I can't comment on the cost of consumables, but the office where I work has had a couple of Brother MFC lasers. The Brother site has linux drivers and I've been able to do everything the Windows users can do. These 2 printers get used a lot and have held up well.
I don't have any definitive answer to the original question, but if you're unemployed, check to see if your state has any kind of vocational rehabilitation program. My state does, and they will buy me a new pair every 5 years to keep me employed.
The SD card from my camera: took it to a large chain store to print some pictures and the printer wouldn't read the card. Tried to read it on the wife's Windoze box with the same result. I did manage to get the pics off on to my Linux box. Replaced the card and have had no problems.
I agree. I started out using Red Hat many years ago, then switched to Mandrake/Mandriva. I've also used Suse, Fedora, Caldera (dragged that one out of my dusty memory!), Lindows and a few others for short times. Ubuntu is the first distro I've used that just works. I use it both at work and at home, and will be loading it on a work laptop later today. Yes, marketing does play a part, as I might not have tried it without all the publicity, but it's a very good distro with few problems. There are a couple issues with some hardware drivers, but after all is said and done, it functions better than the distros I've used in the past, and certainly better than Windows.
One point........Dell, HP, etc. use pretty standard hardware across much of their platform line. They are huge customers of the component manufacturers, many of whom will not open their code to allow developers to write open source drivers. If the PC makers want to sell new machines to me, they should either: 1.) Only purchase components for which open source drivers are available, or 2.) Use their purchasing clout to persuade manufacturers to allow developers to write OSS drivers.
In this scenario, I could purchase a machine either with or without the chosen distro and have some certainty that everything can be made to work when I decide to switch to my favorite flavor of the month.
I'll admit I haven't read through all the posts, but know a little about small school budget constraints. I think the first question to ask is: what software are they currently using, and is there a Linux distro that includes replacements for most, if not all of these? If the school district has paid some significant amount for software to record and process student grades, for example, and no replacement offering similar functionality exists in Linux, the question of OS is moot.
I totally agree. I have some old vinyl that was never released on CD and is completely out of print. I've been recording it and transferring it to CD so I don't wear the vinyl out. I suppose the RIAA would want me to search the world for replacements for which the collectors are asking ridiculous prices.
Re:If only they still supported PowerPC
on
Suse 9.1 Reviews?
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· Score: 1
....and what about Sparc? The last SuSE version was 7.3, which is buggy on my Ultra 5. I'm not a programmer, and don't have the time to play around with compiles and such. I just want the box to work like I hear all the i386 boxen.
I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. --Will Rogers
Apgen Software makes an accounting package, written in Java. It seems, from their full featured demo, to be very comparable to QuickBooks, and is very full featured for the small to midsize business. My wife is thinking of starting her own business, and this is very much in the running for her choice.
http://www.donnalgroup.com/APPGEN/Apps.html
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I can't comment on the cost of consumables, but the office where I work has had a couple of Brother MFC lasers. The Brother site has linux drivers and I've been able to do everything the Windows users can do. These 2 printers get used a lot and have held up well.
I went back to college and switched careers from real estate to technology at age 40. Go for it!
I don't have any definitive answer to the original question, but if you're unemployed, check to see if your state has any kind of vocational rehabilitation program. My state does, and they will buy me a new pair every 5 years to keep me employed.
After I got the pics off, I formatted it. Windows still wouldn't read it.
The SD card from my camera: took it to a large chain store to print some pictures and the printer wouldn't read the card. Tried to read it on the wife's Windoze box with the same result. I did manage to get the pics off on to my Linux box. Replaced the card and have had no problems.
I agree. I started out using Red Hat many years ago, then switched to Mandrake/Mandriva. I've also used Suse, Fedora, Caldera (dragged that one out of my dusty memory!), Lindows and a few others for short times. Ubuntu is the first distro I've used that just works. I use it both at work and at home, and will be loading it on a work laptop later today. Yes, marketing does play a part, as I might not have tried it without all the publicity, but it's a very good distro with few problems. There are a couple issues with some hardware drivers, but after all is said and done, it functions better than the distros I've used in the past, and certainly better than Windows.
http://www.phone4broadband.net/ is a good alternative. Sign up on their site.
http://www.phone4broadband.com/
One point........Dell, HP, etc. use pretty standard hardware across much of their platform line. They are huge customers of the component manufacturers, many of whom will not open their code to allow developers to write open source drivers. If the PC makers want to sell new machines to me, they should either:
1.) Only purchase components for which open source drivers are available, or
2.) Use their purchasing clout to persuade manufacturers to allow developers to write OSS drivers.
In this scenario, I could purchase a machine either with or without the chosen distro and have some certainty that everything can be made to work when I decide to switch to my favorite flavor of the month.
I'll admit I haven't read through all the posts, but know a little about small school budget constraints. I think the first question to ask is: what software are they currently using, and is there a Linux distro that includes replacements for most, if not all of these? If the school district has paid some significant amount for software to record and process student grades, for example, and no replacement offering similar functionality exists in Linux, the question of OS is moot.
I totally agree. I have some old vinyl that was never released on CD and is completely out of print. I've been recording it and transferring it to CD so I don't wear the vinyl out. I suppose the RIAA would want me to search the world for replacements for which the collectors are asking ridiculous prices.
....and what about Sparc? The last SuSE version was 7.3, which is buggy on my Ultra 5. I'm not a programmer, and don't have the time to play around with compiles and such. I just want the box to work like I hear all the i386 boxen.
I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. --Will Rogers
Apgen Software makes an accounting package, written in Java. It seems, from their full featured demo, to be very comparable to QuickBooks, and is very full featured for the small to midsize business. My wife is thinking of starting her own business, and this is very much in the running for her choice.
http://www.donnalgroup.com/APPGEN/Apps.html