On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 16:12:56 -0500, Joseph Gwinn
wrote:
In article ,
"Pete C." wrote:
Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article ,
Cydrome Leader wrote:
In rec.crafts.metalworking Gunner wrote:
Ok..for all you Linux junkies...this has been driving me nuts for
months and months and ... well you get the idea.
Originally..I thought this issue was hardware....but now...
What are you trying to do that justifies all the time wasted on trying to
run anything but windows?
Huh? Compared to MacOS, Windows is a notorious timewaster, so clearly
you will be switching to MacOS immediately?
Joe Gwinn
Only for the clueless.
I made my living as an embedded realtime programmer for 20 or 30 years.
I use MacOS at home (where I'm the IT Department), and Windows plus UNIX
at work. MacOS is simply less trouble, by a lot.
MacOS was total crap up until Apple finally
realized they lacked the expertise to write an OS and put their UI over
someone else's Unix core. Now instead of being a crappy UI on top of a
crappy OS, it's a crappy UI on top of a so-so OS.
Don't mistake me for a Windoze bigot either, ...
Could have fooled me. Listen to yourself, listen to the music.
...I use Windoze for a lot of
things for two reasons:
1. When you have a clue, Windoze is perfectly stable. Over five
different systems, two of which run 24x7, I average one Windoze crash /
problem every couple years. I have also never had a virus on any of
these systems despite the fact they are on a cable modem connection full
time. People who have problems with Windoze primarily bring it on
themselves and will do the same regardless of the OS.
You are very fortunate. One wonders how long your luck will last. The
rest of the world must be pretty clueless, because they have all these
problems, in spades. and the computer mags are full of sad tales.
As for security problems, there are tens of thousands of viruses et al
for Windows, maybe ten for MacOS (none that still work), and essentially
zero for most flavors of UNIX.
Because MacOS is only for the clueless, it cannot be that the lack of
trouble on Macs is due to clued-in users. So there must be some other,
simpler explanation.
2. Many pieces of software I use are only for, or run best on Windoze
and they run without any problems whatsoever on my systems. In the Linux
world there are open source substitutes for some of these programs,
however they are inconsistent, are often missing important features and
have essentially no support.
I do have to run Windows to use some applications, but they are odd
ones, like FEMM. Not to mention many CAD-CAM apps, and the like.
Mainstream stuff is available on both MacOS and Windows, but less so on
Linux.
I agree that lots of Linux applications require some fiddling to use,
but this is due more to their being open-source versus commercial. With
the growth of Linux in the market, more commercial apps will support
Linux, so this advantage is likely to erode over time.
If you want a rock solid, secure and reliable OS you will not find it in
Windoze, MacOS or Linux, you also will not find it for free.
Well, I agree that it won't be free. It will cost time and/or money,
one way or the other.
MacOS is rock solid; this I know from direct personal experience.
The real reason for a metalworker to use Windows is that many of the
standard apps for metalworking and manufacturing are currently
Windows-only, but these are slowly picking up Linux support. I'm
planning to get a Dell PC at home for just this reason, but this PC will
be well-isolated from the Internet.
The App developers and their customers would dearly love to have an
alternative to Windows, to regain control of their lives, to escape the
Treadmill.
Joe Gwinn
http://www.megagames.com/news/html/p...martdeal.shtml
http://www.knowledgeproblem.com/archives/000537.html
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...,502196,00.asp
Wal-Mart, Microtel Ship $199 Lindows PC
By Mark Hachman
Lindows.com and Wal-Mart.com have teamed up again, making a $199 PC
available to the discount chain's online customers, and a Windows
option available to those willing to pay a $100 premium.
Lindows chief executive Michael Robertson had written that the company
expected to sign a deal creating a $199 PC at about the end of last
week.
ADVERTISEMENT
Unlike the other Microtel PCs sold by Wal-Mart, however, the new
Microtel SYSMAR710 model includes a 800-MHz Via C3 processor,
disdaining chips from AMD or Intel. In addition, according to Via,
Wal-Mart will sell a similar SYSMAR715 PC, also based on the Lindows
OS, which will be priced at $218. But while the SYSMAR710 can be
purchased on the Wal-Mart website, the SYSMAR715 does not seem to be
available. Representatives at Wal-Mart.com were unable to be contacted
due to the Labor Day weekend in the U.S.
"Via is a company that delivers high quality technology solutions,
providing satisfaction and affordability to our customers," said Rich
Hindman, vice president of Microtel, in a statement. "The Microtel
LindowsOS SYSMAR710 system is a new benchmark in performance and
usability for mainstream PC buyers."
The new $199 PC lacks a monitor, but includes most of the basics
needed for a low-end PC: 128 Mbytes of RAM, a 10-Gbyte hard drive,
integrated Trident 2D/3D graphics, a 52X CD-ROM, and integrated sound.
A pair of USB ports are included, as well as two PCI slots and an ISA
slot.
"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.
Think of it as having your older brother knock the **** out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner