Linux hits the world (cont #2)

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Message 1548675 - Posted: 27 Jul 2014, 22:35:22 UTC - in response to Message 1547263.  
Last modified: 27 Jul 2014, 22:36:44 UTC

... I posted here years ago that this fragmentation was one of the major factors holding Linux back.

Doesn't seem to be.

Indeed, the wealth of choice and customization is still fueling great expansion and development all round!


A Linux program should run on "Linux". The user should not have to wait until the developers of "X Flavour" Linux get around to updating their repository so a version of Program Y, that has been customised for that distro, can be run.

Usually there's no wait unless you are going for something really obscure. And if you are going really obscure, then you'll already be interested enough in making contact with the distro people to either have it added or to lead you through how to add it for yourself.

But in any case: ANYTHING compiled that includes static libs for your type of computer will run fine. Note that is how Boinc programs run!


Some distros are notoriously slow updating their repositories.

Which is why you have a choice of distros...

You have a choice of whether you stay ultra-reliable current or alternatively for how far ahead of the rest of the world you wish to explore.



IT is very much what we make it!
Martin
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Message 1548677 - Posted: 27 Jul 2014, 22:45:04 UTC - in response to Message 1547412.  
Last modified: 27 Jul 2014, 22:48:04 UTC

I had 1, and only 1 Linux in my life. I got so angry at it, I smashed it real hard, broke the harddrive I think... No Linux ever again for me...

Good you had a brief look.

Two things to note are that:


Anything run on old hardware is still going to be limited by that old hardware.

Linux is more forgiving of old hardware than certain other operating systems, but even Linux cannot always raise old hardware from the dead.


And note that Linux is NOT Microsoft Windows. Indeed it is deliberately not Unix! Hence the GNU/Linux bit...

What you do get is a robust and flexible operating system that offers a choice in how you use it. Typically, that means you get a desktop and a cursor that allows you to click things with a mouse just like you would expect. The main difference is a lack of Marketing and Marketing coercion, and some of the application names are a little different. Otherwise, you should be able to enjoy computing cleanly and efficiently without the annoying Marketing pop-ups.

Unfortunately, you still get the Marketing mess when surfing the internet. Then again, there are now an army of add-ons to clean up the mess from your web browser screen...


Give Linux a look-see on YouTube for what others have done?

Find a friendly Linux user to get you going?


Or if you feel that you have no need to change and that Microsoft Outlook is the only world you want to see, then that is fine also. I have some users like that and they seem to live in an angry fear and dread of computers! (But that is one for a Microsoft thread.)


IT is what we make it for ourselves...
Martin
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Message 1548684 - Posted: 27 Jul 2014, 23:12:20 UTC - in response to Message 1548670.  

the software that is prepared for them is held in personally digitally signed repositories. And people personally care about that

Who cares? Just Martin? Anyone else? Got any evidence for your blanket statement?

You would think with all the potential users that a simple query to Google "linux software for W-2 form" would come up with a program. It gives a a few hits to windows programs that run under wine, but nary a single native linux program on page 1.

Martin, since you wouldn't know what a W-2 form is, every employer in the USA is required to generate this form for every employee. Since the unemployment rate is around 7% that is a lot of those forms that have to be generated and many people hold more that one job, I'm sure it is over the entire population of rthe USA. Ask yourself why there isn't one?
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Message 1549576 - Posted: 29 Jul 2014, 21:04:45 UTC - in response to Message 1548684.  
Last modified: 29 Jul 2014, 21:11:41 UTC

the software that is prepared for them is held in personally digitally signed repositories. And people personally care about that

Who cares? Just Martin? Anyone else? Got any evidence for your blanket statement?

So... The usual bored-old-codger guffawing and trolling?...


Care enough yourself to look?

https://packages.gentoo.org/

Note on there how for every lump of software (a software 'package'), there is a human name. Those human names will also be verified by a chain of trust which digitally signs those software packages. As far as I know, that system has never been broken.

And it goes far far further:

What is Gentoo?
... Gentoo is more than just the software it provides. It is a community built around a distribution which is driven by more than 300 developers and thousands of users...

