Troubleshooting Professional Magazine
Making it in a Post Microsoft World |
See the Troubleshooters.Com Bookstore.
Of course, some of us put up years ago. I have friends who haven't run Windows for years. Some were smart enough to steer clear of the Redmond quicksand from the beginning, while others bit the bullet and converted in the years when Microsoft still ran the world. Those people have my undying respect -- they're not hypocrites. But most of us are like me -- we run Windows for some activities -- which is exactly why we hate it so much.
Some of us needed to feed our families, and during the years Microsoft owned everything had no choice but to work Windows. Some needed an app that would not run on Linux. Some stuck with it out of habit, or to avoid the pain of a switch between any two operating systems.
Most of all, anticipating the transition is daunting. Leaving favored apps behind, moving thousands of data files (over 15,000 acquired over 14 years in my case), changing hard learned mouse and keystroke habits and workarounds, finding and learning new apps to do the tasks we've been doing for years. Viewing the transition as an event is a prescription for procrastination.
But once viewed as a process, the transition becomes very manageable. The process is personal, but it might go something like this:
Note that the "continued migration" step could take months or even more than a year to complete. That's OK, because as time goes on you rely less and less on that headless Windows box in the corner. Finally you reformat the thing and use it for a server.Buy the Linux box Network Connection between Linux and Windows boxes Samba, telnet, ftp and vnc configuration Internet Configuration Configuration of any additional necessary Linux apps Two verified backups of Windows data Transfer of all Windows data to the Linux desktop box Cutover Continued migration Disposal of the last Windows system
Back to the subject of your Linux desktop box. A pre-loaded Linux system is definitely the way to go if you like to view your computer as an appliance, and can spend a little more than the hardware cost of a bare bones computer in a local mom-and-pop computer store. An entire article, titled "Buying a Pre-Loaded Linux System", is included in this month's issue.
This month's Troubleshooting Professional details some of what you need to know in order to make an orderly transition away from the Windows platform, which we believe to be waning in viability and popularity. Linux provides most of the functionality of Windows, and provides a rich set of features and functionalities for which Windows users had not dared wish. Linux offers us an unparalleled opportunity to make our computers more useful.
The ins and outs of a desktop computer, any desktop computer, is an immense body of knowledge. This issue of Troubleshooting Professional has just scratched the surface. There will be a "Making it in a Post Microsoft World, Part 2", and probably a part 3 in the near future.
What does all this have to do with Troubleshooting? We all know that intermittents are messy. Many view Windows systems as massively intermittent. That's why Microsoft is dying on the vine. Linux is stable and predictable -- it's the future. Linux may seem more complex (it's much more powerful), but due to its predictability, Linux is much easier to troubleshoot. So kick back, relax, and read this issue. And remember, if you're a Troubleshooter, this is your magazine. Enjoy!.
I'd better warn you that you'll pay a little more for your pre-loaded Linux system than a hardware-equivalent Windows system. The reason is that pre-configured Linux boxes are not yet a commodity. This means higher prices, but it also means better product and service because the vendors don't need to cut to the last dime.
There are few national vendors for Linux desktop computers, so check local resources at your local Linux User Group (LUG). If you want the Cadillac of the industry, go with VA Linux. VA Linux can sell you an excellent pre-configured Linux desktop computer with a multitude of applications that work right out of the box. VA configures their boxes with a souped up Red Hat 6.2/KDE system ready to use on the Internet.
Start by looking at their VA Linux 420 systems at www.valinux.com. By choosing the "Edit Configuration" link you can design your own system. I'd definitely recommend getting at least 128 meg of RAM so you can run tons of apps without swapping. You can get various other upgrades. One upgrade I'd get is a 7200 RPM hard drive for better performance. I'd also get the 533 Celeron because that's the processor at the knee of the price performance curve.
Note that the 420 comes standard with an Ethernet adapter on the Motherboard, so you don't need to add a NIC. This fact is not well described on the VA website -- I learned it from a VA rep.
VA has hired the best and brightest from the Linux community, so their tech support is beyond compare. Linux is VA's core competancy, so they know exactly what hardware components to use and exactly how to configure them, and how to set up and tune Linux. Additionally, because VA is both your hardware and software supplier, there's no finger pointing. If something goes wrong, VA addresses the problem. Their TLC (Total Linux Coverage) support is standard for the first year, and includes phone support for six incidents (make one of them hooking up to your ISP, complete with Netscape and kmail config).
I have a wishlist of additional services that would be nice to see from VA:
BSD makes a killer web server. No Linux investigation is complete without at least considering BSD.
I recommend installing all packages. In 2000 you can safely accomplish that in 3 Gig on all distros except Debian (they offer an amazing array of software). This makes it much easier to know what's available.
Ideally you'll have a big disk carved up to hold different distros. Corel, Caldera and Mandrake are, IMHO, ideal distros for use as a desktop. Experiment with each distro. What is included? How does it look? Do you like the menu layouts and feel? We all know any Linux can be configured to do anything. The object of this experimentation is to find a distro whose standard install achieves your objectives with a minimum of extra configuration. For me that distro is Mandrake for a desktop machine (I'm still a Red Hat guy when it comes to server machines).
And then there's the famous question -- what window manager? KDE, Gnome, or one of the small footprint window managers like fvwm2. This is a "religous war" type question, so talk to lots of people and experiment before making up your mind. Once chosen, you'll probably keep that window manager for a long, long time. I've chosen KDE, and therefore most of the content of this issue of Troubleshooting Professional is KDE-centric. KDE is a good choice because it's probably the most "user friendly". But then again, Gnome has certain technical superiorities, and it's pure, 100% GPL -- always a good thing. If you're a hardcore hacker you might enjoy one of the small footprint windows managers, although they carry the disadvantage of being rarely used.
Your experimental evaluations should include Internet connection, web surfing and emailing. For email experimentation it's best, if possible, to obtain a temporary free email account so you don't inadvertently lose email from your "real" account. Naturally once you understand how to email from Linux and have made the transition, you can use your "real" account.
When it comes to website authoring, most Linux distributions come with Netscape, and Netscape comes with a website creation tool called "Composer". All Linux distributions come with text editors, several of which are as "user friendly" as Windows Notepad, and a whole lot more useful.
You'll doubtlessly need some applications beyond those listed in the preceding paragraph. Here are some other programs you may or may not need:
WordPerfect is a proprietary program. The word processor cost around $70.00, very reasonable. Very soon now WordPerfect is coming out with an entire office suite for Linux, which I believe will be in the $200.00 range -- also reasonable. WordPerfect has been around for years, and their software has been continuously improved, starting with DOS, moving on to Windows, and now to Linux. You also get Corel Draw with the office suite -- a mighty good vector graphics drawing program.
I know little of Applixware. It's a proprietary program which I believe to be in the $100.00 range for the standard edition. There's an enhanced edition featuring a development environment I've heard is great, but I honestly know little of it. Applixware is definitely worth investigation.
By now you might be asking "where's the Open Source office suite?". It's called Koffice. Koffice is alpha right now, so you certainly wouldn't base your business work product on it. But for a home computer -- why not. I'd expect Koffice to get nothing but better in the next year.
Four great choices. Unfortunately (and it really pains me to say this), as a writer I'll be sticking with MS Word for awhile, due to its outline view feature. WordPerfect can function as an outliner, but unlike MS Word, WordPerfect cannot switch an entire manuscript between freeform display and a hierarchial display. For most people this isn't an issue. If you just use outlines as outlines, WordPerfect's outlining features are perfect for you.
While on the subject of outlining, let's discuss Klyx. Klyx is a style driven publishing program ideal book layout. Klyx has an "Edit Document Structure" feature resembling MS Word's outline view. Unfortunately that feature does not allow the easy insertion of new headlines. If it did, it could pretty much replace MS Word. Klyx also has two other minor problems -- it's hard to import and export to and from different document formats, and it's not perfectly WYSIWYG, requiring a postscript preview to see the exact format of the document. Klyx is a wonderful document layout program you should investigate thoroughly.
Vector graphics programs are object oriented art. You can put pieces together, modify pieces, and the like. An acceptable vector graphics program can draw rectangles and ovals which can be color or pattern filled, resized, and stretched. Additionally, any single object should be editable, meaning its points should be able to be moved and the curves at those points adjusted. If it weren't for the curve adjustment, Killustrator that comes with most Linux distros would be perfect. Killustrator is adequate for moderately complex flowcharts, but it misses the mark when drawing things like people or household objects.
