Re: .bin file and other annoyances

Jon Paris skrev:

Case in point I had downloaded the iSeries Access a while back and decided to have a try with that - after much messing about and Googling I eventually worked out the commands to install it. But there were no dialogs, nothing has been added to any menus, zilch. So I dig and google and dig some more but I cannot get the #@$% thing to run - all I get in the terminal is that it can't find the executable. I've cd'd into the directory, tried sudo, added a .bin extension, etc. and nothing.

The IBM package is made for RPM-based systems, which Ubuntu is not. As far as I can see, the menu integration require hinting in the package.

When in the terminal, modern best practice is that you should not have "current directory" in your PATH per default, so if you need to execute a local file foo you should write "./foo".

The sole thing the shell use to determine if a thing is a command is whether the file has the x attribute set. You can set it with "chmod +x foo".

Also note that your architechture must be right. As far as I can see this is 32-bit only.

A pity, the tools should be available in source to allow the community to use it better. Any with connections who can push buttons?

The big problem for me as a Linux/Unix newbie is what the hell to do when things don't work. Right now that renders it impractical from a work perspective. I need stuff to "just work" - when to make the OS do that causes me more grief than with Windows that's when I begin to wonder.

You are a developer, just not a Linux developer, and this means you have needs but not the experience needed to fix them (yet).

I agree that this is an unsatisfying situation.

The strides Ubuntu in particular has made in the 2 years since I last seriously looked at it are amazing - but for me it still doesn't seem "ready for prime time" unless you are a Unix hack. So me - I'll be staying with my Mac for the foreseeable future. But I will see about using Linux for file servers etc. in the Network

A Mac is a good example of what can be achieved if you both have technological skills, very high standards and can sell with a profit repeatedly.

I've heard that Steven Jobs have told the hardware designers "I do not want to see a screw on product X", which is hard but doable. Same thing with software. Hats of to Shuttleworth if he can do the same thing with Linux which is a wild west of home grown software.

I like Ubuntu. A lot. OS X is stylish, but not nice. I think Ubuntu is nice.

Might sound silly, but that is my impression :)