PcLinux

What exactly is absurd about it? It is 100% factual and there are at least a dozen people who can attest to it.

I'm afraid I don't have the technical docs and I can't read Korean anyway. As to you "absurdity" claim, exactly what is absurd about it? Everything I indicated is 100% accurate and while it is not as "big" as the latest PCs, it is not far behind.

All my statements about Win 95 are 100% factual and I have a dozen witnesses to back it up. Whether or not you had different experiences doesn't matter, that was my experience.

As to the generic hardware platform, trust me, it's coming. PCI gave a first taste of the benefits of generic hardware where the same PCI Ethernet adapter, Fibre Channel adapter, SCSI adapter, etc. could be used across systems of many different architectures with just different software.

Hardware is expensive to engineer and produce, software is only expensive to engineer, production costs next to nothing. When a manufacturer can produce one piece of hardware for 20 different markets instead of 20 different ones they are much more profitable.

The generic computing platform when it inevitably arrives will allow you to purchase the hardware that suits your needs for capacity and scalability from sub laptop size to fault tolerant midrange multi processor system size and then run your choice of OS to best suit your needs and tastes. This flexibility will benefit everyone, from hardware manufacturers to software producers and especially for consumers.

Pete C.

On Fri, 24 Nov 2006 14:15:14 +0000 (UTC), with neither quill nor qualm, Bruce Barnett quickly quoth:

I don't do much with OpenOffice on Windows but what I've needed it to do, it does extremely well. I don't miss paid versions of Office at all. I doubt they'd sell very many copies at all, except, perhaps, to those who didn't know that the free OpenOffice program existed.

-- I guess they don't make import crap like they used to. --Ernie L., Usenet's Wreck.Metal group

I am, admittedly, a very light office suite user, but there are no features in MS office that I need and that are missing on OpenOffice.

i

Pete C. wrote:

Ok, let me say that I was too blunt there, and that I'm sorry for it. What I should have said, and what I really meant to say, was that I think that I've proven my case and that your experiences have been deeply atypical. Whether its true or not, I should have accepted your word for it and left it at that, and again, I'm sorry for that. As for the cell phone, I respectfully suggest that you should probably examine a cell phone's architecture more carefully, as the comparison between cell phones and PC's, marketing figures aside, is very slight. Universal hardware platforms cannot exist in low-level programming environments like OSs, because the OS is by definition tied to the hardware. Standardization of hardware interfaces is a side issue because even if the standard PC mobo is coming more closely into line, and you're right, it is, the overwhelming majority of systems are embedded, and make strong use of known hardware factors in order to enhance performance, which of course affects the operating system far more directly than application software. Large systems suffer from the same question, where standards are frequently set aside for power. All of this, of course, sets aside the question of what arch is used, and with the emergence of the cell structure we have seen new evidence of the vitality and variability of that market, and which affects the OS probably more than any other single factor. Essentially- to end users, the interoperability of software will continue to increase, but that of hardware will probably not coalesce any more than it already has. Again, let me apologize- I was too blunt and too critical after offering what amounted to a truce. Lets agree to disagree and move on. GCC

You did notice how many different versions you listed correct? Notice that in Windows there is XP, XP pro and Enterprise ALL supported by ONE company. It also will find needed updates on it's own. This is a BIG item for 90% of the market who generally don't know about any other way, and who don't want to learn.

Well Ubuntu(Breezy Badger and Edgy Eft), Kubuntu, as well as Red Hat, Fedora Core 6, Knoppix, and SUSE are all running in the other room on various hardware. The problem is that they all use different managers and have different UI. They are also largely unsupported. That becomes a major problem when a company is looking for a new OS. They want a stable OS that is supported by a company they can point to if there is a problem. They are also not very easy for someone who doesn't want to work under the box to use. If they were many more folks would be running them. As is stands today Linux just is not ready for mom and pop to run out of the box.

It is when you count how many actual working hours will be lost due to the training and IT instruction that will be required. Try telling a customer that their project will take longer than normal because you need to retrain the people on staff to use the new system. They will be saying goodbye real soon.

Most can be BUT you need to find the users who know each distro, not something that a smaller company wants to do. They want a number they can call and get the answers, NOW. That only comes from market share and open source just doesn't have that.

The warranty center number is? The software help line number is?

They are subject to far more attacks than the government. Why? HEADLINES. Just how many times have you seen that the federal government has come forward in the news and admitted they had a security breach?

4-5. Now how many times have you seen the cries of doom in the papers when a small company gets hit, or they allow an outside machine on the network and get hit with a virus they were not prepared for? 100 or more. It is the same with anything else. I'll bet you heard all about how GM pickup gas tanks were so deadly, correct? Did you hear at that same time about how many Jags were recalled due to structural failure in the front suspension? Bet you didn't. Why? Market share.

IF Linux is so superior to Windows, Why isn't it taking over as the dominant OS in the world?

Or

I can buy a computers in every country running Windows out of the box, Why can't I buy one with Linux?

From the Vista betas I have used it is based on a LOT of XP code. Don't really see anything that will make me want to change yet. My largest complaint is code bloat. That is a problem that many companies share though. Some is a result of sloppy coding and some is a result of attempting to allow OLD legacy programs and hardware to be run easily. Realistically how many different ways do you need to open/close a program, Or do you really need to include code to allow someone to install that antique copy of Office from 1997?

Anyway, Back to metal working....

Hey hey, I'm still running Office '97 on my W2K system just fine thank you.

Pete C.

They know how to do standard images. But with 1000's of people, each person has a unique and custom image.

They do, but these teams have been around for 5 years, and still there are dozens of security vulnerabilities every patch cycle.

That's because the OS is so bloated and complex that it's impossible for a single person to comprehend the kernel in it's entirety.

Open Source developers don't care if the reports come in from bad guys or good guys. The problem can be fixed by 100,000 of developers in minutes if needed. No need to wait a month for an official MS patch.

Nonsense.

Ah so what you type in the termrinal is different than a script?

The advantage in Unx scripts is that they are the same, and you ALWAYS save time in typing.

I'm not talking aboput pseudo programmers. I'm talking about bloat.

I can put a bootable Linux OS on a flash drive, a CDROM, on a PDA, on a old 386 machine, etc. etc.

Can't do that with Microsoft XP. Too much bloat.

Not a problem since most of the machines will have a common baseline image anyway. For instance, Win XP, MS Office, AV program and any software that is company unique. They make a baseline image of that. Then once you get your machine set up the way you want it they can copy your user profile to a CD. One DVD could carry the entire baseline image unless you are using huge programs

A 100% accurate description of Windows XP.

Slllloooooowwwwww, unstable, even crashes during bootup, gets so far and locks up on my Toshiba laptop. Does not like Firefox, that is the most frequent crash.

I am quite sure that some timer device is incorporated into the code to go round in circles to slow it down

. Maybe the "programmers" are paid by the byte ?

Alan, in Gosnells, Western Oz. VK6 YAB VKS 737 - W 6174

Yeah - it's "convenient" to the user to have as few choices as possible.