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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.
"Kevin Bedell conducts a very interesting interview with Michael Stutz"
Interesting? Long term Linux user has book to sell.
EOF.
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
Now audacity, I can agree. It's not in any way comparable to many professional audio tools for windows. But hey, if you wan't professional audio tools, why pick on audacity, it doesn't look like it was intended to be one. Now, if you had picked on wired, muse, ardour, rosegarden, ecasound, csound, pd, jmax, cmt, rtcmix , nyquist, sweep, jamin, or any of the other more "professional" tools, I could have understood you. But picking on audacity for not being suitable for professionals is like picking on soundrec.exe for much the same reason.
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!
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.