This is an example of why Linux loses.

[know code]

Either that or, if it is technically possible, write an application
that is capable of automatically changing a Windoze driver to a Linux
driver & installing it.

You mean, something like the ndiswrapper project for network cards that
only have Windoze drivers?

 

[Ram]

Fair point. But probably covered by the fact that drivers exist for all
HW for all windows versions as a rule.

Anyway, XP is the defacto standard these days after all.


I have never said that. I have said that the problem with the distros is
that it works in some, not in others. And the solutions are different -
if they exist.

Yes that why 64 bit windows XP / Vista don't have drivers for my RAID
Card but SUSE 64 Does out of the box.

 

[Cynic]

You mean, something like the ndiswrapper project for network cards that
only have Windoze drivers?

I have no idea. You tell me. If such a thing is available, would it
work with my sound card (which is the main block to me using Linux).

 

[flatfish+++]

Web analytics company OneStat.com says that XP is responsible for
almost 87 percent of all Web usage, while all Windows versions
combined account for 97 percent of Web usage.

According to OneStat.com, the following are the most frequently used
OSs on the Web in the world:

1. Windows XP - 86.80 percent
2. Windows 2000 - 6.09 percent
3. Windows 98 - 2.68 percent
4. Macintosh/ Macintosh Power PC - 2.47 percent
5. Windows Me - 1.09 percent
6. Linux - 0.36 percent
7. Windows NT - 0.24 percent

Well it looks like Linux has finally broken the .30 barrier.
It only took 15 years.

 

[flatfish+++]

You must be warned that saying anything remotely derogatory about Linux
here will cause you to be savaged by the COLA gang.

If you were to say

"Linux is the best thing ever, buu I dont understand why I still need to
manually edit xorg.conf as root to get a bog standard nvidia card to
work"

then you will be labelled a wintroll. Gregory Shearman will laugh and
tell you its so easy his wife could do it and then start talking in nntp
since its such an easy protocol - his granny reads the nntp protocol
before she puts her bed socks on apparently.

Interestingly enough, I am convinced that the loudest, rudest are
actually wintrolls themselves and are only here to make linux look bad
to the outside world. Peter Köhlmann, Mark Kent and William Poster
amongst others merely insult and killfile without any indication that
they actually use or support Linux - their entire modus operandii
appears to be to hunt down newbies and to insult them.

Ho true.

comp.os.linux.advocacy has become a wasteland these days.

 

[Cynic]

Thanks for that. Working on the basis that you tend to get what you
pay for (within reason), I'll pay for a version, download it & give it
a try over the weekend. That'll also give me some support. I will
definitely be needing the nvidia drivers. Thanks for the links - most
helpful.

<sigh> Spoke too soon - That site is the same as the ones I've
encountered when looking for Linux versions.

Clicking on the link to the free version takes me to the same page
again - no download window appears. Broken link? Other "download"
links bring up a page of binary gobbledegook, apparently associated
with BiTorrent or something. Other country-specific links bring up an
FTP directory with no clues as to where to go to get the required ISO
images. Not that I could see any files longer than a few hundred KB
in any directory. I also need to know whether I am using a 32 bit or
64 bit CPU. Fine for me, but how many Windoze users who may be
thinking of migrating would know what it's talking about?

So it appears that I'm going to need some more guidance before I will
be competant enough to even download a few CD images, let alone
install them once I manage to get them. Somehow, most Windoze
oriented sites manage to set up a web site where a mouse click results
in a download of the correct file without needing to search around or
load other applications to download. How come Linux sites appear
unable to code their pages in a similar way?

It similarly took me quite a while to figure out how to download the
Debian version. I first had to find, download and install an
application called "Jingo" and then use a command line interface to
type in the URLs of the files and set a download thread going. Why
use such an unusual method simply to make a download file available?
It seems as if the Linux sites are *trying* to make it as difficult as
possible for people to get the product.

 

[Michael Cargill]

<sigh> Spoke too soon - That site is the same as the ones I've
encountered when looking for Linux versions.

Clicking on the link to the free version takes me to the same page
again - no download window appears. Broken link? Other "download"
links bring up a page of binary gobbledegook, apparently associated
with BiTorrent or something. Other country-specific links bring up an
FTP directory with no clues as to where to go to get the required ISO
images. Not that I could see any files longer than a few hundred KB
in any directory. I also need to know whether I am using a 32 bit or
64 bit CPU. Fine for me, but how many Windoze users who may be
thinking of migrating would know what it's talking about?