Corel Draw will soon be available for Linux. Corel Draw is the Cadillac of the vector graphics industry. It comes with clipart to springboard your efforts (check whether you have license to ues the clipart in books and websites). If you do a lot of drawing, get Corel Draw.
There are other vector graphics programs available for Linux, including tgif and dia.
The about the same in Linux. Few good simple bitmap graphics programs. Fortunately, and incredibly powerful graphics program, Gimp, can be used easily for screenshots and the like. I used Gimp to crop all the screenshots in this web page. You'll notice that in some articles the cropping is better than others. As I got experience, my accuracy got much better. The Gimp is the first adequate replacement for Paintshop Pro, version 3, that I've seen on any platform.
Linux has recently progressed past the point of no return. What I mean by that is it's no longer limited by a lack of applications, meaning more applications vendors will target Linux. This is made even truer by the fact that the Department of Justice suit is preventing Microsoft from retaliation against those who target Linux. I'd expect several good Linux Compatible outline processors to appear in the next year or so.
Windowmaker has an especially complete menu system. There's no start button, instead you click on the desktop. Because menus grow down and to the right, you should right click toward the top right portion of the screen. Middleclicking the desktop (or right and left clicking in 3 button emulation) brings up a list of open programs. Leftclicking the desktop does nothing. Once you've pulled up a menu, you navigate it by left clicking its items.
Windows app | Linux App | Details |
Windows Explorer | gfm, kfm, KRuiser, XFM | kmf is wonderful, except it's harder to set it up to run the proper program on doubleclick. I haven't quite figured that out, but when I do, it will be better than Windows Explorer. |
MS Word | WordPerfect, StarOffice, KWord, Klyx | None have MSWord's outline view, but WordPerfect has an outliner. WordPerfect and StarOffice can import .doc files reasonably well. This may not be true of new versions as UCITA's anti-reverse-engineering provisions become the law of the land. Switch now, while the switching is good. |
Excel | WordPerfect Office (quatropro), StarOffice, Gnumeric, Wingz | For the simple spreadsheet apps I do, these are all pretty much interchangeable. Gnumeric is a very nice GPL spreadsheet that probably is bundled with your Linux distro. Wingz is a proprietary product, suggested by a T.C visitor, with which I'm not yet familiar. |
MS Powerpoint | WordPerfect Office Suite, StarOffice, the htmlslides project | I haven't used WP Office. Star does a fairly nice job of presentations, but complex Powerpoint presentations don't import just right. I always use htmlslides so my presentations are portable to any browser equipped box. I've used htmlslides for my last two presentations, and I'll never go back to "presentation managers" again. |
Quicken, MS Money | cbb | I've never used cbb, so I can't comment. |
MS Frontpage, Netscape Composer, Adobe Pagemill | Netscape Composer, Amaya, Quanta | Netscape Composer is by far the fastest way to pound out prose to the net. It's just as good on Linux as it is on Windows. Use it. But what about frames and forms and other stuff that composer doesn't do? Use Amaya to create html files with those things, then use vi to cut and paste into your composer generated HTML. Don't worry, Composer respects codes it doesn't know. Quanta is a code editor rather than wysiwyg, and has uses, but it isn't for pounding out fast verbiage. Note that Amaya has some serious issues making it imperfect for high volume verbal HTML authoring. Netscape Composer still rules. |
MS Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator | Netscape Navigator, Amaya | The original is still the best. Netscape renders the vast majority of today's web pages the way the designer intended them to be rendered, whether or not they are faithful to the HTML standard. Amaya does things the user would consider wierd with non-conformant pages. Internet Explorer doesn't exist on Linux -- no loss. |
MS Outlook, Netscape Mail, Eudora | Kmail, Pine, Elm, Netscape Mail | Outlook -- you've gotta be kidding. Almost anything is better than Microsoft's contagion spreader. Kmail rocks -- a very friendly mail client with filters and folders. It's look and feel will be very familiar to Eudora users. Pine, Elm, etc are great for the command line crowd. |
