In general, if I've paid for something, I want a tangible object.
I've this constant concern that *something* will go wrong in the digital process. I know it probably wont, and generally hasn't, but I'd still much rather be able to say "look - I _do_ own this, I've got the box and everything". That said, I don't have any paper records for, say, my banking. Priorities and all that.
Yeah, for the cost of a small PC and the effort of configuring a mailserver I could have something to rival a free webmail account.
I do it. I know my Gmail account costs me less in terms of money and effort than the Thinkpad that lives on top of the bookshelf.
Making the Quakes work under Linux is my next 'fun' computer related task.
But they work fine under XP. And i'm slowly stripping away XP into quicker and quicker boot times for it. Though it is slowly dawning on me that i could just buy a games console and have those 20gb back...
"Well, some people would argue they have something close to a monopoly in the mp3 player market."
No more than Sellotape have something close to a monopoly in the sticky tape market.
I dunno. 'URPMI OpenOffice.org' seems far easier to me than finding, downloading, executing and specifying paramaters, which is easier again than convincing myself to part with the money for the latest MS Office.
When i made the move over to Linux i wasn't at all a 'Linux Geek' (i still don't think i really am, aside from liking the CL), but maybe that's why i don't see these 'obvious' pitfalls. I switched because my Windows CD was scratched, and it occurred to me that it would be easier to download a Linux one than a new Windows one. Since then, i've used my PC for exactly what i used it for when i had windows, and i've had no problems installing anything. 'course, i don't try to upgrade the kernel, port software or hack software. I do web-browsing, instant messaging, e-mails and word processing. I also write HTML and Fortran, which, with Kate and GCC, is far easier and cheaper than anything i found in Windows, but i didn't look too hard in windows (they came bundled with Linux).
Even if they have had limited experience with computers, what's to say that they're hardwired into Windows already?
I would have thought that the idea of 'teaching them computers' would involve doing just that. Not teaching them how to use one particular piece of software, but how computers work, and how to use them. You can't do this if you constantly reinforce the idea that there is only one OS.
Also, if they've not got much experience with computers and, presumably, not much money, does it not make sense for them to be used to the idea of free software?
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In general, if I've paid for something, I want a tangible object.
I've this constant concern that *something* will go wrong in the digital process. I know it probably wont, and generally hasn't, but I'd still much rather be able to say "look - I _do_ own this, I've got the box and everything". That said, I don't have any paper records for, say, my banking. Priorities and all that.
Yeah, for the cost of a small PC and the effort of configuring a mailserver I could have something to rival a free webmail account. I do it. I know my Gmail account costs me less in terms of money and effort than the Thinkpad that lives on top of the bookshelf.
Other things being 'difficult' and 'expensive' presumably.
Making the Quakes work under Linux is my next 'fun' computer related task. But they work fine under XP. And i'm slowly stripping away XP into quicker and quicker boot times for it. Though it is slowly dawning on me that i could just buy a games console and have those 20gb back...
*gasp* isn't saying stuff like that on here in a similar vein to claiming that MS isn't actually the personification of Satan?
"Well, some people would argue they have something close to a monopoly in the mp3 player market." No more than Sellotape have something close to a monopoly in the sticky tape market.
So there was a bug to be fixed anyway, and the virus just happened to uncover it?
So you're only allowed to write spyware if you write software?
I dunno. 'URPMI OpenOffice.org' seems far easier to me than finding, downloading, executing and specifying paramaters, which is easier again than convincing myself to part with the money for the latest MS Office.
When i made the move over to Linux i wasn't at all a 'Linux Geek' (i still don't think i really am, aside from liking the CL), but maybe that's why i don't see these 'obvious' pitfalls. I switched because my Windows CD was scratched, and it occurred to me that it would be easier to download a Linux one than a new Windows one.
Since then, i've used my PC for exactly what i used it for when i had windows, and i've had no problems installing anything. 'course, i don't try to upgrade the kernel, port software or hack software. I do web-browsing, instant messaging, e-mails and word processing.
I also write HTML and Fortran, which, with Kate and GCC, is far easier and cheaper than anything i found in Windows, but i didn't look too hard in windows (they came bundled with Linux).
Even if they have had limited experience with computers, what's to say that they're hardwired into Windows already?
I would have thought that the idea of 'teaching them computers' would involve doing just that. Not teaching them how to use one particular piece of software, but how computers work, and how to use them.
You can't do this if you constantly reinforce the idea that there is only one OS.
Also, if they've not got much experience with computers and, presumably, not much money, does it not make sense for them to be used to the idea of free software?