If your parents were Windows techies with a general idea for putting a webserver to use, they might have rejevted Linux long ago.
THINK about the message relayed by the article: KDE + Apache = No integration
Now, is Apache going to eventually recognize KDE as an important FOSS GUI and write a configuration KPart for Control Panel or Konqueror? Possibly, but I doubt it. The same goes for X11 and Samba and many, many other pieces in a typical distro.
Its less stable as a platform, which is why I said it keeps breaking 3rd party software.
When you've paid for an office full of VMware 3.2 and Rational Rose in a development environment, its rather off-putting when these apps advertised as RedHat compatible will only run on newer distros that are UN-related to RedHat. Having a workstation with RHEL did not help this problem. In this scenario, VMware required the customer to upgrade their product ($$$) and Rational stopped playing the game and drew the line at RH 7.3.
As a Xandros user, I remember having to wrangle with dependency problems in X1 and X2. But version 3 is synchronized with Debian Sarge and installing non-Xandros debs has been a breeze.
With that said, Xandros does put considerable emphasis on their OS having a particular desktop evironment KDE, so I'm really not surprised that swapping out the desktop is problematic. Personally I wouldn't want an OS where the basic GUI could be changed willy-nilly, and distros that stick to one DE have recognized the need for committment to (and full exploitation of) a single UI.
2. Letting apt (even dpkg) uninstall/upgrade any RPM packages that are already installed. This doesn't mean an RPM repository has to be maintained, only that apt be able to upgrade an RPM package with a DEB when necessary.
Well, in my experience RedHat/FC is not the place to go for stability. The changes between upgrades are too radical to keep many 3rd-party commercial apps running without expensive upgrades. Once you step outside of their walled garden (going beyond the usual RH-supplied services) then you're asking for trouble.
From RH 7.1 to 7.3 to 8 to 9 was some of the most harrowing experiences I've had with Linux.
Transitioning from Debian stable to testing (and following the changes in testing) has allowed myself and others to keep apps working for YEARS longer than we could with RH.
As far as I can tell, anyone that wants Enterprise Linux uses Red Hat, not Debian. Maybe I'm out of the loop, but it doesn't appear Debian's major user base are businesses.
I think it's fair to say that Debian has a relatively large following on the small/home office desktop, whereas RedHat does not. However this doesn't mean that Debian hasn't been competitive with RedHat/FC in enterprise environments.
On the subject of desktops, I don't recall Windows coming with OSS tools like Python and DCOP the way most Linux distros do. These 'technologies' provide a great deal of control to interested power users.
I think MS products like Visual Basic and Access were innovative (correct me if I'm wrong): Consistently providing an OO, forms-based environment for power users and beginning programmers has created a strong tendency for management to keep MS on the desktop AND (as small projects tend to snowball) to push Windows into server room.
It's really pretty simple from Hollywood's point of view: control the distribution mechanism, something they are used to, and control access, something else they are used to... Now comes the internet. As usual, Hollywood is resisting this new technology and are saying what they usually say: it will cost them money. However, if history serves as a guide, they will eventually master this medium too and make money because of it.
What are you saying here? That Hollywood should control the Internet as they would any distribution mechanism?
The only reason Microsoft would drop support for Linux/Unix is because they realize how much more resources are needed to protect just Windows.
The Linux/Unix versions were all about protecting Windows anyway.
What this does is send a signal to IT depts that the XP workstations on your network aren't considered to be virus-protected unless you ensure that Windows Server serves those workstations. If you serve those workstations with Linux, then MS will consider then unprotected or "untrusted" or whatever.
There aren't any Motif apps I have to deal with, and only two GTK apps: OpenOffice and Kino. I also happen to run a distro which doesn't pretend that both KDE and Gnome must be supported, so there isn't the typical muddle of different UIs in the supplied apps and utilities. Most other desktop Linux users are also choosing KDE, and increasingly they are choosing single-desktop distros for the sake of consistency.
So while Linux distros tend to lack usability in a) app installation and b) driver installation, the overall trend seems positive.
I hope it doesn't bother you too much that Motif apps keep showing up on OS X systems. Pretty soon Mac users will have WINE apps sitting on their desktops as well.
I love my Mac, but it has its own gargantuan problems as a platform: a) the kernel is "asthmatic" and encumbers performance, and b) it is a botique product that has NO future with developing nations (i.e. most of humanity).
We've all heard the complaints about MS software on OS X, plus the UI inconsistencies of a dozen other programs (some of them Apple's very own).
I've found Linux apps to be highly scriptable via DCOP. KDE has most of my needs covered here, and the community has produced a wealth of wrappers for apps that haven't already been written explicitly for it (i.e. Kaffeine for XINE functionality).