wsFTP, LeechFTP | gFtp, ncFtp | I haven't yet used ncFtp, but gFtp rocks. It's identical to wsFTP except it doesn't have intelligent switching between ascii and binary transfer (but why would you want that on a Linux system unless your web host is NT or W2K? |
Paintshop Pro 3 | Gimp | Paintshop Pro 3 is the quickest little pixel editor, but Gimp isn't far behind in quickness, and of course it's way ahead in power and features. I tried some of the cutesy pixel editors and paint programs that come with KDE, and my advice is to go for the gold, get with the Gimp! All the screenshots in this issue of Troubleshooting Professional were cropped in Gimp. |
Micrografx Windows Draw, Corel Draw, Micrografx Designer | (coming soon) Corel Draw for Linux. See also dia, tgif, Killustrator. | Vector graphics is somewhat behind on Linux. The forthcoming Corel Draw will cure that. Killustrator is excellent for simple diagramming, but falls short due to inability to modify curves in existing shapes. I have friends who swear by dia and tgif, but I haven't tried them. |
Photoshop | Gimp | I'm no graphics artist, but people I respect say Gimp has all the power and features of Photoshop. Be aware, however, that Gimp isn't intuitive or easy. I recommend getting a good book before using Gimp for anything beyond screenshots and very simple graphics. |
Notepad | kedit | Both are amazingly intuitive, trivially simple, and unsuitable for programs over 400 lines. However, at least kedit doesn't truncate big files. I created a 37Mb text file with kedit. No Wordpad needed. |
Wordpad | kedit for large files, Star Office or Abiword for cheap word processor | Kedit does beautifully on large files. Kwrite word wraps, but only on input. Use StarOffice as a cheap (actually free (as in beer)) word processor. Or use Abiword as a free (as in speech) GNU GPL sans-styles word processor. Abiword is a very close replacement for Wordpad's |
Multiedit, other high end editors | vi, emacs | vi has incredible search and replace capabilities, macros, and many
vi clones have rectangular cut and paste. Designed for the touch typist,
vi is an incredibly fast editor. It has a fairly steep learning curve,
but once learned it's perfect for any editing task on any file in any programming
language, and has syntax help and compile and error showing for major languages.
If vi isn't good enough for you, my friends tell me emacs is even more powerful. |
Winfax Pro | hylafax, Kfax, Ksendfax | I haven't used any of these, so I can't comment. Kfax and Ksendfax come with Mandrake (and maybe the other distros too). |
MS Visual Studio, visual C++, Visual J++ | ------ | If you like MFC, by all means stay with Windows. I've heard of nothing
like it on Linux, and IMHO that's a good thing. And as far as Visual J++,
why not get write-once run everywhere with the Real McCoy, Java.
If you want a good C++ compiler or a good Java compiler/interpreter, they come on your Linux install disk. |
Visual Basic | Xbasic, Perl, Python | Xbasic is an integrated GUI BASIC development environment first appearing in 1988. Perl and Python can easily handle the processing tasks of VB, although to produce a GUI environment they need to incorporate the tk widgets or other GUI tool. The URLs of these programming languages are in this mag's URL's section. |
ASP | PHP, Perl | PHP is as powerful and easy as ASP. Perl isn't as easy as PHP, but it's more powerful and has many addons. Both hit databases with ease. |
Delphi | Delphi | Borland knows the future! |
-------- | gcc, g++, perl, python, tcl/tk | The best C and C++ compilers on the planet are available on Linux, BSD and UNIX. Python and Perl are ultraproductivity languages on UNIX, and are available on Windows, but they don't work nearly as well there. tcl/tk is a quick and dirty graphical app language that works best on Linux/BSD/UNIX. |
Java | Java | It's everywhere, as long as you don't require those cutesy "graphical development environments". |
Various sound programs | Kmid, kmidi, kmp3, kmedia | All of these function approximately like their Windows equivalents, except they're script friendly and can be run by programs accessing playlists. You can also download and use realaudio players. |
Other | They have time tracking software, |
To go back to your GUI screen, press Ctrl-Alt-F7. On Caldera, for some reason, it's Ctrl-Alt-F8.
