Why most run Microsoft, not RedHat

[Scott van Looy]

Today Tim did spake thusly:

> Scott van Looy:
>>>> For other issues:
>>>>
>>>> 1) reboot
>
> Tim:
>>> Rarely needed on Linux, even for major configuration changes.  Needed
>>> all the time with Windows, repeatedly, and a major waste of time.  A few
>>> seconds of reconfiguring something on Linux becomes minutes on Windows.
>
> Scott van Looy:
>> YMMV, but I don't seem to ever have this problem. Unless I'm updating the
>> system through windows update or updating my AV engine I'm rarely asked to
>> reboot anything. Windows runs fine for me, and I turn my PC off when I'm
>> not using it to save leccy so I usually don't need to reboot at all and
>> just hit "reboot later" if requested
>
> Even XP still seems to need a reboot to handle an IP change.

No. It requires a reboot to handle a netmask change (which can sometimes 
happen if you start it and the DHCP server isn't reachable and then you 
try and aquire an IP after you've made it reachable). A simple IP change 
doesn't require a reboot.

> Reboots to
> get sense out of the display after changing a resolution or font.

Only if you change the base font resolution do you need a reboot (the bit 
under advanced config marked "DPI Settings"). If you change this in fedora 
you have to close and reopen the apps too

> I've
> had Microsoft applications go tits up, and require a reboot.  Quitting
> it, didn't help.

I've not since I moved to NT - everything's always killable by the task 
manager unless it's actually a part of the OS that's died

> Microsoft still doesn't understand multi-tasking, or
> multi-user - that they can all do things at the same time, and one
> doesn't bugger up the other.

Like what? Far as I understood it, Fedora 7 is copying Microsoft's fast 
user switching feature, not the other way around? And frequently I have 
more than one person logged on and they're all using the same apps 
differently. Unlike my FC6 which refuses to share framebuffer or soundcard 
;)

>
>>> On Linux, undo the last thing that you did that stuffed things up.  On
>>> Windows, try and undo a swag of unidentified things that stuffed you up,
>>> not really knowing which one it was, and not being able to undo just one
>>> thing.
>
>> This wouldn't happen to you or me, but would to, say, a newbie, who'd then
>> post here, etc...
>
> And what Windows newbie is going to know how to solve a Windows screw
> up?  Which was part of my "bollocks" retort to your Windows is easier to
> manage bulldust.  It ain't easier, it's different.  *And*, as far as I
> and other Linux users are concerned, it's far worse.

Most windows newbies who have watched the intro movie and have half a clue 
will have remembered "restore points" and that you can undo stuff using 
them.

Most windows newbies will understand what the "add remove programs" 
control panel does ;)

>
>>> Turns out "safe mode" isn't really as safe as the name would imply.
>>> You're truly stuffed if you need to boot in safe mode, yet need to use
>>> things that don't work in safe mode (e.g. your network).
>
>> "Safe Mode With Network Support"
>
> Sounds nice, until you find that it doesn't actually work with your bits
> and pieces.  Been there, tried it.  Safe mode is "crippled mode", it's
> not safe, and some things work, some don't, and neither in the way that
> the system usually works.

How so? It has always worked for me. Perhaps it doesn't work with wifi, 
but I've never ever seen it not be able to bring up a wired connection

> Also note the recent story about some malware which does part of its
> nasty work in safe mode.  So hapless users rebooting into safe mode to
> try and fix an issue, create yet another one.

Which recent story?
no sign of anything on google news that I can see

>
>>>> 4) insert Windows CD and let it automatically find and repair windows
>>>> by going through the install wizard until you reach the bit where it
>>>> finds your old copy of windows and can reinstall
>
>>> Fine, maybe, if the fault is a broken Windows file.  But not if it's a
>>> driver from somewhere else.  You're in wipe out and fix up mode, since
>>> it's damn near impossible to replace just one stuffed up file.
>
>> Nah, it does a redetect of all your hardware and a reconfiguration. If
>> it's only a missing a stuffed up driver then safe mode would work and
>> you'd be able to uninstall that driver
>
> Obviously you've never had to deal with hardware which doesn't install
> itself in the way Windows expects to work.  There's still stuff which
> requires you to abort the Windows hardware set up and manually install
> or update their drivers.

If you read the manuals, almost all of them say "DO NOT INSTALL THE 
HARDWARE FIRST". You install the software and *then* add the hardware. 
However, that point's entirely moot as it's not Microsoft's fault that 
external manufacturers write bad drivers. Their WHQL certification program 
is probably the best thing they've done to combat it, but if they simply 
didn't let uncertified drivers be installed as they did in the Vista betas 
they'd be accused of foulplay. So how can they win?

Under linux, all the drivers in the kernel are actually the responsibility 
of the kernel team ultimately, not necessarily of the device 
manufacturers. There's also a huge host of Microsoft supplied drivers in 
exactly the same way that are the responsibility of Redmond. Those that 
aren't may do bad things to your system. I had a wifi card that would 
freeze Fedora (RT61 chipset). Do I blame fedora for it? No.

> Things that require software installation
> before hardware installation.

Indeed. You install the software and then add hardware and it all works, 
no?

> Then there's other issues, like registry problems regarding users or
> application settings that aren't going to get fixed up that way, either.

Registry problems are usually self solving, the OS keeps multiple backups 
of the registry and if it's corrupted in any way it will automatically go 
back to a previous version. If not, scanreg.exe is useful to fix things.

Application settings are nothing to do with Microsoft

-- 
Scott van Looy - email:me at ethosuk.org.uk | web:www.ethosuk.org.uk
site:www.freakcity.net - the in place for outcasts since 2003
PGP Fingerprint: 7180 5543 C6C4 747B 7E74  802C 7CF9 E526 44D9 D4A7
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