Slashdot Mirror
Cooking With Linux
Georg Tobin writes "LinuxWorld open source editor Kevin Bedell conducts a very interesting interview with Michael Stutz, author of the new Linux Cookbook, 2nd Edition, on the language of the Linux command line, cookbooks, economics, and what applications you absolutely need Windows for."
hardly? This was nothing more then a regular interview with questions that were almost as bad a highschool newsreporters. Interviewers need to learn to get down and dirty and ask more detailed interesting questions.
http://www.immigrantornot.com/
>> Linux is loaded with applications, everything you need.
That doesn't seem true to me. There are lots of areas where Linux applications could use improvement. Photoshop for example (GIMP, while on the good track, is still way to go in this area).
I mainly agree with the points outlined, but not everything is perfect, and Linux still has some catch-up to do in some areas.
Anyone else thinking that he over clocked his machine and got out a frying pan? I know students are cheap but thats a new low..
I like muppets.
I haven't found a broker that has software that runs on linux, unless its a web based interface.
....but I use linux for everything else!!
I use Market Maker from CMC Group for trading CFD's and FXCM Trading Station for forex trading. They are far superior to any web based app I've seen.
Contrary to the article, Windows is good for more than viruses and freeze-ups. In certain specialized fields, Linux is still much more difficult (or impossible) to run. The examples I am most familiar with are animation (as far as I know, no Linux program exists to create Flash animation, and the only 3d animation program I'm aware of is Blender), professional audio (fun with ALSA, anyone?), and graphics (aside from the GIMP issue, what about vector graphics and publishing?).
Yes, some of this is because more manufacturers cater to Windows rather than Linux, but the fact remains that this makes Windows more suitable for some things. Linux is not inherently less capable of performing these functions, but the tools don't exist yet.
Entertainment - XMMS, xine tvtime ;)
:D
Office work - Open Office
Surf the net and an email - Firefox and buddies
Chat - no comments
Games - Only thing I miss couple of games apart from Doom
No need to install drivers, for example for some wired reason my tv tunner card always stuck under all edition of Windows but it works great on 2.6 kernel
Hey Linux makes great desktop for me I don't need graphics application just use it as computer for above and I'm done
The important thing is not to stop questioning --Albert Einstein.
Linux can cook food now?! Damn , hope it can serve it to me in bed as well.
http://www.immigrantornot.com/
"Kevin Bedell conducts a very interesting interview with Michael Stutz"
Interesting? Long term Linux user has book to sell.
EOF.
I work with professional audio at home and work.
ALSA is a pain in the ass.
Audacity is good for an amature, but like the parent said, until there are more professional apps, Linux will just be a good server os, and an o.k. desktop.
If businesses cannot embrace Linux due to lack of apps, who will?
I managed to read that as "Cooking with Linus"
That would have made a great article.
- "They misunderestimated me."
You will need:
500 g of prime, lean penguin meat
2 kg of Finnish Human soaked in Swedish wine
1 tablespoon of Stallman stock
Instructions
1. Combine the ingredients in a rough manner but ensure that they bind well
2. Simmer slowly over 10 years or so on a low heat
3. Add some more Stallman stock and bring to the boil
4. Quickly place the lid on to avoid boilover, or alternatively add 2 litres of Redmond FUD to cool things off
5. Add 1 kg of the secret ingredient (rock cocaine) to keep the diners happy
6. Present on several plates of various types and don't forget to add the open sauce!
7. Enjoy and remeber to play with the food
Serves Millions.
Linux is good for:
- Scientific apps (I know Astronomy best but as I understand it there are other areas where Analysis tools are all written to run under Un*x)
- Running as a web/ftp/mail etc. etc. internet server
- Teaching developers to code in a number of languages without forking out tens of dollars on costly development environments
- Generally running in places where otherwise licensing costs would be prohibitive.
- Users who want more control over the environment, and can afford the time configuring it correctly.
Windows is good for:
- Writing documents (Word, Excel etc. suck but they're still better than anything else I've seen)
- Presentations, Graphics, Video editing (though plenty would argue Mac's better still).
