[vox] The Ease of Linux

[Peter Jay Salzman]

On Sat 30 Dec 06,  1:54 PM, Bob Scofield <scofield at omsoft.com> said:
> Linux is getting so easy to use that people are going to have to switch to 
> Windows in order to get respect as a geek.
> 
> As recently reported here, I just upgraded from Windows98 to Windows XP.  My 
> HP 1320 wouldn't run on XP through the parallel port.  I had to hire someone 
> who ended up getting the printer working with a USB cable.  
> 
> So I Googled to figure out how to get the printer working under Linux with a 
> USB cable.  People were talking about all kinds of things over my head, such 
> as recompiling the kernel.  So I just started poking around in CUPS, and 
> noticed that there was a list of printers that CUPS could add.  Since the 
> printer was hooked up on the USB cable, CUPS recognized it, and so all I had 
> to do was click "Add Printer."  I didn't have to hire someone like I did to 
> get it to work in Windows XP.  In the last two years printer issues have been 
> easier for me in Linux than Windows.
> 
> My son is going to New Zealand in a few weeks and my sister told me about 
> Skype, which she uses to talk to her daughter in Ecuador.  Skype has all 
> kinds of downloads for various Linux versions.  They have both a deb file and 
> a separate repository download for apt.  After downloading the deb file, I 
> decided not to use it.  I used the repository download figuring that updates 
> would be easier.
> 
> Google searches uncover a few problems with Skype for Linux users.  But I had 
> no problems.  I was convinced that I would not get the headphones and 
> microphone working in Linux.  But as usual, I was wrong.
> 
> The headphones and microphone (one unit) plug into the USB port.  The 
> instructions that come with the unit say that Windows will add drivers.  I 
> don't know anything about drivers, all I did was plug it into the USB port in 
> LInux and it worked.  I can adjust the volume of the earphones and mike with 
> the KDE sound mixer tool.
> 
> I tell you there's no respect in using Linux anymore.  And in 2004 I proved, 
> by installing it myself, that there was no respect anymore in using Debian.  
> Real geeks have to strut their stuff by showing that they can get things like 
> HP printers to work in Windows.  Linux is for sissies.  And I love it more 
> and more all the time.
> 
> Bob

LOL!  I *loved* reading this.  Well written, and true.


Yeah, I've noticed the same thing.  I remember when getting X up for the
first time was a bitch and a half, and getting a modem configured took days.
The distros have certainly come a long way towards making GNU/Linux
accessible for the masses.

Although maybe part of that is our own accumulation of experience(?).

Does anyone here remember the day where you'd be walking through Frye's and
see some groovy hardware on sale... you'd have to call up a friend and ask
him to do a Google search to see if it was usable on Linux.  I can't even
remember the last time I did that.

Pete