There has always been BBEdit Lite, free as in beer, to get around that limitation. Oh yeah, and Palm's Memo Pad app also had a similar 32K limitation. And one other thing...TeachText and SimpleText could open files much larger than 32K. They just couldn't edit them.
Old news, OpenOffice.Org v. 1.0.2 can write perfectly acceptible MS Word.DOC files. It can also write perfectly acceptible MS Excel.XLS spreadsheets too. I suspect the compatibility will only improve, at least with the Office97 to OfficeXP iterations of the file formats. All bets are off about the new Office2K3 formats, of course.
The Performa 6116 was a decent box. The Performa 460 and the Performa 475 actually kicked all kinds of butt, particularly if you put a FPU into the P460 or a real 68040 into a P475. Now, the 52xx and 62xx/63xx Performas, OTOH, blew goats. Ruined the reputation of the PowerPC 603 and 603e, which actually were decent chips. Thanks a lot, Michael Spindler...
Actually, when the G5 PowerBooks come out, the G4s will be a fine bargain. I have a Wallstreet G3 PowerBook and I'm very, very happy with it. I know people who have G3-based iBooks and they are ecstatic about them. Mac laptops have better shelf-life than your average generic PC laptop. So quityerbitchin and buy that G4 PowerBook. You won't be sorry.
Very true. This is the big advantage Windows and, to a lesser extent, MacOS have - a tight social net for support, so-to-speak.
And the local LUG is what? Chopped liver?
The strength of the Mac community, from the very start, was the local MUG. There have been Mac User Groups around since 1984. Here's one that's been around almost that long: http://www.lamg.org/. LUGs, Linux User Groups, were an emulation of the successful MUG phenomenon, and in a lot of respects have transcended even the success of the MUG. Probably every weekend, somewhere close to you, there is an installfest/tweakfest going on thanks to your friendly neighborhood LUG. Since installing Linux has become easier as time goes on, installfests/tweakfests have become more of an occasion for Linux advocacy.
SBLUG, the Santa Barbara Linux User Group, has been running a booth at the Santa Barbara Computer Fair every time the Computer Fair people see fit to run one. The last one was last week, the next one is November 8th. People actually *do* go to the Fair to get a computer and wind up leaving not only with the Windows they thought they were going to install but also a copy of Knoppix to try out and kick the tires on. Some people even decide that maybe installing Windows on that beige box of their dreams isn't such a great idea with Linux being more mature and useful than they expected. "If I only have to pay $1/disk for this free OS, I can take the money I save and get a bigger monitor or a DVD-RW instead of the CD-RW I budgeted for!" Yes, this really does happen! I've seen it.
If you really want to see Linux move into the desktop arena in a big way, you need to get active with your local LUG.
Heh. Actually the IceBook-style iBooks are pretty light and easy to carry around. The same can't be said for either the PowerBook I own (Code named "Wallstreet PDQ," officially called a PowerBook Series II G3) or the Thinkpad 365X or the PowerBook 145b and PowerBook 150 that I had before it. All four of these notebook computers have weighed about 7 pounds or so. The original iBook weighed in at about this much too...the "fruit flavored" ones with the handle and which John C. Dvorak characterized as being "effeminate."
I got my Wallstreet because I am back in College after an almost 20 year absence. Ironically it looks like it will probably spend most of its time in my backpack. Most desks at the community college are way too small to hold a laptop, and the placement of power outlets is too limited. Low tech solutions like pen and paper seem to be best suited for my current situation, alas.
Richie Hass has three songs (many, many more to come) available for download at this site: http://www.richiehass.com/.
They are in MP3 and OGG Vorbis format, take your pick. I like the sound of the.OGG files better and it's also a free codec, but the MP3s aren't half bad.
Remember: if you want to share these songs on whatever P2P proggie you use, you are more than welcome. Share and enjoy.
OpenOffice is just fine, and each new revision brings better MS Office compatibility.
That is, until the next version of MS Office, which has patented technology in its file formats. Even attempting to read/write that new version will be a patent violation! So much for limitless interoperability...
