It may not be for you but do you consider your computer skills average? If you spend some time teaching computer skills to Normal People, you'll notice how even the concept of a file or directory structure is difficult.
People are lazy. They don't bother learning things unless they have to. Most people will gladly learn and use AbiWord instead of WordStar. Not because AbiWord has more features. It's just easier.
Vim will take over the world when most people stop using elevators and opt for climbing the stairs.
Seriously, wake up. I don't want to offend you but you really have to wake up. Reasons for not including vi:
1) Its user interface is horribly old and horribly cryptic. The idea of a command mode and a separate input mode is difficult to understand and to learn. Believe me. It took over 10 years before I went through the trouble of learning the basics of vi and even now I only use it for basic text file editing. And I'm not a newbie.
2) They will ask you why a simple text editor has to be so difficult. If you try to convince them that it isn't, they may wonder how "easy" that Linux thing is after this "easy" editor.
IMHO it's all right to like vi. Expecially if you're used to it. However, vi, sendmail configurations and everything not-usual cryptic stuff has to be hidden deep where it can't intimidate people. Teaching vi as first editor is like having a Windows beginners course where everything is configured through regedit.
I'm building a project where there will be one huge database with up to 200 different companies connected to it pretty much nonstop. 1-10 users from every company depending on the time of the year. 2 threads for every connection.
That has little to do with Hungarian Notation. Just add a "Chk" or "Hoopla" or whatever in front of the changed variable and the compiler will barf just as well and mark the places you need to check.
If you dont't use Hungarian Notation, you can change the variable back after checking the code. That way you will only commit the changes that really were necessary.
What I would like the goverments to do is to define open fileformats/protocols and only accept/buy software which supports these formats 100%.
There's a lot that can go wrong this way. I've followed one project like this. The result so far in 4 years has been money down the drain and some crappy standards that don't work.
Problem is that the government doesn't always have the expertise to build those fileformats and protocols. And it they don't, a third party is going to make it. And that company often doesn't have the expertise either. At this point it becomes a political problem and everybody just let the project die a slow and painful death. Those who complain are only labelled problematic people.
They not only are not developing it, they are breaking it on purpose.
It locks up a lot more on Windows 95. Claiming that MS breaks CMD on purpose is just childish. They just don't want to throw any resources at supporting it well.
I've been using the command prompt on Windows for ages. While it's nothing like Unix shells, it still gets the job done. Fact is, MS doesn't want to develop it further and it shows. However, if it's SOMETIMES slow or dir listings take forever on ONE installation, you really don't have enough data to generalize. I get it to lock up my keyboard once in a while but even then I don't generalize.
Then on to the registry. IMO it's a stupid decision to group all that data in one messy registry. However, I have never had a single corrupted Windows registry. While it's possible that it gets corrupted, it doesn't happen often enough to warrant this outcry.
Lots of what you wrote (or quoted) is full of words like "may" and "seems". That's very convenient as everything may happen. Finally it ends with a lovely if-you-don't-agree-you-are-against-us-conclusion.
I could go on but I suppose this is already enough to burn karma. What the hell were those three moderators thinking who modded that rant up? This is definitely not the way we should fight Microsoft/XP/whatever. This is fanatical FUD and anyone can see through it.
Reading slashdot user comments shows people always telling us to support artists that we like by buying their stuff. Look at Mandrakesoft. They say they're out of money, put up a donate link, and bam, cash flow.
Talk is cheap. But very few actually go and buy the product. Mandrakesoft isn't exactly swimming in cash.
I'm happy to hear that those problems are solved in Peru. I'm also very sorry for my ignorance. I didn't doublecheck better before quoting what I found with Google. It doesn't help that news agencies were quick to air negative news but don't bother with positive.:-(
Kidnappings, murders, armed robberies, and drug-related crime remain serious problems, especially in Lima. Corruption is deep-seated in the police and security forces. Despite the near-destruction of the left-wing Sendero Luminoso guerrillas, main cities frequently have curfews and those who can afford it protect themselves with high-security homes and armed guards.
If AbiWord has successfully opened everything you've thrown at it, you don't really have any complex docs. IIRC, AbiWord doesn't handle tables, for example.
OTOH OpenOffice has really shined with docs AbiWord couldn't handle. It actually did so well that I ended up uninstalling AbiWord and only use OpenOffice now.
I've been running E-mail Sanitizer for a few months. It has worked very well. It only tracks the attachments types instead of actually trying to identify viruses. Therefor it even finds most future Outlook-viruses.
These people may only know about Windows and Microsoft solutions. If so, you'd better give real world examples of what is done with Unix now.
