-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Fry <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>----Original Message Follows----
>From: Rick Fry <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>
> > it is. So, forget all these .config files we seem to have to >manually
>edit with wonderful devices such as VI. [BLEAH!!]
>
>> You know, there _are_ more intuitive editors out there--lots of
>>them, in fact. I like pico, but kedit is pretty good as well. Of
>>course, there aren't that many cases any more where you _have_ to
>>manually edit the .conf files, as software like linuxconf and others
>>tend to work as well. Also, I guess this means you've never had to >hack
>>the Windows registry?
>
>Nope. Never have. In as much as I'm comfortable using regedit, I've never
>had to use it to get something to work. That's not the point. Having to
>manually edit things was one of the major downfalls of OffulStinky/2.
Then,
>of course, they were plagued by bad management, marketing and just a plain
>gawd awful stupid looking system. Heck, I'm running 2000 release candidate
1
>now. Yes, the betas had their problems. But, that's why they call them
>BETA!!!
>
>>When you can make a version of this Linux, whether it be Red Hat or
>> >Mandrake, that's better at plug 'n play than Windows, maybe more of >us
>>will start using it on a more pronounced basis.
>
>> "So, quitcherbeleakin" yourself. Linux is getting much better >at
>>PnP, though it admittedly isn't to the level of Windows yet. >Windows
>>isn't anywhere near the level of the Mac, either, so why are >you holding
>>Windows out as the holy grail of PnP?
>
>Because it is. Unix has been around eons before Mr. Gates' MSDOS or even
>Windows. You'd think that someone would have gotten it right by now. Gates
>took the MacIntrash environment and made it work. One of my many
employment
>endeavors was collecting shareware and freeware for the PC, Mac, Amiga
[now
>THERE's an underrated machine] and the Atari. I've been there, done that
and
>saw the movie. My first computer was in 1979. It was a TRS-80 Model I
Level
>I with 16K of memory and the only storage device was a casette recorder.
>That was back just before the Crapple ][ came out with it's TRS-80 wannabe
>style.
Gosh Rick, it sounds like you have tried them all and like none of them.
I find that hard to believe. I think I have used all the same systems you
have w/ the exception to the CP/M and OS/2 and probably less Mac exposure
and have always found features that I liked or was able to live with. But
I have to say I have never found anything so useless as Plug n Play. It
works half of the time and half of that correctly. I would really like it
if the manufacturers of modems, soundcards and their sisters would still
put jumpers on the boards in the off chance that you might want to set it
yourself when it doesn't play nice with the OS or other devices. I don't
specifically blame PnP not working on the OS, although MS acts like an
enabler in this psychotic situation. They have some decent config tools
when you can dig down to them and yet they don't push hardware mfgrs. to
stick to standards.
The various iterations of *nix have not gotten PnP "right" in all this time
probably because they all dealt with a different quality of hardware than
we are used to in the PC world. That's why a mainframe or mini costs so
much. We here are merely trying to deal with the equipment we can afford
and building upon an OS that we respect because it tries harder, it has a
community feel, we respect each other and we want to evolve it to an OS
that will work in a variety of situations. I doubt this will ever include
Winmodems because they suck and are slow. As Dan said there are tools
that edit the text files for you ala "Linuxconf" just like the program I
used in DOS 3.3 ages ago (Norton Commander) would allow me to point and
click and copy and paste files on a 286. I used this because I didn't
type as fast or as accurate back then and it was faster. But we will
always have the power of the various text editors to make detailed changes
of _our_ OS. And another thing to keep in mind is that Linux was built
from the ground up without the help of the *nix vendors to sort of be a
clone, but more to uphold standards (POSIX) and have similar functionality.
Before I go off on more of a rant let me just say that if you want help,
ask. If you don't like Linux and want to bitch about it, fix it or go to
Slashdot and post like a troll if you want to, but we don't really want to
listen to it here. Or maybe you could try to get by on the system you
have by getting a modem or soundcard or whatever that works w/ Linux and
maybe put in a _nicely_ worded request to the proper vendor to get the
specs for the offending board/peripheral. I have gotten some very polite
responses to requests for help from monitor mfgrs when looking for info to
input to Linux boxen. What ever you decide, your vitriol does nothing but
stir up the cockles of people trying to solve problems. And I don't need
my cockles stirred any more than the next guy.
Brian
