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the empty calorie

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Posts posted by the empty calorie


  1. Hello everyone...Well, I've been under some deep thought lately...and I want to build my own distro, not only for my personal use, but for others to download as well. I am currently a slackware user, and this distro would largely be based on slackware, but a little more minimalist.Lately, what I've been doing, as I have quite a few old 486 and Pentium-S based computers laying around, is putting together computers for people who either do not have the money to go all out and have a new one built, or people that have pulled enough hair out while using Windows, but are afraid to use anything else. What I've done, is put slackware on each of these systems, and while slackware is a great distro, and I myself cut my teeth on Slackware, after being disappointed with Red Hat's appraoch to Linux (my first distro), other people probably do not want to go that same route. I have learned a lot over years, and I'm stilll learning.But so far, what I've done is given these people a full-featured Linux system, and simplified the system for them, but not in the way Lycoris or SuSE does...First, KDE and GNOME are out. While they do try to replicate (to a degree) Windows, they don't work exactly the same as Windows would, plus, they're a bit cumbersome. Not to mention, GNOME or KDE on a 486 is a good way to put yourself to sleep. the libraries tied to GNOME and KDE, are useful though.People are all given the WindowMaker, as it is fast, and as I have noticed with my own observation, more simple for a novice user to actually use. Most people, have about 5-8 programs they use often (not counting console-based programs), so, I just ask people who I do this for what programs tey commonly used in windows, I've never gotten a list of more than 5 programs, and usually are the same programs. So usually, they get AbiWord, Mozilla, GAIM, LimeWire, and then I'll throw in VICE, for the occasional person that wants to play games, but isn't expecting something like Halo to run on a 486. Aside from that, All the tools a C or Objective-C programmer would ever need are included in every system, as well as for most other languages, (C and Objective-C just being the ones I use) On the side, I give these people the opportunity for 24-hour tech support, and any repairs or upgrades as needed. Of course, for no charge at all. So, essentially, all the service offerings of commercial UNIX, but for free. Why? Simple, I believe everyone has a right to free access to information, no matter what their economic class is.But, as I usually run through Slack's setup, over and over, doing the same thing, it would be nice to have both a system that is uniform (because each system is set up a little different, as I just use what I've committed to memory). Also, it would be nice to just be able to have something that my users can just install themselves, and not have to worry about what all these packages are, and what they do.Anyways, if anyone has any ideas how I could go about this, that would be great.Thank you.


  2. I believe it's worth montioning that many Windows applications, have Linux replacements, or even Linux ports. AIM and Yahoo have Linux ports, and GAIM can be used to access ICQ, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and other networks as well..Remember, because there is no Internet Explorer for Linux, doesn't mean Linux has no other web browsers out there :)Sorry about the double post, but I cannot see an "edit" button anywhere..But how about you put down a list of Windows programs you must hve, and what they do for the not-so-obvious ones, like AIM and such, and it's very likely me, as well as others here can give you a list of Linux applications that will do what you want to do.


  3. Me, personally, I would choose something with a bit more balls than a processor based on the weak x86 architecture....so really, go with IBM. Those PPC-970s are leaps and bounds more powerful than an AMD, AMD64, or a Pentium 4. PPC's 64-bit technology is a lot more matured than that of AMD or Intel. The only unfortunate thing is, more people write programs for x86 platforms, which I feel is a bit weak, too many people tend to take these joke-computers (x86) too seriously.


  4. Okay, I see C++ is just a quite popular one....But I want to learn C. I tried this online tutorial here, and I'm starting not to trust it. the example lines of code are not compiling, except for the "hello world" example...So i'm not really too eager to trust the guy's typings.Well, okay, I don't actually WANT to learn C, It's just a bit of a prerequisite. I'm wanting to learn Objective C, but you do have to learn C first, so here I'm stuck. RRGH...what I would do to just completely re-invent the computer...a new program language, hardware, OS....Anyone have any donations? I'd like to buy NeXT from Apple and introduce the computer to end all current computers (and give props to the old school computers)


  5. Eh, there's more than two OS'es,,BeOS doesn't remind me much at all of Amiga workbench...AROS does an excellent job with it...(except i prefer the look of 1.3 to the 3.0 look AROS has).Speaking of the good old Amiga, rrgh...how did the IBM-PC kill it? The amiga was far superior...Even the Atari ST was, as much as I despise the things..Those four main computer back in the day....Why do the best two just basically disintegrate, and the WORST one wins out in the end...Someday, these IBM-PCs will finally be killed off by a better computer, and I want to be the one to build that computer...ugh..and the OS for it too...If I had a big load of money, I'd be out putting it all together right now..I've got all the planning and stuff done, but it takes money to do the rest, and a lot of it...Oh yes, anyone here had any experiences with Plan 9?


  6. Don't get too ahead of yourselves...around christmas is FINALLY when they'll start manufacturing the PS3's processor..Hell, I've had yet to even see any blu-ray devices on the market yet....And remember, it will be released in Japan about a year before it gets released here...We're not seeing this thing until mid 2006-early 2007


  7. Just my two cents here, but I honestly think that some distros have gotten to the point of home-friendly. Keep in mind, not all distros are Slack...One reason about 4 years ago i would keep going back to Windows from Linux (usually Red Hat at the time), was1. I presumed RH was like all other Linuxes, and RH didn't really impress me too much.2. (I thought) I couldn't do everything I needed to do in Linux at the time.3. I hadn't played with Slackware yet...Now, I'm glad to say I havent had a Microsoft product on my computer in the past...8 months or so...and I will never turn back. To the average person in the home that just wants their computer to work and get things done, I recommend some form of Linux. Slackware myself, but probably SuSE for the "not so tech" users...I think it's nicer for people who aren't as technically inclined, so they aren't always pulling their hair out when something (frequently) goes wrong in Windows....really, don't we all just want our computer to WORK? Microsoft doesn't do that too well...the move of the mainstream to 64-bit platforms is going to kill Microsoft, or at least hit them very hard...


  8. Oh I've had a few...In order, Apple II plus, 1980, 1MHz 6502, 48K RAM with two disk II drives and b/w TV monitor.Epson Equity-II, Intel 8088 @ 4.7MHz, 256K RAM, 20MB HarddiskSome old Mitsubishi, similar inside to the Epson.1990 IBM-AT clone, 33MHz i486, 110MB harddisk, 8MB RAMSome old IBM "laptop" that's absolutely huge, and has no harddisk, and an 8086 or 80286..1985 Amiga A1000, 8MHz 68000, 512K RAM1991 Macintosh LC-II 25MHz 68020, 4MB RAM1996 Motorola Starmax 3000, 180MHz 603e, 128MB RAM1998 Power Macintosh G3-233, 32MB RAMtwo 2001 iMac DV G3-400 w/ 256MB RAM2002 IBM-AT clone, P4 @1710MHz., 256MB RAM


  9. Windows is just a coffin that needs nailed shut..Also, I'm running Slack 10.1 and AROS (Amiga Research Operating System) along with BeOS. It still boggles my mind though, how the OS with the worst track record is the most popular one...I prefer my software with at least a little bit of quality...


  10. I am curios as to what other people's opinions are on BeOS. People who have used it, that is...I'm under the impression that not many have used BeOS, which I feel is a bit of a shame..it seems to be a really nice, fast OS, not to mention lightweight on drive space. I find it does tend to be a little similar to using a macintosh in a few ways, but not as much as I've been told before. Also, has anyone here tried BeOS Max Edition or Haiku? I'm curious on what those are like...

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