My adventure with Windows

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So, I upgraded the memory in my laptop and decided to try something crazy. I installed Windows 98 on it.

Win98, required a lot of work to gather up drivers for my ancient hardware, but it does handle the hardware, namely my wifi card, better than Linux. However, there is a really big problem. It is nearly too slow to be useful. I’ve installed Firefox, Opera, K-Meleon, and the usual I.E., of all of them, Opera is the fastest, but it still sucks badly. Reading websites is painful. I’ve considered even installing Netscape 4.7, and even though that would be a faster browser, it lacks CSS capabilities. DSL Linux is just all around faster. One kudo for Windows is all of the software out there for it. I found a couple of programs that I am really enjoying. They are yBook and yWriter. yBook is a “paperback emulator” (LOL!) it can open txt, rtf, html, and pdb ebooks and display them as if you were reading them in a book. It’s a little slow, but quite usable. yWriter is a “novel builder”. I’m working on some fiction and this little program is very handy. If this software were made available for Linux, I would go back to Linux and never look back. So, I think I will keep a dual boot between Win98 and DSL for the time being. It’s sad that Microsoft doesn’t put more thought into being backwards compatible whith their operating systems, but that wouldn’t make them as much money.

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Minimum requirements for Windows Vista

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This article details the requirements for the new Windows Vista OS.

Minimum Requirements (Vista-Capable PCs):
* 800 MHz Intel-compatible processor
* 512MB of RAM
* DirectX 9.0-Capable Graphics Processor
* 20GB HDRecommended Requirements

(Premium-Ready PCs):
* 1 GHz Intel-compatible processor
* 1GB RAM
* DirectX 9.0-Capable Graphics Processor, with 128MB graphics memory. (64MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor less than 1,310,720 pixels [no more than 1440×900]; 128MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions from 1,310,720 to 2,304,000 pixels [no more than 1920×1200]; 256MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions higher than 2,304,000 pixels [more than 1920×1200]).
* 40GB HD with at least 15GB “free space”

It goes on to say,

Of course, we here in the Orbiting HQ want to stress that these specification recommendations are minimum, minimum, minimum! If you have a PC with a 1 GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 128MB DirectX 9.0-compliant video card… you’d be insane to install Windows Vista (in our not-so-humble opinions.)

And then the Linux users laugh with glee at the sad little Windows users.

Greetings from the new laptop!

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Well, I’ve successfully installed DamnSmallLinux, and I like it. 50 Megs, and I have everything that I want. Right now, I am writing this using Flock, which does not come with D.S.L. It is being processed by my main pc and is being displayed on my laptop though something called X11 Forwarding. I’m just thrilled. This kicks some real butt!

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About the Linux Community

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I’ve always sort of compared the Linux community to the Ham Radio community of a previous generation.  I can say this both as a dedicated Linux user and as a ham.  The Linux community is as diverse as any.  There are going to jerks and snobs.  There are going to be people who demand that everyone compiles everything from source or use an archaic distribution, and there are those who are happy just installing everything from a Knoppix CD.  The people and the support are there, and since we are living in an online world, it doesn’t really matter a whole lot where the help physically comes from.  Quite frankly, I’ve come to embrace the Linux community more than any other online, because there are so many of newbies who want to learn and who want to help each other out.  Open Source is a new frontier, and many of us just want to help each other out.

I was a Mac user for around 6 months.  I had a 500mhz G3 iMAC.  It ran OSX 10.2 well, though slowly.  I experienced more putdowns and snide remarks about my ancient hardward from the Mac community than from anyone in the Windows or Linux community.  Maybe, I just happened to run into a few jerks, and everybody else is cool, but I really got the feeling that Mac users just used their computers to do the basics, and very few really questioned how things worked.  “It just works” is (or was) an Apple motto.  Those who got everything to work, never questioned it.  If your scanner doesn’t work with OSX, don’t worry, Apple will gladly sell you an overpriced one that will do everything you need and you will never have to configure anything manually.

In the Linux community, a lot of things don’t work right.  We come into Linux expecting that fact, and so we are there to help each other.

