[KLUG Advocacy] Re: Advocacy digest, Vol 1 #65 - 4 msgs
Bruce
advocacy@kalamazoolinux.org
Thu, 19 Sep 2002 21:46:51 -0400
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Linux Outpacing Macintosh On Desktops (Rusty Yonkers)
> 2. Re: Linux Outpacing Macintosh On Desktops (John Bridleman)
> 3. Re: Linux Outpacing Macintosh On Desktops (Rusty Yonkers)
> 4. Re: Linux Outpacing Macintosh On Desktops (Robert G. Brown)
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 10:38:16 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Rusty Yonkers <therustycook@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [KLUG Advocacy] Linux Outpacing Macintosh On Desktops
> To: advocacy@kalamazoolinux.org
> Reply-To: advocacy@kalamazoolinux.org
>
> Well an interesting thing in this is that as I read Linux Journal I
> am noticing a fair number of letters about people that have switched
> to suign OS X for their desktop while leaving Linux on the back end
> machines. This is also what I plan on doing at my house is to put in
> a few iMacs (one for the kids, one for the wife and one for me) and
> still leave the firewall and such on Linux boxes. They make a nice
> combination to use together. I also feel that even though Linux has
> come a long way in recent years in the desktop arena there are a
> number of things that still are not quite there. I still run into a
> number of frustrations that I need to use Windows (soon to be Mac)
> for.
>
> =====
> Rusty Yonkers
> CNE, MCP, A+, CCNA, Linux+, Server+ certified
> -----------------------------------------
> Department of Redundancy Department
> -----------------------------------------
> Devoted RedHat fan... looking for penguin domination
>
> __________________________________________________
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> --__--__--
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 14:21:46 -0400
> From: John Bridleman <john@bridleman.org>
> To: advocacy@kalamazoolinux.org
> Subject: Re: [KLUG Advocacy] Linux Outpacing Macintosh On Desktops
> Organization: Getting better
> Reply-To: advocacy@kalamazoolinux.org
>
> * Rusty Yonkers (therustycook@yahoo.com) wrote:
> > Well an interesting thing in this is that as I read Linux Journal I
> > am noticing a fair number of letters about people that have switched
> > to suign OS X for their desktop while leaving Linux on the back end
> > machines. This is also what I plan on doing at my house is to put in
> > a few iMacs (one for the kids, one for the wife and one for me) and
> > still leave the firewall and such on Linux boxes. They make a nice
> > combination to use together. I also feel that even though Linux has
> > come a long way in recent years in the desktop arena there are a
> > number of things that still are not quite there. I still run into a
> > number of frustrations that I need to use Windows (soon to be Mac)
> > for.
>
> Sounds nice, but for the price of hardware. I can put together a really cheap PC. I haven't priced Macs recently but I'm pretty sure they run a little more.
>
> Just out of curiosity, what frustrations do you run into that require Windows?
> --
> John Bridleman / www.bridleman.org
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 16:04:51 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Rusty Yonkers <therustycook@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [KLUG Advocacy] Linux Outpacing Macintosh On Desktops
> To: advocacy@kalamazoolinux.org
> Reply-To: advocacy@kalamazoolinux.org
>
> >
> > Sounds nice, but for the price of hardware. I can put together a
> > really cheap PC. I haven't priced Macs recently but I'm pretty sure
> > they run a little more.
>
> Well they are really quite inexpensive for what you get. The basic
> iMac where everything is built into the monitor starts at $799.00 and
> comes with some great software including iMovie for creating great
> movies (wonderful software and easy to use for home users). The
> fancy iMac with the 17" flat panel monitor and a superdrive (dvd
> burner, cdrw drive) and software for creating dvds (oh and iMovie
> etc.) runs $1,799.00 ($200 cheaper than the gateway that is in the
> commercial against the iMac and does not even have a cdrw). If you
> are doing multimedia (which our family loves to do) a properly
> configured pc will cost significantly more than a pc when you get
> everything put together.
>
> I know that there is some software for creating movies on Linux but I
> have tried to use broadcast2000 (now cinelerra) and could not figure
> it out. Being unable to figure out software is something that rarely
> happens for me! I have not been able to find anything else that
> comes close to iMovie for Linux yet. I was able to put together a
> really cool video with my kids for a school project (we home school)
> and we had iMovie figured out in less than an hour and the whole
> project (a 5 minute news program with persons on the street subtitles
> outtakes and all) took about another hour to edit. The only thing we
> had not figured out yet was green screen (chromakey).
