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Re: Is linux better or not? Was: Re: [wlug] victory for linux in munich!
by Daniel Lawson 16 Jul '03

16 Jul '03

> > >If you define a metric, it's easy to say "Foo is better than bar". > > Yes. But you have to be careful that you are actually comparing on the metric, and not on your interpretation of the metric, or on the metric but influenced by some hidden factor (ie Mindcraft or whoever they were benchmarks) >Back to the point of the metric, the page was designed to say "This program, >if you use X on Windows, will do it on Linux." And the short answer is that >it won't. You will find that it does some things better (might be more >stable, might have more functions), but it does some things worse. Or >everything differently. > > We have no idea what they want to use it for on Windows though. For you to make the statement on the wiki, along the lines of 'All this linux sofware is at a basic equivalence level with its Windows partner' is completely missing the point, that you actually have no idea what people want to do with it or not. Moreover, the statement as it stands is highly likely to put anyone off using the alternatives - they are only a basic equivalent after all.[1] One example here. Gnumeric is a very polished replacement for Excel. It supports all the Excel spreadsheet functions, and a whole lot more. It doesn't have VBA, but I'm to understand that it supports perl/python/tcl scripting instead. It has a graph builder, advanced mathematical support, solver support, etc etc, and can even read / write Excel95/97/2k etc files. This is completely irrelevant if the user wants to build a basic spreadsheet with a few SUM and AVERAGE functions thrown in, and some formatting. Its completely irrelevant if the user is actually, due to its nice column layout structure, using it to generate a template for school reports. I have no idea what the user wants to use it for, and therefore I can only suggest that it might do the job. Likewise: VS is perhaps the de facto IDE under windows. Thats nice. It's entirely possible you'd be able to code just as well, if not better, under vim, or emacs, or joe, with another xterm open and use of make / gdb and cvs. It is perhaps worth noting that joe isn't as feature-full as VS (in fact, its just a text editor), but that is rather different from implying that there is no way to do the things you do in VS, under linux. >If your concern is "Linux Acts Just Like Windows Does" then Windows scores >100% and Linux scores in the lower half of the spectrum. That was the point >I was trying to make. Linux's goal isn't to OSS Windows (interestingly, > > If you meant this, you said it very badly. As what you had said sounded more like "Nothing under Linux does as good a job as the Windows version", which is a very broad reaching statement, and I might add, highly subjective based on your view of what people actually want to do with a program under Windows or Linux. It *is* fair to say that there are differences in the program, and that while Openoffice.Org Writer or Abiword might, at first blush, be an adequate replacement for MS Word, but lack some features that *some* people *might* want, but that wasn't what you were saying. While we're on the discussion of that wiki page, it was asking for what people use instead of a program under Windows. I dont use Windows. So instead of using MS Word, I use Abiword. It doesn't matter at all if its feature-equivalent to the MS Word. It's WHAT I USE UNDER LINUX. Likewise, I use gvim/gcc/make/cvs/gdb under Linux for development. It's *my* IDE. Highly subjective, of course, but the page was asking for individual responses. >there is a project that aims to do this, and they almost have NT4's cmd.exe >down pat). It will keep evolving whichever way it does. Linux doesn't have >the commercial app support (and it may never, and it may never matter). You >can't do everything you can do in Windows on it. But the price of freedom > > I dont see that 'you can't do everything you can do in Windows on it' is true. I *can* do everything that *I* do in Windows under linux. You can propose that 'Joe Windows User' would say otherwise if you like, but until we actually have a good, objective, understanding of what 'Joe Windows User' actually does with his computer, then its all speculation, and as I pointed out before, highly subjective and based on our own view. As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing stopping people using linux as a desktop fulltime. You disagree. Who of us is right? Daniel (From his linux desktop, on which he does all his work, and all the stuff he would want to do in Windows) [1] IF you want to do real comparisons, then do a feature matrix. And do full comparisons, so list things that both equivalents do, or perhaps grade them if you think one is better. Phil's comparison of The Gimp to Photoshop is a good candidate here, as would a comparison bettween MS Office and Abiword, Gnumeric, Oo.O, Kword, etc etc.

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Re: [wlug] Poster
by S Swami 14 Jul '03

14 Jul '03

On Monday July 4:57pm, Daniel Appleton wrote: > hmm... > > HTTP Error > Status : 504 Gateway Time-Out > > Description : Unable to connect to origin Web server. > > Note : If necessary, please contact your Systems > Administrator for resolution. > > > --- Craig Box <craig(a)dubculture.co.nz> wrote: > Hi > everyone, > > > If you want a poster for the upcoming LUG meeting > > that you can print out and > > put up in suitable places, see > > http://ellusions.meta.net.nz/~crb/wlug.pdf > > > > Craig Works from KMail with "save link as". Sid.

