Re: eMachines OEM XP woes - time to buy $tandard?

NoStop wrote:
> kurttrail wrote:
>
>>> Sorry to inform you, but with user-friendly
>>> distros like Mandrake/Mandriva, software is easier to install than
>>> under Windoze.
>>
>> Really? How?
>>
> OK, you asked. Let's say one wants to install NVU.
>
> Linux ... 2 steps:
>
> 1) open a terminal window, and type
> 2) urpmi nvu - the package is downloaded automatically, unzipped and
> installed and link placed in the GUI menu

The first question the average user would ask is:

What is a terminal window?

Let alone know the gibberish after that!

> Windoze ...
>
> 1) open a web browser
> 2) go to the site that has it for downloading and find the file to
> download 3) download it your computer
> 4) unzip it
> 5) open explorer and go to the folder where you unzipped it
> 6) look for the install program and run that

Now show how much easier it is to install MS Office on Linux than
Windows!

You see, there will be examples of one being better than the other.

>>> and your so called
>>> average computer morons can just as easily learn to run Linux as
>>> Windoze, without all the insuing problems.
>>
>> Really? If it is just as easy, then why aren't they? I've tried and
>> continue to try to run Linux on my system. Have yet to find one yet
>> that will run all of my hardware.
>>
> So what's so unusual about your hardware? I have 4 very different
> computers here (chipset, cpus, video cards, etc), all running Linux
> and didn't have the slightest problem installing on any of them.

For a long time my RAID, now it seems my video card is too new, and
there ain't no way to set up my HDTV card.

>
>
>>> I'm afraid, you're one of
>>> them.
>>
>> I'm above average. My test for separating out the average computer
>> user for intermediate or above average users is the ability to
>> organize the start menu. And mine is meticulous!
>>
> You have a very low benchmark in regards to an individual's computer
> savy, that is for sure!

Nope. I worked on anybodies computer that I've seen a Start Menu that
is organized.

> The ability to organize a start menu ...
> indeed! That is almost hilarious, but also sad in a way. If you're an
> intermediate or above average user and that is what you've been able
> to accomplish, I guess I am starting to understand your inability to
> get all these different distros you say you've tried, installed on
> your computer.

LOL! Yet I have no trouble installing and configuring any flavor of
Windows OS's from Win3.1 to Windows 2003 Server.

>>> Very average indeed, with still much to learn about utilizing
>>> the full capabilities of a computer which Windoze will never
>>> provide.
>>
>> LOL! What can you do in Linux that I can't do in Windows, and I mean
>> something constructive.
>>
> Sigh. It's too bad that you are really so clueless. Up to now, I've
> only touched on the strengths of GNU/Linux vis a vis it's security
> features and the good possibility that the OP with his emachines
> computer shouldn't need to scrap the whole damn machine because he's
> having probs with Windoze. So you want some examples of constructive
> use of a Linux box, do you? OK, here's just a taste of what one can
> do ...
>
> 1) Run a complete LAMP server for development of web sites both
> frontend and backend development

Now why would I want that? I'm not a developer. But I'm sure there is
a windows equivalent.

>
> 2) Run Samba to open access to any Windoze shares one may have in his
> network

Don't need to run Samba to access the shares on my home network.

>
> 3) Rdesktop and run a remote Windoze desktop within a Linux window.

Have Remote Desktop to run a remote Destop in a Window.

>
> 4) Run other Linux boxes remotely using SSH and running their GUI
> apps on your desktop

Have Remote Desktop.

>
> 5) Run your system for months without a crash or the need to reboot

I've run Windows for months without reboot.

>
> 6) Have access to multiple desktops right out of the box. A real
> helpful way to get work done and even better if one has a dual
> monitor setup

LOL! Mine came with my Video Card driver.

>
> 7) Have incredible configurability in terms of the look and feel of
> your desktop, being able to change all aspects of the GUI. Again,
> right out of the box without need to go and purchase something like
> WindowBlinds.

Not constructive. Eye Candy.

