"It's all a stunt to draw hits to his web page imho."
Jesus, I've heard of people doing some stupid things just to attract visitors to their web sites, but making dozens and dozens of high-quality, up-to-date RPMs for downloading onto a selection of distributions (but usually favouring Mandrake) over a long period of time sounds like a hard way to do it.
Especially considering the RPMs are stored on ibiblio.org, and "his" (shared) web forum is somewhere completely different.
Sounds like you're talking bull to me.
My many experiences of his packaging skills have caused me to thank him for doing so much good work for Mandrake (and other distro) users, and providing it for free.
Yes, the rpmdrake feature works very well, too. However, you don't get this benefit (to my knowledge) when updating a whole distribution.
It would be a great idea if this could be put in as part of the upgrade process (or at least prompt the user to check the files in question).
Thanks for the tip about the "--merge-all-rpmnew" parameter. Mandrake's got a load of handy little features like this, but they need better documenting somehow - too many of these features are only known by a tiny proportion of Mandrake's users.
Another hint for those upgrading RPM-based distros: After doing the update, run:
find/etc -name '*.rpm*'
to find out which config files have changed, and make any manual updates still required.
Often, if you've edited a package's config file(s), an RPM upgrade will often save the new config file(s) as "configfile.rpmnew" instead of over-writing your changes. However, the old config file isn't always 100% compatible with the new package, so you often need to upgrade by hand (or install the new config file in place of the old one, and repeat the configuration changes you made to the original package).
Errrrr.......this article is about Mandrake 9.1, in case you hadn't noticed.
So if you're going to title your comment "I still think SuSE is better", then you're misleading people, if what you actually meant is "I still think SuSE is better than the previous release of Mandrake".
Yeah, yeah, I know you're kidding, but I suspect the title of that comment should have been something like "Wasn't the EU antitrust official employed by MS ?".
"Get too content with being the global big dog and the next thing you know you're not number 1 anymore."
Actually, a large part of the (later) shrinking of the British Empire was to do with the costs of fighting two world wars (even though we were on the winning side both times). Believe it or not, the UK is still repaying the USA for its help during the second world war (look towards the bottom of the page - I believe the debt is still partly outstanding).
Still, freedom is much more more important than money.
"Perhaps it's time for Linux to split into two seperate camps. A version for Linux for servers, and a version for the desktop. "
Yeah, just like Microsoft split Windows XP into two separate new versions: Windows 98/ME for home and desktop users, and Windows NT for professional and server use.
Oh, wait.....
Would you care to give any actual reasons for your bold statement above ?
"Whose bright idea was it to do a "systems upgrade" while there were large, flying metal objects carrying many people still in the air?!?!"
Actually, there are planes in the air most hours of the day. There is no time when planes aren't flying.
The best time (when there are fewest planes) may be at night. But that's just the time when the people actually doing the upgrade are going to be half asleep.
"Wouldn't you do a test run, install it on a backup system, or one that's not systems-critical?"
I'm sure they did. But the live system is bound to be different in some small way - maybe a different (more powerful) system, which might cause different timing issues; - maybe a different disk configuration, perhaps with a file system running out of space (e.g. more online logs); - maybe the live database (if any) is different to that on the backup system.
These things can easily go wrong. In my experience, it's vital to ensure you have a way of getting some sort of system operational if you do screw up. Maybe ensure a backup system is capable of running live first, then attempt the update of the live system, and if it goes wrong, you have a backup system capable of operating until you can correct the screw-up.
They don't just do it to find out how many programmers of a particular type are around.
They do it so they can build up a large collection of CVs. They can then go to major employers and say "do your recruitment through us, we've got x0,000 programmers on our books, we can fill all the positions you need, deal with us exclusively, only a 15% cut per placement".
I had to search for a job a few months ago. At first it seemed like there were hundreds of jobs which would suit me. There weren't. Not by a long way. (I was lucky - I got a job through a contact).
"I've seen the Gnome team point out that any option, even if hidden by default, makes the software more complex, requires support, and will contribute to the overall number of bugs"
So do all features. Will these slowly start to be removed, too ?
What they appear to be arguing is that it's good enough to only offer the basic functionality that, say, 80% of (their least-experienced) users need. Their problem is that "they" seem to have "taken over" a system written by hackers, for hackers, and are making it into something else.
(PS: The above comment is aimed at the people who made the point you quoted, not you personally).
I wonder how much of gnome is still being written by unpaid volunteers "scratching an itch", and how much by salaried professionals working to some defined specification.
Perhaps it's just X that's hung, not the whole operating system.
Try killing X with Ctrl-Alt-Backspace.
I believe you need a single line in/etc/hosts to cure the problem - your machine needs to be able to look up the IP address associated with its own hostname.