Go here for the free version (it's a link from the main Mandrive site).

http://anorien.csc.warwick.ac.uk/mirrors/Mandrakelinux/official/iso/2007.0/CD/

You need the ISO files so that you can burn them to CDR using Nero.

mandriva-free-2007-CD1.i586.iso
mandriva-free-2007-CD2.i586.iso
mandriva-free-2007-CD3.i586.iso
mandriva-free-2007-CD4.i586.iso



Watch out for the 64-bit versions!

mandriva-free-2007-CD4.x86_64.iso

 

[bugbuster]

<sigh> Spoke too soon - That site is the same as the ones I've
encountered when looking for Linux versions.

Clicking on the link to the free version takes me to the same page
again - no download window appears. Broken link? Other "download"
links bring up a page of binary gobbledegook, apparently associated
with BiTorrent or something. Other country-specific links bring up an
FTP directory with no clues as to where to go to get the required ISO
images. Not that I could see any files longer than a few hundred KB
in any directory. I also need to know whether I am using a 32 bit or
64 bit CPU. Fine for me, but how many Windoze users who may be
thinking of migrating would know what it's talking about?

The mirrors have been slow getting updated. But this one is good:

ftp://ftp.ale.org/pub/mirrors/mandrake/official/iso/2007.0

If you have a DVD burner grab the DVD here:

ftp://ftp.ale.org/pub/mirrors/mandrake/official/iso/2007.0/DVD

The DVD has both 32 and 64 bit versions. Just boot up and the proper
version is selected by default (although you can select the 32-bit version
for a 64-bit system if you want).

Bug

 

[TGGA]

Once upon a time in an alternative reality flatfish+++ etched out the
following words:

Then why is "how do I get my Nvidia or god help you ATI card working in
Linux one of the top questions asked?

With Windows XP it's easy.

With Linux?

Usually a mess and when you upgrade kernels you have to start all over
again.

Isn't that the fault of ATI and NVidia for not writing the installation
applications correctly. MS didn't write the drivers or installation
applications for ATI or NVidia, it was both of those companies. Therefore
installation is down to those companies and not MS or any flavour of Linux.

Geez, work it out.

 

[cc]

Ho true.

comp.os.linux.advocacy has become a wasteland these days.

Seriously. Go ahead and tell us again how the chinese government is out
to get you.

 

[VWWall]

Why should I be doing anything? I have a solution that is acceptable
without going to that hassle or crippling myself by using only a small
subsection of available hardware. I simply use Windoze. Yes, Linux
has some advantages that I wouldn't mind having, but the disadvantage
of not being able to use the hardware I want to use outweighs those
advantages for me.

You can have the advantages of both!

So what I'll do is to have one removable HDD with Windoze, and another
with Linux. I'll get Linux working with as much as I can, and use
Windoze for things that Linux is unsuitable for and vice versa. I
don't use a computer as a means of promoting this or that OS, or to be
a status symbol, I use it as a tool to do the tasks that *I* want to
carry out. I don't fit flashing lights to my computer, any more that
I would want to fit them to my socket set.

Just add Linux to your machine and dual boot. Add Linux to a Windows
machine, rather than the other way round, since Microsoft likes to own
your computer and will screw up a previous Linux installation.

Almost all Linux distros dual boot and leave Windows alone. Some will
set themselves as the default, but this is easily fixed if you wish.

I see no point in being faithful to one OS like supporting a football
team - I get no money from either Windoze or Linux. I'll simply use
whatever does the job the easiest.

I have WinXP, WinXP x64, PCLinuxOS, MEPIS and SUSE on my machine. Like
you I have certain hardware that will work only with Windows. I also
have programs that are available only for Linux or for Windows. I have a
FAT32 partition that is usable by both for holding data I want to use on
both systems.

Picking a Linux distro is like buying a car--they're many brands
available, and you do have to know what each provides and what you like.

They all have a steering wheel and pedals that work the same way.
(Though some might be on the "wrong side", depending on where you live!)

Like a car, you can customize Linux to a greater extant than Windows,
excluding or including flashing lights.

