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View Full Version : How To Turn Windows Into Linux And Become L33T


Ed Hansberry
11-26-2005, 12:00 AM
<a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2005/howto_turn_windows_into_linux.swf">http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2005/howto_turn_windows_into_linux.swf</a><br /><br />This is a short 12 step tutorial on how to turn your Windows PC into a Linux machine.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2005/20051125-windowstolinux.gif" />

ombu
11-26-2005, 12:05 AM
Uffff, this might take the whole weekend, I've got a lot of files... :twisted:

paschott
11-26-2005, 12:14 AM
Amusing, but really could have done without the sound.

On a related note, I know people who really worked hard to make those *n*x commands work in DOS, similar to those who did the same to make DOS commands work in *n*x.

KTamas
11-26-2005, 12:20 AM
Gosh, you made my day with this...This was just uber-funny.

Jason Dunn
11-26-2005, 12:36 AM
Amusing, but really could have done without the sound.

Nonono, the uber-cheesy Muzak is what made it even funnier. :lol:

IpaqMan2
11-26-2005, 12:39 AM
What is this? What does it do or suppose to do. More info.

ctmagnus
11-26-2005, 12:55 AM
What is this? What does it do or suppose to do. More info.

Linux? It's apparently an "operating system". My experience of it is that it's far too painful for most people to even consider using.

As for step 1, ren *.* *.

CME2C
11-26-2005, 01:29 AM
Ok so I have been working on this for the last 2 hours and can't get it to work. Am I doing something wrong????

deich
11-26-2005, 02:04 AM
Funniest thing I've seen in over a month.

jpf
11-26-2005, 02:04 AM
Sad. This item has no place here.

mscdex
11-26-2005, 02:13 AM
Personally I enjoy using linux and windows.

I think a lot of people get burned by linux because of the complexibity of distro xx. It's a shame that some of the better lesser-known distros aren't more popular. A good example of this would be Linare. It gives you the feel and look of XP and since I've installed on one of my other PCs here, I've had nothing but good luck with it. Start menu and all is almost exactly the same interface. You can still do things via a bash prompt, which is still nice to have since if you know some of the commands, can easily do things quicker than using the GUI (this is also true with Windows, using the command prompt to do some things instead of the GUI, at least for me).

ricksfiona
11-26-2005, 02:15 AM
Sad. This item has no place here.

Yes, I do agree with this a bit... It's not the kind of thing I expect from an uber-pro site like this...

Jason Dunn
11-26-2005, 02:15 AM
Ok so I have been working on this for the last 2 hours and can't get it to work. Am I doing something wrong????

Huh? It's just a Flash file - go to www.macromedia.com and install the Flash client.

jlp
11-26-2005, 02:17 AM
What is this? What does it do or suppose to do. More info.

Linux? It's apparently an "operating system". My experience of it is that it's far too painful for most people to even consider using.

As for step 1, ren *.* *.

Isn't it supposed to be more precisely ren *.dll *. ?!

Besides that I don't get the purpose of the article. The SWF file justs displays the QT logo superimposed with a question mark.

Did i miss something?

Jason Dunn
11-26-2005, 02:21 AM
Yes, I do agree with this a bit... It's not the kind of thing I expect from an uber-pro site like this...

Oh please, it's not like this is the New York Times - relax and learn to laugh a little! :lol: It's Friday, and we always do semi-goofy post on Friday afternoons.

Fishie
11-26-2005, 02:49 AM
Sad. This item has no place here.

Yes, I do agree with this a bit... It's not the kind of thing I expect from an uber-pro site like this...

uber-pro site?

jdhill
11-26-2005, 03:02 AM
Well, *I* thought that it was funny !!! :D :D :D

OSUKid7
11-26-2005, 03:08 AM
heh, it's funny, but I can't say I haven't seen this before. I know I watched this years ago...where'd you get this from? Isn't it normal to link to the source instead of hosting the swf yourself?

arb
11-26-2005, 03:09 AM
Thanks, you wasted my time........

