Re: [TCLUG:17041] <OT:anti-M$> *scary* stuff...

[Mike Hicks <hick0088@tc.umn.edu>]

Nick.T.Reinking@supervalu.com wrote:
> 
> Seriously, tho, I'd like to make a point.  It seems to me
> that the vast majority of these highly intelligent Linux
> users can't keep a Windows box going at all.  You'd
> think that some of the smartest computer people out
> there wouldn't find this so difficult.

One of the biggest problems I have with Windows is that it doesn't log
much of anything..  If I can't tell what is causing a system to crash, I
have little chance of being able to fix it.

Incidentally, I once had a wonderfully fulfilling experience by starting
Windows 95 while logging to C:\BOOTLOG.TXT.  I went through and replaced
all of the drivers that were failing to load.  That computer worked
beautifully for two weeks until the owner decided to install Win 98..

> I have had both Windows boxes that have been up
> for a couple months, and Linux boxes that have been
> up for a couple months all the time.  (I make a lot of
> hardware upgrades, so don't give me the "I've had
> uptimes of 13 years" thing).  What seems to be the
> problem, here?

*shrug* I'd say that you're lucky.  You probably have a combination of
know-how and good hardware.

> I'm running Win2k on my PIII 600E (overclocked to 800!)
> on my desktop at home, and it is rock-solid stable.
> Additionally, I push my machines a lot harder than
> the vast majority of users out there.  I also have a Linux
> box running Slackware on a PPro 200 with an off-brand
> motherboard, and it seems to be running rock-solid,
> also.  Neither one of these was terribly difficult to get
> going and running.  Why do all you obviously smart
> folks have so much trouble?   ;)

Well, when I was installing Windows 95 computers and using DOS VLMs to
connect to a Novell server, I got a few headaches.  Linux, with the
simplicity of a kernel module for the ethernet card and a built-in
TCP/IP stack, was a wonderful reprieve from the pain of trying to figure
out how to get the correct combination of Novell, 3Com, and Microsoft
drivers..

One other thing is cost.  I don't like to shell out a hundred dollars or
so for an operating system..  I mean, I need my Mountain Dew ;-)

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[ Mike Hicks | http://umn.edu/~hick0088/ | mailto:hick0088@tc.umn.edu ]