Posted on 08/17/2011 5:00:18 AM PDT by ShadowAce
Thank you. You’re very kind.
You are welcome.
Which distro are you using?
[pauses]
[looks at untweaked iPad running untweaked iOS]
Uh...why not? It's 2011 already.
The PS/1 was a downgraded line introduced after the PS/2, which came long after Gates sold DOS to IBM for the original PC.
Let’s suppose one of your users has a windows laptop and an iPad2. He wants to print on the printer connected to his Linux desktop. He has no chance of being able to do that without having you come over and edit his Samba and Cups inf files.
Now let’s suppose he has an IOgear wireless printer queue. It automatically shows up on his Mac and Windows machines. He (or you) might spend 20 hours trying to make it work with Linux.
Network printing is a necessity for the modern wireless home network. Linux is not ready for that, making it unusable for most home networks.
Debian, RedHat, and Suse. I also run Windows. But I don't use them much any more. I have moved on to Mac OS X as my main system.
Ten years ago a Linux geek that I knew told me that in the future I would be using Mac OS X as my main system. It only took my ten years to realize that he was correct.
For the skeptical such as myself, I think that running a bunch of Linux distros is the best route to the Mac.
Thank you for the correction. I was confident that someone would do that if I had the wrong chronology.
I still have the keyboard for a PS/2 in my storage room. I never had the heart to throw it out. It was build solid and made a nice clicking sound when you pressed a key.
LOL! yeah, right. Whatever. take em to the EEk Squad ROTFLMAO!
LOL! yeah, right. Whatever. take em to the EEk Squad ROTFLMAO!
How many millions of grandpas are you providing tech support for? And how much does the job pay?
I’ve tried Fedora, Ubuntu, and Linux Mint. Of those, I really liked Mint best, but it wouldn’t recognize the wireless card on my laptop. Then I found PCLinuxOS and love it. Not being a geek, and hearing the horror stories, I thought the transition would be much more difficult than it was.
Another benefit, this whole experience (and I did do this initially solely as a learning exercise) has me *wanting* to learn more about computers. So I got hold of a really good (and free) booklet on using the terminal (http://people.wallawalla.edu/~larry.aamodt/engr122/TLCL-09.12.pdf). Maybe I’ll eventually turn into a geek after all....
I would say you are on the right path. Running Linux will teach you a lot about computers. Learning to program at the command line is one of the most useful skills you can have on a Linux or Unix system. Before long you will be writing your own shell scripts. I run Mac OS X and I still frequently use the terminal.
My next project is to network my Linux desktop with my Linux laptop, which should be a snap. If I get through that, then I’m going to shoot for Major Geekdom by getting those two to talk to my XP machine. (Yes, I’ve already looked into this by reading through forums and know to expect a lot of problems with Samba, etc. But, hey, why not push myself a little? Nothing ventured, nothing gained.)
That would be valid in limited numbers in my case. I get older machines from Corporations and put them back into service in the homes of Seniors, Church goers and low income families. 99% of them don’t have another machine, let alone the money for an iPad. LOL
That said, I usually inform those who want/need a printer to buy a cheap one that is Linux friendly. Many print manufacturers supply Linux install packages for their machines. My Brother wireless MFC665CW, now some 6 years old, works flawlessly on 10.04LTS using the Brother supplied package and installed with archive manager. No editing necessary. So does my Canon Pixma.
I have 5 machines in my house all on wireless...Win7, Vista laptop, Dual boot UE 2.8 (Ultimate Edition)/XP, XP to big screen for Netflix, certain DVD’s, Camcorder, etc., and UE Lite laptop running from usb drive. In addition, I have 6 outside security cameras and a Personal Weather Station...again all wireless. No editing anything, all use a web interface, and everything I have except the Cannon printer is 4 years old or older. (usually older-lol)
Linux, specifically Ubuntu and Ubuntu based distributions are absolutely ready for a wireless world, and have been for several years. (yes, I know Ubuntu is Debian based, but not all Debian based distros are built equally)
LOLOLOL It's fun, isn't it?
Fun when it works! Supposedly this Linux-Windows networking via Samba can be a real test of one’s patience. But that is the *real* beauty of Linux. It runs great on old discarded hardware, so that if I go apoplectic from frustration and throw the machine out the window, I’m really not set back all that much....
I surprised PCLinuxOS doesn’t auto configure your shares.
Oops! Sorry. I meant to add that I’m equally surprised that Ubuntu (version?) didn’t recognize your wireless card. I’ve not had that happen.
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