Re: simple wish list for next OS

On Saturday 21 January 2006 09:22 pm, Kerry Brown had this to say in
microsoft.public.windowsxp.general:

> NoStop wrote:
>> On Saturday 21 January 2006 02:44 pm, Shenan Stanley had this to say
>> in microsoft.public.windowsxp.general:
>>
>
> snip
>
>>>
>>> Much like Floppy Disks - outlived their ability to do what was
>>> needed in an OS as complex as Windows XP has become.
>>>
>> BS. Linux a much more advanced o/s than Windows XP keeps all its
>> configuration settings in numerous text files, making it easy for a
>> user to edit and configure. There is NO good reason for placing all
>> configuration within a database like the Windows registry, unless it
>> is to make it more difficult for the end-user to control the state of
>> his/her computer.
>>
>
> OK, now your taking one of Linux's weakest points and saying it is a
> feature? When will you stop spouting FUD. I have administered many
> different OS'. Linux is the hardest to administer precisely because of the
> numerous text files. Many are very poorly documented. There is no standard
> naming
> convention. Every distro uses different files sometimes even in different
> places. It is a mess.
>
Sorry Kerry, but I totally disagree with you. We're comparing the Windows
registry here against Linux config files. Most config files on Linux have
some sort of usage/explanation contained right in the text file. Compare
that to a registry entry where there isn't room for any kind of explanation
at all. There are so many ways to access and edit these config files in
Linux ... even remotely should one be faced with a GUI interface that won't
respond. What do you do when there's a problem in the Windows registry and
the o/s won't start at all because of it? Fixing a seriously corrupted
Windows registry is a nightmare if even possible. A Linux config file is
extremely easy to get at and fix if required.

I can agree with you that different distros may place these config files in
different places, but they aren't all that different. Once one understands
how Linux works, this isn't a big issue. Certainly not nearly as big an
issue as the Windows registry that is totally undocumented and unaccessible
from outside the desktop.


--
A Microsoft Certified System Engineer is to information technology
as a McDonalds Certified Food Specialist is to the culinary arts.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Linux Is A Bore
    ... >> I thought the toughest part about switching from windows to linux ... >> would be learning to edit config files, but it is turning out to ... Put a cron entry in that will reboot the machine, ... engineer to automagically corrupt a linux system. ...
    (comp.os.linux.misc)
  • Re: Why I use Linux
    ... >Bernard Peek poked his little head through the XP firewall and said: ... >> writing crap Windows applications will be writing for Linux instead. ... Except maybe to read it to see what config files ...
    (comp.os.linux.setup)
  • Re: Why I use Linux
    ... >Bernard Peek poked his little head through the XP firewall and said: ... >> writing crap Windows applications will be writing for Linux instead. ... Except maybe to read it to see what config files ...
    (comp.os.linux.misc)
  • Re: Lost XP product key - before install.
    ... And you think Linux is difficult? ... At least our config files ... >> control WinAMP from within your text editor, ... > windows, it's obviously the best way (although ReactOS have more of a clue, ...
    (uk.comp.homebuilt)
  • Re: Linux Is A Bore
    ... > linux would be learning to edit config files, ... > out to be learning to do something other than play with security ... I realize now that most of my enjoyment of windows ...
    (comp.os.linux.misc)