Re Nav Softwa Purists Among Us!
 

I smile when I read what the navigation software purists among us
assert and claim.

They don't like Windows? I have been using Windows since it first came
out, in 1995, on my boats' computers and never once had any problem or
failure with that software in any and all of its versions or updates
since. Please do not say again it does not work.

I mentioned a new nav software program in my initial post only to
alert others of its existence. Then along come the purists -- the
cynics, who accuse me of being someone's brother or uncle. Or worse,
anonymous. I have never been anonymous. I am Edward J. Wagner, Ph.D.,
who lives in Lighthouse Point FL 3064. My telephone is 954.785.2470.
"anchorlt" ("anchor light," for the illiterates) is my "handle." But
this information is unnecessary to reasonable, fair- and open-minded
people.

I would suppose that the next we will learn from the purists is that
they have removed their engines and batteries from their boats and
sail out of and into their moorings of docks (docks?) with only
candles and/or kerosene lamps, sleep on unpadded benches, eat only
crackers and warm water or weak tea and do not shave or shower or
change underwear for weeks or months on end. (I once knew a man who
almost fitted that description and I have never before or again met
anyone so unhappy.)

Just curious -- How much sailing in a year do the purists do? I'd bet
damned little.

anchorlt wrote:

I smile when I read what the navigation software purists among us
assert and claim.

They don't like Windows? I have been using Windows since it first came
out, in 1995, on my boats' computers and never once had any problem or
failure with that software in any and all of its versions or updates
since. Please do not say again it does not work.

I mentioned a new nav software program in my initial post only to
alert others of its existence. Then along come the purists -- the
cynics, who accuse me of being someone's brother or uncle. Or worse,
anonymous. I have never been anonymous. I am Edward J. Wagner, Ph.D.,
who lives in Lighthouse Point FL 3064. My telephone is 954.785.2470.
"anchorlt" ("anchor light," for the illiterates) is my "handle." But
this information is unnecessary to reasonable, fair- and open-minded
people.

I would suppose that the next we will learn from the purists is that
they have removed their engines and batteries from their boats and
sail out of and into their moorings of docks (docks?) with only
candles and/or kerosene lamps, sleep on unpadded benches, eat only
crackers and warm water or weak tea and do not shave or shower or
change underwear for weeks or months on end. (I once knew a man who
almost fitted that description and I have never before or again met
anyone so unhappy.)

Just curious -- How much sailing in a year do the purists do? I'd bet
damned little.

As a purist, I use the engine only as required. I navigate by feel,
as it is the only truly pure way.

When I feel like it...

I would very much appreciate your comments WRT installing windows to
eliminate conflicts between versions, new software, old hardware,
etc, since in my experience most program problems are caused by
improper installation, in those cases where windows cannot resolve
requirements as visited. A few guidelines from one who has succeeded
here would be appreciated, indeed.

Generally, CMOS anti virus protection (Master Boot Record write
protection) seems to be a focal point, since it should be disabled
when updating software and hardware, etc. Once windows is set to
battling itself over volatile work arounds to unwritten MBR
requirements (updating without disabling and then re-enabling the
mbr protection), the trap is sprung it seems, and thereafter nothing
short of reformatting and re-installing, with MBR protection "off"
seems remediable. It seems I have been bound in this gaol several times.

Win 3.11 was the best, it seems. I have burned out since then, and
cannot rouse spirit or energy enough to battle between Netscape and
Billy and his anti-bootleg crap any more.

Specifically, do you recommend installing and subscribing to MS
network gateway services? Or, have you mastered this conflict?

Thank you.

Terry k

"anchorlt" wrote in message
om...
I smile when I read what the navigation software purists among us
assert and claim.

They don't like Windows? I have been using Windows since it first came
out, in 1995, on my boats' computers and never once had any problem or
failure with that software in any and all of its versions or updates
since. Please do not say again it does not work.

Mmm..., experienced system administrators have told me that they regularly
rebooted their NT servers, just to prevent lockups after a longer period.

I won't call myself a purist. But I work with my computers daily because it
is my job to develop hardware and software. I tend to choose the best tool
for the job and use Windows on my desktop. Not because it is the best tool
by nature, but it runs all necessary software I need for my job. On my
server I run Linux, because it is the best tool for that particular job. It
is rock solid and safe. I have been running windows from version 3.10 on a
daily basis and I simply know,because of what I do for living, that windows
is a fragile system. NT4 was in my opinion the best, but lacked support for
modern hardware.

