In regards to winmodems in Linux: Linmodems!
There’s that crazy Linux hacker mentality, making things work that couldn’t work before.
I use Linux at home for one simple reason: I work with Windows PCs all day, and get sick of the crashes. There is not a day that goes by at work that Windows doesn’t crash. Linux runs and works, and doesn’t crash. It was a bit of a job to get Linux to do all that I need, but once I got everything rigged the way I want it (not the way MS thinks I want it,) it was just fine. My wife uses my Linux setup to write email and letters, so it can’t be that hard to use.
What’s the big deal about Linux? Stability.
Linux is more stable than ANY version of windows, including NT/2000, but especially the single-user versions like 95 & 98. For example: My windows computers need to be rebooted every day otherwise they run slooooww. My linux server has been running 24-hour duty for 23 days. It only went down 23 days ago because somebody accidentally kicked the power cord out of the wall. And it is still running flawlessly. My former ISP’s primary machine ran for 160 days on average between reboots.
Minor correction:
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by SDP *
**
This is true except for one detail.
Linux does use dynamic libraries. If you look at requirements for programs you download, they will usually say that it requires libc6 or glibc2.0 or something similar to that. They are Dynamically Linked to function Libraries (notice the capitalized letters…dll is an abbreviation for dynamic link library).
It is more versatile in that it can be modified to do pretty much anything, limited only by your imagination, knowledge, and programming skill.
It requires less CPU and memory than windows, while delivering more performance, allowing you to spend less on hardware upgrades, and keep old machines running for much longer.
It is free, in any sense of the word. You can buy a boxed copy, or download cd images for no charge. Once you have a copy, you can install it on as many computers as you want, give it away to all your friends, use it for personal or commercial use, change and customize it, even resell it for profit. This, coupled with the fact that most distributions include full network client and server capabilities (http, ftp, dns, smb, sql, telnet, gopher, finger, ppp, etc, etc), makes it especially well-suited for business applications.
The fact that the entire source code is available for inspection makes it secure and relatively error-free (problems can found and fixed easily and by anybody with the ability and inclination), and also makes application development easy, since there are no undocumented interfaces and libraries, like with proprietary OSs.
It is less user-friendly. But that’s not necessarily a disadvantage. It has fewer layers of crap between the user and the hardware, leaving fewer failure points. Also, since the OS does less for you, it forces you to learn and think more, which is always good. Remember that a race car doesn’t come with air conditioning and a cd player.
The command shell is also a full programming language.
For developers, there are references and compilers for most languages (c, c++, fortran, python, perl, php, etc), mostly included right out of the box.
There are many other reasons, but I’m tired of typing. Basically, if you’re happy with what you have, more power to you. But I think knowledge is its own reward, and for that reason alone I think Linux is worth trying out. You may get to like it. If not, you can always keep using windows.
Somebody mentioned that you can’t run all the newest hardware on Linux. That’s not exactly true. Shortly (I mean days or hours) after release of any new hardware, you should be able to find drivers that somebody has written for it. Some of the world’s best programmers write Linux software, including drivers.
True. I was oversimplifying. To rephrase: the DLLs associated with Linux tend to not cause as many problems as their Windows counterparts. Again, an oversimplification, but it is generally true. Of course, if more and more of them spring up for Linux, the situation could worsen.
Linux doesn’t necessarily support less hardware, just a different set of hardware. Older or nonstandard hardware may even be better supported… my parallel-port CD-R was detected automatically, but drivers weren’t even available for Windows 2000.
My brain pronounced “winkeys” in a way I don’t think you meant. It seemed like a pretty drastic solution for frustrated MS users.
-
-
- I don’t intend to defend MS so much as try to explain the problems Linux has:
-
- Re: Linmodems, there are Linux drivers for only a small percentage of all the Winmodem models produced.
- Re: Stability, most home users don’t leave their PC’s on 24/7, and most can trace crashes to a single offending program or two -often even to a particular feature of the offending program.
- Re:“Linux doesn’t necessarily support less hardware, just a different set of hardware…” - Um, no. No way. Win98 supports almost every consumer-grade PC accessory or component out there, just plug it in and go. How much consumer-grade PC hardware has Linux drivers, but no Windows drivers? Linux supports a few things, Win98 supports everything. - MC
Why not get the best of both worlds?
Considering that winmodems were designed to function exclusively in windows, any support in other operating systems is impressive. And the list is growing.
Wrong. I’ve done tech support for 3 different major companies, and I can tell you from experience that most home users have trouble tracing their names. Most people shut their brains completely off when they sit in front of a computer and find out it’s not really like Star Trek or the Jetsons. Stability always matters. Otherwise, why would microsoft tout every single release of windows as “the most stable OS ever!”?
Linux supports LOTS of hardware, especially with the 2.4 kernels. But this is one of two areas where windows really shines. Win98 really is unequaled (in my experience) at a) hardware support, and b) gaming support. B is the primary reason why I still have win98 on two computers. Another good thing about windows (that Gnome & KDE developers should learn from) is the uniformity of interface. Ctrl-X is always cut. Ctrl-C is always copy. Alt+F4 is always close application, and Ctrl-F4 is always close window. If linux GUIs were to adopt that feature, that alone would be a huge boost. IMO, anyway.
MSLinux??? Microsoft Linux? At 250.00$ a pop? What’s wrong with the world??
Quote from mslinux.com:
MS Linux is released under the provisions of the Gates Private License, which means you can freely use this Software on a single machine without warranty after having paid the purchase price and annual renewal fees.
Doesnt that kinda destroy the POINT of linux? Betcha it ain’t open source… 
It’s a joke. A parody of Microsoft and the way they do things.
“Jesus Christ, who are these people?”
– Bill Gates should have given it away. If that doesn’t do it, read the section on Microsoft Monkeys colonizing mars and learning to reboot the spacecraft when it bluescreens.