For sourcing the newest additions to my .sig. Nice one squire. I'll be taking a closer look at a Linux install soon after seeing Muck's set-up. -- Lozzo ZZR1100D, GPZ500S, CB250RS x 3 BOTAFOT#57/70a, BOTAFOF#57, two#49, MIB#22, TCP#7, BONY#9, ANORAK#9, DIAABTCOD#14, UKRMT5BB, IBW#013, MIRTTH#15a/16, BotToS#8, GP#2, SBS#10, SH#3, DFV#14, KoBv#3. Url for ukrm newbies : http://www.ukrm.net/faq/ukrmscbt.html www.mjkleathers.com
Bear fascinated us all by saying... Well, it's a bit like windows, but easier and more versatile without the built in crash feature. I liked it. -- Lozzo ZZR1100D, GPZ500S, CB250RS x 3 BOTAFOT#57/70a, BOTAFOF#57, two#49, MIB#22, TCP#7, BONY#9, ANORAK#9, DIAABTCOD#14, UKRMT5BB, IBW#013, MIRTTH#15a/16, BotToS#8, GP#2, SBS#10, SH#3, DFV#14, KoBv#3. Url for ukrm newbies : http://www.ukrm.net/faq/ukrmscbt.html www.mjkleathers.com
Bear fascinated us all by saying... Why are you asking me? Why are you asking me? Why are you asking me? -- Lozzo ZZR1100D, GPZ500S, CB250RS x 3 BOTAFOT#57/70a, BOTAFOF#57, two#49, MIB#22, TCP#7, BONY#9, ANORAK#9, DIAABTCOD#14, UKRMT5BB, IBW#013, MIRTTH#15a/16, BotToS#8, GP#2, SBS#10, SH#3, DFV#14, KoBv#3. Url for ukrm newbies : http://www.ukrm.net/faq/ukrmscbt.html www.mjkleathers.com
Bear fascinated us all by saying... <looks under desk, under chair and over shoulder> Where? -- Lozzo ZZR1100D, GPZ500S, CB250RS x 3 BOTAFOT#57/70a, BOTAFOF#57, two#49, MIB#22, TCP#7, BONY#9, ANORAK#9, DIAABTCOD#14, UKRMT5BB, IBW#013, MIRTTH#15a/16, BotToS#8, GP#2, SBS#10, SH#3, DFV#14, KoBv#3. Url for ukrm newbies : http://www.ukrm.net/faq/ukrmscbt.html www.mjkleathers.com
In short, while I think it's a good idea, it's still not for everyone. <deep breath for long version> Well, I daresay one (or possibly more) of the many flavours have got it so all you need do is put a cd in and click install. However, getting a program of your choice to install/compile/make/crash because you've got the wrong kernel build (and or modules)/refuse to run because of some obscure setting that's (un)set in an equally obscure file is a different weekend of "fun". Then you give up and try to uninstall it. Oh joy, cubed. I'm sure I must've been doing something wrong, but imagine the fun I had trying to get 3 programs installed and then talking to each other. I don't turn that computer on much anymore. And I've still not found a set of drivers for my ADSL modem that I can just install and then have it auto-connect when something else on the network tries to. No, you've got to set settings in text files, then some more in other files, blah, etc. Linux - the "get a man in" OS.
I'm not sure if this is still true (was it ever?) but it does manage resources much better. Err.. yes. I'm a numpty and I've been running the RedHat distro's since RH5.2 was released (which must be a few years ago now). Things are a lot easier nowadays, and it's improving all the time. Something's are still a pain in the arse such as, for example, .wmv files. As they (m$) won't release the source code, Linux users are unable to view this file type. Thankfully, the more astute webmasters are now using cross platform file types. Check out Open Office whilst you're playing with Linux (not sure if this included with most distro's but it's downloadable for free) and does a good a job as m$ Office and handles m$ doc's well. The reverse cannot be said, of course! ;-) HTH!
Mark Trotman fascinated us all by saying... You lost me after the word 'Download' -- Lozzo ZZR1100D, GPZ500S, CB250RS x 3 BOTAFOT#57/70a, BOTAFOF#57, two#49, MIB#22, TCP#7, BONY#9, ANORAK#9, DIAABTCOD#14, UKRMT5BB, IBW#013, MIRTTH#15a/16, BotToS#8, GP#2, SBS#10, SH#3, DFV#14, KoBv#3. Url for ukrm newbies : http://www.ukrm.net/faq/ukrmscbt.html www.mjkleathers.com
You can download OO for windoze too (www.openoffice.org) see what you think. I ran a small business and received loads of m$ files from customers and suppliers alike...... no problems found with word, spreadsheets etc. This is something I don't do so I can't give you a definite answer. Linux features something called wine (unfortunately, not the drinkable kind!). I know for a fact that you can run /some/ PC games under wine on Linux (Tomb Raider seems to stick in my mind). It may be worth googling for "linux games wine" for clues about this requirement. As an aside, my only toy with wine was to download WinZip and this ran fine. HTH!
