text files. This way I know what’s happening and I am in control.
But I understand that this is not for everyone, so this subject pops up once in a while on the forums and I decided to take a look again.
The knetworkconf tool uses several Perl scripts that are stored in /usr/share/apps/knetworkconf/backends
I am definitely not a Perl-guru, but browsing through the several files, I discovered it was nothing too complicated. Basically, network configuration hasn’t changed much in Slackware over the last several versions so first I just added the newer version numbers to all files where they were checked.
Posting the first patch file on LinuxQuestions.org a fellow forum member (thanks Woodsman!) discovered that the KDE tool did not show the configured domain correctly.
This actually was a bug in the tool, not my patch, but I managed to solve it.
After some more testing I discovered that every time I saved any changes with knetworkconf, my Samba server stopped working and was even disabled.
This turned out to be another silly bug in knetworkconf, where they forgot to use a variable that holds the current status of Samba.
I posted all patches on the forum and Pat has already included them in the -current branch (see the changelog).
I also sent the patches upstream to the fellows at KDE, so hopefully it makes it into the next versions there as well.
Those who use Slackware 12.1 (the most recent stable version), can copy the following lines and save them in a file:
*** orig/network-conf 2008-12-06 10:17:03.000000000 -0200
--- /usr/share/apps/knetworkconf/backends/network-conf 2008-12-06 10:25:17.000000000 -0200
***************
*** 78,83 ****
--- 78,84 ----
"vine-3.0", "vine-3.1",
"ark",
"slackware-9.1.0", "slackware-10.0.0", "slackware-10.1.0", "slackware-10.2.0",
+ "slackware-11.0.0", "slackware-12.0.0", "slackware-12.1.0", "slackware-12.2.0",
"gentoo", "vlos-1.2", "freebsd-5", "freebsd-6");
$description =<<"end_of_description;";
*** orig/network.pl 2008-12-06 10:16:52.000000000 -0200
--- /usr/share/apps/knetworkconf/backends/network.pl 2008-12-06 21:52:53.000000000 -0200
***************
*** 541,546 ****
--- 541,550 ----
"slackware-10.0.0" => "redhat-6.2",
"slackware-10.1.0" => "redhat-6.2",
"slackware-10.2.0" => "redhat-6.2",
+ "slackware-11.0.0" => "redhat-6.2",
+ "slackware-12.0.0" => "redhat-6.2",
+ "slackware-12.1.0" => "redhat-6.2",
+ "slackware-12.2.0" => "redhat-6.2",
"gentoo" => "debian-2.2",
"vlos-1.2" => "debian-2.2",
"freebsd-5" => "debian-2.2",
***************
*** 1855,1860 ****
--- 1859,1868 ----
"slackware-10.0.0" => \&gst_network_deb22_get_file,
"slackware-10.1.0" => \&gst_network_deb22_get_file,
"slackware-10.2.0" => \&gst_network_deb22_get_file,
+ "slackware-11.0.0" => \&gst_network_deb22_get_file,
+ "slackware-12.0.0" => \&gst_network_deb22_get_file,
+ "slackware-12.1.0" => \&gst_network_deb22_get_file,
+ "slackware-12.2.0" => \&gst_network_deb22_get_file,
"gentoo" => \&gst_network_deb22_get_file,
"freebsd-5" => \&gst_network_deb22_get_file,
"freebsd-6" => \&gst_network_deb22_get_file,
***************
*** 3985,3990 ****
--- 3993,4002 ----
"slackware-10.0.0" => "",
"slackware-10.1.0" => "",
"slackware-10.2.0" => "",
+ "slackware-11.0.0" => "",
+ "slackware-12.0.0" => "",
+ "slackware-12.1.0" => "",
+ "slackware-12.2.0" => "",
"gentoo" => "",
"vlos-1.2" => "",
"freebsd-5" => "",
***************
*** 4160,4165 ****
--- 4172,4181 ----
"slackware-10.0.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
"slackware-10.1.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
"slackware-10.2.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-11.0.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-12.0.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-12.1.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-12.2.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
"gentoo" => "gentoo",
"vlos-1.2" => "gentoo",
"freebsd-5" => "freebsd-5",
***************
*** 4442,4447 ****
--- 4458,4464 ----
[ "hostname", \&gst_parse_fq_hostname, HOSTNAME ],
[ "nameserver", \&gst_parse_split_all_unique_hash_comment, RESOLV_CONF, "nameserver", "[ \t]+" ],
[ "searchdomain", \&gst_parse_split_first_array_unique, RESOLV_CONF, "search", "[ \t]+", "[ \t]+" ],
+ [ "domain", \&gst_parse_fq_domain, HOSTNAME ],
[ "domain", \&gst_parse_split_first_str, RESOLV_CONF, "domain", "[ \t]+" ],
[ "order", \&gst_parse_split_first_array, HOST_CONF, "order", "[ \t]+", ",[ \t]*" ],
[ "hostmatch", \&gst_parse_split_first_bool, HOST_CONF, "multi", "[ \t]+" ],
***************
*** 4591,4596 ****
--- 4608,4617 ----
"slackware-10.0.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
"slackware-10.1.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
"slackware-10.2.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-11.0.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-12.0.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-12.1.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-12.2.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
"gentoo" => "gentoo",
"vlos-1.2" => "gentoo",
"freebsd-5" => "freebsd-5",
***************
*** 5439,5444 ****
--- 5460,5469 ----
"slackware-10.0.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
"slackware-10.1.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
"slackware-10.2.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-11.0.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-12.0.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-12.1.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-12.2.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
"gentoo" => "gentoo",
"vlos-1.2" => "gentoo",
"freebsd-5" => "freebsd-5",
***************
*** 5719,5725 ****
[ "smbdesc", \&gst_replace_ini, SMB_CONF, "global", "server string" ],
[ "winsserver", \&gst_replace_ini, SMB_CONF, "global", "wins server" ],
[ "winsuse", \&gst_replace_ini_bool, SMB_CONF, "global", "wins support" ],
! [ "smbuse", \&gst_service_bsd_set_status, "/etc/rc.d/rc.samba" ],
[ "interface", \&gst_network_interfaces_set, OLD_HASH ],
[ "gateway", \&gst_network_route_set_default_gw, "%gatewaydev%" ]
]
--- 5744,5750 ----
[ "smbdesc", \&gst_replace_ini, SMB_CONF, "global", "server string" ],
[ "winsserver", \&gst_replace_ini, SMB_CONF, "global", "wins server" ],
[ "winsuse", \&gst_replace_ini_bool, SMB_CONF, "global", "wins support" ],
! [ "smbuse", \&gst_service_bsd_set_status, "/etc/rc.d/rc.samba", "%smbuse%" ],
[ "interface", \&gst_network_interfaces_set, OLD_HASH ],
[ "gateway", \&gst_network_route_set_default_gw, "%gatewaydev%" ]
]
***************
*** 5855,5860 ****
--- 5880,5889 ----
"slackware-10.0.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
"slackware-10.1.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
"slackware-10.2.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-11.0.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-12.0.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-12.1.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-12.2.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
"gentoo" => "gentoo",
"vlos-1.2" => "gentoo",
"freebsd-5" => "freebsd-5",
*** orig/platform.pl 2008-12-06 10:17:58.000000000 -0200
--- /usr/share/apps/knetworkconf/backends/platform.pl 2008-12-06 10:35:27.000000000 -0200
***************
*** 90,95 ****
--- 90,99 ----
"slackware-10.0.0" => "Slackware 10.0.0",
"slackware-10.1.0" => "Slackware 10.1.0",
"slackware-10.2.0" => "Slackware 10.2.0",
+ "slackware-11.0.0" => "Slackware 11.0.0",
+ "slackware-12.0.0" => "Slackware 12.0.0",
+ "slackware-12.1.0" => "Slackware 12.1.0",
+ "slackware-12.2.0" => "Slackware 12.2.0",
"freebsd-4" => "FreeBSD 4",
"freebsd-5" => "FreeBSD 5",
"freebsd-6" => "FreeBSD 6",
*** orig/service.pl 2008-12-06 10:16:37.000000000 -0200
--- /usr/share/apps/knetworkconf/backends/service.pl 2008-12-06 10:36:52.000000000 -0200
***************
*** 275,280 ****
--- 275,284 ----
"slackware-10.0.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
"slackware-10.1.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
"slackware-10.2.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-11.0.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-12.0.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-12.1.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
+ "slackware-12.2.0" => "slackware-9.1.0",
"gentoo" => "gentoo",
"vlos-1.2" => "gentoo",
Be careful with the longer lines!
Next, open a console as root and type the following:
cd /usr/share/apps/knetworkconf/backends
patch < (your_saved_patchfile)
This should work with all versions since 11.0, but I only tested it on 12.1 and 12.2-RC1, so all standard disclaimers apply…
The result is a working knetworkconf:
I found out that my oldest CD with KDE was Slackware 4.0:
As it says on the cover, it comes with KDE 1.1, so this was my new project.
According to the cover from the original 4-disc box, we’re talking June 1999 now.
This is when Tux started smoking a pipe (he was not smoking on the previous Slackware boxes I have). I also have the impression he gained some weight since the previous version.
Well, I guess this is when Tux became a real Slacker…
Installing it, after my experiences with 3.5 & 1.1.2, was simple and fast.
I configured XF86Config in /etc, as in 3.5, and fired up X. The result is here:
Slackware 4.0 was the version I used most. The previous versions were interesting experiences and taught me a lot, struggling to find out how to configure things, etc. After 3.1, 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6 this was the first version I really enjoyed as an operating system, not as some kind of a science project. This is where I started feeling that I was “in control”.
I still have 4.0 running on a 486 notebook, after all those years…