Slow Laptop, Suggestions?

Off Topic
41

[quote]rainjack wrote:
There is no quality software for the average user written for the linux platform. [/quote]

“Quality” you say? How do you define that for software? Is it about fulfilling requirement specifications? Conformity to standards? How fast bugs are filled and patches released?

You should avoid such ambiguous terms in favor of something more tangible. If you meant to say that software vendors are not particularly concerned about the Linux market, then I totally agree with you. In fact, plenty of vendors dismiss the Mac market just the same.

Anyway, in my experience, all the average user needs is a web browser, mail client, PIM app and media player. You probably have in mind media editing tools, CAD and other things the an “above average” user would need. In which case, I totally agree with your point.

That is your opinion and I don’t see the point in arguing against it. I gave Mac OSX a shot a couple of years back and weren’t exactly thrilled. It couldn’t display videos fullscreen and my favorite audio player (Amarok) spit out a bunch of nasty errors when I tried to compile it. Also, customizing anything is close to impossible.

I love Apple’s hardware as much as the next guy, but I prefer the freedom and compatibility inherent to open source.

42

What the fuck are you smoking??? I’ve heard stupid shit, but this statement takes the prize!

I’ve been using strictly Linux (PCLinuxOS) for the past 14 months, so I can speak here from experience.

There are THOUSANDS of free software packages for Linux. Ever hear of Synaptic Software Packager? Thousands of applications at my fingertips. Simply select and they install.

There are (free) quality alternatives for just about every piece of (non-free) Windows and Mac software out there. Many are designed better and work better to boot. Let me give you just a few small examples.

Microsoft Ofice: OpenOffice.Org
Nero and Adaptec: K3B
Windows Media Player: VLC Media Player, Kaffeine, etc
Internet Explorer: Mozilla Firefox
Photoshop: The GIMP

And if someone cannot start using PCLinuxOS straight “out of the box” within 5 minutes, they must have a learning disability. It’s brutally simple and straightforward.

Seriously, such a statement shows a high level of ignorance, and is insulting to the thousands around the world who contribute to the free software, open source community!

43

[quote]rainjack wrote:
Jacked Diesel wrote:

Dude, i’ve used windows my entire life up until 2 months ago. You know that time most people spend watching TV? Why don’t they take that time to learn something new, such as how to install and operate an amazing OS that is free, such as linux. I installed gentoo, it is a lot more complicated because it is heavy on terminal use and the emerge command, but I learned it, it was simple because I took the time to understand it.

I enjoy your posts because it convinces me that I am doing a good job of raising my children.

How old are you that you are able to say “using it my whole life”? 17? 18? I have underwear older than you. I pretty fucking sure I have an old 8088 that is older than you.

You have been on Linux for all of 2 months? What a fucking newbie bitch you have proven yourself to be.

But I’m pretty sure you don’t need me to tell you that, assuming you have half the fucking gray matter you pride yourself as having.

People are lazy. Just because you have a teenaged newbie chubby for Linux does not make it the right choice.

Now run along, I’m sure there is some command line shit you could be getting off to. [/quote]

Your arguments are sad, containing no substance and a huge lack of wit and intelligence. I didn’t even have a chance to come back here to tell you how dumb and ignorant you are because other people beat me to it.

What the hell are you talking about linux newbie? I’m sorry, but anyone that can partition a hard drive and set up there own linux kernal from scratch along with run everything they need on their linux OS through terminal and emerge commands only, is not a newbie.

I have a buddy that goes to GT (Geogia Tech). GT offers a class that teaches its students how to hack windows. They set this class up by giving you hard drive and then telling you to install whatever version of linux you want, and then installing windows. They also install VMware so they can spin the desktop. They sit there and learn how to take windows down piece by piece because it is such an insecure piece of shit. How can you defend such a shitty OS that has top technology schools laughing at it so much that there is a class designed solely around destroying it, THROUGH LINUX.

44

[quote]wakiki wrote:

There is no quality software for the average user written for the linux platform.

What the fuck are you smoking??? I’ve heard stupid shit, but this statement takes the prize!

I’ve been using strictly Linux (PCLinuxOS) for the past 14 months, so I can speak here from experience.

There are THOUSANDS of free software packages for Linux. Ever hear of Synaptic Software Packager? Thousands of applications at my fingertips. Simply select and they install.

There are (free) quality alternatives for just about every piece of (non-free) Windows and Mac software out there. Many are designed better and work better to boot. Let me give you just a few small examples.

Microsoft Ofice: OpenOffice.Org
Nero and Adaptec: K3B
Windows Media Player: VLC Media Player, Kaffeine, etc
Internet Explorer: Mozilla Firefox
Photoshop: The GIMP

And if someone cannot start using PCLinuxOS straight “out of the box” within 5 minutes, they must have a learning disability. It’s brutally simple and straightforward.

