Pasture Talk
 
Forums: » Register « |  User CP |  Games |  Calendar |  Members |  FAQs |  Sitemap |  Support | 
User Name:
Password:
Remember me
Go Back   Codewalkers ForumsGeneralPasture Talk

Reply
Add This Thread To:
  Del.icio.us   Digg   Google   Spurl   Blink   Furl   Simpy   Y! MyWeb 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
 
Unread Codewalkers Forums Sponsor:
  #1  
Old August 11th, 2003, 03:47 AM
sethadam1 sethadam1 is offline
Codewalkers Newbie (0 - 499 posts)
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 223 sethadam1 User rank is Just a Lowly Private (1 - 20 Reputation Level) 
Time spent in forums: < 1 sec
Reputation Power: 3
Amateur Hour

Sorry PostalCow, but this week's column, "Is Linux Ready?" makes you look major league uninformed. First off, a little research, rather than just a rambling of your own thoughts, would have been nice. The X Windowing System, which you mentioned, is emulated by the free software XFree86. In all likelihood, you've never even used the X Windowing System, but rather, only XFree86. XFree has undergone some major improvements of late. The speed of X is barely an issue - it's the speed of the window manager that bogs it down. The common desktop environments, KDE and Gnome, cause the graphical system to seem as though it lags. X is not slow. However, due to the fact that XFree is not a multithreaded application, there are complaints about the response time of the GUI. The developers have discussed changing that for the next major release (more on X).

Windows is much more responsive than Linux, and will be for some time. With Linux, you assemble an OS from a kernel and utilities, usually the GNU utils. With Windows, you're getting a prepackaged, all-or-nothing product. Windows gets away with a lot by putting processes in the kernel that, arguably, don't belong there (rumor has it that IE7 will be in the kernel in the next version of Windows. Yes, a web broswer...in the kernel!). As a result, many times you "feel" that an application is faster or more responsive than it actually is. Windows graphic system is inherently attached to the kernel, like that of BeOS or Syllable/Atheos. If you were to put certain parts of your windowing system into your kernel on your Linux box, you'd see performance increase too.

The apps you mention, like QuickBooks, will likely never be "ported to Linux," because as we've seen, apps are REPLACED by GPL'ed applications, not by ports of popular Windows apps. Mr Project, GNUCash, and GIMP are a few free applications that have been deemed "killer apps," which far exceed the needs of a user, who would likely not want to shell out cash for similar apps once they have the free versions.

What you've completely not addressed, what makes this article incomplete, is the concept of free software. You've assumed that "free" is free as in "costing nothing." Free software is about the freedom to know what's going on in an app, in your OS, and with your computer. It's about modifying your software if you don't like what it does. It's about running only what you need. Linux excels because it has developers from all over the world working on it and catching each other's mistakes. That's why bugs are patched so quickly. That's why development is so rapid. While a savvy CFO might be interested in the "free as in beer" angle, true sysadmins are aware that the benefit of Linux is getting only what you want and having the freedom to completely customize it. You can rebuild your kernel whenever you want to match your machine's hardware, and drag no legacy crap in with it.

You mention hardware detection in your article, but have you used Knoppix? How about the latest Red Hat beta? The hardware detection in Linux is evolving at an astonishing speed. It will not be long before it surpasses that of Windows, whose HCL is quickly outdated in their long release cycles. As USB and Firewire filesystems and devices become more pervasive, and with the impending introduction of Linux kernel 2.6, you'll see this process beginning.

Frankly, your column frequently reads like you were just jotting down your thoughts. While I respect you very much as a PHP coder, writing a column doesn't suit you. I apologize for being so direct, but the topics you lightly touch on have been discussed by people much more knowledgable than you and should be rightly linked for those who might actually get their facts from this page. Stick to PHP please.

--

PS. I apologize in advance if this comes off harshly, it's not intended to be. This is a feedback forum, and that's truly my intent.

Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old August 11th, 2003, 12:02 PM
postalcow postalcow is offline
Codewalkers Beginner (1000 - 1499 posts)
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Ford CIty, PA USA
Posts: 1,267 postalcow User rank is Just a Lowly Private (1 - 20 Reputation Level) 
Time spent in forums: < 1 sec
Reputation Power: 4
Send a message via Yahoo to postalcow
RE: Amateur Hour

Quote:
PS. I apologize in advance if this comes off harshly, it's not intended to be. This is a feedback forum, and that's truly my intent.


I was limited for time on this weeks article. It was a throw together. Apologize? for what? I speek my peace, you are entitled to speak yours. That is the great thing w/freedom. Now the "anonymous" posts is a different thing. I already started on next weeks article, hopefully I get you back a loyal fan

~Cow

Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old August 11th, 2003, 04:13 PM
Anonymous Anonymous is offline
Registered User
Codewalkers God 35th Plane (22000 - 22499 posts)
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 22,309 Anonymous User rank is Just a Lowly Private (1 - 20 Reputation Level) 
Time spent in forums: < 1 sec
Reputation Power: 25
RE: Amateur Hour

rumor has it that IE7 will be in the kernel in the next version of Windows. Yes, a web broswer...in the kernel!