The Philosophy of Gentoo
Every user has work they need to do. The goal of Gentoo is to design tools and systems that allow a user to do that work as pleasantly and efficiently as possible, as they see fit. Our tools should be a joy to use, and should help the user to appreciate the richness of the Linux and free software community, and the flexibility of free software. This is only possible when the tool is designed to reflect and transmit the will of the user, and leave the possibilities open as to the final form of the raw materials (the source code.) If the tool forces the user to do things a particular way, then the tool is working against, rather than for, the user. We have all experienced situations where tools seem to be imposing their respective wills on us. This is backwards, and contrary to the Gentoo philosophy.

Put another way, the Gentoo philosophy is to create better tools. When a tool is doing its job perfectly, you might not even be very aware of its presence, because it does not interfere and make its presence known, nor does it force you to interact with it when you don't want it to. The tool serves the user rather than the user serving the tool...


Gentoo Social Contract
... Gentoo in itself is a collection of free knowledge. Knowledge in this context can be defined as documentation and metadata concerned with concepts or domains relevant to operating systems and their components, as well as free software contributed by various developers to the Gentoo Project...

... Gentoo is and will remain Free Software...



There are real people behind all that. There is also a lot of deep personal pride for something that works very well.

That has a lot of implication for robustness, security, honesty, and quickly getting things fixed.

The world of "proprietary" cannot begin to compete with that on equal terms.


And what does all that look like?

For Gentoo at least:

Gentoo Linux Screenshots

Gentoo Linux Screenshots 2011

Don't be put off by the weird far-out looks. There are still icons and task bars and bits to click with your mouse on those screens, just like for any "Graphical User Interface" as explored by Xerox in the 1970's and 'copied' by everyone ever since. If you really want for some reason, you can even make the desktop look like Apple or Microsoft! (Try Zorin Linux for example. You can even have some Marketing thrown in if you really really want!)

In the Linux world, IT very much can be what you want it to be, for the users.


IT is as ever what we allow it to be...
Martin
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Message 1549588 - Posted: 29 Jul 2014, 21:29:11 UTC - in response to Message 1549576.  

In the Linux world, IT very much can be what you want it to be, for the users.

In the Real computing world, one chooses what one is comfortable with.
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Message 1549606 - Posted: 29 Jul 2014, 22:47:26 UTC - in response to Message 1549588.  
Last modified: 29 Jul 2014, 22:51:26 UTC

In the Linux world, IT very much can be what you want it to be, for the users.

In the Real computing world, one chooses what one is comfortable with.

Very much agreed.

Which is where I would not advise Gentoo for someone's first try into the world of FLOSS and GNU/Linux. I'd recommend others such as Mageia, Kubuntu or Ubuntu for example.

Unfortunately for those lost in the world of Microsoft or Apple, there are huge hurdles of IT/computer illiteracy and system lock-in to overcome. There is also a lot of Marketing psychology to overcome for products that are quirky and unpredictable and yet they are marketed as though they are so easy and 'intuitive' to use that they are "child's play" to use and no training needed.

The "no training needed" innuendo appeals to businesses for the assumption that there are no training costs. The "no training needed" also keeps certain users in a state of petrified fear in that if the damnable thing they are suffering is so cantankerous and scary, what must anything else be like but worse still!

There is an old joke about how Microsoft has so lowered user expectations...

We already have most people using Linux so easily they do not even realize they are using Linux in their everyday technology.

From that there is only a very small step to undo all the adverse Marketing...

After all, there are some very big businesses developing and selling Linux systems...


HP invests $1 billion in open-source cloud computing

Note that is not that long after IBM made a similar announcement of investing a further $1 billion in open-source development.


IT is very much what we can make it if we take an interest...
Martin
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Message 1549618 - Posted: 29 Jul 2014, 23:53:08 UTC - in response to Message 1549606.  

HP invests $1 billion in open-source cloud computing
Note that is not that long after IBM made a similar announcement of investing a further $1 billion in open-source development.


Not very subtle are you Martin? just what does those links have to do with Linux for those users you keep telling us about?

First off, had that 1st link stated that the investment was towards easy to use Linux desktops for the home user then that would be a notable statement, instead we see HP as well as other companies dumbing down as if the end users are idiots...

...cloud computing is a 21st century buzzword for an old 20th century idea, namely online storage.

