Linux-Advocacy Digest #941, Volume #29 Mon, 30 Oct 00 14:13:03 EST
Contents:
Re: Why should I keep advocating Linux? (Pete Goodwin)
Re: IBM to BUY MICROSOFT!!!! (chrisv)
Re: Ms employees begging for food (George William Herbert)
Re: Why Red Hat is as bad as Microsoft (Jacques Guy)
Re: Linux 2.4 mired in delays as Compaq warns of lack of momentum ("Relax")
Re: Microsoft Speaks German! (chrisv)
Re: Linux 2.4 mired in delays as Compaq warns of lack of momentum ("Relax")
Re: Linux 2.4 mired in delays as Compaq warns of lack of momentum ("Relax")
Re: Linux 2.4 mired in delays as Compaq warns of lack of momentum (Roberto Alsina)
Re: MS Hacked? (chrisv)
Re: A Microsoft exodus! (Chris Wenham)
Re: Ms employees begging for food (Bengt Larsson)
Re: Tuff Competition for LINUX! ("JS/PL")
Re: Linux 2.4 mired in delays as Compaq warns of lack of momentum ("Relax")
Re: Windoze 2000 - just as shitty as ever (Jeff Hall)
Re: Linux 2.4 mired in delays as Compaq warns of lack of momentum (Roberto Alsina)
Re: history of software engineering (was: Re: Ms employees begging for food)
(Michael Salem)
Re: A Microsoft exodus! (Peter Hayes)
Re: A Microsoft exodus! (Peter Hayes)
Re: Why don't I use Linux? (Aaron Ginn)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Pete Goodwin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.os.os2.advocacy
Subject: Re: Why should I keep advocating Linux?
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 17:12:44 GMT
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Charlie Ebert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Clearly it IS a sickness this Microsoft thing and
> Clearly CHAD is very ill! Remember PETE GOODWIN.
8)
> PETE was once a dribbling WIN TROLL but he started
> developing his common sense and now he's 50/50.
> Pete was one of the worst forms of verbal diarrhea I've
> seen in 5 years on COLA and now he says he's waiting
> for Kylix so he can start developing his software on
> Linux.
Snigger...
I think the only person I can see here on the group with verbal
diarrhoea is you Charlie. Your rants and raves are really quite amusing
to read.
As long as everyone remember they're not based on any kind of factual
evidence, of course!
> Pete was SAVED but CHAD is still ILL!
> CHAD has been doing this for quite a long time now
> and it may be we have to wait for Microsoft to BANKRUPT
> their OS division before we can save his SICK MIND.
Chuckle. Oh please save me from the evil Shaitan!
> This is what the good of Advocacy IS!
> It helps people get their heads bolted back on again
> after having them locked in the MYTH of MICROSOFT VAULT!
Roll-on-the-floor-laughing-until-my-head-explodes!
Oh boy Charlie, you do take the biscuit sometimes!
--
---
Pete
Why don't I use Linux? I'm waiting for Delphi to appear on Linux...
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
------------------------------
From: chrisv <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: IBM to BUY MICROSOFT!!!!
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 17:32:45 GMT
"Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> Well, I'm not going to lie, I don't like your sig.
>> It's *HUGE* sig, and it's HIGHLY annoying.
>
>Yes. it's especially annoying to those who try to troll me by
> limiting the impact of their lies.
>
>> Please remove or shorten it.
>
>Make me.
You know, there's names for people who do things that they know are
annoying to others, just because they can.
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (George William Herbert)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.arch,comp.os.netware.misc
Subject: Re: Ms employees begging for food
Date: 30 Oct 2000 09:48:03 -0800
T. Max Devlin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Said Terje Mathisen in comp.os.linux.advocacy;
>>"T. Max Devlin" wrote:
>>> That would depend on what you consider "ethernet speeds". The correct
>>> throughput rate to measure on an Ethernet is comparable to arcnet.
>>> Ethernet's CSMA/CD relies on statistical access to the media, and is
>>> only really efficient at nominally 10% of the "bandwidth speed".
>>
>>OK, please do some actual throughput tests and come back:
>>
>>I'm willing to bet that you'll discover that CSMA/CD is perfectly
>>willing to work with 30-60% utilization, and for a simple streaming
>>application using maximum size packets (1500+ bytes), you'll get up to
>>90-99%.
