What is an Operating System?

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <[email protected]>, Ken Springer

Once I saw WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), I could never go
back to a monitor that wouldn't let me have that. So when working with

Ah, your printouts glow? ...

a text document, I almost never use a window that won't show a letter
sized piece of paper in it's entirety at actual size. And that means
it's as equivalent to the printed output as your system can produce.

.... or not (-:.

I do use word processors in their best approximation to WYSIWYG (with
slight enhancements such as seeing where the edges of tables are and
seeing invisible characters), but not whole-page, as I find that hard to
read. Mainly because computer monitors have a different aspect ratio to
how I usually print on paper (and shortscreen ones are worse, but I've
resisted those).

For other software, it's not quite so important.

I think my preference, if I wanted the situation you prefer, would be
to use the zoom feature of the program, check out the customized font
size settings (I've never tried them), or maybe virtual desktops. I
can't remember if XP has a built in magnification feature similar to
Win7 which I've also never used.

If you mean Magnifier, yes - it's under accessories, accessibility (Or
Rather, It's Under Accessories, Accessibility. I Hate Title Case).
[]

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Per JuanMotime:

That would be Linux, right?

There have been times when certain flavours of Windows have been only
about 2x, I think: certainly when netbooks first took off; $100 would
have added 50-80%.

OTOH, I've played with Linux in the distant past and it was like having
a part-time job - except the pay was lousy.

Having said that...

The picture I get is that the right flavor of Linux can be a reasonable
choice for users who do a certain array of bread-and-butter functions
and can have the PC set up by somebody who knows what they are doing.

That's the picture I get too.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <[email protected]>,

Rapid File was written in some very unusual computer code. There is an
article on Wikipedia about it. Ashton Tate went out of business, and

Care to share the Wiki URL? I just tried putting rapid file into my Wiki
search box, and it didn't find it.

the program just became history. None of the Dbase programs could
interpert or convert from it, nor could any of the older Windows
databases. I doubt any newer one can either, beczuse hardly anyone ever
knew the program existed. But it's a damn good program, and was well
ahead of it's time. I can stipp put it on a floppy. or flash drive and
transport it to any computer with Dos or a Dos window. No installation
needed, just type RF and its' running.

What do you actually store with it - pairs of values, such as names and
addresses? (If it has no actual export ability, can you at least print
out the entire 'base? OCR is pretty good these days, on clean print.)

 

[BillW50]

In J. P. Gilliver (John) typed:

In message <[email protected]>, Ken Springer


If you mean Magnifier, yes - it's under accessories, accessibility (Or
Rather, It's Under Accessories, Accessibility. I Hate Title Case).

I've heard you mention this before. Why do you hate title case? I use it
all of the time, especially for filenames.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In J. P. Gilliver (John) typed:

I've heard you mention this before. Why do you hate title case? I use it
all of the time, especially for filenames.

Well, Hate Is Perhaps Putting It Too Strongly, But I Don't Feel The Need
For It A Lot Of The Time. I don't feel it was necessary for accessories,
accessibility, for example. Also, when actually used for titles (and
I've never _really_ understood why it's considered appropriate even
there - OK, leading capital if you like), it does it in a dumb way, such
that even words like And and Of Get Capitalised.

 

[Ken Springer]

<snip all>

You might find something useful to you here:

http://www.rapidfile.co.uk/
http://www.experts-exchange.com/OS/Microsoft_Operating_Systems/Windows/Windows_7/Q_25008377.html


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 25.0
Thunderbird 24.3.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

 

[BillW50]

In Bill in Co typed:

This brings back some memories. For me, I used a perhaps similar
database program called PC-File, by the same guy who wrote PC-Write,
both being small DOS programs that would easily fit on a 360K floppy.
And I've certainly heard of Ashton Tate (boy, that was awhile ago
though). But I would have expected it could at least export the data
in comma-delimited format or something like that, and that a newer
database program could at least be able to read in that data into its
own structures.

