Re: Linux or NT?

["Antony Chessor" <antonyc3 integritas com>]

<< Yes linux, or UNIX for that  matter uses text config files.  Most of
which are fairly well documented
in  man pages or HOWTO files.  Now win9x, sorry I dont have NT on my laptop
uses
crytpic config files which are not documented by Microsoft, you need some
$100
book to have the settings documented, and a registry.  God forbid something
go
wrong in your registry, you might as well get that boot disk out because you
are reinstalling. >>

Well....all that's true, but let's not forget that O'Reily and Assoc. is
making a tidy amount off of Linux/Unix books because man pages are not that
good at giving the whole story, and sometimes downright more of a problem
than a solution.

I'm not getting into the NT vs Linux thang, because I think that every OS
has it's strengths and weaknesses.  Home has a linux server and 95/Linux
multiboot workstation.  Work has NT because the third party software we use
requires it to be on an NT server. (Btrieve engine).  Even if I can convince
them to go to Linux for mail/web services, we can't get rid of NT.

<< My X server installed cleanly on:
Chips and Tech (laptop)
Matrox Millenium II AGP
Diamond Stealth (s3 vision 968 chip)
Diamond Stealth 3d 2000 Pro(some s3 chip dont recall) >>

Yes, the X servers support a vast majority of hardware.  But it doesn't
support bleeding edge as quickly as windows does because the drivers are
made for windows first.  My viper v550 still isn't listed in Xconfigurator.
It was available for windows the day of release.   Now, this WILL change as
we get more and more users for linux, but it's not there now.  (I managed to
get it to work, but it took a lot of looking...definitely not the piece of
cake it was for win95)


<< Win98 was significantly better, but still required considerable tweaking.
>>

Really?  Geez, I've had more freeze ups with 98 than I ever did with 95.
New pc came configured with 98.  Froze all the time.  Wanted to put 95 on
it, but there are no 95 drivers for that particular PCI Bridge.
<grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr>  Can't put Linux on it (see above reason about
database).  "Hosed" is the word that comes to mind.  You can tell, I hope,
that I'm not saying 95 is better than Linux.  Both have given me headaches.
The difference is that when I figure out what's wrong with Linux, I can
usually be assured of being able to fix it if it comes up again.  With 95, a
re-install is too often the answer.
Overall I like Linux better, but I'm a control freak, so of course I do.
<<G>>

<< Maybe his friend should have showed him how to repartition his HDD so he
could have *both* operating systems installed. >>

EXCELLENT advice, especially when one is in transition, or needs software
for both platforms.

Best wishes for a happy new year,

Antony Chessor, CNE, Linux pseudo-newbie, and RKBA advocate