Tracy R Reed wrote:
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Randall Shimizu wrote:
One needs to differentiate between a threat vs challenge to Windows desktop market. At this point Linux poses a challenge to Vista/XP market share. We all would like to see the Linux desktop pose a threat to Vista/XP, but Linux still has some challenges such as help and ease of installation issues to address.
You said Linux is a challenge but not a threat. But you did not explain
the difference. So what is the difference? Since Linux has better driver
support than Vista at the moment it would seem that Linux is the easier
install.
I *almost* thought I would never hear that, specifically:
Linux has better driver
support than [Windows]
Ahhhhh. What a relief it is.
Linux is *soooo* much closer to smashing WindHose to a pulp in the user
community, much closer than when I first touched it.
I don't remember the version, but whatever version it was, it had to
have been out by around 1991 or 1992.
I don't remember how I became aware of Linux. But I was searching the
internet for it. (The search tools back then were not as good and my
ability to use them was even worse. (I have gotten better at it, though
sometimes it doesn't seem that way.)) I found ultraviolet.org and an
email address for Tracy.
He put up a version for me to download and told me how to use rawwrite
(IIRC) to create the floppy disk I would need to install it. I think it
had a gui, though I don't remember for sure. All I remember is that I
was able to do next to nothing with it because of my lack of familiarity
with its commands. I don't think it automatically started X. And
figuring out how to do so was beyond me. And at the time, I was
unfamiliar with kplug. I didn't have much to help me to figure things
out because I didn't want to bother royalty (er, I mean Tracy). I think
Tracy had told me about kplug but I had no email account of my own so
was unable to join. (I was using my work's email account to email Tracy.)
But even though I wasn't able to do anything with that version, my
disdain for WindHose (as a computer repair tech) was growing. And I
never forgot about the Linux alternative.
Some time later, I found a "free" ISP called Juno. And with my new
email account, I subscribed to kplug. I got rh6 from Rich after rh6.1
came out. (For bug issues, it was recommended that I wait a few weeks
for rh6.1 to be release and *then* snag a copy of rh6.0, which I did.)
It was a fairly steep learning curve. But trying the things that one
kplug member would tell another really helped me to become familiar with
the most commonly used commands. Probably the very *most-used* commands
for me in the beginning: 1) man, 2) ll, 3) cat, and this probably
hasn't changed much. (I do occasionally use ls -l and even just ls to
remind me that not all *nix systems have ll.)
But one problem I was having with Linux was driver issues. I avoided
purchasing some things for that reason. I had a scanner that I never
could get to work on the parallel port, and I suspect still won't. As a
result, I think I don't even know where that scanner is anymore.
Parallel port support was growing for printers, but even those were hit
and miss. Video drivers were an issue with many advanced cards.
Fortunately, after USB came into common use, and Linux finally got good
support for it, printer and scanner drivers were becoming less and less
of a problem. By the time I went to get a new printer & scanner, I
squabbled about it on the -list long enough to determine that the way
for me to go was HP. I got the OfficeJet 5610 (scanner, printer,
copier, fax (each B/W or color)). I don't remember if FC4 just
recognized it, or if I somehow used the driver on the Macintosh CD that
came with the printer, or if I downloaded a Linux driver from HP. I
seem to recall it being the latter. But whatever the source, I
installed the driver and now HP Device Manager sits happily in the FC4
menu under Applications -> Accessories.
With all this, I just find it soothing to hear someone say:
Linux has better driver
support than [Windows]
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