Add to this that Alexa users most install the toolbar in Internet Explorer. That discard every slashdot user that use Linux or another browser in Windows.
We are not saying that anyone off the street can do it, we are currently saying it's hellish to manage 500 windows users.
Both operating systems have strong and weak points. I think that Linux is better than Windows and use it. I won't force it on you, do whatever you want, as long as I does not have to give you technical support, I really doesn't care.
I recently installed Linux on my sister's computer that is doesn't know a lot about computers because she had almost all the problems that are typical to windows (worms, BSOD, spyware, someone remotely taking control of her computer...) in two months !
In two days, she was very confortable with her desktop. Of course, she can't use the command line but she is as productive as she was on windows. The only time she boot windows, is to learn Photoshop (I couldn't not convince her to try the Gimp).
I certainly don't wanted to for a test period. They offered 2 free weeks if I gave them my credit card number (in case I don't cancel after 2 weeks). Without that requirement I would have took the 2 week trial of CNR.
I must admit I didn't thought about checking the content of/etc/apt/sources.list, I would have been on Debian but I thought that all those kind of things had been taken care of in a distro that was described as so newbie-friendly.
Anyway, installed Fedora Core 2. Took me less than an hour to configure it the way I liked (not days like someone who wrote an article on it) and I didn't encountered bug yet (even if people claim almost everyday on Slashdot that it is a beta).
P.S.: The page to read when you installed Fedora to be able to know how to install flash, listen to mp3, use yum and all : www.fedorafaq.org
It was still Lindows when I tested. Some things may have change. In Lindows (the version I got anyway), apt-get simply refused to work.
And to clarify on the GPL, I know what you can bundle or not but they should write as the other distro that many packages included comes with their own license. Instead the EULA that poped-up when I first ran it, told that *everything* was copyrighted by them.
I thought that maybe the bad comments on Lindows were made by Linux zealots. I read a good article on it on osnews that gave a discount number that made you able to download it for free for 2 days.
I decided to try it... It is as bad as you heard.
First, you log as root by default. No attempt to tell you that you should create users. You must know it, find it in the menus and compared to the rest of the distribution the dialog box that let you finally add users looks cryptic (from a total newbie point of view).
Second and more important : this distribution is all about lock-in. They try to give you the impression that it is a different operating system than Windows and Linux. They rename everything to "make it easier for beginner". Other newbie-friendly distributions will write something as "Mozilla (Web Browser)" while Lindows will write "Web Browser". You can hardly switch for another application, you don't know what you are using to begin with.
The commands are renamed.
If you take a Knoppix CD and try to make a Lindows user use it, he will be confused.
apt-get doesn't work if you don't pay. You don't just pay for their Click-N-Run gui, you must pay to use apt-get itself.
And finally on a more philosophical point of view:
They don't respect the GPL (they put a disclaimer that basically say : everything in there is copyrighted by us and us alone, don't steal !).
They also don't mention like Mandrake and Fedora (don't know for SuSE) that what you are using is the result of a communauty effort).
The article is about Linux user having all they need by default so the comment is appropriate.
I use Fedora and as the one who replied to you, I can install most of my software with only one command : yum install foo
There is a difference between standardize and monopolize.
You need to be alone to monopolize. Standards *are* good. As long as they are open and everybody can use them.
Maybe but I think it's more compelling to upgrade under Linux.
Under Windows you only get security patches. Under Linux you get the upgrade of all your favorite software.
What I don't understand is that they intend to compete against full-featured Linux by selling a product with _less_ functions than what they usually sell...
It's not only a question of popularity, it's a question of design. Linux is inherently designed to be more secure. Microsoft made choices in the past that are almost impossible to reverse now that make it's software insecure.
Also, in Linux, vunerabilities when found are fixed very quickly. And even if everybody switched to Linux, it would still not be an uniform population with all those different distributions.
Even then, it would not matter. It is clearly written in the GPL FAQ that that if you don't distribute your software, you don't have to share the code.
It can even be a trade secret.
Actually, PS1 games need a PS1 memory card and PS2 games need a PS2 one.
What is a pain in the ass is that many games wants to your memory card to be in slot 1. So you have to switch the position of your PS1 and PS2 cards often.
The thing that makes you save money however is that controllers are totally compatible.
Well... Almost. Dualshock 2 controllers (those of the PS2) tells the console how hard your pressed *each* button. But most games doesn't care, about this function. The only two that I know that make use of that function are Gran Turismo 3 and Ace Combat 4.
And for Gran Turismo, you just have to put the gaz/brake control on your right analog stick instead of buttons and it play better.
