In my last full-time job (around the year 2001), everybody at the company got pay cuts. I left shortly after to pursue my own web programming and consultant business. Every year it is getting harder to find people that will pay me rates that I was getting when I first started this. I find working for myself to not really be worth the hassle anymore... and usually what work I get ends up being trying to fix whatever mess some Indian programming team has made of some project. People don't like paying the clean-up guy so much because so much has already been spent on initial development. And guess what, next time they'll jump right back to the Indian guys to make their next big mess. Working in IT has been a very depressing journey for me.
I looked at putting Xandros on it, but for her I figured Linspire was the way to go... and it seems I was right as she is having no problems installing and uninstalling software that she wants to try out. I made sure her printer and digital camera worked properly with Linspire (which they do) so now I just wait and see if this switch decreases my need to support her every little computer problem. (now I'll just ssh in and fix things)
Win98 was crap... just crashed all the time. Windows XP is too expensive and I don't want to pirate it. Plus, you end up having to get all the anti-virus/anti-spyware stuff on there... and she still ends up getting junk on her system.
I choose Linspire because it is extremely easy to install new software. I made the ClickNRun account under my name, so I pay the $20/year for her (no big deal). I did look at other Linux options, but Linspire made the most sense in this case.
I personally run Debian and ArchLinux, but I'm not an elitist and I will acknowledge that Linspire has it's uses. I have no idea why my previous comment was modded "Funny". Nothing funny about it.
I would say that something like Linspire has the most user friendly desktop setup out of the box.
But for the free stuff, Ubuntu and Kubuntu are the winners!
I seem to remember a big deal about how MS had some new amazing tech that going to kill off all spam. Well, I don't know about you, but I'm still seeing a shitload of it. So what does that make me think when they say they kill off spyware? NOT LIKELY!!
With open-concept, I can't concentrate! I keep seeing things in my peripheral vision. I keep thinking somebody is staring at me. I feel like I am constantly in the spotlight. It would drive me mad I tell you.... MAD!!
... movies have always sucked. You who hate what hollywood pumps out these days are just nostalgic for the kind of stuff you saw when you were young. When you watch the old stuff again you think, wow, the old stuff is good. It isn't really! You are just seeing it through rose-colored-stained-glass-windows. You know there are kids these days that love what hollywood puts out and they will think movies suck when they grow up. The truth is, it all sucks and it always has.
I get there instantly by going to maps.google.com and there are no ads clogging the screen, the map window is huge and the map search works really well and quickly. I have tried some of the other so-called competition sites to google maps and in my opinion nothing else is even in the same league.
1) Correct. Many Linux distro's don't yet have GUI interfaces for tweaking EVERYTHING. But this is also the reason I like Linux. I can go edit some text config file and get things to work. In windows, you have your GUI, if it's not configurable from there, it isn't configurable.
2) Using KDE or Gnome on Linux will be just as slow as XP. Hence the reason I use IceWM, while others will use XFCE or some other MUCH faster window manager. I don't all the fancy eye candy that KDE and Gnome provide... plus, you can still just as easily run apps created for those window managers in others.
3) It's easy to find software comparison lists on the net. A lot of the newer distro's come with best-of-breed software already installed.
4) True. cheap hardware doesn't always "just work" in Linux. Most quality hardware does. But even the cheap stuff can usually be made to work with some research.
5) If people don't read, especially ones using computers, they get what they deserve. You probably don't really LIKE computers, do you?
6) Never used YAST, so I don't know. I have never had this problem with the distros I have tried so I can't really comment.
7) Never had this problem either. Can't comment.
8) In my experience, if something works in Linux, it continues to work and works well. It is obvious you didn't set it properly in the first place. But hey, that might take some "reading" and we know how much you hate that.
9)
Changing Desktop resolution - well, let's see, I right click on a blank spot on the desktop and select "background options" -> "settings" -> "resolution". gee, things have changed a lot since you seemed to have tried Linux
Installing a USB Wireless card - don't have experience with this, can't comment
Getting my camera to work - I plug my camera in, run a program (can't remember the name) that fetches all the pictures and lets me edit them if I wish
Finding some half decent financial software - Well, you might have a point on this one.
