Next message: Jason Carter: "[LUNI] Off topic....kinda sorta"
Well,
It seemed appropriate with all this fish and bicycle stuff. There's a few of us on here who work
/ volunteer with non-profits.
You have to realise though that Linux whilst now becoming more readily accepted as a server
platform, is still nowhere in the desktop stakes. The non-profit I volunteer at takes old
computers 486 and above and refurbishes them for distribution to low income families around the
county. Some of you may know Jeff who does all the refurbishing, he brings a box of old NIC's to
the Linuxfest and other random hardware.
Anyway, you'd think Linux fans, free computers, must run linux, it's a no-brainer right?
Unfortunately no, the people who co-ordinate the program thought it better to use illegal copies
of Windows 95 until MS would give them permission to use it, now that MS have denied them
permission we can only hand out machines if we have a license or a waiver for the software on it.
So why do they not use Linux? Well of course there's the FUD factor, a recent memo described
Windows as the only real OS for a PC and Linux as 'only suitable for hobbyists', it's an uphill
battle, the other reason though is configureability and the complexity of Linux setup. To this end
I developed a version of Slackware called WinSlack, it requires no login, which is one of the
things that 'scares' people about linux. It boots straight into X, and has a variety of
window-esque features, like supermount, and so on. It still needs work, like easier printer
configuration and so on. You can find it on http://greboguru.org/winslack
Has it been accepted yet? No, will it? Maybe not but we can try it, the more linux savvy help we
get the better.
We have broken through the FUD barrier for servers. Now lets aim for low-end desktops
Herbie
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: Tue Mar 06 2001 - 16:19:51 CST