Actually, what happens is they put you on a "Do not call" list. If they call you back within a certain time period they are breaking the law. Ill have to find the law again, as I dont remember what one it is, but I seem to remember seeing something like this here before, or maybe some other site than slashdot. Also, you can demand that they send you a printed copy of their "do not call" policy. If they do not, you can take them to court and get, IIRC, "not more than $500" for a "technical vilation" of the law (or maybe it is an FCC interpretation of a law)
Thats pretty much the best idea yet, IMHO. It seems the biggest problem I have (switching my family to Linux) is people that just don't WANT to learn anything new. I don't know how the new StarOffice licences work, (is it single OS? Are there Windows and Linux installers on the same CD? Can you use the same registration code on both?) but it might be a better idea (if the SO licence does not allow you to install the Linux version after the Windows version is deleted) is to install OpenOffice.org on computers, unless the person specifically needs, say, the database.
If you use Exchange, check out Evolution. I havent tried it yet, but it looks nice. If anyone has used it, can you please say something about how it compares to Outlook?
As far as office programs go, I have found SO/OO.o to be better than MS Office in many situations, but a little slower to start up. If you have older (200 MHz or less) machines, consider upgrading them. On my systems (lowest is pII 350) SO and OO.o take a while to start, but once they are up, they are faster than MS Office. Do NOT install SO 5.2. NO ONE will like it, as it is so integrated into one huge program as to be basically just a memory hog. You will be much happier with OO.o or SO 6.0.
Also, have a few systems with Linux on them for people to try out. Say that it will be the OS you will have on all new computers from that point on, and if anyone wants to try it out in advance, they can. It will be good training, and you will get an idea of users likes/dislikes/preferecnes, and will be able to set it up better for them. Also, some may be ready to switch right now!
Also, consider trying to convince people to use things such as (my)SQL for databases, so that they will be able to access it with many different programs, etc. I wonder if there is a nice program that will make an SQL database (i really dont know much about SQL, just a few basic commands) that will look like an Access database to users. It would be nice for switching people over.
Pro-choice because if its not pro-choice, people will get abortions anyway, and will get them from some guy in an alley with a dirty coathanger. It is much better for them to be able to get it from a real doctor. At least THEIR coathangers are sterile.
3 gigs should be fine, depending on what you want to do, just as in Windows. It really depends on what you want to do. If you start running out of space in Linux, since Linux can read/write Windows partitions, you can offload some of your documents onto your Windows partition. The previous suggestion to get an older computer is a great one. You dont even really need a Pentium 200, as Linux does a great job with older hardware. Generally, with a slow system, programs will take a long time to start, but once they do start, they will operate just fine. Also, if you use an older computer, dont use KDE or Gnome, but instead, something simple like FVWM2. I use FVWM2 on my pIII because I find it is still noticably faster than KDE. In KDE, programs have a delay of a couple seconds. In FVWM2, they are almost instant to open.
I think I will see it at Fox Village theatre. They show the movies only after they have gone out of the regular theatres, but before they come out on video. That lets them charge only $1.50 or so a ticket. Even less than renting it from Video Watch.
Heh, my XT keyboard is easy to open. 6 screws on the back, and it comes right open. All my other keyboards are nearly impossible with stupid little plastic clips that break off when you touch them with a screwdriver.
Thats all well and good, but the point here is not that it was changed in the first place, but rather that it was changed without making note of the fact. All that is needed is a simple note at the bottom of the page that says:
"This story has been revised " numRevisions " time(s) since " originalPublication
If they wanted to make that even better, they could have a changelog for the article as well, or, best of all, links to all the old versions of the article.
Play your games at HOME, not at school!!! I play many games, but since not many run under Linux, I use my Win98SE box for games. EVERYTHING else is done in Linux. Linux may not be ready for what certain people use their desktops for, (games) but it IS ready for nearly EVERYTHING else. The only "games" I have ever been required to play in school were "edutainment" programs that we played by swapping 5.25 floppies in one of about 30 Apple IIgs computers we had in the computer lab in elementary school. Since then, computers were only used for word processing, web research, spreadsheets, etc. Linux is more than enough for that. Mozilla is as good as if not better than IE for just about everything, and Abiword is more than enough for students. If you need more features, use OpenOffice. A Linux workstation can be MUCH more secure than a Windows or Mac workstation.
