The "Linux questions (and other stuff)" thread

[MoodyBlues]

Sorry, @Dngrsone, that you didn't understand that my analogy was to illustrate basing decisions on principle, and instead took it to NOT be an analogy, but a statement of fact that m$ pays slave labor to its employees.

Sorry, too, that you think other companies--according to you, the computer hardware companies I use--have been sued for illegal business practices like m$ has. If you'd like to list them, feel free! Last I heard, m$ was in a class of its own when it comes to anti-trust litigation, illegal tactics to create a monopoly, having the Department of Justice involved, etc.

And, yes, m$ is indeed worried--very worried. And they should be. Their bloated, overpriced, inferior products aren't selling, while LINUX-based Android products are being activated at an astonishing rate--MUCH, much higher than anything m$ has ever seen in its entire history. The fact that m$ is now contributing to Linux and talking about offering Linux versions of its software is pretty good proof that they're scared. They want in before it's irrevocably too late.

 

[Dngrsone]

Do you know what Microsoft does to companies that scare them? They buy them.

Android is not a desktop OS. Microsoft is going after the tablet market, because they know the desktop is beginning to decline.

In about ten years the desktop will be a niche product. Everything will be done on some sort of touchscreen device, or some yet to be invented interface. MS will be there, you can count on it.

As for the hardware companies, Intel has been slapped with all kinds of antitrust litigation, and they have gone the rounds with AMD, Motorola, et al just like Apple and Samsung are doing now. AMD and Intel are tied to each other just like Microsoft and Apple are.

Oh, and everyone's favorite Chinese corporation, Foxconn, has been building motherboards for all the big desktop computer players for decades...

I tire of this. I like Linux; but I am old enough to appreciate that there is a place and time when Windows is necessary.

You don't have to like it. I don't have to care; and I don't.

 

[nickdalzell]

i like Linux and run it on my computers, but that does not make me a linux fanboy either. fanboys, be them MS, Linux, or Apple, are all alike. they still cling to brand loyalty that has been obsolete since everything went overseas. buying a Curtis-Mathes television set may have had merit back in the '80s but today every brand is exactly alike. it does not matter what name or label is slapped onto them anymore--ever hear of 'badge engineering?'

A Linux fanboy(or girl) so anti-MS that they choose to use watered down versions of the same software that is used in Windows but in a native GNU version may be avoiding their own worst enemy. and all the power to them if they like that. but to me a watered down app, no matter how stable and functional, is a watered down app. if i can find an open-sourced means of making any app run in Linux, hey, it just makes it even better. who cares what OS it was designed to run on? Wine has had the hatred of the GNU people for some time, but guess what? it's NOT WINDOWS! so why the hate? they're an open sourced compatibility layer. just because it runs Windows programs does not make it Windows.

this attitude that Android/Linux is better than everyone else and that everyone should convert and run only that system really irks me. why should i lose my liberty to choose what i want on my own machine? so Microsoft makes Flight Simulator X. so what? Flightgear and X-plane are watered down half-functional copies that cannot even run any add-ons, mods or hacks the way FSX can. why would i give up one of the best sims to date for some watered down version? why should i? it's my computer.

Honestly i never did get why it is such a problem that someone chooses MS products over Linux or Apple products over Android. but some 'fandroids' get so tempermental should someone choose something other than their favorite device. who died and made you ruler of everyone's IT preferences?

 

[MoodyBlues]

I tire of this.

Good!

I like Linux; but I am old enough to appreciate that there is a place and time when Windows is necessary.

Necessary? Not in my world.

You don't have to like it. I don't have to care; and I don't.

Whatever. 😴

 

[mikedt]

Last I heard, Microsoft does most of their work here in the good old US of A. On top of that, do any coders really work for pennies? I always thought they worked for donuts and caffeine.

Doesn't MS have a huge subsidiary in Hyderabad, India? The devs there probably do work for pennies, or rather rupees and curry and tea. Also allows MS to develop software 24 hours a day, while MS Redmond is sleeping, MS Hyderabad is busy coding.

