it was a great ride.. thanks for creating and standing behind one of the most iconic web sites of all time. The slashdot comment system and user news submission alone helped to change how the Internet works, and that influence is still seen in most web sites today. What an amazing feat... looking back.
Unfortunately, like most of the US, my ISP runs where there is only 1 telco.
More and more cities in the US are gaining second cable companies, most of which are government owned or subsidized. These companies are under strict competition regulations (unlike the private cable companies that have enjoyed a bit of a monopoly for quite some time). These new cable companies have also been offering better deals, or atleast cheaper service. Tacoma, WA was one of the first cities to start a city-owned cable company. They provide a really sweet cable TV package for $30/month including digital music channels. Their Internet access is funneled through several private ISP's in order to help foster competition. You can get 1mbps/128kbps (guaranteed - often surpasses those 'limits') for $30/month. You used to be able to get twice that (2mb/256k) for the same price and then 4mb/512k for $70 (iirc), but that's changed, apparently to help allow for more users on the network.
Either way, I get cable installed tomorrow;)
I still can't buy a 20gb for $20 or a 40gb for $40.
The only reason the 120gb is so cheap per gig right now is because it's the sweet spot. That's the size of hard-drive most enthusiasts/geeks are looking to get right now.
The 80gb drives are bottoming out in price, and the 20 - 60gb's are almost the exact same in price, having changed very little in the past half a year or so.
I think alot of you are missing the primary reason for switching shells-reclaiming system resources
Actually, everyone runs an alternative shell for a different reason than the next person. There is no one singular reason, which is why we have so many shells. And with shells that are so customizable, you actually have tens, if not hundreds, of reasons that people run the shell. The point of shells are that they let you do what you want to do with your Windows interface.
Do you honestly believe that Afterstep is close to Litestep's functionality? Of course, Litestep can recreate the functionality of the basic AfterSTEP interface without any problem (really simple to do), but as I mentioned before, Litestep has really taken on a mind of its own. It's goals are to let you, the user, do what you want to do with your Windows interface. For users who are used to Litestep, it is often hard to move to *nix and find a suitable WM or environments. Of course there are *nix solutions that are just as flexible, especially after you leave the world of KDE and GNOME, but many users love what you can do with the 300+ LS modules and a simple text configuration file. Those thousands of LS themes are another reason to miss the shell when in *nix. Believe it or not, there is an effort to port PureLS (a straight C implementation of Litestep) to the Linux world, and there are probably atleast a few hundred people who can't wait for it. Regardless of whether *nix users think they would need or want an LS-like environment or not, there are enough LS users alone to create a supporting community for such a port.
there's been a bit of work recently to recreate the Explorer desktop as a module. Nothing's been released yet though. Until then, you can use a module such as icon or folderview (check the module list
As was so quickly pointed out to me, I forgot to mention SharpE. SharpE is probably the closest to an Explorer clone, but with a ton of added features and easy configuration. SharpE community sites are starting to pop up and development is going well.
I'm not sure what the problem was... however, the popup can be fully dynamic now. Most themes (especially OTS themes) keep the start menu and other items (like the desktop) dynamic. Otherwise, you would have to recycle to update the popup.
Explorer is a shell... but so many people can't stand it that we created our own:)
Regarding the question about how MS deals with these shells: Well, the simple answer is that they don't. It keeps us off their back:). In fact, many of the well known win32 shell developers work or have worked at Microsoft. Alternative shells work just fine under Windows.
Now, there are actually a ton of shells (see the list) out there for Windows, and most are open source in some way or other. The most popular (and one of the oldest) win32 shells is Litestep, which is GPL'd.
For a somewhat decent overview of shells from a windows user's point of view, check out forum topic on deviantART. Alternative Windows Shells basically just replace the Explorer.exe file as the Windows shell... usually also resulting in the replacement of the well known taskbar, start menu, and desktop. Instead, you can use the tools provided by the shell to build your own interface. Shells are very similar to X desktop environments. They do not replace the Windows like a WM does. For general news and info regarding Windows shells, check out the following sites:
Desktopian.org also covers Windows and shells news in-depth, along with some *nix related news.
Litestep is the oldest shell still in active development. It is by far the most popular shell (with an estimated 10,000+ users) and the most customizable shell (outside of Graphite). You can create almost whatever interface you want, thanks to the 300+ 3rd party modules for the shell. Litestep also has great support through the LS Mailing List and the IRC channels (#fpn, #ls2k, and #ls_help on irc.openprojects.net). Make sure to check out the following sites for Litestep:
the Litestep Installer - a must to get Litestep installed and configured. Make sure to download 'OTS compatible' themes.
Litestep started in 1997 as a port of AfterSTEP to Windows. Since then, it's taken on a serious life of its own. It can do almost anything. Whether you're a minimalist, you love bar themes, you just want to get rid of the desktop icons and add to the popup, or you want your desktop to do everything under the sun, Litestep can do it. And if LS can't do something you want it to, then its active development core will probably create a module to do it soon:). Litestep is configured through.rc text files and often requires a good read of the documentation to figure it out. Litestep can look like anything, and do almost anything.
The second most popular replacement shell is geOShell, which is largely a minimalist's shell. It has a GUI configuration for most things. geOShell's main site is geoshellx.com. All information can be found there. They are also supported through the geoshellx.com forums and their IRC channel (#geoshell on irc.openprojects.net).
Most win32 shells out there today are either derived from Litestep or geOShell in some way or other. However, there have been two blackbox 'ports' recently to Windows:
Both of these shells natively support blackbox themes are very fast and light to run.
It's impossible for me to explain everything here. However, for any *nix users who need to run Windows as well, these shells offer a great alternative to that drab and boring Explorer desktop. Win32 alternative shells even let you have your X desktop on Windows.
Now, the advantage to Object Desktop (namely DesktopX and objectbar is that it doesn't require that you replace your shell (which is a registry key change in NT and a system.ini file edit in 9x). Configuration is accomplished by a GUI. DesktopX is extremely configurable. Keep in mind that running Object Desktop will use up excessive cpu and/or memory. They can do almost anything, but will also use up resources... unlike most shells.
Hope this helps. Many *nix users are completely unaware of the Windows open-source community and of shells in general. We hope this will eventually change.
Hmm... I've been using Litestep on Windows 95a, 95b, 98se, and nt5 for over two years now. I'm also responsible for compiling all the public test builds that the dev team themselves doesn't compile. I'm quite intimate with the problems, if any, that LS has. I'm on IRC in the LS channels nearly 24/7 and have been active on the LS Mailing List for almost 1.5 years. I also run a major LS/Win32 shell news site that reaches over 2million hits each month. Suffice this to say that I know a lot about Litestep:)
Now, the point: Litestep does nothing to your system. Nothing! If anyone ever has any problems with their system because of Litestep, it's because they didn't properly read the docs. The installation of LS only requires that you unzip LS into its own directory within the root dir and then set Windows' default shell to the path where the LS executable is. If you don't want to run LS as your shell anymore, then all you need to do is set the default shell back to Explorer.exe and delete LS' directory (if you want).
Of course! there are some problems with LS on Windows though. Microsoft despises the idea that a 3rd party (GPL'd software at that... yes, LS has been GPL'd for a few years now and has been in very active development since) development group has been at all successful with creating a new GUI for Windows. Do you really expect it to work perfectly? I sure hope not. The biggest problems are with xceed, hotline (both the respective developers (acknowledged) problems), and Wise Installer (which really isn't an issue anymore -- there was a fault in the installer that made it look for Explorer as the shell each time it installed an app). The other major known problems are in nt5 where MS decided to have Explorer itself render some of the important system tray icons (such as dialup, network, printer, etc.). Therefore, any alternative shell on Win32 won't be able to show these icons. That's MS' fault.
Most of the other problems with Litestep usually involve a module (aka plugin) here or there that has been coded poorly. Litestep's functionality comes from the hundreds of 3rd party modules available (see Modulo).... and what keeps the shell going is its 1000+ themes (now even available via themes.org). There is bound to be problems with LS with so many variables involved. Is Linux somehow different than LS in this way? I don't think so. Either way, just like *nix, LS has great 3rd party support available. There's the LS Mailing List, several IRC channels (on efnet - mirrored on openprojects.net via a linkbot), and several online forums, as well as online tutorials and docs (all linked from FPN).
The good points of Litestep and other shells are endless however. Who would dare say that Explorer does not crash?... or that it uses up too many resources in Windows? This is the first advantage to an alt. shell in Win32. Litestep is especially very light on resources compared to Explorer (uses about 1.5mb on my nt5 box). Litestep also helps to bring added funtionality to your Windows box... the main functionality being: virtually unlimited hotkeys, amp controls, shortcuts, wharf, multiple popup menus, etc., etc. Litestep adds a ton of funtionality to Windows. Think of an interface that you'd like, and you can probably create it using Litestep and its modules. The configuration is completely text based (uses a step.rc -- LS was originally modeled towards mimicing afterstep) and, as of the 11/28/2000 build, supports includes. It's not exactly a themer's paradise... there's a decent learning curve, just like Linux... but it is extremely customizable, and is usually very stable. I myself have not had LS crash since April00 (and I've used 100% of the time).
