But different people work in different ways. For people who are more visual-oriented, such an environment could be very helpful. It would enable them to move things around on their computer screen similar to the way they might move different items around on their desks. Items that are not needed right away could be set aside, much as a book is placed on a bookshelf. It's still easily available, and is easily seen as such, but it is not longer in the way. Items that are "completed" could be closed as usual, but ones that will be needed again shortly are tucked aside, but still present. Granted, for most programmers, such an environment would probably not be the most efficient, but not everyone in the world is a programmer.
The lack of fucking huge Flash and Javascript ads alone are enough to get me switching.
Try a different (better) webmail provider. Not everything is so sucky. FastMail.FM works very well for me. They actually care about their customers (gasp!). They do reserve the right to add some ads to the free guest accounts at some point, but they will work hard to make sure they aren't too disruptive. I've heard that Runbox is quite good too.
Sure, [email is] a ridiculously dumb, slow way to back up their data.
Actually, it's not that bad. I use email to back up my files. It's fairly efficient for basic stuff, like my documents and things I really don't want to lose. Just.tgz it, gpg it, and upload it to a folder on my imap account. If a meteor strikes my computer and all my CD backups (without hitting me) I can still recover all my critical data. If something manages to take out me, all my backup CDs (in a couple different cities) and all my email backups (two different continents), I think my documents are the least of my worries...
Or, you could, gasp!, do some RESEARCH and find out if there is a distribution that supports that ONE piece of hardware.
One could fire the same sort of response back at your comment. "Or, you could, gasp!, do some RESEARCH and find out that this journalist is quite fond of Linux and gives it quite fair coverage in his newsletters.";-)
> if it's not made or supported anymore, that's not Linux's fault.
Did you read the article? He's using modern hardware:
[It's] a
brand new PC from a major vendor. The system was based on an utterly mainstream Intel motherboard with an on-board Intel sound system. This isn't some weird, off-brand system using unknown components.
Test the waters with a live CD like Morphix or Knoppix. If your hardware gets detected well and things just work, install it to your hard drive.
My experience with SuSE was that hardware setup was a dream. I still miss YaST. Dependency hell drove me away. Apparently APT for RPM is quite good at resolving dependencies too. I just found that with Debian software installation is painless (using Synaptic or Aptitude as a frontend for APT) and things just work (once the hardware is configured - that's where Knoppix/Morphix come in).
Debian's "testing" distribution (currently Sarge) is really quite stable. The bugs get worked out in Sid (unstable), but the software is still quite recent (unlike Woody/stable). I found dealing with software installations on other systems painful compared with Debian. Everything I need is in the package repository, so apt-get/aptitude/synaptic does everything for me.
When I upgraded from kernel 2.4.22-xfs (that came with Knoppix) to 2.4.24 (standard debian kernel) it was that simple. Two commands and a reboot and it was running. There's a setting in some config file that will run update-grub for me, but I was too lazy to make the change.
Oh, I also had to recompile my nVidia video driver, but NV makes that so easy to do. Debian has some package for it. I should get around to trying it some day.
(Knoppix.net seems to be down right now - try the original site. It's not as easy to navigate, but the ISO is available there.
Yeah, but the definition you just quoted doesn't say "age, dignity, character, and position." In that definition, any one of those four qualities would make something venerable. By acknowledging PayPal's age, you are supporting the original statement.
"In general, I feel graphical installers for operating systems are a bad idea, since you really should not be installing an OS unless you know what you're doing."
I think a distinction needs to be made here. I agree that installing an operating system is not for everyone, and that those who do want to do so need to know what they are doing. However, What does having a graphical installer have to do with this? Some people function much better when using text-mode systems, but others function better with a more graphical environment. I fall in the latter category. Some of the issues are simple - monospaced fonts are more tiring to read - and using a graphical installer helps relieve some unnecessary pains.
I think it is brilliant, as it is aimed at new users and not geeks/coders.
Unfortunately, to at least some geeks (me), it looks nasty. When I look at a webpage like that, I'm reminded of companies that avoid giving useful information in order to try to sell a product that sucks.
Having consistent view across the entire Mozilla site would be much more usable (in my opinion). It could be kept simple and clear (and still show some connection to other Mozilla products), but not look like a caffeine-induced all-talk-no-action sales pitch.
"The Prius handled 3 winters of extreme cold (-13^F is the coldest I've encountered), snow, and ice without any trouble whatsoever."
Does anyone have experience with these cars at lower temperatures? Living on the Canadian Prairies, it gets colder than that. Will it start/run at -35C (about -30F)? Does it get sluggish/inefficient at those temperatures?
Not sure about the first part, but I agree with Knoppix. I've never successfully installed Debian myself. Probably my fault, but it never works for me. Knoppix pretty much did. That's how I got this system running.
SuSE was also able to get this system running well. No mess, no fuss. They may include some closed stuff. I couldn't install the nVidia drivers during install, but I was able to install them using YaST as part of the first boot.
SuSE just works. It is still ahead of any Debian-based system I've seen. Knoppix is getting closer, but SuSE has *really* polished their product.
Now if only they would switch from RPMs to DEBs....
I highly recommend trying SuSE. I love Debian, and I hope to play around with Gentoo some day, but SuSE has put together a really sweet product. YaST2 makes system administration very straightforward. The main reason I switched is because SuSE supports KDE better than GNOME, and I really like GNOME. Still, SuSE almost made me switch to KDE. I still miss those 3 days of using YaST.
Slashdot Mirror
They're also working on a new version, at least to see if it's a feasible option (i.e. if there's a market for it).
Not to mention video cards and IMAX movie technology.
or 18 in a number of provinces (Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, others?)
