Excel can be replaced with free software, though frequent users will be unhappy with the differences. If your business is built on Quickbooks or MS Access, and many are, moving from Windows is not a trivial task.
Thank you C. L. and everyone else who provides Linux Mint. I had fun playing distro-hop back in the day, but now I'm only interested in using the computer, not playing with it. For the last few years, Mint MATE has been working so well for me, and my wife and I have been enjoying using it as our OS. Don't be sad, you've done a great thing, and we love the work you've done.
You explain to your candidates honestly and exactly what the job entails. Every gory detail. Point out all the flaws with the company, your boss, the vendors, the coworkers. Tell them about all the sucky jobs they have to do because they are "other tasks as needed." Let them know they are expected to carry two extra cell phones which are programmed to notify you at random to see if you're still loyal and paying attention to the company's needs. Give them a copy of Dilbert's Cubes and Punishment and tell them it's the company policy. Clue them in on all the personal favors they'll be expected to do in order to advance. Show them the parking lot that's half a mile away through a dark tunnel, then up a steep hill.
If they still want to work for you at the end of that, show them the door. You don't want anyone dumb enough to work for you.
I'll do the occasional handshake, but I don't shake hands when I go to vote. Our politicians line an intimidating gauntlet and shake the hand of every snot-nosed constituent. What a stupid tradition as well as a public health hazard.
Yeah, and that was too bad it got the flickering bug. Abiword is so friendly, quick, and works like the legacy Word used to. "AbiWord 3.0.2 address several issues with recent version of Gtk+. We recommend Gtk 3.20.x or earlier. There is a known issue with Gtk 3.22. Also still some issues if running on Wayland." Like I'm going to change my Gtk version to fit their recommendation -- not. I guess I'll wait 3 years until Mint includes a proper version by default again, and put up with Libre Writer for now.
In other news, Libre Calc has always been horrible, I hope they've given it some love. I've resorted to using Google Sheets, and have been happy with it except for my privacy paranoia and forgetting to download files for backups.
I disagree. I set up computers for people that have had no or little previous exposure to computers, and I set them up with Linux because it's easier for them to learn. Though I'm now moving to Debian, some of my first victims -- I meant users -- were first exposed to default Ubuntu and Xubuntu installs. You know what? They were able to email, browse the web, and play games with very little help from me.
For something like changing the default search engine, they would give me a call and I'd ssh/vnc into their machine and make the changes; they would watch and sometimes learn how to do it next time. Sometimes they wouldn't.
No longer can you assume that linux users have a clue. I feel it is much harder to use (and maintain) a Windows system. Unless you've had years of exposure to Windows, that is.
What's better for you may not be better for me. And since Fedora, Ubuntu, and Debian are free software, why not try 'em all? After all, you have enough spare time to be posting on/....
With all this money, wouldn't it make more sense to use electric trains, monorails, buses for employees to get around the campus? Who needs the pollution from all these private cars making it from one side to the other? Put in a big parking lot on each end, close the roads to auto traffic, and shuttle the people around to where they need to be. The generated good PR would be worth a big investment on MS's part, certainly better than the sketchy nonsense ad campaign they've run lately.
Back in Gulf War I (the big one) we had our family, gf's and penpals write our service number in the address. This came down from the big kahuna postmaster in the theater. Of course, for US citizens, our SSN was our service number.
No one made a fuss about it then. It was when businesses started using it as authentication that identity theft became rampant.
The solution has been around for years -- notaries.
1. Not everyone lives in ubiquitous high speed internet land. Not even in the U.S. Even though we funded the interstate highway system and rural electric grid.
2. Google might be a lot of people's darling, and some have nothing to hide. But it's not the place I'd store any confidential documents. Their company motto might be "do no evil", but odds are that *someone* there has done *something* evil at work.
You might think I'm crazy, but that's a huge reason why I use Ubuntu. (Of course, several other Linux distros would work as well.) Microsoft should have been a distributor for it's third party apps a very long time ago.
"Yes. It needed to be pointed out. Look at where the article is published: a magazine targeted at _IT managers_. Many of these people don't really understand the basics of what the languages the programmers they employ are."
I'm a bookkeeper, and even I didn't need it pointed out. But if my IT manager doesn't understand the basics, he'd be looking for a new job. I don't know where you work, but if that's the way things are run, you might want to check out the want ads yourself.
(I mean no disrespect to you personally. But wow, no wonder the economy's in the dumpster.)
"Instructions on how to accomplish something should never involve command line anything. Some users just don't get it."