Guess what? This is a major opportunity for OpenOffice.Org. The reason why Mickeysoft hasn't made major changes to its file formats in SIX YEARS is because of user resistance. Every time a file format change has been suggested, there is a loud chorus of Fortune 1000 companies that scream "No! Don't do it! We don't want to convert all our documents!" And in the past, when the Fortune 1000 corporations scream, MS listens. However, they aren't listening now, perhaps to their peril.
We need to start pushing OpenOffice.Org as a viable alternative to having to change file formats. And what's more...it's FREE! And it runs beautifully on Windows! It even runs usably on a 233MHz G3 PowerBook with only 192MB RAM running Yellow Dog Linux! It might not be able to deal with the fancy stuff, but then again, older versions of MS Office can't either! It IGNORES Word/Excel macro viruses! There is such a compelling business case for a big switch to OO.O it's not even funny.
We might not be able to get the Fortune 1000 to switch to Linux on the desktop. But we certainly can get the Fortune 1000 to switch to OpenOffice.Org on their Windows desktops.
I can certainly tell you that when I tried to recycle an older Powermac 7600 system as a Linux-based web and file server, I had much better results using Debian than Mandrake for PPC.
The Dog is your friend. Moof! Did an install on a Wallstreet PowerBook last Saturday, and after a little fiddling it was smooth sailing.
However, Debian PPC is good for older PPC Macs that Yellow Dog Linux won't run on. And of course, there is Debian 68K. There will NEVER be a Yellow Dog 68K.
Well, I'm glad to hear that it will work with more RAM. Really. It still won't help me a ton, for a few reasons (abyssmal contracts don't pay squat; computer is a Packard Bell with their own proprietary RAM format, and Packard Bell is defunct) but I'm glad to hear that it really does work. Blah.
Packard Hell. My condolences. I mean, really. They made the worst computers ever made. I feel for you.
Anyway, here's the skinny on your Macs. Yellow Dog Linux will install on your PB3400. As far as the the 1400s, you might want to look into Debian Linux PPC for those bad boys. For the PB190, your only choice would be either NetBSD or Debian Linux 68K.
Yes there is an MS Office for MacOS X...it's called Office X. However, I don't think that Microsoft is going to be releasing source on it to recompile for Linux anytime soon...sorry...
Quite honestly, I've tried OpenOffice on my 800Mhz 64-MB PC, and it is so slooow, that I uninstalled it.
I was pleasantly surprised with OpenOffice.Org on my Mac G3 "Wallstreet" PowerBook running Yellow Dog Linux 3.0. I don't have tons of RAM (192MB) and the proc is only 233MHz (Basically equiv. to a 466MHz PII) but it ran acceptably.
I haven't played with KOffice but since OpenOffice works I might not even put any Redmond crap on the PowerBook. OO.O will indeed open/save any but the most complex MS Office documents. It also blithely ignores Word/Excel Macro viruses and might even cleanse them from documents that are infected.
OpenOffice works beautifully in both x86 and PPC Linux, and is known to work in *BSD. (which is NOT dead, btw) It also runs on the X11 compatibility layer in MacOS X.
OpenOffice likes a wee bit more RAM than 64MB. However, not much more is necessary. The Windows version seems to be very happy in 256MB RAM on a 466MHz Celeron. The Linux version flies on both my 733MHz PIII with 512MB and an AthlonXP 1800+PR with 512MB RAM. Starting OO.O on my Mac PB with Yellow Dog Linux requires a bit of patience, but once it's up and running it works. Again, that's just with 192MB RAM. When I finally get 384MB in there it will be very content indeed.
A little RAM will do ya. Just get another stick. It's not very expensive. And it will make a world of difference.
A single desktop does not a monoculture make. Look at the multitude of mail clients used by Mac users. Some are still using Eudora, some are using mail.app, some are using MailSmith, some are using Musashi, some are even using Microsoft Entourage, which comes with Office 2001 and Office X, or Microsoft Mail and News which is the freebie that comes with MSIE.
If the "Mad Hatter" flavor of Gnome becomes the favored desktop of desktop Linux users, then yeah, Evolution will probably become a favored email client. But not everyone likes Gnome. Some of us like KDE. Linux people are very, very individualistic. I don't think that "One Desktop Environment To Rule Them All" is happening anytime soon.