CME2C
11-26-2005, 03:18 AM
Ok so I have been working on this for the last 2 hours and can't get it to work. Am I doing something wrong????

Huh? It's just a Flash file - go to www.macromedia.com and install the Flash client.

Nevermind, I meant I had renamed all my files ...... and couldn't get it to work.

T-Will
11-26-2005, 03:50 AM
Haha, that was funny! But it looks like we have a few Mr. Grumpy-Pantses around today...lighten up you guys! :bangin:

deich
11-26-2005, 03:51 AM
Nevermind, I meant I had renamed all my files ...... and couldn't get it to work.

CME2C - It was funny &amp; clever.

T-Will
11-26-2005, 03:53 AM
Nevermind, I meant I had renamed all my files ...... and couldn't get it to work.

Did you remember to recompile the compiler? ;)

topps
11-26-2005, 04:26 AM
Haha, that was funny! But it looks like we have a few Mr. Grumpy-Pantses around today...lighten up you guys! :bangin:

I agree. A bit of harmless fun. It's not like it was a huge drain on resources...hardware or wetware.

And, yeah, the cheesy muzak capped it all.

Oh well, u cant pleaz em all (sry my cat is helping twith th e typing)

Ed Hansberry
11-26-2005, 05:00 AM
Isn't it normal to link to the source instead of hosting the swf yourself?
Yeah, but there is one catch to that. You have to know the source.

gtmtnbiker98
11-26-2005, 05:50 AM
Coming from both the M$ and Linux camp, I can easily relate to the humor. And yes Ed, I even added the $ sign in Micro$oft for your benefit.

Although Linux has not gained favor in the home, it sure has gained quite a presence in business.

CME2C
11-26-2005, 06:36 AM
Nevermind, I meant I had renamed all my files ...... and couldn't get it to work.

Did you remember to recompile the compiler? ;)

Yeah, I tried that after kicking it didn't work.

njb42
11-26-2005, 06:43 AM
Yeah, I tried that after kicking it didn't work.

If you're running Gentoo Linux, you may have broken library dependencies after upgrading a package. Try this:

emerge --sync &amp;&amp; emerge --uDav world
revdep-rebuild
glsa-check -f all

This only takes 14 hours on my dual-core hyperthreaded P4 with 4GB RAM and 10TB RAID array.

If you're running another distro, God help you.

&lt;grinning, running &amp; ducking>

starstreak
11-26-2005, 11:39 AM
I can't believe nobody caught on to where that music came from. It was from one of those old casio keyboard! I loved that song. Keep in mind I was probably 3rd grade when that unit came out, and nobody with under $500 had a keyboard that could play more than one note at a time.
It it was fun. Even had a calculator (hey, it was casio at heart) built into it.

baker
11-26-2005, 02:09 PM
Step #9 is funny. Step #11 is a little off the wall. The music did make it all the better. :lol:

Deslock
11-26-2005, 05:23 PM
Ok so I have been working on this for the last 2 hours and can't get it to work. Am I doing something wrong????

Huh? It's just a Flash file - go to www.macromedia.com and install the Flash client.

Nevermind, I meant I had renamed all my files ...... and couldn't get it to work.Most of us got the joke.

lesterm
11-26-2005, 09:35 PM
Sad. This item has no place here.

This was the funniest thing I've seen for a while - brightened up my evening, thankyou.

The only thing that was funnier is the people taking it a bit too seriously and getting offended by it! No offence, but lighten up!

rocky_raher
11-26-2005, 10:09 PM
This item has no place here.
You're absolutely right. Why is an item that has nothing to do with Pocket PC's in a forum titled "Off Topic"?

:-)

Willmonwah
11-26-2005, 10:45 PM
For those offended by this animation, think of this in light of all the Windows jokes, even if it is a bit old as OSUKid7 pointed out.

To those who can't understand why people are offended, it's one thing to have a sense of humor but another to be ignorant of the hardwork and progress Linux users and developers have made to make Linux more user friendly. Check out some screenshots of GNOME, a shell/GUI used by Ubuntu Linux here (http://www.gnome.org/start/2.12/notes/en/index.html).

I would argue that a clean* installation (in contrast to having an OS pre-installed or installed with help) of Ubuntu Linux (http://www.ubuntulinux.org/) is easier to handle and more user-friendly for a new computer user than a clean installation of Windows. The installation is painless. Once you do your installation, you're ready to go with everything you need and an incredibly well-managed, visual way of adding/removing software. You're also presented with a number of great free support :!: options, including directly chatting with people intimately familiar with the exact distribution you're using. To see if Linux will work for you, order (https://shipit.ubuntu.com/) a free Ubuntu Live/Install CD set.

*To install it along with an existing installation of Windows is getting very user-friendly as well with free tools (no need for Partition Magic).

Last edited (5:07 PM EST) to explain argument.

nic
11-26-2005, 11:19 PM
that was really stupid.

Mark Johnson
11-26-2005, 11:33 PM
I love linux, but I still loved the show man! There's nothing better for the linux camp than to have some of these (very valid) "opportunities for improvement" be joked about.

Every time I have to open a shell, then "mount -t vfat /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy" just to browse the files on my disk, I think "gee, maybe linux really isn't quite ready for prime time yet..." Somehow I just can't seem to convince myself that using an arcane command line process to see what's on a floppy makes me l33t. :)

lapchinj
11-27-2005, 02:37 AM
...To those who can't understand why people are offended, it's one thing to have a sense of humor but another to be ignorant of the hardwork and progress Linux users and developers have made to make Linux more user friendly. Check out some screenshots of GNOME, a shell/GUI used by Ubuntu Linux here (http://www.gnome.org/start/2.12/notes/en/index.html)...
Right on! But I think that Kubuntu is better than Ubuntu :? This comment should heat up this thread on whether or not KDE is better than Gnome :wink: .

Anyway I don't think that the jokes were that funny but it does show how windows made the OS so friendly for the desktop user (or any user for that matter) to learn to use a computer. And we have to rememeber that if it wasn't for Billy-Boy a lot of people would not be using computers today because of the message the flash file brought out.

But there are a lot of Linux distros out there that don't have to be installed on the users machine if anyone wants to hack away at Linux. (K)Ubuntu just happens to be a really beautiful installation that asks less technical question during intallation than XP does and picks up all the hardware. I think that the neat thing about Linux that always brings a laugh is the bazzilion distros available for download (of course for FREE). There has to be a distro for everyone on this planet so someone looking for something special for the holidays for that someone special should be able to find something to play with. Maybe have a good laugh and maybe like it. Linux today is not the Unix/Linux of our forefathers 8)

Yeah, and I also think that this thead is off topic but was a good opening for a Linux plug :mrgreen: .

Jeff-

atrain
11-27-2005, 02:43 AM
KDE TEH ROXXOR N00b!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111one


Ive been on gentoo since last september (over a year now!)
Love it.... KDE is great... nice automounting stuff, so just have to click floppy icon to mount + view it :D

Anyways, ive shown people linux (Me + Friends ran it at lunch, showed people it aint all that scary) and helped convert some people...

I argue that linux now is definitly in a fully usable state.

lapchinj
11-27-2005, 03:04 AM
...Every time I have to open a shell, then "mount -t vfat /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy" just to browse the files on my disk, I think "gee, maybe linux really isn't quite ready for prime time yet..."...

Gee, I haven't used a floppy for about 5 years now but I'm sure that you can browse a floppy using Konqueror or whatever is available on Gnome or KDE. The only time I have to write that kind of stuff is when writing scripts. The Flash show forgot to include what you just mentioned into the show or tell the audience about having to be able to type 200wpm in order to be able to browse a harddisk with partitions in a reasonable amount of time :roll: .

A rule of thumb that I use is to use the shell at work only if you get paid by the hour or are a knighted software engineer otherwise just use x as much as possible. I do Unix and Linux and I still have a full head of hair because of x.

Jeff-

lapchinj
11-27-2005, 03:11 AM
KDE TEH ROXXOR N00b!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111one...
I guess I did start something rolling :mrgreen: . I should become a fisherman.

...I argue that linux now is definitly in a fully usable state.
No arguments are necessary since so many distros show that Linux is finally coming to the masses.

Jeff-

ctmagnus
11-27-2005, 03:36 AM
A rule of thumb that I use is to use the shell at work only if you get paid by the hour

:rotfl:

PeterLake
11-27-2005, 04:16 AM
I can't believe nobody caught on to where that music came from. It was from one of those old casio keyboard! I loved that song. Keep in mind I was probably 3rd grade when that unit came out, ...

Since we are OT, I don't mind revealing my age and commenting that I still have that keyboard that I bought in 8th grade or so (had to be 1980-81) and my kids love it.

It's just like my working-fine Cassiopeia E125, I must say. Feels like a brick, built like a brick, and can handle abuse like a brick.

Janak Parekh
11-27-2005, 04:36 AM
I can't believe nobody caught on to where that music came from. It was from one of those old casio keyboard!
I think it was the standard Casio demo song, actually. It was on my Casio as well. Nice catch.

As for the Flash itself, as a fairly heavy UNIX user, I thought it was funny until 11. 11 and 12 are only for the skr1pt k1dd13s, and in my opinion are rather lame. The first 10 or so actually are a pretty decent critique of UNIX naming structure, amongst other things. But then of course, what do you expect from an OS designed by programmers for programmers? ;)

--janak

ombu
11-27-2005, 06:06 AM
Most of us got the joke.
Not me, I was busy doing a clean install of XP which broke after renaming the files, I'm a bad typist, do you mind to share that joke again, please? :P

Darius Wey
11-27-2005, 10:40 AM
Since we are OT, I don't mind revealing my age and commenting that I still have that keyboard that I bought in 8th grade or so (had to be 1980-81) and my kids love it.

I have one sitting in my cupboard. It was and still is a funky piece of hardware. I'm not sure if mine still works though. :(

TopDog
11-27-2005, 10:40 AM
Being a user that uses both M$ (you asked for it) Windows, Mac OS X and GNU/Linux every day, I found the joke very funny, except one thing:

Why do you Americans always have to label things that are driven by something else than pure egoistic reasons or/and money "communism" ?

Jonathan1
11-27-2005, 11:49 AM
regarding spreading files all over the system in plain text. Yah because god know that HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Hardware Profiles\Current\Software\Microsoft\windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings]
ProxyEnable"=dword:00000000


Makes so much more freaking sense and is easier to find. :roll:

Seriously. It’s all about what people know and are comfortable with.

PS- We'll also ignore the fact that some of the items stated stopped being true about 2 years ago. *shrugs* Whatever.

Jonathan1
11-27-2005, 11:51 AM
Being a user that uses both M$ (you asked for it) Windows, Mac OS X and GNU/Linux every day, I found the joke very funny, except one thing:

Why do SOME Americans always have to label things that are driven by something else than pure egoistic reasons or/and money "communism" ?

Fixed that for you.... :roll:

MonTemplar
11-27-2005, 11:59 AM
I actually owned one of those little Casio keyboard/calculators as a kid. Many hours of fun were had with it - I guess it appealed to the nascent geek in me. :D

As for the Flash thing - I think that some parts of it definitely sum up what a lot of Windows users must think when they first investigate what Linux is all about. As for the rest... well, I guess the author must have spent a good amount of time hanging around Slashdot and listening to the 'groupthink' over there... some people just live to bash Microsoft, for whatever reason, and will hear nothing even remotely critical said about Linux and open source software.

Lex
11-27-2005, 12:32 PM
I can't wait for next Friday when we get to poke fun at Apple computers which the other American communists use ! Hey wait a minute, we're supposed to be serious on this site. No more humor ! No more humor ! No more...

TopDog
11-27-2005, 01:10 PM
Fixed that for you.... :roll:
Thanks :lol:

Janak Parekh
11-27-2005, 05:38 PM
Why do you Americans always have to label things that are driven by something else than pure egoistic reasons or/and money "communism" ?
Actually, if you consider the directives in front of the EU as of late, it's not just an "American" thing. In addition, if you listen to what RMS says, he is espousing a form of software socialism... and yes, I know, that's not the same thing as communism, but unfortunately, the c-word's become a buzzword in our society today.

(And, yes, I also know RMS != Linux. I personally didn't care for #s 11 and 12. And as Jonathan implies, not all of us think the same.)

--janak

Stik
11-27-2005, 06:22 PM
Sad. This item has no place here.

If you think that was sad. this will surely make you :bawl:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6893626981877095239&amp;q=bill+gates

T-Will
11-27-2005, 07:01 PM
Haha! Was that the end of the Comdex video or does it go on?

Stik
11-27-2005, 08:01 PM
Haha! Was that the end of the Comdex video or does it go on?

I believe that was it T-Will.

Microsoft definitely has a sense of humor in the spoofs that are used at the tradeshows and conferences as icebreakers.

Not to drive this OT further OT, but, if you liked Napoleon Dynamite, heres another one for you...

http://www.ifilm.com/player/?ifilmId=2679657&amp;pg=default&amp;skin=default&amp;refsite=default&amp;mediaSize=default&amp;context=product&amp;launchVal=1&amp;data=&amp;realId=2679657&amp;bw=300&amp;mt=WMP

KTamas
11-27-2005, 09:02 PM
Haha! Was that the end of the Comdex video or does it go on?

I believe that was it T-Will.

Microsoft definitely has a sense of humor in the spoofs that are used at the tradeshows and conferences as icebreakers.

Not to drive this OT further OT, but, if you liked Napoleon Dynamite, heres another one for you...

http://www.ifilm.com/player/?ifilmId=2679657&amp;pg=default&amp;skin=default&amp;refsite=default&amp;mediaSize=default&amp;context=product&amp;launchVal=1&amp;data=&amp;realId=2679657&amp;bw=300&amp;mt=WMP
Oh my, this was hillarious. Seriously.

(Vote for Pedro!)

KTamas
11-27-2005, 09:09 PM
Haha! Was that the end of the Comdex video or does it go on?
I think there is more but it is really hard to find the full version on the internet, i have not seen it completely either yet.

atrain
11-28-2005, 01:47 AM
I use X if being paid by the hour...

console is so fast and efficient... Im in it 80% of the time...

(I do use a graphical editor when working on java though)

lapchinj
11-28-2005, 06:02 AM
I use X if being paid by the hour...

console is so fast and efficient... Im in it 80% of the time...

(I do use a graphical editor when working on java though)
That is why MS owns the desktop. DOS was also a shell of sorts although a poor one and most people could not hack it. That's why Windows was born, it's easy to navigate and intuitive to understand and use. You mention that you use a graphical editor and that seems to be the trend today unless you write shell scripts for a living. Controlling complex programming environments is made much more managable now with GUI IDE's such as Eclipse, Netbeans and MS's VS.NET. Developers have unbelievable tools. That's why they've been such a hit. I haven't seen emacs or vi able to do this :morning: .

That said, the same holds true for the average computer user. If the GUI windowing environment was removed from all the computers in the world and replaced with a shell we could go back to using ARPANET. That's how many people would be able or willing to use a computer. At least that's one solution to getting rid of spam and security holes. Windows was the first windowing environment for the masses and we do have to thank Billy-boy for that :ladysman:.