As a student, I have noticed that while teachers are not generally stupid, in a technology sense, they do not know much. In my CS class, we are learning basic C++ programming on older iMacs, (the strawberry ones) and all the classrooms have blue or graphite iMacs. A few Windows PCs are in the building, but only in the CAD room and two "Buisness Application" labs.
Most of the teachers know enough about how to use the computers, but not much more than that. If they couldnt get a p2p program working, they wouldnt think it was a network problem, but rather a problem with their computer, and would have it "assimilated" (HDD wiped and re-imaged from central server) then re-install the program. If that didnt work, they would ask the administrator what was wrong with the computer.
There are a few teachers that know a bit more than this, for instance, one that partitioned the drive in his iMac and installed YDL on it, but most have never even heard of Linux, and those that have think its made by Microsoft.
Sun Microsystems has a nice LCD monitor. It is 24.1 inches, 1920x1200, and can take input from many connectors (DVI-D, 13W3, HD-15 [with 13W3 adaptor] svideo, etc) it also has a built in 4 port USB hub. Havent checked prices anywhere, but it looks expensive.
Why do you say it sucks? I have had no problems with X-Chat, and several problems with mIRC. mIRC seems to sometimes have a mind of its own, and X-Chat does exactly what I want it to. I dont want my IRC client to go to the same server and channels I went to last time, with the same nick I used last time. I want it to go to a certain three channels on a certain server, using one of my first, second, and third choices of nickname. Sometimes I go to a different server just for the hell of it, but I dont want it to automatically come up the next time I start my client. Also, I might change my nickname to something else as a joke, that does not mean that I want that to be my primary nickname the next time I go online.
Have you tried a recent version of X-Chat? I havent used anything before 1.8.6, the version that came with my distro (which I subsiquently upgraded to 1.8.7 then 1.8.8) so I dont know how the previous versions were. All I know is that X-Chat 1.8.6+ works better than mIRC.
mIRC? There are better programs for Linux. X-Chat is by FAR better than mIRC. It is more stable, more extensible, and FREE. mIRC is a good program, but it is not the only one out there. Try the competition before you decide to stick with one program. IIRC, X-Chat has a windows version, so try it out.
Hmm... I have not had such trouble. Guess thats because I dont use ext2, but rather ReiserFS on all my Linux boxes. The only time I have ever had trouble with Linux on a hard drive was with an old Western Digital hard drive, which had messed up DMA. Turned off DMA, no more corruption. Windows, however, I have had two ENTIRE partitions wiped out, losing 6 GiB of old documents.
I run my own home network, and I have an old Pentium system running as a server. It does NAT, SAMBA (file and printer sharing) and acts as a DNS server. I do not use my ISP (comcast) dns server because it sucks, and when comcast transfered everyone to their own network, DNS was down for about a week in my area, so I was going straight off the root nodes, and havent changed it back. I have my DNS server set so that it will not forward the names of anything it knows about to the root servers, so they will not get confused by my internal network. Doesnt Win2k do this?
Hehe well, adam.schoolSpirt == 0 so i dont really care. I skip all the pep rallys. they give me headaches. (This gives me the excuse of "Medical Reasons" does it not?)
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, what happens is they put you on a "Do not call" list. If they call you back within a certain time period they are breaking the law. Ill have to find the law again, as I dont remember what one it is, but I seem to remember seeing something like this here before, or maybe some other site than slashdot. Also, you can demand that they send you a printed copy of their "do not call" policy. If they do not, you can take them to court and get, IIRC, "not more than $500" for a "technical vilation" of the law (or maybe it is an FCC interpretation of a law)
heh sorta like when titanic came out. "The ship sinks"
Thats pretty much the best idea yet, IMHO. It seems the biggest problem I have (switching my family to Linux) is people that just don't WANT to learn anything new. I don't know how the new StarOffice licences work, (is it single OS? Are there Windows and Linux installers on the same CD? Can you use the same registration code on both?) but it might be a better idea (if the SO licence does not allow you to install the Linux version after the Windows version is deleted) is to install OpenOffice.org on computers, unless the person specifically needs, say, the database.
