On Sun, 26 Dec 2004 19:16:25 -0500, slinky_silkworm wrote:

Is Linux a better operating system?

Yes.

On paper it sure looks that way considering Microsoft can't seem to
lock down it's system from hackers.

It can, but it's far harder to do

However, there is so much more to an operating system and a computer
in general than security and if one looks at security in the general
sense, most of these exploits have/are/rely on ignorant users.

Not entirely.

Seeing as Windows has 90+ percent of the desktop market place, the
number of ignorant users is going to be much higher than Linux with
say 2 percent of the desktop market place.

Where did you get your figures? No one knowe the percentages precisely.

That is one reason why Windows is attacked, the other is of course
Windows has it's problems with security.

Correct.

It's no secret.
However, I use both Linux and Windows and I get far more security
alerts from Suse Linux than I would like to see.

Security alerts are *good*. Why? Because they keep you informed, rather
than treatin g you like a mushroom - kept in the dark and fed on... well,
you get the idea.

As Linux becomes more popular, it will become a target and hackers
will exploit the stupidity of the end user, it will happen given time.
It's a fact.

No, it's not. It's a supposition, at most. Can hardly be a fact when it
hasn't happened, right?


So why is Windows easier?

Is it easier? That point is by no means conceded.

Simply because Windows is designed to easily integrate hardware and
software into a cohesive environment where things "just work".

In Linux, an awful lot of stuff 'just works'. Okay, I'll grant you that
some things don't but that is true of any OS.


Example: User wishes to play an audio CD with Windows. All he has to
do is put the CD in the tray and it works.
It might work via the analog cable connected to the sound card, or it
might work via DAE if the sound card does not have an analog input for
CD like many high end cards.

Now try this with Linux and say xmms...

Why use Xmms. Try KsCD.


Holy ****!

Create a directory where the audio CD will mount making sure not to
pick one that is in fstab, like /mnt/cdrom because it will screw up.

In most mainstream distros, it will mount audio CDs automatically. In
fact, I've had to *disable* that at times, when all i wanted was to rip a
CD, not play it.

Now pick a sound system.

The standard one will usually do.

Now figure out what controls on the mixer need to be activated and
move them up.

Usually enabled by default. If not, it's usually a trivial matter to pump
up the volume.

Oh yea, nothing is labeled on the typical mixer control and I still
don't know if the green light means the function is enabled or
disabled because the help system is so dammed lame.

Use your brain, then. Green means 'go', red means 'stop'. Not that hard,
was it?


Now make certain to raise all the volumes, on all mixers because Linux
seems to set them to zero and BTW if you reboot there is no guarantee
they will be set back.

Huh? What are you on about?

Check the number of threads that talk about this, going back to 2000
or so.

Yeah, sure.

I guess this is not an important feature for Linux developers.
Maybe another editor is more important?

How should I know what a developer thinks is important, I'm a user. But
there are plenty of sound apps being developed, so I would surmise it's
important to some of them.

Yea that's the ticket.
Another editor to add to the already 100 that exist already.

Who cares? I like text editors.



How about an iPod and Linux?

Hey that's a real winner!!!

NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So? iPods weren't intended for Linux in the first place.


FIrst off you HAVE TO HAVE WINDOWS in order to set it up. Then even
after you do that, the dammed hot plug system mounts it in some weird
ass directory and there is no way to over ride it. Bottom line is
GTK-PoD won't work right.

Wouldn't know, I don't have an iPod. But if it's the case, Linux-using
iPod owners will soon get things fixed so it does.


Even if you make it work, if you EVER CONNECT THE IPOD TO A REAL SYSTEM
like Windows, it will erase everything!!!!!!!!! And then you are back to
square one.

'Real system?' What nonsense are you talking?


mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/dev/ipod -v -t....................and so forth!

Hey that's user friendly!

You are too stupid to type a short command, are you?


Yea, yea I know, iPod is proprietary and won't tell Linux all it's
secrets.

Tough ****!!!

No, stupid manufacturers, who lose potential sales.


It's a popular device and people use it.

And your point is? That doesn't alter the fact it's not Open. Therefore
drivers are harder to write.


And that is the entire point.
There are a LOT of popular devices that simply won't work right with
Linux but yet work fine with Windows and Apple.

And there are lots of popular devices which work with Linux. Your point?


Blaming others seems to be the Linux user mantra.

Excuse me?


Blame everyone else except Linux.

Who are you talking about?


Theories are great, but actual practice is what counts.

I don't care how my dishwasher works, as long as I turn the knob and it
starts.

We are not discussing dishwashers.

My computer is a tool that is supposed to make my life easier not more
difficult.
I don't want to have to tell my computer how to do things, I want it to
tell me and allow me to accept or decline.

Then you are a fool. You should be in charge of your computer. You should
control it, not do as *it* wants.




Let's play DVDs!!
Shall we?

Why not. (Inserts 'The Sweeney' into drive... cool! Steely Jack rides
again.


My Plextor DVD player came with a CD that included various players and
CODECS and all I did was insert the DVD and everything worked.

I had to buy my Windows DVD playing software separately. And Windows Media
Player itself *still* won't play DVDs. How stupid is *that*? The codecs
are on my system, but WMP doesn't want to know.


Linux?

HAHHHHH!!!!!

apt-get....ooops I use Gentoo.
emerge sorry but I use Fedora.
RPMFIND....Sorry, I use Suse.
Yast....Ooops I use Slackware.....

Download mplayer (often included in your distro). Add codecs and
libdvdcss/read - usually provided separately by your distro maintainers
because of legal hassles. Most other DVD players will happily now play
DVDs also - unlike WMP for Windows.


When you install a popular distribution like say SUSE you will find that
the video players have been emasculated and don't include CODECS to play
anything useful.

This is true, of SUSE. Solution? Don't install SUSE's own version, go for
mplayer, etc. See above.


So now you get to scour the internet to find obscure sites that will
allow you to make things work, and BTW you had better have a broadband
connection because these files are numerous and HUGE!!!

Nope. I first got mplayer/xine/codecs/libdvdcss etc, on a dial-up
connection, and from Linux Format magazine discs. The sites are not
obscure - just google mplayer or xine.



How about sound under Linux?

I've never had more than temporary problems with sound under Linux.


Am I using ARTS?
ESD?
OSS?
ALSA?
OSS-Emulation?
Jack (the worst of them all)

You are joking, aren't you? If you can't get sound working with at least
one of them, you're an idiot.


How do I even know?

Learn to read.


Is my sound card /dev/dsp1?
dsp2?
Maybe it's hw:0?
or hw:0,1?

So what is it?

Learn to read.


What if I have 3 sound cards?

Dunno. Most of us have only one.



How come I can't use Jack as a user and get real time?

Something to do with the way the kernel works at present, I believe.


Why must I enter a command like:

jackd -R -d alsa -d hw:0 -r 44100 -p 1024 -n2 -i12 -o10 etc..... to make
things work?

See above.



This is a facrce!!!!

No, it's the way certain things work.


With Windows I pick which sound card I wish to use, BY NAME and it
works.
No su'ing to root, nothing like that.

And your point is? We're not using Windows, right? Therefore, Windows is
irrelevant.


Why is Linux such a mess?

It isn't.


Let's continue.............

How can I design Flash pages under Linux? Not EMULATED, HALF ASSED flash
pages, but REAL ONES 100 percent compatible with REAL FLASH?

Download and install Flashplayer 7.


Answer is it can't be done.

Hell, even viewing web pages under Linux is a chore because Linux
browsers suck!

No they don't. A lot of half-bakes, badly-coded sites do, though.

Even firefox, which works great under Windows takes 20 seconds to load
under Linux.

It works great under Linux, too.

Why is Linux so slow?

It isn't.


How about fonts?

How about them? I have plenty, all nice and Free, too.


Why does Linux have to steal TTF's from Microsoft in order to look
decent?

It doesn't, liar.


How about DAW work?

Ardour
RoseGarden
Audacity

Nice apps.


Compare them to Sonar 4 or Cubase and see what happens.

Why should I? I use Linux.


Where are Linux plugins that are decent?

There are none.

Liar.


Linux sound card support?

Linux doesn't support even the **** Sblive 24 bit cards.

Liar. Or perhaps I'm imagining the sound coming from my speakers.


Video support?

How is ATI support coming along these days?

Not as well as we'd like, sadly.


Not too good I hear...

Some ATI cards are supported, others not, but Nvidia are considered far
better nowadays, and the best way to go for Linux video.


Sorry but Linux is a mess, a joke and THAT IS WHY it is being ignored as
users flock toward Apple and WIndows for real solutions to solve real
everyday problems.

Are you joking or just stupid? Flock *towards* Windows and Apple? Please
get a clue. How many million people downloaded Firefox alone this year?
Peop,e don't flock towards Windows, they simply buy it along with their
hardware. That's not musch of a choice. As for Apple, it's hardly making
vast inroads into Windows territory in the way Linux is.


If you want to run a geek cluster, use Linux....... If you need to
accomplish everyday work, use anything BUT Linux.

You're talking utter ********. But why be surprised - you are nothing
but a troll anyway. If you don't know how to get your work done under
Linux, that is your problem, not that of the OS. Linux is very capable,
flexible, and above all, Free.

Because it's the Season of Goodwill, I'll give you a hint: go and download
Knoppix 3.7, and buy or borrow the book 'Knoppix Hacks'. Come back in a
few days and tell me again that Linux doesn't do this, that and the other,
and you can't get work done. Then I'll *know* you're a liar and a fraud.

--
Kier