also there's a newsletter that's pretty good.
www.geocities.com/cliff604/CliffsList.html
Try it! It works:)
Basically the whole thing with women is to realize that they have sexual desires too. To sleep with a woman, all you have to do is find out what she wants and figure out a way to give her what she needs, in a way that makes her feel comfortable.
I makes sense.
The costly bugs are not because M$ is more of a PR company that a software development company.
The buggy features in all of M$ products are because of terrorist gremlins. Someone should make a movie about this.;)
I wonder how Ashcroft and M$ response to this threat/hoax?
The fact that MicroSoft has a monopoly seems to be self evident.
I have attempt to introduce other products into my business and have been unable to do so, primarily due to formating errors when viewing MS Office Documents.
How viable an option would it be to, rather than breaking up MS, force them to release just the specs on how their office documents are coded?
This would give users a choice and could allow for some competition.
I think that Paypal is a great service. It's fast and simple.
BUT
If that's your only means of accepting payment, you've got a problem. Paypal has a growing universe of users BUT it's still just a fraction of the market. Many people won't go through the hassle of signing up for PayPal and you lose a customer.
Imagine your customer is Homer Simpson.(Here in the US at least half the people are that smart!) Homer knows one way to do things, anything else confuses him. Most people can handle 1 task at a time, but when you give people more tasks, there's no telling what they will end up doing. Asking them to sign-up for a Paypal account and order from you may fry their brain.
Plus, although a merchant account is kind of a pain in the butt, at least you aren't completely dependant on one vendor.(I've seen several horror story's involving Paypall and their vendors.)
Constructing A Windows-Less Office
By Franj J. Ohlhorst
Tired of doing Windows? Well, there might be no better time than now to consider a pure Linux environment.
The flat economy, rising software costs, shrinking technology budgets, and Microsoft's licensing and pricing gambles with Windows XP and.Net services have many SMB customers clamoring to solution providers for inexpensive alternatives. Although Linux's corporate inroads have primarily been on the server front and questions remain about the profitability of a Linux-powered desktop, a select few solution providers are already closing deals and reaping rewards from selling Linux-based solutions.
To get a firsthand look at the viability of a "Windows-free" solution, the CRN Test Center built a Linux network consisting of a server and five workstations running various distributions of Linux. The goal was to create a reliable network that could be used in a typical small-business environment.
After constructing a practical solution, the Test Center reached the following conclusion: Linux and associated Linux applications can accomplish many of the same tasks as the Wintel standard at a much lower initial cost,in this case, for 93 percent less than the software cost of a similar Windows-based network,and without many of the licensing hassles presented by traditional software platforms.
And a legion of solution providers agree. "For most business uses, Linux desktops and available applications can perform the tasks people need, reliably and efficiently," said Evan Liebovitch, a partner at Starnix, a Linux-centric VAR based in Toronto.
So far, however, Linux has been a tough sell for many solution providers. As an open-source platform, Linux has faced some hurdles in penetrating a critical mass of businesses, not the least of which is the end user's willingness to change.
"The biggest single challenge, in my experience, is inertia," Liebovitch said. "People who are used to Windows will undergo a learning curve. This is no different from the changes necessary in moving from Windows to, say, a Mac."
What's more, many potential clients simply haven't recognized Linux as a viable platform. But that is beginning to change. With major vendors such as IBM and Sun Microsystems touting Linux's capabilities, solution providers now should be able to demonstrate the platform's practicality to customers.
"The single biggest problem at the enterprise level is politics," said Leon Brooks, director of CyberKnights, a Perth, Australia-based network integrator. "Many managers either don't know that anything besides Windows exists or have been snowed into believing that Windows is the best answer to every problem."
Similarly, a perceived lack of applications has hindered Linux's acceptance, solution providers said. "The single biggest obstacle to Linux everywhere is specific Windows applications with no direct portable equivalent, like AutoCAD or MS-Publisher. Some people are unwilling to substitute near-equivalents," Brooks said. "Alternatives are arising, and I expect that by 2003 there will be polished, open alternatives to MS-Publisher, Adobe Illustrator, MS-Access, AutoCAD and the like."
Although many software companies don't develop native Linux applications, customers' needs often can be met with the plethora of open-source and commercial Linux applications now readily available.
"Most of the common desktop work,including Internet surfing, e-mail, spreadsheet, word processing and presentation software,has arrived with a comparable level of quality [in Linux] as software found under Windows. This wasn't the case three years ago," said Gael Duval, founder of Mandrake Linux, an Altadena, Calif.-based Linux distributor.
Moreover, the need for a Windows-based application isn't necessarily a showstopper. Commercial products like Netraverse's Win4Lin let users run native Windows applications on a Linux desktop, and VMware's VMware workstation can be used to create multiple virtual machines running Windows under Linux.