 

[argedion]

Let us keep focus here. This is not a M$ vs Linux thread. There are plenty of those around.

So getting back on track has anyone besides sapatech run Mageia 3? I'm currently running it with KDE and like it so far. Its very smooth.

 

[Dngrsone]

Much as I appreciate the power and flexibility of KDE, I just don't like the interface... I wish there was a gnome setup that had the power of the KDE desktop.

I am trying Mint 14 out right now (I've borked my Ubuntu 12.04 networking), but I may lay Unity over it. My printer doesn't want to work in Mint, though.

 

[Dngrsone]

i like Linux and run it on my computers, but that does not make me a linux fanboy either. fanboys, be them MS, Linux, or Apple, are all alike. they still cling to brand loyalty that has been obsolete since everything went overseas. buying a Curtis-Mathes television set may have had merit back in the '80s but today every brand is exactly alike. it does not matter what name or label is slapped onto them anymore--ever hear of 'badge engineering?'

A Linux fanboy(or girl) so anti-MS that they choose to use watered down versions of the same software that is used in Windows but in a native GNU version may be avoiding their own worst enemy. and all the power to them if they like that. but to me a watered down app, no matter how stable and functional, is a watered down app. if i can find an open-sourced means of making any app run in Linux, hey, it just makes it even better. who cares what OS it was designed to run on? Wine has had the hatred of the GNU people for some time, but guess what? it's NOT WINDOWS! so why the hate? they're an open sourced compatibility layer. just because it runs Windows programs does not make it Windows.

this attitude that Android/Linux is better than everyone else and that everyone should convert and run only that system really irks me. why should i lose my liberty to choose what i want on my own machine? so Microsoft makes Flight Simulator X. so what? Flightgear and X-plane are watered down half-functional copies that cannot even run any add-ons, mods or hacks the way FSX can. why would i give up one of the best sims to date for some watered down version? why should i? it's my computer.

Honestly i never did get why it is such a problem that someone chooses MS products over Linux or Apple products over Android. but some 'fandroids' get so tempermental should someone choose something other than their favorite device. who died and made you ruler of everyone's IT preferences?

I like Linux; but I am old enough to appreciate that there is a place and time when Windows is necessary.

Necessary? Not in my world.

(Okay, I do have one--and only ONE--long standing exception: Roller Coaster Tycoon. I've been playing that via wine since the last millennium. But that's it!)

 

[saptech]

Let us keep focus here. This is not a M$ vs Linux thread. There are plenty of those around.

So getting back on track has anyone besides sapatech run Mageia 3? I'm currently running it with KDE and like it so far. Its very smooth.

I just added a minimum KDE to mine and I have to say it seems to run much better then Gnome 3. I guess because Mga is a KDE distro.

One thing about Linux that I like, it's a free distro, as in freedom. I expect its shortcomings. Now when it comes to Windows & Apple, if one pay good money for it, then the shortcomings it have shouldn't be. Are do those companies do certain things to their OS to keep you locked in? I've seen linux offer some good programs or able to do certain tasks that these billion dollar companies can't or won't offer.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Much as I appreciate the power and flexibility of KDE, I just don't like the interface...

What don't you like about it? As I've explained to others, if you REALLY explore its myriad of settings and options, it can look like, or act like, or be like, whatever YOU want. So it's hard for me to understand what the problem is.

I am trying Mint 14 out right now (I've borked my Ubuntu 12.04 networking), but I may lay Unity over it. My printer doesn't want to work in Mint, though.

If you want help with any of these issues, including your borked Ubuntu network, post!

 

[MoodyBlues]

Dngrsone, you're making yourself look silly.

I like Linux; but I am old enough to appreciate that there is a place and time when Windows is necessary.

Necessary? Not in my world.

(Okay, I do have one--and only ONE--long standing exception: Roller Coaster Tycoon. I've been playing that via wine since the last millennium. But that's it!)

