Re: .bin file and other annoyances

You want to have stuff that just works out of the box then take your
favorite linux distro and just play by the rules which means use the
package management system which come with the distro. Use the
repositories which are maintained and supported by the distro providers.
Stick to things that are stable (no testing or multiverse stuff).

I know that package management is new for most people coming to linux
cause windoze and the i doesn't have it. It takes away much frustration
which comes with manual installations.

I have used linux since Red Hat 6.1 has been released and I don't know
when I had the last problem with any of my linux systems. They just keep
running ...

For my personal needs ... linux is ready for prime time (and has been so
for some years now).

... and for a linux desktop environment at work you don't need the
latest and hottest hardware available on the market. Eclipse, RDi or
your favorite 5250 terminal emulation software doesn't care about open
gl 2.0 support f.e. (if you are complaining about the "poor" graphics
driver support). So not having all hardware supported on linux is no
problem IMO.

My 2 cents.

Mihael

-----Original Message-----
From: linuxdesktop4i-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:linuxdesktop4i-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jon Paris
Sent: Saturday, November 07, 2009 7:51 PM
To: Discuss & plan a Linux based desktop environment for IBM i
Subject: [LinuxDesktop4i] .bin file and other annoyances

Some of my "spare" time the last couple of days has been spent playing
with Ubunu - not the very latest version (which is probably called
"Randy Rhino" or something equally interesting but meaningless) and I
am reminded of the line from the Longfellow poem ... "When she was
good she was very very good, but when she was bad she was horrid."

I'm of course comparing it with Mac and it does seem to me that the
two are fairly comparable in some ways but ... when there is no
install package (or it is apparently not sufficiently automated) boy
do things get ugly quickly!

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.

Similar situation with a USB turntable - wasted hours on that last
night before discovering that it failed on Windows too. Miracle of
miracles though - Windows was actually _helpful_ in the diagnostics
and we realized that the supplied cable was faulty - first bad USB
cable I've ever had. Changed cables - worked with Windows instantly.
Ubuntu - that was a different story. It finally worked after two
hours of frustration and I still haven't a clue which of the
multiplicity of settings etc. finally fixed it.

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.

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


Jon Paris

www.Partner400.com
www.SystemiDeveloper.com