Another possibility is Wine, an open-source application that enables some Windows software to run under Linux. Solution providers also can move a customer's Windows applications into the ASP realm. Using off-the-shelf hardware and commercial applications such as Netraverse's NSSE or Citrix Systems' MetaFrame, solution providers can provide remote access to Windows applications via thin-client technology.
One of the most perplexing choices with Linux is deciding which of the numerous vendor distributions to use. Many Linux solution providers work with several distributions and pick those that best fit a customer's needs. Still, some do have their preferences.
"Most of our clients run either Mandrake or SuSE on their desktops," said Anthony Awtrey, director of integration at I.D.E.A.L. Technology, Melbourne, Fla. "The advances in the KDE interface and the easy system maintenance provided by both SuSE and Mandrake provide a solid client desktop that Windows clients can't touch."
Starnix's Liebovitch agreed. "For an all-around desktop distribution, my current favorite is Mandrake. Red Hat is better-known and has the biggest services organization. But I find Mandrake to be a better non-techie user package. I would also note that Caldera, while it lags behind other Linux vendors in techie esteem, is still the most channel-friendly distribution by a long shot."
The Test Center's "non-Windows" network included Linux distributions from Red Hat, Mandrake and Caldera for the desktop and server implementations. To reflect the mishmash of equipment usually found in a small-business environment, the Test Center used a menagerie of hardware to gauge various Linux configurations. This included computers ranging from older Intel Pentium II-based systems to systems based on the latest Intel and Advanced Micro Devices processors as well as storage devices, such as SCSI and IDE hard drives and CD-ROM and DVD drives. Broadband Internet connectivity was supplied via a cable modem linked directly to a Linux-based server or shared via a Linksys broadband router.
Test Center engineers found the installation of the various Linux distributions surprisingly easy. Caldera, Mandrake and Red Hat have gone to great lengths to simplify the process, and their products generally had no problems identifying the hardware and successfully installing Linux on any of the test systems.
Caldera's OpenLinux Workstation, however, refused to install on two of the test systems, offering only a cryptic "system not suitable" style of message. Further investigation of the install logs showed incompatibilities with a generic video card and an older Adaptec SCSI controller. Conversely, Mandrake's and Red Hat's installation wizards demonstrated that concerns about hardware compatibility might well be a thing of the past.
The inclusion of automated disk partitioning eased installation of all three distributions. In the past, partitioning hard drives to accept Linux was a big installation hassle. Unlike DOS or Windows, Linux requires multiple disk partitions and doesn't use drive letters to identify those partitions. Automating the partitioning process reduces the confusion. Partitions are conceptually similar to the directory structure used in the DOS/Windows world.
A major decision faced by Linux installers is choosing a graphical user interface (GUI). Gnome and KDE are the two most popular Linux GUIs, and most distributions include both. Test Center engineers found KDE the friendliest and were impressed with the array of KDE-compatible software. In fact, the Linux distributions tested all included a vast amount of software. Most of the included software is based upon open-source licensing and can be distributed without additional licensing fees.
Installers will want to seriously consider deploying Sun Microsystems' StarOffice, a user-friendly office productivity suite (word processing, spreadsheet and presentation applications) that's compatible with Microsoft Office file formats. Users familiar with Microsoft Office would find the transition to StarOffice easy. Other office suites also are available, including KOffice, which is integrated in the KDE desktop. Though not as polished as StarOffice, KOffice can meet most users' needs.
And Linux's software flexibility isn't limited to office suites. An array of open-source and commercial applications are available for most any business situation. For advanced graphical editing, for example, users can turn to GIMP, an application that brings Adobe Photoshop-like capabilities to Linux. For personal financial management, users can opt for GNUcash, an open-source, Intuit Quicken-compatible product. And on the accounting end, Appgen Software's MyBooks products offer all the bells and whistles normally found in products such as Intuit's QuickBooks, and for a fraction of the cost.
For situations where legacy Windows applications must be supported, solution providers can turn to commercial products such as Win4Lin or VMware Workstation.
Test Center engineers installed the latest version of Win4Lin on Mandrake Linux Standard Edition 8.1 running the KDE desktop and on Red Hat Linux Professional 7.2 running the Gnome desktop. Win4Lin offered a straightforward install and true Windows 98 compatibility. The product creates a virtual environment to install an actual copy of Windows 98, and the wizard-driven installation offers customization features. The Win4Lin version of Windows 98 allows the installation of Windows applications and can run the software with Linux concurrently.
Test Center engineers encountered no stability problems using Win4Lin, but there was a performance degradation. Still, Win4Lin offers adequate compatibility to serve most Windows application needs in the Linux environment.
VMware Workstation 3.0 offers another legacy solution and comes in Windows and Linux versions. The product lets users create multiple virtual machines under a host operation system, allowing multiple operating systems to be run concurrently.
