Linux-Advocacy Digest #627, Volume #34 Sat, 19 May 01 18:13:04 EDT
Contents:
Re: Rather humorous posting on news.com commentry forum: (Rob S. Wolfram)
Re: Dell Meets Estimates (cjt & trefoil)
Re: Linux beats Win2K (again) (Snaggler)
Re: Linux beats Win2K (again) ("Gary Hallock")
Re: Linux beats Win2K (again) (Snaggler)
Re: Linux beats Win2K (again) ("Gary Hallock")
Re: Linux beats Win2K (again) ("Gary Hallock")
Re: Linux beats Win2K (again) (Snaggler)
Re: Mandrake 8 sets the standard - for Desktop users anyway. (Peter
=?ISO-8859-1?Q?K=F6hlmann?=)
Re: Microsoft - WE DELETE YOU! (Snaggler)
Re: Linux beats Win2K (again) ("Mart van de Wege")
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Rob S. Wolfram)
Subject: Re: Rather humorous posting on news.com commentry forum:
Date: 19 May 2001 21:04:02 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Matthew Gardiner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
[snip quote from news.com]
>Doesn't the above just summarise the problem with the populous.
Not quite. There is much difference in the various kind of {end,l}users.
Now, I really had to share this humorous piece of Userology, posted by
Calle Dybedahl to the Scary Devil Monastery back in 1998.
The really sad part is, of most of these categories I know real life
examples...
<quote>
USEROLOGY
=========
On Different Kinds of Users and How to Spot Them
The Common Idiot
================
The basic user. Mostly just sits in front of its monitor and drools
over some pornsite.
Typical dialogue:
U: "Machine no work."
S: "What's wrong with it?"
U: "Machine no work."
S: "Ok. Which machine do you use?"
U: "Machine no work."
S: "Right, I heard you. Where is your machine?"
U: "Machine no work!"
S: "*sigh* I'll come with you back to your room."
U: "Machine no work?"
S: "Go back to room."
U: "Go back. Room."
Frequency of appearance:
*Much* too often.
Suggested treatment:
Kill.
The Mumbler on the Treshold
===========================
Appears at the sysadmin's doorstep and speaks very, very softly.
Sometimes it's possible to get it to speak up a little. Very often,
it'll go away at the slightest provocation.
Typical dialogue:
U: "mumblemumblenetscapemumblemumblemumble"
S: "Excuse me?"
U: "mumblemumblemubleservicepackmumble"
S: "Sorry, I can't hear you."
U: "...can't start Netscape..."
S: "Try clicking on the Netscape icon."
U: "mumblemumblemumblemumblemumblemumble"
Frequency of appearance:
Much too often.
Suggested treatment:
Kill.
The Rabid Guesser
=================
Barges into the sysadmin's room and starts spouting nonsense, usually
in a quite aggressive fashion. Has picked up a technical term or two
somehow, and blames everything on those terms.
Typical dialogue:
U: "You have to do something about the collisions on the SCSI
channel!"
S: "What?"
U: "It can't go on like this, you must fix it, now!"
S: "What was the problem again?"
U: "The SCSI doesn't work, that's what. And it's slow."
S: "How can it be slow if it doesn't work?"
U: "I don't know, you're the expert, not I."
S: "What's the problem?"
U: "It's slow. Didn't you listen when I told you?"
S: "*What* is slow?"
...and so on until the sysadmin grows tired, follows the user to
its workplace and discovers that it has pulled the network cable
out of the workstation. Why it started talking about SCSI is
never revealed.
Frequency of appearance:
Much too often.
Suggested treatment:
Kill.
The Economist
=============
This is a *really* nasty one.
Typical dialogue:
U: "So, what are the options for the new server?"
