Re: Serious Question - Mainstream Use - No Troll
From: David Wright (david_c_wright_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 09/28/04
- Next message: houghi: "Re: Serious Question - Mainstream Use - No Troll"
- Previous message: Stephen J. Turnbull: "Re: SuSE 9.1 and XEmacs"
- In reply to: Phillip T. Murphy: "Re: Serious Question - Mainstream Use - No Troll"
- Next in thread: Athanasios Migdalas: "Re: Serious Question - Mainstream Use - No Troll"
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 11:44:05 +0200
Phillip T. Murphy wrote:
> I didn't need answers to the examples I gave. They were just examples of
> problems I personally encountered while setting up SuSE 9.1 over the past
> couple of monthls. My point was, I figured these issues out, but it took
> a lot of effort and research in some instances.
>
> Now, to answer a few questions that were raised...
>
> 1. I am not trolling... I have no vested interest in Microsoft, just
> curious
> about real-world experiences. I have seriously considered moving my
> home/family machine to Linux, but not sure I can yet.
I put my mother in front of my Linux box and left her to write a couple of
documents and surf the net. After telling her I wasn't using Internet
Explorer or Word, but showing her which icons to click, she was away. She
didn't notice any real difference when it came to using the applications.
Next time I go visit, her old Windows machine will get the Linux treatment,
she currently has Windows 98 on it, but it keeps crashing and her favourite
game (Freecell) doesn't work any more :-(
> 2. The machine I installed SuSE 9.1 on has run XP and did not need any
> special setup or drivers to get all the hardware running. When Linux was
> installed - my CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive was not available until I manually
> messed
> around with the mounting points manually. Also, MP3 player didn't work
> properly. It also wouldn't display the correct screen resolution. That
> had to be fixed manually.
Did you install Windows XP, or was it installed by the manufacturer before
you took delivery?
I had the opposite experience. On my new machine (home built), SuSE was up
and running in 45 minutes (fully patched), but Windows XP had me running
back to the computer store for a floppy drive to install the Windows SATA
drivers (well phoning them, the shop manager came personally to the house
with the floppy drive, I installed the drivers and he took the floppy drive
back with him, now THAT is what I call service), then with Windows, the
network card, video card and sound card were not recognised, I needed to
find and install all the correct manufacturers drivers. A pre-configured
Windows machine is easy, but building machines up from scratch, I would say
SuSE is the easier option.
> 3. I am not bashing Linux (SuSE) - I like it! I use it daily. I was just
> curious if anyone had success in using it as a mainstream system. I am
> glad
> to see that some of you are. It sounds like others have had similar
> problems as I in setup.
I use it as my main desktop now. I only seem to boot into Windows now to
play games or when I have to work on a project which is in Visual Studio or
whatever...
The other thing I would say, from your original comments, is that Windows
won't play DVD's out of the box, you have to install DVD player software
before it does that (although most pre-installed Windows machines these
days come with either WinDVD or PowerDVD pre-installed). SuSE doesn't
provide a DVD Player for legal reasons, therefore you have to source your
own. OK, it is a bit complicated, because you have to remove the old player
and then install the new version. Something which caught me out the first
time, I assumed it would patch or replace the existing version...
> I feel like I called someone's baby ugly, which was not the intention.
> Everyone got a bit offensive when all I was curious about was whether it
> would be practical to turn my family loose on Linux.
It depends, if the family are just "users", then there shouldn't be any
problems, once the machine has been configured - again this is the sticky
wicket, configuring SuSE takes some knowledge and most Windows machines
come pre-installed. For a lot of machines, especially machines with modern
hardware like SATA, if you gave somebody a Windows CD and the SuSE CD's,
the SuSE install would have them up and running, quickly, while Windows
would have them running in circles trying to find the correct drivers to
get the basic devices (video, network, disk controllers, sound) working.
Sit a user in front of a Windows machine and a Linux machine, they shouldn't
have many problems switching between the two, they both have a "Start" menu
in the same location (assuming KDE here) and once they know what the
equivalent application names/icon shapes are for their applications, they
shouldn't notice much difference.
Once the web-browser is running, it looks pretty much the same. The Office
suites look a little different, but a competent MS-Office user should be
able to find their way around OO fairly quickly - assuming they actually
try and use and not bitch about the menu options having slightly different
names or locations.
As for multimedia, I play MP3's on my machines while I work, but my machine
only has a 17" display, so I don't tend to watch films on it, that's why I
have a 32" widescreen TV and DD/DTS 5.1 AV component system in the living
room, there is also not that constant humming from the fans in the PC to
distract you - well not once I close the door to the office ;-)
Dave
- Next message: houghi: "Re: Serious Question - Mainstream Use - No Troll"
- Previous message: Stephen J. Turnbull: "Re: SuSE 9.1 and XEmacs"
- In reply to: Phillip T. Murphy: "Re: Serious Question - Mainstream Use - No Troll"
- Next in thread: Athanasios Migdalas: "Re: Serious Question - Mainstream Use - No Troll"
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]
Relevant Pages
|
