RIGHT ON!!!!! Fortunately for me, I report to a CEO who is at the same time
computer-challenged and industry-wise. I have begun moving Linux, NT out. He
is all for it, as long as it works....WHICH IT DOES!
Tim
Steve Philp wrote:
> Christopher Cox wrote:
> >
> > Yeah, I felt a little foolish after I determined that www.redhat.org is
> > registered up to 127.0.0.1.
> >
> > But in the other hand I would not put linux on a client of mine's desk at
> > this point. Closet, yes, desk, no (Linux is replacing some NT & Unixware
> > servers). Mandrake has made some large strides in making the OS more user
> > friendy, but it seems allot less stable as well.
>
> Why not? It's fire and forget!
>
> I did this _exact_ thing with my parents. They use the computer for
> exactly two things: email and web browsing. Prior to the Linux
> Experiment, I got calls weekly about something that didn't work. They
> don't abuse the machine, they haven't loaded anything on the machine.
> It just pukes.
>
> I put in the Linux machine, configured it once for their dialup
> connection, gave them both logins, started X, and showed them how to
> connect and start Netscape.
>
> Ameritech isn't gaining any long distance money from them calling me
> anymore. I'm not losing my hair trying to debug the latest bits that
> ended up under the desk. And they're damned happy!
>
> For business use, you bet I'd do it. In a heartbeat. The only thing
> holding me back right now is the non-availability of industry-specific
> applications.
>
> I can guarantee you that management would be extremely happy if we could
> move to another solution. No business risk from illegal software would
> be right up there -- a local hospital recently got fined $250,000 for
> employees copying software. No licensing issues when implementing a new
> server -- that could save us large amounts of money. Remote
> administration, software distribution, system management. All at zero
> cost. I recently looked into PC-rdist for use in distribution Y2K
> patches to the 100 PCs in our shops. Each of the solutions was
> outrageously priced considering we could do the same for _ZERO_ dollars
> on another platform.
>
> If people would look at this from a _SYSTEM MANAGEMENT_ view, they'd see
> that Linux offers tremendous value.
>
> For home users, we've been straddled with a number of issues because of
> the Windows dominance and our notion of playing fair. Dual-booting,
> installing it themselves rather than pre-installed from a vendor, no
> vendor support for hardware, etc.
>
> Consider the possibility of Linux arriving preconfigured on your next
> machine. That reduces the difficulty of installation problem to exactly
> nothing. For the most part, you can download binary packages that you
> install quickly and easily. And system cleanup through the package
> management system beats Windows uninstallers any day. How many times
> have you looked at a drive after uninstalling a Windows application and
> STILL found remnants of it on the drive? How many times have you been
> bitten because two applications each install their OWN, modified library
> into the system directory? Count how many times the uninstaller just
> threw up it's hands and asked for YOUR advice about shared libraries
> that it didn't have a clue about -- do they belong to me? can I delete
> them? what else is going to break?
>
> It's a VERY real problem that administrators on Windows platforms face
> day in and day out. Do YOU have time to sit and track the dependencies
> of each piece of software on the machine? How do you explain to the
> user that while the application functions correctly for the PC across
> the hall, it doesn't work on theirs despite the fact that they're
> loading the exact same copy of the exact same application and libraries
> as that other PC (it's a network install)?
>
> I'm living this life. I get paid well to do it, but if you think I
> don't pine for the possibility of doing it in a better way, you're
> nuts. I'd LOVE to put stable computers in front of these people that
> don't break when I install a Microsoft-issued service pack onto a
> computer that contains nothing but Microsoft software and vendor
> drivers.
>
> > I really am hoping for Inprise to release BCB4.0 to Linux, then I suspect a
> > lot more apps will make themselves available....but that is only a guess.
>
> I don't get this logic... Compilers, IDEs, libraries and the rest have
> been available on Linux from the very beginning. What sort of "magic
> bullet" is BCB4? Is it just that it offers a pretty picture for
> programmers to look at while coding so they don't feel intimidated?
>
> --
> Steve Philp
> Network Administrator
> Advance Packaging Corporation
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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