Unix is used because it scales well and is rock solid. With Linux you also get the price advantage, though that isn't so important in big projects. Quality and stability are and you should be able to show that Unix is high quality.
For a MS-only person it's important to be able to use Unix only in some places. Samba is a great example. Same goes with Apache. They might also like the possibility of producing cross platform solutions. Kylix/Delphi is a great example here.
Don't get into any religious fights. Just tell/show places where Unix is a great solution but do it without bashing Microsoft.
Let's see. A MLM won't make the top rich? Why then all those "I'm a millionare"-dudes at the recruiting speaches?
You call corporations a pyramid. That means that you've either bought all that MLM propaganda or are trying to scam people. In either case, I feel sorry for you.
People don't change to Linux because it brings too many changes. You have to adapt everything starting from e-mail, documents and ending at any special apps you may run on Windows.
If this product lets you still use Office and even run all those special apps, a change to Linux becomes a set of small changes. Change the OS first. Then gradually change more during months or years.
I've found SMP on Linux to work very well. There are definitely no delays on my dual cpu workstation and dual cpu server. I've even done some extensive bvenchmarks which show that Linux scales very well. At least compared to NT4/W2K where the results were dreadful.
I'm sorry that I can't offer any help but I hope you find where the problem is.
However, it's easy peasy for those Win98 users to upgrade to more stable Windows versions. Their old software works and the OS is pretty similar to use.
If they upgrade to Linux, there's a lot more to learn and new software to buy/find to replace their current Windows apps. When you think about it, the licence costs are not that bad compared to the loss of time.
Don't underestimate the difficulties. Linux is cool, it's fast and it has great apps but that isn't good enough for people to dump a working solution and take a step towards the unknown.
Slashdot Mirror
It may not be for you but do you consider your computer skills average? If you spend some time teaching computer skills to Normal People, you'll notice how even the concept of a file or directory structure is difficult.
People are lazy. They don't bother learning things unless they have to. Most people will gladly learn and use AbiWord instead of WordStar. Not because AbiWord has more features. It's just easier.
Vim will take over the world when most people stop using elevators and opt for climbing the stairs.
Seriously, wake up. I don't want to offend you but you really have to wake up. Reasons for not including vi:
1) Its user interface is horribly old and horribly cryptic. The idea of a command mode and a separate input mode is difficult to understand and to learn. Believe me. It took over 10 years before I went through the trouble of learning the basics of vi and even now I only use it for basic text file editing. And I'm not a newbie. 2) They will ask you why a simple text editor has to be so difficult. If you try to convince them that it isn't, they may wonder how "easy" that Linux thing is after this "easy" editor. IMHO it's all right to like vi. Expecially if you're used to it. However, vi, sendmail configurations and everything not-usual cryptic stuff has to be hidden deep where it can't intimidate people. Teaching vi as first editor is like having a Windows beginners course where everything is configured through regedit.
I'm building a project where there will be one huge database with up to 200 different companies connected to it pretty much nonstop. 1-10 users from every company depending on the time of the year. 2 threads for every connection.
200*10*2=4000 threads.
That has little to do with Hungarian Notation. Just add a "Chk" or "Hoopla" or whatever in front of the changed variable and the compiler will barf just as well and mark the places you need to check.
If you dont't use Hungarian Notation, you can change the variable back after checking the code. That way you will only commit the changes that really were necessary.
The secondary problem is that you also need electricity when the wind does not blow
Exactly. You have to have enough means to produce power on the cold, dark and windless winter days. At that point energy demand is also highest.
...but it costs $50 000.
What I would like the goverments to do is to define open fileformats/protocols and only accept/buy software which supports these formats 100%.
There's a lot that can go wrong this way. I've followed one project like this. The result so far in 4 years has been money down the drain and some crappy standards that don't work.
Problem is that the government doesn't always have the expertise to build those fileformats and protocols. And it they don't, a third party is going to make it. And that company often doesn't have the expertise either. At this point it becomes a political problem and everybody just let the project die a slow and painful death. Those who complain are only labelled problematic people.
Well, if you don't want to protest to the source, how do you want to approach the growing Microsoft problem?
If you want to promote Linux, read the Linux Advocacy mini-HOWTO.
They not only are not developing it, they are breaking it on purpose.
It locks up a lot more on Windows 95. Claiming that MS breaks CMD on purpose is just childish. They just don't want to throw any resources at supporting it well.