I can't argue with you that OS X is great (I recently bought an iBook) but if Ubuntu or Xandros found a way to 'package' apps in the same way in addition to accepting user-installable hardware drivers then I'd probably switch even the iBook over.
Based on Debian Sarge and KDE. Features: GUI-managed home folder encryption, VPN, Wifi, extensive Windows domain support, user-switching, Firefox configured with plugins, and CD ripping / DVD burning integrated into Xandros File Manager.
My main caveats for you are that Xandros isn't the best at notebook power management... and it doesn't run on PPC. However they've made the above features phenomenally well-integrated. I have burned a large number of DVD images from both iMovie and Kino with no problems.
I recently bought an iBook myself. I couldn't think of a Linux that could handle a notebook as well as OS X. My desktops remain Xandros.
1. I bought my first Mac in February. Now it seems PPCs are not in the Mac future.
2. I run ClimatePrediction.net on my Mac and Linux x86 systems. The program is huge, comes from a mainframe environment, and is married to an INTEL compiler. The PPC version is, needless to say, not very fast. Single work units can take months to complete.
The other projects in the article would be on my plate, too, if they compared with my concern for climate change.
Do you want to do the tech support for people installing raw Debian binaries? If so, are you going to charge more when Debian makes some bad mistakes and you need to hire more support staff?
There is nothing wrong with the way Linspire is doing it: They manage a controlled and well-tested subset of Debian's more up-to-date offerings, and anyone who wants to learn apt and dpkg to go beyond that is welcome. Its free.
BTW- Debian does not come with Acroread, Real or Flash plugins... nor does it come with full DVD video support, nor sensible power/session management for laptops, nor support for quicktime and windows media playback.
If I were a retailer, I would steer clear of the "real" manly-man distros too.
Slashdot Mirror
If your parents were Windows techies with a general idea for putting a webserver to use, they might have rejevted Linux long ago.
THINK about the message relayed by the article: KDE + Apache = No integration
Now, is Apache going to eventually recognize KDE as an important FOSS GUI and write a configuration KPart for Control Panel or Konqueror? Possibly, but I doubt it. The same goes for X11 and Samba and many, many other pieces in a typical distro.
Its less stable as a platform, which is why I said it keeps breaking 3rd party software.
:-)
When you've paid for an office full of VMware 3.2 and Rational Rose in a development environment, its rather off-putting when these apps advertised as RedHat compatible will only run on newer distros that are UN-related to RedHat. Having a workstation with RHEL did not help this problem. In this scenario, VMware required the customer to upgrade their product ($$$) and Rational stopped playing the game and drew the line at RH 7.3.
Have a nice day
As a Xandros user, I remember having to wrangle with dependency problems in X1 and X2. But version 3 is synchronized with Debian Sarge and installing non-Xandros debs has been a breeze.
With that said, Xandros does put considerable emphasis on their OS having a particular desktop evironment KDE, so I'm really not surprised that swapping out the desktop is problematic. Personally I wouldn't want an OS where the basic GUI could be changed willy-nilly, and distros that stick to one DE have recognized the need for committment to (and full exploitation of) a single UI.
1. APT fully recognizing RPM-installed packages (for satisfying dependencies etc.)
2. Letting apt (even dpkg) uninstall/upgrade any RPM packages that are already installed. This doesn't mean an RPM repository has to be maintained, only that apt be able to upgrade an RPM package with a DEB when necessary.
Well, in my experience RedHat/FC is not the place to go for stability. The changes between upgrades are too radical to keep many 3rd-party commercial apps running without expensive upgrades. Once you step outside of their walled garden (going beyond the usual RH-supplied services) then you're asking for trouble.
From RH 7.1 to 7.3 to 8 to 9 was some of the most harrowing experiences I've had with Linux.
Transitioning from Debian stable to testing (and following the changes in testing) has allowed myself and others to keep apps working for YEARS longer than we could with RH.
As far as I can tell, anyone that wants Enterprise Linux uses Red Hat, not Debian. Maybe I'm out of the loop, but it doesn't appear Debian's major user base are businesses.
I think it's fair to say that Debian has a relatively large following on the small/home office desktop, whereas RedHat does not. However this doesn't mean that Debian hasn't been competitive with RedHat/FC in enterprise environments.
Perhaps you could explain then why MS and EMWACS are not credited here:
d / ...or here ...or here ...or any number of places. Although there is a reference to Httpd.
http://www.w3.org/2004/Talks/w3c10-HowItAllStarte
http://www.historyoftheinternet.com/chap6.html
http://www.w3.org/History.html
On the subject of desktops, I don't recall Windows coming with OSS tools like Python and DCOP the way most Linux distros do. These 'technologies' provide a great deal of control to interested power users.
I think MS products like Visual Basic and Access were innovative (correct me if I'm wrong): Consistently providing an OO, forms-based environment for power users and beginning programmers has created a strong tendency for management to keep MS on the desktop AND (as small projects tend to snowball) to push Windows into server room.
