Linux steps into the limelight

BBC News ^ | February 1, 2004 | Clark Boyd

[NCjim]

Ping

[rdb3]

I shook up the world! I shook up the world!

I already know I'm pretty. I use Linux. And I shook up the world! ;-)

[rdb3]

The Penguin Ping.

Wanna be Penguified? Just holla!

Got root?

[Nick Danger]

By the way, folks, on Friday, February 20^th, the Houston Civic Symphony will be performing an all-Brahms program, including Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op.90.

Founded thirty four seasons ago, the Houston Civic has had a two-fold purpose: to present great classical music to the Houston Community, and to provide a creative outlet for talented musicians. The members are engaged in a broad spectrum of professional occupations and share a common joy in performing great orchestral literature before appreciative audiences. All performances are free.

[Terpfen]

I'll use Linux when a) .zip is ported to the OS (really, who the hell thought up this .tar.gz crap?); b) I don't have to recompile the OS to update it; c) someone produces a guide explaining just what the hell the installation options are, what they mean, and what they control; d) someone explains how to install drivers.

I made a 3GB partition on my Windows hard drive and installed Red Hat once upon a time. All seemed well until I found out I screwed up the installation options, so I had to go back and re-do the entire thing. Once that was done... I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to install my DSL modem drivers. That was it for my Linux days, and will be it until a paradigm shift occurs in the Linux support community.

[Nick Danger]

I'll use Linux when

I know what you mean. This here is the Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra.

If you can believe this, it's a volunteer orchestra, consisting of professional musicians who congregate in Boulder for a week each January purely for what they call "the love of great symphonic literature." They come from around Colorado and the nation.

I mean... who cares? What's with this Mahler guy? I'lll get on a plane and fly to Colorado when these guys learn how to play the Moody Blues.

[Terpfen]

While I detect your sarcasm, you miss the point of my post: Linux isn't ready for prime-time. If it wants to become THE primary computer OS and supplant Windows, it needs to change from being a programmer's haven to a user's haven.

Give me Windows' features with Linux's stability and light size and I'll be happy. Otherwise, go away.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

That was it for my Linux days, and will be it until a paradigm shift occurs in the Linux support community.

Paradigm shift.

Knoppix boots from a CD and configures all hardware drivers, even on most laptops.

It runs from a RAM drive and a temporary virtual memory file on your hard drive, using empty space on the existing file system.

It even finds my TV tuner card automatically.

Plus, the Konqueror file browser automatically unzips archives.

[Nick Danger]

you miss the point of my post:

I understood it perfectly. You wish to express your dissatisfaction with the performance of people who are volunteering their time to do something that they enjoy.

I had the same experience with these MahlerFest guys. They told me that they weren't going to play the Moody Blues just because I wanted them to. I warned them that this would forever condemn them to a niche existence, and they told me they understoood that. That's why they all have jobs as studio musicians in L.A. or Las Vegas playing show tunes and TV commercial jingles. The Mahler thing is what they do to impress each other in their spare time.

[lelio]

a) .zip is ported to the OS (really, who the hell thought up this .tar.gz crap?);

There is a zip and unzip for linux -- I use it frequently for downloaded .zip's. I believe .jar java files are just .zip's.

.tar.gz came about as there was a tar file (a collection of files one after another) first, and then along came compress / gzip. Plus it follows along with the unix philosophy of doing one thing and doing it well -- you can put these together in a pipeline. Also there's a "tar -xzf" and "tar -xjf" options as well to do it in one go.

b) I don't have to recompile the OS to update it;

That is a pain, and is one of the reasons I wait around for a new RPM for the kernel. There should a) be an easy way to tell the kernel to build itself without supplying all the options and b) a built in way to make RPMs yourself -- the one open source project I found to make rpms worked okay but didn't always work.

[Dimensio]

I just built a new machine. I have a Linux install that occupies a 120GB IDE drive, but I manged to damage one of the pins when putting it in. As such, I'm stuck in Windows XP until I can get the drive repaired. Waah!

[Dominic Harr]

You wish to express your dissatisfaction with the performance of people who are volunteering their time to do something that they enjoy.

That is debate as an art form.

I don't know if I've ever seen a point made so artfully.

</hat's off>

[The Duke]

One important distinction that even many in the technology realm overlook these days is the fundamental difference between workstations and servers. Because Linux is not sufficiently mature to serve in the workstation role for many does not diminish it's very strong appeal in the server market - where it will probably dominate in the future.

And, once the beachhead is established in ServerWorld, it's only a matter of time before WorkstationWorld falls as well.

[antiRepublicrat]

While I detect your sarcasm, you miss the point of my post: Linux isn't ready for prime-time. If it wants to become THE primary computer OS and supplant Windows, it needs to change from being a programmer's haven to a user's haven.

Even Linux admits Linux isn't ready for the general public desktop. It's moving, but it's not there yet.

Give me Windows' features with Linux's stability and light size and I'll be happy.

I think you just described a Mac, except for the light size.

[Justa]

Re: Hard drive. If the pin was pushed in so it cannot make a connection just use needle-nosed pliers to pull it firmly back out, then re-install the cable. Been there, done that.

Re: IBM's use of Linux: These are just some of IBM's Linux solutions.

IBM is committed to Linux. Imo it's all about profits and control.

[Dimensio]

I've attempted that. I'm not sure if the pin is just bent in too far or if part of it broke off.

I've a friend who can handle it regardless of what needs to be done, provided that the drive survives the shipment.

[Terpfen]

"I think you just described a Mac, except for the light size."

Nah. Macs don't have the support. I'd like to play Doom 3, Half-life 2 et al sometime before 2006.

[Terpfen]

"Paradigm shift."

I'd like to know more before I download and install it, such as how I'm to handle new games without Linux client ports, basic information on GUIs... you know, basic things that everyone takes for granted.

[zeugma]

Nick, I don't know if you are into them or not, but Anonymous 4 is going to be performing in Houston this spring or summer. I plan to be there for the show. It should be awesome.