[COLUG] a/s/l -- no, really.

[Chris Clonch]

On Thu, 25 Jan 2007 09:09:55 -0500, "Warner Moore" <wmoore at 2co.com> wrote:
> 	Another secret..

Is it really?  I sometimes forget people don't realize Lucent is still around and kick'n...


> 	First here was an 8088.

I have begun to acquire old computers as though they are antiques.  I guess for me they hold value in that they shaped the things to come.  So far I have a C64 and a Mac.  I almost bought an old IBM Displaywriter (based on the 8086) a while back from a local army surplus store, but they wanted too much for it.  I thought it was curious because it took 8" floppies...

> 
> 	Remember Gamma Force BBS?

That one doesn't ring a bell.  I remember Whodini's Magik and the 1337 ASCII/ANSI art scene. Remember ACiD?  ACiDDraw?  LOL.  Ahh memories!  (actually caused a short surf through Wikipedia)

> 
> 	I hate peoples' Linux advice.

I take them with a grain of salt nowadays.  Linux comes in soo many flavors, it really is "to each his own".

> 
> 	HP-UX, ouch.  Solaris is about the only commercial Unix that's still
> current that I wouldn't mind using.  BSD-I anyone?

Luckily my interaction with HP-UX was mainly with already developed scripts and GUI's.  Solaris has always been a nice fit.

> 
> 	There's something to be said for Slackware.  The problem with most
> Linux distributions is that they skew too far from typical Unix
> environments, which often develops bad habits and infantile understandings
> of the interworkings of the system.
> 
> 	Distributions, shrug.  In the end, it's still Linux.  You just might
> have to get rid of a lot of scripts..

I think that was my main barrier to fully understanding how Linux differs from Windows.  While Gentoo is good (maybe great :)), it still wraps aspects of the Linux experience (mainly the package management system, or PMS for short).  In the end I like the simplicity and power of the good ole' command line allowing any distro to feel like home.

Playing with Slackware is on my list of things to do before I die but figuring out my own dependences makes me shudder a bit.

> 
> 	Set her up a Windows VM.

That is the direction I want to go, but she is in school now and she fears I will mess everything up.  I tell her it comes with the field (how do you know it worked until you break it ;))  I recently read an awesome article on booting an existing Windows installation as a VM under Linux (http://rougebob.com/Running-a-Windows-Partition-in-VMware.htm).  That is high on the project list.  Then I get to side-step the hassle of a re-install.


> 
> 	I like the BSD style ports tree approach.  From what I've seen, I
> don't like the distribution that much.  I don't get wild hairs to try
> distributions anymore these days though.  IMHO, it's not worth the time. 
> If you need to know, the learning curve is often short.

I have definitely become a fan of doing it ports style!  Gentoo is one of those where you either love it or hate it.  For me, their approach to system architecture makes sense.  But you're right, once you understand how it all gels together, the learning curve for another distro becomes quite short.

> 
> Regards,
> 
>    Warner.
> 

-Chris