That was the first thing that came to my mind too. The point is to work together, and while gaining experience is always a cool thing, the primary goal is to gain that experience together! Sure, some people turn it into a Monty-Hall game, where the goal is to create some god like character that can kill off ancient dragons before lunch and immolate entire planets with the flick of the wrist. The group I played with always stressed character development and the fun of interacting with realistic, believable, consistent, well thought out characters. We could write books about some of our characters!
Then, I thought about EverQuest... I'm not so sure about that one. I think EQ can be a real opportunity for developing characters in a rich visual setting, but for most people, it's just a competition to see who can get the most insane number of levels, or make the most money off collected magic items.
My wife started using Juno years ago before I had an ISP that would give me multiple email addresses, and long before all the popular Web based email providers (a.k.a., yahoo and hotmail). She has continued to use it because she likes the interface, even though I now PAY FOR an always on cable account (Roadrunner). It's always been a decent service, with a reasonably good interface, and doesn't add any expense on top of the existing ISP.
However, with this change in the privacy statement, I may encourage her to move over to some other service!!!
Actually, Taco and crew are caught between a rock and a hard place. You KNOW that,
if he'd just posted the news without any comment, everyone would be up in arms, screaming about how "Slashdot is posting anti-Microsoft stories again!!"
If he had ignored it, everyone would be up in arms, screaming "Slashdot is ignoring major stories about server outages/hacks, just because they're Microsoft!!"
As it is, everyone is up in arms screaming, "Slashdot is bashing Microsoft again!!!"
You can make some of the people happy some of the time, but you can never make all of the people happy any of the time.
As far as look-and=feel, Linux is as close to Unix as anything can get. The tools are pretty much identical, and most of the programming interfaces are close enough that an application written for Solaris or AIX can simpy be recompiled to run under Linux (a couple of #ifdef's not withstanding).
Remember though, the point of the "GNU's Not Unix" is the commercial, closed and proprietary nature of the commercial Unixes. "GNU" is Richard "Information Wants to be Free" Stallman's invention. His beef has always been about software that is "owned", regardless of whether that software comes out of Microsoft, IBM, Sun Microsystems, or RedHat.
So... Linux, and in particular the GNU toolset, is NOT the same as Unix, and in many ways, MS is smart in seeing that the threat of Linux is different from the one Unix poses. Unix, in all its commercial flavors, is just "another alternative to Windows", one which competes on much the same grounds of quality, support and marketing.
GNU/Linux, on the other hand, is a completely different approach to the development and distribution of software and even Intellectual Property. This is what has Microsoft scratching its head.
> As far as office goes get staroffice yes it is big and kind of ugly but it works really well with office apps.
Well... Yes and no. I do this all the time, but SO is not a drop-in replacement for Office. Yes, 5.2 is a lot more stable than 5.1, and the Office compatability has vastly improved, but in my experience, it's still in the 90% range -- worse when you have embedded diagrams or other MS objects. Believe me, I put a lot of effort into running Linux while living in a MS centric workplace, but there are still times when I just plain have to use the NT box to read something or reply to a Word document, or run a specialized application.
If they had allowed generic usage, then even if they only "officially" supported Windows, then they would still deal with emails and calls, which cost time and money to take care of.
Emails and calls which they make it very clear that you will be charged for! Seems that there are plenty of other services which put forth the official position that, "if you want to play around with fire, don't come running to us when our product breaks, unless you want to pay us to fix it for you. However, we aren't going to stop you!"
>
download kernel, ungzip and untar the kernel in/usr/src (remove the existing/usr/src/linux
symlink first)
DON'T FORGET THIS STEP! First time I untared a kernel in/usr/src, I forgot to do this, and wiped out my current kernel source tree and all my current, working config files. Actually, aside from a lot of cursing and sweating and having to figure out all those arcaine options, no real harm was done, but it created a lot of extra work before I was done!
Another hint - Save your old kernel! It is very simple to stick two or more kernels in the lilo.conf file. Call your original one "linux" (the default), and the new one "new". Then, on the LILO command prompt, type "new". That way, if you've managed to hopelessly bugger the new kernel, you can still boot the old one.
Second, life without the IC and lasers would be far less jarring (hey, I lived it, briefly, and I even remember bits of it) than life without lightbulbs. Go ahead. Try to live two days without electricity. Or the internal combustion engine.
