... will Joe User overcome the stigma that "Linux" is for geeks?
That depends on the geeks who perpetuate this stigma by telling Joe that he can't handle Linux because he is just a dumb Windoze luser.
Fair enough
OK, a quick disclaimer here, I've been using (mostly Slackware) Linux for nearly 10 years, and my first recourse is usually to set everything up manually,
However, if anybody wants to evangelise Linux, they would be well advised to empasise how EASY it is nowadays to get the majority of computers set up and running Linux. For instance, last time I set up a Mandrake box (8.2 I think) for a friend, the whole install process ran much more quickly and smoothly than any Windows install I have ever done - especially since I didn't have to reboot the machine 453 times in the process. I'm sure (without having actually seen them) that RedHat's recent offerings are similarly slick and intuitive.
If at any point they have to type "make," or even look at a CLI, forget about it.
I wouldn't deny that there is (now) a common expectation that everything on a desktop computer should be accessible via a GUI.
However, I'm sure I'm not the only slashdotter who can remember when the old 8086 and 8088 machines first came out.
I can recall many "non-geek" folks (e.g. secretaries, reception clerks, managers) coping perfectly adequately with DOS commands in the course of their work.
Couldn't it be also your fault? I think before banning entire IP block Taco or others should have connected the block-owner for abuse, I bet they didn't take that serious
I'm not sure how that makes it my fault, but anyway:
The ISP is pretty good in most respects, e.g. it's nice to get replies from support crew to the effect of "Oh good, if you're running Slackware, you know what you're talking about" as opposed to my last ISP's policy: "We only support Windows - you're on your own".
In any case, I don't believe they provide an open relay. (from whois: inetnum 202.61.166.0 - 202.61.166.255) if anybody wants to check (please))
Slackware moves slowly and with great consideration with little thought outside influances[sic]
Patrick V. doesn't release "new" distros every 5-6 months like (say) RH or Mandrake, but his turnaround is [karma burning here] arguably much snappier than Debian (given that slack's at version 8.1 as opposed to 0.00003), and the packages in slackware-current tend to be very current. Seems to me that the only area in which he loses the edge is with Gnome, and that gap is filled very well by Dropline Gnome (I won't bother to find link, as it was posted earlier).
then cmd Taco put in IP address bans. This was a lifesaver...
I've never trolled in my life, but slashcode has blocked my entire netblock (an ISP with a strictly enforced AUP and who would have pulled the plug on any miscreant if asked) for several months now. So despite my karma being "excellent", I can now only post via an anonymous relay. It was a major piss-off that my objections were just ignored.
of course, that a merkin is "counterfeit hair for women's privy parts" (I know you didn't spell it like that, but couldn't resist...:-} - OED if you don't believe me...
Funny you should mention this... I remember some (i.e. many) years ago when I was working as a sysprog on a Sperry site, I wrote and implemented a transaction surveillance program called BIG_BROTHER. The CEO got wind of it somehow, and I got carpeted, so I renamed the prog to LARGE_SIBLING. That was OK, for some reason:-)
I have an old Umax parallel-port scanner for which there is no SANE backend to run it under Linux. Has anybody tried using Bochs to drive anything like this? I ask because I've (so far) had limited success with Wine...
IBM used "distributed computing" as a buzzword on the late 80s, but many other computer manufacturers (DG, Honeywell, Prime, for example) had been doing the same thing for years.
I think it was c. 1990 I last did this on Data General mini/mainframes with their implementation of COBOL85, but I'm pretty sure there was a mechanism for allocating and de-allocating memory. Can't remember the name of the routine, as I was more concerned with getting a range of Interprocess Control Processes (in assembler) to connect the COBOL stuff together. It was a bit of a challenge at the time...
I spent many years working on Big Iron between the late 70s and early 90s, and I (and my fellow contractors) always felt that the world was divided between those (like us) who could work on any machine, whether it be CDC, Burroughs, Sperry, Honeywell or whatever - and IBM-ites who never seemed to step away from the one manufacturer.
I remember it used to be a cliche that "No-one ever got fired for buying IBM". Trouble is, I knew one IT manager in London who did get fired for doing just that at a Burroughs site.
Since I moved my primary account 18 months ago, I have got no more than 1 spam mailout per month, which I just blackhole.
Thing is, if your address appears anywhere "visible", it'll end up on spammers' bulk mail address-list CDs - so they can spam you to offer spam-blocking software. Go figure.It's handy to have a few disposable free mail accounts...
Gnome isn't a WM, it's a desktop manager: The current WMs are usually either the feature-rich Sawfish or minimalist Metacity. Don't know if anybody's still using Enlightenment as a WM, it's a bit overkill for that...
The move might have something to do with all those usability studies Gnome.org and Sun been carrying out having finally borne fruit. The Gnome desktop is a great UI.
Not to start a flame war here, the fact that I personally prefer Gnome to KDE does not mean that the latter sucks (it doesn't) but the Gnome interface is very clean, smooth and consistent.
LOL, but seriously, from the article "Linux and Unix users are, in fact, switching to Macs in droves"...
I wonder where they found these "switchers". Of all the *nix users I know, I do not personally know of one who deserted Linux or BSD for Mac. I know several who switched the other way, though...
Slashdot Mirror
Gnome 2.0 is very stable. Gnome 2.2 isn't (quite) out yet.
