Blocks Pop-ups and other nasties... was Re: Linux Usage at Library Denies Patrons Full Browsing Capabilities

From: paul cooke (paul_cooke_at_linuxNOSPAMmail.org)
Date: 05/06/04 

Date: Thu, 06 May 2004 16:01:36 GMT

Wilson Quansett wrote:

> http://www.newsforge.com/os/04/05/03/1520209.shtml
>
>
> Another fine example of how the Linux user is hamhocked into a corner
> compared to a Windows user.
> The Windows user can BROWSE ALL THE SITES and USE ALL THE PLUGINS.
> The Linux user, as typical, is limited.
>
> "The patrons get a machine they can surf almost anywhere with. The
> only sites they can't reach are those that require Internet Explorer.
> And while they can't play Shockwave games, Flash- and Java-enabled Web
> sites display just fine. PDFs can be viewed, and OpenOffice.org allows
> MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents to be displayed as well."
>
> So if I use that library I had better make certain the sites I need
> for my research are not IE sites or use Shockwave.
>
> So tell me again how Linux is superior to Windows for a desktop user
> because I can never seem to figure it out.
>
> Wilson Quansett

you forgot these very telling bits in that same article...

|The migration seems to have been almost transparent to most of the
|library's regular PC users. One patron asked Dave as he was walking by one
|day if he had anything to do with the computers. Dave said yes, and the
|user thanked him for stopping the pop-up ads.
|
|The IT staff itself is thrilled with the ease of administration. Each PC
|runs a script twice a day to check for any configuration changes or
|patches, so they no longer have to visit each machine individually in order
|to roll out new functionality or upgrades. And each time a new Windows
|epidemic makes headlines, their smiles get even bigger.
|
|Aņasco told NewsForge: "From my standpoint, being department manager, we
|are saving money because we are not having to maintain something and so
|again -- I am a certified Microsoft CE -- I have nothing against it, but I
|just can't stand using it anymore because it is so unstable. "
|
|Library management is happy because of the money it is saving. Those
|savings come from reduced administration costs and from hardware savings.
|The software savings are negligible because, as Auger points out, it's
|almost impossible to buy a new PC without getting Windows on it.
|

it is only those websites that require the use of a non-standard browser to
render their non-standard html or else use that bandwidth hogging
monstrosity Shockwave flash that don't work... in fact a minority of sites
these days. 

-- 
Use Linux - Computer power for the people: Down with cybercrud...

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