Anyway, I love PS2 controllers and hope they will keep this design with the next console. It should, if they want backward compatiblity.
If you downloaded Firefox zip file and extracted it manually, the registry entry that tells flash where is Firefox when it installs is not there and it Firefox won't have Flash or Java support.
The best way to don't have this problem is to simply download the installer and let it install the right entries so Flash and Java can find it when installing.
I remind me of a conversation I had with a friend that illustrate the main reason people don't want to switch.
Me - [explanation of what is FireFox and what are the benefits] Her - I don't want to download another program, IE do the job. And it's what everyone else is using ! Me - Maybe, but your computer got many viruses. (PCCillin shows some viruses but don't want to remove them, probably because the license expired) Her - I didn't installed them myself. Me - No, but using IE is begging for someone to install them for you. Her - [angry face]
Worse is newbies (and average computer) users not knowing how to read at all.
How often did you saw people just clicking the Ok button every single time a windows popup without ever reading it ?
They do try to make you agree to plenty of thing they don't have any right to, exept if you sign a contract (clicking on I agree isn't legally acceptable for a contract).
Licenses are far more restricted in what they can force you to accept than contracts.
But... nobody ever challenged their EULA in court.
By pointing to the fact that Brown made no distinction between Linux being a monolithic kernel and Minix being a Microkernel.
Linus can't have copied Minix because of this fact as Tananbaum pointed out.
If the Lions book was a monolithic kernel, Linus could have copied from it if he had it but that would mean that Tanenbaum is sure to have written his from scratch. Or vice-versa if the Lions book is about a microkernel.
Either way, if one was able to do it from scratch, why not the other ?
I already used Windows. Viruses, crashes, high-cost, spyware and other users that mess up your configuration when you let them use your computer.
I now use Linux and I spend less time on administration and recovering from various problem.
I think it's Windows that is not ready for the desktop.
Slashdot Mirror
Add to this that Alexa users most install the toolbar in Internet Explorer. That discard every slashdot user that use Linux or another browser in Windows.
It's a problem on both sides. I usually get more driver problems on the Windows side but YMMV.
We are not saying that anyone off the street can do it, we are currently saying it's hellish to manage 500 windows users.
Both operating systems have strong and weak points. I think that Linux is better than Windows and use it. I won't force it on you, do whatever you want, as long as I does not have to give you technical support, I really doesn't care.
I recently installed Linux on my sister's computer that is doesn't know a lot about computers because she had almost all the problems that are typical to windows (worms, BSOD, spyware, someone remotely taking control of her computer...) in two months !
In two days, she was very confortable with her desktop. Of course, she can't use the command line but she is as productive as she was on windows. The only time she boot windows, is to learn Photoshop (I couldn't not convince her to try the Gimp).
I certainly don't wanted to for a test period. They offered 2 free weeks if I gave them my credit card number (in case I don't cancel after 2 weeks). Without that requirement I would have took the 2 week trial of CNR.
/etc/apt/sources.list, I would have been on Debian but I thought that all those kind of things had been taken care of in a distro that was described as so newbie-friendly.
I must admit I didn't thought about checking the content of
Anyway, installed Fedora Core 2. Took me less than an hour to configure it the way I liked (not days like someone who wrote an article on it) and I didn't encountered bug yet (even if people claim almost everyday on Slashdot that it is a beta).
P.S.: The page to read when you installed Fedora to be able to know how to install flash, listen to mp3, use yum and all : www.fedorafaq.org
It was still Lindows when I tested. Some things may have change. In Lindows (the version I got anyway), apt-get simply refused to work.
And to clarify on the GPL, I know what you can bundle or not but they should write as the other distro that many packages included comes with their own license. Instead the EULA that poped-up when I first ran it, told that *everything* was copyrighted by them.
Mine worked out of the box. The only thing I had to Google for is the "spatial manager" but this design is from the Gnome team, not Fedora's.
I thought that maybe the bad comments on Lindows were made by Linux zealots. I read a good article on it on osnews that gave a discount number that made you able to download it for free for 2 days.
:
I decided to try it... It is as bad as you heard.
First, you log as root by default. No attempt to tell you that you should create users. You must know it, find it in the menus and compared to the rest of the distribution the dialog box that let you finally add users looks cryptic (from a total newbie point of view).
Second and more important : this distribution is all about lock-in. They try to give you the impression that it is a different operating system than Windows and Linux. They rename everything to "make it easier for beginner". Other newbie-friendly distributions will write something as "Mozilla (Web Browser)" while Lindows will write "Web Browser". You can hardly switch for another application, you don't know what you are using to begin with.
