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Thread ID: 31564	2003-03-25 22:17:00	Linux	jcr1 (893)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
130890	2003-03-25 22:17:00	On this forum there appears to be so many frustrated Linux users. They post a query, they get lots of helpful replies, sometimes they succeed sometimes they just give up. I can relate to this; about 2 years ago my curiosity got the better of me and I installed (after partitiioning my HDD) Mandrake 6.1 - it worked, well I could never get the sound to go though. Then one day it just disappeared, gone. Since then I've experimented with Debian (total disaster), Progeny (not so good), Red Hat 7, Mandrake 9, Lycoris and Libranet (which I like best). After all this and doing bits and pieces at the command line etc., I'm starting to ask myself, whats the point, everything is so much simpler with Windows. Linux is so awkward to get going and there's always something that just won't configure, most frustrating. Linux is probably great for a server, great to teach one about computing and its certainly opened my eyes up to a few things; but on the desk top for general day to day use, I don't think so. Are there any others out there having my doubts?	jcr1 (893)
130891	2003-03-25 22:41:00	Hands up all those frustrated Windows users (or those that get sick of repeatedly giving money to Bill) . Windows must be better, Bills spent billions (give or take a few million) on it . Long live the penguin .	Dolby Digital (160)
130892	2003-03-25 22:54:00	Sorry but no, There are reasons that things may appear like this. 1/ Sometimes we just don't get back, i still haven't had the time to get apache working after i got enthusiastic and fixed it real good :8} so i simply haven't got back, yet. This doesn't mean i won't, it just means that for the moment, it isn't a priority. Apache on 'doze was a complete disaster... What was the point of a webserver on a system that needs rebooting every other day? 2/Linux is newer to most people, so therefore there are fresh problems, and sadly not quite as many people with the answers. Even in the short time that i have experimented, i have noticed that the numbers of people able and prepared to help are increasing fast. 3/As the "what OS are you using" thread shows, there are now far more people trying/using Linux, It is therefore only resonable to assume that there will therefore be more people frustrated with it than before. .Clueless	Clueless (181)
130893	2003-03-25 22:55:00	mandrake six? no wonder you had problems. Linux has been really simple since mandrake 8.0 I'm now using 9.0 and since 8.1 it's been easier to install and setup than windows. All you need to know is the dial up number of your isp and your user name and password. Everything else auto detects.	gerardkean (1765)
130894	2003-03-25 23:01:00	Well, both are very good points! I for one cant really afford forking out megabucks each time.. the OS's have simply been given to me! In saying that Linux is a lot of hassle.. It can e very straight-forward. Yesterday my dad's work PC suffered from a HDD crash, and working about 30seconds walk from home (For the church) meant that I was enrolled to diagnose the problem and fix it. Ive leant him a 3rd HDD of mine that's used to store my Music Video's on, I simply re-partitioned it and installed Lycoris on it, and he was happy, except that the modem he has doesnt have native support in ANY OS yet, bar maybe MS .NET server. I didnt know this and so I gave him Win2K (He wasnt quite as happy.. He liked Lycoris, being able to do everything immediately after a 30 min installation that most monkeys could have done). Now, Im downloading the driver anyways.. but sometimes Linux isnt really that much of a hassle if you dont expect it to be, Lycoris was fully working with KOffice, Xine for playing MPegs and DivX files, and everything was fine except for the modem driver which doze didnt have anyways! I guess it boils down to most peoples opinions of it: Is the Glass Half-Empty, Half-full, or simply twice as large as it needs to be? Cheers Chilling_Silence	Chilling_Silence (9)
130895	2003-03-25 23:07:00	t I can second that geradkean, RedHat 8 was so much better than 7.3! Mandrake 9 looks just as good, and I know that in Lycoris, had I actually had a proper modem (Even has support natively for WinModems) all you have to do is pick your ISP from the list, It comes with Orcon, Ihug, Xtra and a few others.. Just choose the ISP, enter your username/password and hit dial - Couldnt be easier!	Chilling_Silence (9)
130896	2003-03-25 23:10:00	I'll have to take a look at Lycoris. Using Mandrake there always seems to be a driver as the latest OS is never more than a number of months old. 9.0 comes with open office so right after install you can share files with M$ users.	gerardkean (1765)
130897	2003-03-25 23:15:00	Time is part of the problem, there is never enough hours in the day to do what should be done and still have enough time to set up Linux properly, it really is time consuming. For me, X windows, in the main not a problem. But sound cards, a major frustration. Compatibility, all the stuff I need to keep things ticking over is written for windows, if you ask software presenters "will this work under linux" all you get is a blank stare and you can read the minds of everyone else at the presentation "what the hell is he talking about". Maybe when I retire I could go totally linux, then I would be committed to make it work.	jcr1 (893)
130898	2003-03-25 23:36:00	I've NEVER had problems getting hardware to work under SuSE. I changed vid cards a few days ago.. I powered up and SuSE just knew and got on with it. Having said that, i haven't got around to putting sound in Sam yet, maybe that'll get me swearing, maybe it won't. Sure there's room for improvments, but same with any OS/programme .Clueless	Clueless (181)
130899	2003-03-26 00:42:00	I know what you mean with peripherals . Most peripheral manufacturers don't bother to create Linux drivers as the market share is still too small . The fact that IBM has committed to Linux might help (assuming the SCO lawsuit doesn't upset the apple cart) . Just getting modems to work can be a problem given there are so many winmodems out there . At the end of the day most desktop users would stay with Windows . This post is helped along by the Windows 2000 operating system . . .	Dolby Digital (160)
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