The Test Center tested both VMware Workstation versions. The installation was straightforward under Windows 2000, and Test Center engineers were able to quickly deploy multiple instances of Linux under Windows 2000 using the virtual-machine setup wizards. Each instance of Linux can run in its own virtual machine (installers will need plenty of disk space and RAM to create effective virtual machines). VMware includes detailed instructions for most popular distributions of Linux; Red Hat and Mandrake Linux were tested under the Test Center Windows environment.
VMware's Linux version proved more complex. Test Center engineers installed the product on a system running Red Hat Linux Professional 7.2 with the Gnome desktop. The RPM install utility was used to install the VMware package, and then the setup wizard was used to create a virtual machine running Windows XP Professional under Linux. The virtual Windows XP environment proved stable, but there was a performance degradation.
In the Linux realm, solution providers also can craft custom applications for their customers. As early as two years ago, Linux desktop applications remained out of the reach of mainstream developers, and most of the open-source tools created were written primarily for C programmers. But that's starting to change.
KDE is the most actively developed Linux desktop and has the most tools. Solution providers seeking KDE desktop open-source development tools should go to www.apps.kde.com, which has ratings on each product, including feedback from the user community. One of the most promising tools at the site is KDevelop, which includes a wizard that generates skeleton code for an application and runs a number of compilers and object linkers through its IDE, hiding most of the complexity from programmers.
Several months ago, the introduction of Borland's Kylix language marked a new chapter in Linux development. Kylix is based on the popular Delphi language, Borland's version of object-oriented Pascal. The language now includes XML SOAP-based Web services, a cross-platform development framework and a number of RDBMS mapping tools. Like most modern rapid application deployment (RAD) tools, it includes a top-of-the-line IDE and source-debugging facility.
Despite the various distribution, application, deployment and development routes solution providers can take with Linux, they'll often find that the proof is in the pudding when selling solutions based on the platform. Linux's low cost, unlimited distribution and elimination of licenses can be a big catalyst in sales pitches.
"My clients are very impressed when they see my proposal with its inexpensive hardware specification, and they realize that the price includes all software," said David Lane, director of Egressive, a Christchurch, New Zealand-based network integrator. "Also, potential clients finally comprehend that there are no licenses, and when they talk to my existing clients, they find that in addition to everything else, Linux is more reliable and needs almost no maintenance."
MARIO MOREJON contributed to this story.
Where will people ride this?
on
This is IT?
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
As a person that commutes by bike, one of the biggest problems I foresee with this device is where to ride it.
It's too fast for the sidewalk and not fast enough for the road.
If you ride on the sidewalk, you have to be very aware and extremely careful to not run into a pedestrian. It requirs more observation and forethought than many people are accustomed too.
Riding on the road puts you in danger of getting smashed by a car. I have runnin's on a weekly basis with this. Ask any bike messenger about this.
Bike lanes would be great, but if those existed we wouldn't need this device as much anyway.
My parents live in a house that was built in 1906. About 2 years ago I was visiting them and was sleeping the quest bedroom.
At about 4 AM I had a sleep paralysis episode. Or at least that's what I think it was. I was aware of the room and I was in bed. What was different was the fact that there was something else in the room.
I couldn't see anything, but it felt like something was attempting to push into my body. I felt pressure on my chest and could hear white noise with female voice undertones. It was very strange and I quess kinda spooked me, because I tried to move but could not. The more I tried the more scared I became. Finally I tried to scream but, No Sound.
Finally I woke up, realized it had to have been a dream and went back to sleep.
The same thing happened again!!!
The only difference was this time I had a name in my head, "Emily".
About 3 months latter I met the daughter of the previous owner of the house. Apparently about 40 years ago, someone had died, in the guest room. The name of the woman that had died was Emily.
I'm not a big beliver in the paranormal but that situation creeped me out. My younger brother's friend had a similar episode without being told about my experiences. AND I also found out that during some renovations to the house, a 4 man crew of people saw some type of floating vapor go down the hall and vanish. Half the crew refused to return to the site.
I've been looking for a rotating brush attachment for the past few months. I'd love to build a robot that would wonder aroung my appartment sweeping while I was at work.
It'd be great, Sweepy would just wander aroung until he ran out of power. Much better than a maid. I'm tire of these lazy robots. They need to start making my life better NOW.
Email is a great tool but not when it involves showing support for political positions. A friend of mine works on the hill for a Senator and said that emails were simply deleted. Only real mail helped influence the thoughts of politicians.
I was just thinking that many of you are at work right now. I'm not sure your situation but at my office I have access to free stamps, paper and envolopes.
I'm printing out the letter below, feel free to do the same. Just print it out and sign it. It's that easy to make a real difference. If you don't agree with something that I said OR you can improve it, reply back to the list with the changes making sure to copy the entire letter(not my comments). Think of it as an open source letter.:)
Can someone confirm this is the correct address?
Clerk's Office
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
333 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
It's 2001, and guess what? It's still not possible to purchase a dual-boot Win/Linux machine. Doesn't that seem kind of odd? With all of the hype Linux has gotten, and with the technical simplicity of shipping dual-boot machines, not a single PC OEM is shipping such a beast. The technology marketplace is glutted with options. Vendors use even the smallest opportunities to trumpet their differentiating factors. Linux is free. And yet there are no commercially available dual-boot machines on the market. Not one. The silence of the marketplace speaks volumes.
It is now 2001 and it is still not possible for a person purchasing a new computer to purchase a dual boot machine. Isn't it strange that with all the the hype that Linux has received and the technical ease of setting up a dual boot machine by a manufacturer, there is not one PC OEM vendor shipping a dual boot machine. In an enviroment where hardware options abound. An eviroment where even the smallest opportunities are seized by the vendors to claim as a differentiating factor, still 3 years after the beginning of the anti-trust case againstMicrosoft, there are no commercially available dual boot machines on the market. The deathly silence of the marketplace speaks volumes.
Microsoft has set up the game so that no one else can compete.
Sure, you can get dual-boot machines at some of the smaller shops, but these are the ones that slip under Microsoft's radar, and there's no guarantee that Microsoft won't decide to take action against these vendors at some point. And yes, you can buy Linux-only machines from vendors such as IBM. But think about it: Why would IBM sell Windows machines and Linux machines, but no dual-boot Win/Linux machines? The absence is conspicuous.
A high ranking official from the now defunct BeOS said:
"Don't bother trying to create a better commercial desktop OS - it doesn't matter how hard you try, how many engineers you throw at the problem, how much money you spend, or how many years you put into it. Microsoft owns that space and, worse, the public is totally complicit with that fact. People will not stop using Windows. It is a losing battle."
Every effort BeOS made to get their OS installed onto a machine met with failure. They even attempted to give their OS away for free to several large hardware companies: Dell, Compaq, Micron, and Hitachi. Taken together, pre-installation arrangements with vendors of this magnitude could have had a major impact on the future of Be and BeOS. But of the four, only Hitachi actually shipped a machine with BeOS pre-installed, and they had to hide it after apparently receiving a visit from MicroSoft. The rest apparently backed off after a closer reading of the fine print in their Microsoft Windows License agreements.
I'm sure you are familiar with this agreement even though the public is not. This "Windows License" agreement that hardware vendors MUST accept to be able to include Windows on the computers that they sell is a confidential license seen only by MicroSoft and computer vendors. We the public can't read the license because MicroSoft considers it a "trade secret". The license specifies that any machine that is to be shipped with the MicroSoft OS is forbidden from including a non-MicroSoft OS as a boot option. This means that none of the Hardware vendors get to choose which OSes to install on the machines that they sell- that decision in made by MicroSoft.
I'm new to the *nix world(FreeBSD) and there are a few things that I just don't understand.
How come, with such an intelligent group of people, we haven't realized that to combat the current popular desktop environments we need to properly identify one aspect at a time and dominate it.
What is the goal of the free-software developers?
Are they looking for a better way of getting their jobs done?
Do they want *NIX to become a viable replacement for the public?
I don't know the answer to this, but I don't think anyone else does either. If the community wants to replace Windows with a better OS and a better desktop environment, then why don't we somehow rally around the best availible solution and fix it. Maybe it's StarOffice, maybe KO office, I personally don't care.
I want what most computer users want, applications that do exactly what I want them to do smoothly and elegantly. I want to be able to learn how to use the application to 50% of it's capacatity within 30 minutes of installing it. I want it to play nicely with the existing standards(yes this includes Excel and Word).
What will have to happen for the community to realize that we are better off working together on thousand of people working on one project than having thousands of people working on thousands of projects?
This could be what the linux gamers have been needing.
With enough of a user base this could be exactly the impetus that game developers need to see the linux as a viable business solution. The lack of linux based gamers is IMHO what has kept developers from commiting the resources to fully utilize the capabilities of a *nix OS's.
Loki and the other can move to the forefront as they have the budgets to compete with the other big players.
I'm really excited.
The FUD that Micro$oft is casting is brilliant from a marketing point of view. They have the reputation and the size that gives them instant credibility with many decision makers.
The/. community has many brilliant people and the best thing M$ can do is to fluster us and allow us to fight the fight that they create.
Think about what the true weaknesses of M$ are. What are the quantifiable problems with Windoze that a Decision Maker can understand? Give the DM applications(Office) that allow them to get their work done with a minimum of re-training of their employees. Then and only then will the beast be knocked to it's knees.
I'm a recent convert to *nix and I love it. I like the idea of it and it works great. BUT I can't do all my work on a *nix box. I can't open the Excel spread sheets that I get sent on a day to day basis, nor can I open a Word document that people are always attaching to their email.
The OSS community is doing a great job, but we still have a ways to go.
Slashdot Mirror
I've got a site for you:
:)
www.fastseduction.com
also there's a newsletter that's pretty good.
www.geocities.com/cliff604/CliffsList.html
Try it! It works
Basically the whole thing with women is to realize that they have sexual desires too. To sleep with a woman, all you have to do is find out what she wants and figure out a way to give her what she needs, in a way that makes her feel comfortable.
You accomplish this with framing.
Seduction is an art but it can be learned.
I makes sense.
The costly bugs are not because M$ is more of a PR company that a software development company.
The buggy features in all of M$ products are because of terrorist gremlins. Someone should make a movie about this.;)
I wonder how Ashcroft and M$ response to this threat/hoax?
The fact that MicroSoft has a monopoly seems to be self evident.
I have attempt to introduce other products into my business and have been unable to do so, primarily due to formating errors when viewing MS Office Documents.
How viable an option would it be to, rather than breaking up MS, force them to release just the specs on how their office documents are coded?
This would give users a choice and could allow for some competition.
I think that Paypal is a great service. It's fast and simple.
BUT
If that's your only means of accepting payment, you've got a problem. Paypal has a growing universe of users BUT it's still just a fraction of the market. Many people won't go through the hassle of signing up for PayPal and you lose a customer.
Imagine your customer is Homer Simpson.(Here in the US at least half the people are that smart!) Homer knows one way to do things, anything else confuses him. Most people can handle 1 task at a time, but when you give people more tasks, there's no telling what they will end up doing. Asking them to sign-up for a Paypal account and order from you may fry their brain.
Plus, although a merchant account is kind of a pain in the butt, at least you aren't completely dependant on one vendor.(I've seen several horror story's involving Paypall and their vendors.)
Constructing A Windows-Less Office
.Net services have many SMB customers clamoring to solution providers for inexpensive alternatives. Although Linux's corporate inroads have primarily been on the server front and questions remain about the profitability of a Linux-powered desktop, a select few solution providers are already closing deals and reaping rewards from selling Linux-based solutions.
By Franj J. Ohlhorst
Tired of doing Windows? Well, there might be no better time than now to consider a pure Linux environment.
The flat economy, rising software costs, shrinking technology budgets, and Microsoft's licensing and pricing gambles with Windows XP and
To get a firsthand look at the viability of a "Windows-free" solution, the CRN Test Center built a Linux network consisting of a server and five workstations running various distributions of Linux. The goal was to create a reliable network that could be used in a typical small-business environment.
After constructing a practical solution, the Test Center reached the following conclusion: Linux and associated Linux applications can accomplish many of the same tasks as the Wintel standard at a much lower initial cost,in this case, for 93 percent less than the software cost of a similar Windows-based network,and without many of the licensing hassles presented by traditional software platforms.
And a legion of solution providers agree. "For most business uses, Linux desktops and available applications can perform the tasks people need, reliably and efficiently," said Evan Liebovitch, a partner at Starnix, a Linux-centric VAR based in Toronto.
So far, however, Linux has been a tough sell for many solution providers. As an open-source platform, Linux has faced some hurdles in penetrating a critical mass of businesses, not the least of which is the end user's willingness to change.
"The biggest single challenge, in my experience, is inertia," Liebovitch said. "People who are used to Windows will undergo a learning curve. This is no different from the changes necessary in moving from Windows to, say, a Mac."
What's more, many potential clients simply haven't recognized Linux as a viable platform. But that is beginning to change. With major vendors such as IBM and Sun Microsystems touting Linux's capabilities, solution providers now should be able to demonstrate the platform's practicality to customers.
"The single biggest problem at the enterprise level is politics," said Leon Brooks, director of CyberKnights, a Perth, Australia-based network integrator. "Many managers either don't know that anything besides Windows exists or have been snowed into believing that Windows is the best answer to every problem."
Similarly, a perceived lack of applications has hindered Linux's acceptance, solution providers said. "The single biggest obstacle to Linux everywhere is specific Windows applications with no direct portable equivalent, like AutoCAD or MS-Publisher. Some people are unwilling to substitute near-equivalents," Brooks said. "Alternatives are arising, and I expect that by 2003 there will be polished, open alternatives to MS-Publisher, Adobe Illustrator, MS-Access, AutoCAD and the like."
Although many software companies don't develop native Linux applications, customers' needs often can be met with the plethora of open-source and commercial Linux applications now readily available.
"Most of the common desktop work,including Internet surfing, e-mail, spreadsheet, word processing and presentation software,has arrived with a comparable level of quality [in Linux] as software found under Windows. This wasn't the case three years ago," said Gael Duval, founder of Mandrake Linux, an Altadena, Calif.-based Linux distributor.
Moreover, the need for a Windows-based application isn't necessarily a showstopper. Commercial products like Netraverse's Win4Lin let users run native Windows applications on a Linux desktop, and VMware's VMware workstation can be used to create multiple virtual machines running Windows under Linux.