S: "Well, first we have the Dungheap MT. It's larger than our
computer room, needs the Niagara Falls to power it, it's
ugly, it laughs evilly if you get too close to its console,
it reeks of brimstone, Greenpeace and Exxon have made a
joint statement cursing the moment it was created, it's
illegal to import to most of the civilised world, it has a
habit of sending nasty email to CEOs, its mother was a
hamster and its father smelled of elderberries. And it
doesn't do what we need anyway. Secondly, we have the
Frotzpock 3000. It's small, elegant, doubles as a coatrack,
draws its power from the Earth's magnetic field, it sings
cute little songs, spreads happiness wherever it goes,
cleans the floor, washes the dishes, rubs your back, reminds
you of your wife's birthday, does everything we need
perfectly and without error and it only costs $5 more than
the Dungheap."
U: "Ah, the choice is clear, then. We go with the Dungheap MT."
S: "WHAT?!"
U: "Well, you *did* say it is cheaper, didn't you?"
Frequency of appearance:
A handful per company, usually.
Suggested treatment:
Take off and nuke the site from orbit (it's the only way to be sure).
The Firm Believer in Trade Magazines
====================================
May be difficult to tell apart from the Common Idiot, but the
differences will be apparent if it ever ends up in a discussion about
what sort of equipment to purchase.
Typical dialogue:
S: "...so you see that the Frotzpock is the natural choice for us."
U: "I read a very bad review of the Frotzpock in a trade
magazine. The reviewers had great problems opening the box
it came in."
S: "Well, that won't be a problem for us. I *do* know how to
open cardboard boxes."
U: "They much preferred the Dungheap 89. That one didn't need
any stupid box, it just oozed in under the door."
S: "Er, the Dungheap doesn't even do what we need the new
machine for."
U: "...and DungUser Magazine said that the new version's father
only smelled *slightly* of elderberries!"
Frequency of appearance:
Much too often.
Suggested treatment:
Kill.
The Incessant Talker
====================
Appears at the sysadmin's door, starts describing some sort of problem
and just never stops.
Typical dialogue:
U: "Hello I hope I'm not interrupting you I have this problem
you see I can't print pictures from Netscape anymore even
though I could do that yesterday and the day before and even
the day before that but not last Wednesday for some reason I
think it may have had something to do with the blackout that
day don't you printers don't usually work very well without
electricity do they neither do computers for that matter I
couldn't log in at all until the power came back I must have
tried at least a million times I think well maybe not quite
that many but ten thousand at least my keyboard was all worn
down so I couldn't see what it said on the keys any more so
the day after I went down to Office Supplies to get a new
one and they said I couldn't just get one I had to fill in a
form first have you heard anything that stupid don't they
realise that I'm very important to the company and do a lot
of valuable work here without me nothing would get done I
tell you and of course I told them in no uncertain terms but
they just wouldn't listen to me and kept insisting that I
needed that stupid form so in the end I went to get a form
but discovered that in order to get the form you had to send
a mail to someone and I couldn't send mail since my keyboard
didn't work can you believe that eventually after two days I
managed to type out the mail using only my nose you can't
believe how hard that was it took almost a whole day and
after I sent the mail I was told that I didn't really have
to send it anyway since our departement has a stack of those
forms lying in the tray between the printer and the copying
machine so I went over to Bob and asked him hey Bob do you
know where we keep the printer and the copying machine and
he told me that he thought they were being repaired at the
moment so I couldn't use them anyway but I told him that I
weren't going to use them I just wanted to know where they
were so that I could go here and get..."
Frequency of appearance:
Much too common.
Suggested treatment:
Let it be. It's fairly easy to ignore, and as long as it's there
no other users can get in.
The Fixer
=========
Suffers from the delusion that it is capable of fixing problems by
itself, thus turning mishaps into fullblown disasters. Often
masquerades as a sysadmin.
Typical dialogue:
U: "The mailserver was running slowly, so I thought I'd have a
look at it. I saw that it was really busy relaying mail, so
I thought I'd remove some old processes that nobody used any
more. But as soon as I killed this really old process kalled
'init' the machine crashed!"
Frequency of appearance:
Much too common.
Suggested treatment:
Kill.
The Drone With The Write-Once Brain
===================================
A fact once got stuck in its brain. Since then it uses said fact for
everything.
