BAD NEWS!!!

[SteamCat]

For Microsoft. 8)

 

http://www.mandrakeclub.com/article.php?th...sh=true&sid=362

 

Mandrake, in my opinion, is a crucial cog for significant desktop advancement and their fixing things up and gaining momentum is going to fuel the desktop big time. :)

 

In my various ponderings I have asked myself why I want to go through the learning curve to use Linux. Mandrake, in many cases, has virtually eliminated the Linux learning curve. I knew that I would make the jump sooner or later and Mandrake, with it's ease of installation and use made it much sooner. I thoroughly enjoy the fact that I am up and running 100% Linux without having actually learned it yet. 8) Well, learned much of it. I have picked up a fair amount thus far and continue to do so. But, when I first installed DOS & Windows I didn't know anything about it either. Over time I had to learn how to do things in it. Imagine that. :roll:

 

Another pondering has to do with Linux and Windows today. Arguments about Windows desktop ease of use and such fall on deaf ears here. Windows couldn't do diddlysquat 10 years ago. It was just a pretty DOS menu. They've come a long way.

 

After I installed Mandrake I was surprised at how incredibly powerful and flexible the GUI really is. I can't help but think where the Linux Desktop is going to be after more growth and development. Five years? Ten years? It's going to be a tremendous ride and I am happy to be on board. :)

 

Another discovery I made is the shell. Fancy point and click stuff is neat to play with but I rapidly grow fond of the access to the real power of the system. For example I used to think that installing Windows software was easy. Then I learned urpmi and discovered what ease really is. 8)

 

Oh, in my Win2K box at work I often load up the command window to ping a server. One day early on I had closed the command window and later reopened it. I wanted to ping the same server that I had earlier in the day so I hit the arrow up key and nothing happened. :roll: I haven't managed to find a way in Windows to ping without using the command prompt. :roll:

 

And as far as Window's alledged 'ease'.... I installed a new winmodem in my mother-in-law's computer. I booted up the computer, it found the new hardware and began installing it. Part way through it reboots. So, I let it reboot and it did the same thing. So, yeah, installing a modem and having it trash the Windows installation was pretty damn easy!

 

I was out of time so I still have to go back and deal with that.

 

*looks at his Mandrake CD's* 8)

[Counterspy]

They are finally getting their act together and now if they can keep running after the end of the month when they run out of cash (failing a venture capitalist in a white horse) the new CEO can reduce the executive suite by at least one and better, more. For a company with 60 employees, they don't need all these people with fancy titles. I want to see some evidence of calloused fingers with QUALITY being the watchword. They need to have a good look at what Redhat has done with the install package selection and the eminently more sensible menus for 9.1.

 

Counterspy

[ral]

Menu's. Yes, in the past year we have seen a whole bunch of new desktop Linux distro's... significnatly Lycoris, Lindows and RedHat with new desktops clearly targetted at Windows users.

 

I think Mandrake should retain its KDE desktop, improve its Gnome interface and come up with its own simplified Mandrake desktop (installed by default). IMHO this should be an integrated desktop targetted at newbies where they put what in their opinion are the best applications (and leave out the rest).

 

I think even RedHat is doing this in 8.1. After being slammed for castrating KDE, it looks like in RH8.1 you will now have more choices:

 

Bluecurve Gnome

Bluecurve KDE

Default KDE