Well, unless you are running the first version of Lindows that runs as root by default, a "click this attachment" social-engineering worm would only be able to screw up everything that the luser in question owns, not the entire system. You would lose your home dir, you would lose your settings, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. It would suck, true, but it wouldn't be the end of the world.
Another point: there are several mail clients used by Linux users. The worm-writer would have to specifically figure out which mail client they'd hit. Would the victim be Evolution? OK, all the people who run KMail, Faces, Mozilla Messenger, Balsa, Pine, Elm or whatever else would be spared.
There is a lot more diversity on Linux desktops than on Windows desktops. And if there were more diversity on the average Windows desktop (like, for example, use Mozilla, Eudora or TheBat instead of LookOut Excess) there would be less problems with worms in general.
Strong green tea, served over ice. A twist of lime or lemon is a good touch.
Favorite coffee beverage: blended ice mocha. Now that Nestle's has released basically the adult answer to Nesquik, Ice Java, it is fairly easy to make one's own and the syrup costs about the same price as one Tall Iced Mocha at Starbucks Corporate Coffee.
The syrup, plus milk, plus ice cubes, makes for a great iced mocha. The blender gives it a nicer texture. Add a scoop of chocolate ice cream for extra luxury before blending. Mmmmm.....a bottle of the syrup makes about 10 16-ounce servings.
For decades, Mitsubishi did things like cut timber in the Brazilian Rainforests. They were the last fishing company to ban practices in tuna fishing that killed dolphins and other cetaceans. They were behind the salt plant that would have destroyed the main breeding grounds for humpback whales in the state of Baja California, Mexico.
From a little googling, I now see that they signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Rainforest Action Network promising to change their ecologically unfriendly corporate practices. Here is the link:
Provided the humungous Mitsubishi zaibatsu is living up to their promises, I have no problems now recommending Mitsubishi Chemical CD-Rs. Everything I said about TY goes double for their disks.
The reasons why TY and Mitsubishi CD-R blanks are so good and so compatible are the fact they use a much darker dye than the Taiwanese manufacturers do. Yamaha suggested the use of Mitsubishi Chemical CD-Rs with their "Disc T@2"-equipped burners because the graphics would show up better. They are a better choice for maximum compatibility for the same reason they are a better choice for "Disc T@2". The more visible the dye layer is to the naked eye, the more visible the dye layer is to a CD-ROM or CD player's laser.
I wish I could back my assertions up with a whole list of studies, but I am basically speaking from several years of my own experience with CD-R blanks. I don't see as many CD-Rs made by TY going bad as no-name Taiwanese crap does.
I am impressed by the sheer numbers of Linux apps for audio now available. I suppose the question now remains: how mature are they? Can you rely on them like you can rely on non-Free stuff like Sound Forge and ACID and so on? When this question can be answered in the affirmative, it will be the day I can "deassimilate" my next-to-last Windows PC from the Redmond Collective.
Fuji is made by Taiyo Yuden. TY makes high-contrast blue CD-R media that is ideal for archival use. TY is also making some Memorex, believe it or not. Just make sure when you are buying a cakebox that you check where it's manufactured. If it says "Made in Japan" it is more than likely TY made the disks. If it says "Made in Taiwan" move on. It's the cheap stuff out of Taiwan you need to worry about.
If you are really concerned about archival stability, Mitsumi Gold and Kodak are what you want, although I don't think Kodak is available anymore. I understand that Mitsubishi Chemical's disks are also quite good for long-term archival use...I just won't touch them because Mitsubishi is one of the most evil companies on the planet.
Oh yeah...a CD-R burnt at 4X is just fine for long-term stability and maximum compatibility too. It's when you get to the "ludicrous speed" of modern CD-RWs that you begin to have to worry about compatibility problems.
Besides, Liv Tyler was NOT the right person to cast for Arwen. I mean, come on...she might as well have phoned in that performance. It was that lifeless and dull.
I say Bjork should have been cast as Arwen. It might have meant some more interesting music on the soundtrack too...I mean Enya? Give me a fsckn break! Also, Bjork wouldn't have had to cultivate some fakey accent. The Elvish accent they were using sounded Scandinavian...her own Icelandic accent would have been perfect.