In Windows you can't easily fix the problem, because you can't see the video config screen to change it. In Linux you simply press the Ctrl-Alt-Backspace combination and it will kill your X session. You can then fix your X configuration by editing /etc/X11/XF86Config, or by running Xconfigurator, or other various command line config tools.
startx -- :1 vt8The preceding command runs on localhost:1 (hence the :1). The vt8 designation says run it on virtual terminal 8, which is accessed with the Ctrl-Alt-F8 combination. Note that on Caldera boxes you'd need to change things a little, since Ctrl-Alt-F8 is already consumed.
You might want to run at a different color depth. No problem. Use the -bpp option to specify the bits of color:
startx -- :1 -bpp 16 vt8The preceding specified a 16 bit color screen, due to the -bpp 16 option. Note that to run this, it must be supportable in your XF86Config file and by your monitor. Tweaking that file is beyond the scope of this Troubleshooting Professional. However, if you manage to get your X to display only 16 colors, shooting screens off this low color depth screen can eliminate the color reduction step and any color distortion it might introduce, although it might produce ugly screenshots.
Another use of this second X server is to run it under a different user. Whatever user ran the startx command will be the user for the new virtual terminal.
chown root.hometeam /d chmod 2770 /dNow any file or directory created in /d has group hometeam, so it can be read and written by all other members of the group. For ultimate data reliability, you may wish to put /d on its own partition, and for ultimate reliability and upgrade ease its own physical drive.
If several people use the data, and they each have their own private data, you may wish each to have his own directory below /d:
/d |--Jack |--Jill |--Mary `--LambNow only root can access other people's data. If you want read access either the directories can be chmod 744, or you can use the previously described hometeam group for read permission, and make the directories chmod 740.
Now you can use tar or some other backup product to back up all the data with a single command.
Another directory you'll need is /inst, where you put all the installation files you'll need to rebuild your system. While theoretically you could simply download all the installation files again, certain needed programs become unavailable over time. In the DOS world, I'd be in big trouble if I lost my Grandview outline processor -- hundreds of outlines would become unreadable. Grandview is no longer sold. Same is true for Micrografx Windows Draw, Microlytics WordFind, and PaintShop Pro version 3, 32 bit. Data under the /inst directory is slow-changing and large, so a monthly backup of that directory is probably sufficient.
If your /d tree starts to exceed the size of your backup media, you may wish to split out slow moving data. Such things as work for old clients is an example. You could have a /classic directory for that kind of thing, and have subdirectories under it in case the classic directory itself begins to exceed your media size.
You might wonder why I don't advocate keeping data in people's home directory. It's because by the default nature of the home directory, it accumulates all sorts of large junk which would unnecessarily swamp a data backup. Your home directory functions sort of like the "my documents" directory in Windows -- a great temporary spot, but subject to all sorts of garbage, and removal during OS reinstallation. The act of transferring a file to the /d tree is a recognition that the file is valuable data.
[global] workgroup = MYGROUP netbios name=mydesk encrypt passwords = yes hosts allow = 192.168.100. 127. ## UNCOMMENT FOLLOWING IF THERE'S ## ANOTHER SAMBA/WINS SERVER #os level = 0 ## UNCOMMENT PRECEDING IF THERE'S ## ANOTHER SAMBA/WINS SERVER ## ## UNCOMMENT FOLLOWING IF THERE'S ## NO OTHER SAMBA/WINS/DOMAIN SERVER os level = 255 wins support = yes local master = yes preferred master = yes domain master = yes ## UNCOMMENT PRECEDING IF THERE'S ## NO OTHER SAMBA/WINS/DOMAIN SERVER ## [homes] browseable = no read only = no oplocks = no level2 oplocks = no [d] path = /d valid users = @hometeam read only = no oplocks=no level2 oplocks = no |
Note that I've set oplocks and level2 oplocks to NO. That's because in a typical Windows/Linux transition, you'll be accessing files on your Windows box that you've modified in Linux, and the caching provided by oplocks will hide those modifications, thus promoting overwriting of those modifications if the Windows program saves its data. If you have a 100mb Ethernet environment with a small number of users, you don't need the caching provided by oplocks.
Don't forget to use testparm at every opportunity, and repair any warnings or errors. You can learn more about Samba from the Troubleshooters.Com samba page, from the Samba Project's web pages and mailing lists, and from my book, Samba Unleashed.
The one "problem" with Samba is that it does no crlf->lf translation.
