Good News for Windows XP Users...

In ,
Caver1 typed:
I have been using Linux for years and never reinstalled an OS.

I have to recompile the Linux kernel and rebuild Xandros once again. I
don't think there have been Xandros updates in the past 6 years. Nor can
you just update either, it is too old and it doesn't work that way. You
must update all manually.

My Ubuntu machines needs to be reinstalled about every two years.

Just do a search and see how many times a Windows user has had to
reinstall.

Yes, some people reinstall Windows very regularly. Although I am not one
of them. I install once and it is good for the life of the machine.

I also do maintenance on Windows machines. I'm not
ignorant of that OS. Why haven't you kept it updated?

It started out being forced into not updating. As my 4G SSD netbook is
soldered on the motherboard. XP SP2 fits, but SP3 doesn't. If you try to
update it, it quickly runs out of disk space and the machine is totally
useless in this state. So thanks to Asus for making such a limited
machine and thanks to Microsoft who sold them licenses for these
machines.

I thought I would have to reinstall XP SP2 a lot, maybe monthly or
something. Without updates, I figured it would become a malware magnet.
Although after a year, nothing happened. So some machines I continued to
update and some I didn't, just as an experiment. The ones without
updates still work just as well as they always did. This machine for
example hasn't had any updates since 2006.

If you stay with the same root OS (Debian,Redhat, etc.) All you have
to do is keep your /Home partition and load the new distro and you're
fine. Unless you are trying to keep your /Home from a 15 year old
system. Things have progressed. Crap?

Xandros is from Debian if I recall correctly. Although I have to rebuild
and recompile it to update. Most Windows users don't even have the
experience to pull this off.

How about Windows? How many versions have they had? And how many times
has their software been updated and not compatible with the previous
version? Needed a Patch to fix the problem, several times.

Not really. Nothing changed on this OS I am using right now since 2006.
And it is still very useful to me because it still does 100% of what I
want to do. Using an 8 year old distro of Linux would totally useless
today. Not true of Windows though.

Office software in the free software can usually import/export in many
formats. Such as Corel file types,Linux file tyoes, all of the
different Windows file types. Windows can't.

Sure Windows can and far more. MS Office can even import/export in
WordStar format. I have never seen any Linux application do that yet.

As far as I know you like the outdated stuff. WordStar, Palm. What
else?

What is outdated is cell phones. I don't know people still use that old
technology for? I moved on to cell phone watches myself. And my Palms
are just as useful as they were before and even more so today. As typing
a text message on a 1.5 inch screen is a pain and it is slow. Although
no problem with a Palm. Mine are linked to my cell watches by Bluetooth
and you can type text messages on the Palm, use the contact list on the
Palm, and send anything to the watch to send out.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Kingston 120GB SSD - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo T2300 1.66GHz - 4GB - ATI X1400 - Windows XP SP2

On Thu, 19 Jun 2014 07:42:16 -0500, "BillW50" wrote:

My Ubuntu machines needs to be reinstalled about every two years.

But it only takes about 20 minutes, so who cares?

Rod.

On 06/19/2014 08:42 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
I have been using Linux for years and never reinstalled an OS.

I have to recompile the Linux kernel and rebuild Xandros once again. I
don't think there have been Xandros updates in the past 6 years. Nor can
you just update either, it is too old and it doesn't work that way. You
must update all manually.

My Ubuntu machines needs to be reinstalled about every two years.

Just do a search and see how many times a Windows user has had to
reinstall.

Yes, some people reinstall Windows very regularly. Although I am not one
of them. I install once and it is good for the life of the machine.

I also do maintenance on Windows machines. I'm not
ignorant of that OS. Why haven't you kept it updated?

It started out being forced into not updating. As my 4G SSD netbook is
soldered on the motherboard. XP SP2 fits, but SP3 doesn't. If you try to
update it, it quickly runs out of disk space and the machine is totally
useless in this state. So thanks to Asus for making such a limited
machine and thanks to Microsoft who sold them licenses for these
machines.

I thought I would have to reinstall XP SP2 a lot, maybe monthly or
something. Without updates, I figured it would become a malware magnet.
Although after a year, nothing happened. So some machines I continued to
update and some I didn't, just as an experiment. The ones without
updates still work just as well as they always did. This machine for
example hasn't had any updates since 2006.

If you stay with the same root OS (Debian,Redhat, etc.) All you have
to do is keep your /Home partition and load the new distro and you're
fine. Unless you are trying to keep your /Home from a 15 year old
system. Things have progressed. Crap?