>
> >
> > Just out of curiosity, what frustrations do you run into that
> > require Windows?
>
> Mainly multimedia stuff. Video editing is a no go so far. The sound
> on the systems works sometimes and then not others. Quicktime movies
> only work with the crossover plugin and the quicktime for windows
> product. I have yet to get avi movies to play. I created an
> animation on Linux using Blender but had to play it in Windows. Xine
> has yet to run a movie for me. Just get a black screen and no
> response and this on multiple machines. Midi playback on anything
> other than an old isa Awe 64 card is terrible. I know that
> dreamworks uses Linux but they are custom writting all their own
> software and I have yet to find anything that is really useable on
> the web. Real audio support is bad. Streaming mp3 only works as
> good as the sound drivers (I have not tried the drivers that you have
> to buy but have heard that they are pretty good) which has been
> sporadic as I said before.
>
> I love ipchains and dns and apache and how it works as a server. I
> love openoffice. So far Galeon is the best web browser but I still
> have not been able to get it to open up faster than about 4 minutes
> under KDE. I have used Gnome but miss the themes thing from KDE (I
> know that this is more of a whine thing about the themes but hey I
> like pretty and easy to make pretty too and Gnome has nothing like
> the themes thing in KDE that I have found yet!!!!).
>
> I even teach Linux and am Linux+ certified and am the condesending
> Linux user here at school but sometimes I just want pretty and easy
> and with multimedia and am not finding it with the Linux desktop like
> I see it in Mac.
>
> Ok .... rant done... I am feeling a little better now....
>
> =====
> Rusty Yonkers
> CNE, MCP, A+, CCNA, Linux+, Server+ certified
> -----------------------------------------
> Department of Redundancy Department
> -----------------------------------------
> Devoted RedHat fan... looking for penguin domination
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! News - Today's headlines
> http://news.yahoo.com
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 4
> To: advocacy@kalamazoolinux.org
> Subject: Re: [KLUG Advocacy] Linux Outpacing Macintosh On Desktops
> From: "Robert G. Brown" <bob@acm.org>
> Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 19:05:45 -0400
> Reply-To: advocacy@kalamazoolinux.org
>
> Adam Williams arranged bits as follows:
> >If you survey a business that has, say ~100 desktops, on the whole those
> >machines will be pretty homogeneous. The managers will have
> >documentation of the exceptions. Maybe not across the entire business,
> >but certainly each business unit will possess this information.
> That's probably true (at least in well-run organization, or with well-
> run networks). I don't know how much you get out, so I don't know how
> much diversity you've seen in how well networks are run. My own experience
> is that there is a *lot* of diversity here.
>
> There is also a lot of diversity in business, in terms of size, scale,
> coverage, degree of heterogenaity, security, up-to-datedness, and so
> on (I'm sure I've missed at least FIVE imprtant variables, and I wouldn't
> be surprised if some reader can enumerate a lot more).
>
> >Home systems are likely to be misreported, either deliberately or
> >because the person doesn't even understand the question. Also home
> >systems may be dual-boot machines (pretty rare on a business desktop),
> >etc.. that muddies the meaning of the question.
> This is probably true, and surveyeos are adept at creating questionairres
> that double-check this sort of thing, perhaps asking the same questions a
> couple of different ways.
>
> >Q: "What OS do you use at home?"
> >A: "My system is a Compaq."
> Or
> Q: "What computer do you have at home?"
> A: "I just upgraded to XP Pro."
>
> That's right, and some question like this, when answered this way,
> contribute (negatively in these cases) to the confidence we have in
> these surveys.
>
> On the other hand, good surveyors do not leave it at that, or they
> supply questions that are more specific. Even a slight rewording,
> like "What Operating System do you use on your home computer?" is
> a clearer way to ask the above question. Telephone survey takers
> are also trained (again, assuming a "godd survey") to filter out
> unacceptable answers, with a bit of interactve prompting of the
> vic^H^H^H folks being surveyed.
>
> Regards,
> ---> RGB <---
>
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> End of Advocacy Digest
Also for cheap computers, Tiger Direct has some "...new, cheap units for sale, $189.99"
Regards,
Bruce