Mark Trotman fascinated us all by saying... Not if I have to make a choice between two things, no. It all gets too confusing. -- Lozzo '95 Kawasaki ZZR1100D, '97 Kawasaki GPZ500S, Honda CB250RS x 3 Big Zed Little Zed Dead sheds New to ukrm? : www.ukrm.net/faq/ukrmscbt.html "He's like a child, only not as clever"
All I know, is that when playing DVDs on Linux, my laptop processor fan doesn't come on, and a Seti work unit took 11 hours less to compute. Heh.. as with anything, it's easy if you know how. -- Muck Bandit 600n(With added ducktape); CG125(Holy transport) "I've got a CG125, and I'm not affraid to use it." DS#1 ; DOMO#1 ; SH#2 ; ICQ: 166144431 Remove _TEETH_ to e-mail
Hmmm.... not chained to a bloated O/S that is not secure (in XP's case, deliberately). It costs a fortune and crashes at will [1] Low cost base, continually updated and enhanced by thousands of developers worldwide. Lots of specialist software available. High level of security as it's network based. Oh! I /can/ be evangelical but in my experience it doesn't help to "froth at the mouth". Much better to help and advise in any way I can. If I can't, there's always my best friend (google). I despise micro$oft with a vengeance! [1] That's my experience, anyway. Cheers!
OK, download gnoppix then! In my experience, Gnome appears to be the favoured desktop environment. There are others of course but as with many things "Linux", it's up to the individual to tailor the way it looks/feels/works. You aren't stuck with one desktop like windoze (this may have changed in the time I've been away from that O/S!) You could always use the command line (remember DOS?) which despite a number of years using Linux, still confuses me, sometimes. One strictly for the nerds! My analogy of this is, it's like having a bike. You know how to start it and stop it but unless you /really/ want to know what makes it go you don't meddle with it to any great extent. I think I've got as far as changing the plugs and oil so far. :-D HTH
That's fair enough, but an upgrade to the next generation will unless you find yourself in a similar situation re: generous employer. Not really, providing you can read and understand manuals and help files when you need to. If I have a bitch with Linux, it's the quality of these manuals and help files although things are improving on this front as the O/S becomes more popular and, dare I say it, more mainstream. It is shedding its nerdy image. I can appreciate that. I can only work from /my/ experiences of m$ products. If you'll allow me to indulge you in a story for a moment or two you may be able to see why. I ran 3 3.1 3.11, 95 & NT4 before I made the wholesale change to Linux. In every single case (over a period of a number of years) I found windoze to be flaky. In the days before I ran an intranet here, I used NT4 as it was supposed to be more stable than anything else around at the time. I was using a 28k (remember those?) dial up account but NT4 use to blue screen on a very regular basis. I'd dial up, start work, blue screen, dial up, start work, blue screen etc etc..... I got so pissed off one Sunday morning when NT4 crashed for the umpteenth time that session that I simply opened my office window and threw every floppy, CD, manual and every other m$ related thing I could lay my hands on down into the garden below. SWMBO thought I'd finally flipped as kilos of plastic showered down! I then proceeded to wipe the hard drives and that was that. A phone call to a good friend who's very proficient when it comes to nix flavours and I had Linux running later that day. I have never had a m$ machine in the house since (despite pleas from the kids because they can't run the m$ chat client and talk to their mates). All three of them (ages from 11 to 18) use Linux on a daily basis for their school/college projects & homework. They listen to music, burn CD's, print, use graphics, word processing, spreadsheets, & chat packages. They surf the web, send and receive email etc etc... I now have 6 fully operational and permanently web connected machines [1] which run 24/7. They only get rebooted when they have a new kernel applied or if I need to upgrade the hardware. Uptimes are now counted in weeks and months rather than minutes or hours I wholeheartedly agree they are all just a means to and end. If you are happy with your O/S in every respect then fine. I wasn't but now I am. I have very few security fears (I can open all those virus ridden emails without any concerns and my separate firewall boxes do the rest), great front ends and just a touch of nerdyness makes me a happy bunny. ;-) Cheers!
There is a govt initiative to get businesses to adopt OpenSource software because of the cost savings involved. ( www.openadvantage.org - the PDF dowload crashes <g>) What they haven't worked out, is that if something goes wrong with MS products, someone not too far away generally has an idea how to fix it. If there is a problem using linux, Fred from accounts will probably not have come across the error before. Personally, I wouldn't touch Linux at the moment because its not right for me.
There /should/ be a govt. initiative to get schools off of m$ (and every other govt. dept. that's using it). I wonder how much per annum this costs the Countries tax payers? Perhaps I can this withhold this portion of my taxes in a similar way to the anti-war campaigners (or was it nuke weapons?) did not so long ago. Fairy nuff, but (IMHO) you might change your mind if you had it running for a while. Cheers!
AOL. I did an experiment the other week and set up a Mandrake 9.1 install on a laptop identical to my normal work one. I then did development work on it for two weeks. It crashed more than the Windows 2k one, ie it crashed more than never. Arguably it should be. But given then amount of chrome the like of KDE and Gnome have to make it Windows-user-friendly, it isn't. No, not yet. Getting there though.