But different people work in different ways. For people who are more visual-oriented, such an environment could be very helpful. It would enable them to move things around on their computer screen similar to the way they might move different items around on their desks. Items that are not needed right away could be set aside, much as a book is placed on a bookshelf. It's still easily available, and is easily seen as such, but it is not longer in the way. Items that are "completed" could be closed as usual, but ones that will be needed again shortly are tucked aside, but still present. Granted, for most programmers, such an environment would probably not be the most efficient, but not everyone in the world is a programmer.
You have to admit that misspelling "cells" is kind of amusing in this context... :-)
Yep. I love it.
Try a different (better) webmail provider. Not everything is so sucky. FastMail.FM works very well for me. They actually care about their customers (gasp!). They do reserve the right to add some ads to the free guest accounts at some point, but they will work hard to make sure they aren't too disruptive. I've heard that Runbox is quite good too.
Actually, it's not that bad. I use email to back up my files. It's fairly efficient for basic stuff, like my documents and things I really don't want to lose. Just .tgz it, gpg it, and upload it to a folder on my imap account. If a meteor strikes my computer and all my CD backups (without hitting me) I can still recover all my critical data. If something manages to take out me, all my backup CDs (in a couple different cities) and all my email backups (two different continents), I think my documents are the least of my worries...
One could fire the same sort of response back at your comment. "Or, you could, gasp!, do some RESEARCH and find out that this journalist is quite fond of Linux and gives it quite fair coverage in his newsletters." ;-)
> if it's not made or supported anymore, that's not Linux's fault.
Did you read the article? He's using modern hardware:
I would love to send a The Cheat.
Hold on tight, The Cheat! We're blasting off to the moon!!!
Why not host your mail separately with a dedicated email provider? Since email is their business, they make sure it's reliable.
I'm rather fond of FastMail.FM, though I've heard that others like Runbox are quite good as well.
Test the waters with a live CD like Morphix or Knoppix. If your hardware gets detected well and things just work, install it to your hard drive.
My experience with SuSE was that hardware setup was a dream. I still miss YaST. Dependency hell drove me away. Apparently APT for RPM is quite good at resolving dependencies too. I just found that with Debian software installation is painless (using Synaptic or Aptitude as a frontend for APT) and things just work (once the hardware is configured - that's where Knoppix/Morphix come in).
Debian's "testing" distribution (currently Sarge) is really quite stable. The bugs get worked out in Sid (unstable), but the software is still quite recent (unlike Woody/stable). I found dealing with software installations on other systems painful compared with Debian. Everything I need is in the package repository, so apt-get/aptitude/synaptic does everything for me.
When I upgraded from kernel 2.4.22-xfs (that came with Knoppix) to 2.4.24 (standard debian kernel) it was that simple. Two commands and a reboot and it was running. There's a setting in some config file that will run update-grub for me, but I was too lazy to make the change.
Oh, I also had to recompile my nVidia video driver, but NV makes that so easy to do. Debian has some package for it. I should get around to trying it some day.
(Knoppix.net seems to be down right now - try the original site. It's not as easy to navigate, but the ISO is available there.
andy
yes
The Windows version always seems to have a few issues the Linux version doesn't. Which version did you install?
I've heard that one too, but I'm pretty sure the use of it as a short form of the Greek IESOUS is a significantly older tradition.
Yeah, but the definition you just quoted doesn't say "age, dignity, character, and position." In that definition, any one of those four qualities would make something venerable. By acknowledging PayPal's age, you are supporting the original statement.
An easy workaround is to copy-paste the address into a new window.
"In general, I feel graphical installers for operating systems are a bad idea, since you really should not be installing an OS unless you know what you're doing."
I think a distinction needs to be made here. I agree that installing an operating system is not for everyone, and that those who do want to do so need to know what they are doing. However, What does having a graphical installer have to do with this? Some people function much better when using text-mode systems, but others function better with a more graphical environment. I fall in the latter category. Some of the issues are simple - monospaced fonts are more tiring to read - and using a graphical installer helps relieve some unnecessary pains.
I think it is brilliant, as it is aimed at new users and not geeks/coders.
Unfortunately, to at least some geeks (me), it looks nasty. When I look at a webpage like that, I'm reminded of companies that avoid giving useful information in order to try to sell a product that sucks.
Having consistent view across the entire Mozilla site would be much more usable (in my opinion). It could be kept simple and clear (and still show some connection to other Mozilla products), but not look like a caffeine-induced all-talk-no-action sales pitch.
"The Prius handled 3 winters of extreme cold (-13^F is the coldest I've encountered), snow, and ice without any trouble whatsoever."
Does anyone have experience with these cars at lower temperatures? Living on the Canadian Prairies, it gets colder than that. Will it start/run at -35C (about -30F)? Does it get sluggish/inefficient at those temperatures?
In the monthly graph I see a similar spike about 3 weeks ago (Week 30). Did you get /.ed then too?
Just curious.
Not sure about the first part, but I agree with Knoppix. I've never successfully installed Debian myself. Probably my fault, but it never works for me. Knoppix pretty much did. That's how I got this system running.
SuSE was also able to get this system running well. No mess, no fuss. They may include some closed stuff. I couldn't install the nVidia drivers during install, but I was able to install them using YaST as part of the first boot.
SuSE just works. It is still ahead of any Debian-based system I've seen. Knoppix is getting closer, but SuSE has *really* polished their product.
Now if only they would switch from RPMs to DEBs....
I highly recommend trying SuSE. I love Debian, and I hope to play around with Gentoo some day, but SuSE has put together a really sweet product. YaST2 makes system administration very straightforward. The main reason I switched is because SuSE supports KDE better than GNOME, and I really like GNOME. Still, SuSE almost made me switch to KDE. I still miss those 3 days of using YaST.
Woo hoo! Notice how all the outages are south of the border? We are so good! ;-)