Typical dialogue:
U: "My machine is slow. There is a large process running on my
system. Kill it."
S: "Um, that's your X server. Do you *really* want me to kill
that? And it's not really that big, it's just fake memory."
U: "Yes. Kill it."
<Next day>
U: "My machine has crashed. There must be a large process
running. Kill it."
S: "How would I do that if the machine has crashed?"
U: "Yes. Kill it."
<The day after that>
U: "My machine is on fire. There must be a large process
running. Kill it."
S: "Don't you think it'd be better to call the fire brigade?"
U: "Yes. Kill it."
Frequency of appearance:
Much too common.
Suggested treatment:
Kill.
The User
========
If you find one of these, consider yourself *very* lucky.
Typical dialogue:
U: "Excuse me?"
S: "Yes?"
U: "I have a slight problem. I hope I'm not interrupting you?"
S: "Not at all. What's the problem?"
U: "It's the BogoGraphics package. I'm trying to use one of the
new functions in version three, but I can't get it to work.
I've checked that there is enough memory, the permissions on
all the files look correct and I installed it exactly
according to the instructions in the README file. I do get
an error message. It's not very informative, but I wrote it
down for you anyway. I tried looking it up in the manual,
but it's not there. And the FAQ doesn't say anything about
version three yet. Do you think you could have a look at it?"
S: "Marry me!"
Frequency of appearance:
Believed to be mythical.
Suggested treatment:
Don't let him/her get away!
</quote>
Cheers,
Rob
--
Rob S. Wolfram <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> OpenPGP key 0xD61A655D
The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore,
be regarded as a criminal offence.
-- E.W. Dijkstra, SIGPLAN Notices, Volume 17, Number 5
------------------------------
From: cjt & trefoil <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,misc.invest.stocks
Subject: Re: Dell Meets Estimates
Date: Sat, 19 May 2001 16:23:25 -0500
Jon Johansan wrote:
>
<snip>
> 2.. A 32-way Unisys ES7000 running the SAP Sales and Distribution
> benchmark achieved 18,500 SD users. This compares to the best Sun result of
> 23,000 SD users on a 64-way E10000. The Sun E10000 is at the end of its
> product life, while Unisys expects to further enhance the ES7000 with 900
> MHz processors in the very near future.
<snip>
Bingo. The successor to the E10000 will be along soon, and I expect it to
outperform the machine it replaces. So what was your point?
------------------------------
From: Snaggler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Linux beats Win2K (again)
Date: Sat, 19 May 2001 21:24:00 GMT
On Sat, 19 May 2001 19:21:39 GMT, Pete Goodwin
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Chris Ahlstrom wrote:
>
>>> For anyone who wants stoneage computing maybe.
>>
>> Or a great compiler, superior networking, reliability,
>> and much better security. Or a heritage of modular
>> tools to which Microsoft can only aspire to.
>
>Superior networking? Ah yes, that makes sense. Linux can't handle two
>network cards and DHCP on my machine.
>
>As for a heritage of tools... tried Delphi or Kylix yet? Oh, they're not
>Microsoft tools by the way.
Works on my server perfectly fine. You don't know how to configure it
and haven't bothered to research the subject. Where, by the way, did
TCP/IP stem from? Answer: the UNIX world. Another question: where did
the IOS on Cisco's networking products come from? Answer: the UNIX
world. Microsoft would still be using Netbeui if it weren't for their
piss-poor implementation of TCP/IP.
------------------------------
From: "Gary Hallock" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Linux beats Win2K (again)
Date: Sat, 19 May 2001 17:22:19 +0000
In article <AVzN6.8107$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Pete Goodwin"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Yet 1 million desktop machines (which includes a large majority of
> Windows machines) produces one that is bigger than only one
> supercomputer in the world.
>
Loosely coupling many PCs together across the phone lines is not the same
as a a closely coupled cluster. The communications overhead is much too
great to do many useful things. Where are the Windows machines that
can do weather prediction or simulate nuclear weapons?