A large part of why I use Linux is community support. When I help someone fix a problem or do something new, posting the command is the simplest way for me to do it. I can help them with their problem, usually without worrying what user interface they have. And when others help me, it's simple to save a little text, modify it to my needs and reuse it.
Sharing a command makes it easy for me to contribute and receive help. For the little bit of Windows support I do (mostly at work), I usually have to prepare a huge document with screenshots. Most Linux support I give doesn't require so much effort.
"Work on the attitude of the Linux fans on various support forms so they don't laugh at basic user questions."
It's become much better over the last few years. Of course if you take a random crowd, you'll get a percentage of jerks. But you're reading/., so you know that already.
After years of experience with both OS's, guess who wins on this?
My take is that I'm cheap, and my friends can't afford to shell out for upgrades just so they can have a supported version. I vote for the system that doesn't hold support as ransom for most all the packages that run on it.
After all, except for some pesky macro insecurities, what was wrong with Word 6.0?
aptitude (and apt-get) will do tab-completion on the command line. The first argument gives you an action, then it will search through the downloadable package names. Try this, which will show you all the packages which start with "a":
Pingree, Maine's House majority leader, said the Real ID Act would have cost the state $185 million over five years and required every state resident to visit the motor vehicle agency so that several forms of identification--including an original copy of the birth certificate and a Social Security card--would be uploaded into a federal database.
----- Doesn't seem to me they're standing up to the Feds for our rights. I'm sure its the money for an unfunded mandate. Logistics are tough too, to pull this off in our state.
I can see the capitol building out my window, and have three lobsters in my truck. You understand if I just had to say something about this!
Wished I'd have known about that mag when I had my VIC 20. I used to keep my landscaping business inventory on cassette. Such a cool little rig, and I loved typing in those programs they published in magazines. Back in the days when computer magazines actually had cool things to do in them.
Slashdot Mirror
Excel can be replaced with free software, though frequent users will be unhappy with the differences. If your business is built on Quickbooks or MS Access, and many are, moving from Windows is not a trivial task.
Thank you C. L. and everyone else who provides Linux Mint. I had fun playing distro-hop back in the day, but now I'm only interested in using the computer, not playing with it. For the last few years, Mint MATE has been working so well for me, and my wife and I have been enjoying using it as our OS. Don't be sad, you've done a great thing, and we love the work you've done.
You explain to your candidates honestly and exactly what the job entails. Every gory detail. Point out all the flaws with the company, your boss, the vendors, the coworkers. Tell them about all the sucky jobs they have to do because they are "other tasks as needed." Let them know they are expected to carry two extra cell phones which are programmed to notify you at random to see if you're still loyal and paying attention to the company's needs. Give them a copy of Dilbert's Cubes and Punishment and tell them it's the company policy. Clue them in on all the personal favors they'll be expected to do in order to advance. Show them the parking lot that's half a mile away through a dark tunnel, then up a steep hill. If they still want to work for you at the end of that, show them the door. You don't want anyone dumb enough to work for you.
I'll do the occasional handshake, but I don't shake hands when I go to vote. Our politicians line an intimidating gauntlet and shake the hand of every snot-nosed constituent. What a stupid tradition as well as a public health hazard.
Yeah, and that was too bad it got the flickering bug. Abiword is so friendly, quick, and works like the legacy Word used to. "AbiWord 3.0.2 address several issues with recent version of Gtk+. We recommend Gtk 3.20.x or earlier. There is a known issue with Gtk 3.22. Also still some issues if running on Wayland." Like I'm going to change my Gtk version to fit their recommendation -- not. I guess I'll wait 3 years until Mint includes a proper version by default again, and put up with Libre Writer for now. In other news, Libre Calc has always been horrible, I hope they've given it some love. I've resorted to using Google Sheets, and have been happy with it except for my privacy paranoia and forgetting to download files for backups.
"business tools like Slack" -- not your father's Slack, I take it. Or even Bob Dobbs's.
I disagree. I set up computers for people that have had no or little previous exposure to computers, and I set them up with Linux because it's easier for them to learn. Though I'm now moving to Debian, some of my first victims -- I meant users -- were first exposed to default Ubuntu and Xubuntu installs. You know what? They were able to email, browse the web, and play games with very little help from me.
For something like changing the default search engine, they would give me a call and I'd ssh/vnc into their machine and make the changes; they would watch and sometimes learn how to do it next time. Sometimes they wouldn't.
No longer can you assume that linux users have a clue. I feel it is much harder to use (and maintain) a Windows system. Unless you've had years of exposure to Windows, that is.