I can tell you a story about a guy who wanted to setup a small system for
his office, which also had to run some internet stuff. After 8 weeks of
struggle, including hundreds of $ worth of support from Microsoft, he still
had no running system. He then went out and bought a Linux distribution.
Within 2 days, he was up and running.

I have also been installing a computer system on board of a ship, to control
a KVM switch that connected 12 LCD touchscreens with 10 PC's. I used linux
on that system because is had to keep running. I also connect all other
computers to the internet. Quite a few PC's had to be rebooted every now and
then. Not the linux system.

So, I'm not a purist, but I simply see that linux systems keep on running
for a longer time and have less problems. This is my observation, not a
purists feeling.

Meindert

anchorlt wrote:
I smile when I read what the navigation software purists among us
assert and claim.

They don't like Windows? I have been using Windows since it first came
out, in 1995, on my boats' computers and never once had any problem or
failure with that software in any and all of its versions or updates
since. Please do not say again it does not work.

I mentioned a new nav software program in my initial post only to
alert others of its existence. Then along come the purists -- the
cynics, who accuse me of being someone's brother or uncle. Or worse,
anonymous. I have never been anonymous. I am Edward J. Wagner, Ph.D.,
who lives in Lighthouse Point FL 3064. My telephone is 954.785.2470.
"anchorlt" ("anchor light," for the illiterates) is my "handle." But
this information is unnecessary to reasonable, fair- and open-minded
people.

I would suppose that the next we will learn from the purists is that
they have removed their engines and batteries from their boats and
sail out of and into their moorings of docks (docks?) with only
candles and/or kerosene lamps, sleep on unpadded benches, eat only
crackers and warm water or weak tea and do not shave or shower or
change underwear for weeks or months on end. (I once knew a man who
almost fitted that description and I have never before or again met
anyone so unhappy.)

Just curious -- How much sailing in a year do the purists do? I'd bet
damned little.

Guess you're right. Must be something wrong with me, I just enjoy sailing,
with a very occasional peek at the laptop. I couldn't care less if it's
running Windows, Linux or Dos, but if the genny isn't drawing properly,
that's a disaster.

Columbus looked at the sun occasionally, and he managed to find America,
Wow! He must have been some guy!


Dennis.
Remove "nospam" from return address.


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"Dennis Pogson" wrote in message
...

Guess you're right. Must be something wrong with me, I just enjoy sailing,
with a very occasional peek at the laptop. I couldn't care less if it's
running Windows, Linux or Dos, but if the genny isn't drawing properly,
that's a disaster.

Columbus looked at the sun occasionally, and he managed to find America,
Wow! He must have been some guy!

Ok, but the sun doesn't crash every now and then, does it? ;-)

Meindert

Have you noticed how much time the "purists" spend on the internet?

"anchorlt" wrote in message
om...
I smile when I read what the navigation software purists among us
assert and claim.

They don't like Windows? I have been using Windows since it first came
out, in 1995, on my boats' computers and never once had any problem or
failure with that software in any and all of its versions or updates
since. Please do not say again it does not work.

I mentioned a new nav software program in my initial post only to
alert others of its existence. Then along come the purists -- the
cynics, who accuse me of being someone's brother or uncle. Or worse,
anonymous. I have never been anonymous. I am Edward J. Wagner, Ph.D.,
who lives in Lighthouse Point FL 3064. My telephone is 954.785.2470.
"anchorlt" ("anchor light," for the illiterates) is my "handle." But
this information is unnecessary to reasonable, fair- and open-minded
people.

I would suppose that the next we will learn from the purists is that
they have removed their engines and batteries from their boats and
sail out of and into their moorings of docks (docks?) with only
candles and/or kerosene lamps, sleep on unpadded benches, eat only
crackers and warm water or weak tea and do not shave or shower or
change underwear for weeks or months on end. (I once knew a man who
almost fitted that description and I have never before or again met
anyone so unhappy.)

Just curious -- How much sailing in a year do the purists do? I'd bet
damned little.

"anchorlt" wrote in message
om...
I smile when I read what the navigation software purists among us
assert and claim.

They don't like Windows? I have been using Windows since it first came
out, in 1995, on my boats' computers and never once had any problem or
failure with that software in any and all of its versions or updates
since. Please do not say again it does not work.