>
>You are under the impression that throughput tests would involve
>measuring the utilization of the Ethernet. That is specifically what I
>meant to point out would be of dubious value. I have no interest what
>an ethernet can do in isolation or in thought experiments. If you're
>going to design a [complex] network which includes Ethernet, you should,
>as Robert Metcalfe intended when he designed the thing, consider your
>"bandwidth" to be a nominal 10% of the bit rate. Unless you're not
>using shared ethernet, and hardly anyone uses shared media these days.
>And then they wonder why their shared switches don't make all of their
>"network" problems magically disappear, like the sales droid promised.
I've seen this often enough argued, but both the detailed theory
(your 10% quote there is an inaccurate quote without sufficient
context) and practice I've seen with medium sized shared media nets
(up to 15-20 systems) showed that you could consistently get at least
50% from any arbitrary pair of systems involved with moderate normal
traffic between the others, and I could often hit 90% or better
if the rest of the network was lightly loaded. Obviously, with
shared media if you have everyone try and talk simultaneously
the total combined utilization is under 100%, but I've run 8
system test networks where each of the 8 was doing bidirectional
bandwidth testing with the other 7 and I was getting 85% of
combined 10BT theoretical out of the combined network when
packet sizes were large on the average, and 75% for worst case.
I'm sorry if you never were able to do so, but my experience
says I can do better than you think I should. So do a lot of
other people's experience. I would never design anything other
than fully switched now, but that's because I want 90% to all
systems individually with current apps rather than 90% shared
between them all.
-george william herbert
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 17:45:06 +0000
From: Jacques Guy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Why Red Hat is as bad as Microsoft
"." wrote:
> Mandrake is not linux; they completely redid the kernel headers and
> broke massive amounts of legacy software as a result. Thats why
> there are "rpm-mdk"s, brainiac.
>
> Do you have problems with SuSe, Debian or Slackware?
So what do you advise? As you can see, I am running Mandrake,
just because I am a newcomer to Linux, because it got excellent
reviews in British mags, etc. A year ago, I had tried
Caldera, and it went pretty well. Debian, I gather, is
only for the knowledgeable crowd, to which I definitely
do not belong. Slackware also? SuSe, I have read good
reviews of, but I no longer know what to believe. Or
should I stick with Mandrake until I know my way around
better? (Better a lame horse than a legless horse)
------------------------------
From: "Relax" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: Linux 2.4 mired in delays as Compaq warns of lack of momentum
Date: 30 Oct 2000 11:47:06 -0600
"2:1" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> > > You have not read the post. i was talking about context swithcing
spped,
> > > not datadase access speed.
> >
> > ..well, you quickly generalized. W2K makes great servers, indeed,
regardless
> > if the x86 context switch time.
>
> OK, so it doesn't make great servers for the application I suggested
> (lots of people logging on to one computer). Such applications do exist:
> my university has 2 such servers, (both 4 processor DEC besats, IIRC),
> which are mail servers for about 10,000 people each. In fact, ec -l
> /etc/passwd gives 10950 on my one. Bear in mind that many people use
> shell accounts to get email. Win2K would not make a great server here
> because i86 would not be suitable.
Win2K's scenario for email (using Exchange for example) is different. 10,000
accounts != 10'000 processes on the server :)
HP and Microsoft claims to be able to support 34,000 typical email users on
one W2K server. More details here:
http://www.microsoft.com/Exchange/productinfo/hplh6000_6p_2000.htm
> > care how long my CPU takes to switch tasks as long as I'm not writing
some
> > hard real time stuff. The only numbers that counts is how much work my
> > server is able to perform in a given time, and at what cost.
>
> Some people (those who own large multiuser servers) do care. With 2500
> users per CUP, you would care if you were a user.
Sure, in a typical Unix scenario. But under Win2K, you typically don't have
1 user = 1 process. It's more like 1 server process for all users. The
server process will use a thread pool and some work queues to get the job
done. This approach seems to work well.
> The other problem with i86 is them only being 32 bit. 48.28%[1] of
> instructions on average are data movement (the largest percentage out of
> all the groups) A 1GHZ 32 bit processor is going to be slower than a
> 500MHZ 64 bit processor (busses count as well in speed measurements).
Fortunately, Intel has a plan :)
------------------------------
From: chrisv <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: Microsoft Speaks German!
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 17:49:58 GMT
Charlie Ebert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Europe is the heart of our Western Culture.
No it's not. Western culture is more and more American culture.
>Anything which comes forth from Europe generally
>ends up spreading across the world.