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Mandrake 9.1 and Red Hat 9
by Matthias Dallmeier 19 Jun '03

19 Jun '03

Anyone who wants a three-CD set of Mandrake 9.1 or Red Hat 9, please let me know as soon as possible and bring along $5 to the meeting on Monday. If you cannot afford $5 or are not interested in attending the meeting, feel free to bring your own blank CDs (including at least one additional CD for the obligatory coaster) to 35 Galway Ave, Hamilton East and I can put Mandrake 9.1 or Red Hat 9 on them for free. Please write me an e-mail or give me a call on 021 615104 to make an "appointment" before you turn up at my place though. Thank you. -- Matthias

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Re: [wlug] Anyone Got A Copy Of Mandrake Linux
by Andre Henry 19 Jun '03

19 Jun '03

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Anyone Got A Copy Of Mandrake Linux
by Andre Henry 19 Jun '03

19 Jun '03

Hey Everyone Does anyone have a copy of mandrake linux that i can have or buy. Or if you have jetstream and are able to download it for me it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Alot Andre Henry

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Next Meeting: Mon 23 June. Wireless Networking and Linux
by Daniel Lawson 19 Jun '03

19 Jun '03

Wireless Networking and Linux, Monday 23rd June. This will be a presentation by CRCNet (http://www.crc.net.nz/) <http://www.crc.net.nz>, part of the WAND Research Group (http://www.wand.net.nz/) in the Computer Science Department at the University of Waikato. It will be held in the room A.G.11, at 7:30 pm on the 23rd of June 2003. (directions will be posted on the WLUG wiki at Currently looks to be about wireless networking in general, a quick show-and-tell of some wireless gear, and discussion of the CRCNet wireless network.

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question...
by David Nicholls 19 Jun '03

19 Jun '03

quick one for you guys. who is hosting our hardware at the mo'? and is anyone sponsoring bandwidth etc? David Nicholls Computer Support Consultant School of Science & Technology/Dept of Chemistry The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

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student web hosting
by Terry Cole 18 Jun '03

18 Jun '03

Can anyone give me any help, please. The so called "free" web hosting seem to have inappropriate advertising, this sometimes appears after you have set up your web pages. I would like some of my students to be able to publish their web pages on the net, but would like a simple way of uploading and editing their own work. I don't want to FTP in and I would like them to be able to do this from the class as well as home. Are there any scripts out there that could help me in setting this up. I could then run them from our own domain. Thanks Terry & Kay Cole Rotorua, New Zealand mailto:terry(a)cole.gen.nz mailto:kay(a)cole.gen.nz http://www.cole.gen.nz http://www.websnz.com

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student web hosting
by Terry Cole 18 Jun '03

18 Jun '03

Sorry folks, I might not of made my self clear. I have web hosting and I can run scripts etc from there. I don't want to use FTP. I am teaching HTML to students. I want them to be able to upload, edit etc like Orion explains. I have tried Easy Host, works well but can not edit on line unless you purchase full version. I want to also set it up on the school server (RH9). Please keep the suggestions coming. Cheers Terry & Kay Cole Rotorua, New Zealand mailto:terry(a)cole.gen.nz mailto:kay(a)cole.gen.nz http://www.cole.gen.nz http://www.websnz.com

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WLUG meeting is on Monday, 4 days away
by Bruce Kingsbury 18 Jun '03

18 Jun '03

Today is 19/06/2003 The WLUG meeting is on Monday, 4 days away June 2003 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22[23]24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Wireless Networking and Linux, Monday 23rd June. This will be a presentation by http CRCnet , part of the http WAND Research Group in the Computer Science Department at the University of Waikato. The meeting will be about wireless networking in general. This will include how to make wireless work under Linux, a quick show-and-tell of some wireless gear, and discussion of the CRCnet wireless network. It will be held at the university in the room A.G.11, at 7:30 pm on the 23rd of June 2003. A.G.11 is about half way down the main corridor on the ground floor of A block. You should walk in Gate 8 off of Hillcrest road. Parking is available on Hillcrest road and as the meeting is after hours you can use the managment staff carpark in Gate 7. A full map of the univeristy is available from http here. NOTE: The room above is a firm booking at the moment, but it has not been confirmed. It may change at any time up to and including Monday the 23rd of June. Watch this space ! http://www.wlug.org.nz/archive/hillcrest-map.png http://www.wlug.org.nz/archive/unimap.gif _________________________________________________________________

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