OK... Now ask that same question of a man from 1920. He'd probably shrug and ask where to get more lamp oil.
The point is, we've had more time to weave electricty into every part of our society, to the point where we have become totally dependent on electricity. In another 50 years, people will have become so dependent on "smart" devices (i.e., embedded computers), that they won't know how to function without them. How many people do you know now who know how to operate a manual SLR camera (i.e., with an external hand held light meter)? How many garages can fix automobiles with mechanical points and spark coils?
Then spend a day without using a CD or a microchip.
I think you would be VERY surprised how difficult this would be!! For starters, forget driving a car (electronic ignition), or having the bus arrive on time, or watching TV (solid state), or even listening to the RADIO (unless you still have an old vaccum tube model left around from the days of your youth). Don't even think about using the phone (all the switches are computerized), and you'd better hope it was a warm day, because you wouldn't be able to get any electricty or natural gas.
> This is a *good* and brave decision - it's better to write the money off than to pour money into the Linux blackhole
of giveaway software (Photopaint, etc.)
Why?
I don't get it. They already have a Solaris/X11 based product. The Linux version looked exactly the same as the UNIX version, so you can't bitch about the UI. (Correct me it I'm wrong, but Solaris is still using X11, and doesn't have anti-aliasing either.) In the case of Photopaint, is it a matter of bad architecture, or of trying to simply shoe-horn an application from one architecture into another, without trying to understand the fundamental differences?
I don't discount the fact that there isn't a lot of money to be made off the Linux market, but I can't imagine that they are pouring vast amounts of money down a black hole in order to port FM from Unix to Linux!
The way I see, I can pay Corel $700 every couple of years for the next significant version upgrade, or I can pay $100 every year for
continuous, incremental improvement.
Pfffffttthhhh!!! cough - cough - choke - cough!
On a product with a base price of $700, do you really think they would sell you the same thing for a $100 yearly fee? How about something more like $300/year? If Corel doesn't make the difference in revenue back in less than 3 years, they aren't going to go that route!! I'd still say getting a professional package for $300 instead of $700 is a good deal, and even at a yearly fee, it's still small change considering how much return you're getting on your investment, but don't think that you are saving fistfulls of money in the process. You will end up paying more money for the service, though you may also end up with better software in the long run.
Besides, if the subscription cost is sufficiently low, then for the people who for some strange reason must have the lastest MS-Office-foo
thing, a subscription service might end up being cheaper.
If the subscription cost doesn't end up being cheaper, well then, don't buy it.
Question: Have you ever worked in a real office environment?
I remember the first time I experienced the Word95/Office97 Wars. The company I was working for (Eastman Kodak Co.) tried to enforce the use of the Win95 version of MS Word because the Office97 internal file formats were incompatable, and if one person started using Office97, the entire company would have to upgrade. Of course, that only lasted a couple months before we started trying to communicate with people on the outside (sending us one page emains as DOC attachments, DUH!), and the cmpany quickly caved in.
No, in a REAL office, there is usually little choice other than to cough up the latest MS Tax to get their newest software.
>>...if you standardize on Outlook you're stuck running outlook. Users on [other systems] are out
of luck.
> Nope! Exchange still has POP3 and SMTP. And Exchange 2000 makes better use of those protocols.
Anyone who has worked at Xerox knows that it's a very Microsoft shop. Everything works on Exchange/Outlook, and aside from losing a few millions of $$ in productivity and down time every time another email virus hits, it works pretty well.
There is, however, a large group of "underground" users who fiercely stick with Other OS environments, and use other email clients. We have pretty good Unix based POP3 servers, and people use either Netscape, or under Windows environments, Pegasis Mail.
The SOP for getting Outlook mail into the Unix mail system used to be setting up forwarding on the Exchange server, but that was incredibly painful, since Exchange stripped off all the mail headers, making forwarded email look like it was from yourself. You had to go back into Outlook to dig up return addresses anyway!
Recently, they just configured the POP3 protocol on the Exchange servers. This works much better, but is still a pain, since Netscape 4.x does not support multiple POP accounts. Mozilla does, as do some other clients. However, Mozilla (M18) still has "issues", so I can't use it as my default email client.
Bottom Line:
It is possible to live in an environment that supports multiple mail exchange systems.
You are going to have a very hard time converting all your current users to a new system. (I've seen people quit over smaller issues than this.)
It still seems silly to tripple your administrative costs, just so people can share calendars...
