[SuSE Linux] What DO you lose with Linux ???
Apologies for duplicate postings, but I'd like to make sure I sound a diverse population. Today' London "Sunday Times" feature "Innovation" (pp 10-11 of "News Review", <A HREF="http://www.sunday-times.co.uk"><A HREF="http://www.sunday-times.co.uk</A">http://www.sunday-times.co.uk</A</A>> ) has an article by David Hewson (of "Linux, the Program from Hell" fame) entitled "Linux wins backing of computing giants". His attitude to Linux is much more moderate than it was: the article is basically balanced and fair, including some sound negative comment. However, he states: "Behind the hype there is precious little sign of Linux becoming a serious, versatile desktop OS. If all you need is a browser to get through the day, it's fine. But if I boot the PC I am using right now into any kind of Unix the list of stuff I lose -- music composition, accounting and personal finance to name but a few -- is endless because the applications just aren't there. On top of that, Linux is difficult to set up, fails to understand the difference between a desktop PC and a notebook, and lacks any kind of plug and play facility." I'm sure the last sentence is simply wrong in point of fact. If, in the previous sentence, he'd given a longer "list of stuff I lose" one might be in a better position to respond constructively. However, can I ask people what they would use for "music composition, accounting and personal finance"? I'm aware of good programs for creating musical scores which can also generate MIDI output, but I'd hardly call them top-flight composition tools; and it does seem that the accounting/finance area is thinly served. He didn't mention OCR (optical character rcognition) either. Where is the OCR program for Linux that works? Now that vmware is out ( <A HREF="http://www.vmware.com"><A HREF="http://www.vmware.com</A">http://www.vmware.com</A</A>> ) people who want to can run Windows applications on top of Linux without, it seems, losing much or indeed anything, so this could be the basis of another line of reply to Hewson's article: he can start up Linux and the "list of stuff I lose" would be empty because it would all still be there! Comments, info, contributions, anyone? Best wishes to all, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding@nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Date: 28-Mar-99 Time: 12:49:27 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------ -- To get out of this list, please send email to majordomo@suse.com with this text in its body: unsubscribe suse-linux-e Check out the SuSE-FAQ at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A">http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A</A>> and the archive at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A">http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A</A>>
Hello On 28 Mar 99, at 12:49, Ted Harding wrote:
However, can I ask people what they would use for "music composition, accounting and personal finance"? I'm aware of good programs for creating musical scores which can also generate MIDI output, but I'd hardly call them top-flight composition tools; and it does seem that the accounting/finance area is thinly served.
You could try.......... <A HREF="http://alpha1.Linuxberg.com/x11html/doc_finance.htm"><A HREF="http://alpha1.Linuxberg.com/x11html/doc_finance.htm</A">http://alpha1.Linuxberg.com/x11html/doc_finance.htm</A</A>> or........ <A HREF="http://alpha1.Linuxberg.com/x11soft.html"><A HREF="http://alpha1.Linuxberg.com/x11soft.html</A">http://alpha1.Linuxberg.com/x11soft.html</A</A>> I get the impression that the music and composing side of things could be improved a bit ? Thanks Richard Sheffield UK 0973 682181 -- To get out of this list, please send email to majordomo@suse.com with this text in its body: unsubscribe suse-linux-e Check out the SuSE-FAQ at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A">http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A</A>> and the archive at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A">http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A</A>>
mmm.... I must be delusional. I haven't booted my Win95 side in months (When SuSE 6.1 with the 2.2.x kernel comes out I will reclaim that space for Linux) so how am I keeping my checkbook balanced and reconciled? Must be a phantom copy of cbb. I do my symbolic math with MuPAD 3.4 instead of MathCad 7.0 but I must be dilusional there also. My scanner scans perfectly well using Sane-1.0, which is called out of GIMP-1.0 and my other graphics programs, to say nothing of Blender-1.37 and Varkon, but I must be imagining things. I think I'm enjoying air combat simulation with ACM 5.0, which is much better than M$ Flight Sim. I'm not into music but I do know there are some fantasic sound and sound analysis programs. To sum up, has this guy done any serious searching? JLK "(Ted Harding)" wrote:
Apologies for duplicate postings, but I'd like to make sure I sound a diverse population.
Today' London "Sunday Times" feature "Innovation" (pp 10-11 of "News Review", <A HREF="http://www.sunday-times.co.uk"><A HREF="http://www.sunday-times.co.uk</A">http://www.sunday-times.co.uk</A</A>> ) has an article by David Hewson (of "Linux, the Program from Hell" fame) entitled "Linux wins backing of computing giants".
His attitude to Linux is much more moderate than it was: the article is basically balanced and fair, including some sound negative comment.
However, he states:
"Behind the hype there is precious little sign of Linux becoming a serious, versatile desktop OS. If all you need is a browser to get through the day, it's fine. But if I boot the PC I am using right now into any kind of Unix the list of stuff I lose -- music composition, accounting and personal finance to name but a few -- is endless because the applications just aren't there. On top of that, Linux is difficult to set up, fails to understand the difference between a desktop PC and a notebook, and lacks any kind of plug and play facility."
I'm sure the last sentence is simply wrong in point of fact.
If, in the previous sentence, he'd given a longer "list of stuff I lose" one might be in a better position to respond constructively.
However, can I ask people what they would use for "music composition, accounting and personal finance"? I'm aware of good programs for creating musical scores which can also generate MIDI output, but I'd hardly call them top-flight composition tools; and it does seem that the accounting/finance area is thinly served.
