Unix 1 -- Connecting To math or pascal
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The node names for the machines used by programming courses
in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science are
math and pascal.
The full names are math.scu.edu and pascal.scu.edu
which must be used when connecting to the machine via internet links.
The aliases mathcs or cs will also work.
Because of hacker attempts, these machine are not accessible
from off-campus internet connections. If this poses a problem,
please see your instructor.
From PC computers (i.e., Windows 95/98 machines)
in any of the three campus labs (Kenna, Orradre,
O'Connor), there are several options by which one can access
math.
- One can click on the Windows Start icon, then on RUN.
Then one enters the command telnet. This produces the
simple telnet window. When using thing interface, one needs to
invoke the emacs editor with the "no windows" switch, e.g.,
emacs -nw filename.ext
This is the only option available in the Kenna and Orradre labs.
- In the O'Connor labs, one can connect using the X-Windows emulation
software, Reflection-X. This provides the user with either an
X-Windows telnet connection or an XDM connection (to be able to make use
of the CDE/KDE environment).
- In the Engineering Design Center, one may use a telnet or the
Reflection-X software, depending on the machine available.
There are two common interfaces available for X-Windows Unix systems.
- One is the older interface, now commonly referred to as a "command line"
mode. This has no icons, and is very similar to the DOS mode in which
commands are always given via character strings to a system prompt.
However, some "command line" interfaces do provide for graphics or secondary
windows to appear when running some programs.
- The other is the CDE (for Common Desktop Environment) interface.
This provides an environment with graphical interfaces for certain programs,
such as mail, file management, printing, etc.
Here is a biased evaluation of the two interfaces.
- The command line interface can be very fast across the network and
does allow for some windowing. However, one must be adept at remembering
numerous commands. (This feat tends to be second nature to more
experienced Unix programmers.)
- The CDE interface has numerous nice graphical features and provides
a very nice environment when it is native to the machine being used (in
other words, when working on a Unix X-Windows workstation). However,
when using CDE remotely (i.e., when using an X-Server program on a
Windows 95/98 machine to connect to a remote Unix machine), it can be sluggish.
One should also know that occasionally, using the CDE interface has
caused a Windows 95/98 machine to freeze or crash, at which point one
must reboot the local machine.
My recommendation (given above) is that for most simple programming work, one
makes use of the command line interface (via telnet) rather than a
CDE interface.
Some people do find CDE to be very user friendly. It also has an extensive
help feature. On-line tutorials are available and can be
accessed via the Math 10 homepage or here:
NOTE: MicroImages X (MI/X)
server for Windows
(Shareware) is an inexpensive shareware X-server to download.
See this link for
additional information on software settings to connect to
pascal.
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This page is maintained by Dennis C. Smolarski, S.J.
dsmolarski@math.scu.edu
© Copyright 1998-2001 Dennis C. Smolarski, SJ, All rights reserved.
Last changed: 12 September 2001.