Gary
------------------------------
From: Snaggler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Linux beats Win2K (again)
Date: Sat, 19 May 2001 21:29:58 GMT
On Sat, 19 May 2001 19:31:17 GMT, Pete Goodwin
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>T. Max Devlin wrote:
>
>>>In one small percentage of the whole market. Not enough.
>>
>> I would guess that you're the kind of wintroll, Pete, who would claim
>> the world would be a better place if there was only one company
>> producing everything.
>
>And a committee deciding standards works, does it? Sometimes standards like
>that lags behind the market. So whilst the standards body is agonising (or
>arguing) over a small point, the market is moving onto something bigger and
>better.
>
>You are, as usual, putting words into my mouth.
Here's Microsoft's version of standardization: If another company has
a protocol we want, let's make it Open Source; If we have a protocol
everyone else wants, let's keep it proprietary so everyone has to come
to us just for everything. You really fail to grasp the concept that
Microsoft is a predatory company and does not have the interests of
the computing masses in mind.
------------------------------
From: "Gary Hallock" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Linux beats Win2K (again)
Date: Sat, 19 May 2001 17:34:00 +0000
In article <YOzN6.8051$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Pete Goodwin"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> How easy would it be to install, I wonder. How many changes would be
> needed to make it work... I guess we'll never find out unless someone
> has the money.
>
> Curious that IBM are using their AIX not Linux.
>
Not curious at all. This project was contracted by the goverment years
ago. AIX was chosen long before IBM became interested in Linux. And
IBM had years of experience with using AIX on closely coupled systems
such as SP2. LoadLeveler and POE have not yet been ported to Linux.
Note that AIX 5.1 brings AIX closer to Linux. And if you look at the
software supported on ASCI White, you'll notice some GNU software.
Gary
------------------------------
From: "Gary Hallock" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Linux beats Win2K (again)
Date: Sat, 19 May 2001 17:37:39 +0000
In article <7JzN6.7982$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Pete Goodwin"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Superior networking? Ah yes, that makes sense. Linux can't handle two
> network cards and DHCP on my machine.
You're experience - not the norm. For me, Linux handles two network
cards, one static and one DHCP with no problem. It was W2K that
couldn't handle it in my case.
Gary
------------------------------
From: Snaggler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Linux beats Win2K (again)
Date: Sat, 19 May 2001 21:42:38 GMT
On Sat, 19 May 2001 19:20:25 GMT, Pete Goodwin
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>T. Max Devlin wrote:
>
>> A computer is a computer, and Linux is more advanced, technologically,
>> than Windows.
>
>Windows 9x maybe, but not so Windows 2000.
I'm not going to bother explaining why it is more advanced technology
because you probably wouldn't understand in the first place. If people
have only been exposed to winblows in their lives, it seems like the
greatest technology possible, even when it's crashing on them.
>Can Linux do 3D sound yet? It's built into Windows but not so easy on Linux.
OSS does it. Evaluating an OS on whether it can support 3d sound or
not is pretty silly, but sure, it can be done.
http://www.4front-tech.com/
>>>Something that is better than Windows.
>>
>> So you will admit that a) Windows sucks, and b) Windows has no
>> competition, but not c) Microsoft illegally monopolizes. Is that it?
>
>Nope.
>
>> Please stop putting words on the newsgroup.
>
>Why should I?
------------------------------
From: Peter =?ISO-8859-1?Q?K=F6hlmann?= <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Mandrake 8 sets the standard - for Desktop users anyway.
Date: Sat, 19 May 2001 21:40:30 +0200
Pete Goodwin wrote:
>
> I changed my motherboard recently, and swapped sound card. Windows had to
> reboot about four or six times (your '22' seems laughable). Linux had no
> propblems - except it left the old setup for the old sound card and I had
> to manually intervene to fix it. The installation/detection stuff still
> has a way to go.
>
No, his 22 reboots mean he got lucky.
I�ve seen MoBo swaps on Win98 machines (note the plural), where *nothing*
ever worked again, no matter how much reboots. Win had to be reinstalled
completely, alongside with all applications naturally.