IE is not just a web browser. It's part of windows. When you open up "My Computer", it's IE's work there. I heard by "IE7" you won't be looking at websites through IE, but through Windows itself. eg. "Windows explorer"

Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old August 11th, 2003, 04:41 PM
postalcow postalcow is offline
Codewalkers Beginner (1000 - 1499 posts)
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Ford CIty, PA USA
Posts: 1,267 postalcow User rank is Just a Lowly Private (1 - 20 Reputation Level) 
Time spent in forums: < 1 sec
Reputation Power: 4
Send a message via Yahoo to postalcow
RE: Amateur Hour

If you see it in an article email it to me. I will have a field day with this one.

Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old August 11th, 2003, 04:41 PM
tkarkkainen's Avatar
tkarkkainen tkarkkainen is offline
Moderator
Click here for more information
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Finland
Posts: 2,331 tkarkkainen User rank is Lance Corporal (50 - 100 Reputation Level)tkarkkainen User rank is Lance Corporal (50 - 100 Reputation Level)tkarkkainen User rank is Lance Corporal (50 - 100 Reputation Level)  Folding Points: 26229 Folding Title: Starter FolderFolding Points: 26229 Folding Title: Starter Folder
Time spent in forums: 6 Days 15 h 33 m 41 sec
Reputation Power: 5
RE: Amateur Hour

Integrating IE into Windows was one of MS's worst mistakes. It makes the whole system more vulnerable, especially if you browse your local files with a web browser. If the ruomour about IE 7 is true, I will never install any newer versions of IE than 5.5.

Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old August 11th, 2003, 07:43 PM
sethadam1 sethadam1 is offline
Codewalkers Newbie (0 - 499 posts)
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 223 sethadam1 User rank is Just a Lowly Private (1 - 20 Reputation Level) 
Time spent in forums: < 1 sec
Reputation Power: 3
RE: RE: Amateur Hour

Quote:
rumor has it that IE7 will be in the kernel in the next version of Windows. Yes, a web broswer...in the kernel!

IE is not just a web browser. It's part of windows. When you open up "My Computer", it's IE's work there. I heard by "IE7" you won't be looking at websites through IE, but through Windows itself. eg. "Windows explorer"


No. "Explorer" is the file manager you're referring to. Internet Explorer is the browser. They are different apps. Don't believe me? Search a windows box for *explore*.exe and you'll find both explorer.exe and iexplore.exe.

What is true is that Microsoft has been integrating them more and more. And that's NOT a bad thing. KDE has mde Konq into the file manager and the default KDE web browser. I happen to think the file manager and web browser should share some code and pass each other information.

Don't believe anyone who tells you IE is a necessary part of Windows. It's not. They may be making it that way, but it's not as is.

Use Firebird. It's better anyway.

Reply With Quote
Reply

Viewing: Codewalkers ForumsGeneralPasture Talk > Amateur Hour


Thread Tools  Search this Thread 
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes  Rate This Thread 
Rate This Thread:


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
View Your Warnings | New Posts | Latest News | Latest Threads | Shoutbox
Forum Jump




 Free IT White Papers!
 
How to Present Effectively Online
This white paper offers practical and actionable advice on the key steps that any presenter should consider as they plan and execute a Webinar or online meeting.

Request Your Free Technology Downloads!
 
Open Source Security Myths
Open Source Software (OSS) is computer software whose source code is available to the general public with relaxed or non-existent intellectual property restrictions (or arrangement such as the public domain), and is usually developed with the input of many contributors.

Request Your Free Technology Downloads!
 
Power and Cooling Capacity Management for Data Centers
This paper describes the principles for achieving power and cooling capacity management.

Request Your Free Technology Downloads!
 
Scalable, Fault-Tolerant NAS for Oracle - The Next Generation
For several years NAS has been evolving as a storage alternative for Oracle databases, and for good reason: NAS is quite often the simplest, most cost-effective storage approach for Oracle. Learn about the benefits that HP's approach to scalable NAS brings to Oracle environments in this comprehensive white paper.

Request Your Free Technology Downloads!
 
Understanding Web Application Security Challenges
This white paper discusses many common threats and preventive measures for Web application security, and explains what you can do to help protect your organization.

Request Your Free Technology Downloads!
 

Forums: » Register « |  User CP |  Games |  Calendar |  Members |  FAQs |  Sitemap |  Support | 
  
 




© 2003-2009 by Developer Shed. All rights reserved. DS Cluster 6 Hosted by Hostway
For more Enterprise Application Development news, visit eWeek