Clippy was also innovative (but awful
The Glass Bottom Boat
Doris Day, Rod Taylor, an anti-gravity machine, and a boatload of laughs.
Ubiquity is no excusse for Windows: Over 70% of the web is served by Apache, yet attempts against it are relatively rare.
So does this new form of matter really... matter?
I just had this vision of the MPAA merging with the Church of Scientology.
Then, all P2P protocols will be henceforth known as "The Spirit of Xenu".
It's really pretty simple from Hollywood's point of view: control the distribution mechanism, something they are used to, and control access, something else they are used to...
Now comes the internet. As usual, Hollywood is resisting this new technology and are saying what they usually say: it will cost them money. However, if history serves as a guide, they will eventually master this medium too and make money because of it.
What are you saying here? That Hollywood should control the Internet as they would any distribution mechanism?
The only reason Microsoft would drop support for Linux/Unix is because they realize how much more resources are needed to protect just Windows.
The Linux/Unix versions were all about protecting Windows anyway.
What this does is send a signal to IT depts that the XP workstations on your network aren't considered to be virus-protected unless you ensure that Windows Server serves those workstations. If you serve those workstations with Linux, then MS will consider then unprotected or "untrusted" or whatever.
There aren't any Motif apps I have to deal with, and only two GTK apps: OpenOffice and Kino. I also happen to run a distro which doesn't pretend that both KDE and Gnome must be supported, so there isn't the typical muddle of different UIs in the supplied apps and utilities. Most other desktop Linux users are also choosing KDE, and increasingly they are choosing single-desktop distros for the sake of consistency.
So while Linux distros tend to lack usability in a) app installation and b) driver installation, the overall trend seems positive.
I hope it doesn't bother you too much that Motif apps keep showing up on OS X systems. Pretty soon Mac users will have WINE apps sitting on their desktops as well.
I love my Mac, but it has its own gargantuan problems as a platform: a) the kernel is "asthmatic" and encumbers performance, and b) it is a botique product that has NO future with developing nations (i.e. most of humanity).
The GNU Project announces plens to merge KParts into the Bourne-Again Shell. :-D
-1 Redundant?
There is no other suggestion in the entire discussion that bash could merge with KParts.
We've all heard the complaints about MS software on OS X, plus the UI inconsistencies of a dozen other programs (some of them Apple's very own).
I've found Linux apps to be highly scriptable via DCOP. KDE has most of my needs covered here, and the community has produced a wealth of wrappers for apps that haven't already been written explicitly for it (i.e. Kaffeine for XINE functionality).
I can't argue with you that OS X is great (I recently bought an iBook) but if Ubuntu or Xandros found a way to 'package' apps in the same way in addition to accepting user-installable hardware drivers then I'd probably switch even the iBook over.
One tiny problem with that reasoning:
Though I wish it were otherwise: Ain't no way in h*ll that OS X has a future in Asia or the developing world.
Based on Debian Sarge and KDE.
Features: GUI-managed home folder encryption, VPN, Wifi, extensive Windows domain support, user-switching, Firefox configured with plugins, and CD ripping / DVD burning integrated into Xandros File Manager.
My main caveats for you are that Xandros isn't the best at notebook power management... and it doesn't run on PPC. However they've made the above features phenomenally well-integrated. I have burned a large number of DVD images from both iMovie and Kino with no problems.
I recently bought an iBook myself. I couldn't think of a Linux that could handle a notebook as well as OS X. My desktops remain Xandros.
The GNU Project announces plens to merge KParts into the Bourne-Again Shell. :-D
So Monad is the MS answer to bash + /proc ?
That must be a record of some kind, even for Amazon.
1. I bought my first Mac in February. Now it seems PPCs are not in the Mac future.
2. I run ClimatePrediction.net on my Mac and Linux x86 systems. The program is huge, comes from a mainframe environment, and is married to an INTEL compiler. The PPC version is, needless to say, not very fast. Single work units can take months to complete.
The other projects in the article would be on my plate, too, if they compared with my concern for climate change.
Do you want to do the tech support for people installing raw Debian binaries? If so, are you going to charge more when Debian makes some bad mistakes and you need to hire more support staff?
There is nothing wrong with the way Linspire is doing it: They manage a controlled and well-tested subset of Debian's more up-to-date offerings, and anyone who wants to learn apt and dpkg to go beyond that is welcome. Its free.
BTW- Debian does not come with Acroread, Real or Flash plugins... nor does it come with full DVD video support, nor sensible power/session management for laptops, nor support for quicktime and windows media playback.
If I were a retailer, I would steer clear of the "real" manly-man distros too.
Q: Why do you do it??
A: The P-P-P-Power!