No it doesn't. America's influence is much stronger than Europe's.
Don't want to start an argument. Just stating facts.
------------------------------
From: "Relax" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: Linux 2.4 mired in delays as Compaq warns of lack of momentum
Date: 30 Oct 2000 11:50:05 -0600
"Roberto Alsina" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:8tjumu$f9b$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> In article <39fb5876$0$32655$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
> "Relax" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > "Roberto Alsina" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> > news:00102717474900.20411@pc03...
> >
> > > Nonsense. Until the introduction of truetype fonts, at least, what
> was
> > that,
> > > 1990?
> >
> > TrueType has little to do with drawing and blitting.
>
> What, do you consider putting text on the screen and in the printer as
> not drawing?
Yes, it is, but I don't see your point. GDI was device independent before
TrueType. Adobe Type Manager provided scaleable fonts for Windows long time
before TT came out and GDI's font rasterized was able to scale bitmap-based
fonts since day one.
------------------------------
From: "Relax" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: Linux 2.4 mired in delays as Compaq warns of lack of momentum
Date: 30 Oct 2000 11:51:10 -0600
"Roberto Alsina" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:8tjuqo$fhd$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> In article <39fb58d2$0$32639$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
> "Relax" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > "Steve Mading" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> > news:8tcsdl$8g4$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> >
> > // snip
> >
> > > What matters is what does it come out with today. Today, Unix (or
> more
> > > accurately, the modern X-window toolkits) don't have the problem.
> >
> > Great. How many desktop apps takes advantage of it?
>
> All that print and were developed in the last 5 years or so?
5 years, humm, let me see... zero?
------------------------------
From: Roberto Alsina <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: Linux 2.4 mired in delays as Compaq warns of lack of momentum
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 15:15:26 -0300
El lun, 30 oct 2000, Relax escribió:
>"Roberto Alsina" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
>news:8tjuqo$fhd$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
>> In article <39fb58d2$0$32639$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
>> "Relax" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> > "Steve Mading" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
>> > news:8tcsdl$8g4$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
>> >
>> > // snip
>> >
>> > > What matters is what does it come out with today. Today, Unix (or
>> more
>> > > accurately, the modern X-window toolkits) don't have the problem.
>> >
>> > Great. How many desktop apps takes advantage of it?
>>
>> All that print and were developed in the last 5 years or so?
>
>5 years, humm, let me see... zero?
Do you live in some sort of alternate reality where Linux/Unix app development
ceased in 1995?
--
Roberto Alsina
------------------------------
From: chrisv <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: MS Hacked?
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 18:09:39 GMT
"Erik Funkenbusch" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Well, structured programming is kind of a dinosaur these days. But still,
>students are told not to use goto's, but never why.
What? NEVER why? I say they are ALWAYS told why!
Now, neither one of these statements is actually true. But I'd say
that mine is closer to the truth than yours is. "Never why" indeed.
------------------------------
Crossposted-To:
comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,comp.os.os2.advocacy,comp.unix.advocacy
Subject: Re: A Microsoft exodus!
From: Chris Wenham <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 18:16:17 GMT
>>>>> "Bruce" == Bruce Schuck <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>> > 1) Download Caldera's source code
>> > 2) Alter the source. Put in a back door.
>> > 3) Compile
>> > 4) Burn a copy of Caldera's distribution with original source and
> altered
>> > binaries.
>> > 5) Sell cheap copies on EBay or at computer swap meets or at a local
>> > computer store you own etc etc. Make sure you use forged Caldera labels.
>>
>> I'll ask again, how do you author and then insert a backdoor into a
> Caldera
>> distribution of LINUX? You haven't a clue.
> I've explained. Reread what I've posted if you don't get. Find someone to
> explain it to you still don't get it. And I'm sure it is already going on
> all the time. It's so easy to do.
I think anyone who purchases an item from e-bay is assuming risk,
especially if it's software, especially if they don't know the
seller, especially if they plan to use it in places where a
compromised OS would cause them damage.
Anybody can obtain a copy of Caldera Linux directly from the maker or
authorized and trustworthy resellers. It's no different than ordering
your hardware from a trusted source, since according to your
procedure it could ALSO be possible to:
1) Buy a computer.
2) Install a compromised hardware component (be imaginative, maybe
it's a video card that broadcasts your screen to a receiver).
3) Sell it on e-bay.
Your point is valid, yet it's not a serious security problem any more
than poisoning Halloween candy. If you buy your OS from e-Bay and it
turns out to have a back door, then there's nobody to blame but
yourself. It wouldn't be really different if someone cloned a small
DLL, put in a back door, then sold a compromised Windows 2000 on
e-bay as well.
Security conscious people always consider the source.
Regards,
Chris Wenham
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Bengt Larsson)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.arch,comp.os.netware.misc
Subject: Re: Ms employees begging for food
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 17:22:42 +0000
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In comp.arch, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Casper H.S. Dik - Network
Security Engineer) wrote:
>Terje Mathisen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
>>I'm willing to bet that you'll discover that CSMA/CD is perfectly
>>willing to work with 30-60% utilization, and for a simple streaming
>>application using maximum size packets (1500+ bytes), you'll get up to
>>90-99%.
>
>It works even at utiltization over 30-60%. Pretty close to 100%
>actually.
There is a nice paper on this at
http://research.compaq.com/wrl/techreports/abstracts/88.4.html
This is a paper from DEC WRL.
------------------------------
From: "JS/PL" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy
Subject: Re: Tuff Competition for LINUX!
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 13:20:35 -0500
"Ayende Rahien" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:8tj8al$qlm$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> > For Chad : How do you know that none of the Windows or Office source was
> > stolen?
>
> MS says they didn't?
> Is that good enough? I don't think so.
Considering that they are the ones that broke the hack attempt story and ALL
your info is coming from MS, maybe the whole thing isn't true.
> > I would like to see either of you post something that settles the
> > question. Its important to know one way or another based on something
> > other than bald assertions. If the Russian Mafia and Chineese Triads do
> > have the source, then they have a lot of power.
They don't have jack. MS monitored them coming_and_going. If they weren't
Russian in origin, they'd already be in custody.
------------------------------
From: "Relax" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: Linux 2.4 mired in delays as Compaq warns of lack of momentum
Date: 30 Oct 2000 12:36:06 -0600
"Roberto Alsina" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:00103015154800.16832@pc03...
> El lun, 30 oct 2000, Relax escribió:
> >"Roberto Alsina" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> >news:8tjuqo$fhd$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> >> In article <39fb58d2$0$32639$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
> >> "Relax" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >> > "Steve Mading" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> >> > news:8tcsdl$8g4$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> >> >
> >> > // snip
> >> >
> >> > > What matters is what does it come out with today. Today, Unix (or
> >> more
> >> > > accurately, the modern X-window toolkits) don't have the problem.
> >> >
> >> > Great. How many desktop apps takes advantage of it?
> >>
> >> All that print and were developed in the last 5 years or so?
> >
> >5 years, humm, let me see... zero?
>
> Do you live in some sort of alternate reality where Linux/Unix app
development
> ceased in 1995?
I need a few examples at this point. Which desktop apps takes advantage of
it?
------------------------------
From: Jeff Hall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: alt.destroy.microsoft,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy
Subject: Re: Windoze 2000 - just as shitty as ever
Date: 30 Oct 2000 18:36:32 GMT
XYZ wrote:
> My thoughts on Windows 2000....
>
> What a bug-ridden piece of shit. If I burn an audio CD, everything works fine,
> but don't try burning another after it! The CD Writer driver (or something in
> the subsystem) fucks itself up after the first burn...when you're burning the
>
. . .
> -X
You could have a small linux partition. to do the real work
Right now, I'm burning a CD-Rom with some MP3 files. I was surpassed, because I
did a "cdrecord -scanbus" and then "cdrecord -v speed=2 dev=0,5,0 -eject
/mnt/gnapster/*.cdr" and the darn thing found my CD-Rom drive (a rather old,
obscure, inexpensive drive) and created a perfect CD-ROM the first time I tried
it. Of course, all the CD-Rom burning software is absolutely free. And I can
create the CD-Rom image as a disk file and "mount" it and actually see the disk
image as a filesystem to make sure everything is OK.
On the other hand, when I boot the same computer into Win95 (game machine for
kids), and forget and leave ANY CD-Rom in the drive when I boot, I get a message
saying windows has seg faulted, and I have to remove the CD-Rom and reboot. And
forget about any free CD-Rom burning software!
Jeff
------------------------------
From: Roberto Alsina <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: Linux 2.4 mired in delays as Compaq warns of lack of momentum
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 15:48:59 -0300
El lun, 30 oct 2000, Relax escribió:
>"Roberto Alsina" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
>news:00103015154800.16832@pc03...
