Reflector stuff wrote:
>
> I have a Asus eeePC 4G.
> Great little laptop - little is the key word!
> It came with Linux - Xandros derivitive. Fairly difficult to install
> other
> software on it. I was going to put Ubuntu on it, but the first disk I
> came
> across was the XP CD, so I stuck a stripped down XP on the eeePC.
> Love the 30 or 40 second boot time. It runs K3 Utility, Writelog, Office,
> and FT-817 Commander.
> I think if I were ordering one today, as much as I love Linux, I would
> probably get it with XP. Besides - IMHO, and I will probably be taken
> to task for this statement - the Linux Ham Radio software is really lame
> compared to the Ham Radio software written for Windows.
>
>
Yep, and one of the disadvantages of it being little is that the screen is
too small for many of the ham radio apps (such as they are) to fit. I'd go
for a full size laptop unless you actually need it to be the size of the
Eee.
I think the main reason for using Linux is not to use Windows. Not to pay
the Microsoft "tax", not to constantly be on vigil for viruses and spyware,
not to be forced at some point to have to use the bloated, ugly abomination
that is Vista. If you don't care about any of that, there is little reason
to beat your head aginst the wall trying to use Linux. You can count the ham
radio applications that are comparable to what you could find for Windows on
the fingers of one hand. To use many of them you will have to learn how to
compile programs from source code, which can be quite a hassle even if
you're a computer programmer and familiar with the concept.
I hate to knock Linux, and I think it's a shame there isn't more good ham
radio software for it. The reasons I gave for not wanting to use Windows
mean something to me. But my shack PC is partitioned into both Windows and
Linux and increasingly I'm finding myself back in Windows because everything
just works better and seems so much easier. (I do use Linux for work - 99%
of which is accomplished in Firefox which works the same on any platform.)
-----
Julian, G4ILO K3 s/n: 222 K2 s/n: 392
G4ILO's Shack: www.g4ilo.com
KComm for K2/K3: www.g4ilo.com/kcomm.html
--
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