Oh man! I loved PC Write and it was one of my favorites years ago. I
forget why I stopped using it?

 

[Paul]

There have been times when certain flavours of Windows have been only
about 2x, I think: certainly when netbooks first took off; $100 would
have added 50-80%.

That's the picture I get too.

The Linux Mint I have on a USB key, falls into that
category.

Ubuntu, less so. Not because Ubuntu is a bad distro, far from it.
The "packages" portion of the software is well done (the 15,000
Debian packages are tweaked as necessary by Ubuntu staff - some of the
stuff on Linux Mint is a bit more "raw" because they just don't
have the staff to fix everything).

Where Ubuntu falls down now, is all the GUI experiments. Like
Windows 8, the GUI changes are just there to piss you off. And this
is where distros like Linux Mint (Mate interface) make inroads, by
providing something desktop users can use. (They "changed stuff"
but you'll figure it out, and there are no screen-resolution-dependent
GUI features. Ubuntu behavior changes, as the screen resolution
gets larger - which was one of the reasons I couldn't figure
out what the hell was going on once, when using it in a 1024x768
screen. Windows 8 does that as well, with Metro features like
Snap being available at 1366 pixels horizontal or more.)

Linux distros, by definition of some of their software restriction
policies, aren't always that ready to use when you get them. Linux
(most of the time), refuses to install a "binary blob" to make the
video card fully accelerated (for example, a driver from NVidia
will give a faster 3D benchmark, than the "written from scratch"
Linux driver). And for multimedia, the codec set for movies might
be less than complete when you boot the CD. Linux Mint can help
solve that problem, as they've included more of the codecs that
you'd have to scramble to find/install. And for someone who hasn't
used the OS before, that means less work and puzzlement for them.

I think there was even a Flash plugin in Firefox, so I could
view news sites without going on a package manager fishing
expedition.

The best "binary blob" solution I saw, was a distro that
put a button on the screen you could click, to "fix" the
video driver The only problem generally with stuff like
that, is it can have side effects later when you're doing
things like rebuilding the kernel (if, say, you wanted
it compiled to take advantage of as much horsepower on
your CPU as possible).

Users don't really want to know about stuff like that,
and so if a distro already has the right stuff in place,
it can _seem_ more "customer centric". You'd then be
saving the "Linux shock" for later

"Linux shock" is when you waste an entire eight hour day,
trying to fix something, using innumerable out-of-date
web articles. A favorite of mine, is when a distro
has a broken network connection, and you're trying
to figure out what they did with the configuration
files. No two distros are exactly alike. My batting
average on fixing NICs is about 50%, due to the
having to switch back and forth between computers,
to read the web articles. After enough hours have
been wasted, I usually emit a final expletive and
move on to something else

One distro, added some sort of Network Manager
between the NIC/driver and the OS. Anda comical
situation when that first came out, is the NIC/driver
was working, and the Network Manager said the network
was down... and all the applications queried the
Network Manager instead of just doing a "ping" on the
NIC. So you were in the sad state, where your network
connection was actually working, but the applications
were too shy to use it. More than one expletive escaped
my lips that day It aggravates me just thinking
about it again.

Paul

 

[BillW50]

In Paul typed:

The Linux Mint I have on a USB key, falls into that
category.

Ubuntu, less so. Not because Ubuntu is a bad distro, far from it.
The "packages" portion of the software is well done (the 15,000
Debian packages are tweaked as necessary by Ubuntu staff - some of the
stuff on Linux Mint is a bit more "raw" because they just don't
have the staff to fix everything).

Where Ubuntu falls down now, is all the GUI experiments. Like
Windows 8, the GUI changes are just there to piss you off. And this
is where distros like Linux Mint (Mate interface) make inroads, by
providing something desktop users can use. (They "changed stuff"
but you'll figure it out, and there are no screen-resolution-dependent
GUI features. Ubuntu behavior changes, as the screen resolution
gets larger - which was one of the reasons I couldn't figure
out what the hell was going on once, when using it in a 1024x768
screen. Windows 8 does that as well, with Metro features like
Snap being available at 1366 pixels horizontal or more.)

