On Tue, 03 Oct 2006 23:06:26 -0400, Reginald P. Smithers III wrote:


I won't install any of the "Vista" segments until the complaints post
in the MS NG's are substantially less than they are now. My guess is it
will take MS at least 6 months to correct the majority of the problems.

Not wanting to start a religious war, but I just don't get it. Don't you
ever get tired of the same old MS bull****? There are alternatives.

http://distrowatch.com/

thunder wrote:
On Tue, 03 Oct 2006 23:06:26 -0400, Reginald P. Smithers III wrote:


I won't install any of the "Vista" segments until the complaints post
in the MS NG's are substantially less than they are now. My guess is it
will take MS at least 6 months to correct the majority of the problems.

Not wanting to start a religious war, but I just don't get it. Don't you
ever get tired of the same old MS bull****? There are alternatives.

http://distrowatch.com/

I am tired of MS BS, but really don't want to go threw the learning
curve of new software and finding software that will run on Linux

On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 07:03:32 -0400, Reginald P. Smithers III wrote:


I am tired of MS BS, but really don't want to go threw the learning
curve of new software and finding software that will run on Linux

I can understand that, but MS hasn't changed since their beginnings. I
wouldn't expect any change in the near future.

As for the software, there are very few applications that Linux doesn't
have a corresponding program for. True there is a learning curve, but
then Vista might be out in the next year or two, and it will also have a
learning curve.

Hey, I'm a Linux advocate. When I switched, I never looked back. So, just
a suggestion, if you are at all interested. Try a live-cd. It will run
from the CD and won't change anything on your hard drive, but will show
you *some* of the capabilities of Linux.

Try the Desktop CD for your architecture.

http://carroll.cac.psu.edu/pub/linux...leases/dapper/

For information on what that CD contains:

http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop

Linux has come a long way.

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 12:11:59 -0000, "thunder"
wrote:

Hey, I'm a Linux advocate. When I switched, I never looked back.

Ok, I'll take you up on that.

But first, explain what it's advantages and disadvantages are.

No viruses.

Terse documentation.

Complicated interfaces.

If something goes wrong you fix it, or ask on the net if you can still
get to it.

Linux is a great environment if your application or needs fit. But, it
is not a general purpose environment for those that want to use a
computer to surf, play video, audio and other general activities.

On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 12:25:11 +0000, Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:

On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 12:11:59 -0000, "thunder"
wrote:

Hey, I'm a Linux advocate. When I switched, I never looked back.

Ok, I'll take you up on that.

But first, explain what it's advantages and disadvantages are.

Yikes, you're going to make me think. ;-) First, I've been using Linux
almost exclusively since sometime in the mid-nineties. So a comparison
with Windows, for me, is very difficult.

I switched because I was increasingly frustrated with Windows limited
ability to be configured and it's refusal to do the things I wanted. I
found I was often dropping into DOS to get things done. So, I tried Linux.

Linux is incredibly flexible. You can use a GUI, or not. As for GUIs,
you have a choice of dozens of window managers and several different
desktops, all standard issue. You should be able to find something you
like. Hell, you can even make a desktop quite similar to Windows,
although I don't know why you would want to.

I find it easy to configure, either through the GUI preferences, or
editing a text file. Scripting, if needed, is built in. Shell scripts,
Python, or Perl, are all freely available.

It's rock-solid stable. I leave this machine on 24/7, and the only time
it goes down is for a power outage. I can honestly say, I have never had
a kernel crash, and only a few lock-ups when I was doing something funky.
The lock-ups were always able to be cleared without rebooting.

As for programs, I use Debian and the last time I looked, it had over
8,000 programs freely available for download. There is something for most
any application, and most are quite powerful.

Bugs or security issues are fixed quite promptly, as in days not months.
No viruses, ActiveX disasters, browser insecurities, etc. etc. Oh, and as
an example of speed, this box is an AMD64 running a true 64 bit OS for
over two years. It will need replacement before MS ever gets Vista up and
running.

And it's FREE. I'm off the M$ upgrade train.