I've been using the command prompt on Windows for ages. While it's nothing like Unix shells, it still gets the job done. Fact is, MS doesn't want to develop it further and it shows. However, if it's SOMETIMES slow or dir listings take forever on ONE installation, you really don't have enough data to generalize. I get it to lock up my keyboard once in a while but even then I don't generalize.
Then on to the registry. IMO it's a stupid decision to group all that data in one messy registry. However, I have never had a single corrupted Windows registry. While it's possible that it gets corrupted, it doesn't happen often enough to warrant this outcry.
Lots of what you wrote (or quoted) is full of words like "may" and "seems". That's very convenient as everything may happen. Finally it ends with a lovely if-you-don't-agree-you-are-against-us-conclusion.
I could go on but I suppose this is already enough to burn karma. What the hell were those three moderators thinking who modded that rant up? This is definitely not the way we should fight Microsoft/XP/whatever. This is fanatical FUD and anyone can see through it.
Reading slashdot user comments shows people always telling us to support artists that we like by buying their stuff. Look at Mandrakesoft. They say they're out of money, put up a donate link, and bam, cash flow.
Talk is cheap. But very few actually go and buy the product. Mandrakesoft isn't exactly swimming in cash.
I think it's a shame that most of the prizes are partly or completely non-free software.
That was so well said that I'll give you 10 free Apache licenses and another 10 free OpenOffice licenses!
You missed the important part in your summary:
I was given two cortisone injections, an exercise regimen, and a piece of advice
No, not movies, news.
I'm happy to hear that those problems are solved in Peru. I'm also very sorry for my ignorance. I didn't doublecheck better before quoting what I found with Google. It doesn't help that news agencies were quick to air negative news but don't bother with positive. :-(
Peru is far from a paradise, I'm afraid:
Kidnappings, murders, armed robberies, and drug-related crime remain serious problems, especially in Lima. Corruption is deep-seated in the police and security forces. Despite the near-destruction of the left-wing Sendero Luminoso guerrillas, main cities frequently have curfews and those who can afford it protect themselves with high-security homes and armed guards.
If AbiWord has successfully opened everything you've thrown at it, you don't really have any complex docs. IIRC, AbiWord doesn't handle tables, for example.
OTOH OpenOffice has really shined with docs AbiWord couldn't handle. It actually did so well that I ended up uninstalling AbiWord and only use OpenOffice now.
I've been running E-mail Sanitizer for a few months. It has worked very well. It only tracks the attachments types instead of actually trying to identify viruses. Therefor it even finds most future Outlook-viruses.
These people may only know about Windows and Microsoft solutions. If so, you'd better give real world examples of what is done with Unix now.
Unix is used because it scales well and is rock solid. With Linux you also get the price advantage, though that isn't so important in big projects. Quality and stability are and you should be able to show that Unix is high quality.
For a MS-only person it's important to be able to use Unix only in some places. Samba is a great example. Same goes with Apache. They might also like the possibility of producing cross platform solutions. Kylix/Delphi is a great example here.
Don't get into any religious fights. Just tell/show places where Unix is a great solution but do it without bashing Microsoft.
Let's see. A MLM won't make the top rich? Why then all those "I'm a millionare"-dudes at the recruiting speaches?
You call corporations a pyramid. That means that you've either bought all that MLM propaganda or are trying to scam people. In either case, I feel sorry for you.
Right, and if the author has a brain, you can't know it's a virus WITHOUT OPENING IT.
Unless you live outside the English-speaking world where you can spot those easily.
People don't change to Linux because it brings too many changes. You have to adapt everything starting from e-mail, documents and ending at any special apps you may run on Windows.
If this product lets you still use Office and even run all those special apps, a change to Linux becomes a set of small changes. Change the OS first. Then gradually change more during months or years.
The page rank really got it "right" when you're searching in Finnish: scientologia
The first page is against it :-)
I've found SMP on Linux to work very well. There are definitely no delays on my dual cpu workstation and dual cpu server. I've even done some extensive bvenchmarks which show that Linux scales very well. At least compared to NT4/W2K where the results were dreadful.
I'm sorry that I can't offer any help but I hope you find where the problem is.
However, it's easy peasy for those Win98 users to upgrade to more stable Windows versions. Their old software works and the OS is pretty similar to use.
If they upgrade to Linux, there's a lot more to learn and new software to buy/find to replace their current Windows apps. When you think about it, the licence costs are not that bad compared to the loss of time.
Don't underestimate the difficulties. Linux is cool, it's fast and it has great apps but that isn't good enough for people to dump a working solution and take a step towards the unknown.
But she could also find out that you're a geek and run for her life.
Oh, wait. They can spot that easily already now...