This has been Microsoft's argument against the *nix OS's for a while now. I attended a sort of preview session for Windows 2000 near Seattle last December and had the opportunity to ask the presenter "Why would I want to use NT5 over a *nix OS?". The answer (almost as though it was planned -- probably did just that) was something like "because NT is easier to use and is consistent with how it works".. etc, etc. So, obviously, this is MS' main defense against Linux... "it's too flexible!!":)
Slashdot Mirror
it was a great ride.. thanks for creating and standing behind one of the most iconic web sites of all time. The slashdot comment system and user news submission alone helped to change how the Internet works, and that influence is still seen in most web sites today. What an amazing feat... looking back.
I still don't see any flying cars or maglevs all over the world. I don't really expect to see these things in the next 100 years either.
Future never follows a plan.
I still can't buy a 20gb for $20 or a 40gb for $40.
The only reason the 120gb is so cheap per gig right now is because it's the sweet spot. That's the size of hard-drive most enthusiasts/geeks are looking to get right now.
The 80gb drives are bottoming out in price, and the 20 - 60gb's are almost the exact same in price, having changed very little in the past half a year or so.
Do you honestly believe that Afterstep is close to Litestep's functionality? Of course, Litestep can recreate the functionality of the basic AfterSTEP interface without any problem (really simple to do), but as I mentioned before, Litestep has really taken on a mind of its own. It's goals are to let you, the user, do what you want to do with your Windows interface. For users who are used to Litestep, it is often hard to move to *nix and find a suitable WM or environments. Of course there are *nix solutions that are just as flexible, especially after you leave the world of KDE and GNOME, but many users love what you can do with the 300+ LS modules and a simple text configuration file. Those thousands of LS themes are another reason to miss the shell when in *nix. Believe it or not, there is an effort to port PureLS (a straight C implementation of Litestep) to the Linux world, and there are probably atleast a few hundred people who can't wait for it. Regardless of whether *nix users think they would need or want an LS-like environment or not, there are enough LS users alone to create a supporting community for such a port.
there's been a bit of work recently to recreate the Explorer desktop as a module. Nothing's been released yet though. Until then, you can use a module such as icon or folderview (check the module list
As was so quickly pointed out to me, I forgot to mention SharpE. SharpE is probably the closest to an Explorer clone, but with a ton of added features and easy configuration. SharpE community sites are starting to pop up and development is going well.
I'm not sure what the problem was... however, the popup can be fully dynamic now. Most themes (especially OTS themes) keep the start menu and other items (like the desktop) dynamic. Otherwise, you would have to recycle to update the popup.
Regarding the question about how MS deals with these shells: Well, the simple answer is that they don't. It keeps us off their back :). In fact, many of the well known win32 shell developers work or have worked at Microsoft. Alternative shells work just fine under Windows.
Now, there are actually a ton of shells (see the list) out there for Windows, and most are open source in some way or other. The most popular (and one of the oldest) win32 shells is Litestep, which is GPL'd.
For a somewhat decent overview of shells from a windows user's point of view, check out forum topic on deviantART. Alternative Windows Shells basically just replace the Explorer.exe file as the Windows shell... usually also resulting in the replacement of the well known taskbar, start menu, and desktop. Instead, you can use the tools provided by the shell to build your own interface. Shells are very similar to X desktop environments. They do not replace the Windows like a WM does. For general news and info regarding Windows shells, check out the following sites:
Desktopian.org also covers Windows and shells news in-depth, along with some *nix related news.
Litestep is the oldest shell still in active development. It is by far the most popular shell (with an estimated 10,000+ users) and the most customizable shell (outside of Graphite). You can create almost whatever interface you want, thanks to the 300+ 3rd party modules for the shell. Litestep also has great support through the LS Mailing List and the IRC channels (#fpn, #ls2k, and #ls_help on irc.openprojects.net). Make sure to check out the following sites for Litestep:
- Graphic Language
- JoeBlade
- Litestep.net
- ShellFront
- LS Documentation
- LS FAQ
- The Module List - Module List with descriptions (a little out of date and incomplete, but better for most people)
- the Litestep Installer - a must to get Litestep installed and configured. Make sure to download 'OTS compatible' themes.