But, my heart and soul is into Linux :werenotworthy: . My dream :hippy: is to have PI and Fusion run on some Linux distro even if I have to use a little wine 8) .

Jeff-

IcemanMN
11-28-2005, 08:12 PM
Nokia just released a Linux phone. Why did they do that? No one at this website would be able to answer that question.

I just deleted pocketpcthoughts from my daily rotation of reading material. P.S. I am planning to buy a PPC phone.

MRNUTTY
11-28-2005, 09:38 PM
Nokia just released a Linux phone. Why did they do that? No one at this website would be able to answer that question.


um... more market share, more profit? nah, nokia wants to make cute little penguin shaped phones (patent pending).

Damion Chaplin
11-28-2005, 11:05 PM
I love how in the end he thanked the font he used. Freaking hilarious.



P.S. - Lighten up people! It wasted your time? Did you think it had a link to a Linux distro? On a PPC site? You clicked on it for some reason. Did you really think that whatever the link contained would be so essential that you would use your precious time on it? And then you're mad that it was a joke? Puh-lease.

"This flash animation does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Thoughts Media Inc., it's owner, editors or readers."

WorksForTurkeys
11-29-2005, 01:37 AM
On a related note, I know people who really worked hard to make those *n*x commands work in DOS,

So do I: they're called Microsoft. :wink:

Magallanes
12-02-2005, 10:07 PM
wooow... the last time i heard this casio tune was 15 years ago.

Anyways, i don't find too bad to be communist, in fact ms is capitalist and in this page you can find it in the upper banner, in the left banner, in your os, in your keyboard, in your pda... so communist or capitalist make no difference, they decided and you must obey... :roll: at least a commy program can be for free.

KTamas
12-02-2005, 10:24 PM
wooow... the last time i heard this casio tune was 15 years ago.

Anyways, i don't find too bad to be communist, in fact ms is capitalist and in this page you can find it in the upper banner, in the left banner, in your os, in your keyboard, in your pda... so communist or capitalist make no difference, they decided and you must obey... :roll: at least a commy program can be for free.
I have that casio thingey somewhere and it still works from AC power....

Agentcdog
12-02-2005, 11:07 PM
So I am a little bothered by the SWF and by the responses in the forums it is obvious that there is some misunderstanding about linux. I hope that the SWF was old, because its information is.

1) Linux is more of a base than an actual OS. It consists of the kernel and a small set of utilities. This is known as LSB. NO ONE uses LSB as an OS. The OS (ie Redhat, knoppix, etc.) is the LSB plus thousands of other things.
Therefore it is ignorant to say "Linux is like this..."

2) Virtually ALL of the *nix OSes automount drives and come with a MUCH more robust printing system than is even available on XP. Unlike windows, most printers are supported out of the box (no driver CD needed).

3) Graphically, you have to spend money to have the visual shell tools for MS that come standard on KDE or Gnome. I wish my XP looked as nice as my SuSE does.

4) Windows (and DOS) command shell is a joke. Even MS knows that. Shell scripting is WAY better for certain applications than GUI. GUI is better for some things though. (MS is creating a more robust shell which is supposed to be released some time after vista)

On a personal note, I am a libertarian and I support open-source. No one is compelled to follow it and there is no communal ownership, so the communism thread is pretty ignorant, but it appears most here are bove that.
Oh, and the placement of configuration files instead of windows registry is one of the greatest parts of linux. It is very well organized, and much easier to navigate and read. I think the only reason MS uses its registry is that it gives them a place to keep the user out of control.

I thought it was a little funny, but mostly dumb (and way old).