Find the reason why the managers want to change, and see if there is another, easier way to fill in the perceived gaps in your service.
I really liked the first Dune book. To this day, I still feel guilty running a lot of extra water in the sink...
However, the subsequent books were a letdown. Too much mumbo-jumbo and metaphysical mush substituted in the place of real plot and character development.
Seems that every few months we see yet another SHOCKING DISCOVERY about dinosaurs and how they lived. Everyone has his pet theory, and the more controversial, the better. The truth of the matter is, we don't have a clue!
Let's face it. We're looking at old, scattered fragments of bones. We can come up with some interesting theories, mostly by comparing ancient bone fragments to more modern species, but they are still people making long shots in the dark. Worse yet, factor in peoples' natural tendency to seek the limelight with some "ground breaking" new theory, and you see why we have these "new" theories cropping up all the time.
> Because there is MORE on the ballot than just those two people. There are local referendums, laws and such to vote on, not to mention your state and congressional representatives,...
Truth be told, the outcomes of those local elections probably have more effect on your day to day life than does the presidential election.
> It's a shame really. It almost seems like every election it all comes down to a question of which freedom you are going to vote away. Why can't we ever have an election where it's a choice between the freedoms two candidates can work to give us?
Are you really surprised?
Face it -- the entire political process is about compromises, trying to pick between two or more ambiguous issues, about trying to keep most of the people happy most of the time, of deciding between what people want and what you honestly think is best for them.
Here's a clue: You will never find a candidate you agree with on 100% of the issues. Chances are, you will never find a candidate you agree with on more than 50% of the issues. Hopefully, you can find someone with at least some clue about the issues you think are important, and some sense of integrity and honor -- enough to help guide him or her through the morass of political deal making and lobbying and just plain difficult decisions that have to be made in any office.
I happen to have voted for Bush, though for the opposite reasons that you did. Frankly, I'm scared to think what he will do the DoJ in the MS case, but there are some other issues that I agree with him on. It's certainly not a perfect decision, but at least it's a step more or less in the right direction... hopefully.
> While the article does mention that the cost of the
technology must drop further (from about 10 to 30 cents per ID to a couple
of pennies), it overlooks the potential impact on privacy. (Just imagine
embedding these tags in your clothes.)"
What's the effective distance on these things? I didn't see it in a quick scan through the article. It's not like they could scan your ID code from 10 feet away...
(Just make sure they don't try to print one of these suckers on your forehead or the back of your hand...)
> I want, bluntly, a quid pro quo. I want to know that if I give to them, they are going to work to improve the lot of the geeks and outcasts who are getting stepped on, and the civil rights of all students.
OK... It doesn't take a rocket scientist (or a PhD in Phychology) to know that the schools are screwed up. Now, are you just going to complain about it, or are you going to try to do something to change the situation?
> I'd far and away rather directly support the students, than the institutions: supporting non-school organizations which help students.
Well.... are you actually doing anything? I put in 9 hours or so last Saturday trying to jurry-rig a bunch of old crusty computer equipment at a local school that doesn't have the $$$ to go out and buy shiny new computers and network equipment. I've donated hundreds of dollars worth of equipment and many hours of time, and I know people who've given a lot more than I have. (Most of them are teachers, by the way...)
The point the previous poster was trying to make was that it's high time we quit sitting around on our high horses, pissing and moaning about how awful yhe schools are, or what jerks the teachers are, or how incompetent parents are, or how selfish most students are, and DO something about it. Seems if people like you and me gave more back into our society (without worrying about who is "worthy" of our time), we'd have a lot less to bitch about.
Remember -- Both Sun and IBM are first and foremost, hardware companies. They will do in software whatever it takes to sell more silicon. Under pressure, Sun will drop the prices on Solaris (it's already "free" on Intel platforms, for the price of the CD's themselves) in order to sell more hardware. That's why they support Linux (allbeit in a limited way, on low end machines). They don't care what software you're running, as long as you buy Sun hardware.
> The difference: with the Win 2k install any user in our domain could logon - the internet was there and working, the
network was there.
Funny... When I installed Linux the last time, I didn't have to manually set up either the network, or the user names. I don't even have to manually mount my home directory.
Oh wait... That's because my install came with DHCP, NIS and the automounter. All those things were set up automatically by freely available tools (included in the default install), all using Open Standards.
