I just got done installing and uninstalling Mandrake 10.0 Beta 2. It wouldn't find my USB mouse on install (I tried the various choices), and when I finally got to the end of the 3 cd install, my machine would not reboot, or boot at all in any mode.
True enough if you're running X. I have a couple of older computers which are great for console, but choke on X. The only way I can 'run' X on them is by using them as thin clients to my (marginally) better server.
Besides, for me its just fun to use console tools. Someone here at/. asked why its geek pride to see how primitive a tool you can tolerate. I had to smile at that... I like using the console, with all its archaic key bindings. Just like some people would rather drive a '67 Mustang instead of a brand new [insert cool car here].
Ouch! I have a Communications degree. And I find that it comes in handy... ummm, never. I guess I better never lose my current job, or I'll really be up sh*t's creek.
When I was in 8th grade I got my first exposure to computers with the PET (I won't say what year, but to give you a hint, the game Hunt the Wumpus was popular at the time).
Our teacher started us out with flowcharting, and then gave us the book on BASIC. He was cool enough to let us use the PETs in the 'computer lab' ( a tiny room with 4 computers in it ) instead of going to class, for which I will always be thankful. How many hours did I spend there...? All my lunches, free periods, staying after school...
I was able to write a game which was a race through a randomly generated maze, where you had to answer math problems in order to move. The faster you answered (correctly), the more spaces you could move.
I also did a little graphic demo of a rocket launching and doing an orbit around the earth. All those PEEK and POKE statements...yikes!
Later, in freshman year of college I finally bought my first computer, a VIC-20 with a 300 baud modem, which was fine for connecting to the UNIVAC from my dorm room. It used the same(?) BASIC as the PET, and I even wrote my own version of Pacman on it.
I went on to have a torrid affair with the Atari ST, then moved on to Wintel, and now I'm livin la vida Linux. But the PET will always be my first... sigh.
I agree that a scientific journal is something that would clearly benefit from multimedia, and I'd be happy to fire up firebird for something like that. But your example falls in the 'other 10%'.
I guess my complaint is the general emphasis of style over substance. I notice that people who know what they're talking about get right to the point without wasting time or effort on packaging. How many embedded videos do you find in, say, the man pages?
When I was in school the popular saying of the B-minus students around term paper time was 'if you can't dazzle em with your brilliance, baffle em with your bullsh*t.' These aren't the guys who are writing todays scientific journals... they're the ones giving PowerPoint presentions for what should be a memo. Oooh, watch how the text rotates as it flies in. Ahhh...
Getting back to the topic, when you have an office suite at you disposal, the temptation is to use its toys whether you need them or (more likely) not, which leads to wasted time and effort. Not so with pico (or your favorite text editor).
What exactly are we trying to do here? Communicate, or impress each other?
The parent is right on the money that people spend WAY to much time using all the gee-whiz toys in office suites. It just distracts from the content. Particularly for in house stuff, there's not much reason to 'advance' from pico (my fav). It takes all of 5 minutes to learn, and you never have to worry about getting bogged down with it. Oh, and if you already know vi or emacs, well, good for you. How many of you use lynx to surf? For 90% of surfing lynx is perfect because it separates the wheat from the chaff. No jpgs, no gifs, no crappy flash. I don't care how brilliant your layout is.. get to the point of your content ASAP. Same thing with office docs. Concentrate on the message and minimize the medium.
Slashdot Mirror
How can you even MENTION Emacs (spit spit) in the same sentence with the vastly superior Vi?
All they have to do is wait it out. The internet's just a fad... it'll blow over.
I just got done installing and uninstalling Mandrake 10.0 Beta 2. It wouldn't find my USB mouse on install (I tried the various choices), and when I finally got to the end of the 3 cd install, my machine would not reboot, or boot at all in any mode.
Back to K12ltsp for me.
True enough if you're running X. I have a couple of older computers which are great for console, but choke on X. The only way I can 'run' X on them is by using them as thin clients to my (marginally) better server.
/. asked why its geek pride to see how primitive a tool you can tolerate. I had to smile at that... I like using the console, with all its archaic key bindings. Just like some people would rather drive a '67 Mustang instead of a brand new [insert cool car here].
Besides, for me its just fun to use console tools. Someone here at
Because its FAST over dialup.
Ouch! I have a Communications degree. And I find that it comes in handy... ummm, never.
I guess I better never lose my current job, or I'll really be up sh*t's creek.
It's gotta be worth a couple bucks to someone!
When I was in 8th grade I got my first exposure to computers with the PET (I won't say what year, but to give you a hint, the game Hunt the Wumpus was popular at the time).
Our teacher started us out with flowcharting, and then gave us the book on BASIC. He was cool enough to let us use the PETs in the 'computer lab' ( a tiny room with 4 computers in it ) instead of going to class, for which I will always be thankful. How many hours did I spend there...? All my lunches, free periods, staying after school...
I was able to write a game which was a race through a randomly generated maze, where you had to answer math problems in order to move. The faster you answered (correctly), the more spaces you could move.
I also did a little graphic demo of a rocket launching and doing an orbit around the earth. All those PEEK and POKE statements...yikes!
Later, in freshman year of college I finally bought my first computer, a VIC-20 with a 300 baud modem, which was fine for connecting to the UNIVAC from my dorm room. It used the same(?) BASIC as the PET, and I even wrote my own version of Pacman on it.
I went on to have a torrid affair with the Atari ST, then moved on to Wintel, and now I'm livin la vida Linux. But the PET will always be my first... sigh.
Texas Instruments Ti85 emulator
I agree that a scientific journal
is something that would clearly
benefit from multimedia, and I'd be
happy to fire up firebird for
something like that. But your
example falls in the 'other 10%'.
I guess my complaint is the general
emphasis of style over substance.
I notice that people who know what
they're talking about get right to
the point without wasting time or
effort on packaging. How many
embedded videos do you find
in, say, the man pages?
When I was in school the popular
saying of the B-minus students
around term paper time was 'if you
can't dazzle em with your
brilliance, baffle em with your
bullsh*t.' These aren't the guys
who are writing todays scientific
journals... they're the ones
giving PowerPoint presentions for
what should be a memo. Oooh, watch
how the text rotates as it flies
in. Ahhh...
Getting back to the topic, when you
have an office suite at you
disposal, the temptation is to use
its toys whether you need them or
(more likely) not, which leads to
wasted time and effort. Not so
with pico (or your favorite
text editor).
What exactly are we trying to do
here? Communicate, or impress each
other?
The parent is right on the money that people spend WAY to much time using all the gee-whiz toys in office suites. It just distracts from the content. Particularly for in house stuff, there's not much reason to 'advance' from pico (my fav). It takes all of 5 minutes to learn, and you never have to worry about getting bogged down with it. Oh, and if you already know vi or emacs, well, good for you.
How many of you use lynx to surf? For 90% of surfing lynx is perfect because it separates the wheat from the chaff. No jpgs, no gifs, no crappy flash. I don't care how brilliant your layout is.. get to the point of your content ASAP. Same thing with office docs. Concentrate on the message and minimize the medium.