Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Red Hat Software Inc. (Nasdq-RHAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Marcelo Magnasco who wrote (890)	8/31/1999 8:14:00 PM
From: JRH	Respond to of 1794

Marcelo: There is no simple way to go very wrong when installing W98 because the W98 installation doesn't give a damn about you and what you want. Without a doubt, there is no argument that a Linux installation is far more powerful and offers far more options, and I never claimed otherwise. And the same goes for the OS as a whole! However, speaking from from an ease-of-use and ease-of-installation point of view, Linux is challenging for most average users. And I can sympathize with them as I was in the same position a year and a half ago when I first began experimenting with it. I am also amazed at how much easier things became in the jump from RH 5.2 to 6.0. But I still feel the basic installation of Windows is easier. How long does it take to have a W98 machine properly connected to ethernet and able to send and receive mail from the internet at large? How long does it take you to configure a printer for your W98 machine? Network clients for sharing? Do you include that as part of the W98 install or don't you? Is it easy or confusing? I find Internet and Ethernet setup to be pretty easy on Borg98, although Ethernet setup is easier in Linux. Internet setup is much easier in Windows, though, I again think that is improving in Linux.... Anyhow, I could go on all day, but I won't. I use linux because of its reliability and power, not because of its "ease of use". And that is why I have a hard time seeing Linux on the desktop someday in the enterprise world. And yes, every feature in Windows requires a reboot. And yes, it is annoying. ;o) Justin

To: Marcelo Magnasco who wrote (890)	8/31/1999 8:50:00 PM
From: Gerald Walls	Respond to of 1794

I run both Win98 and Linux on different machines and I love Linux, but I must take exception to some of your points. Let me note that the parts of Linux installation that are typically associated with problems and confusion and mistakes have NO counterpart in the W98 installation. Installing linux on a machine that already has another OS running has NO EQUIVALENT in W98 mode: W98 always wipes out the entire thing if it can. I agree with the first part of your statement wholeheartedly. The part of installing Linux (Red Hat 5.2) onto an empty hard drive that threw me enough that I later had to wipe and reinstall to get it right has no counterpart in Windows 98: partitioning with Disk Druid. This has been fixed with Red Hat 6.0 where you finally have the option of a default partitioning scheme instead of being forced to bunge together something that later you figure out is hideously incorrect. Then, installation of graphics and sound cards is NOT a part of W98 install: you use the drivers that come with the cards. (Maybe W98 comes with drivers for some old cards, but it has NEVER recognized my graphics card beyong VGA mode). Win98 recognized my no-name and brand name hardware when I installed it, and then recognized fancier stuff when I upgraded to it, like the ATI All-in-Wonder-Pro which isn't exactly a generic item. Granted, I did download the latest drivers from the web site and installed them over what Windows installed but you'd do the same for Linux to make sure you had the latest stuff. How long does it take to have a W98 machine properly connected to ethernet see below. and able to send and receive mail from the internet at large? I don't understand what problems you could have had with that, assuming you typed in your ISP DNS server's IP address and the mail server name correctly. The hardest part I had with this was getting the other two networked Windows machines working through the WinGate proxy I was using. IP Masq was the main reason I set up a Linux gateway machine. This was far more difficult to set up than WinGate but is also far superior. And I'm sure that my firewall is still screwed up. Boy, was it fun trying to set that up. How long does it take you to configure a printer for your W98 machine? Did you want that in minutes or seconds? I had absolutely no problems with my HP-4P and Windows auto-detected it fine. Test page printed fine on the first try. I of course later installed the latest drivers just as you'd do with Linux also. Network clients for sharing? I had a short checklist I printed off from a Win95/98 web site and I was shocked how easy it was to install the network cards, their drivers, and immediately start sharing disks and printers between my three Win98 machines. I've had my arms in computers up to my elbows since the mid-80's and I anticipated a lot more tinkering than was required. Peer-to-peer Win98 networking is just this side of automatic. BTW, how long does it take you to install a USB camera and get it working with Red Hat 6.0? How about a USB scanner? Or a USB modem? Or a USB Zip drive? Watched any good DVD movies on your Linux box lately? (That last one is what's preventing me from running two Linux boxes in my house right now.) And if you ever figure out how to get NetMeeting through the IP Chains firewall, make sure to let me know. Do you include that as part of the W98 install or don't you? Is it easy or confusing? Nope. And it shouldn't be part of the Linux install either. The Linux install attempts to do far too much at once. It would be much better to install the OS and then start installing network support et al as separate steps. The smartest thing to do when installing an OS that attempts to autodetect equipment is to shut off/disconnect everything you can to simplify the process. After the OS is installed and running then introduce the complications. And is it my impression or EVERY SINGLE ONE of them asks to reboot? I find that funny. Linux apostles act like people care that they have to reboot their desktop machines. They don't. The snobby, nose-in-the-air, we-don't-have-to-reboot-when-we-install-stuff "advantage" that Linux has doesn't mean a thing to the average user. And why should it? They're not running high-availability servers. They're running machines that they turn off when they're finished with whatever task they're doing. Save that for the servers where it does matter.