Secondly, just why does the "ignorant home user" need to know that servers are operated by Linux? all they want is to use their computers as they currently do.

Better luck next time.
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Message 1549642 - Posted: 30 Jul 2014, 1:01:33 UTC - in response to Message 1549618.  

HP invests $1 billion in open-source cloud computing
Note that is not that long after IBM made a similar announcement of investing a further $1 billion in open-source development.


Not very subtle are you Martin? just what does those links have to do with Linux for those users you keep telling us about?

First off, had that 1st link stated that the investment was towards easy to use Linux desktops for the home user then that would be a notable statement, instead we see HP as well as other companies dumbing down as if the end users are idiots...

...cloud computing is a 21st century buzzword for an old 20th century idea, namely online storage.

Secondly, just why does the "ignorant home user" need to know that servers are operated by Linux? all they want is to use their computers as they currently do.

Better luck next time.

When he has read and understood
http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Tognazzini/e/B000APMGJS/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1406681245&sr=8-1
then and only then will Martin begin to understand why linux is a fail.

The FLOSS problem in a nutshell ...
                        NO WARRANTY

  11. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY
FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.  EXCEPT WHEN
OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES
PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  THE ENTIRE RISK AS
TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU.  SHOULD THE
PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING,
REPAIR OR CORRECTION.

  12. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING
WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR
REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES,
INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING
OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED
TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY
YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER
PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Don't have a IT department full of software engineers, then when the crap hits the fan it sticks and you end up SOL!
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Message 1549662 - Posted: 30 Jul 2014, 2:03:08 UTC - in response to Message 1549646.  

Thank you Mr Phelps, this message will self destruct in 15 seconds...
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Message 1549719 - Posted: 30 Jul 2014, 6:37:59 UTC

Maybe Martin could come back and try again when Linux gains te.......two percent coverage on desktop and laptops. ;-)

That's another 0.36% to go (it might be unfair to ask for 10%). :-)

Cheers.
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Message 1551846 - Posted: 3 Aug 2014, 13:53:43 UTC
Last modified: 3 Aug 2014, 13:56:32 UTC

Is this where we are sliding down a slippery slope into misuse on a Linux platform?


Note that Android is the Google 'Bionic' OS running on top of the Linux kernel.

What is commonly called "Linux" is the GNU OS (with the "glibc" system library) running on top of the Linux kernel - hence the sometimes seen distinction of GNU/Linux. That is not the Android Bionic/Linux system.


Android Fake ID bug exposes smartphones and tablets

An Android flaw has been uncovered that lets malware insert malicious code into other apps, gain access to the user's credit card data and take control of the device's settings.

... particularly concerning as phone and tablet owners did not need to grant the malware special permissions for it to act.

... Google confirmed it had created a fix.



Except... Many mobile devices manufacturers abandon their devices for updates after a very short time... I don't expect any such update for my Android devices for example :-(


Which comes to my own personal observation:

Android really does look to be being overly compromised for the sake of Marketing. I see far too much where apps demand access to everything so that the apps have the freedom to Market at not only you but also your "friends" listed in your contacts.

Are all mobile devices becoming an intrusive Marketing conduit direct to you personally?...

Myself, I'm holding off on any hardware upgrades until the newly being developed batch of Free-Libre open-source mobile devices become available.

There must be an IT way possible to live without the Marketing intrusion of the controlling Google/Microsoft/Apple empires...


IT is what we allow it to be!
Martin
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Message 1552094 - Posted: 4 Aug 2014, 4:43:23 UTC - in response to Message 1551846.  

Is this where we are sliding down a slippery slope into misuse on a Linux platform?


Note that Android is the Google 'Bionic' OS running on top of the Linux kernel.

What is commonly called "Linux" is the GNU OS (with the "glibc" system library) running on top of the Linux kernel - hence the sometimes seen distinction of GNU/Linux. That is not the Android Bionic/Linux system.


Android Fake ID bug exposes smartphones and tablets

An Android flaw has been uncovered that lets malware insert malicious code into other apps, gain access to the user's credit card data and take control of the device's settings.

... particularly concerning as phone and tablet owners did not need to grant the malware special permissions for it to act.