Another possibility is Wine, an open-source application that enables some Windows software to run under Linux. Solution providers also can move a customer's Windows applications into the ASP realm. Using off-the-shelf hardware and commercial applications such as Netraverse's NSSE or Citrix Systems' MetaFrame, solution providers can provide remote access to Windows applications via thin-client technology.
One of the most perplexing choices with Linux is deciding which of the numerous vendor distributions to use. Many Linux solution providers work with several distributions and pick those that best fit a customer's needs. Still, some do have their preferences.
"Most of our clients run either Mandrake or SuSE on their desktops," said Anthony Awtrey, director of integration at I.D.E.A.L. Technology, Melbourne, Fla. "The advances in the KDE interface and the easy system maintenance provided by both SuSE and Mandrake provide a solid client desktop that Windows clients can't touch."
Starnix's Liebovitch agreed. "For an all-around desktop distribution, my current favorite is Mandrake. Red Hat is better-known and has the biggest services organization. But I find Mandrake to be a better non-techie user package. I would also note that Caldera, while it lags behind other Linux vendors in techie esteem, is still the most channel-friendly distribution by a long shot."
The Test Center's "non-Windows" network included Linux distributions from Red Hat, Mandrake and Caldera for the desktop and server implementations. To reflect the mishmash of equipment usually found in a small-business environment, the Test Center used a menagerie of hardware to gauge various Linux configurations. This included computers ranging from older Intel Pentium II-based systems to systems based on the latest Intel and Advanced Micro Devices processors as well as storage devices, such as SCSI and IDE hard drives and CD-ROM and DVD drives. Broadband Internet connectivity was supplied via a cable modem linked directly to a Linux-based server or shared via a Linksys broadband router.
Test Center engineers found the installation of the various Linux distributions surprisingly easy. Caldera, Mandrake and Red Hat have gone to great lengths to simplify the process, and their products generally had no problems identifying the hardware and successfully installing Linux on any of the test systems.
Caldera's OpenLinux Workstation, however, refused to install on two of the test systems, offering only a cryptic "system not suitable" style of message. Further investigation of the install logs showed incompatibilities with a generic video card and an older Adaptec SCSI controller. Conversely, Mandrake's and Red Hat's installation wizards demonstrated that concerns about hardware compatibility might well be a thing of the past.
The inclusion of automated disk partitioning eased installation of all three distributions. In the past, partitioning hard drives to accept Linux was a big installation hassle. Unlike DOS or Windows, Linux requires multiple disk partitions and doesn't use drive letters to identify those partitions. Automating the partitioning process reduces the confusion. Partitions are conceptually similar to the directory structure used in the DOS/Windows world.
A major decision faced by Linux installers is choosing a graphical user interface (GUI). Gnome and KDE are the two most popular Linux GUIs, and most distributions include both. Test Center engineers found KDE the friendliest and were impressed with the array of KDE-compatible software. In fact, the Linux distributions tested all included a vast amount of software. Most of the included software is based upon open-source licensing and can be distributed without additional licensing fees.
Installers will want to seriously consider deploying Sun Microsystems' StarOffice, a user-friendly office productivity suite (word processing, spreadsheet and presentation applications) that's compatible with Microsoft Office file formats. Users familiar with Microsoft Office would find the transition to StarOffice easy. Other office suites also are available, including KOffice, which is integrated in the KDE desktop. Though not as polished as StarOffice, KOffice can meet most users' needs.
And Linux's software flexibility isn't limited to office suites. An array of open-source and commercial applications are available for most any business situation. For advanced graphical editing, for example, users can turn to GIMP, an application that brings Adobe Photoshop-like capabilities to Linux. For personal financial management, users can opt for GNUcash, an open-source, Intuit Quicken-compatible product. And on the accounting end, Appgen Software's MyBooks products offer all the bells and whistles normally found in products such as Intuit's QuickBooks, and for a fraction of the cost.
For situations where legacy Windows applications must be supported, solution providers can turn to commercial products such as Win4Lin or VMware Workstation.
Test Center engineers installed the latest version of Win4Lin on Mandrake Linux Standard Edition 8.1 running the KDE desktop and on Red Hat Linux Professional 7.2 running the Gnome desktop. Win4Lin offered a straightforward install and true Windows 98 compatibility. The product creates a virtual environment to install an actual copy of Windows 98, and the wizard-driven installation offers customization features. The Win4Lin version of Windows 98 allows the installation of Windows applications and can run the software with Linux concurrently.
Test Center engineers encountered no stability problems using Win4Lin, but there was a performance degradation. Still, Win4Lin offers adequate compatibility to serve most Windows application needs in the Linux environment.
VMware Workstation 3.0 offers another legacy solution and comes in Windows and Linux versions. The product lets users create multiple virtual machines under a host operation system, allowing multiple operating systems to be run concurrently.
