C.O.L.A. Newcomer FAQ and Primer - Edition: 0.1.9-3 - 02/31/07

From : Annonymous

Q: the hunt for a linux pc ---- quote | where can the average south african consumer get their hands on a | new pc loaded with linux instead of windows not a lot of places | as it turns out. ---- http//www.tectonic.co.za/view .

Replies:

From : the ghost in the machine

geekboy wrote on mon 5 feb 2007 220850 -0600 geekboy wrote the hunt for a linux pc ---- quote | where can the average south african consumer get their hands on a | new pc loaded with linux instead of windows not a lot of places | as it turns out. ---- http//www.tectonic.co.za/view name some places in the us. there would be if there were any buyers. i suppose i could ask a linux user if there were some places to buy linux computers but although i know hundreds of computer users none of them use it on their personal computers. off the top of my head i only know one place that sells linux preinstalled. frys electronics. and that is a low budget computer. you can usually get it minus monitor for $199. and it is the linspire distribution formerly lindows thanks to m$. i have it on one of my personal computers. its good to know the major operating systems if it is your job. there were a a lot of linux on new computers a few years ago but mostly got dropped as linux got a bad reputation as not being very user friendly for the new or average user. also many hardware companies do not even make drivers for it. the problem for putting it on new computers it lack of support for newer or average users. m$ can do support because of also the sales of other items to go along with their os. there is many linux providers and not many of them selling other software with their distros. mostly only expensive support. i always wanted to get into linux but feared it. its used for a lot of science aps professional astronomy & spectroscopy etc. i was always waiting for a windows version my son is a ceo and former cio or a large corp and would have given me a machine years ago .... linux is used for higher level telescope control and spectroscopy analysis software like spectrum; the windows counterparts are all pure crap full of bugs and no documentation at all real crapware eg. vspec!. im too old to do it now ......... maybe give me a headsup if you think i should do this - why is linux sucha bitch to operate linux was derived from unix. unix was designed by and for programmers. linux still heavily retains its roots with text interface. i have a book that is 5 inches thick full of commands and included text based software that is included with linux and it covers only basic operations. it could take months to years to learn all that and the power that could be done as compared to windows. some software packages for linux is a serious learning curve and most non technical users would not be able to understand even how to insall some software on their linux. a lof of people who make software feel it is best to have the software compiled on their system is best policy to ensure it runs properly. that has changed a lot with different versions made for different platforms and making a rpm file for the software package which is similar to the windows installer. the desktop has also become a lot better and more windows like. one good thing about linux is that there is just not too many viruses and other malware for it. jerry .

From : nosey

your miles ahead of me. i was always concerned about it gelling. i had thought that somewhere along the way one of ya had messed with it. just wasnt sure who roy we had a cold snap here a while back. it went down to 18f. i left a sample of 100% biodiesel from my last batch sitting on my driveway overnight in a plastic soda bottle. it jelled completely at 18. when it warmed up to 22 it returned to a liquid state but it was still cloudy. it was mostly back to normal by the time it got to 25. good thing i had a 50-50 bio-petro blend in the tank that night. if i lived where you do i wouldnt fool with it at all in the winter. its unlikely youd have any trouble with it in jelling in florida. time for another ctd -- ken .