If you massively transfer data via Samba, you'll need to run a translation
script on all text files (and of course you don't necessarily know which
files are text files). The following script, called nocr, has
some safety features to avoid running it on everything including binary
files. You should modify this program to make it safer -- it's not quite
ready for prime time from a data safety point of view, but it does croak
on a '*' extension, or if you put in any kind of wildcard globbed by bash
-- it accepts only args in quotes:
#!/bin/sh ##nocr: public domain, ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY ##Author(s) take absolutely no ##responsibility for any damage ##caused by this program -- ##use entirely at your own risk. usage() { echo "usage: nocr 'filespec' 'extension'" echo Single quotes must be used \ around both arguments. echo Extension does not include the dot. echo Wildcards not acceptable \ in extension. echo } convert_one() { tempfile="temp214.tmp"; rm -f $tempfile; [ -f $tempfile ] || { cp $1 $tempfile; [ -f $tempfile ] && { echo converting $1; ## CAREFUL! IN FOLLOWING LINE, \ ^M must be a single char ## NOT A CARAT FOLLOWED BY AN M ## YOU MUST FIX IT IF YOU COPY \ THIS SOURCE DIRECTLY FROM MY WEB PAGE cat $tempfile | sed -e "s/^M$//" > $1 } } } convert_them() { while [ $1 ] ; do convert_one $1; shift; done } ##### main routine below ##### echo [ $# == 2 ] || { echo wrong number of args, \ or single quotes not used; usage; exit; } [ "$2" == "*" ] || [ "$2" == "?" ] && { echo "Bad extension: $2"; usage; exit; } filespec="$1.$2"; echo "Files to convert: $filespec"; echo convert_them $filespec; echo |
In the preceding script, look at the usage() function to see how it's used. It takes exactly two quote-surrounded args, a filename and an extension. The theory is that typically the filename is a wildcard but the extension isn't. You want to avoid, at all cost, converting binary files. Be very careful when using the preceding script.
For passive learning, use the -viewonly option on the student machine's vncviewer, which is now aimed at a VNC server on the instructor machine. Now it's practical for the instructor to teach 40 students. Once they've been shown the procedure, the students can switch to a vncviewer aimed at their own machine, and if they need assistance the instructor can vnc -shared into their local machine and help them.
All this is done on reasonably priced commodity machines, or maybe even handmedowns, with absolutely no software cost.
import -window root -display localhost:0 whatever.pngThe preceding command snaps the entire desktop (-window root) of display 0 of localhost, saving it off to whatever.png. Obvously you'll name the file appropriately. This is not limited to .png files -- almost any common graphic standard is supported. This is the power of UNIX!
You might wonder why I didn't use import to reduce the colors (and therefore bandwidth). Color reduction should never be done before cropping. You might also wonder why I didn't eliminate the -window root, thereby enabling me to click on the window to be snapped. The answer is that import for some reason cuts off the title bar. I could have used the command sans the -window option and then dragged a rectangle around the window, but that requires cropping just like the full screen method. You might also wonder why I didn't use Ksnapshot, a KDE utility that *does* grab the window's title bar very nicely, thus eliminating the cropping step. The reason is that when all is said and done, using Ksnapshot turned out to be more work, not less.
So after running the import command, you have a file called whatever.png that contains the full desktop at a very high color depth. This must be cropped and color reduced.
Press the equal sign on the keyboard several times (8 is good), to magnify the image. Use the scroll bars to get to the upper left corner of the image where you can see the upper left corner of the area of interest. Press Shift-C on the keyboard, and position the centers of the crosshair arms to coincide with the edges of the area of interest. Press the left mouse button and drag right and down. Note that the entire screen scrolls as you drag. Drag until you can position the center of the crosshairs on the edges comprising the lower right corner, then release the mouse button. Click the crop button, and you've cropped accurately to the pixel. The fact that you magnified the screen with the equal sign is what allowed you to-the-pixel accuracy. Now reduce magnification by repeated presses of the minus key. Save the image.
You've reduced the area to what you want, but bandwidth considerations require a reduction to 16 colors, and that's not intuitive or easy. Read on...
#!/bin/sh convert -depth 24 $1 $1 convert -depth 16 $1 $1 convert -depth 8 $1 $1 convert -colors 16 $1 $1 |
The preceding script takes a graphic file as its single argument. It reduces it to 24 bit color, then 16, then 8, then finally down to 16 total colors. Why all the steps when the very last statement would do the entire reduction?