- The many tasks where there isn't equivalent software under Linux. Can you beat Chessmaster, Fritz, Chessbase, Shredder, Tasc Tutor for chess on Linux? Certainly not. And I'm sorry but gimp is a poor replacement for Photoshop/Paintshop pro.
Why the hell would anyone want to use one OS where another works better? Until there are a LOT more feature rich easy to use applications and more variety under Linux than Windows that's the way it is. Using Linux for running office software is like using a saw to hammer in a nail. Using Windows as a high volume web server is similarly absurd. Don't let Linux zealots or Windows money hungry corporate sales people fool you into throwing away this common sense principle.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
This isn't unreasonable if you're a user who just wants to use the tools you know. I installed OpenOffice for someone for a similar reason, who needed to edit PowerPoint documents. He wasn't thrilled because OpenOffice didn't look exactly like office. It also kept asking him when she was saving his files if he really wanted to use the old Office format instead of the 'better' OpenOffice format. He needed the standard format because she was displaying the presentations with PowerPoint on machines where I couldn't go and install OpenOffice. The kicker for him, though, was that the presentations he edited with OpenOffice did not look the same when he ran them in PowerPoint. Sure, that's a bug that will probably (or may already have been) fixed, but that didn't help him get his job done.
In the end, he bought the version of Office that included PowerPoint and now he's happy.
Not everyone wants to be on the leading edge or to try out new things. You sometimes have to think of this from their viewpoint. Some people just don't care -- they've learned one tool and they don't want to learn another.
EricHow to detect Internet Explorer
Can't speak for everyone ... but even way back when I was using windows I only had 5 or 6 games. They are all sitting next to me, and half of them run better under wine than natively on windows. Dont laugh, its true. The only one that doesnt run is Age Of Empires. Although I am sure if I wanted to fiddle with it ..... I could make it work.
At this point I would guess that 50% of all major PC games run fine either natively (ID games, UT etc) or through wine. Given the target market and the other advantages using linux thats a good enough statistic for now.
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." --Albert Einstein
Rule of thumb, don't listen to Linux users when you want to know how good or bad it compares to Windows or other operating systems. I mean when I read:
..I refer to the area of e-mail viruses - they just don't make them for Linux like they do for Windows...."
"Michael Stutz has used Linux exclusively for over a decade."
and then:
"Q: Do you think that Linux has enough applications that people can completely leave Windows behind?
A: Absolutely"
and then
"Q: Is there anything you need to run Windows for?
A:
Its clear that this man has really no clue at all. His Windows knowledge seems to come directly from the yellow press and his Linux knowledge seems pretty biased, after all if you use it for ten years exclusivly you might actually think that some of its issue just have to be this way and couldn't be solved otherwise. And neither seems he have much clue about what people are actually doing with Windows today. After all I think he his quite right with his limited viewpoint, todays Linux doesn't compare that badly against a ten year old Windows, sad truth is that Windows and its application has moved a lot forward, while Linux is still 10 years behind.
Linux has its niches and areas where it can show its benefits, but simply claiming that its a perfect and complete replacment for Windows today couldn't further away from reality and is only damaging Linux fame. Lies don't help, be honest about what Linux can do and especially about what it can't do, then you might have a chance that people will continue to listen to you and not just turn back and think of you as some Linux-fanboy.
I've read a good chunk of the first one, and felt it's really one of the better Linux titles out there, bonus that it's based off of Debian GNU/Linux. Strong emphasis on doing things via command line, but well written even for someone who might usually shy away from that type of thing (not me though har, har!! ;-)
Anyhow, if I remember right the author had even released the first edition under a free license, and you were able to find it published online as well. (http://www.dsl.org/cookbook/cookbook_toc.html)
I wonder about this one...
Re: Linux and gaming
You hear no end to the gaming argument. Fine. I'm still willing to bet that not 100% of computer users are gamers. When I was a kid, I played with my Atari, then my CoCo, and finally PC games. But at some point, at least for some users, there comes a time when games are just dull. Then, what do you use a computer for? Keeping data, analyzing data, email, internet -- stuff like that. There are lots of users who don't game and don't do photoshop. As for movies on the computer - I'm not that interested. I have a very nice TV/DVD setup - why would I want to look at video on a comparatively tiny monitor while sitting at a desk when I can sit back in true comfort (and no fan noise)?