The Test Center tested both VMware Workstation versions. The installation was straightforward under Windows 2000, and Test Center engineers were able to quickly deploy multiple instances of Linux under Windows 2000 using the virtual-machine setup wizards. Each instance of Linux can run in its own virtual machine (installers will need plenty of disk space and RAM to create effective virtual machines). VMware includes detailed instructions for most popular distributions of Linux; Red Hat and Mandrake Linux were tested under the Test Center Windows environment.
VMware's Linux version proved more complex. Test Center engineers installed the product on a system running Red Hat Linux Professional 7.2 with the Gnome desktop. The RPM install utility was used to install the VMware package, and then the setup wizard was used to create a virtual machine running Windows XP Professional under Linux. The virtual Windows XP environment proved stable, but there was a performance degradation.
In the Linux realm, solution providers also can craft custom applications for their customers. As early as two years ago, Linux desktop applications remained out of the reach of mainstream developers, and most of the open-source tools created were written primarily for C programmers. But that's starting to change.
KDE is the most actively developed Linux desktop and has the most tools. Solution providers seeking KDE desktop open-source development tools should go to www.apps.kde.com, which has ratings on each product, including feedback from the user community. One of the most promising tools at the site is KDevelop, which includes a wizard that generates skeleton code for an application and runs a number of compilers and object linkers through its IDE, hiding most of the complexity from programmers.
Several months ago, the introduction of Borland's Kylix language marked a new chapter in Linux development. Kylix is based on the popular Delphi language, Borland's version of object-oriented Pascal. The language now includes XML SOAP-based Web services, a cross-platform development framework and a number of RDBMS mapping tools. Like most modern rapid application deployment (RAD) tools, it includes a top-of-the-line IDE and source-debugging facility.
Despite the various distribution, application, deployment and development routes solution providers can take with Linux, they'll often find that the proof is in the pudding when selling solutions based on the platform. Linux's low cost, unlimited distribution and elimination of licenses can be a big catalyst in sales pitches.
"My clients are very impressed when they see my proposal with its inexpensive hardware specification, and they realize that the price includes all software," said David Lane, director of Egressive, a Christchurch, New Zealand-based network integrator. "Also, potential clients finally comprehend that there are no licenses, and when they talk to my existing clients, they find that in addition to everything else, Linux is more reliable and needs almost no maintenance."
MARIO MOREJON contributed to this story.
As a person that commutes by bike, one of the biggest problems I foresee with this device is where to ride it.
It's too fast for the sidewalk and not fast enough for the road.
If you ride on the sidewalk, you have to be very aware and extremely careful to not run into a pedestrian. It requirs more observation and forethought than many people are accustomed too.
Riding on the road puts you in danger of getting smashed by a car. I have runnin's on a weekly basis with this. Ask any bike messenger about this.
Bike lanes would be great, but if those existed we wouldn't need this device as much anyway.
My parents live in a house that was built in 1906. About 2 years ago I was visiting them and was sleeping the quest bedroom.
At about 4 AM I had a sleep paralysis episode. Or at least that's what I think it was. I was aware of the room and I was in bed. What was different was the fact that there was something else in the room.
I couldn't see anything, but it felt like something was attempting to push into my body. I felt pressure on my chest and could hear white noise with female voice undertones. It was very strange and I quess kinda spooked me, because I tried to move but could not. The more I tried the more scared I became. Finally I tried to scream but, No Sound.
Finally I woke up, realized it had to have been a dream and went back to sleep.
The same thing happened again!!!
The only difference was this time I had a name in my head, "Emily".
About 3 months latter I met the daughter of the previous owner of the house. Apparently about 40 years ago, someone had died, in the guest room. The name of the woman that had died was Emily.
I'm not a big beliver in the paranormal but that situation creeped me out. My younger brother's friend had a similar episode without being told about my experiences. AND I also found out that during some renovations to the house, a 4 man crew of people saw some type of floating vapor go down the hall and vanish. Half the crew refused to return to the site.
It's strange to think about ya know.
I was on a flight last week and I noticed that there is NO security for the pilots of commercial planes.
The cockpits need to be secured. I'd propose that the cockpit be completely separated from the rest of the plane, separate ventilation etc.
With hindsight, we now see the weapons that these planes can cause.
I've been looking for a rotating brush attachment for the past few months. I'd love to build a robot that would wonder aroung my appartment sweeping while I was at work.
It'd be great, Sweepy would just wander aroung until he ran out of power. Much better than a maid.
I'm tire of these lazy robots. They need to start making my life better NOW.
I was just thinking that many of you are at work right now. I'm not sure your situation but at my office I have access to free stamps, paper and envolopes.
I'm printing out the letter below, feel free to do the same. Just print it out and sign it. It's that easy to make a real difference. If you don't agree with something that I said OR you can improve it, reply back to the list with the changes making sure to copy the entire letter(not my comments). Think of it as an open source letter.:)
Can someone confirm this is the correct address?