Peter
--
Microsoft's Product Strategy: "It compiles, let's ship it!"
------------------------------
From: Snaggler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Microsoft - WE DELETE YOU!
Date: Sat, 19 May 2001 22:04:09 GMT
On Sat, 19 May 2001 19:17:38 GMT, Johan Kullstam
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>"Matthew Gardiner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
>> > Yes; it's just not the habit.
>> >
>> > Although I had an teacher in grade school who INSISTED that we say
>> > "lavatory" instead of bathroom (because there are no baths in the
>> > school bathrooms).
>> >
>> > Of course, the typical 3rd graders whom he was subjecting to his
>> > inanity couldn't figure out why someone would want to ask to go
>> > to the laboratory when all they want to do is take a piss.
>> At College, Seventh Form (last year, age 18), we could swear in class as
>> much as we wanted, shit, even the fucking teacher swore too. As for the
>> link with the post, at high school it (toilet) was either:
>>
>> 1. Toilet
>> 2. Thunder box
>> 3. The throne
>> 4. Shit house
>> 5. The crapper
>> 6. The can
>
>whatever happened to
>
>7. the loo
>8. the bog
>
>?
>
>or are those pome exclusives?
>
>> Just in line with that. I couldn't believe reading in a newspaper that
>> there is a move in the US to ban swearing in the work place. What's the
>> fuck up with that?
>
>the US is a nation with a lot of prudes and killjoys.
>
>> Go into a local computer store in New Zealand, and there wil be
>> fuck's and shit's flying everywhere. People are casual, and don't
>> give a shit what people say. Ring up Telecom NZ, and you have a
>> friendly and relaxed person on the other end of the line. I have
>> rung up the likes of AT&T and I get this analy retentive twitt on
>> the other end that sounds like she has never had any human contact
>> for twentry years!
>
>they probably haven't. here in the US, most phone numbers are just a
>push button phone maze leading to an endless please hold with muzak.
>
>> Ring up SUN US, and you get some bastard that sounds likes he's
>> never had a decent shagg in the twentry years he's been on the
>> earth.
>
>see that part about prudes. ;-)
Working is serious fucking business. Lord forbid we should enjoy the
job and have a relaxed atmosphere. That wouldn't be "professional,"
just like wearing a pair of shorts isn't "professional." I went to
Europe for six months and had a great time. When I came back some of
the consulting agencies thought it was a "problem" that I hadn't
worked in the last six months. I sure didn't think it was a problem.
Many people here have their priorities all out of whack. Work like a
dog for the majority of your life, worrying about if what you say will
offend someone or not, sounds like crap to me.
------------------------------
From: "Mart van de Wege" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Linux beats Win2K (again)
Date: Sun, 20 May 2001 00:03:51 +0200
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Gary Hallock"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> In article
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
> "GreyCloud" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>
>> The National Bureua of Standards has measured it to be about 88% of c.
>> It does not travel at the speed of light. Neither do electrons in a
>> copper wire.
>
> Radio waves are light. The speed of light, including radio waves,
> varies depending on the medium. However, usually when one refers to the
> speed of light without specifying the medium, the speed of light in a
> vacuum is assumed. The speed of radio waves in a vacuum is the same as
> light. Perhaps the the 88% of c is the speed of radio waves in the
> earth's atmosphere. However, since interstellor space is very close to
> a vacuum, the speed of radio waves coming from a distant star would be
> traveling at very close to the speed of light in a vacuum (until, of
> course, it hits the earth's atmosphere).
>
> Gary
You could look at it this way of course: if radio waves(==light) travel
at .88c in an atmosphere, then they will travel at .88c in space as
well, as there is no acceleration (of course assuming the radio waves
originate from a planetary surface). I am applying simple Newtonian
physics here, and I have a feeling that this would not be exactly right,
but it sounds deceptively logical to me.
Mart
--
Gimme back my steel, gimme back my nerve
Gimme back my youth for the dead man's curve
For that icy feel when you start to swerve
John Hiatt - What Do We Do Now
------------------------------
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