Text 3410, 144 rader
Skriven 2005-09-26 21:28:00 av MARTIN ATKINS (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av MAURICE KINAL
Ärende: software for linspire
=============================
-=> MAURICE KINAL wrote to MARTIN ATKINS <=-

 MK> Hey MARTIN!

 MK> Sep 24 19:20 05, MARTIN ATKINS wrote to MAURICE KINAL:

 MA> It won't be brand new just newer. :-} Why would i use a more powerful
 MA> machine to run Slack and a slower machine to do all the stuff like
 MA> spreadsheets, word processing, charting and duel boot Win/Me
 MA> for banking?

 MK> Beats me why you need any of that stuff in the first place but I am
 MK> sure that it all could be done on a Linux system.  Probably better.
 MK> I've seen a few spreadsheet apps on Linux and they seem okay.  Not
 MK> using them I couldn't really say how they compare but given they are
 MK> running on a Linux system I would guesstimate they are good.  Same with
 MK> word processing ... I guess.  

Oops! Sorry i didn't make position clear. I use Linux for spreadsheets 
charting and word processing and just about everything else. I only
use Microsoft/ME for one bank. I use the bank to pay bills so i only
need boot to ME about once every two weeks. They use Microsoft java
for authentication with no other option. If it weren't for that
i would be 100% Linux. ;) 

 MK> I don't know much about these things
 MK> other then I thankfully never need or use them anymore.  I used to use
 MK> a word processor and found it far too annoying. Spreadsheets?  I used
 MK> to write my own databasing scheme that would work with honest to
 MK> goodness number crunching and was more fluid then any spreadsheet could
 MK> possibly hope to be.  Life is too short and full of better things to be
 MK> doing for that activity.  ;-)

I use spreadsheets for financial tracking. I find it the best tool for
what i do. 

 MA> The machine i'm on now will be for testing new public releases of
 MA> Mandriva, Fedora and some such. I may even have a Look at Dabian.
 MA> It will also serve as a backup for the newer machine. I will be using
 MA> a Pentium/200MX with only a 2 gig H/D and 64meg of ram for the Slack
 MA> but that may change depending how i get on. I also have a Pen/133
 MA> with a broken CDROM and ditto floppy. This one has my first Linux
 MA> install on it Redhat 5.2 spread over two 500 meg drives and that
 MA> stores all my old DOS stuff.

 MK> I've seen a few RH 6.2's still kicking around.  Someone tried hacking
 MK> into here through sshd the other day from some server in Korea running
 MK> RH 6.2.  I haven't seen 5.2 in ages now.  I think that one had a few
 MK> y2k bugs in a few apps still in it.

I haven't used it for some time now other than a storage unit. I can't 
recall any y2k bugs but then i only access it with NFS.

 MA> I usually bang away at a problem until i get it right but if i find
 MA> myself getting angry and frustrated i walk away from it for a few
 MA> days
 MA> or even weeks. It's amazing what a clear head can do. Often i see
 MA> silly stupid mistakes i have made out of frustration.

 MK> That happens for sure.  I think that could be said about everything.

 MA> I back up and archive all the time. Even stuff i probably will never
 MA> need again. ;)

 MK> I used to do that.  I've gotten more selective over time.  I think
 MK> having access to the internet, especially ftp sites, has made me more
 MK> frugal since it is relatively easy to obtain and update source.  Most
 MK> of the archives stored here are compiles (packages) of that source that
 MK> made the grade.  However it usually gets replaced.  Other then that my
 MK> backups tend to be configuration files and docs.  I find good
 MK> documentation to be worth it's weight in gold.

I keep a lot of stuff for nostalgic reasons. With the size of Hard Disks
these days i have storage space coming out my ears. This is good because
i can move whole partitions as directories to my slave when i want to try 
out another distro. :) The remotes don't have the capacity but 
they can hold important scripts. It's the reason i hooked into Linux
those years ago. I felt i needed a server environment and couldn't
afford Win/NT.

 MA> Well i know i will need some kind of Slack distro but other than
 MA> that i am in the dark so planning ahead is going to be difficult.

 MK> Understood.  You'll get there once you get the feel for it.

 MA> I think i will need first to set up a development environment.

 MK> Perhaps.  Depends on how you plan to use it but I recommend installing
 MK> gcc and friends if you want to tweak.  Your planned target should be
 MK> suitable as is for a Slack install without tweaks.  It is only if you
 MK> plan to deviate where having a compiler is a 'must have' which in my
 MK> case it is.  Without a compiler I'd probably seldom turn on a computer
 MK> but I am not the norm ... to state the obvious.

Yea..I think i will need to compile if i am truly going to make it
my machine. I want to understand as much of it is possible.

 MA> These days it's all pointy clicky and away you go but i speculate
 MA> that it ain't gonna be so with slack.

 MK> It can be.  Installation is still done the old fashioned way but it is
 MK> entirely possible to make it boot to a pure GUI enviroment once
 MK> installed and configured.  Personally I prefer booting to the console
 MK> and then typing 'startx' if I want to bore myself in pointy-clicky
 MK> world.  That is usually what happens here ... the boredom part that is
 MK> but sometimes playing in X can be fun.  At the moment DVD playing is
 MK> better on X but I am picking away at altering that.

I never boot directly to the GUI. If something is wrong with X it can
leave you up shits creek without a paddle. If the installation insists
on doing things that way the first thing i do is change it.

 MA> I did it many years ago when
 MA> i first started using Linux so i hope i can grab some memories
 MA> from the cobwebs of my mind but even so i used mainly RPMs at the
 MA> time.

 MK> Understood.  I used rpm once upon a time.  Not really my cup of tea
 MK> though as I usually know what I need and how to achieve it.  Took
 MK> awhile but on the plus side it was an interesting and rewarding
 MK> experience.  Frustrating too but that makes it all that much more 
 MK> sweet  when you get where you wanted to be.

That's what i'm after. I don't care if it takes me years. I want the 
satisfaction of learning just a little bit more.

 MA> Hey! Cut it out Maurice your wetting my appetite.:-}
 MA> The tax year is over here in Australia so i will see how things go.

 MK> Sounds good.  Take your time and enjoy the journey.

When i do decide to take the plunge, this echo will be my first port 
of call. I'm looking at my options regarding a faster internet 
connection. I'm leaving it for about nine months before i decide. 

 MK> Life is good,
 MK> Maurice

I wouldn't be dead for quids. ;)

:-}
 
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