>
> 8) Use a journaled file system, that never fragments and in the event
> of a power failure, brings back everything in the file system to a
> working state.

Not constructive.

>
> 9) Ability to mount and access many many different file systems,
> whereas Windoze can only talk FAT or NTFS.

Not constructive.

>
> 10) Ability to upgrade your hardware and not have to reinstall the
> operating system and wipe everything first to do so.

Not constructive. But been there and done that with Windows. I went
from AMD Processor and Via chipset with AGP Graphics to Intel PCIe and
was able to boot into Windows afterwards.

>
> 11) Each Linux distribution comes with hundreds and possibly
> thousands of application programs included. This alone can save you
> thousands of dollars for each desktop system you configure. Although
> this is a very small subset, consider that the OpenOffice.org office
> suite is included as well as the GIMP, a program similar to (and many
> people say more capable than Adobe Photoshop); Scribus, a document
> layout program similar to Quark Xpress; Evolution, an e-mail system
> equivalent to Microsoft's Outlook; and hundreds more.

Freeware equivilents for Windows too. Just ain't bundled with the OS.

>
> 12) Have a relationship with the open source community that is
> community based rather than customer based. We're users helping
> users, not users paying money to developers as their customers
> resulting in the subsequent antagonisms that result from that kind of
> a relationship.

LOL! What did you pay to join this community?

>
> 13) Have the ability to install the operating system on any number of
> computers in your home or office without needing to purchase expensive
> licenses for each.

I can do that with Windows too for my personal non-commercial use! LOL!

>
> 14) Have much more frequent updates that happen a few times a year as
> opposed to waiting years for the next update from MickeySoft.

Have updates almost every second Tuesday of the month!

>
> 15) Have a TCP/IP stack that is nearly twice as fast as Windoze has.
> It's like getting almost twice the bandwidth just because I'm running
> Linux as opposed to XP.

That isn't constructive, just more efficient.

>
> 16) Run something like Kopete, that let's me instant message with
> multiple users from different providers: AIM, ICQ, MSN, etc. within
> one application. Much like Trillian, only this ones free and comes
> with most distros.

I hate all instant messaging.

>
> 17) Use K3b, which is every bit as good and easier to use than Nero
> and again it's free and comes with every distro.

Still a third party app, as is almost everything you've mentioned so
far.

>
> 18) Run Inkscape that's as good as Coreldraw, but again it's free.

I'm gonna stop answering you line by line, as you have yet to mention
ONE thing that can be done in Linux that doesn't have an equivilent in
Windows.

>
> 19) Run Amarok, which is the killer music app as far as I'm concerned.
> Haven't found anything in the Windoze world that is as nice and it
> stores its catalog within a MySQL database.
>
> 20) Have access to the very best of networking monitoring tools,
> again all free.
>
> 21) Have the ability to setup everything from an email server, to a
> DNS server, to a router/firewall, again all free. Comes with most
> distros.
>
> 22) Have the ability to run PHP, Perl and a host of other languages
> natively, again at no cost.
>
> 23) Have exceptional net tools, like excellent IRC apps, ftp clients,
> ftp servers, etc. etc. ... again all free.
>
> 24) Have the ability to control all aspects of my Linux box remotely
> using a web browser and Webmin. That means everything, from setting
> up new users, to installing software, to configuring dozens of
> services/servers, to even rebooting the computer.
>
> 25) Having logs that show me everything happening with my system.
>
> 26) Having crontab, that let's me run all sorts of things at scheduled
> times, including full backups of my system, automatic
> downloading/uploading of files, etc. etc.
>
> 27) Having rock solid stability. My Linux boxes just work.
>
> 28) Having the ability to choose what kernel I feel like running when
> I boot my computer.
>
> 29) Having the ability to do what Partition Magic does, but the Linux
> app is free.
>
> 30) Having the ability to do anything a Windoze user can do in terms
> of working with multimedia, but again, at no cost.
>
> 31) Have access to a number of shells and the power of shell
> programming that is a 1000 x's more powerful than anything one can do
> with Windoze.
>
> 32) Having a choice in terms of what GUI I want to use.
>
> 33) Having to work with my clients' web sites as if they were local
> to my computer.
>
> 34) Having the ability to get work done without worrying about
> whether I'll get spyware, trojans, worms, viruses, etc. disrupting my
> system and causing me to have to seek out fixes.
>
> 35) Having the ability to deal with everything about my system using a
> simple text editor, even logged in remotely, as all configuration
> files are simple text files. In fact, everything in a Linux system is
> treated as a file.
>
> That's all I can think of off the top of my head. But the more I use
> and learn about Linux, the more I'm blown away by the power it offers.

You didn't show ONE thing that can be constructively done in linux that
doesn't have a windows equivalent.

You really didn't need to go down a list of 35 things to avoid showing
that!

>
>
>> Linux is just an OS. It ain't perfection on wheels. You need to
>> get a little perspective.
>>
> Actually it isn't just an OS. It is in fact a system, that includes a
> kernel, it's drivers, but also all of the other goodies that come
> bundled with it in it's particular distribution. Mandrake/Mandriva
> comes bundled with over 18,000 packages. So it's far more than just
> an OS.

LOL! Big Deal. The average user couldn't get far enough into Linux to
run any of those 18,000 third party apps.

>
>
>>> Hopefully the OP will look into the advice I offered
>>> and try it out.
>>
>> I hope he does too! And you should give him your email address so
>> you can answer all his problems setting up and running Linux! I'd
>> love to see you do that!
>>
> There are many places on the Net where a new Linux user can get help
> and I do what I can to help new users.
>

You're all BS!

>
>> LOL! I am a computer user. I have yet to find it easy to setup and
>> run Linux on my computer, and I've tried many different distros.
>>
> That is unfortunate and I can't understand why you in particular have
> had such problems getting it installed? You must have some pretty
> unusual hardware there, or just need a bit of assistance getting up
> and running.

Never needed assistence doing anything I want to do in Windows.

> I'm glad to hear that you have at least tried and
> considered an alternative. But, as I said in an earlier message, it
> is a different operating system than is Windoze and sometimes it's
> easy to get stuck in the Windoze way of doing things, that makes it a
> mite difficult for some folks to wrap their heads around the *NIX way
> of doing things. In fact a newbie computer user might be more
> successful at getting going, than a diehard Windoze user, already
> caught in the MickeySoft way of computer use.

I don't doubt that. However, since the vast majority of computer users
are Windows users, and most of those that haven't used a computer have a
hard time getting enough to eat, and aren't gonna be a computer user
anytime in the near future, if Linux is gonna grow it's install base,
then it is gonna have to become more friendly to us that learn computing
in Windows.

>
> It really does get easier in time once the concepts are understood.

All most users want to know is point and click. That can be
accomplished with Windows.

> But really, out of the box with the latest distros, in particular the
> real user-friendly ones like Mandrake or SUSE, can be accomplished by
> your grandmother.

LOL! That is just such BS! My mother could not do it.

>
> You have to understand one thing about GNU/Linux and that is that it
> is a system being put together by thousands of volunteer developers
> around the world as an open-source operating system. These developers
> do not have access to the proprietary code of the hardware developers
> that offer their own hardware drivers, mainly developed for Windoze.
> All these things have to be reverse engineered by volunteers and
> there are some things that have yet to be accomplished. But for most
> users today, the work has been done and GNU/Linux is now ready for
> primetime on nearly every desktop. Like I said, I haven't yet had a
> problem with the diverse hardware I've installed it on.

Linux ain't ready for my desktop. But I keep trying, and hope that one
day it will be. But none of any of this is on topic to this thread, or
to this group. Your posting is best in a Linux advocacy group, not in a
Windows peer-support group.

But you can't see that, you are too busy trying to show the your OS is
better than my OS. You probably are right over all, BUT it is
irrelevant to this group of WINDOWS users!

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"


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