He didn't mention OCR (optical character rcognition) either. Where is the OCR program for Linux that works?
Now that vmware is out ( <A HREF="http://www.vmware.com"><A HREF="http://www.vmware.com</A">http://www.vmware.com</A</A>> ) people who want to can run Windows applications on top of Linux without, it seems, losing much or indeed anything, so this could be the basis of another line of reply to Hewson's article: he can start up Linux and the "list of stuff I lose" would be empty because it would all still be there!
Comments, info, contributions, anyone?
Best wishes to all, Ted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding@nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Date: 28-Mar-99 Time: 12:49:27 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------
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Ted, Win32 is easier to use and integrate, at least until you get way down in the weeds. I like to tinker, so I don't mind staying up all night trying to figure out how to get samba to show my Linux box in the browse list. The bad thing about Win32 stuff is that when things go wrong you find yourself so far removed from the guts of the system that it can be impossible to troubleshoot. Don't get me wrong, I love Linux. It is not so much that I find it currently improves my overall productivity. In the short run it probably hinders me. In the long run, I believe I am at the cutting edge of IT, and in the next five years the skills I am learning now will be in high demand. I'm not sure of all the ramifications, but Linux, and OSS in general, are going have an effect on the world economy. Currently MS is the most valuable company in the world. If you look at this list [ <A HREF="http://www.kernel.org/mirrors/"><A HREF="http://www.kernel.org/mirrors/</A">http://www.kernel.org/mirrors/</A</A>> ] you will realize, for better or worse, Linux is on fire and will spread. I believe Linux is a net positive in that it is a world-wide cooperative effort. It shows what can happen when we share our efforts openly. I don't like Linux because it is free. When I count the hours I spend trying to get things to work with Linux and multiply by my hourly wage, Linux is rather expensive. I like Linux because it is freedom. The thing that Linux sorely needs is better and simpler integration. Take for example what it requires in NT to set up a domain and add systems and printers. It's all point and click. Then look at the smb.conf man page. 140 pages of propeller head prose. For a moderately intelligent sysadmin, NT is a tractable integration challenge. Samba is certainly extremely powerful, but configuring it is a B****. When it comes to the general acceptance of Linux in the mainstream there are three things that matter: User Interface, User Interface, and User Interface! And these apply mostly to administrative tasks. IMHO, Steve "(Ted Harding)" wrote:
Apologies for duplicate postings, but I'd like to make sure I sound a diverse population.
Today' London "Sunday Times" feature "Innovation" (pp 10-11 of "News Review", <A HREF="http://www.sunday-times.co.uk"><A HREF="http://www.sunday-times.co.uk</A">http://www.sunday-times.co.uk</A</A>> ) has an article by David Hewson (of "Linux, the Program from Hell" fame) entitled "Linux wins backing of computing giants".
His attitude to Linux is much more moderate than it was: the article is basically balanced and fair, including some sound negative comment.
However, he states:
"Behind the hype there is precious little sign of Linux becoming a serious, versatile desktop OS. If all you need is a browser to get through the day, it's fine. But if I boot the PC I am using right now into any kind of Unix the list of stuff I lose -- music composition, accounting and personal finance to name but a few -- is endless because the applications just aren't there. On top of that, Linux is difficult to set up, fails to understand the difference between a desktop PC and a notebook, and lacks any kind of plug and play facility."
I'm sure the last sentence is simply wrong in point of fact.
If, in the previous sentence, he'd given a longer "list of stuff I lose" one might be in a better position to respond constructively.
However, can I ask people what they would use for "music composition, accounting and personal finance"? I'm aware of good programs for creating musical scores which can also generate MIDI output, but I'd hardly call them top-flight composition tools; and it does seem that the accounting/finance area is thinly served.
He didn't mention OCR (optical character rcognition) either. Where is the OCR program for Linux that works?
Now that vmware is out ( <A HREF="http://www.vmware.com"><A HREF="http://www.vmware.com</A">http://www.vmware.com</A</A>> ) people who want to can run Windows applications on top of Linux without, it seems, losing much or indeed anything, so this could be the basis of another line of reply to Hewson's article: he can start up Linux and the "list of stuff I lose" would be empty because it would all still be there!
Comments, info, contributions, anyone?
Best wishes to all, Ted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding@nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Date: 28-Mar-99 Time: 12:49:27 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------ -- To get out of this list, please send email to majordomo@suse.com with this text in its body: unsubscribe suse-linux-e Check out the SuSE-FAQ at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A">http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A</A>> and the archive at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A">http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A</A>>
-- <A HREF="http://www.winehq.com"><A HREF="http://www.winehq.com</A">http://www.winehq.com</A</A>> | I think. <A HREF="http://www.suse.com"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com</A">http://www.suse.com</A</A>> | I think I am. <A HREF="http://www.kde.org"><A HREF="http://www.kde.org</A">http://www.kde.org</A</A>> | Therefore I am. <A HREF="http://samba.anu.edu.au"><A HREF="http://samba.anu.edu.au</A">http://samba.anu.edu.au</A</A>> | I think? - Moody Blues -- To get out of this list, please send email to majordomo@suse.com with this text in its body: unsubscribe suse-linux-e Check out the SuSE-FAQ at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A">http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A</A>> and the archive at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A">http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A</A>>
participants (4)
-
hattons＠CPKWEBSER5.ncr.disa.mil -
jlkreps＠navix.net -
r.ibbotson＠zen.co.uk -
Ted.Harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk