What has switching to Linux done for you?

[zlow]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

Your comment just proves my point. If it wasn't considered a religion, you wouldn't have been offended by the statement.

What makes you think I'm offended? I think your post was hilarious, in the best Dilbert tradition.

8)

[kapil]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

M$ is M$ because it forces things.
yes, i agree it works. but in what sense...
1. when a new version of windoze comes. i will have to buy it (or get a pirated version =p ) even if i have original vista which was crap (even Bill Gates have agreed to it) they wont upgrade to win7 for free.
2. i wanted to install _official_ win7 on my parent's cpu but what does it say: old on board graphics not supported by win7. and it gave me ugly huge graphics. if it were my parents they would not have got a work around for the huge graphics. they even thought of getting new hardware for this software. in the end i could get it working. but it was not M$/intel who provided a work around but some hacker.

@zlow: i am not offended by whatever u say. but everyone has right to have their opinion. no one "makes" them cheap. if u find it cheap. good for u.

i like saying M$ or windoze cause of some of their characteristics. but again.. that is my personal opinion.

[Detonate]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

I was just pondering the other day on the amount of money that is generated not only for M$ but for all of the other recipients of funds that are able to prosper by the their products. Take the anti-malware vendors for example. Norton and McAfee would not exist if it were not for M$. My little computer repair business gets 80% of it's business doing malware removal and solving Windows problems. Not to mention the money made by the crooks and pirates out there who are able to prosper only because of the inadequacies of the Windows operating system.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/...al-virus-scam/

[toad]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

Business version:

I have two qualms about M$ which I believe render it as an OS inferior to Linux.

1. As a normal user it slows down over time to the point where it becomes unusable. For small companies without the money to outsource or the necessary IT staff this leads to inevitable problems.

2. M$ Office - backward incompatibility and complete lack of customer support drove me to Linux. I was working on a document which would crash every five minutes. You could set your clock by it. If the product is pricey, you tend to find this behaviour unacceptable, especially if the vendor didn't solve the problem nor show the slightest interest (but let me not get into that...).

And then I installed OpenOffice - my first real contact with open source. I have since had the opportunity to introduce small local businesses to Linux and they are ecstatic for the above reasons. Linux appears to satisfy their needs. One thing that does baffle them is the idea of it being free.

[mental note]Must open thread about open source business concept[/mental note] link to follow

Personal version:

It is an industry, Detonate is quite right and much closer connected to it than I am, and lots of money is being generated by it. How well this is distributed is a moot point.

I am a member of the local LUG and it is nice to see people from all different walks of life come in, asking questions and showing an interest in the concept of sharing rather than the "mine, mine, mine" philosophy. I have found this quite enjoyable so far.

[GreyGeek]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

......
Using the term "M$" is disrespectful, immature, and pathetic.
...

Actually, Microsoft earned it, and deserves it:
http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-270306.html

PCs for Kids recycles old computers and donates them to children. The organization reformats Windows 3.11 or Windows 95, both of which are no longer supported by Microsoft.

The charity received a letter from Microsoft telling it to stop downloading its operating system onto computers, as this was in breach of the software giant's copyright.
....

http://www.zdnet.com.au/charities-fi...-339305559.htm

Negotiations on behalf of 17 charities with software giant Microsoft have created a cut-rate enterprise license standard for non-profits at about 60 per cent of commercial fees.

At least they don't have to pay full fees for unsupported OS .. just 60%...

But, then, it was noticed that Microsoft was guilty of over charging for its software
http://www.pcworld.com/article/11479...ft_rebate.html

Microsoft Cuts a Deal

According to the settlement terms, one-third of any unclaimed money stays in Microsoft's pocket; the other two-thirds will be distributed to needy schools in California. The deal was reached last year in a class action suit filed on behalf of California residents. Microsoft was accused of overcharging for its products, and the case was settled in January 2003 with no admission of liability.

Similar agreements were reached or are pending in 13 other states. Similar class action lawsuits against Microsoft are in progress in six more states. The California case is the largest by far.

It has been estimated that Microsoft used its monopoly position to over charge by as much as $30-60 BILLION.

It can also be shown that Microsoft used their lobbying power to pay for legislation which allowed them to charge the US Tax payer for the development of Win95 using a scheme in which their programmers were paid in stock options. When they cashed in the option, AT THEIR OWN EXPENSE, Microsoft applied to the US government for a "refund" for the stock option.

Microsoft used their financial power to steal "innovations" from young startups, luring them with promises of "partnerships". AFTER they learned the technical secrets the startups developed they broke off relations and ran to the market with an identical product. Most startups couldn't afford to match Microsoft attorney power and went bankrupt fighting Microsoft in court, except for one French firm which proved that Microsoft was a thief but won only $2M in court. About enough to cover their court costs.

So, yes, M$ is an appropriate moniker for such a thief and a Scrooge.

[zlow]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

......
Using the term "M$" is disrespectful, immature, and pathetic.
...

Actually, Microsoft earned it, and deserves it:
http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-270306.html

PCs for Kids recycles old computers and donates them to children. The organization reformats Windows 3.11 or Windows 95, both of which are no longer supported by Microsoft.

The charity received a letter from Microsoft telling it to stop downloading its operating system onto computers, as this was in breach of the software giant's copyright.
....

http://www.zdnet.com.au/charities-fi...-339305559.htm

Negotiations on behalf of 17 charities with software giant Microsoft have created a cut-rate enterprise license standard for non-profits at about 60 per cent of commercial fees.

At least they don't have to pay full fees for unsupported OS .. just 60%...

But, then, it was noticed that Microsoft was guilty of over charging for its software
http://www.pcworld.com/article/11479...ft_rebate.html

Microsoft Cuts a Deal

According to the settlement terms, one-third of any unclaimed money stays in Microsoft's pocket; the other two-thirds will be distributed to needy schools in California. The deal was reached last year in a class action suit filed on behalf of California residents. Microsoft was accused of overcharging for its products, and the case was settled in January 2003 with no admission of liability.

Similar agreements were reached or are pending in 13 other states. Similar class action lawsuits against Microsoft are in progress in six more states. The California case is the largest by far.

It has been estimated that Microsoft used its monopoly position to over charge by as much as $30-60 BILLION.

It can also be shown that Microsoft used their lobbying power to pay for legislation which allowed them to charge the US Tax payer for the development of Win95 using a scheme in which their programmers were paid in stock options. When they cashed in the option, AT THEIR OWN EXPENSE, Microsoft applied to the US government for a "refund" for the stock option.

Microsoft used their financial power to steal "innovations" from young startups, luring them with promises of "partnerships". AFTER they learned the technical secrets the startups developed they broke off relations and ran to the market with an identical product. Most startups couldn't afford to match Microsoft attorney power and went bankrupt fighting Microsoft in court, except for one French firm which proved that Microsoft was a thief but won only $2M in court. About enough to cover their court costs.

So, yes, M$ is an appropriate moniker for such a thief and a Scrooge.

Ok then, all you are saying here is that you are no better than them. Remember, two wrongs don't make a right.

Hey, whatever. I don't care if anyone respects any of you.

[Snowhog]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

(Hey Snowhog: next time, better hire a lawyer to help you craft your posts )

Direct me to one that is FOSS based, and I'll consider it.

[bernieszu]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

Think we're getting off topic here.

What has switching to Linux done for me? Here's a 'bog-standard' users reply.

1. Saved me a load of money.
2. Saved me a load of time.
3. Taught me how to do loads of stuff for myself - with a lot of help from the people on this forum (especially grateful to dibl, snowhog, toad, fintan and most recently oshunluvr). So yes, gave me a greater sense of control over my system.
4. Given me loads of entertainment messing around with the software. Special appreciation here to Gimp, Audacity and the joys of CLE for video.
5. Allowed me to keep using older computers which would now be unusable with Windows (thus reducing my 'green guilt' quotient).
6. Allowed me to provide some people on very tight budgets with an OS that works on their older computers - saving them loads of money, too, and making sure their kids have access to IT technology at home.
7. Earned me an entirely undeserved reputation among my colleagues as a computer whizzkid!
8. Vastly enhanced my 'Cool auntie' standing with my nephews and their friends (they are engineers / engineering students and computer addicts) as the only old woman they know who uses Linux. 8)
9. Introduced me to the joys of the split screen browser in Dolphin, which was mentioned in an earlier post - heartily agree with that!
10. Introduced me to Open Office - which is the first thing I install on any OS I use now. Hated MS Office for years - the most user unfriendly thing I've ever seen and the most outrageously money gouging.

I still have one laptop system using Windows, mainly because I have a couple of useful and rather expensive video and DVD editing software programs which don't migrate easily to Linux, but I'd say I use it about once or twice a month, if that. If anyone comes up with a really useful GUI video editing program for Linux (nothing fancy - just something as easy to use as Windows Movie Maker)I'll be shaking the MS dust off my feet the next day. I don't hate MS and I don't hate Bill Gates, but I had SUCH a bad experience with Windows ME that I never wanted to rely on them again. See a lot of criticism of Vista here, which is the OS on my laptop, but it has always worked okay for me - but then maybe that's because nowadays I do all my real computing on Linux!

[GreyGeek]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

......

Ok then, all you are saying here is that you are no better than them. Remember, two wrongs don't make a right.
....

That is a Derailment.

I wasn't aware that anyone posting on this forum was a multi-national corporation which abused the laws of all nations, hammered charitable groups, abused the concept of charity in order to force the sale of software, stole innovations from creative developer... unless you equate fair use with all of the above. But, defending such behavior isn't in anyone's interest unless they are paid to do so, not that you are an MS "technical evangelist", zlow.

[vinnywright]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

@GreyGeek LMFAO again

@bernieszu http://kdenlive.org/features

it's kind of CPU hungry hear but their ya go

VINNY

[verndog]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

Hey guys, your just feeding his ego by responding. Just ignore him, and allow his comments to pass through our intestines.

This is at least the second topic, where his ego is hard at work - and going way off topic.

[GreyGeek]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

...
@bernieszu http://kdenlive.org/features

it's kind of CPU hungry hear but their ya go...

Kdenlive is a great video editor. EASY to use, and runs well on this mid-range notebook..

[vinnywright]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

Hey guys, your just feeding his ego by responding. Just ignore him, and allow his comments to pass through our intestines.

This is at least the second topic, where his ego is hard at work - and going way off topic.

but of course you are correct!!

I was realy posting the Kdenlive link for @bernieszu but couldn't resist the jab

I'v found myself looking for post's from the nameless 2 ......like a moth to the flames I'm drawn in to the witty banter between them and find it simply hilarious and at the same time quite informative in a strange way

VINNY

[verndog]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

vinnywright, my comment just happened to fall under your last comment. No intent meant it for you. Your always kind and genuine anyway.

Back on the topic, of what has switching to Linux done for you. For one, it has made me dig a little, make that a lot, deeper to find answers.

A greater appreciation for the development of an OS and the role developers make.

Finding solutions that aren't readily available. I have always enjoyed the use of the command line and its subtleness. The closest I came doing this under Windows was a book by Tobias Weltner, " Windows Scripting Secrets" .

[zlow]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

......

Ok then, all you are saying here is that you are no better than them. Remember, two wrongs don't make a right.
....

That is a Derailment.

I wasn't aware that anyone posting on this forum was a multi-national corporation which abused the laws of all nations, hammered charitable groups, abused the concept of charity in order to force the sale of software, stole innovations from creative developer... unless you equate fair use with all of the above. But, defending such behavior isn't in anyone's interest unless they are paid to do so, not that you are an MS "technical evangelist", zlow.

No, not really. I am simply pointing out that your attitudes are no better than theirs. I know that it's hard to accept when you are so deeply entrenched in it, but it's a fact.

Oh, I forgot that I was a paid Microsoft "Technical Evangelist".

Dear Uncle Bill,

 These guys are on to me. I think one of them saw me get out of your helicopter at the Redmond campus last week! Please send a check for the shilling, and a new assignment pronto.

 By the way, thanks for all the Linux training it really helped me trick these wise guys.

Love
^z

Oops you weren't meant to see that. 8)