A Travel and vacations forum. TravelBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » TravelBanter forum » Travel Regions » Europe
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

life after Windows....



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #11  
Old March 25th, 2009, 06:53 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,rec.travel.air
Mxsmanic
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,830
Default life after Windows....

Sam O'Var writes:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...s-1653198.html


Unless dramatic changes occur in the world of Linux, it will never be a
significant threat to Windows or a serious option for the vast majority of
computer users. The musician in the article typifies the problems with the
OS, and one can see generally that the more intensively a user uses his
computer for real work, the more problems Linux presents.

Linux is fine for geeks who do not actually do work with their computers, as
they can afford to fiddle with the OS endlessly--they have nothing else to do.
And people who use their computers for only one or two things, such as surfing
the Web and reading e-mail, may find Linux acceptable. But for everyone else,
it's just not a solution.

Linux is not really moving in the right direction to change this, and some
fundamental problems with Linux will prevent it from doing so. For example,
Windows includes components licensed from other companies that are not free;
Linux can never include these components unless it also includes a licensing
fee for them, and then it won't be free any more (and it will become a lot
more complicated if it goes that route). That's one reason why the musician
might not be able to find all the codecs he needs.

Of course, if you start paying for Linux, most of its advantages over Windows
evaporate. It is not more stable or secure, despite claims along those lines.
The vast number of "distributions" are actually different operating systems,
that share only a small core of common code that isn't enough to ensure
stability or security itself.

There are just many, many problems with Linux. I'd welcome a drop-in
replacement for Windows that could effectively provide some degree of
competition, but Linux isn't it, and the way things are going, it never will
be.
  #12  
Old March 25th, 2009, 06:53 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,rec.travel.air,rec.photo.digital,uk.politics.misc
Mxsmanic
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,830
Default life after Windows....

White Spirit writes:

He couldn't get it to play WAVs and MP3s? What's the matter with him?


That's the wrong question. The right question is: What's the matter with the
OS? After all, he was able to play all of that under Windows.

This betrays an attitude common among Linux fans: If something doesn't work,
it's the user's fault, not the operating system's fault. It's not a very
rational or productive attitude.
  #13  
Old March 25th, 2009, 06:56 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,rec.travel.air,rec.photo.digital,uk.politics.misc
Mxsmanic
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,830
Default life after Windows....

White Spirit writes:

MP3 is not proprietary.


MP3 is a minefield of software patent and copyright issues, both for players
and for recorders of MP3 content.

To be fair, Ubuntu is not always the best choice for beginners given
that it can be quite restrictive and buggy. It's not hard to look on
Google to find simple instructions to get what you need, but there are
better distros for the beginner.


And that's another problem with Linux: an endless number of "distributions"
which are actually different operating systems. With no standards, there's no
hope of competing with Windows.
  #14  
Old March 25th, 2009, 06:58 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,rec.travel.air
Mxsmanic
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,830
Default life after Windows....

William Black writes:

The major advantage of using Linux is security.


The "security" of Linux is illusory. Its only security advantage is that it's
too small a target to merit attacks.
  #15  
Old March 25th, 2009, 06:59 PM posted to rec.travel.europe
Mxsmanic
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,830
Default life after Windows....

William Black writes:

Right now I'm running two computers, Ubuntu on the new one and W98 SP2 on
an elderly Dell, with a KVM switch and a teeny weenie Samba server running
2x 500Gig disks in RAID 1 for backup storage.


Windows 98 is a completely different operating system from Windows XP.

I run Windows XP on the desktop, and FreeBSD (vastly superior to Linux--it is
a real descendent of UNIX, whereas Linux is not) on the server.
  #16  
Old March 25th, 2009, 07:06 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,rec.travel.air
William Black
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,125
Default life after Windows....


"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...
William Black writes:

The major advantage of using Linux is security.


The "security" of Linux is illusory. Its only security advantage is that
it's
too small a target to merit attacks.


********.

The British government web site doesn't like Windows products for protecting
secrets when connected to the net, it does like Linux and Unix.

Unix variants can be 'locked down'. Windows can't because you can't look at
the source code.

--
William Black

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.


  #17  
Old March 25th, 2009, 07:06 PM posted to rec.travel.europe
William Black
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,125
Default life after Windows....


"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...
William Black writes:

Right now I'm running two computers, Ubuntu on the new one and W98 SP2
on
an elderly Dell, with a KVM switch and a teeny weenie Samba server
running
2x 500Gig disks in RAID 1 for backup storage.


Windows 98 is a completely different operating system from Windows XP.


Sorry, XP.

Who cares, it's all crap.

--
William Black

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.


  #18  
Old March 25th, 2009, 07:08 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,rec.travel.air
William Black
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,125
Default life after Windows....


"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...

Of course, if you start paying for Linux, most of its advantages over
Windows
evaporate. It is not more stable or secure,


Well...

Yes it is...

Nobody runs servers on Micro$oft software.

Well, nobody sane...

--
William Black

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.


  #19  
Old March 25th, 2009, 07:40 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,rec.travel.air
tim.....
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,591
Default life after Windows....


"Sam O'Var" wrote in message
...
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...s-1653198.html

Linux is free, easy-to-use


As someone who had to use this pile of poo for 9 months at my last job, I
can safely say that:

"it most certainly is not"

And I'm an experience computer user with a degree in Computer Science.

tim




  #20  
Old March 25th, 2009, 07:45 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,rec.travel.air,rec.photo.digital,uk.politics.misc
Lou Ravi
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 24
Default life after Windows....

Mxsmanic wrote:
White Spirit writes:

MP3 is not proprietary.


MP3 is a minefield of software patent and copyright issues, both for
players and for recorders of MP3 content.

To be fair, Ubuntu is not always the best choice for beginners given
that it can be quite restrictive and buggy. It's not hard to look on
Google to find simple instructions to get what you need, but there
are better distros for the beginner.


And that's another problem with Linux: an endless number of
"distributions" which are actually different operating systems. With
no standards, there's no hope of competing with Windows.


Quite, I've been hearing for years now how Linux is going to take over,
that it's the best things since sliced bread etc. That's tosh, it has a
tiny market share, is not suitable for the average PC user and will
never be anything other than a minority OS for people who like tinkering
with their PCs. I have nothing against it, on the contrary it would
perhaps be good if it was widespread and got people away from MS
hegemony but let's be realistic, it just won't happen.


 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Optimization for Windows XP [email protected] Europe 0 August 20th, 2007 07:05 PM
No Windows on Row 6 of UAL 737-500 BFSON Air travel 5 May 29th, 2004 12:30 AM
7E7 Windows Lou Minatti Air travel 34 November 27th, 2003 01:19 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 10:00 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 TravelBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.