Author: Alan Dayley Date: Subject: A computer that works
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On Sunday 09 November 2003 12:18 am, Craig Brooksby wrote:
That's a lot of problems in your list. I would lke to contrast some of you=
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experiences with mine.
> 1) Can't back up my files -- image creation chokes on symbolic links.
I just burned a CD tonight. Symbolic links worked fine.
> 2) Unable to get my palm pilot to sync since moving to Linux.
jpilot works great for me, including Avant-go web site downloads
> 3) (Forget my digital camera)
Don't have one, can't comment.
> 4) Installing a new font takes two pages of instructions.
Haven't needed to, can't comment.
> 5) Samba is opaque to me. The Win boxes were networked up in 10 minutes.
Samba works great for me.
> 6) Rpms: dependency hell. Solution: "ignore warnings."
Been there. The I installed apt with RPM support. Rarely encounter this n=
ow.
> 7) Mozilla arbitrarily stops communicating with the web.
I have had one case of configuration corruption so I have seen a bump there.
> 8) I keep System Monitor running so I can kill Nautilus when it hangs.
Don't use Nautilus so can't comment.
> 9) I need deep knowledge of the filesystem in order to install anything.
Um, why? What constitutes "anything"? apt and rpm work fine for me. For=
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example, tonight I decided that I would try to get the "Castaway" movie DVD=
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to play on my Linux box. First time to try a DVD under LInux. Here is wha=
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it took:
- Research via google searches to determine the application to use.
- Ten minutes later, conclude that ogle is supposed to be able to do it.
- As root, issue :apt-get install ogle ogle_gui.
- Popped the DVD in and it plays, menus and all.
> 10) If I upgrade GNOME to the latest release, would my system get more
> stable or less? Any bets?
I use KDE so can't comment on the GNOME desktop. I use many GNOME based ap=
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in KDE with mixed results. I stick with KDE apps when I can. Isn't choice=
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great?
> 11) Open Office is cheaper -- I'll say that for it.
And it's Free.
> 12) Formulas in Calc sometimes just refuse to calculate. Unlike their
> more compliant neighbor cells, these prefer staying text. Deal with it.
I have not seen recalculation problems since before 1.0. Some Excel formul=
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don't translate, the "higher math" ones. Some graph properties don't=20
translate with Excel but OOo's own flavor of those work fine.
> 13) Python IDEs are better on Windows.
Don't know, can't comment.
> 14) How many variations on "cut and paste" do I need to learn? Answer: 1
> (until I moved to Linux).
I admit, coming from Windows, I too find this an irritant. What I have don=
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is use the middle mouse key first, then use Ctl-C - Ctl-V if the mouse=20
doesn't fit. Seems to work every time. My hand is usually on the mouse=20
anyway so it is not too much extra bother. I do wish there was some=20
consistancy there.
> "Most people aren't interested...until they are forced to be" could
> easily be interpreted as imputing laziness to people like me. I think
> that is too simple an interpretation. Why blame anyone for picking up
> the tools they need to get their work done?
You are correct. If a job is more efficiently done outside of Linux, users=
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will almost always choose that method. It's just that most people don't kn=
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the freedoms they are surrendering or the real costs they are agreeing to=20
(TCO, data access, forced upgrades, etc.) when they decide that $500 is "al=
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they have to pay" to solve a problem "easily." The proprietary easy soluti=
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is not always the best long term solution.
Alan
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