Playing RCT via wine does not involve windows in any way, shape, or form. I do not have windows, don't have access to windows, don't run windows in a virtual environment...NOTHING. You're misunderstanding using wine to run a windows-based program with windows being NECESSARY. It is not.

Now that you see the difference, how about dropping this?

 

[Prinny]

So here's a question to get you guys to do something like help me instead of argue

Sometimes, when I decide to try a new distro, I choose "Live mode" and whatnot. It loads and decompresses the kernel..then it goes to start and bam: rainbow pixels all over the screen. Can't see a damn thing.

Not sure if its relevant or not, but the last one I tried was a debian based distro, called Parsix.

 

[saptech]

So here's a question to get you guys to do something like help me instead of argue

Sometimes, when I decide to try a new distro, I choose "Live mode" and whatnot. It loads and decompresses the kernel..then it goes to start and bam: rainbow pixels all over the screen. Can't see a damn thing.

Not sure if its relevant or not, but the last one I tried was a debian based distro, called Parsix.

More likely a video issue. It may depend which video card/drivers it uses or need. During the boot process, most distros offer different video boot options, usually shown at the bottom of the screen right before pressing the Enter key to start the boot up.

 

[Prinny]

More likely a video issue. It may depend which video card/drivers it uses or need. During the boot process, most distros offer different video boot options, usually shown at the bottom of the screen right before pressing the Enter key to start the boot up.

Hrm...unetbootin didn't give me any options other than "Default" I believe. Perhaps I'll use dd and see that way. Usually dd is a bit better in that regard...not that unetbootin is bad, I just have better luck with dd

 

[argedion]

All I ever use is dd. Works great for me.

 

[saptech]

Hrm...unetbootin didn't give me any options other than "Default" I believe. Perhaps I'll use dd and see that way. Usually dd is a bit better in that regard...not that unetbootin is bad, I just have better luck with dd

Hmmm, I did assume you were using a cd/dvd disc. I've never used unetbootin before so not sure if it offers options or not. Check on Ubuntu forums for similar issue as yours.

 

[Prinny]

Hmmm, I did assume you were using a cd/dvd disc. I've never used unetbootin before so not sure if it offers options or not. Check on Ubuntu forums for similar issue as yours.

Whoops, I should have specified. I'll have to see what I can find on Ubuntu forums/Linux forms later.

 

[palmtree5]

have you tried the fakeout by setting your region to USA? i have gotten around region blocks that way for a long time

BTW just got FSX running. runs quite well in fact!

How difficult was it to set up? I have it but it's not set up and I'm kinda interested in finding out

 

[Dngrsone]

I messed up my networking settings trying to get an ad hoc session set up to connect my phone to the laptop. I thought I had reversed everything, but something isn't right. My wifi will work for a while at home, but it will drop offline and I will have to reboot the machine in order to get back online.

The laptop won't even connect to the wifi network at the college (then again, their certificates are screwed up all kinds of special).

If there is a way to reset my network stuff back to defaults without having to reinstall Ubuntu 12.04 desktop 64-bit; I'd be forever grateful to learn how to do it.

 

[nickdalzell]

How difficult was it to set up? I have it but it's not set up and I'm kinda interested in finding out

the instructions were on the Wine home page for FSX. but basically, you copy both DVDs to a home folder (i named it 'FSX') and when it asks you to skip or overwrite existing files on DVD #2, just say skip all or skip and check the spot to 'use the same decision'. then leave DVD #2 in the drive. then just run setup from the folder you made, wait and wait (it hangs a lot during install) then it should auto-launch. for some reason product activation fails so you're stuck in trial mode (the game times out after 30 minutes) but if you save your flights you can continue where you left off. i tried phone support but it just spits out an error code when they give me my confirmation ID. i do not think Wine supports the method of activation for some reason. so far that is the only downside. graphics performance is pretty decent, it identified my ATI Radeon series but not sure if that was Wine or if FSX has direct hardware access. it does perform better than Star Trek Online.


