Posted on 10/03/2007 9:58:26 PM PDT by abt87
LINUX runs the Google servers that manage billions of searches each day. It also runs the TiVo digital video recorder, the Motorola Razr cellphone and countless other electronic devices.
But why would anyone want to use Linux, an open-source operating system, to run a PC? “For a lot of people,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, “Linux is a political idea — an idea of freedom. They don’t want to be tied to Microsoft or Apple. They want choice. To them it’s a greater cause.”
That’s not the most compelling reason for consumers. There is the price: Linux is free, or nearly so.
Unlike Windows from Microsoft and OS X from Apple, Linux is not owned, updated or controlled by a single company. Thousands of developers around the world work on Linux, making improvements and issuing new versions several times a year. Because the core Linux software is open source, these developers have the right — some would say responsibility — to borrow from one another’s work, constantly looking for enhancements.
But Linux has always had a reputation of being difficult to install and daunting to use. Most of the popular Windows and Macintosh programs cannot be used on it, and hand-holding — not that you get that much of it with Windows — is rare. But those reasons for rejecting Linux are disappearing.
Until recently, major PC makers shied away from Linux. Now the industry is watching as Dell is selling two Linux-equipped desktop models ($549 and $870, including a monitor) and a $774 notebook PC. (Hewlett-Packard offers Linux systems to businesses, and Lenovo, the Chinese company that bought I.B.M.’s PC division, sells Linux machines in China and says it will soon offer Linux-based computers in the United States.)
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I have found Red AHt to be easy to load and use - except for finding drivers that work.......for lots of things - in this it is the same as Vista — no drivers.
That was the whole reason for buying the laptop in the first place, so I could at least get online anywhere there was cell phone service when I'm on the road, and connect with other blue tooth enabled devices.
Linux is really a workhorse in indusrty - LAMP is a big part of the web scene here - MS is making significant inroads tho.
I’ll wait for ther Feds to switch to Vista before I’ll even consider it.
"Security Through Obscurity."
Oh, I’m sure vista will be the norm once everyone “catches up” with it’s querks.
That seems to be the microsoft way, release an OS then play catch up with drivers and patches, then finally, after about 5 years when everyone finally gets their computers working, release another OS.
With each release, you have less privacy too. But I guess that’s the general idea that the Global government Marxists to be sure of, nobody can hide from the gestapo.
My VMWare virtual machines run much better with Xandros Linux (based on Debian) as the host OS. I had already tested 2003 Server.
Fedora Core lamp 5 OS is a popular Linux distribution. It’s geared for web page development which is probably why
I’m still debating to myself over which distribution to get.
I think that’s the hardest thing to do with linux, making up your mind which distribution is right for you. :o)
So you’re saying it costs money to be ignorant?
Then I’d say you’re right! ;)
No probs with Vista on my laptop and desktop. Looking forward to more directx 10 games. World in Conflict is vastly improved with it already.
I LOL’D
Somebody in Japan has created a script that will boot impressively fast, 7.39 seconds on my fx-55 machine.
It’s more a demo to show his work but it runs Firefox that is loaded with the boot.
It appears it’s written by a geek in Japan who wants people to test and let the system send the results back to him.
The fastest boot so far appears to be a P4 2.66 boot in 6.14 seconds per his website.
It boots OK on several of my machines but failed to establish an internet connection on 2 others.
I’m limited for time so I haven’t attempted to do any checking/debug & don’t care to either as I’m more a user than a techie.
The Website for info and download is www.machboot.com
Download is 250 MB and I had to also use mirror2 instead of the first choice.
It’s fun to watch it boot...well, it’s fun for my little mind at least.... and as a finance/accounting person I like the little graph and stat thing he creates/displays based on the boot.
Depends on the version I guess. I have Vista business. Most of my problems with it are connections, but it does other weird things too.
Got home premium on both.
I get the occasional weird IE7 crash.. But not that much more than XP. I really don’t find anything about it to recommend XP over it. I really like Vista’s networking interface.
Step 1: I installed the 'NX Client' on my laptop and began accessing a remote Linux desktop from Windows. This allowed me to switch my email from Windows to Linux, which was the key to starting the move.
Step 2: I've installed Linux on a separate computer that I keep under my desk, with the keyboard and mouse on a shared K/V switch so that no additional desktop real estate was used.
Step 3: I'll keep a single central Windows machine in my office for those things that require Windows - and then have Linux exclusively on my desktop. At this point I'll begin taking our handful of employees through the same process.
I thought MacOS was built around the Mach kernel???
the time you spend on Linux will be in setting it up and making it work - in the process you will have learned something about computers.
contrast that with the equal amount of time you *will* spent on a Microsoft machine waiting for it to reboot to install a simple configuration change? or rebooting it after it hangs or bluescreens? or learning a completely arbitrary sequence of folder pull-downs and keyclicks in order to configure something? does that sequence teach you *ANYTHING* about what is actually happening on the computer? its more like supersticious behaviour in my book
it is moronic to claim time invested in learning Linux is "worthless" -- putting up with Microsoft's poorly implemented products is a true example of wasted time...
I’d say just games. I use OpenOffice on my Linux box and have no problems swapping docs with Window’s users.
I don’t know, guys, you are awfully contemptuous of non-techie people in the “if they can’t figure out how to get online, they shouldn’t be there” kind of mode.
Why must it be one or the other? They make cameras that can be used by both techno-idiots and techno-geeks. Why can’t they find a way to do that with computers.
LOL...as always MF...great graphic!
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