Hey Larry,
Since this mail was probably directed mostly to me, I'll try to reply
to it.
> I can hardly believe this thread. There is no way in hell that any
> os company (even ms) can have enough time and resources to write
> drivers for all the hardware out there. I repeat ... not even MS.
As Jon Robertson said (and I agree), it is not the OS companies' job
to make the drivers. It's the hardware poducers job.
> Off the top of my head, x86 Linux has better hardware support then
> any other os except ms win95/98.
See, and this is one of the reasons why it is more used than Linux or
W2K or NT or Be or any other OS.
> what about ce?
I guess CE doesn't need to, the same way as it doesn't need to run a
web server.
> Third, if you can't wrap your mind around the idea of partitions and
> mount points then there just isn't much hope for you.
In my initial mail I said it was at the point of installing Linux. At
that idea I had no idea what they were and there was no help in the
install program that would tell me or at least give me a hint.
> Ever upgraded or reinstalled a MS system (seems like I can't go more
> then 3 months)?
Yes, I did once on my old computer, from W95 to W98. That was about
two years ago and it still works fine. On the other hand, I must admit
that on my new computer I had to reinstall windows twice already
because of flashing new BIOSes three times, changing IRQs of BIOS
devices and my graphics card. It should work now, though.
> At least I don't have to reboot after using it.
It seems to me that the biggest complaint about windows is rebooting
(apart from BSoD). IMNSHO this is because of misconfiguration of the
system. Old drivers, bad settings, small swap file, etc. If you would
take the time to learn windows the same way you are learning Linux I
think then you would have windows stable, without BSoDs and reboots.
This is not a personal attack, just my opinion acording to what I have
read on this list. It took me some time to get windows running
smoothly, but now it does. I guess it would be the same with Linux,
but so far I haven't seen a compelling reason to change to Linux. I
have it on my system in dualboot, but as you guys say, "Don't change a
winning team.", which has been windows so far for me.
> <more rant>You can't keep your applications on another partition,
> reinstall the os, and expect them to work with that freakin' Satanic
> registry.</morerant>
Have you tried to export their registry keys ?
> Fourth, a bit closer to the original posting. Granted, a V5
What is a V5 ?
> isn't going to be the easiest thing to get working at this point,
> but in two or three months every distro will have X4.0 with fairly
> modern 3d drivers ...
That means downloading 650 megs again. (I am currently downloading MDK
7.1)
> <sarcasm>You mean there are problems with some games in Linux ... oh
> dear, I can't ever seem to recall any articles in either PC Gamer or
> MaximumPC bitching about broken games and patches for windows.
Although I haven't said much about games, but as you say, "patches for
windows". At least there are patches for windows. I wonder how I can
get Aliens vs. Predator or StarCraft runing under Linux. WinE ?
> Fact: there games are just as broken as ours.
OK, but I rather take broken games with the hope that I can have some
patch soon than no (OK, few) games without much support for Linux.
> Does the win98 install give you either an easy install
Easy install - I would say yes. What have you found difficult about it
?
> or much choice? Don't think so. Can Win98 install over a network?
> Nope. FTP?
You are right, it doesn't. It wasn't designed for that, it was
designed for the home/office desktop user, not for really heavy duty
network jobs.
> Ever had a win98 system setup with 5 or 6 comilers/languages; all
> the internet tools you can use; graphics programs; multimedia
> players; mp3 rippers/encoders in under a hour?
Compilers/langs - you are right, it doesn't and they are very
expensive, too.
Other things - internet tools - I don't know, since I don't have inet
at home so I haven't tried them. Graphics programs - what other
programs are there for image manipulation apart from GIMP ? Not
saying that there are any for windows (the omnipotent mspaint not
included), but you said "programs", not "program". Multimedia players
- the reason why I like WinAMP more than XMMS is that plugin writers
support it more than XMMS. That means that my favorite plugin (Geiss,
www.geisswerks.com) runs with WinAMP and not with XMMS. Is there a way
to make it run under Linux ? Is there any area in which XMMS (or any
other MP3 player) is superior to WinAMP ? Cos I don't see any sense
in using it if I already have such a thing (WinAMP) which I like more.
MP3 rippers/encoders - haven't seen or used them (under Linux).
Apart from that - I lacked a file manager at least equal or superior
to Windows Commander. Is there anything under Linux that can offer me
WC's power and effectivity ?
> A week? Maybe w/ dsl or cable. Ever had a win98 system reinstall
> an older version of DirectX on top of the one you just dl'ed? Would
> a newbie know what just happened? Nope. Need another 50 examples
> of crappy software design? Hopefully not.
Fortunately I didn't have to install older versions of DirectX over
newer ones. On the other hand - have you ever tried compiling a new
kernel and it didn't work and then you had to return to the old one ?
Or, better, X4.01 ?
> Should we dumb down Linux just so a bunch of windows weenies can use
> it? Never. Let evolution replace them .... keep Linux pristine.
I wouldn't call it "dumb down". Can't the usage of Linux be made
easier wothout criplling all the good stuff Linux offers ? Is it that
difficult ? And evolution won't replace these people... as long as
windows is easier they will start learning windows instead of Linux.
BTW: My respect to all who stand above this, don't feel anyhow
offended and do not reply to posts in this thread.
Roman