FYI you also need Internet Explorer 8 too. the launcher uses it to display parts of the UI. without it will simply crash. with older copies (such as IE 7) it throws an infinite loop of script errors until the computer runs out of RAM or you force close Wine from another terminal (pkill exe)

 

[saptech]

Do you know what Microsoft does to companies that scare them? They buy them.

That is why MS is so scared of Linux, they can't buy it!

 

[Speed Daemon]

Remember when web sites REQUIRED Internet ExploDer in order to access them?

Actually I don't. And it's not due to foggy memory either.

I recall quite clearly the bad old days when Netscape used lots of proprietary tags that weren't W3 approved. I recall Spyglass/Microsoft and other players like AOL picking up this bad habit, but it's generally agreed that Netscape was the worst offender. Even to this day, no browser passes the Acid test 100% on everything.

If you're referring to the brief period when some websites tried to use CaptiveX objects, I'd have to say that its inability to function properly even under ideal circumstances had more to do with its demise than anything else.

To think that in some alternate universe, there is no such thing as Java, Miguel de Icaza is a Microsoft Fellow and IE for UNIX destroyed Netscape before Gecko was born thanks to MS Mono!

Only recently, and as a result of reading a question here about Netflix, did I pull out my old "as long as you're not supporting Linux I won't be a customer" routine.

But as you can see, you were wrong about that. Even my TiVos (which use Linux for their OS) have Netflix on them!

How early? I see old episodes of Top Gear all the time on BBC America.

Starting with Series 2, when James May returned to complete the trio that we know and love.

BBCA started airing the "lost episodes" back when the only HD video sources I had were OTA and DISH. The DISH DVR doesn't allow saving shows as files, so I had to wait until the local cable company finally obeyed the law and hooked my TiVos up to their digital cable service. (Refusing to do business with them only hurt me, BTW.) I'm still missing one episode each from Series 2 and 3 after roughly a year of manually searching for and recording the episodes that I can't get through Amazon. Just as well I suppose, since the older episodes have been recently remastered with the shot-on-film segments appearing in full-HD resolution on BBCAHD.

 

[Speed Daemon]

Now I can't play Star Trek On-line at all....

Disabled Region. Our sincerest apologies, we cannot provide service to players in your region or to players using open proxies.


That's all I get. Is it United States only or something? And then "CBS Studios Inc.", the MPAA, the RIAA, Hollywood, etc are wondering why people are stealing their stuff.

Yes, that's pretty much it. It dates all the way back to the days when a very few wealthy people had C-band satellite dishes to watch network TV programming (which was all sent in the clear back then) before the local stations aired the shows. Of course it never dawned on them that all of the low-paid TV station employees who regularly used our stations' satellite equipment for personal viewing and (naturally) had access to broadcast quality recording equipment might be the bigger threat to their precious programming!

By the time that Ku-band home satellite service commenced, there were international treaties in place that prohibited viewing programming that isn't intended to be seen in your country. That carried over to DVD regions, and is now enforced through geolocation software, which isn't working too well according to recent reports.

 

[Speed Daemon]

I messed up my networking settings trying to get an ad hoc session set up to connect my phone to the laptop. I thought I had reversed everything, but something isn't right. My wifi will work for a while at home, but it will drop offline and I will have to reboot the machine in order to get back online.

The laptop won't even connect to the wifi network at the college (then again, their certificates are screwed up all kinds of special).

If there is a way to reset my network stuff back to defaults without having to reinstall Ubuntu 12.04 desktop 64-bit; I'd be forever grateful to learn how to do it.

You might want to brush up on your find and grep skills, and scour your /etc directory (and subdirectories) for errant network device config files. It may be as simple as restoring the `.old' versions of these files. If you're running a network configuration daemon, you'll want to disable it until you get everything sorted.

 

[nickdalzell]

i think Star Trek Online's region block is done for an entirely different reason than the DVD and other blocks. they had some account merger thing going on that made those countries unable to access the service..it's not the same as 'this isn't allowed in your country because you suck' like other region blocks.