Clerk's Office
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
333 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
It's 2001, and guess what? It's still not possible to purchase a dual-boot Win/Linux machine. Doesn't that seem kind of odd? With all of the hype Linux has gotten, and with the technical simplicity of shipping dual-boot machines, not a single PC OEM is shipping such a beast. The technology marketplace is glutted with options. Vendors use even the smallest opportunities to trumpet their differentiating factors. Linux is free. And yet there are no commercially available dual-boot machines on the market. Not one. The silence of the marketplace speaks volumes.
It is now 2001 and it is still not possible for a person purchasing a new computer to purchase a dual boot machine. Isn't it strange that with all the the hype that Linux has received and the technical ease of setting up a dual boot machine by a manufacturer, there is not one PC OEM vendor shipping a dual boot machine. In an enviroment where hardware options abound. An eviroment where even the smallest opportunities are seized by the vendors to claim as a differentiating factor, still 3 years after the beginning of the anti-trust case againstMicrosoft, there are no commercially available dual boot machines on the market. The deathly silence of the marketplace speaks volumes.
Microsoft has set up the game so that no one else can compete.
Sure, you can get dual-boot machines at some of the smaller shops, but these are the ones that slip under Microsoft's radar, and there's no guarantee that Microsoft won't decide to take action against these vendors at some point. And yes, you can buy Linux-only machines from vendors such as IBM. But think about it: Why would IBM sell Windows machines and Linux machines, but no dual-boot Win/Linux machines? The absence is conspicuous.
A high ranking official from the now defunct BeOS said:
"Don't bother trying to create a better commercial desktop OS - it doesn't matter how hard you try, how many engineers you throw at the problem, how much money you spend, or how many years you put into it. Microsoft owns that space and, worse, the public is totally complicit with that fact. People will not stop using Windows. It is a losing battle."
Every effort BeOS made to get their OS installed onto a machine met with failure. They even attempted to give their OS away for free to several large hardware companies: Dell, Compaq, Micron, and Hitachi. Taken together, pre-installation arrangements with vendors of this magnitude could have had a major impact on the future of Be and BeOS. But of the four, only Hitachi actually shipped a machine with BeOS pre-installed, and they had to hide it after apparently receiving a visit from MicroSoft. The rest apparently backed off after a closer reading of the fine print in their Microsoft Windows License agreements.
I'm sure you are familiar with this agreement even though the public is not. This "Windows License" agreement that hardware vendors MUST accept to be able to include Windows on the computers that they sell is a confidential license seen only by MicroSoft and computer vendors. We the public can't read the license because MicroSoft considers it a "trade secret". The license specifies that any machine that is to be shipped with the MicroSoft OS is forbidden from including a non-MicroSoft OS as a boot option. This means that none of the Hardware vendors get to choose which OSes to install on the machines that they sell- that decision in made by MicroSoft.
Signed,
Where's Bruce Willis when you need him?
How come, with such an intelligent group of people, we haven't realized that to combat the current popular desktop environments we need to properly identify one aspect at a time and dominate it.
What is the goal of the free-software developers?
Are they looking for a better way of getting their jobs done?
Do they want *NIX to become a viable replacement for the public?
I don't know the answer to this, but I don't think anyone else does either. If the community wants to replace Windows with a better OS and a better desktop environment, then why don't we somehow rally around the best availible solution and fix it. Maybe it's StarOffice, maybe KO office, I personally don't care.
I want what most computer users want, applications that do exactly what I want them to do smoothly and elegantly. I want to be able to learn how to use the application to 50% of it's capacatity within 30 minutes of installing it. I want it to play nicely with the existing standards(yes this includes Excel and Word).
What will have to happen for the community to realize that we are better off working together on thousand of people working on one project than having thousands of people working on thousands of projects?
This could be what the linux gamers have been needing.
With enough of a user base this could be exactly the impetus that game developers need to see the linux as a viable business solution. The lack of linux based gamers is IMHO what has kept developers from commiting the resources to fully utilize the capabilities of a *nix OS's.
Loki and the other can move to the forefront as they have the budgets to compete with the other big players.
I'm really excited.
The FUD that Micro$oft is casting is brilliant from a marketing point of view. They have the reputation and the size that gives them instant credibility with many decision makers. The /. community has many brilliant people and the best thing M$ can do is to fluster us and allow us to fight the fight that they create.
Think about what the true weaknesses of M$ are. What are the quantifiable problems with Windoze that a Decision Maker can understand? Give the DM applications(Office) that allow them to get their work done with a minimum of re-training of their employees. Then and only then will the beast be knocked to it's knees.
I'm a recent convert to *nix and I love it. I like the idea of it and it works great. BUT I can't do all my work on a *nix box. I can't open the Excel spread sheets that I get sent on a day to day basis, nor can I open a Word document that people are always attaching to their email.
The OSS community is doing a great job, but we still have a ways to go.