[CLUE-Tech] Enthusiasm for Linux

[Chuck Downing]

Jeff,
Thanks for your time.

On Friday 24 October 2003 03:24 pm, Jeff Cann wrote:
> On Friday 24 October 2003 1:37 pm, Chuck Downing wrote:
> > 2.  I would like to be able to have a "demand dial" approach to my ISPs
> > because the ISP which is a local call doesn't do Usenet and the other
> > charges by the hour.
>
> AFAIK, you can accomplish the dial-on-demand using the diald program.  I
> don't use it, and haven't had a dial-up modem working under Linux for 4
> years (I'm on a broadband account).
>
> I searched google for 'linux modem dial on demand' and found several
> articles on how to set it up.  It is not as easy as checking a box like you
> do under windows; unles KDE or GNOME modem dialers support this setup.  I
> don't know.
>
> Your winmodem may not be supported simply because it was not designed to be
> used with another operating system besides windows; hence the name. 
> Despite what Linux vendors claim, not all windows hardware is / can be
> supported under Linux.  Also, different vendors have different
> compatability lists, so another one may work better with your hardware.
>
> Don't forget that many hardware vendors do not give specs to Linux
> programmers and those programmers do not have the $ to purchase the specs. 
> So, many of the hardware devices have been reverse-engineered, which takes
> *a long* time. Only after years of pestering hardware vendors to support
> other (non-windows) operating systems, has the Linux community gotten more
> support from these companies.
>

But the guys from whom I got the driver claim to be vendors of solutions for 
this particular chipset with Linux.  I have this one solved, after losing a 
bunch of hair.  I purchased a PCMCIA modem.

> Your best bet it to check Linux hardware compatibility sites:
>
>  + http://www.linuxhardware.net/
>  + http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Hardware-HOWTO/
>
> If you find that your modem isn't supported, another alternative is to
> spend $20 for a quality one that does not require windows to operate.
>
> > 4.  OO would like me to install Java.  The Blackdown Java installation
> > included with Libranet 2.8 on the CD cannot be completed because some
> > library dependancies are not available on the debian web site.  Java has
> > installed on Windoze for at least 8 years!
>
> I have OO 1.1 and JDK 1.4 working just fine under Red Hat 9.  I also had
> the same success under Mandrake 8.2 and Slackware 7.
>
> Also, there are two other Java installations you can use on Linux, IBMs or
> Sun's.   I personally stopped using IBMs once Sun kept their JDK Linux
> builds up-to-date (well, since they took Blackdown code and called it the
> Linux JDK).
>
> I have been developing java software on Linux for 6 years (originally with
> IBM's and Blackdown JDKs).
>
> <snip>
>
> My recommendation is that you first figure out what you want to do with
> Linux and then use Linux programs to accomplish your goals.  Any windows
> emulation is a bad idea because it will always break with new version of
> those windows programs.
>

I agree, wholeheartedly, but I have been trying for 18 months to find a 
replacement for Forte's Agent newsreader with absolutely no success, even 
though the developers say in one case that they "mimic the operation of 
Forte's Agent."  newsleader doesn't compile with Libranet 2.8/Debian 2.4.20.

> If you must have some type of windows / linux hybrid, why not consider
> Lindows or VMWare?
>

Have you price VMWare?  The program may be good, but several hundred dollars 
to run Agent seems like way overkill.  That price is in the league with Adobe 
and MS Visual Basic, etc.

> I'll also echo Joe's comments regarding your sentiment that you seem to
> want Linux to look or act like Windows.  It doesn't; this is why it's an
> alternative.   It could be that for you, Linux does not fulfill your needs
> very well because its flexibility means that it's harder to use for some
> folks.
>
> Finally, I'll recommend Red Hat 9.0 - in my 8 years as a linux user, it's
> the most polished distribution yet.
>
> Jeff
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-- 
Chuck Downing
Leadville, Colorado