At one time (when I actually had free time) I was getting into the VFS system that is in SAMBA. For those that don't know, a gentleman named Tim Potter had started the VFS code because he wanted to use SAMBA to mount his tape drive. I was interested in extending SAMBA with VFS to mount relational databases as a file system so I could just copy objects into the tables of a database using normal file manipulation tools like cp and mv.
I have been out of the loop for a very long time, but was wondering how things a going with the VFS stuff and if anybody else has picked up on it. The possibilities are endless. One could "share" FTP sites, databases, tape drives, archives (tar, gz, zip) to the masses who use Windows clients while keeping them in the familiar surroundings of the Windows Explorer filemanager.
Almost 2 years ago I set up a PC with Win95 for my mother-in-law. She had no experience with PC's, but had a dumb terminal hooked up to an AS/400 at work. This is what she thought a computer was, and how all computers worked. She has been totally lost with Windows and MS Office because of the paperclip help system, minimizing and maximizing windows, pretty little icons in the toolbar, the start menu (that she says shouldn't be named START if you use it to shutdown) and everything else.
I can't count the number of hours I have spent on the phone trying to figure out things she has done in MS Word. I think the best thing that I could have done for her is set up Linux, and the most minimalistic window manager I could get, like plain old FVWM with Applix and Netscape and EzPPP for Internet access.
I would choose Applix over StarOffice because it is faster and SMALLER. No stupid features she doesn't need. Features just get users like this lost. That don't care about formating tables or columns, they are typing Christmas or birthday letters to the family. Applix also doesn't open multiple windows inside itself for multiple documents. I don't have a problme with this, but users like her do. They just get her LOST.
I would chose EzPPP for the internet dialer because it is small, simple and it works. Teamed with Netscape, this is all she needs for the internet.
FVWM gives me a simple WM that can't be screwed up and if I use xv with it I can still put my son's picture on the desktop for her. Minimizing an app gives a nice big icon on the desktop that she can easily find. I would then probably use kfm for the filemanager, because I think tkDesk would be too hard for her to understand. She really almost never uses a filemanager anyway. She just saves her word processor documents.
I would have done this last year, except my son plays his games on ths PC when we visit. I think it's time to dual boot this system now. I'm tired of tech support calls that last hours because of a paper clip and MS Word.
I would love to get Delphi for Linux, but I have been playing with this pascal compiler for a while. It's pretty good, and they are working on Delphi compatibility. It's already very TP compatible.
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I have been out of the loop for a very long time, but was wondering how things a going with the VFS stuff and if anybody else has picked up on it. The possibilities are endless. One could "share" FTP sites, databases, tape drives, archives (tar, gz, zip) to the masses who use Windows clients while keeping them in the familiar surroundings of the Windows Explorer filemanager.
What are the plans for VFS in SAMBA?
Keep up the good work.
Almost 2 years ago I set up a PC with Win95 for my mother-in-law. She had no experience with PC's, but had a dumb terminal hooked up to an AS/400 at work. This is what she thought a computer was, and how all computers worked. She has been totally lost with Windows and MS Office because of the paperclip help system, minimizing and maximizing windows, pretty little icons in the toolbar, the start menu (that she says shouldn't be named START if you use it to shutdown) and everything else.
I can't count the number of hours I have spent on the phone trying to figure out things she has done in MS Word. I think the best thing that I could have done for her is set up Linux, and the most minimalistic window manager I could get, like plain old FVWM with Applix and Netscape and EzPPP for Internet access.
I would choose Applix over StarOffice because it is faster and SMALLER. No stupid features she doesn't need. Features just get users like this lost. That don't care about formating tables or columns, they are typing Christmas or birthday letters to the family. Applix also doesn't open multiple windows inside itself for multiple documents. I don't have a problme with this, but users like her do. They just get her LOST.
I would chose EzPPP for the internet dialer because it is small, simple and it works. Teamed with Netscape, this is all she needs for the internet.
FVWM gives me a simple WM that can't be screwed up and if I use xv with it I can still put my son's picture on the desktop for her. Minimizing an app gives a nice big icon on the desktop that she can easily find. I would then probably use kfm for the filemanager, because I think tkDesk would be too hard for her to understand. She really almost never uses a filemanager anyway. She just saves her word processor documents.
I would have done this last year, except my son plays his games on ths PC when we visit. I think it's time to dual boot this system now. I'm tired of tech support calls that last hours because of a paper clip and MS Word.
Quicker
I have found that Code Crusader is a good IDE. It's easy to use and GPL'd.
I was REALLY disappointed in what I saw and read about Jesse! This CAN'T be what SGI develops in, can it?
Quicker
I would love to get Delphi for Linux, but I have been playing with this pascal compiler for a while. It's pretty good, and they are working on Delphi compatibility. It's already very TP compatible.
free pascal
Quicker