Now for a totally unrelated sig:
| I stand with Jason Sager in Florida's 5th Congressional District. |  |
Posted on 07/24/2010 2:24:29 PM PDT by Willie Green
Now is a particularly good time to ditch Windows for good, for workstations as well as servers. For instance, now that Microsoft stopped supporting Windows Server 2003 on July 13, you'll need to find something different to use for your servers. Whether it's switching from Windows Server 2003 to 2008 or to Linux-based servers--or changing out tired and faulty Windows Vista desktops for the alien Windows 7 or something more user-friendly--Linux provides you with freedom and freedom of choice.
You might believe that dumping Windows and switching to Linux is a difficult task, but the change in thought and the perception of that switch are the most difficult. If you've attempted an upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, you know what pain is.
Business owners find that Linux, for what was once a "niche" operating system, provides the necessary components and services on which many rely. Linux continues its entry into the world's largest data centers, onto hundreds of thousands of individual desktops, and it represents a near 100 percent domination of the cloud services industry. Take the time to discover Linux and use it in your business. Here are ten reasons to give Linux at least a second look:
(Excerpt) Read more at pcworld.com ...
You can boot from a CD and try it before installing it. Use Ubuntu for modern computers, and Puppy for old obsolete machines.
I loaded puppy on a disk,,, it would not do anything. No thanks.
Now for a totally unrelated sig:
| I stand with Jason Sager in Florida's 5th Congressional District. | |
I have a Windows 7 machine with a Fedora VM running on it.
I also have a XP VM, and I am working on getting a Win95 VM.
Why give up one for the other?
And incompatibility.
No reason, just don’t buy any more copies of Windows than you really need.
Cygwin for the win.
Puppy was kind of nice, but there was always something that didn’t work. One time I had a problem and spent an hour finding the bug mentioned on their forums. Two developers were having a pissing contest and both refused to fix the bug. It probably remains unfixed to this day.
You need to keep one windows machine around until you die for apps which need it, that’s it.
Does it work with VM?
I am not technically oriented, and that is an understatement. I use XP as a word processor in which to write fiction. Should I consider LINUX, and if so, what would be my biggest hurdles?
Thank you in advance.
11) Your computer savvy nephew is SICK of having to defrag, unvirus, and reinstall your damned pc.
I miss Windows 95,,, c://AUTOEXEC.BAT
That command would not work
Mish-mashing straw-man and false arguments never helps the Xnux cause. That list is terrible.
As a side note,, I have two laptops,, one is used ONLY for online banking, the other has NO anti-virus/spam/malware protection at all.
Rarely have a problem. I only operate under guest for surfing, about twice a year, I will pick up some malware that pops up on screen,, I go close log on,,, open admin log on,, close guest account and start a new one,,, problem solved and lightning fast surfing..(no firewall either on that one)
someone could copy the hard-drive,,, I don't care.
Its been a few decades... memory slipping....
That's what I thought for years.
I was dead wrong.
I'm on the wife's computer right now, on which I installed Linux Mint.
I did it because she's perpetually getting into trouble,
and I thought the security of Linux might free up some of my spare time.
I do it all, graphics, business, you name it, and I love it.
Nothing this little puter with Linux can't do.
I'm spending more time on it than I do on my own anymore.
There is a learning curve and you have to invest some time into it,
but I did and haven't regretted it yet.
As far as apps go, for every great app that runs on Windoze, Linux has two that are better.
“...the alien Windows 7...”
?? I have had zero problems with Windows 7.
If you’re able to do what you want to do, there’s no reason to mess with Xnux.
Thank you. I can put out some very nice looking docs/mss, which is what really matters to me. The advice of someone who knows more about techie stuff than me is very helpful—thanks again.
I don't remember any trouble. It took maybe an hour total, with perhaps five minutes of attention necessary.
Right there, you’ve hit upon one of the best reasons (IMO) to use FreeBSD over Linux. The entire FreeBSD project is managed and run more professionally than Linux. Add to this that when you’re writing your own s/w (as I am still doing from time to time) the Linux s/w base has a very draconian license that is rather hostile to for-profit efforts.
FreeBSD is very friendly to those who want to use it to make a profit.
Add in that I know BSD better than POSIX API’s, and for me there is very little to recommend Linux.
Most people haven’t, that is why Linuxland is spending its time concocting lists as to why you supposedly want to use it.
I recently fond my stash of Linux disks fro a couple years back. Everything from Puppy, DSL, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Mini Knoppix, Xubuntu, Mint, Zen Walk, Xandros, and more!
When it worked, it was ok at best. I still had to waste time in forums for the littlest stuff.
Windows 7 has been rock solid since the builds, and XP is more than enough for my older hardware.
Linux simple has no hook other than some imaginary aura of security invincibility.
Sorry for the typos:
fond = found
fro = from
I use XP as a word processor in which to write fiction. Should I consider LINUX, and if so, what would be my biggest hurdles?
The main reason you should be concerned about keeping your operating system up to date is for security purposes. (preventing viruses and/or hacker access to personal data from the internet, etc.)
As long as Microsoft continues support for XP, and you keep your system up to date, use antivirus software, etc, etc, etc, you should be OK.
However, on April 8, 2014, all Windows XP support, including security updates and security-related hotfixes, will be terminated. After that, your computer will become more vulnerable. So rather than buy a brand new computer, that would be when you would really HAVE to consider Linux.
Here is a short article about Disadvantages and advantages of Linux over Windows
The biggest hurdle that you would face is if you are addicted to some special Windows program that you absolutely had to have and cannot adapt to a linux equivalent. (In your case, this probably isn't a problem.)
The other "hurdle" is that you might have some odd/unusual computer hardware configuration (network or video adapter cards, some oddball printers or scanners, etc) that's not compatible with linux. But if you have fairly common "name brand" hardware, this shouldn't be a problem either.
Of course, since you don't have an immediate necessity for linux, I would suggest that you review another thread that I recently posted: 5 ways to use bootable Linux live discs
If you have the simple skills to follow instruction how to download a linux distribution file, and use it to make a "Live CD", then it should be easy for you to reboot your computer using that Live CD without changing the Windows XP installation on your hard drive!!!
That would be a VERY EASY way to try linux first, just to see if you like it!!!
And if you don't like it, then you can simply remove the CD and reboot your computer from your Windows hard drive!!!
Yeah, some mouse clicks and some typing was a huge pain! What the hell are they talking about?
Roger that. I have Windows 7, now just for iTunes and my TomTom's software. I boot it maybe once a month. Otherwise I've been using Linux (various distros) as my primary OS for 5+ years now. If and when these run under Wine or come out with a native Linux version, I won't need to boot Win 7 at all.
I've pretty well settled on Ubuntu, but I also like Red Hat and Simply Mepis. I will say that Win 7 is not bad. I dual boot this PC and Win 7 boots about as fast as the latest Ubuntu.
I’ve been using QNX for embedded systems. Very fast and very hard to break.
If you've attempted an upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, you know what pain is.
Yeah, some mouse clicks and some typing was a huge pain! What the hell are they talking about?
I don't know....
I dumped Windows when MS dropped Win 98 support..
I simply got tired of giving Bill Gates another $100 every time he'd come up a more bloated version of Windows to bog down my hardware.
QNX is very good, and here is another thought for embedded systems: Qnx’s “Neutrino,” which is a uKernel. A very solid, tightly configurable system. Can’t mention where I’ve used it. Let’s just say that there is an embedded system shipped inside a big metal, rack-mount box that require 230V, three phase power that shovels a whole lot of IP packets hither and yon running on Neutrino.
Thanks for your reply, and for the link.
[I loaded puppy on a disk,,, it would not do anything. No thanks.]
I run my webserver on fedora. Solid as a rock, no strange virus infections (and yes I use and try a gajillion spyware and virus protectors on my windows systems. Stuff still gets through).
It’s not for everyone, but it creeps closer and closer, and is already there for servers.
Does anyone buy Windows?
There may be some benefit to 7 but what do we really do with these things besides FR, email, FR, graphics, FR, memos, FR, and a late night game of solitare between posts on FR?
Why would anyone upgrade from Windows Xp to Window 7?
When I upgrade an operating system it is usually when I buy a new box and even on the last purchase I made sure XP was installed, not 7.
If you are interested, I would highly recommend "Linux Mint" as being exceptionally "user friendly" for folks who are new to linux.
However even then there are what might at first seem a bewildering variety of "desktops" to choose from.
Linux Mint 9 (The most current release) is available in KDE, Gnome, LXDE or Xfce desktop environments
Linux Mint 8 (which I currently use) offers those four, or Fluxbox (which is my preference)
KDE and Gnome are full featured "heavyweight" desktop environments. They have all the bells and whistles, but can bog down older computers.
LXDE and Xfce strive to be fully featured but "lighter"
And Fluxbox would be the lightweight... fewer features, but runs faster and is more suitable for older computers that don't have as much "ooomph". (LOL! That's me!)
But give it a try at your leisure!
That's the nice thing about the Live CDs... you can try different versions on your computer without actually installing them to see which one you like first!
Good luck! Just take your time and don't rush into anything that you're not comfortable with.
(Oh... and to be extra safe... be sure to make a backup copy of any stories you've written. It's almost impossible to "accidently" install linux onto your hard drive from the Live CD because there's plenty of opportunities to cancel without making the change. Nevertheless, I believe in Murphy's Law... so it's always best to be safe with work that you have stored.
Yea, not likely.
When I went to engineering school, none of the girls (what few we had in engineering in our 7:1 male:female ratio) looked like that. NONE of them. In retrospect, I feel lucky to have attended when the ratio was that good. Two years after I graduated, it was back up to 10:1.
If a girl showed up online or in person who looked like that and told me she was out of MIT in three and a comp sci or EE whiz... I’d say “Yeeeaaaaa riiiiiight. And I’m selling Avon. Can I recommend an eyeliner to you?”
I’ve been at IETF meetings with girls who look that good who were managers in major customer accounts (ie, they were not engineerings or CS people), and the effect on most guys is hilarious. They just vapor-lock. They don’t start babbling and giving away information. They just freeze, like deer in the headlights of a Peterbilt.
When said females would walk down the hallway where geeks and propeller heads were furiously conversing and debating technical points, it was like something out of a movie set. The attractive female would start down a hallway, and conversation would stop about 10 feet ahead of her. Guys would look sideways as she’d approach, then their heads would swivel like a tracking radar dish as she passed.... and then all males involved would look at each other and furiously whisper “Who was *that*?!”
We true card-carrying nerds are a pretty sad lot, really. The so-called “security experts” they’re saying gave away the store... I wanna meet these clowns and see just what type of “experts” they are.
The one quibble I have with your response list (which is good, don’t get me wrong) is that the skills in hacking a Unix or Unix-like system are necessary if one is going to get into s/w development on anything but a Windows system. eg, if you’re going to work on routers or security appliances, web servers, etc - you’ll likely be working on some manner of Unix system as either your development environment or the server.
The “back end” side of computing is very heavily controlled by Unix now. If a person is interested in writing s/w for the server/blade/embedded market, they’d better learn Unix.
Your point about differences between various flavors of “Unix” is very important. For those who aren’t Unix aficionados, they should know that there are two major camps in Unix-land: POSIX/Linux and BSD. They’re nowhere close in terms of file layout on the disk, or the programming API’s. When was a young noob on Unix, it was in the infancy of the AT&T SysV vs. BSD 4.2 wars, and the internecine warfare in Unix-land was just heating up.
After using or hacking on many flavors of Unix from Seventh Edition on PDP-11’s to OS X and Linux/*BSD, I can say that the beauty of Unix is that you can write one base of software.... and debug it everywhere after you re-compile and link it.
I used Ubuntu.. but they still have driver issues with my laptop wifi
PDP-11/60. With the writeable control store installed. Micro-code a-go-go. ;-)
Completely agree — most end users need Unix like they need a socially communicable disease.
Scott’s stuff is so funny because it is so true. He’s used quips and story lines I’ve sent him, and just about everyone I knew in Silly Valley can say the same thing.
Scott Adams is shamelessly profiting off the social misfits of the tech world. ;-)
BTW - while I never hacked seriously on PDP-8’s, I did get to use RTE-IV on a HP-2100S, which had an architecture like a PDP-8 with another four bits shoved on the word. Two accumulators, goofy jump instruction setup, magnetic core main store, lots of incandescent lights on the front panel. Pretty cool machine, actually. A forerunner to the HP-1000 series of 16-bit mini’s in the 80’s. Built like brick outhouses, just like the ‘8s.
The HP-3000’s were a wholly different beast - never worked on them.
I wish Microsoft sold a slimed-down version of an OS that was aimed exclusively at gamers.
Where’s the “not this crap again” guy?
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