Linux distros, by definition of some of their software restriction
policies, aren't always that ready to use when you get them. Linux
(most of the time), refuses to install a "binary blob" to make the
video card fully accelerated (for example, a driver from NVidia
will give a faster 3D benchmark, than the "written from scratch"
Linux driver). And for multimedia, the codec set for movies might
be less than complete when you boot the CD. Linux Mint can help
solve that problem, as they've included more of the codecs that
you'd have to scramble to find/install. And for someone who hasn't
used the OS before, that means less work and puzzlement for them.

I think there was even a Flash plugin in Firefox, so I could
view news sites without going on a package manager fishing
expedition.

The best "binary blob" solution I saw, was a distro that
put a button on the screen you could click, to "fix" the
video driver The only problem generally with stuff like
that, is it can have side effects later when you're doing
things like rebuilding the kernel (if, say, you wanted
it compiled to take advantage of as much horsepower on
your CPU as possible).

Users don't really want to know about stuff like that,
and so if a distro already has the right stuff in place,
it can _seem_ more "customer centric". You'd then be
saving the "Linux shock" for later

"Linux shock" is when you waste an entire eight hour day,
trying to fix something, using innumerable out-of-date
web articles. A favorite of mine, is when a distro
has a broken network connection, and you're trying
to figure out what they did with the configuration
files. No two distros are exactly alike. My batting
average on fixing NICs is about 50%, due to the
having to switch back and forth between computers,
to read the web articles. After enough hours have
been wasted, I usually emit a final expletive and
move on to something else

One distro, added some sort of Network Manager
between the NIC/driver and the OS. Anda comical
situation when that first came out, is the NIC/driver
was working, and the Network Manager said the network
was down... and all the applications queried the
Network Manager instead of just doing a "ping" on the
NIC. So you were in the sad state, where your network
connection was actually working, but the applications
were too shy to use it. More than one expletive escaped
my lips that day It aggravates me just thinking
about it again.

And why do you bother with Linux again? I forgot.

 

[Paul]

In Paul typed:

And why do you bother with Linux again? I forgot.

Example from just yesterday.

Being able to run a multi-threaded version of GZIP
(called PIGZ), to do file compression. Job completed
in about two hours.

There is a Windows version of that software, but it
has a bug in the preparation of the .gz header data.
Meaning I have to use the better-maintained Linux version.

Once the compression job was complete, I booted back
into Windows.

7ZIP does GZIP, but only single threaded.

Every platform has some tool that works better than
the platform you're on right now. And if you've exhausted
many other options, you can always boot into another
OS and do stuff.

Paul

 

[BillW50]

In Paul typed:

In news:[email protected], [...]
And why do you bother with Linux again? I forgot.

Example from just yesterday.

Being able to run a multi-threaded version of GZIP
(called PIGZ), to do file compression. Job completed
in about two hours.

There is a Windows version of that software, but it
has a bug in the preparation of the .gz header data.
Meaning I have to use the better-maintained Linux version.

Once the compression job was complete, I booted back
into Windows.

7ZIP does GZIP, but only single threaded.

Every platform has some tool that works better than
the platform you're on right now. And if you've exhausted
many other options, you can always boot into another
OS and do stuff.

Wow! I guess I am lucky. As XP runs 100% of what I want to run, while
other OS can to a lesser extent.

 

[casey.o]

I find it a bit surprising that the DOS database program doesn't have any
export option to save the fields in comma delimited format (or whatever)
that could then be imported into some windows database program. Granted,
that might be a pain, but I would think there would be at least some export
option.

