(LinuxWorld) — This week is part two of a two-part series on comparing
Windows to Linux for average-to-dummy users. This week I'll address one of
the hot-button issues, installation. First, here's the simple conclusion of
my previous column: When faced with the problem of using DHCP to make a
connection to the Internet via cable modem or DSL, neither Linux nor Windows
made the process as easy as it should have been. Windows had the edge in my
case, but my problems with Linux were self-inflicted, since I choose to run
the Debian unstable branch. The easiest way to connect was to hook up a
dirt-cheap appliance. I used a SOHOWARE NBG800. It's a couple years old, and
the latest product is NBG800/A. There are plenty of other dirt-cheap around
you could use, as well, such as the Linksys Etherfast Cable and DSL router.
The various routers run between $50-$100 dependi... (more)
(LinuxWorld) — Ever buy something and then spend the next few weeks
researching other products to see if something better was out there? In real
life, that's called neurosis. To a product reviewer, it's called a job. I did
my job this week by looking for some BBS or forum software that might be
better than FUDforum 2.3, the software I chose to use for my non-profit Web
sites. (I wrote about version 2.3.2 in my last article, but the latest
version of FUDforum is now 2.3.3, which includes several minor bug fixes.)
I placed only a few conditions on the prospective software: it ... (more)
(LinuxWorld) -- I'm running a survey on www.varlinux.org. The question is as
follows: "Mono (.Net) should be..."
Fully supported in GNOMEFully supported in KDE, GNOME, and othersStabbed,
stomped, shredded, shot, stuffedBurned at the stakeIllegalWritten entirely by
Miguel in Visual BasicMandatory disease for anyone caught using itPecked to
death by 1,000 crazed chickensOther (please comment)
So far, the vote is overwhelmingly against Mono. The top pick is to force
Miguel de Icaza to write all of Mono himself in Visual Basic, but "Pecked to
death by 1,000 crazed chickens" was a clo... (more)
(LinuxWorld) -- I had hoped to wrap up the topic of window managers with my
most recent column (see Window-managers 101: The desktop beyond GNOME and
KDE), but from the e-mails I've received I'm afraid readers will hang me up
by the thumbs unless I mention a few of their favorites. It just so happens
that I used to switch window managers about once weekly just for kicks, so I
confess that looking at a few more won't be the most distasteful task I've
tackled.
In case you haven't been following along, the aforementioned article
described X11 window managers and how they compare to... (more)
(LinuxWorld) -- Got Debian? Don't got GNOME 2? Not surprising. Debian doesn't
get nearly as much attention as other distributions when it comes to updating
software packages, least of all desktop environments like KDE and GNOME.
There are good reasons for this, and bad ones, but either way it's reality.
The problem with packages like KDE and GNOME is that you often have to wander
away from the standard Debian servers to get the latest versions. This
introduces the potential for unresolved dependencies or even package and
library conflicts. If you're a Debian user, you can look on ... (more)
Nicholas Petreley is a computer consultant and author in Asheville, NC.
David Lucas
Shaul Efraim
Terence Martin Breslin
Cory Marchand
David Hughes
James Carlini
John Iffert
Dan Stolts
Joe Zeto
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