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A New Linux

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I changes Linux distributions like I change blog templates. I’m always looking for something new. I’m currently trying Zenwalk linux. It is my first Slackware distro. and I am having a lot of fun with it. It is a clean, simple distribution without a lot of bells and whistles. The developers are using the KISS principle which I appreciate. I’ve had to install a few packages that do not come with the distro., but that’s not much of a problem. It’s just a something that you have to deal with. I think I even like this better than Ubuntu, and I would not be afraid of sitting a Linux newbie in front of it, especially if they just want internet, email, and chat. The XFCE interface is one of my favorites. It is simple, sleek, fast, and it will remind you of Windows. It even comes with Java 1.5 preinstalled, so that’s one less worry.
There are three software packages that I can not live without, and I’ve had some trouble finding them, but they are here or at LinuxPackages.net. They are amaroK, Lyx, and Scribus. Amarok is my iTunes, Scribus is my Microsoft Publisher/Adobe Illustrator, and Lyx is a program that will make any written piece of tripe look like a professional publisher put it together. It is a godsend for writing college papers.
I will eventually go back to Ubuntu, but I want to stay here for a bit. Maybe until the next Ubuntu version comes out. The problem with Slackware packages is something called Dependency hell. This is something that I have seen little of in Ubuntu. Dependancy Hell is not a problem for the novice who is content with a few pieces of software that work well, but for the Linux adventurer, it can drive you insane.

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Learning

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So far, my journey to increase my knowledge of electronics has been going pretty slowly. Thanks to Pete Millett's Technical Books Online site, I have learn a lot about the basics of electronics, and I am beginning to really see how oscillators work. This is something that isn't really explained in most resources that are online or otherwise.

To those who put electronics tutorials and the like online: Why must you assume that the reader is either a math whiz or already intimately understands the workings of electronics. You don't explain how things work without tons of math, you assume that we just need to know that they work. Maybe I'm dumb, but I learn best by being able to picture what is going on and then applying math to it. The ARRL Handbook is guilty of this as well! The only books that really take time to explain most of this stuff is the older books and books like "Now you're talking!"

Anyway, I'm going back to the old books and the books for true amateurs. I really need to enroll in an online algebra/geometry/trig class.

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Pet Peeve

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I have a pretty good vocabulary. I really do. I read a lot and watch movies that tend to be a bit higher on the intellectual scale than Dumb and Dumber (though I do love that movie). I’m also pretty tech savvy. I know how Windows and Linux works, and OSX to a lesser extent. I know how to do a lot of stuff with computers. I’m a geek. I study operating systems and software like a anthropologist studies an amazonian culture. I’m also not afraid to experiment and that leads to more “unofficial” knowledge and that makes me even more technically inclined.

However, I also think I am a good computer/OS teacher and technical support person. Why? Because I can relate my knowledge to those who don’t have it. I’m also not afraid to look a little foolish while doing it. I love analogies that get my point across. Even dumb ones. I will explain complex technical things in the easiest and non-condescending terms possible. This may make me appear to be less than “educated”, but that’s okay. It works.

However, my pet peeve is those who must make themselves appear smart by using big words and obstructive language around those who don’t know the definitions or concepts behind those words. For example, take our chat room. I could go around saying that it is an Internet Relay Chat room on the Starlink-irc network that can only be access through a client program. “nternet relay chat?” “Starlink-irc network?” “client program” What are those? Well, for net junkies, they would know exactly what I mean. The average visitor of our room. Probably wouldn’t even know where to begin. So, I write out brief instructions. I don’t use a bunch of technical terms, and I don’t want to show people how smart I am. I just want them to be able to come in and visit. When I hear co-workers give instructions full of technical jargon to customer who may have only used a mouse for the first time today, I want to scream. Sure, they look smart, but they are useless.

More Thoughts on Linux

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I’m a Linux user. Like you, I started with Mandrake. It was an early version (5.1) and it was very rough and unpolished. I gave it up quickly. Later on, I bought Mandrake 8.1 and was re-introduced to the magic of Linux. Mandrake 8.1 could actually do stuff. It’s package manager (urpmi) actually worked and was easy to understand. Though, I have to point out that Linux packages (RPM and DEB) are a totally different paradigm compared to installing software on Windows or OSX.

Anyway, I am currently running Debian and Ubuntu, and this leads me to point out something crucial. Linux is not perfect and is not ready for the novice Windows user. I set my wife up with a copy of Ubuntu with all of the standard programs installed. She wanted to use Yahoo! Messenger. So, I downloaded the Unix/Linux version from Yahoo! and installed it. However, the version online didn’t provide Voice or Webcam Chat. Sorry, no dice. Well, what about Macromedia Shockwave? She likes playing cute little games online when she get off of work. Sorry again. Macromedia hasn’t published a copy of Shockwave for Linux. How about Yahoo! Music? Nope. I think if she were using her computer more for writing papers and basic stuff like that, Ubunutu would have done just fine. However, the lack of commercial vendor support is keeping Linux away from the average user. Right now, a computer newbie can hop on a Linux distrabution like Mandriva or Ubuntu and have no problem using it. They would never even have to open a command prompt. The problem is with the gadgets that users are used to using on Windows are not available on Linux and this where it falls flat. Linux is great and has been much more secure for the average user for much longer than Windows. It’s design inherently keeps the user’s computer safer. It’s just missing those little things to satisfy the average user.