So, is this discussion off topic or what? This must be the 50th time that I have had to delete this same discussion. What say you give it a rest?
Please? Chuck AA5J Rick W wrote: > > Hi Stelios, > > The reason you may not have heard from others with their difficulties > with Linux, is that they there are few who have even tried and those who > have may not talk about it. I take the middle path, where I see the > value of both OS's, but the value of Microsoft is still very large, at > least here in the U.S. As Andy can tell you, I had a lot of trouble for > several years with Linux not able to run my 22" Samsung SyncMaster > 225BW, particularly with my higher end AMD/Nvidia HP computer. I have > been able to run openSolaris from a live disk, not that I would plan to > move toward that OS, HI. > > They always tell you to make sure that you try the live disk so > everything can be checked out to work properly. Then when it does not, > they tell you to install the OS and do the various configurations, > downloads of software, etc. to get it to work. Most people have no > interest in doing that and never will. I have spent many, many hundreds > of hours with Linux, partly because I was going to figure this out and > get it to work. It has been quite expensive compared with Microsoft > products because of books and some commercial software that I have > bought to try and get a better understanding. But after considerable > interfacing with support groups and even to the point of getting a > commercial product sent to me from the company, I could not match > Microsoft. I eventually realized that if techy types like me are having > this much trouble, it just is not going to go anywhere with average > users, and that includes ham users too, if they can't get something to > work well. Not just getting by, but with good usability. > > More recently I have tried live disks of Mandriva One 2009, Ubuntu 8-10, > openSUSE, fedora 10,and others and found that although I could get the > resolution correct for the monitor from some (not all), on my lower end > emachines computer (2.4 GHz/512 Meg RAM), the font rendering of all > Linux that I have seen thus far is inferior to WinXP and Vista. And I > have also found that Vista is better than WinXP. Some will outright deny > it, but I have had some agree that, yes Linux is not quite as good with > font rendering, but that doesn't bother them because they want the > freedom from MS, etc. I don't have any problem with MS at all as long as > the product works well and supports what I am doing with computers. > > I have a brother who is an administrator for a well known University > system and he runs many Linux and MS servers and has no problem with > either. When I mention the desktop, he laughs and says that he would > never use Linux for that, although he might use Apple Mac OSX. > > For me, (not others perhaps, but for me), if I switch to another OS, > there has to be a reason other than I hate someone. It just has to work > as well as what I am currently using and have additional advantages. > Linux may have advantages in terms of viruses and malware, however a > prudent person will still run security software on any system. But most > all the programs that people like to use on Linux, which are generally > free as in beer and free as in speech, are also available on Microsoft > OS's too. For casual users who need mostly the web and an office suite, > they could use Firefox and Open Office on either platform. For those who > have specialty interests, especially ham radio, then MS has the edge > since the best ham software is often only available on Microsoft OS's. > Sometimes the only software. > > Since Microsoft OS's are typically pre-installed on computers here in > the U.S., I don't see any change coming soon where you would buy a > computer without an OS. Even the eeePC which Linux had a lock on the > market for many months, is now mostly MS. If it can not beat MS on that > platform, when will it? I see Linux gaining momentum in developing > nations and since they make up the majority of the world's population, > that has to eventually cause the tide to shift toward Linux. But that > could be a decade or two away here in the U.S? > > For PSKmail, my expectation is that you need a sort of "critical mass" > of users. That can not happen here without running the client on > Microsoft OS's. Even then there are competing systems depending upon > what you want for capabilities. Even for those who are Linux averse, it > is not unreasonable that someone who wants to run a server could get > that to work. I know that I could do it, as at one time I had fldigi > running under Linux. (It did take quite a bit of effort and tremendous > help from Dave, W1HKJ who is simply outstanding with his support). > > One area that you mention with the use of ARM based computing, or other > low cost, low power systems, has to be the strongest value of Linux at > this time. It can scale up or down as needed and Microsoft can not match > it on the low end. > > It will prove to be very interesting to see how things play out. Maybe > by the end of this year we will have a better idea of the direction? > > 73, > > Rick, KV9U > > Stelios Bounanos wrote: > > > > > > Rick, I must say that I can't remember the last time I heard of someone > > who has tried so hard and for so long and has been as disappointed as > > you. Is your hardware not supported? Are there problems with the > > software? Have you asked on the forums or mailing lists? Filed bug > > reports or feature requests? > > > > Q: When will Linux be ready for me? > > A: Sooner if you help. > > > > BTW, users "overwhelmingly choose" the preinstalled OS. > > > > > > Back on topic... there seem to be around a dozen pskmail servers on HF > > in Europe; apparently sufficient for pskmail's (increasing) userbase. > > How many would you need in North America? I think that whatever the > > answer may be, there must be enough hams there who either use Linux > > already, or aren't afraid they might get the Linux cooties :-) > > > > As a case in point, I count just less than 1000 unique callsigns in the > > list of IRLP nodes in the U.S. This tells me that Linux isn't going to > > be an obstacle to pskmail adoption in the U.S. or anywhere else. > > Particularly if someone comes up with some kind of pskmail appliance, > > e.g. a low-cost ARM-based device such as the ones I mentioned earlier. > > > > > > 73, > > Stelios, M0GLD. > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > > > Announce your digital presence via our Interactive Sked Page at > > http://www.obriensweb.com/sked <http://www.obriensweb.com/sked> > > > > > > Recommended software: Winwarbler, FLDIGI, DM780, or Multipsk > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > > Version: 8.0.238 / Virus Database: 270.11.38/2037 - Release Date: > 04/02/09 06:09:00 > > > > > >
