5-10 seconds for login on my machine (Barton 2500+ on a Barracuda SATA drive), which is a Domain logon (to the Samba server naturally) so there's network and server overhead involved there.
I suppose if you don't use your computer to actually get work done it doesn't matter
I suppose 95% of all desktops are just wasting their time, since they're running Windows then? Most users probably don't do the kind of work you're used to, therefore the rules you're used to don't apply.
In a work environment, most computers are set up before the user gets to them, so in that situation Linux would be fine. We still have hundreds of users on mainframe terminals, so the advantages or limitations of pretty much any OS don't mean anything. Home users are a different story - they're both un-enlightened, AND have to do everything for themselves.
GUI's are weak if your going to stick with the pretty graphics then linux isn't enough better than other pretty graphics scenerios to justify.
GUIs are perfectly scriptable. And since when was any Linux GUI better than Windows or Mac at all? All Unix GUIs I've ever used suck badly from a user perspective.
That said, your right, the lack of a good gui install wizard is something that hurts linux badly
I don't think wizards are the problem. The backend is the problem. Applications are too interdependant, and don't have proper backward compatibility. It is unacceptable that new hardware support requires installing a newer distro, and that newer distro will render bought commercial binaries useless because they're linked against old libraries that are no longer available/installable without manual compiling and fscking with the package database.
Last I checked, Linux doesn't even have a driver interface. Are vendors supposed to release new drivers for every kernel revision? Some use wrappers, which also allow them to release binary only drivers (aside from the wrapper), as well as quickly adapt to new kernels, but that's not acceptable on a large scale. I know Linus is trying to encourage open source drivers, but lets be realistic here... it's just not going to happen. There's no such 'limitation' on Windows.
That's a swap or page file. Virtual Memory is an abstraction, a virtualised memory space. Hiding the physical details simply makes swap files transparent to the application, but doesn't automatically make swap == virtual memory.
Other than that, I agree. My Linux machines have been running without swap for years. It's a shame Windows' memory manager is designed to swap whether you need to or not, or it gets testy. I've actually gone 180 from past practise, and started using RAM for normally disk based tasks. tmpfs on/tmp for example.
That's just it, there is a small learning curve that is required to use linux. Without investing it you don't realize the benefits of doing so far outweigh the investment.
I *have* invested the time, and I still don't realise any benifits on the desktop, esp. not when most major open source apps already run in Windows (*hugs Phoenix*). All my servers are Linux though, it's excellent for that. But on the desktop? It's still too much effort IMO to get a usable system. Recompiling/upgrading half the system to get a TV tuner to work is unacceptable. Installing a newer distro instead is also unacceptable. On Windows it's a SETUP.EXE and you're off. If I can't install the software and probe the driver, Linux is too hard.
I am someone who CAN but WON'T - what do you seriously expect from a user who doesn't even begin to CARE? The general public has already proven they care little for freedom and privacy in the real world, do you seriously expect ordinary people to give a shit about their computer rights?
I guess I've never understood why people believe they should be able to do something on their computer (like install a program) without understanding that thing and the impact doing it will have.
Because they can do it now. Back in the day, they expected to learn first. They have now been shown they don't have to, so if you say they do they're going to laugh at you.
tar zvxf blah*gz
cd blah*./configure./make./make install
Then it fails because you're missing headers from a dozen other packages. *I* can fix that, but you can't tell me that I should expect users to.
The benefits are productivity, with linux I can invest an hour now to automate a task so it can be accomplished in 5 minutes or less.
Find me a secretary, or some recipe-cataloging mother that scripts anything and I'll concede.
*I* know how to do that shit, but MOST people don't and more importantly THEY DON'T CARE. If people cared they wouldn't fall for email scams, install spyware, run trojans or any of the other shit that infests user terminals. But we all know how THAT went.
Even intermediate users can't handle Linux. Anyone here in the IT Department is capable of replacing a video card, and running SETUP.EXE. Never will Windows fail to start. But you'd be lucky to find two people out of the two hundred than can force XFree86 to stop sucking and start.
Never will installing an application require finding (distro dependant) and downloading dozens of other programs. Never will installing a 5 year old application fail because the local glibc is wrong. Never will installing a NEW application on an old install fail because glibc is wrong. Windows will run anything from DOS, to OS/2 and several revisions of Win32 binaries. Good fucking luck getting Linux to run even a three year old binary.
And if you are expecting users to compile their own software, you're insane. Heaven forbid compiling something that requires you to download and configure 3rd party headers and other sources.
You won't be typing that shit all day. See other posts re: thinking slower than your typing.
The only people to benifit from Dvorak are people constantly typing all day, who are typically working off prewritten material. Perfect for dictation (or scans).