Everyone back then was using the DBase programs, a friend introduce me
to a program by Ashton Tate, called Rapid File. He originally used it
at work, where he managed the computers for a large chain of hospitals.
He also worked as a volunteer for a non-profit org and he began using
that same program to manage the records for this non-profit. When I
volunteered for this non-profit, I was just starting to play around with
computers, and knew almost nothing about them. I bought an old 8088
booted by floppy, and all I had was a a floppy to boot it, and another
one to use a word processor. Back then, i was terrible at typing, and I
needed to type reports for work. Using a typewriter, I probably used
more whiteout than ribbon. I was looking to buy one of those electronic
typewriters that were basically just a word processor. But they could
correct errors, save the document to a file, and that alone seemed to be
a huge inmprovement. But a friend said I'd be better off buying a
computer, because I could do more than just word proc.. and could also
run other programs, play games, etc. So, I bought that 8088.

Anyhow, this guy at the non-profit org asked if I'd type in the names.
addr. phone, etc for each member of the n-p org. That seemed like a
huge undertaking for a bad typist, because there were close to 150
members. He showed me how to do it on his computer, and I began finding
the program easy to use. But it taking me a long time to do because of
my typing. He lived 10 miles away, and I knew this would take days.
When he found out that I had a computer, he put that program on a
floppy, and the (started) list of volunteers on another floppy, and
handed it to me and told me I can do it at home. He gave me all the
current list of workers (on paper). I wnt home and finished the list
for the N-P org. I also learned how to make my own database, by just
modifying the one he had created for the org. So, I made my own variety
of the program to suit myself, and began placing all the phone/address
from my "little black book" on the computer.

This all occurred around 1989 to 90. This was what really taught me to
use computers. That program could be put on one floppy (the old 360K),
and the data on another, and I could bring it to meetings and update the
business computer, or take it to any computer to retrieve a phone
number.

That program was way advanced. compared to DBase, and so much easier to
use. Obviously if it was used by a major hospital chain, it had to be
good. Eventually I bought a legal copy of it. So, 25 years later, I
still use it, still like it, and I still have the list of workers from
that n-p org, my really old personal phone /address list, several other
lists I created, and my current phone/address list, which now contains
email addresses and cellphone too.

Several times I tried DBase, and hated it. I tried other dos databases
and some old Win3.x, and none compared. The main disadvantage is that
Rapid File was written in some very unusual computer code. There is an
article on Wikipedia about it. Ashton Tate went out of business, and
the program just became history. None of the Dbase programs could
interpert or convert from it, nor could any of the older Windows
databases. I doubt any newer one can either, beczuse hardly anyone ever
knew the program existed. But it's a damn good program, and was well
ahead of it's time. I can stipp put it on a floppy. or flash drive and
transport it to any computer with Dos or a Dos window. No installation
needed, just type RF and its' running.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <[email protected]>,

Several times I tried DBase, and hated it. I tried other dos databases
and some old Win3.x, and none compared. The main disadvantage is that
Rapid File was written in some very unusual computer code. There is an

(You're not kidding - I've never heard of a real application written in
Forth before!) Though what it's written in shouldn't matter for
conversion purposes.

article on Wikipedia about it. Ashton Tate went out of business, and

I could only find http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RapidFile#RapidFile,
which is actually part of the entry on Ashton Tate - is that what you
meant?

the program just became history. None of the Dbase programs could
interpert or convert from it, nor could any of the older Windows
databases. I doubt any newer one can either, beczuse hardly anyone ever
knew the program existed. But it's a damn good program, and was well
ahead of it's time. I can stipp put it on a floppy. or flash drive and
transport it to any computer with Dos or a Dos window. No installation
needed, just type RF and its' running.

If you were to put
an RF file, with about five entries in it
ditto, with about two entries
the same information in a text file
somewhere, and post a link to them, we (well, some of us - not sure
about me!) could have a look at them and see what would be involved in
converting them to something more widely used.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

.... current law enforcement approaches to stem the flow of drugs only manage
to seize about one per cent of the drug imports... - Professor David Nutt (31
July-6 August 2010)