No, the problem isn't that Linux can't do all of those things that you've come to depend on Windows doing for you. The problem is that you are too lazy to take a minute or two to learn, or worse, that you're too stuck on Windows to try something new yourself, preferring rather to trot out what all your friends are telling you, rather than investigate anything yourself.
> Some of it, such as MMF chain letters should be forwarded to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service...
Unfortunately, most of the scams I've seen lately have gotten really good at skirting the various regulations aimed at curbing the old pyramid schemes. For example, by offering a "service" (e.g., sending you "publications" telling you how to "make money fast" on stock market speculation), they gain just enough legitimacy that they can escape US Postal regulations.
This effort looks like it is trying a slightly different tact. It's also an attempt at creating cooperation between international agencies, since the problem now mirrors the international nature of the Internet.
The only thing worse than a Troll is a Whining Troll.
OK. Your post was a step or two above the typical "Lenux Sux" post in that it showed a little effort (I'm assuming you didn't just cut-n-paste text out of some MS PR glossy), and I wouldn't have moderated it down myself, but it's obvious you have no clue what you are talking about. Throwing around old worn out cliches about Linux being a command line only OS, and telling us how it's a "single machine OS" smacks of someone whoring for Karma points based on replies to your post.
It's a rough world out there. If you can't stand getting moderated down once in a while, then go play in some other sandbox. That, or try learning something new for a change.
Now here's a troll if I ever saw one, but nevertheless, I'll bite...
OK Timmy, you admit that you've only installed Linux once, and it was a long time ago. This qualifies you as a Linux Guru(TM)? Methinks you were just too lazy to take a couple of minutes to learn a new and different technology (as opposed to letting Brother Bill lead you along by the nose).
Oh dear! Because Linux is a single
machine OS, she didn't (and couldn't) log on to the network when she logged on to her machine.
HO! HO! HO! Now you've got me rolling on the floor!! You, my dear, are so utterly clueless it makes me scream. Single machine OS? Have you ever actually used any UNIX variants? Have you, perhaps, heard of NFS? Novell? Do you know how to run an X display? Perhaps you have never had to do a telnet or remote login?
Ah... Enough for one post. My one suggestion to you is to get out of your little MS box and try going somewhere new today...
Slashdot Mirror
Then, I thought about EverQuest... I'm not so sure about that one. I think EQ can be a real opportunity for developing characters in a rich visual setting, but for most people, it's just a competition to see who can get the most insane number of levels, or make the most money off collected magic items.
--
However, with this change in the privacy statement, I may encourage her to move over to some other service!!!
--
The only commercial I saw with a real surprise twist.
--
You can make some of the people happy some of the time, but you can never make all of the people happy any of the time.
(...or something like that...)
--
Ummmm.... something like, it's got a real, live product?
--
Remember though, the point of the "GNU's Not Unix" is the commercial, closed and proprietary nature of the commercial Unixes. "GNU" is Richard "Information Wants to be Free" Stallman's invention. His beef has always been about software that is "owned", regardless of whether that software comes out of Microsoft, IBM, Sun Microsystems, or RedHat.
So... Linux, and in particular the GNU toolset, is NOT the same as Unix, and in many ways, MS is smart in seeing that the threat of Linux is different from the one Unix poses. Unix, in all its commercial flavors, is just "another alternative to Windows", one which competes on much the same grounds of quality, support and marketing.
GNU/Linux, on the other hand, is a completely different approach to the development and distribution of software and even Intellectual Property. This is what has Microsoft scratching its head.
--
Well... Yes and no. I do this all the time, but SO is not a drop-in replacement for Office. Yes, 5.2 is a lot more stable than 5.1, and the Office compatability has vastly improved, but in my experience, it's still in the 90% range -- worse when you have embedded diagrams or other MS objects. Believe me, I put a lot of effort into running Linux while living in a MS centric workplace, but there are still times when I just plain have to use the NT box to read something or reply to a Word document, or run a specialized application.
SO is great, but it's no silver bullet yet...
--
--
DON'T FORGET THIS STEP! First time I untared a kernel in /usr/src, I forgot to do this, and wiped out my current kernel source tree and all my current, working config files. Actually, aside from a lot of cursing and sweating and having to figure out all those arcaine options, no real harm was done, but it created a lot of extra work before I was done!