Why is it that everybody continues to equate [M|G]Hz with CPU speed?
Because it is, assuming same architecture. I'm sure he meant that we should have the equivalent of an XT architecture at 4.77Ghz.
Those old 4.77Mhz boxes took several Hz to complete a single instruction. A modern Intel or AMD chip runs several instructions per cycle
They also waste a lot of cycles. Look back to when every major new architecture was released, and you'll see that the new one was SLOWER than the old one at the same clock rate. Comparing XT to Pentium 4 is not so simple.
Yet more proof of American oppression of the Martians.. just look at all the propogana movies they produced last century - they're getting the public ready for an invasion. I mean, the Martians don't just have have biological WMD, they are WMD (microbes)!!
a) Why are your backup drives always online? Put it in a removable caddy, or a USB/FW enclosure. Take it out when the backups are done, and at the very least keep it in a waterproof, fire resistant safe and/or in a separate building (pool shed, garage, the neighbours', Aunty May's, etc).
b) If you're doing backups often enough to warrant keeping your backup drives online 24/7, your tapes WILL NOT last 5 years. My DLTs are rated for "1,000,000 head passes" but I know from experience that's bullshit. Maybe if you use each tape once per month, and transport it on it's own velvet cushion, and shield it from any unusually sharp air mollecules...
c) Volts * Amps = Watts. The power label on the back of your tape unit is probably referring to mains voltage, while your HDD is running at internal voltages (5v? 12v?). That's going to throw your calculations off a shade. Not to mention the labelled ratings are the maximum, not typical power usage.
d) Each DLT tape will cost you twice the alleged monthly power costs. The cost of the library, bought new, would exceed the power bill far beyond your own lifespan. Not everyone is willing or able to resort to the used market for their equipment.
e) Tapes aren't known for their reliability either. Fortunately, you've got with DLTs not DATs, so that's something.
Baud is the signal rate on the line, ie. how quickly a modem can change tones. Each tone may carry more than one bit worth of information.
At one time, bps = baud. Each beep down the wire represented one bit. Once the modems were capable of generating more unique tones, each tone carried more than a bit worth of information.
Parity is error correction, which is independant of baud, bps and the rest of it.
For the price of a GbE card, you can get a 4-6 port FW card. Use one machine as a router/server, and you have 5-7 machines at FW speeds. To do that with GbE you'd need a Gb switch, which ain't cheap.
MySQL doesn't "have these features" - some table types "have these features." The same MySQL server can use any of MyISAM, BDB and InnoDB tables; the difference is MyISAM doesn't have transactions, but it's twice as fast as InnoDB which does.
Re:Had to say it..
on
RMS Turns 50
·
· Score: 5, Funny
How big does a planet have to be to hold an atmosphere? Would that do to define a planet? Whether or not it has one doesn't matter.. as long as it would retain one if the gas were present.
Slashdot Mirror
I think Slashdot reported that Alan had been merged directly into the kernel a few years back. He no longer has any need for his physical body.
I believe there was even an X-File about it.. some shack in the middle of nowhere with a T1.
5-10 seconds for login on my machine (Barton 2500+ on a Barracuda SATA drive), which is a Domain logon (to the Samba server naturally) so there's network and server overhead involved there.
So? It dilutes the trademark. They have to protect it or they lose it.
Go Go Gadget DVD ripper..
In a work environment, most computers are set up before the user gets to them, so in that situation Linux would be fine. We still have hundreds of users on mainframe terminals, so the advantages or limitations of pretty much any OS don't mean anything. Home users are a different story - they're both un-enlightened, AND have to do everything for themselves.
GUIs are perfectly scriptable. And since when was any Linux GUI better than Windows or Mac at all? All Unix GUIs I've ever used suck badly from a user perspective.
I don't think wizards are the problem. The backend is the problem. Applications are too interdependant, and don't have proper backward compatibility. It is unacceptable that new hardware support requires installing a newer distro, and that newer distro will render bought commercial binaries useless because they're linked against old libraries that are no longer available/installable without manual compiling and fscking with the package database.
Last I checked, Linux doesn't even have a driver interface. Are vendors supposed to release new drivers for every kernel revision? Some use wrappers, which also allow them to release binary only drivers (aside from the wrapper), as well as quickly adapt to new kernels, but that's not acceptable on a large scale. I know Linus is trying to encourage open source drivers, but lets be realistic here... it's just not going to happen. There's no such 'limitation' on Windows.