Xandros is from Debian if I recall correctly. Although I have to rebuild
and recompile it to update. Most Windows users don't even have the
experience to pull this off.

How about Windows? How many versions have they had? And how many times
has their software been updated and not compatible with the previous
version? Needed a Patch to fix the problem, several times.

Not really. Nothing changed on this OS I am using right now since 2006.
And it is still very useful to me because it still does 100% of what I
want to do. Using an 8 year old distro of Linux would totally useless
today. Not true of Windows though.

Not true. You can still use any version of a Linux distro on the same
computer it just wont get updated. Just like any old Windows OS.

Office software in the free software can usually import/export in many
formats. Such as Corel file types,Linux file tyoes, all of the
different Windows file types. Windows can't.

Sure Windows can and far more. MS Office can even import/export in
WordStar format. I have never seen any Linux application do that yet.

Is anyone in their right mind still using Wordstar?

As far as I know you like the outdated stuff. WordStar, Palm. What
else?


--
Caver1

On 06/19/2014 08:42 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
I have been using Linux for years and never reinstalled an OS.

I have to recompile the Linux kernel and rebuild Xandros once again. I
don't think there have been Xandros updates in the past 6 years. Nor can
you just update either, it is too old and it doesn't work that way. You
must update all manually.

My Ubuntu machines needs to be reinstalled about every two years.

Why?

--
Caver1

In ,
Caver1 typed:
On 06/19/2014 08:42 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
I have been using Linux for years and never reinstalled an OS.

I have to recompile the Linux kernel and rebuild Xandros once again.
I don't think there have been Xandros updates in the past 6 years.
Nor can you just update either, it is too old and it doesn't work
that way. You must update all manually.

My Ubuntu machines needs to be reinstalled about every two years.

Why?

Because Linux updates does not update the kernel. So to do that, you
must manually compile and merge a newer kernel, or wipe everything out
and install a newer distro. And without an updated kernel, you are
forced with older apps. And that doesn't cut it with things like
browsers. As many web pages won't render correctly.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Kingston 120GB SSD - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo T2300 1.66GHz - 4GB - ATI X1400 - Windows XP SP2

BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
On 06/19/2014 08:42 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
I have been using Linux for years and never reinstalled an OS.

I have to recompile the Linux kernel and rebuild Xandros once again.
I don't think there have been Xandros updates in the past 6 years.
Nor can you just update either, it is too old and it doesn't work
that way. You must update all manually.

My Ubuntu machines needs to be reinstalled about every two years.

Why?

Because Linux updates does not update the kernel. So to do that, you
must manually compile and merge a newer kernel, or wipe everything out
and install a newer distro. And without an updated kernel, you are
forced with older apps. And that doesn't cut it with things like
browsers. As many web pages won't render correctly.


So you don't know about keeping Home on a separate partition so you
won't have that problem. Everyone act surprised.

--
Alias

In ,
Caver1 typed:
On 06/19/2014 08:42 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Not really. Nothing changed on this OS I am using right now since
2006. And it is still very useful to me because it still does 100%
of what I want to do. Using an 8 year old distro of Linux would
totally useless today. Not true of Windows though.

Not true. You can still use any version of a Linux distro on the same
computer it just wont get updated. Just like any old Windows OS.

Sure it is. My Xandros is only 6 years old and the highest version of
Firefox it can run is Firefox v2. This is completely useless for
browsing today. As web pages render worse than using IE6, and IE6 is
really bad today anyway. And Thunderbird is stuck at no higher than 1.5.
And 1.5 is also pretty bad.

This XP machine without an update since 2006 can run the latest Firefox,
Thunderbird, Chrome, Maxthon, VLC, etc. without problems.

Office software in the free software can usually import/export in
many formats. Such as Corel file types,Linux file tyoes, all of the
different Windows file types. Windows can't.

Sure Windows can and far more. MS Office can even import/export in
WordStar format. I have never seen any Linux application do that yet.

Is anyone in their right mind still using Wordstar?

How would you format plain text? Like something like this with indent?

"There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way
is to make it so simple that there are obviously no
deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated
that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far
more difficult." - C.A.R. Hoare

It is very easy to do with WordStar and some other DOS word processors
and text editors. Harder than heck with most Linux and Windows
applications. I discovered one could do this with MS Word 2000/98 too
with "text with layout". Not as easy as WordStar, but it can be done.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Kingston 120GB SSD - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo T2300 1.66GHz - 4GB - ATI X1400 - Windows XP SP2

On 06/19/2014 12:26 PM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
On 06/19/2014 08:42 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
I have been using Linux for years and never reinstalled an OS.

I have to recompile the Linux kernel and rebuild Xandros once again.
I don't think there have been Xandros updates in the past 6 years.
Nor can you just update either, it is too old and it doesn't work
that way. You must update all manually.

My Ubuntu machines needs to be reinstalled about every two years.

Why?

Because Linux updates does not update the kernel. So to do that, you
must manually compile and merge a newer kernel, or wipe everything out
and install a newer distro. And without an updated kernel, you are
forced with older apps. And that doesn't cut it with things like
browsers. As many web pages won't render correctly.


I get kernels every now and then. As far as the apps they also get
updated. You don't always get new versions through the repos but there
are other ways to get them. No need to reinstall.

--
Caver1

In ,
Caver1 typed:
On 06/19/2014 12:26 PM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
On 06/19/2014 08:42 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
I have been using Linux for years and never reinstalled an OS.

I have to recompile the Linux kernel and rebuild Xandros once
again. I don't think there have been Xandros updates in the past 6
years. Nor can you just update either, it is too old and it
doesn't work that way. You must update all manually.

My Ubuntu machines needs to be reinstalled about every two years.

Why?

Because Linux updates does not update the kernel. So to do that, you
must manually compile and merge a newer kernel, or wipe everything
out and install a newer distro. And without an updated kernel, you
are forced with older apps. And that doesn't cut it with things like
browsers. As many web pages won't render correctly.

I get kernels every now and then. As far as the apps they also get
updated. You don't always get new versions through the repos but there
are other ways to get them. No need to reinstall.

No you can't do it that way. The kernel for Xandros EeePC can only use
Thunderbird v1.5 or Firefox v2 and that is high as you can go with that
old kernel. Newer applications require a newer kernel or they just won't
run. That is the way Linux works. Most Windows applications nowadays
require XP SP2 or higher, so it is quite different. Sure many of them
say XP SP3 or later, but the majority still works fine with XP SP2.
Sometimes they even run fine under Windows 2000 SP4 too.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Kingston 120GB SSD - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo T2300 1.66GHz - 4GB - ATI X1400 - Windows XP SP2

On 06/19/2014 12:49 PM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
On 06/19/2014 08:42 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Not really. Nothing changed on this OS I am using right now since
2006. And it is still very useful to me because it still does 100%
of what I want to do. Using an 8 year old distro of Linux would
totally useless today. Not true of Windows though.

Not true. You can still use any version of a Linux distro on the same
computer it just wont get updated. Just like any old Windows OS.

Sure it is. My Xandros is only 6 years old and the highest version of
Firefox it can run is Firefox v2. This is completely useless for
browsing today. As web pages render worse than using IE6, and IE6 is
really bad today anyway. And Thunderbird is stuck at no higher than 1.5.
And 1.5 is also pretty bad.

This XP machine without an update since 2006 can run the latest Firefox,
Thunderbird, Chrome, Maxthon, VLC, etc. without problems.

Office software in the free software can usually import/export in
many formats. Such as Corel file types,Linux file tyoes, all of the
different Windows file types. Windows can't.

Sure Windows can and far more. MS Office can even import/export in
WordStar format. I have never seen any Linux application do that yet.

Is anyone in their right mind still using Wordstar?

How would you format plain text? Like something like this with indent?

"There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way
is to make it so simple that there are obviously no
deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated
that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far
more difficult." - C.A.R. Hoare

Very easy to do with Vim and gedit. I imagine that other Linux text
editors have that capability now also. When was the last time you tried
a Linux text editor? When Wordstar usage was still popular? Linux text
editors have gone far past Wordstar's capabilities.

It is very easy to do with WordStar and some other DOS word processors
and text editors. Harder than heck with most Linux and Windows
applications. I discovered one could do this with MS Word 2000/98 too
with "text with layout". Not as easy as WordStar, but it can be done.



--
Caver1

On 06/19/2014 01:43 PM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
On 06/19/2014 12:26 PM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
On 06/19/2014 08:42 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
I have been using Linux for years and never reinstalled an OS.

I have to recompile the Linux kernel and rebuild Xandros once
again. I don't think there have been Xandros updates in the past 6
years. Nor can you just update either, it is too old and it
doesn't work that way. You must update all manually.

"The Xandros desktop edition gained flattering reviews for its slick and
tidy interface, but is now several years out of date and offers little
new for the experienced Linux user.
Most tellingly the applications repositories which are the meat and
drink of Debian-based Linux distributions are well behind the times.
Quote from;

http://www.itpro.co.uk/622528/the-lo...sktop/page/0/2

This was from when Xandros was still around. When did Xandros die? 2006?
You think you still know Linux if that's where you stopped?