If you use Exchange, check out Evolution. I havent tried it yet, but it looks nice. If anyone has used it, can you please say something about how it compares to Outlook?
As far as office programs go, I have found SO/OO.o to be better than MS Office in many situations, but a little slower to start up. If you have older (200 MHz or less) machines, consider upgrading them. On my systems (lowest is pII 350) SO and OO.o take a while to start, but once they are up, they are faster than MS Office. Do NOT install SO 5.2. NO ONE will like it, as it is so integrated into one huge program as to be basically just a memory hog. You will be much happier with OO.o or SO 6.0.
Also, have a few systems with Linux on them for people to try out. Say that it will be the OS you will have on all new computers from that point on, and if anyone wants to try it out in advance, they can. It will be good training, and you will get an idea of users likes/dislikes/preferecnes, and will be able to set it up better for them. Also, some may be ready to switch right now!
Also, consider trying to convince people to use things such as (my)SQL for databases, so that they will be able to access it with many different programs, etc. I wonder if there is a nice program that will make an SQL database (i really dont know much about SQL, just a few basic commands) that will look like an Access database to users. It would be nice for switching people over.
Pro-choice because if its not pro-choice, people will get abortions anyway, and will get them from some guy in an alley with a dirty coathanger. It is much better for them to be able to get it from a real doctor. At least THEIR coathangers are sterile.
It MUST be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays. -- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
3 gigs should be fine, depending on what you want to do, just as in Windows. It really depends on what you want to do. If you start running out of space in Linux, since Linux can read/write Windows partitions, you can offload some of your documents onto your Windows partition. The previous suggestion to get an older computer is a great one. You dont even really need a Pentium 200, as Linux does a great job with older hardware. Generally, with a slow system, programs will take a long time to start, but once they do start, they will operate just fine. Also, if you use an older computer, dont use KDE or Gnome, but instead, something simple like FVWM2. I use FVWM2 on my pIII because I find it is still noticably faster than KDE. In KDE, programs have a delay of a couple seconds. In FVWM2, they are almost instant to open.
Heh oops. That was meant to be $40,000,000,000, the amount M$ has in reserve. I calculated right, typed wrong.
They are cheaper in Canada? KEWL!! Good thing I live close to Canada!
By saying, "Buy National Semiconductor part no. XXX-XXXX (or whatever), and burn this file to it."
Lets see...
$40,000,000 / $100 = 400,000,000
We only need to buy 400,000,000 XBoxs to cut that stockpile down a bit!
FEAR US BILL GATES!
I think I will see it at Fox Village theatre. They show the movies only after they have gone out of the regular theatres, but before they come out on video. That lets them charge only $1.50 or so a ticket. Even less than renting it from Video Watch.
Heh, my XT keyboard is easy to open. 6 screws on the back, and it comes right open. All my other keyboards are nearly impossible with stupid little plastic clips that break off when you touch them with a screwdriver.
Thats all well and good, but the point here is not that it was changed in the first place, but rather that it was changed without making note of the fact. All that is needed is a simple note at the bottom of the page that says:
"This story has been revised " numRevisions " time(s) since " originalPublication
If they wanted to make that even better, they could have a changelog for the article as well, or, best of all, links to all the old versions of the article.
So...
