OT: Ernie Ball and Open Source

[mattv]

I thought someone might find this article interesting. I did.

http://news.com.com/2008-1082_3-5065859.html?tag=lh

[Gus]

I read it. I found the link at slashdot.org.  Very good read

[hank reynolds 3rd]

cool!!
i was thinking of using linux on my computer ,as windows 2000 sometimes crashes for no reason (i'm not caning the processor or anything like that!!!) and i only really use music software (cubase,vsti's, fruityloops)
Its cool that he's doing even better since getting rid of microsoft!!!
bo selecta!!
sam

[Rob Strand]

I've thought of putting together an Linux machine too, for no other reason than to see how I get on.

I really take my hat off to the guys that work on these open source and freeware projects, they come-up with some great stuff and they aren't getting paid for there efforts either.

[aron]

I'm running PHP, PERL, MySQL etc... All open source, all local copies of these BBS right on my Macintosh Powerbook under OS X (Unix).

Incredibly powerful.

Dealing with the archives, well, that's another story  

[The Tone God]

I have been free of the M$ monster for a number of years now and I'm have never been happier. I run FreeBSD (which MacOS X is based on with the Mach kernel) and some OpenBSD on all my machines. I have gotten some people who were looking at getting a Mac switched over from windoze to FreeBSD successfully without having to pay for the new hardware. I'm not a big GNU/linux fan for a number of reasons but I'll leave that alone. I do have a copy of win98 but all I use it for is games. I don't do any work with it.

Over the years of using open source software one thing I am amazed by is how fast and how good the software is getting. Check out the KDE screenshots (http://www.kde.org/screenshots/) Compare KDE 1 with KDE 3.1. The progress is amazing. I don't see anything like that with winblows.

What I like most is that my machine now does exactly what I want it to do. If it does something I don't want it to do I can stop it and if it doesn't do something I want I can make it. I don't get that with window$. In fact the trend is that it is taking more control away from me. I for one belive I have the right to do what I want with my hardware and not be controlled by some other entity that does NOT have my best interests in mind.

And lets face it, if you want to do any serious work with it you either need to pay for more expensive software or steal it both of which I don't like. All my software on my machines was free.

You can check out some screenshots of my desktop enviroment at the web site.

Andrew

[Gilles C]

I love to read that kind of story...

You know what? I had both Win ME and Mandrake Linux installed on my PC.

But I had to erase Linux... to be able to make a copy of the Windows partition TO FIX IT :-(

I had too many files that I didn't want to loose, so that's why I had to make a copy of it before I would work on it.

I'll reinstall Linux as soon as my Windows partition is repared and working properly.

And do you know what decided me to start using Linux? That's when I learned that the future versions of Windows would need an emulator to run older Windows programs (those I use right now)...

So I thought, why not use an emulator on Linux to run Windows programs.

The real funny thing is that it is Microsoft that is make them switch to another operating system :-)

Gilles

[william]

I use both.  My web server is based on mandrake 8.2.  My recording computers though all run win2000, except the one I built to run ProTools free, which runs Win98.  My game computers run Win2000, and Dos 6.2.  I'm kind of an OS junkie, I've got an amiga, an old mac, a Texas instrument TI 99/4a, a couple of C64's and a 128D.  I'm sure there's more.  I'm trying to shift my OS addiction to a stompbox addiction.  Its not working though.  Maybe if I had more cash......

William

[mattv]

I'm glad you all reacted the way you did. It's pretty refreshing compared to the attitudes I'm used to dealing with.

Linux is a really terrific OS.

[jsleep]

Matt, well, don't push Aron TOO far on the open source issue.  I have, and it ain't pretty  :lol: hehehehe.  Actually he had some valid points, if your livelyhood depends on the software you are using, some/most open source stuff may not quite be there for ya yet.

I did enjoy the article link and I'm trying to get up the nerve to wipe out WIN98 and put Linux on my home computer.  Right now I'm using the Windows version of Open office so I can get used to it and not have so much future shock when I switch over to Linux.

I use PHP and MySQL, etc, all open source stuff for my web site as well.

JD

[mattv]

Well, don't get me wrong, I'm not a card carrying member of the Elitist Open Source Users club. In fact, I find it irritating when anyone claims they have *the best* OS. For me, there is no arguing that Windows has a leg up as far as most users are concerned, but I think that we're coming to a point where it's increasingly important to remember that there are alternatives out there.

[The Tone God]

Interesting point. Awhile back if you wanted good stable software you would have to buy a commercial unix but that would cost thousands of dollars. So your other choice was this crappy software that was cheap. Well the cheap software took over the desktop since most desktop users weren't going to pay for unix or wanted to learn unix but the cheap software has remained crappy with little improvment except for the attempts to lock users into using the crappy software. Now new software thats even cheaper is coming along and it is improving without the strings attached. I find it a fun battle to watch.

On the topic of GNU/Linix I'm not trying to start a OS war (this is the last place that should have one) but some of you should check the BSDs. I originally left windows-land for GNU/Linux but after awhile I got frustrated with it. I tried out BSD and was much happier with it. Don't get me wrong I like GNU/Linux but I love BSD. The SCO vs. Linux case is funny though.

Andrew

[aron]

Matt, well, don't push Aron TOO far on the open source issue.  I have, and it ain't pretty  :lol: hehehehe.

No fair! You picked on my Mac AND mentioned open source too!  :evil:

[aron]

Actually he had some valid points, if your livelyhood depends on the software you are using, some/most open source stuff may not quite be there for ya yet.

I was using an open source FTP application - it was GREAT! Fantastic features. Killer operation.

Until I realized it mangled about a quarter of my downloaded text files :-(

Yeah, the archives!  :roll:

[Peter Snowberg]

Using open source is often like using lab prototypes.   :cry:

Has everybody heard of the $169 PCs from Lindows? 1.1GHz AMD Duron, 265M of PC2100 DDR SDRAM, CD-ROM, 10/100 EtherNet, 56K Modem, 1.44M floppy, keyboard, & mouse. The OS runs from CD.

http://info.lindows.com/webstation/

Add a cheap hard disk and monitor and you have a decent PC for everyday use.

-Peter

[The Tone God]

Using open source is often like using lab prototypes.   :cry:

Only if you use current/bleeding edge software. Always use stable for production stuff. This is one of the reasons I don't like GNU/Linux.

Has everybody heard of the $169 PCs from Lindows? 1.1GHz AMD Duron, 265M of PC2100 DDR SDRAM, CD-ROM, 10/100 EtherNet, 56K Modem, 1.44M floppy, keyboard, & mouse. The OS runs from CD.

Yes I have. For a fun project I built a full working version of FreeBSD on CD that has OpenOffice, Mozilla, KDE 3, and a few other bits. Just drop the CD in and you have a FreeBSD workstation. I also did the samething with OpenBSD to create a CD only firewall or server. Imagine a webserver with all its data on CD. It can't be defaced or hacked.

Andrew