Ed Hansberry
12-02-2005, 11:37 PM
1) Linux is more of a base than an actual OS. It consists of the kernel and a small set of utilities. This is known as LSB. NO ONE uses LSB as an OS. The OS (ie Redhat, knoppix, etc.) is the LSB plus thousands of other things.
Therefore it is ignorant to say "Linux is like this..."

http://www.linux.org/

"Linux is a free Unix-type operating system..."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux

"Linux is a computer operating system and its kernel."

And this file was a joke, not meant to be taken seriously. Still, it is only funny because a lot of it is true. :D

And this might have something to do with why Windows sells so well to average people - http://www.levenez.com/unix/history.html#01

Where would you even begin to do that if you were an average Joe. :confused totally:

desertrat_blog
12-03-2005, 12:43 PM
3) Graphically, you have to spend money to have the visual shell tools for MS that come standard on KDE or Gnome. I wish my XP looked as nice as my SuSE does.


It's quite shocking to see how primitive the windoze GUI is. Heck, my Amiga way back in 1993 had a more advanced GUI with auto-focus, auto-raise, multiple desktops etc. Yet here we are in the 21st century and windoze still lacks the features that was so last century.

Oh, and the placement of configuration files instead of windows registry is one of the greatest parts of linux. It is very well organized, and much easier to navigate and read. I think the only reason MS uses its registry is that it gives them a place to keep the user out of control.


The windoze registry is a pathetic mess. Want to migrate your application settings? Good luck trying to find the hundreds of places where a typical windoze app might hide its settings in the registry. With Linux apps, settings are typically located in just two places: "/etc" for system wide settings, and "~/" for personal settings.

Janak Parekh
12-03-2005, 08:22 PM
2) Virtually ALL of the *nix OSes automount drives and come with a MUCH more robust printing system than is even available on XP. Unlike windows, most printers are supported out of the box (no driver CD needed).
No no no NO. I strongly disagree with this. lpr, lprng, CUPS - they all suck. Badly. I've set up UNIX printing for years and I still hate it. If you mean by "most printers" being Postscript printers, you're correct, otherwise print support is very hit-and-miss in my experience (largely due to vendors using proprietary protocols, of course). And automounting is still flaky, even with very recent Linux distributions. I'd still much rather mount/umount by hand.

3) Graphically, you have to spend money to have the visual shell tools for MS that come standard on KDE or Gnome. I wish my XP looked as nice as my SuSE does.
Eh -- KDE 3.4, with FC4, is the first KDE I felt looked really polished and supported broad OS configurations and features. And I've been using KDE since v1 came out. Nevermind the lack of integration, L&amp;F, etc. between apps and the shell. Recent versions are better, but there's still a long way to go. OS X beats both Linux and Windows by a mile right now.

4) Windows (and DOS) command shell is a joke. Even MS knows that. Shell scripting is WAY better for certain applications than GUI. GUI is better for some things though. (MS is creating a more robust shell which is supposed to be released some time after vista)
Right - I have a huge bash profile that autodetects the host I'm on and sets up a bunch of things. ;) The upcoming MSH (so called "Monad SHell") is very interesting, and it's about time.

Oh, and the placement of configuration files instead of windows registry is one of the greatest parts of linux. It is very well organized, and much easier to navigate and read. I think the only reason MS uses its registry is that it gives them a place to keep the user out of control.
It is, simultaneously, one of the greatest and worst things about UNIX. The lack of a single configuration standard makes interapp communication far more difficult. On the other hand, it is very robust to power failure or corruption, and thank god we've mostly gotten rid of sendmail configs in modern distros. OS X, which is my current daily driver, falls somewhere in the middle, with at least the use of a common plist format.

--janak

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12-07-2005, 11:33 AM
Arrggh.. It was just a joke! Laugh (if you thought it was funny) or ignore it otherwise. Why is there suddenly a really serious Linux/Windows discussion with all the acronyms and technical details (that make regular people run in the other direction when they hear 'Linux') :twisted:

I thought it was funny so... :lol: :lol: :lol: