Slashdot Mirror

Hi, before I perfomed the release today, I mirroed all the distribution files on my box. http://www.linuxpower.cx/~greg/v/. - Greg Maxwell

Does it really matter if it's the FBI or some pimple-faced youth at your ISP violating your privacy. Just face the facts: You have no privacy on the Internet without encryption, your only protection is the masses of other traffic.

If you have *ANY* intrest in privacy, then take steps to protect it. Install postfix+ssl on your mailservers, use GPG for your email.

I'm so sick of people who post GPG keys but never bother using them. In order to prevent suspicion because of using encryption, you must use it normally. If someone posts their GPG key, then USE IT, if they didn't want encrypted mail, they wouldn't post it!

Go grab my email and send me a GPG (/openpgp) encrypted email, include your key and I'll reply. The practice is good and it will certantly annoy sniffers. :P (http://www.linuxpower.cx/~greg/).

http://linuxpower.cx/~greg/css/ Get your css code!

If Open Source applications such as AbiWord were packaged and sold on the shelves at cost of distribution, people would realize that software for Linux is available and of high-quality.

I don't think so... The main attraction of Linux is that you can get anything for free. What needs to be developed is an easier way of getting these things, something like an online store without money... now I have no problem with the current system, "Search Engines" (hehe), but the average person would like a place he can go online to just browse what's available and say "Ooh that looks nice, I think I'll get that..." rather than knowing beforehand what he needs.

Even though there are numerous applications for Linux available, there really aren't that many of comparable quality and usability to their Windows counterparts in areas which the average user needs. For example, there is nothing for Linux that is comparable to something like Quicken for Windows, a popular financial application. While there are small applications being developed, there aren't any commercial applications developed that serve that purpose. Some Linux users seem to fear the commercialization of software, but in a sense, it is required for the further advancement and acceptance of Linux.

Picky picky picky... Yes financial software is one area where linux is deficient, the other (more prominent) area being web browsers. We've just about solved the web browser problem, with Opera and Konquerer on the way, and especially Mozilla. M12 looks great, and it seems to be almost as powerful as netscape 4.7 (and it IS more stable :-). I've noticed that I can now successfully login to slashdot with it and the only thing I can't seem to do is moderating. I think with M13 or M14 (assuming they exist... i mean they might reach the 1.0 stage before then :-) I'll be switching over.

For the most part, I agree with everything else in the article... I've felt the wrath of printer support, especially with the HP 722c's. Back in RH6.0 I was able to get mine working... slightly... After that, I haven't been able to. I'm now on Slackware 7 and I still can't. (The driver is available, at PPA for the masses.) BUT... I am extremely impressed in the amount of drivers available for linux, in the most recent kernel there is a working driver for the SB1000 Cable Modem, a Hybrid Cable Modem card used in some areas (like mine) where fiber optic cable is not yet available. This is such an obscure device I didn't think there would be a driver, but lo and behold there was a driver and a HOWTO!!! You don't need to go looking for drivers in linux, almost everything is included with the kernel. Recompiling a kernel is not hard, either. Try it some time!

yebyen@adelphia.net

http://linuxpower.cx/~greg/css/.

http://linuxpower.cx/~greg/css/