[TriLUG] Open Source Empowerment

[Jon Carnes]

Two items of note here Michael,

 1) You are on a "Linux Advocacy" mailing list.  Expect folks to
advocate Linux over Windows.

 2) My windows boxen run fine - as do my Linux boxen.  
I prefer the Linux as it lets me filter my mail, stop random pop-ups
while I browse, will not install "spy-ware" when I run java games for my
kids, is almost virus proof (for one thing I don't run as root!), lets
me easily run a host of Open Source applications - including Open
Office.  Also, it lets me share these wonderful resources with family,
friends, and clients... without breaking the law!

I'm sorry you had problems with Evolution and are now struggling with
Firebird. Both of these Open Source applications have worked well for
me, and in particular I have had great luck at setting up clients to run
Evolution.

If this "Linux Advocacy" group can help, let TriLUG know...

Jon Carnes

On Thu, 2003-11-06 at 12:35, Michael Thompson wrote:
> <rant>
> I wonder if I'm using different versions of Windows 98/XP/IE????
> (Different from the rest of the users on this list.)  Or maybe
> I'm the only person in the world with functioning hardware?  I 
> seriously doubt it.
> 
> I've been using IE/98 for years without many crash problems, actually
> less than my Linux boxes, which is the desktop on all my systems
> now, including work.  I now use Win4Lin to run any Windows apps I
> might require.  My brother uses Windows XP at home, and OS X at work
> for graphic design and comes home daily pissed off that his boss
> hasn't gotten him a PC.  His Ti-book or whatever you call it crashes
> Photoshop on a regular basis, as in 5-6 times a day.  He had to 
> purchase a ~$150 OS upgrade just to get *printing* to work properly.
> No too impressive for a company with a reputation for making graphic
> design machines, especially when a company with a reputation for 
> making s**t has an OS that allows him to edit the same files at home
> with no problems whatsoever.  (And *NO*, the gimp is *not* a 
> professional replacement for Photoshop, good for the standard user 
> maybe, but not in the real graphic design world.)
> 
> My experience in the Windows world leads me to believe most (not all)
> problems with Windows boxes have to do with irresponsible users, or 
> just plain ignorance, which is just as dangerous (if not more) in the
> *nix world.  How many Linux newbies run as the root user because they
> don't understand how things are supposed to work?  I did the same 
> thing for a little while until I did a little RTFM-ing and started to 
> get an understanding of how the thing worked, but most people don't 
> like to RTFM, they just want things to work and are satisfied if it
> appears that everything is working.  The argument that "people should
> take the time to learn to use their darn computers" may be correct but
> it would be naive to believe that this will ever happen, with any OS.
> 
> M$ may own the patent on Evil(tm), but are we going to blame open-
> source developers when Linux is more prevalent on 'civilian' desktops
> and the number of un-patched and improperly configured machines on the 
> net increases and start causing similar security issues?  (I know, I've
> strayed off the 'crash' topic a bit...)
> 
> ANYWAY...  The point I'm trying to make is that it seems to me that 
> while much of the M$ bashing may be correct, much of what I read here
> on this list sounds more like FUD from people who don't actually use
> or troubleshoot Windows/IE problems.  Don't get me wrong now, I choose
> Linux over Windows any day but I wont let my personal prejudice 
> convince me that dealing with Linux problems is any less frustrating 
> than dealing with Windows problems.
> 
> And now I will go back to trying to figure out why Mozilla Firebird
> keeps crashing and why Thunderbird will no longer load, and why gaim
> will not unload, and why Evolution will only process my filters some
> of the time and...
> 
> </rant>
> 
> --mike
> 
> 
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