Thank you for your reply.

I have been researching the problem you had with Redhat linux and I see there are problems with detecting the CD drive in some distros of linux as there were with that version of Redhat Linux.

Most of the problems were solved with the mount command. Although I did not find a fix which required entering hexadecimal numbers.

Bios settings can also play a part in the detection.

Anyway be that as it may don’t you think that you are being a bit harsh by tarring Linux with the same brush from an experience you had 5 years ago with one distro namely Redhat Linux.

If we are knocking OS’s here this may interest you regarding windows and non detection of the CD/DVD Drive.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;314060

and as you will notice it requires editing the registry, maybe not with hexadecimal numbers but the registry nevertheless which I think will not appeal to most users either.

Remember you pass comment here without substantiating it or putting it in perspective.
ie. You say Linux and do not mention the distro
that you had problems with.

Do you think that is fair.?

Red Hat Linux, purchased at a local bookstore and it came in a blue box with a red hat printed on the outside. “Version 5″ sticks in my head, but that may not be accurate. It has been a while.

I had to enter an address for my CD drive, IIRC.

The bookstore quit carrying copies or else Red Hat quit selling them. I never tried another one from there.

The first Ubuntu I installed was locked up in 640×480 mode with 16 colors, too, since I had an Nvidia card in the machine. Some of the buttons on the install GUI were actually off the screen and I had to just tab and use the space bar to click them.

The last Ubuntu I installed worked pretty well, though. It doesn’t do anything special, but it works.

JR
“Strange! Microsoft always maintained that the TCO for Linux was greater than Windows.”
Even when it has been disproved for years.

http://www.cioupdate.com/budgets/article.php/1477911/Linux-TCO-Less-Than-Half-The-Cost-of-Windows.htm

Every non rigged study has found that introducing Linux correctly can bring TCO reduction since 2002 and before. Of course bringing in Linux does not always mean getting rid of Windows instantly.

How MS commonly get Linux with a higher TCO is instantly pave over Windows with Linux causing a major increase in staff training and other expenditure. This is basically way to rig numbers. Same is true if you tried the reverse instantly converting a Linux network to Windows.

Clarence Moon
“On a couple of distributions that I have tried, I had to enter numbers in hexadecimal, for instance.”

How much of that hardware was machines that shipped out as Linux machines or listed by manufacture as Linux compatible. I would suspect none. There is x86 hardware that is not Windows compatible Clarence Moon.

There are reasons not to pave over Windows machines. Paving over windows machines means having to deal with the odd few machines that are not Linux compatible.

Clarence Moon
“It is easy to install Windows if you have the disk, pirated or not. Just stick it in the drive and wait a while. Done deal.”
Really what class of idiot do you think you are talking to here. Unless you have a OEM customised windows disc installing windows is not ensured to install the right hardware drivers.

So windows. Stick disc in drive install. Hope you have drive discs as well or another machine with working Internet connection. Because the computers network card might fail to function. Linux with its livecd’s options allow you to find out about any of these nasties before you nuke the currently installed OS. Nice to know while you still have a abort process option.

I get a lot of computers that are installed by Clarence Moon stupid method here that are suffering intermittent problems people blame on malware. The malware was the idiot who installed Windows. Why is the machine intermittent it does not have the hardware makers drivers. Microsoft generic drivers are no where near as stable or functional as Linux generic drivers.

Installing Windows is not straight forwards in all cases. Windows update can even be fighting with you attempting to install the wrong drivers for the hardware.

Its always a simple claim of Windows Trolls that Windows is simple to install. All studies of the install process find that most modern Linux distributions are simpler to install and even better have a very safe install process. Every distribution recommend inserting a livecd first to find any hardware problems before you install Linux.

So when it comes to installation Windows need todo some work on theirs.

So only most of them, unsurprisingly those being the ones that you disagree with, are wrong?

“GNU/Linux was at ~3% by statistical sampling back in 2003″

Link?

“and GNU/Linux has been going strongly ever since:”

It’s still 1% to 2% by most counters. I’m not repeating a lie; I can post (and have posted) MULTIPLE reputable sources that back these numbers up. Even FOSS-darlings Wikimedia say it’s currently 1.5%

“OEMs weren’t pushing GNU/Linux,
Retailers weren’t pushing GNU/Linux, and
Android/Linux had not shown the way.”

OEMs still aren’t pushing that statistically “Other” OS
Retailers still aren’t pushing that statistically “Other” OS
Android still isn’t that statistically “Other” OS. Here’s an oft-missed clue; the name of the software is “Android”.

“What about Walmart’s “best-sellers list” in Brazil? The number 1 and 2 spots are GNU/Linux. M$ comes in third place at twice the price.”

A cheap tower PC would be a good replacement buy from someone who already has a monitor and a Windows DVD, however obtained. A more expensive all-in-one with a near identical spec – not so much. And ten gets you one those cheap systems get a copy of Windows installed on them. One of the customer reviews even mentions Windows 7!

“Do you think GNU/Linux is at ~1% with Walmart’s customers in Brazil?”

Are Walmart really selling that many??

Brazil;
StatCounter – 0.89%
NatMarketShare – 1.36%

Bushwah. You choose cheap!

Great point. At my age and weight and with the location of some “stickers” I have to remove my glasses, stand on my head, and transcribe to paper before I am able to type in the code. The guy who invented that system should be charged with crimes against humanity. I have found the stickers in very strange places like the farthest corner of the case from the user, the back side and even on the bottom. In many schools, space is scarce in the classroom and it’s just a pain to have to deal with stickers in those places. Of course one could do the setup somewhere else but that too is an extra step not required of GNU/Linux.

It all boils down to the EULA versus GPL. One enslaves you. The other frees you. I choose freedom.

Your comment refers “It is easy to install Windows if you have the disk, pirated or not. Just stick it in the drive and wait a while. Done deal. OTOH, if you want to install Linux, you need to find a disk, which is not so easy to do, and then do things unnatural to many. On a couple of distributions that I have tried,I had to enter numbers in hexadecimal, for instance.”

This has to be the most moronic comment I have ever read.
Care to name the linux distribution that you had to enter hexadeciaml numbers for.
You really do not have a clue do you ?
Get a life.

Not at all. The last installation I did took hours (reverting from GNU/Linux and installing applications) and the user lost functionality and asked for GNU/Linux back. “7″ could not connect to our file-shares and had no driver for her printer.

People largely don’t choose that other OS around here. The retailer does. In places where the retailer offers choice, GNU/Linux sells.

You draw the wrong conclusion due to your wrongly postulating that “lock-in” is the reason that people re-buy Windows. People buy Windows because that is their ,b>expectation as to what a PC is. Remember the ads about “I’m a PC”? They didn’t say “I’m a Windows PC”, there was no need to do that. A PC is a thing that has a Windows OS. A Mac is something else. That is what people think and why the market is the way that it is.

Don’t get all steamed up and make technical definitions and split hairs and things, Mr. Pogson. You would be technically correct, I agree, but that is not the point. Rather it is what people think things are when they are about to buy.

Being right about technical issues is an advantage in terms of being able to ultimately convince buyers that they should take a chance on Linux, but the road to a successful sale on that basis is long and hard to navigate. The reward for doing so is nil, so very few people, perhaps yourself to the contrary, are going to bother traveling there.

It is easy to install Windows if you have the disk, pirated or not. Just stick it in the drive and wait a while. Done deal. OTOH, if you want to install Linux, you need to find a disk, which is not so easy to do, and then do things unnatural to many. On a couple of distributions that I have tried, I had to enter numbers in hexadecimal, for instance.