A computer that works

well,
I have a few responses to below... read on.

On Sunday 09 November 2003 12:18 am, Craig Brooksby wrote:
> > Face it - most people just want to use a computer
> > that works - they aren't interested in the economics,
> > politics unless/until they are forced to.
thats funny, mine was a more basic need, to have my machine work the way I
want to.

>
> 1) Can't back up my files -- image creation chokes on symbolic links.
try tar cvvf <tar file> <dir>
works for me very well.

> 2) Unable to get my palm pilot to sync since moving to Linux.
never had one, so I can't comment

> 3) (Forget my digital camera)
I have that problem. hopefully, vivitar will resolve this within 6 months (so
they say).

> 4) Installing a new font takes two pages of instructions.
huh? I followed 1 single page of instructions in MDK and had working fonts all
over the place. :)

> 5) Samba is opaque to me. The Win boxes were networked up in 10 minutes.
I never had a problem. 10 minutes of typing, 4 commands to place users in the
smbpass file and boom! samba working nicely and working with windows boxen in
the house.

>
> 6) Rpms: dependency hell. Solution: "ignore warnings."
more sources, need more sources! I use a minimum of 9 online sources (urpmi)
and can install without too many problems anymore.

> 7) Mozilla arbitrarily stops communicating with the web.
go use netscape from netscape.com instead.

> 8) I keep System Monitor running so I can kill Nautilus when it hangs.
I don't bother running nautilus unless its required, and it ain't.

> 9) I need deep knowledge of the filesystem in order to install anything.
not really! I started with almost ZERO knowledge about ext2. the only
filesystem close to it was BSD filesystem. once I got past the minor
differences, there was nothing to it.

> 10) If I upgrade GNOME to the latest release, would my system get more
> stable or less? Any bets?
I usually stay with what works. if upgrading enhances stability, why not?

>
> 11) Open Office is cheaper -- I'll say that for it.
cheaper, better, faster and less problematic than MS variants.

> 12) Formulas in Calc sometimes just refuse to calculate. Unlike their
> more compliant neighbor cells, these prefer staying text. Deal with it.
huh? musta been using an old version.

> 13) Python IDEs are better on Windows.
again: huh?

> 14) How many variations on "cut and paste" do I need to learn? Answer: 1
> (until I moved to Linux).
I use only 2.

>
> "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?
I don't. I am self taught. I found the state less than cooperative when it
came to my needs as a visually impaired person. same for such things as an
OS. if no one wants to help, I help myself. :)

Mage