The problem is that this reduction is accomplished by algorithms that map similar colors together. If it needs to map thousands of colors down to 16, some very bad compromises will be made. But if it maps thousands to hundreds to 256 to 16, there will be no drastic mappings, and each step will do the right thing.
In fact, if you reduce directly to 16, the graphic might look pretty good in Gimp or Paintshop pro, but very bad in Netscape, where you really want it to look good. So run the graphic through reduce16.sh, and it will be perfect for a web based screenshot.
It's June 7, 2000, and Judge Jackson has ruled. Quoting from http://usvms.gpo.gov/ms-final2.html:
Upon the record at trial and all prior and subsequent proceedings herein,
it is this _____ day of June, 2000, hereby:
ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED as follows: 1. Divestiture
a. Not later than four months
after entry of this Final Judgment, Microsoft shall submit to the Court
and the Plaintiffs a
|
Judge Jackson busted them into an OS unit and an Apps unit. Not as good as the friend-of-the-court suggestions of a third unit housing their Internet assets, to prevent them from making Internet products requiring either MS Office or Windows. But better than nothing. Maybe, just maybe, there will be no more secret API's.
http://usvms.gpo.gov/ms-final2.html is the final judgement against Microsoft.
Web page http://usvms.gpo.gov/ms-final.html is a MEMORANDUM AND ORDER that
denies Microsoft's motion for summary rejection of the plaintiffs' proposed
structural
reorganization, thereby enforcing the final judgement. I'd like show
you some quotes out of the memorandum and order:
Divestiture. Just punishment for Microsoft. Justice for the rest of us.
Now there will be those who wring their hands and declare that now procuring software requires more work and planning than in a one vendor model. There are always those happiest led by a king, no matter how cruel he be. Freedom requires work. But for most of us, it's more than worth it. That's why democracies rule the 21st century, not kings.
Those of us believing in freedom now have the responsibility to run with the ball. Bring Open Source into the Enterprise. Run Linux servers and desktops. Find alternatives for the software proffered by the former king. Break all dependence on the king and his court.
Step 10 of the Universal Troubleshooting Process is "Prevent future occurrance". We must prevent future software monopolies, not just by Microsoft, but by others. We, as individuals and as a technological society, must follow the harder path of choosing the best technology, not the moment's most expedient. We must refrain from silly excuses like "that's the way the real world works", implying that the idealist wanting the best product should "grow up". Freedom is a responsibility that is sometimes difficult, but ultimately the cost of the convenience of the moment exclipses the benefit of easier choices.
We must all do our part. Use the best software, not the software that's most convenient at the moment. Support those who choose to use the best software. Stand up and say no sto those who would monopolize. Otherwise, we have no one to blame but ourselves.
Copyright (C) 2000 by Steve Litt A computer is called a "box" at my LUG
Samba, Apache, and VNC
The Windows guys just don't understand
My local LUG's meeting is soon coming up
You say VB doesn't light your fire
I telnet to Joe, Tom VNC's me
My fast Linux apps always carry the load
Our members are smart, the smartest around
Hope to see you at our next meeting
|
By submitting content, you give Troubleshooters.Com the non-exclusive, perpetual right to publish it on Troubleshooters.Com or any A3B3 website. Other than that, you retain the copyright and sole right to sell or give it away elsewhere. Troubleshooters.Com will acknowledge you as the author and, if you request, will display your copyright notice and/or a "reprinted by permission of author" notice. Obviously, you must be the copyright holder and must be legally able to grant us this perpetual right. We do not currently pay for articles.
Troubleshooters.Com reserves the right to edit any submission for clarity or brevity. Any published article will include a two sentence description of the author, a hypertext link to his or her email, and a phone number if desired. Upon request, we will include a hypertext link, at the end of the magazine issue, to the author's website, providing that website meets the Troubleshooters.Com criteria for links and that the author's website first links to Troubleshooters.Com. Authors: please understand we can't place hyperlinks inside articles. If we did, only the first article would be read, and we can't place every article first.
Submissions should be emailed to Steve Litt's email address, with subject line Article Submission. The first paragraph of your message should read as follows (unless other arrangements are previously made in writing):