Text 3418, 93 rader
Skriven 2005-09-26 17:10:10 av Maurice Kinal (1:261/38.9)
   Kommentar till text 3410 av MARTIN ATKINS (1:123/140)
Ärende: software for linspire
=============================
Hey MARTIN!

Sep 26 21:28 05, MARTIN ATKINS wrote to MAURICE KINAL:

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

Ah!  My best guess is that will change in the very near future.  If it doesn't
then my guess is that people will eventually discontinue that service.  It is
my understanding that such activities are prone to abuse and that it
potentially can be disasterous to the users.  Quite a bit of this sort of
activity is farmed out to private comanies here in NA and has been heavy-duty
exploited by some very nasty people, credit card information being the latest
major exploit.  Nobody is even sure how many people or how much money was
scammed from online credit card information.

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

Right.  That is the most common usage for spreadsheets.  Also I noticed them
being used on a dna tracking database.  I see them being used for all sorts of
things.  Me personally?  Nah.  I can do the same with far less albiet without
the fancy background.  Plus I have greater control over the number crunching
part.  It is easier for me just to write/script that stuff out then it is to
write macros for spreadsheets.  I am an old fashioned hands on sort of guy.

 MK>> running RH 6.2.  I haven't seen 5.2 in ages now.  I think that one had 
 MK>> a few y2k bugs in a few apps still in it.

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

That should work for that.  I recall it being some specific desktop app but I
don't remember exactly what it was.  It shouldn't influence your operation any.

 MA> I keep a lot of stuff for nostalgic reasons.

I used to do that.  :-)

 MA> out another distro. :) The remotes don't have the capacity but 
 MA> they can hold important scripts. It's the reason i hooked into Linux
 MA> those years ago. I felt i needed a server environment and couldn't
 MA> afford Win/NT.

Right.  Also Linux is better server-wise so it works out great.

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

It's a very good idea then.  Read the "Linux From Scratch" docs.  You can get
html's from www.linuxfromscratch.org.  That is the best place to start
methinks.

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

Me too.  I agree 100% on this very issue.  Besides that, the 'linux' console is
the best there is, bar none, so it happens to work out great for me.  :-)

Also I seem to like the console framebuffer graphic stuff although I haven't
put much work into that lately.  Still tweaking other stuff at the moment
related to hotswapping whatever storage devices.  I've been schemeing in my
mind about programmable pci IO cards and hotswapping all sorts of devices
including regular ide HDs.  usb works for this but I think it could be better.

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

Start with "Linux From Scratch".  I doubt it'll take you years.  You seem to
know what you want so you've already taken care of half the battle.

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

That is dependent on the link (provider) and cost.  Has little to do with
making your network better then the internet, fast internet connection or not. 
:-)

Life is good,
Maurice

--- Msged/LNX 6.1.2
 * Origin: The Pointy Stick Society XV - Linux Point (1:261/38.9)