Play your games at HOME, not at school!!! I play many games, but since not many run under Linux, I use my Win98SE box for games. EVERYTHING else is done in Linux. Linux may not be ready for what certain people use their desktops for, (games) but it IS ready for nearly EVERYTHING else. The only "games" I have ever been required to play in school were "edutainment" programs that we played by swapping 5.25 floppies in one of about 30 Apple IIgs computers we had in the computer lab in elementary school. Since then, computers were only used for word processing, web research, spreadsheets, etc. Linux is more than enough for that. Mozilla is as good as if not better than IE for just about everything, and Abiword is more than enough for students. If you need more features, use OpenOffice. A Linux workstation can be MUCH more secure than a Windows or Mac workstation.
As a student, I have noticed that while teachers are not generally stupid, in a technology sense, they do not know much. In my CS class, we are learning basic C++ programming on older iMacs, (the strawberry ones) and all the classrooms have blue or graphite iMacs. A few Windows PCs are in the building, but only in the CAD room and two "Buisness Application" labs.
Most of the teachers know enough about how to use the computers, but not much more than that. If they couldnt get a p2p program working, they wouldnt think it was a network problem, but rather a problem with their computer, and would have it "assimilated" (HDD wiped and re-imaged from central server) then re-install the program. If that didnt work, they would ask the administrator what was wrong with the computer.
There are a few teachers that know a bit more than this, for instance, one that partitioned the drive in his iMac and installed YDL on it, but most have never even heard of Linux, and those that have think its made by Microsoft.
Even if the colours are off, it is still worth it to use refilled black cartrages, yes?
Oh forgot the link. Here it is: http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/hw/periphe rals/monitors.html#24.1inch
Sun Microsystems has a nice LCD monitor. It is 24.1 inches, 1920x1200, and can take input from many connectors (DVI-D, 13W3, HD-15 [with 13W3 adaptor] svideo, etc) it also has a built in 4 port USB hub. Havent checked prices anywhere, but it looks expensive.
I cant switch to mIRC. I used to use it in Windows, but now that I use Linux, its useless. Although, it runs quite well in Wine ;)
Why do you say it sucks? I have had no problems with X-Chat, and several problems with mIRC. mIRC seems to sometimes have a mind of its own, and X-Chat does exactly what I want it to. I dont want my IRC client to go to the same server and channels I went to last time, with the same nick I used last time. I want it to go to a certain three channels on a certain server, using one of my first, second, and third choices of nickname. Sometimes I go to a different server just for the hell of it, but I dont want it to automatically come up the next time I start my client. Also, I might change my nickname to something else as a joke, that does not mean that I want that to be my primary nickname the next time I go online.
Have you tried a recent version of X-Chat? I havent used anything before 1.8.6, the version that came with my distro (which I subsiquently upgraded to 1.8.7 then 1.8.8) so I dont know how the previous versions were. All I know is that X-Chat 1.8.6+ works better than mIRC.
mIRC? There are better programs for Linux. X-Chat is by FAR better than mIRC. It is more stable, more extensible, and FREE. mIRC is a good program, but it is not the only one out there. Try the competition before you decide to stick with one program. IIRC, X-Chat has a windows version, so try it out.
Hmm... I have not had such trouble. Guess thats because I dont use ext2, but rather ReiserFS on all my Linux boxes. The only time I have ever had trouble with Linux on a hard drive was with an old Western Digital hard drive, which had messed up DMA. Turned off DMA, no more corruption. Windows, however, I have had two ENTIRE partitions wiped out, losing 6 GiB of old documents.
I run my own home network, and I have an old Pentium system running as a server. It does NAT, SAMBA (file and printer sharing) and acts as a DNS server. I do not use my ISP (comcast) dns server because it sucks, and when comcast transfered everyone to their own network, DNS was down for about a week in my area, so I was going straight off the root nodes, and havent changed it back. I have my DNS server set so that it will not forward the names of anything it knows about to the root servers, so they will not get confused by my internal network. Doesnt Win2k do this?
Hehe well, adam.schoolSpirt == 0 so i dont really care. I skip all the pep rallys. they give me headaches. (This gives me the excuse of "Medical Reasons" does it not?)
I once read somewhere that he often has to borrow small amounts ($1-$5) from people because he doesnt carry cash, just credit cards etc.