Installing ANY linux on an old laptop (insert another set of issues here) - Download something call "Vector Linux", install, be amazed at the speed of your old laptop. I actually run Vector Linux on my P2 - 200MHz laptop and it performs decently. Hell, I can watch movies on it!
Setting up shares to windows box - Samba networking is setup automatically on a lot of better distros.
I really suggest you stay away from Linux. You obviously are somebody that should be using a Mac... but Windows will do since you are cheap. If you really need to try Linux again for more punishment (having to "read" and "think" and whatnot), please try something like Ubuntu or Kubuntu.
... or in other word, pirated Vista Ultimate. All the dumbies that buy cheap PC's with preloaded will have Vista Home, but eventually they will all upgrade to "Free Vista".
... according to the second paragraph on the page, received a lot of attention....
Gnome Terminal!
Maybe this is Gnome's problem. What are they doing putting any attention toward improving the terminal!? People using Gnome are doing so because they want a GUI interface, not to have fancy terminal features. That's what CTRL-ALT-F1 is for!
I used KDE for a long time... but found that it had too many bugs and I was constanly losing menu entries, settings, etc... I tried Gnome for a while but could never get used to the way it handled dialogues and such. Tried XFCE for a while... nice but still not for me.
Ended up staying with IceWM which is basically like an enhanced version of Win98 interface. I like the speed and it stays out of my way. I sometimes use Rox-filer for a file manager, but prefer the power of bash shell to do my file manipulations.
Slashdot Mirror
In my last full-time job (around the year 2001), everybody at the company got pay cuts. I left shortly after to pursue my own web programming and consultant business. Every year it is getting harder to find people that will pay me rates that I was getting when I first started this. I find working for myself to not really be worth the hassle anymore... and usually what work I get ends up being trying to fix whatever mess some Indian programming team has made of some project. People don't like paying the clean-up guy so much because so much has already been spent on initial development. And guess what, next time they'll jump right back to the Indian guys to make their next big mess. Working in IT has been a very depressing journey for me.
I love the freedom of not being bound to a big corporation that rules what I can and cannot do on my computer. Thanks Linux.
I looked at putting Xandros on it, but for her I figured Linspire was the way to go... and it seems I was right as she is having no problems installing and uninstalling software that she wants to try out. I made sure her printer and digital camera worked properly with Linspire (which they do) so now I just wait and see if this switch decreases my need to support her every little computer problem. (now I'll just ssh in and fix things)
No, actually, it's called Linspire... I just have an old habit of saying Lindows.
Win98 was crap... just crashed all the time. Windows XP is too expensive and I don't want to pirate it. Plus, you end up having to get all the anti-virus/anti-spyware stuff on there... and she still ends up getting junk on her system. I choose Linspire because it is extremely easy to install new software. I made the ClickNRun account under my name, so I pay the $20/year for her (no big deal). I did look at other Linux options, but Linspire made the most sense in this case. I personally run Debian and ArchLinux, but I'm not an elitist and I will acknowledge that Linspire has it's uses. I have no idea why my previous comment was modded "Funny". Nothing funny about it.
She is on a fixed income and has an older computer. Forget about Windows XP, and especially Vista. Lindows is easy and works... and it's Linux.
I would say that something like Linspire has the most user friendly desktop setup out of the box. But for the free stuff, Ubuntu and Kubuntu are the winners!
I seem to remember a big deal about how MS had some new amazing tech that going to kill off all spam. Well, I don't know about you, but I'm still seeing a shitload of it. So what does that make me think when they say they kill off spyware? NOT LIKELY!!
Go ahead Novell, kill it. You know that's what you are really good at. It is inevitable. RIP SUSE.
I love how distro's always have screenshots... when in fact they look the same as anything else running KDE or Gnome. It's ridiculous.
Assuming they are the things I sometimes get at Taco Bell.
I still won't use it!