Seriously, such a statement shows a high level of ignorance, and is insulting to the thousands around the world who contribute to the free software, open source community![/quote]

I have been using computers for 20 years. Not 14 fucking months.

There is no commercially viable utilities written for linux. It is a great toy, and fun to play with, but you get dick for product support when all you are running is freeware.

I have owned my own business for 10 years. Trust me - if there were any quality programs written for linux, I would have been on it before there was even such a thing as red hat.

But money talks and bullshit walks. Don’t let the door hit you on the ass as you leave, scooter.

45

[quote]Jacked Diesel wrote:
JokerFMJ wrote:
Jacked Diesel wrote:
i didnt bother to read responses because i can assure you 90% of them are incorrect. You need to do the following:

  1. download linux (Probably ubuntu because you don’t sound computer savvy)
  2. Burn it to a disc (Do not use +R use -R discs)
  3. Go to www.mininova.org and download Hiren’s boot disc
  4. Burn Hiren’s to a Disc
  5. Back up anything on your computer that you want
  6. Insert Hiren’s boot disc and restart comp
  7. Wipe your entire computer, once you do this it should say no operating system found.
  8. Insert linux boot disc and install linux (Again, you probably want ubuntu)

/fin

Yep, install Linux and kill your laptops HD within a year.

Way to go APM. :slight_smile:

what are you talking about
[/quote]

I was referring to the fact that Linux’s APM causes HD’s to kill themselves after about a years worth of use.

As cited on many Linux websites.

46

[quote]JokerFMJ wrote:
Jacked Diesel wrote:
JokerFMJ wrote:
Jacked Diesel wrote:
i didnt bother to read responses because i can assure you 90% of them are incorrect. You need to do the following:

  1. download linux (Probably ubuntu because you don’t sound computer savvy)
  2. Burn it to a disc (Do not use +R use -R discs)
  3. Go to www.mininova.org and download Hiren’s boot disc
  4. Burn Hiren’s to a Disc
  5. Back up anything on your computer that you want
  6. Insert Hiren’s boot disc and restart comp
  7. Wipe your entire computer, once you do this it should say no operating system found.
  8. Insert linux boot disc and install linux (Again, you probably want ubuntu)

/fin

Yep, install Linux and kill your laptops HD within a year.

Way to go APM. :slight_smile:

what are you talking about

I was referring to the fact that Linux’s APM causes HD’s to kill themselves after about a years worth of use.

As cited on many Linux websites.[/quote]

can you supply sources?

47

[quote]lixy wrote:

I gave Mac OSX a shot a couple of years back and weren’t exactly thrilled. It couldn’t display videos fullscreen and my favorite audio player (Amarok) spit out a bunch of nasty errors when I tried to compile it. Also, customizing anything is close to impossible.

I love Apple’s hardware as much as the next guy, but I prefer the freedom and compatibility inherent to open source.[/quote]

Lixy, operating systems are like religions, and I would no sooner try and convert you from Linux to Mac as I would try to convert you to… say, Buddhism. However, you might, just for laughs, give Mac OS X another shot.

I’m kind of giving away my age here, but the first computer I ever used was the TRS-80, programming in BASIC, booting from the cassette drive. Over the years I’ve dabbled with a flabbergasting array of operating systems and hardware combinations, from Ataris and Commodores, to my first Mac (an SE-30, with dual floppy drives but no hard drive: I had to connect a 20 MB external drive), to a variety of DOS machines, an IBM AS-400 (wasn’t mine, it was for a company in Hong Kong), more Macs, a number of Windows 3.0 machines, a Mac running Red Hat, then back to Mac again, this time to stay. My last four computers have been Mac notebooks, and this one, a MacBook running Leopard, is unequivocally the best machine I have ever used.

I tried OS X for the first time in 2001, a month or two before it was commercially available. It was a beta version that our tech guy had snagged somewhere in Akihabara, and that thing had more bugs than a Kowloon whorehouse. On my little G3, it was also about as slow as Vista on the OP’s HP notebook, so I switched back to System 9 until I got a computer that could support the by-now released Cheetah system. The first OS X that I have really been impressed with is Tiger, version 10.4. All the previous versions seemed like just a new face for the old OS, rather like the Windows 1.0 seemed little more than a graphic version of DOS (which, of course, was exactly what it was). As good as Tiger was, though, the new Leopard is even better.

My point is, Mac OS X has come a loooong way in the last few years since you used it. Again, not to try and sway you away from Linux, but I think it’s worth a look nonetheless.

48

I didn’t realise this was a Computer Nerd Forum?

You guys crack me up.

Linux will do everything Windows will do save for specialised commerical software.

Surfing the web, watching porn and listening to rock ‘n’ roll can all be done on Ubuntu out of the box.

Leopard uses the Unix BSD kernal. Unix is not linux. You’re wrong on the fact that the kernals are similar. Although you can go install FreeBSD and then smack on Beryl and you have Leopard for free! (But Mac software is not going to run on your machine out-of-the-box).