>> El lun, 30 oct 2000, Relax escribió:
>> >"Roberto Alsina" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
>> >news:8tjuqo$fhd$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
>> >> In article <39fb58d2$0$32639$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
>> >> "Relax" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> >> > "Steve Mading" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
>> >> > news:8tcsdl$8g4$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
>> >> >
>> >> > // snip
>> >> >
>> >> > > What matters is what does it come out with today. Today, Unix (or
>> >> more
>> >> > > accurately, the modern X-window toolkits) don't have the problem.
>> >> >
>> >> > Great. How many desktop apps takes advantage of it?
>> >>
>> >> All that print and were developed in the last 5 years or so?
>> >
>> >5 years, humm, let me see... zero?
>>
>> Do you live in some sort of alternate reality where Linux/Unix app
>development
>> ceased in 1995?
>
>I need a few examples at this point. Which desktop apps takes advantage of
>it?
If all you need is an example: kdehelp.
--
Roberto Alsina
------------------------------
From: 4ms2u$[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Michael Salem)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.arch,comp.os.netware.misc
Subject: Re: history of software engineering (was: Re: Ms employees begging for food)
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 15:30:17 +0000 (GMT)
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Many thanks for your psoting in response to my question:
>
> There are retrospect chapters at the end.
>
> Summary: things have not gotten better (IIRC).
Best wishes,
--
Michael Salem
------------------------------
From: Peter Hayes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,comp.os.os2.advocacy,comp.unix.advocacy
Subject: Re: A Microsoft exodus!
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 18:53:54 +0000
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Sun, 29 Oct 2000 17:06:45 -0600, "Erik Funkenbusch" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> "Peter Hayes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> > I actually meant the modifications that could have been done to M$'s code
> > that M$ will never find.
>
> And you know for a fact that this happened, and that it's impossible for MS
> to find them if they did?
I did say "could have been done to M$'s code that M$ will never find". Note
the "could". Of course I don't know "for a fact", the only people who could
answer that are the "hackers".
>
> You've never heard of configuration management?
CVS
And of course the other worry is the trojans that will surely follow from
the "hackers" study of the source code. Perhaps mission critical and
security critical systems that are connected to the outside world should be
loaded with Linux instead.
Peter
--
Microsoft: This company has performed an illegal operation
and will be shut down.
------------------------------
From: Peter Hayes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,comp.os.os2.advocacy,comp.unix.advocacy
Subject: Re: A Microsoft exodus!
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 18:53:56 +0000
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Sun, 29 Oct 2000 14:37:02 -0800, "Bruce Schuck" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>
> "Charlie Ebert" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> > Bruce Schuck wrote:
> >
> > Microsoft can't change the source code of the world in under 2 years
> > time.
>
> They can change it tonight with their versoning software. They can send it
> back to before the break-in anytime they want. All they have to do is load
> up an old backup tape. Now that might cost them a few weeks or months of
> work. But they can do it anytime they want. No muss. No fuss.
Don't overlook the marketing opportunity. " 'Buy Windows 2000 Super' - the
new trojan free Operating System".
Peter
--
Microsoft: This company has performed an illegal operation
and will be shut down.
------------------------------
From: Aaron Ginn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Why don't I use Linux?
Date: 30 Oct 2000 11:25:14 -0700
I don't know why I'm doing this, but here goes...
> Why haven't I switched from Windows to Linux?
Which Windows, Pete? You're doing it again.
> In a word: Software.
Funny, that's the same reason I _don't_ use windows for the majority
of my work, but to each his own.
> There are packages on Windows for which there are no equivalents on Linux
> that I can see as yet.
The converse is true as well; at least not affordable options for Windows.
> Borland Delphi and C++ Builder are two of these packages. They are going
> to appear on Linux, but not yet.
So use something else. There are plenty of alternative packages for
free. For me, nothing comes close to XEmacs for C/C++ development.
> Paint Shop Pro is a cheap graphics package that beats any of the free
> packages I've seen on Linux.
>
> Word is not my favourite tool and there is Star Office on Linux.
There are plenty of nice free options on Linux. Have you checked out
KWord in KDE 2.0? I just downloaded and installed Mandrake 7.2
yesterday which comes with KDE 2.0 and it's very nice. I used to use
Sawfish without GNOME or KDE, but I can see myself switching for good
to KDE for Konqueror alone. No longer can anyone say that Linux lacks
a usable browser. Heck, Konqueror even does full-screen browsing,
which was the biggest complaint I had about Netscape.
