Absolutely: we have crossed the threshold where the benefits are now obliterated by the cost and inconvenience of keeping Win PCs running.
I'm a Windows user, but now use Linux exclusively to surf the Internet. My home Windows machine is disconnected from, and will never be re-connected to, the Internet.
I'm looking at the Mac Mini, but not sure if I want to put my family through a third learning curve.
Hear hear! My wonderful Linspire (Debian-based) browser crashes on certain sites (I've never seen IE or Firefox/Windows crash).
The Linux CD burner software crashes. I can't use the friggin' CD burner I bought with the machine.
It took me four hours to get my HP P1000 printer working on Linux, after cruising the support newsgroups. Funny I never had to consult Windows support groups to get a printer going.
You're thinking of Bernard Baruch in the 1920's. He said when he heard a shoeshine boy on the street recommending a stock, he knew it was time to bail out of the market.
This is a good example of how Slashdot is degenerating into irrelevance.
The Farnese Atlas is an interesting example of [1] lost knowledge being rediscovered, [2] ancient wisdom forgotten during the Dark Ages, and what do we get?
I write code at work, I write code at home. It's the funnest thing you can do with your clothes on. I'd rather write than play golf. I am grateful I have been able to support my family by writing code.
In the forty years I have been programming, I have noticed in my colleagues and acquaintances an interesting correlation between analytical skills, and having learned latin.
The use of cases (nominative, ablative, genitive, etc) enables the construction of some humongous sentences. The dissecting thereof sharpens the mind and prepares one for the analysis and synthesis of business problems.
I used exactly the same strategy. Bought a second, fast CPU, and loaded Linspire. The Windows and Linux machine sit side-by-side, sharing a keyboard and monitor. I physically disconnected the Windows machine from the Internet.
Now my family uses Linux to surf the web and download MP3s. My wife copies selected files (over our LAN) over to Windows. My daughter continues to use Macromedia Dreamweaver and FlahsMX on Windows.
No more spyware, no more time wasted keeping virus definitions up to date. Ahhhhh! peace.
Things are not that simple: [1] His wife may be wanting to run an application that is not available on Linux (I know my family does). [2] Some amateur applications (games, etc) can only run under Administrator.
For the average person, there comes a point when the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, namely how much pain will you endure just to surf the Net and do a bit of email?
"Hang up your hat" is right. I'm a Windows developer, and I have given up surfing the Net with Windows. I bought a second PC, installed Linspire, and that's all my family is allowed to surf with.
My time is too valuable to fritter away chasing insidious spyware written by people a whole lot smarter and savvier than me.
I know a recent EE graduate. At the beginning of every university course, someone in the class would timoroulsy raise a hand and ask the professor "Will there be any programming in this course?".
A huge collective sigh of relief would greet a "No". Couldn't hack it.
Hear! Hear! I've just started using Linspire, and I've lost count of the "Error encountered. Report to (someone or other...). At least Windows has the decency of displaying a stack address.
BTW when's the last time you had to consult a friendly user support group in order to use IE?
You need full-time testers. In a small company, they can also double as support staff.
It never ceases to amaze me what strange and unexpected scenarios a tester can conjure, often exposing flaws and weaknesses in the code. A good tester can intercept many bugs before the product goes out the door. Congratulate and reward them.
Summer students also bring a different perspective, and can evince whole new categories of problems with the code.
We have found that automated testing tools require the skills (and salary) of a programmer, so what's the point? Pay the programmer to program, and hire more testers.
Fed up with the absurd circus of Windows patches, anti-virus software that's lagging, anti-spyware that doesn't know where to find all the breadcrumbs, software firewalls, hardware firewalls, I switched to Lindows/Linspire. My 13-year old daughter was cruising the 'Net within ten minutes (she had to fuss with her desktop motif first...).
We are now surfing safely. However, it should be said that [1] the Mozilla-derived browser crashes regularly and unreproduceably. [2] In KDevelop, the wizard-generated "Hello World" program won't link (make) or run. [3] "Network Connection" program goes into 45-sec. loop, then crashes because the same entry is repeated several times in/etc/resolv.conf. Huh?
I just installed the Linspire variant of Debian/Linux. Its Internet browser crashes regularly for no apparent reason. Windows IE never crashed this much. Where's the much vaunted stability? This is one aspect I wished Linux would emulate...