The Power Management on Linux has been solved I believe. Bug was found. Bug was fixed.

49

As far as I know there are “workarounds” (and we all know how fun “workarounds” are to do in Linux) that you can do to solve the problem, but if you don’t know about the issue and don’t know the “workaround” then good luck.

50

[quote]Spry wrote:
I didn’t realise this was a Computer Nerd Forum?[/quote]

No, but this forum is called Get a Life, which a lot of computer nerds probably need to do.

51

[quote]JokerFMJ wrote:
I was referring to the fact that Linux’s APM causes HD’s to kill themselves after about a years worth of use.

As cited on many Linux websites.[/quote]

The bug got fixed last year. And I personally blame x86 hardware manufacturers for not cooperating with the open-source community. It sure is changing though.

Stay tuned.

52

[quote]Varqanir wrote:
My point is, Mac OS X has come a loooong way in the last few years since you used it. Again, not to try and sway you away from Linux, but I think it’s worth a look nonetheless.[/quote]

I hear you Varq. But, what bugs me, is that I invested 100 Euros on 10.4 only to realize that it can’t do a thing without investing more money on it or googling my way through freeware. Now I know, if you’re buying new machines, the OS cost is included in Macs (although you can’t do much out-of-the-box). As for me, who exclusively uses commodity PCs ('cause I can’t afford high end stuff, don’t like seeing perfectly good machines go the junkyard, etc.) Mac OSX is not a good choice.

Not because it requires lots of horsepower, but mainly because it puts a hole in my student budget. Plus, you go try and find a nice package manager where you can install electrical CAD, molecular modeling tools, or Smith Chart analyzers with two mouse clicks.

I grew accustomed to the feeling of total control you get from knowing you can add any feature you want to anything you want. I’ve never messed around with the Linux kernel, but I often get my hands dirty on smaller apps.

At this point, I am probably beyond redemption. Maybe a few years down the road when I’ll just need something that just works no matter the cost, I might give OSX another shot. But I wouldn’t hold my breath. Nowadays, you can get machines preloaded with Linux from some of the biggest OEMs. It won’t be long till commercial driver and software market for Linux booms.

53

[quote]lixy wrote:
At this point, I am probably beyond redemption. Maybe a few years down the road when I’ll just need something that just works no matter the cost, I might give OSX another shot. But I wouldn’t hold my breath. Nowadays, you can get machines preloaded with Linux from some of the biggest OEMs. It won’t be long till commercial driver and software market for Linux booms.[/quote]

This is exactly why I say linux is a wonderful toy. I wold love nothing better than to remove Windows from my business computers, and never give Gates another penny of my money. But my greed forces me to go with what puts food on the table.

54

[quote]lixy wrote:
What kind of disinformation is that? Canonical provides top grade support for Ubuntu that puts MS’ to shame.[/quote]

I was referring to using freeware in general. If one is going to use open source then I was suggesting that one should pay for a support package. I am ignorant of Ubuntu or its slickness. I run a dual boot with Fedora Core for work purposes…but it is unsupported. If I were to ever get a software issue I could risk losing both partitions.

55

[quote]Spry wrote:
Leopard uses the Unix BSD kernal.[/quote]

This fact alone made me consider Mac OS X.

56

[quote]rainjack wrote:
This is exactly why I say linux is a wonderful toy. I wold love nothing better than to remove Windows from my business computers, and never give Gates another penny of my money. But my greed forces me to go with what puts food on the table. [/quote]

If you don’t mind me asking, what business are you in? Does your require CAD tools? Fancy accounting software? What software is vital for you and isn’t available for Linux?

57

[quote]LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
I was referring to using freeware in general. If one is going to use open source then I was suggesting that one should pay for a support package. I am ignorant of Ubuntu or its slickness. I run a dual boot with Fedora Core for work purposes…but it is unsupported. If I were to ever get a software issue I could risk losing both partitions.[/quote]

Nonetheless, you wrote that Ubuntu was unsupported, which is not true. Fedora is Red Hat’s hobbyist spin-off, which you obviously shouldn’t be expecting long-term support for.

58

[quote]LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
Spry wrote:
Leopard uses the Unix BSD kernal.

This fact alone made me consider Mac OS X.
[/quote]

Why? I’ve used FreeBSD and I found it rather frustrating. You find a lot of little things different from linux and its a learning curve to use it (even for me - an IT Graduate). Why the fuck would you label your network interfaces by bus location and not by type (eth0, eth1)?

Sure from a nerd viewpoint BSD has a SMP kernal available but unless you’re doing some awesome number crunching (server, high-end science workstation), Windows/Ubuntu will play your porn and mp3’s just find.

I run XP on my laptop by the way because it was bundled with the Dell.

I booted a Ubuntu live CD but my wireless card didn’t work so I gave up. Sure there are probably drivers now but I’m lazy!