Robert Holmgren wrote:
** Reply to message from "William H. TeBrake" <tebrake@xxxxxxxxx> on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:28:32 -0400have either of you tried to run NotaBene using one of the Windows emulators under Linux?Not I. It would never occur to me. NB is written for Windows, so I use it with Windows. In my opinion, it is an improper use of Linux to try to create a multi-purpose computer -- a Windows replacement. Because (money aside) Windows will do that better, with a lot less geeky effort on user's part, and with an unmatched range of out-of-the-box capabilities and choices. The WHOLE POINT of a Unix-class operating system is to compile/optimize the kernel to perform very specific tasks, as efficiently as possible. Why are there so many different Linux distros? Because they're targeted at particular uses (except in the case of, say, a pop distro like Ubuntu, which does a lot but isn't best in any class). For example, there is a REASON that nearly every serious server in the world runs on a Unix box, usually one of four or five flavors (FreeBSD, RHEL, CentOS, etc). May I suggest: Buy a desk (you need one anyway). Buy a router and some Ethernet cables. Place a Windows machine and a Linux machine side-by-side (on the desk), and connect them with NetBIOS/Samba so they talk to each other. Why is it always an implied either/or? Truth is, you need two computers (minimum). ----------------------------- Robert Holmgren holmgren@xxxxxxxxxx -----------------------------
you're describing my system, plus I have a netbook. but my "either" is 95% Linux. the single most valuable thing about Linux to me is the simplicity of backing up the system -- I don't have to create a disk image or contort myself in order to back up a registry -- I can use Remastersys to put everything on a flash drive in case my system blows up, stick a new HD in, partition it, press a few keys, and in half an hour again everything will be just fine.
as a consequence, I can keep the important things here, and use the XP box for toys and proprietary applications, which are generally hardware-specific. if the disk drive on the XP box, I'll just replace it, reinstall XP from scratch, add the two or three apps I use, and be done.
as far as using sw that's written for an OS, well, as you point out in a subsequent message Microsoft is now forcing users of Xywrite to use emulation software, so what's the harm of someone running NB under VMWare or Wine?
I suppose I wouldn't rely on Ubuntu as my primary OS if I were a graphic artist or photographer, since those sorts generally prefer Macs. however what appeals to me about Linux is that the (super)user can change anything by accessing a text file. in a strange way it is very much a writer's operating system. leaving aside the built-in advantages of open source -- eg I don't need Ghostscript or Adobe anything to turn any file, whether it's text or html, into a postscript file, that's built-in (three different ways in fact, from OpenOffice, the printing system, and the browsers) -- I would also mention three things about Ubuntu make it a viable end-user OS: 1) the software packages are tightly controlled as far as I can tell, so they're not just held to a reasonably high standard. but installation and maintenance are stable and clean, far more so than any other brand of Linux I've seen; 2) the cooperation with manufacturers allows them to incorporate proprietary drivers and codecs smoothly, and 3) they've slicked up the way superuser works, which takes a big, confusing step out of installation, and also makes day-to-day sudo-ing easier. call it a pop distro if you want, but it happens to be the best pop distro I've seen, better than Red Hat or Suse.
-rafe t.
