This is the right list for your questions. MHVLUG is located in Poughkeepsie, NY. There is a heavy IBM presence here. That skews the group a little bit to people who do heavy C++, maybe more so than other groups. Sometimes I think that new users drop out because there are meetings where you get the feeling that the people there are speaking a foreign language.
The growing edge of Linux is people like you. The heavy programmers already are wrapped up and sold on Linux. Linux needs to jump the gap to the layman who doesn't do programming. I have what I call "The Waitress Test" of Linux distros. I stumbled across it during one of the after meeting social times at the Palace Diner. The Waitress Test is "If you gave a CD of this distro to the waitress and she took it home to put it on her system, could she get it up and running in an evening?" Ubuntu was the first distro that passed "The Waitress Test." Mandriva came close, but they want you to pay to join that Mandrake Club that gets you the support that you need. I'm using 10.04. One difference is that there was no longer a driver for my notebook adapter, so I had to plug it directly into the ethernet to install. That might not be a problem for others. It also screwed up some g-streams but I have that figured out, now. I listen to a lot of news radio and tv stations in Canada. I don't know how hard the LPI test is but it is for serious programmers. Based on what I have read, it's a lot more than just being able to maintain Ubuntu desktops. 64 Bit is still having problems with drivers. My visual effects work with the 32 bit system but not the 64, most likely because there isn't a good driver. Ubuntu recommends that you put 32 bit software into a 64 bit system for that reason, unless you have a good reason to NEED the 64 bit. I take a fair number of used computers. I am going to ship them to my nephew in the impoverished Philippines. What are you offering? Ubuntu needs pentium II and 256 bit or better. I also live near the county dump and can drop off one system a day free of charge. So if it has problems, I can unload it. I took one pentium !!! laptop and the only thing that I could use was the power pack. The hard drive was shot but I got what I paid for. My wife could use a notebook or netbook, that can handle Ubuntu. My son is ready for his own system. At age 5 he is an Ubuntu man. He goes nuts waiting for Pista or Xtra P to boot. 10.04 takes less than a minute. Windoze can take four or five. It also takes up three or four times the memory, which makes it unsuitable for small systems. The netbooks went with Ubuntu because it would fit on a smaller hard drive, but the purchasers were expecting Windows so they had a high return to the store rate. That is why they are gone. Mark Wallace On Mon, 2010-07-26 at 15:48 -0700, Dan Simoes wrote: > I remain on the list though I am in a land far far away, in the hope > that I will come across some good, linux-centric or tech-centric > content. > I do not care about FOSS vs commercial solutions, except where there's > a practical discussion. > There are a number of users' posts that I consider annoying drivel, > yet I choose to let those hit the bit bucket. > > If there's enough interest, perhaps a second offtopic or anything goes > list could be created, to keep the main list on track. > For example: > > Main list: > - Has anyone tried Ubuntu 10.04 yet? > - Should I install 32 bit or 64 bit versions? > - How hard is it to pass the LPI test? > - Does anyone have experience with scaling in Amazon EC2, a la > Rightscale or scalr? > - How do I donate a used computer in the HV region? > > Off topic list: > - DJB, deity or complete idiot? > - Why does Richard Stallman wear birkenstocks? > - Write to your congressman about this bill, it's important! > > You get the drift. Not sure where I'd put the "why are there so many > Macs at tech conferences?" but for me it's a main list topic, as it > relates to linux/unix. > > If a second list is too much hassle, we could also let people add an > [offtopic] tag to their subject line, but that rarely works. > > I agree that moderation is a waste of Sean's time and there should be > no reason for it. > > Cheers, > Dan > _______________________________________________ > Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org > http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug > > Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium > Aug 4 - Samba > Sep 1 - BOINC > Oct 6 - Creating Firefox Extensions -- Robert Mark Wallace 60 Delaware Road Newburgh, NY 12550-3802 Telephone: (845) 566-0586 Visit my Blog, Mark Wallace Following Christ, at > http://markwallacefollowingchrist.blogspot.com/ > _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Aug 4 - Samba Sep 1 - BOINC Oct 6 - Creating Firefox Extensions