Another hint - Save your old kernel! It is very simple to stick two or more kernels in the lilo.conf file. Call your original one "linux" (the default), and the new one "new". Then, on the LILO command prompt, type "new". That way, if you've managed to hopelessly bugger the new kernel, you can still boot the old one.
--
The point is, we've had more time to weave electricty into every part of our society, to the point where we have become totally dependent on electricity. In another 50 years, people will have become so dependent on "smart" devices (i.e., embedded computers), that they won't know how to function without them. How many people do you know now who know how to operate a manual SLR camera (i.e., with an external hand held light meter)? How many garages can fix automobiles with mechanical points and spark coils?
I think you would be VERY surprised how difficult this would be!! For starters, forget driving a car (electronic ignition), or having the bus arrive on time, or watching TV (solid state), or even listening to the RADIO (unless you still have an old vaccum tube model left around from the days of your youth). Don't even think about using the phone (all the switches are computerized), and you'd better hope it was a warm day, because you wouldn't be able to get any electricty or natural gas.It's all a matter of perspective...
--
Why?
I don't get it. They already have a Solaris/X11 based product. The Linux version looked exactly the same as the UNIX version, so you can't bitch about the UI. (Correct me it I'm wrong, but Solaris is still using X11, and doesn't have anti-aliasing either.) In the case of Photopaint, is it a matter of bad architecture, or of trying to simply shoe-horn an application from one architecture into another, without trying to understand the fundamental differences?
I don't discount the fact that there isn't a lot of money to be made off the Linux market, but I can't imagine that they are pouring vast amounts of money down a black hole in order to port FM from Unix to Linux!
--
On a product with a base price of $700, do you really think they would sell you the same thing for a $100 yearly fee? How about something more like $300/year? If Corel doesn't make the difference in revenue back in less than 3 years, they aren't going to go that route!! I'd still say getting a professional package for $300 instead of $700 is a good deal, and even at a yearly fee, it's still small change considering how much return you're getting on your investment, but don't think that you are saving fistfulls of money in the process. You will end up paying more money for the service, though you may also end up with better software in the long run.
--
I remember the first time I experienced the Word95/Office97 Wars. The company I was working for (Eastman Kodak Co.) tried to enforce the use of the Win95 version of MS Word because the Office97 internal file formats were incompatable, and if one person started using Office97, the entire company would have to upgrade. Of course, that only lasted a couple months before we started trying to communicate with people on the outside (sending us one page emains as DOC attachments, DUH!), and the cmpany quickly caved in.
No, in a REAL office, there is usually little choice other than to cough up the latest MS Tax to get their newest software.
--
There is, however, a large group of "underground" users who fiercely stick with Other OS environments, and use other email clients. We have pretty good Unix based POP3 servers, and people use either Netscape, or under Windows environments, Pegasis Mail.
The SOP for getting Outlook mail into the Unix mail system used to be setting up forwarding on the Exchange server, but that was incredibly painful, since Exchange stripped off all the mail headers, making forwarded email look like it was from yourself. You had to go back into Outlook to dig up return addresses anyway!
Recently, they just configured the POP3 protocol on the Exchange servers. This works much better, but is still a pain, since Netscape 4.x does not support multiple POP accounts. Mozilla does, as do some other clients. However, Mozilla (M18) still has "issues", so I can't use it as my default email client.
Bottom Line:
-
It is possible to live in an environment that supports multiple mail exchange systems.
-
You are going to have a very hard time converting all your current users to a new system. (I've seen people quit over smaller issues than this.)
-
It still seems silly to tripple your administrative costs, just so people can share calendars...
Find the reason why the managers want to change, and see if there is another, easier way to fill in the perceived gaps in your service.--
However, the subsequent books were a letdown. Too much mumbo-jumbo and metaphysical mush substituted in the place of real plot and character development.
--
Let's face it. We're looking at old, scattered fragments of bones. We can come up with some interesting theories, mostly by comparing ancient bone fragments to more modern species, but they are still people making long shots in the dark. Worse yet, factor in peoples' natural tendency to seek the limelight with some "ground breaking" new theory, and you see why we have these "new" theories cropping up all the time.
--
Truth be told, the outcomes of those local elections probably have more effect on your day to day life than does the presidential election.
--
Are you really surprised?
Face it -- the entire political process is about compromises, trying to pick between two or more ambiguous issues, about trying to keep most of the people happy most of the time, of deciding between what people want and what you honestly think is best for them.
