Re: why linux?
On Mon, 21 May 2007, S C wrote:
For months now I have been trying to make Debian behave like a real OS.
However, I still cannot print, format/initialize a new cd or use one to
back up files, get the sound working, watch a movie or read images from
my digital camera. With Windows all this was simple. I downloaded the
relevant program, set it up and it worked. Windows is supposed to be
devilspawn and doomed, and maybe it is. It does, however, have one
saving grace; it works. It works without expecting me to become a
systems engineer.
Why try to run Debian if you don't have any problems with Windows.
1. It is much easier to make things work if you ignore security.
2. Win32 doesn't work for everyone
At work, Win32 is the "corporate standard" and PC's are purchased in bulk
and are configured using a standard image. Pretty soon we found that a
number of "mission critical" apps wouldn't work until users were given
admin. rights. Our enterprise grade network switch has a long history of
autonegotiation glitches (it wants clients to run 100Tx-HD, with FD duplex
reserved for servers). A duplex mismatch doesn't prevent using the
network, but performance suffers badly. With linux, "dmesg" gives errors
with the suggestion that there is a duplex mismatch. The mii-tool lets you
view the autonegotiation status and renegotiate when the first attempt
gets it wrong. Before Win32, I had an SGI Octane. For SGI IRIX64, you
build a kernel with autonegotiation disabled and lock the port on the
switch at 100Tx-FD. Win32 wouldn't connect at all until the port was set
back to autonegotiate, but provides no mechanism to view the results of
autonegotiation, so our users have learned to unplug the network cable if
the network becomes sluggish or they see a lot of "delayed write failed
messages" in the event log.
We often need to burn a data DVD to transfer files/images from the unix
machines to other sites. The unix machines are in server rooms and don't
have DVD writers, so you have to transfer the files (many are bzip2
compressed) to a PC. When I do this, my Win32 system becomes unresponsive
due to the AV scanner taking over 90% CPU for hours. This is huge waste of
resources and is much more likely to get false positives than it is to
find an actual virus in a data file generated on unix.
3. debian works for many people
Maybe you hardware is substandard or maybe you didn't configure it
properly.
When I go to someplace like freenode/#debian I am ignored. Maybe I
should say to Hell with Linux and sell my story to Microsoft.
Obviously I don't really want to, but how much longer should I put up
with a partial OS? I don't mind telling you I'm damned sick of it.
If you don't want to be ignored, you could try a commercial distribution.
Debian is mainly supported by the user community -- nobody gets fired
for ignoring complaints.
--
George N. White III <aa056@chebucto.ns.ca>
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