OT dual boot Vista and XP

winmodems to external modems, are like dollar store 12v drills to a

18v Dewalt drill. They are cheap crap. i

My big issue with most versions of Linux, Xandros being the exception, is the piss poor way it handles dialup internet connections, let alone finding the modem.

Ive been stockpiling USR 56K external modems. I can pick em up at the second hand stores for $2.

You cant get any more plain jane, vanilla than a USR external modem.

Yet half the time most versions of Linux wont find the sombitch. And if it does, it may dial out after some interminable wait..connect..then simply sit there.

Open a browser...404...no modem light activity.

Ive tried a half dozen versions of PPP etc etc

I LIKE being able to bypass Microshit products, but dialup support sucks with most linux.

And I still dont understand why they, when they do dial out..simply sit there like a brightly lit turd.

Its not rocket science to actually communcate via a modem, without going through all manner of bullshit changes to obscure config files and what not.

Ive tried Supra modems, yada yada yada...changed At codes, the full monty...and it sucks.

Im currently running Xandros 4 OCE on one of my boxes, not that I really like it..but it actually dials out and connects.

WTF, over?

Gunner

See my previous rant.

Gunner

I thought it was based on the Mach 3.0 kernel

Sense this thread had turned into an OS rant, I'll add mine.

I don't understand all the hubbub over Linix. It doesn't run applications! Why o' why all the interest in something that is only good for a file server and internet communication? of course there are some apps for Linux, but nowhere near enough to ever consider it seriously for a work computer.

Karl

The best modem dialer that I found is "wvdial". You edit its configuration "/etc/wvdial.conf", and type wvdial on command line as root. You can automate this and do it at boot. I used a modem from

1995 to about '2000. It was always very straightforward. I also used it on vacation in Mexico. It was detected. i

It doesn't? Then, I must be doing it wrong.

Yeah, my employer is doing it wrong too then. If you're serious and not trolling, what specific apps do you feel Linux does not have? 10 or 15 years ago, your statements might have had some basis but today, not so much.

======================= This appears to be the result of "value analysis" and cost reduction.

The result is the so-called winmodem, which is less than a full stand-alone RS232 modem, in that it not only depends on the computer/programs for much of its operating instructions/control but also its power supply.

I have not gone into this in depth, but the modem manufacturers noted that the huge majority of their products were being used with MS Windows running on faster computers with more memory, and it was therefore possible to reduce the component count/complexity in the modem by shifting much of what had been internal modem control functions to a program(s) running in the background on the computer.

The modem [chip set] makers, and of course M$, have been reluctant to make the details of the Winmodems and the required operations/control programs available so Linux drivers could be developed. I can understand their point -- proprietary information, competitive advantage, yada-yada-yada... Still, its a PITA for people who want to use Linux.

There are a number of websites with work-arounds, patches, etc. but nothing that is clean [in the sense of load-n-go], particularly for laptops with integral POTS modems. google on for >54k hits

To start click on

Hope this helps.

Much depends on what you use your work computer for, but the Open Office Suite [word processor, database, spreadsheet, and presentation manager] and the extensions such as the schedular, with FireFox (with its add-ins), appears to meet most requirements, and the price is right [free]

click on

then on About the only shortcomings I have noted are the lack of a label/envelope printing option in the word processor (which may be added shortly), and the inability to run M$ word templates/macros, neither of which is a show stopper.

The Ubuntu solitaire card graphics aren't to good either...

I found one internal PCI modem that works well with linux, but it's a hardware modem with it's own controller. USR5610C... works fine.

So now we are back to commandline stuff and modifying config files.

Guner

Thanks George..but what part of USR External Modem did you miss? Little white/cream colored thingy..about the size of a small Sees candy box with a row of red LEDs on the top, hooks to the serial port with a cable....

Gunner

Gunner, I forgot something regarding modems.

The new Linux distros, for example Ubuntu and Fedora, include Network Manager. It is an icon in the top right. Click on it to configure it and you can configure the modem settings from a GUI window, and then just run it from the menu. It actually works.

i

I run the following apps on linux:

- browser - office - email - Pidgin (instant messaging with all platforms) - editor - newsreader - movie viewer

i

Well, my work has a metalworking bent. Camsoft runs my CNC machines. I use AutoCad 2007 for design. My son uses Autodesk Inventor and Mastercam X2 on my box to write the CNC programs.

I also use FoxPro to run our sales, payroll, and inventory application. Huge custom program - no way I am re-writing it.

My wife uses Quick Books Pro. My landlord has an app to design embroidry.

None of this stuff is available on linux.

Karl

Ah, so what you're saying, is that you'd have to _change_ which tool you use to get the same job done. Sometimes, yeah. Other apps work just fine under WINE in Windows if you're tied to them.

If you're tied to specific titles and have no interest in finding an app which can interoperate with those files, sure. But your statement of "no apps run on Linux" or whatever the wording is, is clearly false. You might have to learn to click on StarOffice rather than Microsoft Office, but, just because MS Office doesn't work on Linux, you can do nearly everything with one that the other can do. I've only found one very complex Excel spreadsheet that didn't just transparently work just fine on OpenOffice, for instance.

Doesn't hurt my feelings if it doesn't meet your specific needs, but trying to say there aren't any apps for Linux was rediculous 10 years ago, and I'm amazed to see anyone who still says it today. Ignorance and/or ties to legacy apps are fine, but please don't spread complete falsehoods.

On Sat, 12 Jan 2008 11:21:02 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, Ignoramus30324 quickly quoth:

What does "instant messaging" have that email doesn't? Online chat function?

--- Chaos, panic, and disorder--my work here is done.

Yes, it is instant chat. Yahoo messenger, google messenger, MSN, AOL, ICQ, that's what pidgin does. It is available under Windows too.

i

On Sat, 12 Jan 2008 18:39:36 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, Ignoramus30324 quickly quoth:

Why use IM vs email or phone?

--- Chaos, panic, and disorder--my work here is done.