I'm not saying Linux is perfect for everyone. But all these "it won't run photoshop or play games" arguments only prove that it isn't ready for a subset of users. For middle aged farts like me who want to graph data from my kiln firings, surf the net, check my email, and write a few letters, Linux isn't missing anything at all. Subtract viruses and worms from the mix, and Linux is far better. For now though, you gamers and graphic artists will just have to suffer with windows, but for crying out loud, enough already with the "Linux isn't ready" baloney. Although it doesn't meet your particular needs - there are lots of people for whom it would be perfect - they just don't know it.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
Barely any commercial vendors write VST plugins or multitrack host environments for them.
Examples of things you can only find on Windows/Mac:
Cubase (www.steinberg.net)
Logic (www.apple.com/logic)
ReFX (www.refx.net)
Albino2 (www.linplug.com)
NI: (www.native-instruments.com)
And these are just a few major examples. You have to convince these types of companies to port to Linux before you'll draw the professional audio crowd. I wish it could happen!
Try Kopete. From the webpage: It has always worked great for me.
The one application that I would like to see on linux is
Chinese handwriting recognition
(there are plenty for windows and a few for mac for example see worldlanguage.com but NONE for linux)
There are keyboard input methods that works under linux, and i use emacs for keyboard entry, which is a partial solution for me but not perfect.
obviously i would prefer to see some software like this under gpl but i am prepared to pay for a commercial offering
i think that such software would have the potential to greatly enhance linux uptake in China as well (think aunt tilly in china)
living the dream
Flash for Linux, DrawSWF, Spalah Flash, SWF Tools gAnim8, and OpenOffice all do swf with varying degrees of utility.
I work as a web developer for a marketing agency, and I have the only Linux workstation in the building. I also have a Windows workstation, so it is very easy for me to compare both platforms.
Evolution works well even for corporate email. I use GAIM on both machines, play MP3's on the Linux box, and do most of my work in vi (yet there are other editors that work well, I just like vi).
There are 4 applications holding me back from being able to ditch my Windows machine. Two of those may work well with WINE, but I have not had the time to test them.
Internet Explorer: It is a _MUST_ that I test my code in IE, even though my main browser is Firefox. This may work in WINE.
Photoshop 7: I heard this also works in WINE.
Visual Studio/C#: Mono has made good strides and I look forward to being able to use it, but my work with it deals with a large production environment for a major company and I cannot afford to have something not work just because I decided I wanted to develop on Linux. I'm waiting for Mono V3.
Flash: Yes, other tools exist, but none compare to Macromedia's Flash, and I need to be able to compile Flash 6+ with full support. The tools are not there yet.
That being said, I use my Linux box a good 70% of the time.
Yes, there is an area affecting business and home use where Linux is greatly deficient, and I see no solution coming at all. I refer to the area of e-mail viruses - they just don't make them for Linux like they do for Windows. Same with a lot of those crippling meltdowns and system errors. If you want a blue screen of death freeze-up, you pretty much have to run Windows to get it.
Way to promote your book. I reluctantly have a Windows box, but it does none of the things described above.
If this is any indication of how the book is going to read, I'm almost embarassed to have my Windows user friends run across it. The author could have parlayed this question into a useful answer, but his FUD tells me absolutely nothing about how Linux is able to get over some of the other hurdles which keep Unix lovers from dumping our Windows platforms altogether, such as driver issues, games, and out of the box media playing.
I hate to write the book off entirely based on an interview, but this platform bashing Linux evangelism is of no use to anyone who is past high school age.
The United States is no longer a world leader in art and culture. The most popular word to describe its citizens today is "consumer." Our cities are decaying and dangerous. The implications for the younger generation are terrifying. But with Linux, we could turn all of that around!
Hell-loo?
Fortunately you can benefit from this book even if you don't share the author's view that Linux is the key to the survival of American civilization. I found the 1st ed very helpful in my transition to using Linux as my main system (although I still keep Windows around for reasons other than downloading viruses and worms).