Then again, every red-blooded male geek on Slashdot would have preferred Natalie Portman as Arwen. Right??? ^_^
Slashdot Mirror
There has always been BBEdit Lite, free as in beer, to get around that limitation. Oh yeah, and Palm's Memo Pad app also had a similar 32K limitation. And one other thing...TeachText and SimpleText could open files much larger than 32K. They just couldn't edit them.
Old news, OpenOffice.Org v. 1.0.2 can write perfectly acceptible MS Word .DOC files. It can also write perfectly acceptible MS Excel .XLS spreadsheets too. I suspect the compatibility will only improve, at least with the Office97 to OfficeXP iterations of the file formats. All bets are off about the new Office2K3 formats, of course.
Google Search: Mithras
The Performa 6116 was a decent box. The Performa 460 and the Performa 475 actually kicked all kinds of butt, particularly if you put a FPU into the P460 or a real 68040 into a P475. Now, the 52xx and 62xx/63xx Performas, OTOH, blew goats. Ruined the reputation of the PowerPC 603 and 603e, which actually were decent chips. Thanks a lot, Michael Spindler...
Actually, when the G5 PowerBooks come out, the G4s will be a fine bargain. I have a Wallstreet G3 PowerBook and I'm very, very happy with it. I know people who have G3-based iBooks and they are ecstatic about them. Mac laptops have better shelf-life than your average generic PC laptop. So quityerbitchin and buy that G4 PowerBook. You won't be sorry.
Like they have been so many times before, Apple was there, did that, got the T-Shirt. The PowerBook 1400 had a clear plastic panel you could put a picture under for customization purposes. This was in October 1996.
And the local LUG is what? Chopped liver?
The strength of the Mac community, from the very start, was the local MUG. There have been Mac User Groups around since 1984. Here's one that's been around almost that long: http://www.lamg.org/. LUGs, Linux User Groups, were an emulation of the successful MUG phenomenon, and in a lot of respects have transcended even the success of the MUG. Probably every weekend, somewhere close to you, there is an installfest/tweakfest going on thanks to your friendly neighborhood LUG. Since installing Linux has become easier as time goes on, installfests/tweakfests have become more of an occasion for Linux advocacy.
SBLUG, the Santa Barbara Linux User Group, has been running a booth at the Santa Barbara Computer Fair every time the Computer Fair people see fit to run one. The last one was last week, the next one is November 8th. People actually *do* go to the Fair to get a computer and wind up leaving not only with the Windows they thought they were going to install but also a copy of Knoppix to try out and kick the tires on. Some people even decide that maybe installing Windows on that beige box of their dreams isn't such a great idea with Linux being more mature and useful than they expected. "If I only have to pay $1/disk for this free OS, I can take the money I save and get a bigger monitor or a DVD-RW instead of the CD-RW I budgeted for!" Yes, this really does happen! I've seen it.
If you really want to see Linux move into the desktop arena in a big way, you need to get active with your local LUG.
Heh. Actually the IceBook-style iBooks are pretty light and easy to carry around. The same can't be said for either the PowerBook I own (Code named "Wallstreet PDQ," officially called a PowerBook Series II G3) or the Thinkpad 365X or the PowerBook 145b and PowerBook 150 that I had before it. All four of these notebook computers have weighed about 7 pounds or so. The original iBook weighed in at about this much too...the "fruit flavored" ones with the handle and which John C. Dvorak characterized as being "effeminate."
I got my Wallstreet because I am back in College after an almost 20 year absence. Ironically it looks like it will probably spend most of its time in my backpack. Most desks at the community college are way too small to hold a laptop, and the placement of power outlets is too limited. Low tech solutions like pen and paper seem to be best suited for my current situation, alas.
He's the boyfriend of that girl who made a big deal of switching from MacOS to Windows!
They are in MP3 and OGG Vorbis format, take your pick. I like the sound of the .OGG files better and it's also a free codec, but the MP3s aren't half bad.
Remember: if you want to share these songs on whatever P2P proggie you use, you are more than welcome. Share and enjoy.