What's better for you may not be better for me. And since Fedora, Ubuntu, and Debian are free software, why not try 'em all? After all, you have enough spare time to be posting on /. ...
With all this money, wouldn't it make more sense to use electric trains, monorails, buses for employees to get around the campus? Who needs the pollution from all these private cars making it from one side to the other? Put in a big parking lot on each end, close the roads to auto traffic, and shuttle the people around to where they need to be. The generated good PR would be worth a big investment on MS's part, certainly better than the sketchy nonsense ad campaign they've run lately.
Back in Gulf War I (the big one) we had our family, gf's and penpals write our service number in the address. This came down from the big kahuna postmaster in the theater. Of course, for US citizens, our SSN was our service number. No one made a fuss about it then. It was when businesses started using it as authentication that identity theft became rampant. The solution has been around for years -- notaries.
Monster is an energy drink, right? Sounds like its working great!
"Online / Offline isn't an issue.
Most of the time."
1. Not everyone lives in ubiquitous high speed internet land. Not even in the U.S. Even though we funded the interstate highway system and rural electric grid.
2. Google might be a lot of people's darling, and some have nothing to hide. But it's not the place I'd store any confidential documents. Their company motto might be "do no evil", but odds are that *someone* there has done *something* evil at work.
You might think I'm crazy, but that's a huge reason why I use Ubuntu. (Of course, several other Linux distros would work as well.) Microsoft should have been a distributor for it's third party apps a very long time ago.
"Yes. It needed to be pointed out. Look at where the article is published: a magazine targeted at _IT managers_. Many of these people don't really understand the basics of what the languages the programmers they employ are."
I'm a bookkeeper, and even I didn't need it pointed out. But if my IT manager doesn't understand the basics, he'd be looking for a new job. I don't know where you work, but if that's the way things are run, you might want to check out the want ads yourself.
(I mean no disrespect to you personally. But wow, no wonder the economy's in the dumpster.)
"...some senior executives claiming a BlackBerry can contribute to work/life balance by facilitating telecommuting and more flexible schedules."
Use the alternate install CD for low memory systems, too. 256 MB and below, that means you.
"Instructions on how to accomplish something should never involve command line anything. Some users just don't get it."
/., so you know that already.
A large part of why I use Linux is community support. When I help someone fix a problem or do something new, posting the command is the simplest way for me to do it. I can help them with their problem, usually without worrying what user interface they have. And when others help me, it's simple to save a little text, modify it to my needs and reuse it.
Sharing a command makes it easy for me to contribute and receive help. For the little bit of Windows support I do (mostly at work), I usually have to prepare a huge document with screenshots. Most Linux support I give doesn't require so much effort.
"Work on the attitude of the Linux fans on various support forms so they don't laugh at basic user questions."
It's become much better over the last few years. Of course if you take a random crowd, you'll get a percentage of jerks. But you're reading
Yes, but you only used Memtest86, not Memtest386. But I could charge even more if I use Memtest2008!
I'm on the same track, only plan to use DRBD for redundancy instead of RAID.
r ee-and-reliable-san.html
Check out:
http://www.gridvm.org/drbd-lvm-gnbd-and-xen-for-f
Comments welcome!
My point exactly -- what real improvements have there been since then?
"The main problem is 1) software support ..."
After years of experience with both OS's, guess who wins on this?
My take is that I'm cheap, and my friends can't afford to shell out for upgrades just so they can have a supported version. I vote for the system that doesn't hold support as ransom for most all the packages that run on it.
After all, except for some pesky macro insecurities, what was wrong with Word 6.0?
aptitude (and apt-get) will do tab-completion on the command line. The first argument gives you an action, then it will search through the downloadable package names. Try this, which will show you all the packages which start with "a":
aptitude install a<TAB> <TAB>
From TFA:
Pingree, Maine's House majority leader, said the Real ID Act would have cost the state $185 million over five years and required every state resident to visit the motor vehicle agency so that several forms of identification--including an original copy of the birth certificate and a Social Security card--would be uploaded into a federal database.
-----
Doesn't seem to me they're standing up to the Feds for our rights. I'm sure its the money for an unfunded mandate. Logistics are tough too, to pull this off in our state.
I can see the capitol building out my window, and have three lobsters in my truck. You understand if I just had to say something about this!
Wished I'd have known about that mag when I had my VIC 20. I used to keep my landscaping business inventory on cassette. Such a cool little rig, and I loved typing in those programs they published in magazines. Back in the days when computer magazines actually had cool things to do in them.
-- Jim Cooncat. Yeah, you guessed where I'm from.
Or get your domain from a cheaper registrar and use zoneedit.com's free dns service.