Other than that, I agree. My Linux machines have been running without swap for years. It's a shame Windows' memory manager is designed to swap whether you need to or not, or it gets testy. I've actually gone 180 from past practise, and started using RAM for normally disk based tasks. tmpfs on
I am someone who CAN but WON'T - what do you seriously expect from a user who doesn't even begin to CARE? The general public has already proven they care little for freedom and privacy in the real world, do you seriously expect ordinary people to give a shit about their computer rights?
Because they can do it now. Back in the day, they expected to learn first. They have now been shown they don't have to, so if you say they do they're going to laugh at you.
Then it fails because you're missing headers from a dozen other packages. *I* can fix that, but you can't tell me that I should expect users to.
*I* know how to do that shit, but MOST people don't and more importantly THEY DON'T CARE. If people cared they wouldn't fall for email scams, install spyware, run trojans or any of the other shit that infests user terminals. But we all know how THAT went.
Even intermediate users can't handle Linux. Anyone here in the IT Department is capable of replacing a video card, and running SETUP.EXE. Never will Windows fail to start. But you'd be lucky to find two people out of the two hundred than can force XFree86 to stop sucking and start.
Never will installing an application require finding (distro dependant) and downloading dozens of other programs. Never will installing a 5 year old application fail because the local glibc is wrong. Never will installing a NEW application on an old install fail because glibc is wrong. Windows will run anything from DOS, to OS/2 and several revisions of Win32 binaries. Good fucking luck getting Linux to run even a three year old binary.
And if you are expecting users to compile their own software, you're insane. Heaven forbid compiling something that requires you to download and configure 3rd party headers and other sources.
You won't be typing that shit all day. See other posts re: thinking slower than your typing.
The only people to benifit from Dvorak are people constantly typing all day, who are typically working off prewritten material. Perfect for dictation (or scans).
They also waste a lot of cycles. Look back to when every major new architecture was released, and you'll see that the new one was SLOWER than the old one at the same clock rate. Comparing XT to Pentium 4 is not so simple.
Ultra2 was a SCSI thing last I checked.
Go crawl back under your rock, fanboy.
Yet more proof of American oppression of the Martians.. just look at all the propogana movies they produced last century - they're getting the public ready for an invasion. I mean, the Martians don't just have have biological WMD, they are WMD (microbes)!!
That'd be all the blood, coz it's still fucking raw.
Screenshots look better the widgets, esp. important for print media.
It's called OS/2.
FAR is more like the original NC.. it's text mode, but still Win32 native. Beats the shit out of that eyesore GUI version, IMO...
a) Why are your backup drives always online? Put it in a removable caddy, or a USB/FW enclosure. Take it out when the backups are done, and at the very least keep it in a waterproof, fire resistant safe and/or in a separate building (pool shed, garage, the neighbours', Aunty May's, etc).
b) If you're doing backups often enough to warrant keeping your backup drives online 24/7, your tapes WILL NOT last 5 years. My DLTs are rated for "1,000,000 head passes" but I know from experience that's bullshit. Maybe if you use each tape once per month, and transport it on it's own velvet cushion, and shield it from any unusually sharp air mollecules...
c) Volts * Amps = Watts. The power label on the back of your tape unit is probably referring to mains voltage, while your HDD is running at internal voltages (5v? 12v?). That's going to throw your calculations off a shade. Not to mention the labelled ratings are the maximum, not typical power usage.
d) Each DLT tape will cost you twice the alleged monthly power costs. The cost of the library, bought new, would exceed the power bill far beyond your own lifespan. Not everyone is willing or able to resort to the used market for their equipment.
e) Tapes aren't known for their reliability either. Fortunately, you've got with DLTs not DATs, so that's something.
Baud is the signal rate on the line, ie. how quickly a modem can change tones. Each tone may carry more than one bit worth of information.
At one time, bps = baud. Each beep down the wire represented one bit. Once the modems were capable of generating more unique tones, each tone carried more than a bit worth of information.
Parity is error correction, which is independant of baud, bps and the rest of it.
For the price of a GbE card, you can get a 4-6 port FW card. Use one machine as a router/server, and you have 5-7 machines at FW speeds. To do that with GbE you'd need a Gb switch, which ain't cheap.
I thought it had to be non-obvious to someone "skilled in the art" or somesuch?
"100% Grade-A mansteak baybee!"
MySQL doesn't "have these features" - some table types "have these features." The same MySQL server can use any of MyISAM, BDB and InnoDB tables; the difference is MyISAM doesn't have transactions, but it's twice as fast as InnoDB which does.
Happy birthday to GNU, happy birthday to GNU...
.
.
.
youlooklikeamonkeyandsmelllikeonetoo.
*SMACK*
Doh.
IANAA (duh).
How big does a planet have to be to hold an atmosphere? Would that do to define a planet? Whether or not it has one doesn't matter.. as long as it would retain one if the gas were present.