"Knoppix has always been about KDE (the whole name implies it)."
Actually, the name comes from the guy who produces it, Klaus Knopper.
But then again, maybe he changed his name by deed poll;)
Re:Why do some many prefer Gnome then ?
on
Has GNOME Become LAME?
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
"* side note to Mosfet-worshippers: "organization" will not save you - kontrol center is drowning in useless preferences. Some of them simply have to go"
I do so love being told what I can and can't do with my own computer.
But yes, good organisation can sort out this situation. Why is it so difficult to choose a sensible level of "standard" options, well-thought-out and well presented, and hide more advanced options behind an "advanced" button in the appropriate dialogs ? Some applications already do - Microsoft also uses this idea in places.
And if you insist that you're dealing with people that can't deal with "advanced" configuration options, I would suggest two solutions:
1) All advanced dialogs to have a "Restore to Defaults" button (some applications already do this). In fact, this would probably be a good idea on all dialogs;
2) Have some single centralised option, controllable by root or a system administrator, which simply turns off all "Advanced" dialogs (and the buttons which acccess them) if you insist that users can't be trusted to use them, and will only be confused by them (or that their use will make a system administration / support harder).
Actually, I don't think it's so much oil (and gas) as the old nuclear power stations coming to the end of their active lives, and the government being unwilling to build new ones (due to the political difficulties it would cause since much of the population here doesn't want new ones being built near them).
For your first point, read up on urpmi - Mandrake's version of apt-get, which handles dependencies automatically, and lets you install packages (and their dependencies) with a single command.
If you average at least 100 GB per month then you should be paying more money than your average home user pays.
If you are paying more, fair enough. But for these £20/month schemes to be economical the companies offering them have to allow for reasonable usage levels amongst most users.
Slashdot Mirror
Hey, you don't realise how brilliant Gentoo is.
/bin/laden ? Don't send thousands of troops sending over Afghanistan, just use Gentoo:
Want to get
In one easy step, "emerge" him from his cave, "download" him to Guantanamo Bay, and "execute" him on the spot.
What could be simpler ?
"The only complaint I really can think of through this whole experience is that some of the applications didn't work."
;)
So nothing major then ?
"It's all a stunt to draw hits to his web page imho."
Jesus, I've heard of people doing some stupid things just to attract visitors to their web sites, but making dozens and dozens of high-quality, up-to-date RPMs for downloading onto a selection of distributions (but usually favouring Mandrake) over a long period of time sounds like a hard way to do it.
Especially considering the RPMs are stored on ibiblio.org, and "his" (shared) web forum is somewhere completely different.
Sounds like you're talking bull to me.
My many experiences of his packaging skills have caused me to thank him for doing so much good work for Mandrake (and other distro) users, and providing it for free.
Once again, thanks Texstar.
Yes, the rpmdrake feature works very well, too. However, you don't get this benefit (to my knowledge) when updating a whole distribution.
It would be a great idea if this could be put in as part of the upgrade process (or at least prompt the user to check the files in question).
Thanks for the tip about the "--merge-all-rpmnew" parameter. Mandrake's got a load of handy little features like this, but they need better documenting somehow - too many of these features are only known by a tiny proportion of Mandrake's users.
to find out which config files have changed, and make any manual updates still required.
Often, if you've edited a package's config file(s), an RPM upgrade will often save the new config file(s) as "configfile.rpmnew" instead of over-writing your changes. However, the old config file isn't always 100% compatible with the new package, so you often need to upgrade by hand (or install the new config file in place of the old one, and repeat the configuration changes you made to the original package).
".....and now we can't get rid of her"
I don't agree with much of what she says, but you don't have to read all her reviews, if you don't like them. No-ones forcing you to read them.
Errrrr.......this article is about Mandrake 9.1, in case you hadn't noticed.
So if you're going to title your comment "I still think SuSE is better", then you're misleading people, if what you actually meant is "I still think SuSE is better than the previous release of Mandrake".
Yeah, yeah, I know you're kidding, but I suspect the title of that comment should have been something like "Wasn't the EU antitrust official employed by MS ?".
I prefer not to wear anything when I'm sliding the pole into the Bat-cave.
"Get too content with being the global big dog and the next thing you know you're not number 1 anymore."
Actually, a large part of the (later) shrinking of the British Empire was to do with the costs of fighting two world wars (even though we were on the winning side both times). Believe it or not, the UK is still repaying the USA for its help during the second world war (look towards the bottom of the page - I believe the debt is still partly outstanding).
Still, freedom is much more more important than money.
"Perhaps it's time for Linux to split into two seperate camps. A version for Linux for servers, and a version for the desktop. "
Yeah, just like Microsoft split Windows XP into two separate new versions: Windows 98/ME for home and desktop users, and Windows NT for professional and server use.