Litestep started in 1997 as a port of AfterSTEP to Windows. Since then, it's taken on a serious life of its own. It can do almost anything. Whether you're a minimalist, you love bar themes, you just want to get rid of the desktop icons and add to the popup, or you want your desktop to do everything under the sun, Litestep can do it. And if LS can't do something you want it to, then its active development core will probably create a module to do it soonThe second most popular replacement shell is geOShell, which is largely a minimalist's shell. It has a GUI configuration for most things. geOShell's main site is geoshellx.com. All information can be found there. They are also supported through the geoshellx.com forums and their IRC channel (#geoshell on irc.openprojects.net).
Most win32 shells out there today are either derived from Litestep or geOShell in some way or other. However, there have been two blackbox 'ports' recently to Windows:
- bluebox
- bb4win
Both of these shells natively support blackbox themes are very fast and light to run.It's impossible for me to explain everything here. However, for any *nix users who need to run Windows as well, these shells offer a great alternative to that drab and boring Explorer desktop. Win32 alternative shells even let you have your X desktop on Windows.
Now, the advantage to Object Desktop (namely DesktopX and objectbar is that it doesn't require that you replace your shell (which is a registry key change in NT and a system.ini file edit in 9x). Configuration is accomplished by a GUI. DesktopX is extremely configurable. Keep in mind that running Object Desktop will use up excessive cpu and/or memory. They can do almost anything, but will also use up resources... unlike most shells.
Hope this helps. Many *nix users are completely unaware of the Windows open-source community and of shells in general. We hope this will eventually change.
Now, the point: Litestep does nothing to your system. Nothing! If anyone ever has any problems with their system because of Litestep, it's because they didn't properly read the docs. The installation of LS only requires that you unzip LS into its own directory within the root dir and then set Windows' default shell to the path where the LS executable is. If you don't want to run LS as your shell anymore, then all you need to do is set the default shell back to Explorer.exe and delete LS' directory (if you want).
Of course! there are some problems with LS on Windows though. Microsoft despises the idea that a 3rd party (GPL'd software at that... yes, LS has been GPL'd for a few years now and has been in very active development since) development group has been at all successful with creating a new GUI for Windows. Do you really expect it to work perfectly? I sure hope not. The biggest problems are with xceed, hotline (both the respective developers (acknowledged) problems), and Wise Installer (which really isn't an issue anymore -- there was a fault in the installer that made it look for Explorer as the shell each time it installed an app). The other major known problems are in nt5 where MS decided to have Explorer itself render some of the important system tray icons (such as dialup, network, printer, etc.). Therefore, any alternative shell on Win32 won't be able to show these icons. That's MS' fault.
Most of the other problems with Litestep usually involve a module (aka plugin) here or there that has been coded poorly. Litestep's functionality comes from the hundreds of 3rd party modules available (see Modulo).... and what keeps the shell going is its 1000+ themes (now even available via themes.org). There is bound to be problems with LS with so many variables involved. Is Linux somehow different than LS in this way? I don't think so. Either way, just like *nix, LS has great 3rd party support available. There's the LS Mailing List, several IRC channels (on efnet - mirrored on openprojects.net via a linkbot), and several online forums, as well as online tutorials and docs (all linked from FPN).
The good points of Litestep and other shells are endless however. Who would dare say that Explorer does not crash? ... or that it uses up too many resources in Windows? This is the first advantage to an alt. shell in Win32. Litestep is especially very light on resources compared to Explorer (uses about 1.5mb on my nt5 box). Litestep also helps to bring added funtionality to your Windows box... the main functionality being: virtually unlimited hotkeys, amp controls, shortcuts, wharf, multiple popup menus, etc., etc. Litestep adds a ton of funtionality to Windows. Think of an interface that you'd like, and you can probably create it using Litestep and its modules. The configuration is completely text based (uses a step.rc -- LS was originally modeled towards mimicing afterstep) and, as of the 11/28/2000 build, supports includes. It's not exactly a themer's paradise... there's a decent learning curve, just like Linux... but it is extremely customizable, and is usually very stable. I myself have not had LS crash since April00 (and I've used 100% of the time).
Anyway, as I mentioned, there are ton of LS and shell-related sites out there, all linked from FPN. There's also a decent installation/upgrade tutorial available.
--
Joel D. Parker
[ r o o t r i d e r ]
Anyway, I've mirrored the ad over at FPN: http://floach.pimpin.net/msad.jpg
--
Joel D. Parker
[ r o o t r i d e r ]