... Google confirmed it had created a fix.



Except... Many mobile devices manufacturers abandon their devices for updates after a very short time... I don't expect any such update for my Android devices for example :-(


Which comes to my own personal observation:

Android really does look to be being overly compromised for the sake of Marketing. I see far too much where apps demand access to everything so that the apps have the freedom to Market at not only you but also your "friends" listed in your contacts.

Are all mobile devices becoming an intrusive Marketing conduit direct to you personally?...

Myself, I'm holding off on any hardware upgrades until the newly being developed batch of Free-Libre open-source mobile devices become available.

There must be an IT way possible to live without the Marketing intrusion of the controlling Google/Microsoft/Apple empires...


IT is what we allow it to be!
Martin

Martin in this regard I agree with you. Why do need to give access to just se what my local weather radar is showing. Or my local newspaper just to read an article. I feel likie you that they are doing some marketing spying and selling the results to others. I like my Android, But Im really considering just going back to a flip phone.
[/quote]

Old James
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Message 1555155 - Posted: 11 Aug 2014, 17:45:03 UTC - in response to Message 1548684.  
Last modified: 11 Aug 2014, 17:46:01 UTC

... You would think with all the potential users that a simple query to Google "linux software for W-2 form" would come up with a program. It gives a a few hits to windows programs that run under wine, but nary a single native linux program on page 1.

... since you wouldn't know what a W-2 form is, every employer in the USA is required to generate this form for every employee. ... Ask yourself why there isn't one?

Good question and a good example.


So for the USA tax there are such as:

Open-source Tax Solver (OTS)


HOWEVER... Note the thread:


(Dated 2007) Open Source Federal Income Tax Software

"There is finally a usable US federal income tax program for Linux users who don't wish to file online..."

...

ABSOLUTELY NO GUARANTEES ARE OFFERED. If you have a ton of money riding on finding all the right loopholes and getting everything 100% perfect, buy a tax program or use an accountant...



Which covers important aspects for that very bureaucratic specialist area...


FLOSS works extremely well for some areas, and for example if there was a good need, general accounting packages are a good area if there is the interest there.

However, the tax system is arbitrary and changes each year which is where responsibility is very much in the strong vested interests of that government department and the industry of accountants and tax advisers that has been created. Such vested interests are not going to do themselves out of their business by being helpful to the community...

Really, this is an example where you need to lobby your government to either have a system simple enough that anyone can stay legal, or provide accessible tools for free to stay legal. Or both?!


Sorry, FLOSS is not the best tool to use for expanding or perpetuating bureaucratic entrapment!

IT is what we make it and allow it to be...
Martin
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Message 1555325 - Posted: 11 Aug 2014, 22:38:27 UTC
Last modified: 11 Aug 2014, 22:40:09 UTC

Here are a few recent Linux articles out there on the web:


10 reasons to try Zorin OS 9, the Linux OS that looks like Windows

A familiar face

The Linux world has long offered virtually innumerable alternatives to Windows and Mac OS, including several options designed specifically to ease the transition for those making the switch. Born back in 2009, Zorin OS may well be the best-known example.

Zorin OS is an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution designed especially for newcomers to Linux. With a Windows-like interface and many programs similar to those found in Microsoft’s proprietary OS, it aims to make it easy for Windows users to get the most out of Linux.

Zorin OS 9 just made its debut with a familiar, Windows 7-like interface by default. In the wake of XP’s demise, there may be no better time to check it out...



Best Linux Desktop: Top 10 Candidates

The best Linux desktops for both newbie and advanced users, focusing on desktop ease of use and Linux tool set...


Six Clicks: The best Linux desktop environments

Unlike Windows or Mac OS X, Linux offers a wide variety of desktop environments. Here are my picks of the most important of these PC interfaces...


Can Linux Speed In-Car Systems?

... Most in-vehicle infotainment systems sold today use proprietary software, with the underlying code tightly controlled by automakers and by a few major software providers...

... Now the auto industry is exploring open-source operating systems such as Linux more seriously than ever, hoping that sharing the work and making code available to all will lead to more rapid development cycles, lower costs and happier drivers...