With open-concept, I can't concentrate! I keep seeing things in my peripheral vision. I keep thinking somebody is staring at me. I feel like I am constantly in the spotlight. It would drive me mad I tell you.... MAD!!
... movies have always sucked. You who hate what hollywood pumps out these days are just nostalgic for the kind of stuff you saw when you were young. When you watch the old stuff again you think, wow, the old stuff is good. It isn't really! You are just seeing it through rose-colored-stained-glass-windows. You know there are kids these days that love what hollywood puts out and they will think movies suck when they grow up. The truth is, it all sucks and it always has.
Sure, some beggars *might* get a big load once in a while. You think bringing in that much is sustainable on a daily basis? You are deluded.
I live in Kitchener, which is only about 100 km out of Toronto toward Detriot and I really don't think we'll be able to get it here.
...its students to stay clear of Southern Ontario because of dangerous wireless waves which will invade the brain and cause cancer.
If this were really the case, we'd see a LOT MORE people out there begging rather than working at their crappy $10/hour jobs.
You are just spreading the conservative lies that the poor on the streets are lazy scammers. They are mentally ill. Not smart. Not rich.
He loves them both and so do I.
http://planeshift.it/
http://heroscapehq.com/
I get there instantly by going to maps.google.com and there are no ads clogging the screen, the map window is huge and the map search works really well and quickly. I have tried some of the other so-called competition sites to google maps and in my opinion nothing else is even in the same league.
2) Using KDE or Gnome on Linux will be just as slow as XP. Hence the reason I use IceWM, while others will use XFCE or some other MUCH faster window manager. I don't all the fancy eye candy that KDE and Gnome provide... plus, you can still just as easily run apps created for those window managers in others.
3) It's easy to find software comparison lists on the net. A lot of the newer distro's come with best-of-breed software already installed.
4) True. cheap hardware doesn't always "just work" in Linux. Most quality hardware does. But even the cheap stuff can usually be made to work with some research.
5) If people don't read, especially ones using computers, they get what they deserve. You probably don't really LIKE computers, do you?
6) Never used YAST, so I don't know. I have never had this problem with the distros I have tried so I can't really comment.
7) Never had this problem either. Can't comment.
8) In my experience, if something works in Linux, it continues to work and works well. It is obvious you didn't set it properly in the first place. But hey, that might take some "reading" and we know how much you hate that.
9) Changing Desktop resolution - well, let's see, I right click on a blank spot on the desktop and select "background options" -> "settings" -> "resolution". gee, things have changed a lot since you seemed to have tried Linux
Installing a USB Wireless card - don't have experience with this, can't comment
Getting my camera to work - I plug my camera in, run a program (can't remember the name) that fetches all the pictures and lets me edit them if I wish
Finding some half decent financial software - Well, you might have a point on this one.
Installing ANY linux on an old laptop (insert another set of issues here) - Download something call "Vector Linux", install, be amazed at the speed of your old laptop. I actually run Vector Linux on my P2 - 200MHz laptop and it performs decently. Hell, I can watch movies on it!
Setting up shares to windows box - Samba networking is setup automatically on a lot of better distros.
I really suggest you stay away from Linux. You obviously are somebody that should be using a Mac... but Windows will do since you are cheap. If you really need to try Linux again for more punishment (having to "read" and "think" and whatnot), please try something like Ubuntu or Kubuntu.
... or in other word, pirated Vista Ultimate. All the dumbies that buy cheap PC's with preloaded will have Vista Home, but eventually they will all upgrade to "Free Vista".
1. Free as in "no cost", because you will need to own Windows to run it.
2. Free as in "freedom", because IE still binds you to microsoft
So, even if IE7 is some super great browser (which I doubt), I still will continue on with Firefox.
Maybe this is Gnome's problem. What are they doing putting any attention toward improving the terminal!? People using Gnome are doing so because they want a GUI interface, not to have fancy terminal features. That's what CTRL-ALT-F1 is for!
Ended up staying with IceWM which is basically like an enhanced version of Win98 interface. I like the speed and it stays out of my way. I sometimes use Rox-filer for a file manager, but prefer the power of bash shell to do my file manipulations.