I develop under Win 2000 (VS6, MFC). I run for several weeks without having to reboot. There might be a problem with your hardware or one of your apps.
I have never seen a BSOD. Used to get them all the time with NT 4.
If Linux were as popular as Windows, it would also attract buggy drivers, and be unstable.
Slashdot Mirror
Absolutely! Never end a line with the opening brace!
// you gotta work hard to match the opening brace
I fail to see the point of this:
if(condition) {
expression1;
expression2;
}
Two words: Spam Arrest. Zero spam, no filters to nurse, no lost mail.
I'm a Windows user, but now use Linux exclusively to surf the Internet. My home Windows machine is disconnected from, and will never be re-connected to, the Internet.
I'm looking at the Mac Mini, but not sure if I want to put my family through a third learning curve.
The Linux CD burner software crashes. I can't use the friggin' CD burner I bought with the machine.
It took me four hours to get my HP P1000 printer working on Linux, after cruising the support newsgroups. Funny I never had to consult Windows support groups to get a printer going.
The emperor penguin has no clothes.
You're thinking of Bernard Baruch in the 1920's. He said when he heard a shoeshine boy on the street recommending a stock, he knew it was time to bail out of the market.
Parent's signature (We sleep...) is sad but so accurate.
He released TeX in Pascal formatted with technique.
The Farnese Atlas is an interesting example of [1] lost knowledge being rediscovered, [2] ancient wisdom forgotten during the Dark Ages, and what do we get?
I hope I will have written code the week I die.
Picture the epitaph on the tombstone:
void main(void)
{ printf("Goodbye, World");
exit(0);
}
The use of cases (nominative, ablative, genitive, etc) enables the construction of some humongous sentences. The dissecting thereof sharpens the mind and prepares one for the analysis and synthesis of business problems.
Noli carborundum illegitimi
Now my family uses Linux to surf the web and download MP3s. My wife copies selected files (over our LAN) over to Windows. My daughter continues to use Macromedia Dreamweaver and FlahsMX on Windows.
No more spyware, no more time wasted keeping virus definitions up to date. Ahhhhh! peace.
Things are not that simple: [1] His wife may be wanting to run an application that is not available on Linux (I know my family does). [2] Some amateur applications (games, etc) can only run under Administrator.
For the average person, there comes a point when the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, namely how much pain will you endure just to surf the Net and do a bit of email?
My time is too valuable to fritter away chasing insidious spyware written by people a whole lot smarter and savvier than me.
Make that "outclasses my trade".
I know a recent EE graduate. At the beginning of every university course, someone in the class would timoroulsy raise a hand and ask the professor "Will there be any programming in this course?".
A huge collective sigh of relief would greet a "No". Couldn't hack it.
Pretty lame: the down arrow generates a '6', and the up arrow an icelandic 'ð'. Real intuitive.
BTW when's the last time you had to consult a friendly user support group in order to use IE?
It never ceases to amaze me what strange and unexpected scenarios a tester can conjure, often exposing flaws and weaknesses in the code. A good tester can intercept many bugs before the product goes out the door. Congratulate and reward them.
Summer students also bring a different perspective, and can evince whole new categories of problems with the code.
We have found that automated testing tools require the skills (and salary) of a programmer, so what's the point? Pay the programmer to program, and hire more testers.
That's an interesting comment on the rigid orthodoxy of this forum.
Nevertheless, always an interesting read.
Canadian weather is nine months of winter, interrupted by three months of bad sledding.
We are now surfing safely. However, it should be said that [1] the Mozilla-derived browser crashes regularly and unreproduceably. [2] In KDevelop, the wizard-generated "Hello World" program won't link (make) or run. [3] "Network Connection" program goes into 45-sec. loop, then crashes because the same entry is repeated several times in /etc/resolv.conf. Huh?
Still has a loooong way to go...
I just installed the Linspire variant of Debian/Linux. Its Internet browser crashes regularly for no apparent reason. Windows IE never crashed this much. Where's the much vaunted stability? This is one aspect I wished Linux would emulate...
A key part of the transition to IT analyst was to pick a coverage area that complimented but didn't duplicate the core competency
The Unisys GIF patent (a pox on their house!) expired last year in the U.S., and expires this year (June?) in Europe.
I have never seen a BSOD. Used to get them all the time with NT 4.
If Linux were as popular as Windows, it would also attract buggy drivers, and be unstable.