Disadvantages? Macromedia hasn't released Flash for 64 bit systems. I
could chroot a 32 bit browser, but I can also live without Flash. For
those who simply can't live without a Windows app, Linux also has a
Windows emulator, wine, which seems to do the trick. Although, I have
never felt the need to use it.

While I find most applications are easily set up, usually automatically,
occasionally there will be problems. Most things are well documented, but
I have had to scratch my head. Setting up a network printer wasn't as
easy as it should have been. Oh, and there is some equipment that is not
supported. Win-printers and Win-modems come to mind, but then, they
aren't true printers or modems. However, you do have to be careful when
purchasing equipment. WiFi cards are particularly difficult, as Linux
supports chips not cards, and card manufacturers quite often switch chips.

Look, Linux may not be for everyone, but it has come a long way, and is
quite serviceable. Try a live CD. It's free, so no harm. Bear in mind,
it will be slower than if it was on your hard drive, but it will show you
some of Linux's capabilities.

On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 08:31:03 -0400, Bert Robbins wrote:

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 12:11:59 -0000, "thunder"
wrote:

Hey, I'm a Linux advocate. When I switched, I never looked back.

Ok, I'll take you up on that.

But first, explain what it's advantages and disadvantages are.

No viruses.

I believe there is one. ;-)

Terse documentation.

Not really. I'll admit some program's documentation is lacking, but much
documentation is quite detailed, and with the net, you can generally find
any answer.

Complicated interfaces.

What interface? There are so many choices.


If something goes wrong you fix it, or ask on the net if you can still
get to it.

Linux is a great environment if your application or needs fit. But, it
is not a general purpose environment for those that want to use a
computer to surf, play video, audio and other general activities.

Seriously, I'm not sure that holds true anymore. Over 8,000 apps, surely
you can find a fit. Oh, as for video and audio, Bill's Digital Rights
Management is getting down right intrusive, IMO.

On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 12:11:59 -0000, "thunder"
wrote:

Linux has come a long way.

And it has a long way to go.

The problem is that 99.9% of web sites, consumer hardware accessories
and consumer software are designed for the MS/Windows environment. If
it works fine, if not, you are on your own in the wild west.

Linux will always be in catch up mode.

That said, I recently down loaded a Knoppix disk and was pleasantly
surprised in most respects. It didn't support any of my WiFi adapters
however, or my USB thumb drive.

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 13:52:41 -0000, "thunder"
wrote:

Look, Linux may not be for everyone, but it has come a long way, and is
quite serviceable. Try a live CD. It's free, so no harm. Bear in mind,
it will be slower than if it was on your hard drive, but it will show you
some of Linux's capabilities.

Thanks - that was very informative.

I have a spare computer in the office that is just sitting there doing
nothing so I'll give it a shot.

Sounds like a fun winter project early in the morning when I'm half
intelligent. :)

That's dangerous. You'll get it running successfully when you're half awake,
but then you won't remember how.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 12:11:59 -0000, "thunder"
wrote:

Linux has come a long way.

And it has a long way to go.

The problem is that 99.9% of web sites, consumer hardware accessories
and consumer software are designed for the MS/Windows environment. If
it works fine, if not, you are on your own in the wild west.

Linux will always be in catch up mode.

That said, I recently down loaded a Knoppix disk and was pleasantly
surprised in most respects. It didn't support any of my WiFi adapters
however, or my USB thumb drive.


I've spent plenty of time accessing the web from a friend's Linux machine. I
didn't have any problems with perhaps 20-30 sites.

On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 10:37:05 -0400, Wayne.B wrote:


That said, I recently down loaded a Knoppix disk and was pleasantly
surprised in most respects. It didn't support any of my WiFi adapters
however, or my USB thumb drive.

WiFi can be problematic. I'm careful to check several hardware
compatibility sites before purchasing any hardware. That being said,
there's a good chance you can get your WiFi working using your Window's
driver and ndiswrapper.

http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/

You might want to try the command lspci in a terminal window. It should
tell you if Knoppix is recognizing your WiFi cards.