DSL and Windows

Forum: User Feedback
Topic: DSL and Windows
started by: TTK=Teobromina_Tool_Kit

Posted by TTK=Teobromina_Tool_Kit on Dec. 08 2005,16:11

Hello.

I am a 'forced' user of Windows, due to the supremacy (just in numeric terms) of that OS in the daily use into the business world.

But I use to compare the solutions offered by both systems Linux and Windows, to see how have they solved the usual needs of a standard user, and more important from an strategic point of view, the possible evolution of the OSs in the future.

I am sure that the future will relly in free web-based applications, advertisment-supported, or as an alternative based in small and portable 'live' systems (like DSL), with data backup by pendrives.

Assumed that hypothesys, no matter what is the computer you will have at hand, the most important thing will be to have a fast connexion and the ability to boot from a CD and to use peripherals like pendrives with hot-plugging, efficiently.

I have made my own MyDSL CD, making the optional extensions that I really use to be the same applications that I use in Windows:

-OpenOffice to edit bussiness documents
-Nvu to prepare HTML docs
-Gimp to manipulate images

...

The applications I mention made no different to use Windows or DSL Linux. I could connect easilly with my ftp server to edit my web from the live DSL Linux ...

The only problems I have noticed could sumarize as follows:

-I had to use an older version of Open Office (1.1.4 instead of the new OO 2.0b) because I did not have any JRE available to make the new OO work as it can (I have included a post in the section of MyDSL Apps),
- and I have noticed that the pendrive is not totally 'hot-pluggable' (if it is not connected at boot time, mounting of the pendrive is difficult or impossible).

The gap that existed three years ago between Windows and Linux has been reduced dramatically.

I think that if we are able to solve small problems like the ones mentioned above, we can have a real alternative to Windows. I meant from the plain user point of view ...

Good luck to DSL developers, they are great! :;):

Regards.

*JT.

PS. Visit my web. It is in Spanish, but I am including DSL as my primary Linux for my own 'live' multiboot project named TTK.

< http://www.terra.es/personal2/jnvtdr >

Posted by Crtomir on Dec. 09 2005,13:29

well about that pendrive mounting stuff
i'm curently locked behind gates ;) however here's what you should do (it worked for me) go find your fstab file /etc/.... i forgot. however once you plug usb drive in it will show in fstab as a new partition namely sda1,2 sdb1,2 or such then you open up terminal and manually mount the device in example: mount /dev/your_device(sda1,etc...) /mnt/a_directory
of course the directory you want to mount it to must exist, if it doesn't go create one

Posted by TTK=Teobromina_Tool_Kit on Dec. 09 2005,19:42

Thanks Crtomir, what you say is what I usualy do. Sometimes is indeed faster to use the emelfm app, to mount (right key in the mouse) a 'device' that is created automatically by the system.

What I meant is that if I hotplug the pendrive (instead to boot with the pendrive plugged), I do not get the right device in the mnt directory: instead to find sda1 I get just sda. This sda could not be mounted, neither sda1 if I created by hand at a terminal after pluggin in the pendrive when the system is already booted. So, when I forgot to plugg my pendrive at boot time 狢 am a little bit concerned that I cannot mount the pendrive later.

MS Windows is not perfect using these devices too (I have two of them and one only can be mounted in a specific USB plug, maybe because of the small differences in ?milivolts? between different plugs), but apart from this, MS Windows normally mount the pendrive when hotplugged. If we, Linux friends succeed to solve small problems like these, we will be reducing the gap and making possible for the plain users to become Linux friends as well. This is my point.

:;):

My best regards.

*JT.