LyX with TeX as the engine is still easier to use than Word or
anything else if you aren't into micromanaging your output.
> Excel is a pretty good spreadsheet - I've not really tried anything
> on Linux.
Gnumeric does a pretty good job. I don't use spreadsheets, though, so
I can't really comment here.
> Digiguide is a TV listing guide available for the UK. Is there any
> equivalent for that on Linux, again UK based?
>
> My sound card, an ESS Allegro is not supported by Linux.
Sorry to hear that you made a bad choice in hardware. Blame the
manufacturer for not releasing the information necessary to generate a
usable driver. Let your wallet speak; buy only from manufacturers
that are willing to work with free software.
> 3D Sound is not available on Linux.
So keep Windows for games. Linux is not the best option for gaming at
this time.
> USB devices are not fully supported on Linux - my USB ZIP 250 drive and HP
> scanner are not supported. Is there anything for my USB Intel WebCamera?
I don't have any USB devices so I can't comment. Mandrake 7.2 appears
to support all kinds of USB out of the box, so this may be an option.
> XNews is a news reader on Windows; there are plenty of news readers on
> Linux.
So it appears that this is not a reason you aren't using Linux, right?
Why did you list it here?
> My US Robotics 56k modem is supported on both Windows and Linux, no
> problem there.
Ditto.
> CD writing is supported on Windows and Linux, though I've not
> tried it on Linux.
My experience is that CD-burning is much better on Linux than Windows
98SE. I've _never_ made a coaster under Linux. It just works. It
does take a little effort to set up, but it's worth it.
> I use WinZIP - what's the Linux equivalent? gzipped tar archives!
There are all kinds of GUI options here. Search freshmeat.net. I'm
sure that both KDE and GNOME have integrated GUI solutions here.
> I have a Series 5 Psion - is there connection software on Linux for it?
Don't know about this.
> Unreal Tournament is on both platforms; the lack of 3D sound on Linux
> is a problem. Same with Quake III Arena.
This is such a minor issue, I can't believe you're still using this as
a reason not to switch. Sure, I guess 3-D sound is a nice thing to
have, but is an unstable Windows box really worth 3-D sound? If this
is going to hold you up, I can't really say anything to convince you
otherwise. Besides, why can't you keep Windows around for games, and
use Linux for other things?
> Firewall software exists on both Windows and Linux; I use ZoneAlarm
> on Windows. Is there something as easy to setup and use on Linux?
Check out this package: http://seawall.sourceforge.net. It's not a
GUI, but it's very easy to set up, and works well for a standalone box.
> What would make me switch to Linux?
>
> The unreliability of Windows 98 SE. I'm not talking about Windows NT or
> 2000 here, just 95/98/ME. My system is currently getting crankier every
> day. I put up with it because of the lack of software on Linux but I
> could try switching to Windows 2000. Everything I've mentioned above
> works on Windows 2000 (except possibly CD writing and the scanner, dunno
> about those).
>
> --
> Pete Goodwin
To be honest Pete, I don't think anyone cares whether you switch to
Linux or not. There are free replacements for virtually everything you
listed that are as good or superior to all your current Windows
programs. Whether you choose to use them or not is up to you. If you
want to spend upwards of $300 to get a W2K system that might suit your
needs compared to a Linux package that will cost mybe $20 at the local
computer store, that's your choice. You know all this already, so I
know this won't sway you at all, but maybe something I've said will
have some influence. I'm not a Microsoft hater; I have Win98 SE at
home, but Linux is a better solution for 95% of what I do. It's free,
stable, secure (if you know what you're doing), and I know it will
always be around in some form. Regardless of how big Microsoft is
right now, you can't say the same for them.
--
Aaron J. Ginn Phone: 480-814-4463
Motorola SemiCustom Solutions Pager: 877-586-2318
1300 N. Alma School Rd. Fax : 480-814-4463
Chandler, AZ 85226 M/D CH260 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
** FOR YOUR REFERENCE **
The service address, to which questions about the list itself and requests
to be added to or deleted from it should be directed, is:
Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
You can send mail to the entire list (and comp.os.linux.advocacy) via:
Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Linux may be obtained via one of these FTP sites:
ftp.funet.fi pub/Linux
tsx-11.mit.edu pub/linux
sunsite.unc.edu pub/Linux
End of Linux-Advocacy Digest
******************************