Here's a clue: You will never find a candidate you agree with on 100% of the issues. Chances are, you will never find a candidate you agree with on more than 50% of the issues. Hopefully, you can find someone with at least some clue about the issues you think are important, and some sense of integrity and honor -- enough to help guide him or her through the morass of political deal making and lobbying and just plain difficult decisions that have to be made in any office.
I happen to have voted for Bush, though for the opposite reasons that you did. Frankly, I'm scared to think what he will do the DoJ in the MS case, but there are some other issues that I agree with him on. It's certainly not a perfect decision, but at least it's a step more or less in the right direction... hopefully.
--
What's the effective distance on these things? I didn't see it in a quick scan through the article. It's not like they could scan your ID code from 10 feet away...
(Just make sure they don't try to print one of these suckers on your forehead or the back of your hand...)
--
OK... It doesn't take a rocket scientist (or a PhD in Phychology) to know that the schools are screwed up. Now, are you just going to complain about it, or are you going to try to do something to change the situation?
> I'd far and away rather directly support the students, than the institutions: supporting non-school organizations which help students.
Well.... are you actually doing anything? I put in 9 hours or so last Saturday trying to jurry-rig a bunch of old crusty computer equipment at a local school that doesn't have the $$$ to go out and buy shiny new computers and network equipment. I've donated hundreds of dollars worth of equipment and many hours of time, and I know people who've given a lot more than I have. (Most of them are teachers, by the way...)
The point the previous poster was trying to make was that it's high time we quit sitting around on our high horses, pissing and moaning about how awful yhe schools are, or what jerks the teachers are, or how incompetent parents are, or how selfish most students are, and DO something about it. Seems if people like you and me gave more back into our society (without worrying about who is "worthy" of our time), we'd have a lot less to bitch about.
--
Remember -- Both Sun and IBM are first and foremost, hardware companies. They will do in software whatever it takes to sell more silicon. Under pressure, Sun will drop the prices on Solaris (it's already "free" on Intel platforms, for the price of the CD's themselves) in order to sell more hardware. That's why they support Linux (allbeit in a limited way, on low end machines). They don't care what software you're running, as long as you buy Sun hardware.
--
Funny... When I installed Linux the last time, I didn't have to manually set up either the network, or the user names. I don't even have to manually mount my home directory.
Oh wait... That's because my install came with DHCP, NIS and the automounter. All those things were set up automatically by freely available tools (included in the default install), all using Open Standards.
No, the problem isn't that Linux can't do all of those things that you've come to depend on Windows doing for you. The problem is that you are too lazy to take a minute or two to learn, or worse, that you're too stuck on Windows to try something new yourself, preferring rather to trot out what all your friends are telling you, rather than investigate anything yourself.
--
Unfortunately, most of the scams I've seen lately have gotten really good at skirting the various regulations aimed at curbing the old pyramid schemes. For example, by offering a "service" (e.g., sending you "publications" telling you how to "make money fast" on stock market speculation), they gain just enough legitimacy that they can escape US Postal regulations.
This effort looks like it is trying a slightly different tact. It's also an attempt at creating cooperation between international agencies, since the problem now mirrors the international nature of the Internet.
--
OK. Your post was a step or two above the typical "Lenux Sux" post in that it showed a little effort (I'm assuming you didn't just cut-n-paste text out of some MS PR glossy), and I wouldn't have moderated it down myself, but it's obvious you have no clue what you are talking about. Throwing around old worn out cliches about Linux being a command line only OS, and telling us how it's a "single machine OS" smacks of someone whoring for Karma points based on replies to your post.
It's a rough world out there. If you can't stand getting moderated down once in a while, then go play in some other sandbox. That, or try learning something new for a change.
--
Now here's a troll if I ever saw one, but nevertheless, I'll bite...
OK Timmy, you admit that you've only installed Linux once, and it was a long time ago. This qualifies you as a Linux Guru(TM)? Methinks you were just too lazy to take a couple of minutes to learn a new and different technology (as opposed to letting Brother Bill lead you along by the nose).
HO! HO! HO! Now you've got me rolling on the floor!! You, my dear, are so utterly clueless it makes me scream. Single machine OS? Have you ever actually used any UNIX variants? Have you, perhaps, heard of NFS? Novell? Do you know how to run an X display? Perhaps you have never had to do a telnet or remote login?Ah... Enough for one post. My one suggestion to you is to get out of your little MS box and try going somewhere new today...
--