Posted on 10/05/2002 3:22:29 AM PDT by MadIvan
That's simply not true. It's easy to use today. In an ordinary office environment the workers never get involved in exotic issues, they just do the job. Linux works just great. It is easy to set up (nowdays) and the applications are as easy to use as are Microsofts.
>until 1) they standardize on a single user interface (no more KDE vs. Gnome)
That has nothing to do with anything. When a company selects one interface, that's the end of the issue. And they both work fine.
>and the OS gets Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) automated configuration support.
Now that's just silly. The vaaaast majority of desktop users do not even know these features exist, or if they do, they don't know what they mean. A total non-issue.
I've been using Linux on some machines from the very earliest days, and while it is not for everyone, it IS ready for prime time. The only potential issue you have anymore is the variety of software, and it's maturity.
Well, a couple of weeks ago I installed Mandrake on my laptop because it was painful for me to use the Windows ME that was already installed on it. I don't think Linux is painful at all but that is because I am accustomed to it. It was painful when I first tried it out. The most painful thing about Linux at first is there are so many choices. For example, there are about 10 popular windows managers and you will probably want to try each one out until you find the one you like best. At first I used KDE which is a very nice Windows Manager and Windows Environment. Now, I use WindowMaker which is a very simple, yet a highly configurable Windows Manager.
How would I operate a modem dial-up connection, for instance. Would my Netscape browser work? Would cut and paste still work?
I don't know about installing modems with Linux, but installing my lan connection is very easy and is all completed during installation.
Netscape is available for Linux but most people with Linux would choose Mozilla over Netscape. Netscape is built on Mozilla. In fact, I am using Mozilla right now. Mozilla is a great browser. Two things that make it better than IE for me is the ability to totally disable popup ads and tabbed browsing. Cut and paste works fine for what I use it for. For example I can cut text from my web browser and paste it into my text editor.
Could I still use MS Word and Excel?
Not sure about this. There are Windows emulators that allow you to run Windows programs (I think.). You could try out Open Office. I believe you can read/write in MSWORD format. Not sure if it has excel functionality.
Linux definately is not for everybody. If you want to try it out for the first time, I would recommend doing it on an old PC you have that no longer use. Or have a somebody that is experienced with Linux install it on an empty partition. As far as distributions, I would recommend Redhat or Mandrake.
Both. Just like windows you can do almost everything within your graphical environment assuming your using KDE. The command line is just a mouseclick or hot key away.
Frankly, I was quite happy with the old WordStar [I learned v1.0 on my Osborne I] where you used ^KB ^KK, etc to edit.
I agree. Linux isn't for everybody but it is a viable choice for most uses. As a developer, I can use Linux to do my work, yet I can still build cross-platform applications. It is not too hard to make programs that will run on Linux and Windows if you use Qt, wxWindows or Fox-Toolkit.
I briefly considered the Gnu Public License for my sofware. Then I laughed myself silly and decided to make money instead. I'm a small business developing an app, and I'd like to sell it, instead of giving away the store with the GPL.I'm a program manager for a sucessful software product. I've yet to hear of a compelling reason from the Linux crowd to slit my throat.
For example, there are about 10 popular windows managers and you will probably want to try each one out until you find the one you like best. At first I used KDE which is a very nice Windows Manager and Windows Environment. Now, I use WindowMaker which is a very simple, yet a highly configurable Windows Manager.Site is partially down. "Gallery" section responds with:
2002: Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/tmp/mysql.sock' (2)
Fatal server error: Could not open default font 'fixed'It's been like that for 6 months. Made two stabs at trying to fix it, but guess I'll try again soon. But since I use it for Apache, BIND, PHP, MySQL and other server stuff and it's only a shell, it hasn't been priority one.
Like what? You mean actually not publicly complaining that MS doesn't live up to its rhetoric? Or perhaps not talking angrily about the hours upon hours of precious free time wasted fixing MS products every time they break rather than actually enjoying their time off from work playing on the computer.
Frankly, I spent 10 years of my life in Sales. When you sell people a turd and know it, they don't come back to buy from you again. To some narrow minded software whores, it somehow becomes a religious act to actually speak the truth with regards to Microsoft products. We're supposed to just line up like good little THX's and not rock the boat. Sorry, I'd just as soon spend my time making truthful statements and portraying my anger right along with the rest of the growing numbers of people who are sick of giving MS $200 dollars for their latest attempt at pretending they fixed something.
I'll link the L0pht presentation from Beyond Hope again for those who haven't heard it. It's from 2600 and posted at hope.net and well worth the listen. If you think you know how MS reacts to being told about problems with their product, this will either confirm it or break the rose colored glasses. At any rate, have fun. I'm done with MS. They will never get another dollar of my money. And that's not a small amount from a guy who has had legit ms licenses on all 8 of his old network machines for all their software. Still do even though I'm only running 4 now. And for some reason their irrelevant now - Redhat doesn't require ms licensing LOL.
There are ways to make money with the GNU public license. Here are a few examples.
1. Sell support for your software rather than just the software.
2. Sell information. Example: release a stock charting program under GPL and sell the stock data.
3. Ask for donations to support your continued development of your product.
I am sure there are other examples. But just because you use linux doesn not mean you have to release all your software under the GPL. If you use GPL code in your program, you do. But there is also the LGPL which allows you to make commercial software when linked against LGPL libraries. GPL doesn't necessarily mean "work for free".
Hey, you are easy to please. Just take any old PC and (if you have hi-speed) download several different distributions and try them out free. Sometimes one distribution will work better than another on a given old computer.
Otherwise, Red Hat is very good, Mandrake is a little better IMHO, and the rest work fine too. Installation of Linux nowdays is as automatic as installing Windows. Installing the user software can be a little harder if not selected as part of the initial install.
If you buy Linux, be sure you get a distribution package that includes some user software with it (like StarOffice) to give it all a fair shake. ALWAYS buy the latest version. With your simple demands you can't go wrong.
1. Sell support for your software rather than just the software.
2. Sell information. Example: release a stock charting program under GPL and sell the stock data.
3. Ask for donations to support your continued development of your product.
Yeah, yeah, I know all of that, it just doesn't make sense for what I'm working on. It works for some businesses, but not for mine unfortunately.
- Personally I think that tech support should be free. After all, a well written app should be easy to use and shouldn't require that much support.
- I don't have any data to sell (the users supply their own data). Not a bad idea though for other kinds of apps.
- Donations would be nice but somehow I don't think that's going to cover development costs.
The GPL works for some kinds of projects but it's not the best choice for everyone though.
Stan Kubrick
Thanks. I FedEX'd five of them to my relatives. We're setting up an 801.11b network for our bridge club. My grandma had problems with LILO in Redhat 7.1 but maybe she'll get the latest rpm patches to work.
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