Welker Donald P NPRI <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on 08/25/2000 11:29:43 AM
Please respond to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: "'[EMAIL PROTECTED]'"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
cc: (bcc: Lonny Selinger/SaskPower)
Subject: RE: [newbie] Yo
> Jason, not to be too personal, but if you can't get Linux to
> run faster,
> longer and do all this with less effort in Linux than
> Windows, you are the
> one with the problem, not the O/S you're comparing.
I respectfully disagree. It doesn't take much more than a set of
compatible
device drivers to make Windows run pretty evenly, it's just that people who
buy cheap hardware seldom get such drivers. The Windows experience also
includes software (such as multimedia and entertainment) that stresses
those
drivers and tends to cause such crashes. Maybe now that Microsoft has
stablilized their driver spec and vendors only have to write one Windows
driver things will get better (I wonder what drove them to do that...)
->Good point it should be interesting to see how many vendors adheir to the
->upgraded spec. Its not *all* on MS's part, vendors have to go along with
->it too
Getting Linux to work with an application set and keeping it patched still
requires more computerese than most lay people are willing and able to
endure.
-> Define application set. The only patching I have ever had to do was for
-> Network services that had been upgraded or fixed. I dont know anyone
who
-> constantly upgrades their software ... and with package management ..
-> even a trained monkey can type rpm -Uvh <package name>
Unforunatly many of those who are familiar with Linux have by the
very nature of things lost touch with this fact, unless they routinely
support computer novices.
-> Actually I do help lots of people who want to learn about Linux etc so
I'm not
-> just venting wind (I GET lots of help too) =o) People who want to
learn, I have found
-> pick this stuff up very fast and even come back telling me things I
would have never
-> thought of looking into ... you are correct though . not everyone wants
to learn ..
-> they want to click, see pictures, and have everything work right now.
-> this makes it a lot harder to trouble shoot when something does go wrong
however
-> because they know nothing about their systems.
-> Windows user: "I have to use windows"
-> Linux Advocate: "But why? you can try Linux for free!"
-> Windows user: "But I don't know anything about Linux"
-> Linux Advocate: "Um..you dont know anything about windows either"
> I would recommend a steady diet of intelligent, meaningful and thought
> provoking conversation, followed up with some IN DEPTH proof
> that you have
> Linux experience, and then write something worth reading.
Why? He didn't need to spend several weeks reading HOWTO's in order to
make
Windows display a GUI, did he?
-> Um .... no ... but thats all windows is ... a GUI that would be like
saying
-> "Well he didn't need to look for a command line when his GUI in windows
booted
-> and when Linux booted it was right there . instant command line"
He can't read the HOWTO's until he gets his
browser working, can he?
-> why not? Lynx displays HOWTO's and its a browser ... lots of HOTO's are
installed on the
-> local machine to so you dont even need an Internet connection either
Oh, and Micron will give him free Unix training
with his new computer, except that it's written in Shockware and there's no
Shockwave player for Linux, darn the luck...
-> As a member of a users group, local open source group within my company
AND a member of SAGE/USENIX
-> I can say there are WAY more resources for getting help if you *really*
want to learn *nix systems
-> including text based (which is fitting seeing as how it is UNIX based)
and html based tutorials
> I only use Windows (any flavor) because my company GAVE it to
> me and their
> proprietary apps run only on it. Otherwise, I use only software that
> someone can see where it's broke (i.e. open source software,
> and this means
> free most of the time as well).
There's that thing about applications again. What are they for, anyway?
-> What are applications for?? what is an operating system without
applications ... oh yeah ... windows.
Lonny Selinger