Oh, wait.....
Would you care to give any actual reasons for your bold statement above ?
"Whose bright idea was it to do a "systems upgrade" while there were large, flying metal objects carrying many people still in the air?!?!"
Actually, there are planes in the air most hours of the day. There is no time when planes aren't flying.
The best time (when there are fewest planes) may be at night. But that's just the time when the people actually doing the upgrade are going to be half asleep.
"Wouldn't you do a test run, install it on a backup system, or one that's not systems-critical?"
I'm sure they did. But the live system is bound to be different in some small way
- maybe a different (more powerful) system, which might cause different timing issues;
- maybe a different disk configuration, perhaps with a file system running out of space (e.g. more online logs);
- maybe the live database (if any) is different to that on the backup system.
These things can easily go wrong. In my experience, it's vital to ensure you have a way of getting some sort of system operational if you do screw up. Maybe ensure a backup system is capable of running live first, then attempt the update of the live system, and if it goes wrong, you have a backup system capable of operating until you can correct the screw-up.
They don't just do it to find out how many programmers of a particular type are around.
They do it so they can build up a large collection of CVs. They can then go to major employers and say "do your recruitment through us, we've got x0,000 programmers on our books, we can fill all the positions you need, deal with us exclusively, only a 15% cut per placement".
I had to search for a job a few months ago. At first it seemed like there were hundreds of jobs which would suit me. There weren't. Not by a long way. (I was lucky - I got a job through a contact).
"I've seen the Gnome team point out that any option, even if hidden by default, makes the software more complex, requires support, and will contribute to the overall number of bugs"
So do all features. Will these slowly start to be removed, too ?
What they appear to be arguing is that it's good enough to only offer the basic functionality that, say, 80% of (their least-experienced) users need. Their problem is that "they" seem to have "taken over" a system written by hackers, for hackers, and are making it into something else.
(PS: The above comment is aimed at the people who made the point you quoted, not you personally).
I wonder how much of gnome is still being written by unpaid volunteers "scratching an itch", and how much by salaried professionals working to some defined specification.
Perhaps it's just X that's hung, not the whole operating system.
/etc/hosts to cure the problem - your machine needs to be able to look up the IP address associated with its own hostname.
Try killing X with Ctrl-Alt-Backspace.
I believe you need a single line in
"Knoppix has always been about KDE (the whole name implies it)."
;)
Actually, the name comes from the guy who produces it, Klaus Knopper.
But then again, maybe he changed his name by deed poll
"* side note to Mosfet-worshippers: "organization" will not save you - kontrol center is drowning in useless preferences. Some of them simply have to go"
I do so love being told what I can and can't do with my own computer.
But yes, good organisation can sort out this situation. Why is it so difficult to choose a sensible level of "standard" options, well-thought-out and well presented, and hide more advanced options behind an "advanced" button in the appropriate dialogs ? Some applications already do - Microsoft also uses this idea in places.
And if you insist that you're dealing with people that can't deal with "advanced" configuration options, I would suggest two solutions:
1) All advanced dialogs to have a "Restore to Defaults" button (some applications already do this). In fact, this would probably be a good idea on all dialogs;
2) Have some single centralised option, controllable by root or a system administrator, which simply turns off all "Advanced" dialogs (and the buttons which acccess them) if you insist that users can't be trusted to use them, and will only be confused by them (or that their use will make a system administration / support harder).
...which in turn are copies of stuff done at Xerox Parc years before that.
Standing on the shoulders of giants, etc......
I hope you're compliant with RFC1149 (Standard for IP transmitted by carrier pigeon).
;)
Yes, it's genuine.
No, it isn't serious.
I think.....
Actually, I don't think it's so much oil (and gas) as the old nuclear power stations coming to the end of their active lives, and the government being unwilling to build new ones (due to the political difficulties it would cause since much of the population here doesn't want new ones being built near them).
Did someone find a backdoor ?
"Lisdexia is a terrible disease."
Didn't you mean Daily Sex ?
Doesn't sound so terrible to me.....
For your first point, read up on urpmi - Mandrake's version of apt-get, which handles dependencies automatically, and lets you install packages (and their dependencies) with a single command.
If you average at least 100 GB per month then you should be paying more money than your average home user pays.
If you are paying more, fair enough. But for these £20/month schemes to be economical the companies offering them have to allow for reasonable usage levels amongst most users.
That may be the whole idea of software rental.
And the reason why it will fall flat on its face is that users will never willingly pay just to continue to be able to access their own data.
We will not be going from a software buy to a software rental model, because the only reason for it is to generate more money for software companies.