The commands are renamed.
If you take a Knoppix CD and try to make a Lindows user use it, he will be confused.
apt-get doesn't work if you don't pay. You don't just pay for their Click-N-Run gui, you must pay to use apt-get itself.
And finally on a more philosophical point of view
They don't respect the GPL (they put a disclaimer that basically say : everything in there is copyrighted by us and us alone, don't steal !).
They also don't mention like Mandrake and Fedora (don't know for SuSE) that what you are using is the result of a communauty effort).
You hide it and activate it at home.
The article is about Linux user having all they need by default so the comment is appropriate. I use Fedora and as the one who replied to you, I can install most of my software with only one command : yum install foo
Sure, if your time worth nothing. You still have to get all of the one by one and find cracks for them.
There is a difference between standardize and monopolize. You need to be alone to monopolize. Standards *are* good. As long as they are open and everybody can use them.
Maybe but I think it's more compelling to upgrade under Linux. Under Windows you only get security patches. Under Linux you get the upgrade of all your favorite software.
No, I don't think it's bulletproof. But it's built with security in mind and flaws are generally short-lived.
If we had 90% of all home users, more people would try to exploit flaws but more people would try to fix them.
What I don't understand is that they intend to compete against full-featured Linux by selling a product with _less_ functions than what they usually sell...
It's not only a question of popularity, it's a question of design. Linux is inherently designed to be more secure. Microsoft made choices in the past that are almost impossible to reverse now that make it's software insecure.
Also, in Linux, vunerabilities when found are fixed very quickly. And even if everybody switched to Linux, it would still not be an uniform population with all those different distributions.
Seriously, your argument doesn't hold any ground.
The sig is just a well know quote that can be found on bash.org
Newbies that will not understand how to do it no matter how well you explain it in the e-mail.
And beside, it can be too long to explain to them and just send files unzipped.
Even then, it would not matter. It is clearly written in the GPL FAQ that that if you don't distribute your software, you don't have to share the code. It can even be a trade secret.
Actually, PS1 games need a PS1 memory card and PS2 games need a PS2 one.
What is a pain in the ass is that many games wants to your memory card to be in slot 1. So you have to switch the position of your PS1 and PS2 cards often.
The thing that makes you save money however is that controllers are totally compatible.
Well... Almost. Dualshock 2 controllers (those of the PS2) tells the console how hard your pressed *each* button. But most games doesn't care, about this function. The only two that I know that make use of that function are Gran Turismo 3 and Ace Combat 4.
And for Gran Turismo, you just have to put the gaz/brake control on your right analog stick instead of buttons and it play better.
Anyway, I love PS2 controllers and hope they will keep this design with the next console. It should, if they want backward compatiblity.
Maybe it's just a registry problem.
If you downloaded Firefox zip file and extracted it manually, the registry entry that tells flash where is Firefox when it installs is not there and it Firefox won't have Flash or Java support.
The best way to don't have this problem is to simply download the installer and let it install the right entries so Flash and Java can find it when installing.
I remind me of a conversation I had with a friend that illustrate the main reason people don't want to switch.
Me - [explanation of what is FireFox and what are the benefits]
Her - I don't want to download another program, IE do the job. And it's what everyone else is using !
Me - Maybe, but your computer got many viruses. (PCCillin shows some viruses but don't want to remove them, probably because the license expired)
Her - I didn't installed them myself.
Me - No, but using IE is begging for someone to install them for you.
Her - [angry face]
Worse is newbies (and average computer) users not knowing how to read at all. How often did you saw people just clicking the Ok button every single time a windows popup without ever reading it ?
They do try to make you agree to plenty of thing they don't have any right to, exept if you sign a contract (clicking on I agree isn't legally acceptable for a contract). Licenses are far more restricted in what they can force you to accept than contracts. But... nobody ever challenged their EULA in court.
By pointing to the fact that Brown made no distinction between Linux being a monolithic kernel and Minix being a Microkernel. Linus can't have copied Minix because of this fact as Tananbaum pointed out. If the Lions book was a monolithic kernel, Linus could have copied from it if he had it but that would mean that Tanenbaum is sure to have written his from scratch. Or vice-versa if the Lions book is about a microkernel. Either way, if one was able to do it from scratch, why not the other ?
I already used Windows. Viruses, crashes, high-cost, spyware and other users that mess up your configuration when you let them use your computer. I now use Linux and I spend less time on administration and recovering from various problem. I think it's Windows that is not ready for the desktop.