Text 3747, 131 rader
Skriven 2005-10-11 05:14:18 av Maurice Kinal (1:340/401.1)
   Kommentar till text 3744 av CHARLES ANGELICH (1:123/140)
Ärende: software for linspire
=============================
Hey CHARLES!

Oct 10 22:30 05, CHARLES ANGELICH wrote to MAURICE KINAL:

 CA> Popular with people like you and I who had a thirst for a real
 CA> multitasking OS comparable to UNIX, yes.

I'll go along with that.  Seems to me that most of the servers I run across on
the internet are running Linux as well.  I've never heard any stats on it, but
I'll go out on a limb and say Linux is a serious major player perhaps better
then half, internettally server speaking.  Probably most users are Windows
though.

 CA> You continued along
 CA> those lines after being made aware of linux and I got
 CA> distracted for a couple of decades by other multitasking OS
 CA> (and life in general). :-) 

Stuff happens.  No big deal is it?  Anyhow Linux is readily available so
nothing to get too excighted about.  There are more choices now then ever.

 CA> I believe that you would have but this is one of those times
 CA> when knowing the right _question_ is the path to the right
 CA> answer. Few even knew linux existed when I first 'discovered'
 CA> it. I was actually searching for MINIX files and found Linux in
 CA> the same directory. 

Like I said, I'd heard of it but never looked until prompted.  I really liked
what I saw and the rest is history, although I still find myself amazed by what
is possible with a little bit of creativity and tweaking.  It may not happen as
often as it originally did but it is still there.  I honestly think there is
way too much happening for anyone to really call themselves a Linux guru.  Good
stuff for sure.

 CA> There was even some confusion as to whether Linux was just a
 CA> 'fork' of MINIX at that time. 

I never heard that.  MINIX is good stuff.  Played with it a bit but still
prefer Slackware over everything else.  BSD's are good too, but still prefer
Slackware.

 CA> They would have to know enough to ask the right questions. 

What is the right question?

 CA> It matters in the same ways that giving GNU credit for it's
 CA> contribution to Linux matters.

It is a major player for sure.  Also influences other OS's as well.

 CA> It matters in the same way that
 CA> giving credit for C-Kermit to _all_ who contributed code to the
 CA> project matters.

For sure.  I have no problem singing their praises.

 CA> It matters that even now DOS software for FIDO
 CA> is as plentiful or even more plentiful than the other OS (with
 CA> the possible exception of OS/2).

Welllllllllllll ... those days are definetly waning.  Too bad really.  I still
like Fido and plan to hang tough until either it or I end.

 CA> DOS is still being used
 CA> because what it can do it does do and at times with little
 CA> effort because it's been around for so very very long. 

It isn't like it used to be.  I think some are just hanging tough is all.  It
is just a matter of time.

 CA> I don't believe that moving from DOS to Linux requires giving
 CA> up anything.

I think I gained.  Best console I have ever seen.  Nothing else comes close.

 CA> I just remember that DOS was 'hauling the freight'
 CA> for those attempting to install/learn linux. Downloading linux
 CA> when I found it meant accessing a DOS BBS system probably using
 CA> a DOS terminal for the connection. 

I had prior unix experience so it all came back rather quickly except that
dealing with hardware issues threw me for a loop at first.  It still does every
once and awhile.

 CA> Before the internet DOS BBS (and other os) were moving the
 CA> linux files around making them available to users and FIDO
 CA> echos were places to go to for help. 

I'd like to think it still could be.

 CA> Linux installs weren't as automated at the start. What I found
 CA> was an image copy of the entire OS that had to be put onto the
 CA> hard drive 'in toto' then manually configured to match the
 CA> system hardware. 

That is how I find myself doing it except I am creating the images now. 
Install what you know darn well is going to get installed and then tweak later.
 I am putting on the final touches on a gcc4/kv2.6 smp system as we speak and
will use that as my next generation development image.  Inatalled the base
yesterday after constructing it on a Gateway mb planned for a good friend and
will finish tweaking on my smp jobber just to make sure it can be done.  Worked
really slick installing from a network connection so now it is a simple matter
of spiffying it up and we have a 'distribution' ... or at least an image.

 CA> 'Required' in the sense that average users are spoiled now and
 CA> wouldn't do the floppy install if you hand delivered the
 CA> floppies to them. 

Ah!  Well then they should stick to the kiddie stuff.

 CA> NOW you do. I'm referring to earlier on when few had even heard
 CA> of linux. If the installs had remained at that level with
 CA> little auto-detection of hardware parameters I think the
 CA> relative anonymity of linux would have continued. 

I doubt it.  Most of the people I've talked to over the years that are still
using Linux are hardcore.  Not that they mind simple CD installs, but they
usually love getting involved in the guts of the operation so it tends to be an
ongoing thing.

 CA> Learning can become an end unto itself but most will burnout
 CA> when in that 'mode' for too very long. 

I don't mind.  Every once and awhile I have to walk away from it and take a
breather.  I think everything is that way ... is it not?

Life is good,
Maurice

--- Msged/LNX 6.1.2
 * Origin: Coffin Point - Ladysmith, BC Canada (1:340/401.1)