That is, until the next version of MS Office, which has patented technology in its file formats. Even attempting to read/write that new version will be a patent violation! So much for limitless interoperability...
Guess what? This is a major opportunity for OpenOffice.Org. The reason why Mickeysoft hasn't made major changes to its file formats in SIX YEARS is because of user resistance. Every time a file format change has been suggested, there is a loud chorus of Fortune 1000 companies that scream "No! Don't do it! We don't want to convert all our documents!" And in the past, when the Fortune 1000 corporations scream, MS listens. However, they aren't listening now, perhaps to their peril.
We need to start pushing OpenOffice.Org as a viable alternative to having to change file formats. And what's more...it's FREE! And it runs beautifully on Windows! It even runs usably on a 233MHz G3 PowerBook with only 192MB RAM running Yellow Dog Linux! It might not be able to deal with the fancy stuff, but then again, older versions of MS Office can't either! It IGNORES Word/Excel macro viruses! There is such a compelling business case for a big switch to OO.O it's not even funny.
We might not be able to get the Fortune 1000 to switch to Linux on the desktop. But we certainly can get the Fortune 1000 to switch to OpenOffice.Org on their Windows desktops.
The Dog is your friend. Moof! Did an install on a Wallstreet PowerBook last Saturday, and after a little fiddling it was smooth sailing.
However, Debian PPC is good for older PPC Macs that Yellow Dog Linux won't run on. And of course, there is Debian 68K. There will NEVER be a Yellow Dog 68K.
He forgot someone else too. You just made Junpei mad. Angry Ninjas are not good for your health.
Packard Hell. My condolences. I mean, really. They made the worst computers ever made. I feel for you.
Anyway, here's the skinny on your Macs. Yellow Dog Linux will install on your PB3400. As far as the the 1400s, you might want to look into Debian Linux PPC for those bad boys. For the PB190, your only choice would be either NetBSD or Debian Linux 68K.
Yes there is an MS Office for MacOS X...it's called Office X. However, I don't think that Microsoft is going to be releasing source on it to recompile for Linux anytime soon...sorry...
I was pleasantly surprised with OpenOffice.Org on my Mac G3 "Wallstreet" PowerBook running Yellow Dog Linux 3.0. I don't have tons of RAM (192MB) and the proc is only 233MHz (Basically equiv. to a 466MHz PII) but it ran acceptably.
I haven't played with KOffice but since OpenOffice works I might not even put any Redmond crap on the PowerBook. OO.O will indeed open/save any but the most complex MS Office documents. It also blithely ignores Word/Excel Macro viruses and might even cleanse them from documents that are infected.
OpenOffice works beautifully in both x86 and PPC Linux, and is known to work in *BSD. (which is NOT dead, btw) It also runs on the X11 compatibility layer in MacOS X.
OpenOffice likes a wee bit more RAM than 64MB. However, not much more is necessary. The Windows version seems to be very happy in 256MB RAM on a 466MHz Celeron. The Linux version flies on both my 733MHz PIII with 512MB and an AthlonXP 1800+PR with 512MB RAM. Starting OO.O on my Mac PB with Yellow Dog Linux requires a bit of patience, but once it's up and running it works. Again, that's just with 192MB RAM. When I finally get 384MB in there it will be very content indeed.
A little RAM will do ya. Just get another stick. It's not very expensive. And it will make a world of difference.
It's a good source for information on exactly this subject. No, I don't run it. ;-)
No duh...this is why, a few years ago, faux LavaLamps started appearing in stores like Walgreens and Wal*Mart. The patent expired, send in the clones.
A single desktop does not a monoculture make. Look at the multitude of mail clients used by Mac users. Some are still using Eudora, some are using mail.app, some are using MailSmith, some are using Musashi, some are even using Microsoft Entourage, which comes with Office 2001 and Office X, or Microsoft Mail and News which is the freebie that comes with MSIE.
If the "Mad Hatter" flavor of Gnome becomes the favored desktop of desktop Linux users, then yeah, Evolution will probably become a favored email client. But not everyone likes Gnome. Some of us like KDE. Linux people are very, very individualistic. I don't think that "One Desktop Environment To Rule Them All" is happening anytime soon.
Well, unless you are running the first version of Lindows that runs as root by default, a "click this attachment" social-engineering worm would only be able to screw up everything that the luser in question owns, not the entire system. You would lose your home dir, you would lose your settings, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. It would suck, true, but it wouldn't be the end of the world.
Another point: there are several mail clients used by Linux users. The worm-writer would have to specifically figure out which mail client they'd hit. Would the victim be Evolution? OK, all the people who run KMail, Faces, Mozilla Messenger, Balsa, Pine, Elm or whatever else would be spared.
There is a lot more diversity on Linux desktops than on Windows desktops. And if there were more diversity on the average Windows desktop (like, for example, use Mozilla, Eudora or TheBat instead of LookOut Excess) there would be less problems with worms in general.
Favorite coffee beverage: blended ice mocha. Now that Nestle's has released basically the adult answer to Nesquik, Ice Java, it is fairly easy to make one's own and the syrup costs about the same price as one Tall Iced Mocha at Starbucks Corporate Coffee.
The syrup, plus milk, plus ice cubes, makes for a great iced mocha. The blender gives it a nicer texture. Add a scoop of chocolate ice cream for extra luxury before blending. Mmmmm.....a bottle of the syrup makes about 10 16-ounce servings.
From a little googling, I now see that they signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Rainforest Action Network promising to change their ecologically unfriendly corporate practices. Here is the link:
http://www.ranamuck.org/news7.01mitsi.htm
Provided the humungous Mitsubishi zaibatsu is living up to their promises, I have no problems now recommending Mitsubishi Chemical CD-Rs. Everything I said about TY goes double for their disks.
The reasons why TY and Mitsubishi CD-R blanks are so good and so compatible are the fact they use a much darker dye than the Taiwanese manufacturers do. Yamaha suggested the use of Mitsubishi Chemical CD-Rs with their "Disc T@2"-equipped burners because the graphics would show up better. They are a better choice for maximum compatibility for the same reason they are a better choice for "Disc T@2". The more visible the dye layer is to the naked eye, the more visible the dye layer is to a CD-ROM or CD player's laser.
I wish I could back my assertions up with a whole list of studies, but I am basically speaking from several years of my own experience with CD-R blanks. I don't see as many CD-Rs made by TY going bad as no-name Taiwanese crap does.
I am impressed by the sheer numbers of Linux apps for audio now available. I suppose the question now remains: how mature are they? Can you rely on them like you can rely on non-Free stuff like Sound Forge and ACID and so on? When this question can be answered in the affirmative, it will be the day I can "deassimilate" my next-to-last Windows PC from the Redmond Collective.
Fuji is made by Taiyo Yuden. TY makes high-contrast blue CD-R media that is ideal for archival use. TY is also making some Memorex, believe it or not. Just make sure when you are buying a cakebox that you check where it's manufactured. If it says "Made in Japan" it is more than likely TY made the disks. If it says "Made in Taiwan" move on. It's the cheap stuff out of Taiwan you need to worry about.
If you are really concerned about archival stability, Mitsumi Gold and Kodak are what you want, although I don't think Kodak is available anymore. I understand that Mitsubishi Chemical's disks are also quite good for long-term archival use...I just won't touch them because Mitsubishi is one of the most evil companies on the planet.
Oh yeah...a CD-R burnt at 4X is just fine for long-term stability and maximum compatibility too. It's when you get to the "ludicrous speed" of modern CD-RWs that you begin to have to worry about compatibility problems.
Creepy...they called it, she looks right out of "Village Of The Damned." Damn.
Besides, Liv Tyler was NOT the right person to cast for Arwen. I mean, come on...she might as well have phoned in that performance. It was that lifeless and dull.
I say Bjork should have been cast as Arwen. It might have meant some more interesting music on the soundtrack too...I mean Enya? Give me a fsckn break! Also, Bjork wouldn't have had to cultivate some fakey accent. The Elvish accent they were using sounded Scandinavian...her own Icelandic accent would have been perfect.
Then again, every red-blooded male geek on Slashdot would have preferred Natalie Portman as Arwen. Right??? ^_^