'Religious' issues aren't always the only reason to dislike closed source drivers. I've been trying for well over a week now to get nVidia's proprietary drivers working properly, and having tried every single workaround and fix I've seen in nVidia's docs or on the web and in newsgroups, I'm still rewarded every time with a complete crash or simply a blank screen.
I've loved my nVidia card up 'til now, and I had been planning to buy another one at my next upgrade, but currently I'm shopping around for something from ATI.
OK, I apologize for the way I phrased some of that. I wasn't intending 'play' as any sort of insult, I wouldn't even try to argue that Mandrake isn't better than Slack (or insert-random-distro-here) at certain things, and I don't think I'm l33t because I know what 'ls' does. My point was that making Linux a fully GUI-oriented OS is neither desirable for a lot of people nor necessarily a very good idea.
>>When I can start my computer, have it completely GUI from boot to shutdown
>> I have a more "complete implementation" feel to my computer than when I
>> have to mess with anything that looks like a command line.
Funny, when I use a system that runs completely under a GUI from startup to shutdown, I always get the vague feeling that it's doing things I can't see and might not necessarily approve of. Ever seen a fully idle windows box start spinning the hard drive? Do *you* know what it's up to?
>> When I can change a directory by clicking on a folder icon, dragging my
>> favorites [...]I feel like I am actually interacting with my computer
Well, that's wonderful if you enjoy it, but some of us get that same feeling from a command line. I can do an ls (or a dir) and find out that files are actually where I intended to put them. It's no less 'visual' than your pretty icons and such, and just as useful(and in certain ways, MORE useful.)
There *are* distros out there that will let people use Linux without ever knowing there is such a thing as a command line if they don't want to learn about it, but you'll necessarily sacrifice a few things to do so (notably, a large portion of CPU cycles and disk space.) If that's something you want, go play with Mandrake, and be happy.
Slashdot Mirror
No need.
It's only the important history we're ignorant of -- we have a long memory for the sensationalistic and the gory.
'Religious' issues aren't always the only reason to dislike closed source drivers. I've been trying for well over a week now to get nVidia's proprietary drivers working properly, and having tried every single workaround and fix I've seen in nVidia's docs or on the web and in newsgroups, I'm still rewarded every time with a complete crash or simply a blank screen.
I've loved my nVidia card up 'til now, and I had been planning to buy another one at my next upgrade, but currently I'm shopping around for something from ATI.
Wes
OK, I apologize for the way I phrased some of that. I wasn't intending 'play' as any sort of insult, I wouldn't even try to argue that Mandrake isn't better than Slack (or insert-random-distro-here) at certain things, and I don't think I'm l33t because I know what 'ls' does. My point was that making Linux a fully GUI-oriented OS is neither desirable for a lot of people nor necessarily a very good idea.
I do think AtheOS is a nifty system, though.
Wes
>>When I can start my computer, have it completely GUI from boot to shutdown
>> I have a more "complete implementation" feel to my computer than when I
>> have to mess with anything that looks like a command line.
Funny, when I use a system that runs completely under a GUI from startup to shutdown, I always get the vague feeling that it's doing things I can't see and might not necessarily approve of. Ever seen a fully idle windows box start spinning the hard drive? Do *you* know what it's up to?
>> When I can change a directory by clicking on a folder icon, dragging my
>> favorites [...]I feel like I am actually interacting with my computer
Well, that's wonderful if you enjoy it, but some of us get that same feeling from a command line. I can do an ls (or a dir) and find out that files are actually where I intended to put them. It's no less 'visual' than your pretty icons and such, and just as useful(and in certain ways, MORE useful.)
There *are* distros out there that will let people use Linux without ever knowing there is such a thing as a command line if they don't want to learn about it, but you'll necessarily sacrifice a few things to do so (notably, a large portion of CPU cycles and disk space.) If that's something you want, go play with Mandrake, and be happy.
Wes
(I like Slackware.)
>>and they're extending an olive branch to the open source world.
The only thing we'll get from an olive branch THEY extend is non-standards-compliant olives.
Wes
>> Oooh, maybe an even better name would be the "Allan Parsons Project"?
Wasn't that some sort of hovercraft?