I hope not... I wouldn't want to be fed by one of those machines :-)
That depends on the geeks who perpetuate this stigma by telling Joe that he can't handle Linux because he is just a dumb Windoze luser.
Fair enough
OK, a quick disclaimer here, I've been using (mostly Slackware) Linux for nearly 10 years, and my first recourse is usually to set everything up manually,
However, if anybody wants to evangelise Linux, they would be well advised to empasise how EASY it is nowadays to get the majority of computers set up and running Linux. For instance, last time I set up a Mandrake box (8.2 I think) for a friend, the whole install process ran much more quickly and smoothly than any Windows install I have ever done - especially since I didn't have to reboot the machine 453 times in the process. I'm sure (without having actually seen them) that RedHat's recent offerings are similarly slick and intuitive.
I wouldn't deny that there is (now) a common expectation that everything on a desktop computer should be accessible via a GUI.
However, I'm sure I'm not the only slashdotter who can remember when the old 8086 and 8088 machines first came out.
I can recall many "non-geek" folks (e.g. secretaries, reception clerks, managers) coping perfectly adequately with DOS commands in the course of their work.
Are users dumber than they were 23 years ago?
are they releasing, anyway? I might be going blind, but I didn't find any indication in the article.
The current Slackware has them too. So does Mozilla, but you have to compile it with --enable-xft (IIRC), but check out fixes here.
Though I suspect that given the distances I drive here in Australia, it's unlikely to ever be a problem.
After all, they can't even maintain mobile phone coverage without a fairly hefty power input.
I'm not sure how that makes it my fault, but anyway:
The ISP is pretty good in most respects, e.g. it's nice to get replies from support crew to the effect of "Oh good, if you're running Slackware, you know what you're talking about" as opposed to my last ISP's policy: "We only support Windows - you're on your own".
In any case, I don't believe they provide an open relay. (from whois: inetnum 202.61.166.0 - 202.61.166.255) if anybody wants to check (please))
They've pulled the plug on abusers in the past.
is there in any stock, un-patched Linux kernel, as obtained from kernel.org.
Patrick V. doesn't release "new" distros every 5-6 months like (say) RH or Mandrake, but his turnaround is [karma burning here] arguably much snappier than Debian (given that slack's at version 8.1 as opposed to 0.00003), and the packages in slackware-current tend to be very current. Seems to me that the only area in which he loses the edge is with Gnome, and that gap is filled very well by Dropline Gnome (I won't bother to find link, as it was posted earlier).
I've never trolled in my life, but slashcode has blocked my entire netblock (an ISP with a strictly enforced AUP and who would have pulled the plug on any miscreant if asked) for several months now. So despite my karma being "excellent", I can now only post via an anonymous relay. It was a major piss-off that my objections were just ignored.
of course, that a merkin is "counterfeit hair for women's privy parts" (I know you didn't spell it like that, but couldn't resist... :-} - OED if you don't believe me...
Funny you should mention this... I remember some (i.e. many) years ago when I was working as a sysprog on a Sperry site, I wrote and implemented a transaction surveillance program called BIG_BROTHER. The CEO got wind of it somehow, and I got carpeted, so I renamed the prog to LARGE_SIBLING. That was OK, for some reason :-)
I have an old Umax parallel-port scanner for which there is no SANE backend to run it under Linux. Has anybody tried using Bochs to drive anything like this? I ask because I've (so far) had limited success with Wine...
IBM used "distributed computing" as a buzzword on the late 80s, but many other computer manufacturers (DG, Honeywell, Prime, for example) had been doing the same thing for years.
I think it was c. 1990 I last did this on Data General mini/mainframes with their implementation of COBOL85, but I'm pretty sure there was a mechanism for allocating and de-allocating memory. Can't remember the name of the routine, as I was more concerned with getting a range of Interprocess Control Processes (in assembler) to connect the COBOL stuff together. It was a bit of a challenge at the time...
I remember it used to be a cliche that "No-one ever got fired for buying IBM". Trouble is, I knew one IT manager in London who did get fired for doing just that at a Burroughs site.
It would also be the end of any usefulness for email. Back to snail-mail or phone (i.e. if direct marketers still want to target you, make 'em pay).
I agree with the points you make, but FWIW in many (most?) cases you can tell your mail client not to automatically download images...
Since I moved my primary account 18 months ago, I have got no more than 1 spam mailout per month, which I just blackhole.
Thing is, if your address appears anywhere "visible", it'll end up on spammers' bulk mail address-list CDs - so they can spam you to offer spam-blocking software. Go figure.It's handy to have a few disposable free mail accounts...Gnome isn't a WM, it's a desktop manager: The current WMs are usually either the feature-rich Sawfish or minimalist Metacity. Don't know if anybody's still using Enlightenment as a WM, it's a bit overkill for that...
Not to start a flame war here, the fact that I personally prefer Gnome to KDE does not mean that the latter sucks (it doesn't) but the Gnome interface is very clean, smooth and consistent.
I wonder where they found these "switchers". Of all the *nix users I know, I do not personally know of one who deserted Linux or BSD for Mac. I know several who switched the other way, though...
I don't know what network you're running on, but my GSM phone powers up and logs on to the network (Vodafone, Australia) in about 4 seconds.