My Ubuntu machines needs to be reinstalled about every two years.

Why?

Because Linux updates does not update the kernel. So to do that, you
must manually compile and merge a newer kernel, or wipe everything
out and install a newer distro. And without an updated kernel, you
are forced with older apps. And that doesn't cut it with things like
browsers. As many web pages won't render correctly.

I get kernels every now and then. As far as the apps they also get
updated. You don't always get new versions through the repos but there
are other ways to get them. No need to reinstall.

I should have said updated kernels. Straight from the repositories. I'm
using 3.13.0.29 now and it was all automatic. I didn't have to do
anything except down load it and install it.

No you can't do it that way. The kernel for Xandros EeePC can only use
Thunderbird v1.5 or Firefox v2 and that is high as you can go with that
old kernel. Newer applications require a newer kernel or they just won't
run. That is the way Linux works. Most Windows applications nowadays
require XP SP2 or higher, so it is quite different. Sure many of them
say XP SP3 or later, but the majority still works fine with XP SP2.
Sometimes they even run fine under Windows 2000 SP4 too.


Why can't you do it that way? You get new kernels all the time. In fact
that is the only time I have to reboot.
It's no difference in Windows than Linux. If you want to use an old Os
then you are stuck without upgrades. One difference tho is that in Linux
you can at least rebuild any of the code if you want to.
Try the new programs on 98 or Vista and see how well they work.

--
Caver1

In ,
Caver1 typed:
On 06/19/2014 12:49 PM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
Is anyone in their right mind still using Wordstar?

How would you format plain text? Like something like this with
indent? "There are two ways of constructing a software design: One
way
is to make it so simple that there are obviously no
deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated
that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far
more difficult." - C.A.R. Hoare

Very easy to do with Vim and gedit. I imagine that other Linux text
editors have that capability now also. When was the last time you
tried a Linux text editor? When Wordstar usage was still popular?
Linux text editors have gone far past Wordstar's capabilities.

Last I heard is Vim and gedit doesn't even support the WordStar diamond
layout, which is still the most efficient method of typing commands. It
keeps your fingers right on the keyboard right were they belong. Many
programs back then copied the same. Microsoft was in the act too. As
some of their older software supported some of them too.

Newer software developers just don't get it. As they use the more
inefficient methods to do things. And I never understood *nix fans. As
*nix always required tons of typing to do something so simple. That is
probably why *nix has always sat in a niche. As only people who enjoy
doing things the hard way would enjoy it.

I remember CP/M pretty well still and while pretty neat, it was much
more typing than using MS-DOS. And I remember Gary Kildall said that any
half-wit could use CP/M. While that is true, it was still a billion
dollar mistake. As I guess even half-wits like easier to use too.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Kingston 120GB SSD - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo T2300 1.66GHz - 4GB - ATI X1400 - Windows XP SP2

In ,
Caver1 typed:
On 06/19/2014 01:43 PM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
On 06/19/2014 12:26 PM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
On 06/19/2014 08:42 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
I have been using Linux for years and never reinstalled an OS.

I have to recompile the Linux kernel and rebuild Xandros once
again. I don't think there have been Xandros updates in the past
6 years. Nor can you just update either, it is too old and it
doesn't work that way. You must update all manually.

"The Xandros desktop edition gained flattering reviews for its slick
and tidy interface, but is now several years out of date and offers
little new for the experienced Linux user.
Most tellingly the applications repositories which are the meat and
drink of Debian-based Linux distributions are well behind the times.
Quote from;

http://www.itpro.co.uk/622528/the-lo...sktop/page/0/2

This was from when Xandros was still around. When did Xandros die?
2006? You think you still know Linux if that's where you stopped?

No, I like Xandros the best. It isn't free, you have to pay for it. I
continued with Ubuntu, Puppy, etc. I still like Xandros better though.
Xandros has two modes, easy and advanced. Easy mode reminds me a lot
like Windows 3.x Program Manager. Although it is more like a tabbed
Program Manager. It boots in half of the time of other Linux distros.
And it is very nice to bootup and do something really quick. Advanced
mode looks more like your typical Debian desktop and you lost the quick
bootup time.

My Ubuntu machines needs to be reinstalled about every two years.

Why?

Because Linux updates does not update the kernel. So to do that,
you must manually compile and merge a newer kernel, or wipe
everything out and install a newer distro. And without an updated
kernel, you are forced with older apps. And that doesn't cut it
with things like browsers. As many web pages won't render
correctly.

I get kernels every now and then. As far as the apps they also get
updated. You don't always get new versions through the repos but
there are other ways to get them. No need to reinstall.

I should have said updated kernels. Straight from the repositories.
I'm using 3.13.0.29 now and it was all automatic. I didn't have to do
anything except down load it and install it.

Nobody supports Xandros anymore that I know of. The only thing you can
do is grab the newer source code for the kernel and recompile it. Unless
somebody else already has done it, that is what you have to do.

No you can't do it that way. The kernel for Xandros EeePC can only
use Thunderbird v1.5 or Firefox v2 and that is high as you can go
with that old kernel. Newer applications require a newer kernel or
they just won't run. That is the way Linux works. Most Windows
applications nowadays require XP SP2 or higher, so it is quite
different. Sure many of them say XP SP3 or later, but the majority
still works fine with XP SP2. Sometimes they even run fine under
Windows 2000 SP4 too.

Why can't you do it that way? You get new kernels all the time. In
fact that is the only time I have to reboot.

Yeah I could get the source code to newer Linux kernels without a
problem. Although I have to manually recompile it first before I can use
it.

It's no difference in Windows than Linux. If you want to use an old Os
then you are stuck without upgrades. One difference tho is that in
Linux you can at least rebuild any of the code if you want to.
Try the new programs on 98 or Vista and see how well they work.

This XP SP2 kernel hasn't changed since 2006 and it still runs 100% of
what I want to run. Any Linux from 2006 is totally useless to me since
it can only run applications from 2006 and nothing newer. Not true of XP
SP2. I am still running the newest stuff with XP SP2.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Kingston 120GB SSD - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo T2300 1.66GHz - 4GB - ATI X1400 - Windows XP SP2

On 06/19/2014 10:46 AM, Caver1 wrote:
When was the last time you tried
a Linux text editor?

Hi Caver1,

My favorite is "Leafpad". It allows you to save in
Linux format (CR) or Windows format (CR-LF). Very
handly.

Though myself "vi" 20 years ago. That is a nightmare
I never want to relive

Fedora is so easy to upgrade now-a-days it makes
me almost giggle. And you can swap an old system's
hard drive into an entirely different system and
it just boots back up.

-T

On 06/19/2014 02:25 PM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
On 06/19/2014 12:49 PM, BillW50 wrote:
In ,
Caver1 typed:
Is anyone in their right mind still using Wordstar?

How would you format plain text? Like something like this with
indent? "There are two ways of constructing a software design: One
way
is to make it so simple that there are obviously no
deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated
that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far
more difficult." - C.A.R. Hoare

Very easy to do with Vim and gedit. I imagine that other Linux text
editors have that capability now also. When was the last time you
tried a Linux text editor? When Wordstar usage was still popular?
Linux text editors have gone far past Wordstar's capabilities.

Last I heard is Vim and gedit doesn't even support the WordStar diamond
layout, which is still the most efficient method of typing commands. It
keeps your fingers right on the keyboard right were they belong. Many
programs back then copied the same. Microsoft was in the act too. As
some of their older software supported some of them too.

Wordstar is past ages. Who cares about Wordstar. I haven't even seen a
Wordstar document in years so why would I care if I can't import/export
them?

Newer software developers just don't get it. As they use the more
inefficient methods to do things. And I never understood *nix fans. As
*nix always required tons of typing to do something so simple. That is
probably why *nix has always sat in a niche. As only people who enjoy
doing things the hard way would enjoy it.

Like I said earlier you're so out of date with Linux you just don't know
Linux anymore. You don't have to ever use the command line anymore if
you don't want to. Some of the distros have progressed that far.
this quote is from a recent Datamation article with link below it.

"In the last fifteen years, the Linux desktop has gone from a collection
of marginally adequate solutions to an unparalleled source of innovation
and choice. Many of its standard features are either unavailable in
Windows, or else available only as a proprietary extension. As a result,
using Linux is increasingly not only a matter of principle, but of
preference as well."

http://www.datamation.com/open-sourc...p-needs-1.html

I remember CP/M pretty well still and while pretty neat, it was much
more typing than using MS-DOS. And I remember Gary Kildall said that any
half-wit could use CP/M. While that is true, it was still a billion
dollar mistake. As I guess even half-wits like easier to use too.

CP/M was developed in the early 1970s. MS-DOS didn't appear until the
early 1980's. So why compare them. CP/M was good for it's time but did
not progress so it died. MS-DOS was good for it's time but that is well
past.
..
--
Caver1