Try some of the Linux "live CD's", and when you find one or more you
like, install it, (them), as a dual, (multi), boot with Windows.

 

[Rick]

On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 12:32:29 -0400, flatfish+++ wrote:
(snip)

Ho true.

comp.os.linux.advocacy has become a wasteland these days.

You should know. You're one of the ons contributing the most waste.

 

[Cynic]

Go here for the free version (it's a link from the main Mandrive site).

http://anorien.csc.warwick.ac.uk/mirrors/Mandrakelinux/official/iso/2007.0/CD/

You need the ISO files so that you can burn them to CDR using Nero.

mandriva-free-2007-CD1.i586.iso
mandriva-free-2007-CD2.i586.iso
mandriva-free-2007-CD3.i586.iso
mandriva-free-2007-CD4.i586.iso

Thanks - the couple of FTP mirrors I looked at had the MD5 hashes and
101 other things, but the ISO files were just a few KB in size (so
probably pointers or something). I'm downloading those ones now. The
ones on the URL you pointed me to have the actual files.

 

[Cynic]

If you have a DVD burner grab the DVD here:

The DVD has both 32 and 64 bit versions. Just boot up and the proper
version is selected by default (although you can select the 32-bit version
for a 64-bit system if you want).

Thanks for that. I would prefer the DVD, so am downloading. Bit slow
ATM (will take 18 hours!), but no problem. Maybe it'll speed up
later.

 

[Cynic]

Just add Linux to your machine and dual boot. Add Linux to a Windows
machine, rather than the other way round, since Microsoft likes to own
your computer and will screw up a previous Linux installation.

Almost all Linux distros dual boot and leave Windows alone. Some will
set themselves as the default, but this is easily fixed if you wish.


I have WinXP, WinXP x64, PCLinuxOS, MEPIS and SUSE on my machine. Like
you I have certain hardware that will work only with Windows. I also
have programs that are available only for Linux or for Windows. I have a
FAT32 partition that is usable by both for holding data I want to use on
both systems.

Picking a Linux distro is like buying a car--they're many brands
available, and you do have to know what each provides and what you like.

Yup. It can get pretty frustrating finding out what's what though!

I used to multi-boot, but decided to switch to separate disks since I
installed the caddies - easier to mess around with. I have a
removable HDD with W98, one with W2K, one with WXP and the Debian
Linux boot. The W98 is now redundant as it won't work after the RAM
upgrade, and was only for a few applications that don't work with
other OS's that I don't use anymore.

 

[Jamie Hart]

If Linux wants to get a bigger market share,

Why is it that all you windows people assume linux wants a bigger market
share?

Linux doesn't want anything, it's just software.

Some of the linux community wants a bigger market share, some of it doesn't.
In fact there is as much diversity in what the linux community wants as
there is versions of linux to suit them.

What the linux community really needs IMO is people who use it and help
improve it, for us, not for some hypothetical windows convert. So long as
linux is useful to us, it'll survive and improve, chasing after more and
more users, most of whom are not interested is just a wasted effort.

 

[John Anderton]

Good man : I agree with you. Works with all Windows installation

I never said that and I highly doubt it's true. A modern soundcard
isn't likely to work on 3.1, is it ?

and one
Linux one. Good to see you contributing back to the Linux "sharing"
mentality.

Since when has the 'Linux "sharing" mentality' required someone to try
every possible Linux distribution ?

"I'm alright Jack - it works for me".

As far as I'm aware, the "Linux mentality" is "take something out, give
something back". *That* works for me.

The COLA mantra.

It may be theirs, it isn't mine.

Cheers,

John

 

[flatfish+++]

I never said that and I highly doubt it's true. A modern soundcard
isn't likely to work on 3.1, is it ?

I wouldn't know.

Ask Kelsey Bjarneson.

He's an expert at fossilized hardware and software.

 

[P. Johnson]

Again, I know what I'd prefer to use, and it's a telnet session.

I would strongly suggest using SSH instead, the bandwidth hit even
transcontinentally is negligible from my experience, and you're not sending
passwords and everything you're tying at the server in plaintext.

 

[P. Johnson]

Linux servers on 286's eh?

Possible, but unlikely, and would more properly be called an ELKS system...
http://elks.sourceforge.net/