I mentioned a new nav software program in my initial post only to
alert others of its existence. Then along come the purists -- the
cynics, who accuse me of being someone's brother or uncle. Or worse,
anonymous. I have never been anonymous. I am Edward J. Wagner, Ph.D.,


Uhh Ed, you don't need to post your SSN, blood type or bank account numbers
to prove you are a serious source. Although the horse is rather well out of
the barn now, next time try not to rise to the bait so fast. These posts are
public records, and whackos love to play games with harvested information. A
certain amount of anonymity here is good. g

BTW, unless you have software that is incompatible with Win XP, you really
should be running that as your OS. Win XP is so much tougher than previous
versions of Windows that it almost seems like it came from other than MS.
True, it's bloated with lot's of stuff you will never need. If I were
running something like a navigational program in a controlled environment
(like my own boat), I would do a custom install with absolutely as little of
the features as possible. You don't need stuff like Office, Media Player,
Firewall, Antivirus, 150 fonts, Fast Find, games, email or net browser. If I
needed to print charts, or update data via the net, I would only install
barely what's needed to do the job.

Sure, DOS is more robust than most other choices, but most people want an
easier human interface than a command line prompt. And most people do not
want to get into the management of their OS, so the more exotic OS
possibilities are really not good options. Snide comments by "purists"
aside, there are very good reasons for Windows being on 95% of PC's.

Ed

"Ed Price" wrote in message news:1MXYc.5349$Mf.1254@fed1read02...
"anchorlt" wrote in message
om...
I smile when I read what the navigation software purists among us
assert and claim.

They don't like Windows? I have been using Windows since it first came
out, in 1995, on my boats' computers and never once had any problem or
failure with that software in any and all of its versions or updates
since. Please do not say again it does not work.

I mentioned a new nav software program in my initial post only to
alert others of its existence. Then along come the purists -- the
cynics, who accuse me of being someone's brother or uncle. Or worse,
anonymous. I have never been anonymous. I am Edward J. Wagner, Ph.D.,


Uhh Ed, you don't need to post your SSN, blood type or bank account numbers
to prove you are a serious source. Although the horse is rather well out of
the barn now, next time try not to rise to the bait so fast. These posts are
public records, and whackos love to play games with harvested information. A
certain amount of anonymity here is good. g

BTW, unless you have software that is incompatible with Win XP, you really
should be running that as your OS. Win XP is so much tougher than previous
versions of Windows that it almost seems like it came from other than MS.
True, it's bloated with lot's of stuff you will never need. If I were
running something like a navigational program in a controlled environment
(like my own boat), I would do a custom install with absolutely as little of
the features as possible. You don't need stuff like Office, Media Player,
Firewall, Antivirus, 150 fonts, Fast Find, games, email or net browser. If I
needed to print charts, or update data via the net, I would only install
barely what's needed to do the job.

Sure, DOS is more robust than most other choices, but most people want an
easier human interface than a command line prompt. And most people do not
want to get into the management of their OS, so the more exotic OS
possibilities are really not good options. Snide comments by "purists"
aside, there are very good reasons for Windows being on 95% of PC's.

Ed


You have hit limiting installation of Windows XP squarely. The one
feature segment I did install was "Word," to keep detailed logs,
including waypoints.

In article ,
"Meindert Sprang" wrote:

I have also been installing a computer system on board of a ship, to control
a KVM switch that connected 12 LCD touchscreens with 10 PC's. I used linux
on that system because is had to keep running. I also connect all other
computers to the internet. Quite a few PC's had to be rebooted every now and
then. Not the linux system.

So, I'm not a purist, but I simply see that linux systems keep on running
for a longer time and have less problems. This is my observation, not a
purists feeling.

Meindert

Any you can have a linux kernal that is ROM Based with everything else
on a CD. Try that with Microsquash.


Bruce in alaska
--
add a 2 before @

On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 23:04:04 +0200, "Meindert Sprang"
wrote:

"Dennis Pogson" wrote in message
...

Guess you're right. Must be something wrong with me, I just enjoy sailing,
with a very occasional peek at the laptop. I couldn't care less if it's
running Windows, Linux or Dos, but if the genny isn't drawing properly,
that's a disaster.

Columbus looked at the sun occasionally, and he managed to find America,
Wow! He must have been some guy!

Ok, but the sun doesn't crash every now and then, does it? ;-)

Uh, wasn't Columbus trying to find India? :-)

Dave

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