Seagate rolls out NAS range with its own Linux-based operating system

... All aspects of the new products are created in-house including the new Linux based NAS OS 4, ... aimed at giving customers "a premium experience without the need for the knowledge of a specialist IT department".

The simple, flat interface minimises jargon but contains all the functionality of rival offerings including iSCiSi interfacing, RAID array and data encryption. In addition, a dedicated "SDrive" offers instant mapping of the NAS within a terminal's Windows environment.

SDrive is also available for Windows, iOS and Blackberry from launch...



Nine Reasons Linux Rules the Supercomputing Space

The latest TOP500 List of the fastest supercomputers in the world helped many in the technology community understand what open-source aficionados have known for years: Linux has quickly become the operating system of choice in the high-performance computing (HPC) market, growing from relative obscurity 15 years ago to powering 97 percent of the fastest computers in the world. But its appeal is found in more than cost or choice. Here are a few of the main reasons Linux has grown to own the lion's share of the fastest supercomputers in the world...


Microsoft versus Linux: Through the eyes of Microsoft

... Microsoft's "Why Microsoft" site is fun reading for Linux users. Plus: Is Microsoft ready to embrace open source? And when should software not be open source?

Microsoft has never been a...er...fan of Linux, to say the least. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer even likened Linux to cancer back in 2001. Now Microsoft has an unintentionally hilarious comparison of its server products and Linux on a site called Why Microsoft. Check it out, I think you'll get a few chuckles from it...




Which all adds up to a surprisingly strong message... :-)


IT is very much what we make it...
Martin
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Message 1555492 - Posted: 12 Aug 2014, 5:39:40 UTC - in response to Message 1555155.  

... You would think with all the potential users that a simple query to Google "linux software for W-2 form" would come up with a program. It gives a a few hits to windows programs that run under wine, but nary a single native linux program on page 1.

... since you wouldn't know what a W-2 form is, every employer in the USA is required to generate this form for every employee. ... Ask yourself why there isn't one?

Good question and a good example.


So for the USA tax there are such as:

Open-source Tax Solver (OTS)


HOWEVER... Note the thread:


(Dated 2007) Open Source Federal Income Tax Software

"There is finally a usable US federal income tax program for Linux users who don't wish to file online..."

...

ABSOLUTELY NO GUARANTEES ARE OFFERED. If you have a ton of money riding on finding all the right loopholes and getting everything 100% perfect, buy a tax program or use an accountant...



Which covers important aspects for that very bureaucratic specialist area...


FLOSS works extremely well for some areas, and for example if there was a good need, general accounting packages are a good area if there is the interest there.

Martin, preparing payroll is the sacred cow of accounting. If the software can't do it, no matter what other features it has, no matter how bullet proof, then by definition it is a FAIL.

I think you have become confused, perhaps by not understanding who is who, the person who prepares the W-2 is the employer, the person who uses it for their personal taxes is the employee. Your links are for personal tax preparation software. Since the IRS publishes essentially all forms in .pdf format, any .pdf reader would satisfy that to some level.

Martin, I did not limit my search to FLOSS, I included PAID programs in the search and came up empty.

I know this is a real world problem, so there will be a charge for the solution, but what is it about Linux that prevents this universal issue being addressed by Linux software?

That is a very serious question. Intuit has written that software for UNIX(R), so why no port to Linux? There must be some reason.
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Message 1555665 - Posted: 12 Aug 2014, 13:41:21 UTC - in response to Message 1555492.  
Last modified: 12 Aug 2014, 13:45:14 UTC

... preparing payroll is the sacred cow of accounting. If the software can't do it, no matter what other features it has, no matter how bullet proof, then by definition it is a FAIL.

You are very absolute and blind to reality... Game of trolls?...


... Since the IRS publishes essentially all forms in .pdf format, any .pdf reader would satisfy that to some level.

And there are multiple PDF readers that run natively on Linux. Why would such things need to be sold as some sort of accountancy package?!


I included PAID programs in the search and came up empty.

I know this is a real world problem, so there will be a charge for the solution, but what is it about Linux that prevents this universal issue being addressed by Linux software?

Quite possibly there is no need in that WINE on Linux can be used to run the existing packages unmodified from their lock-in to the Windows way of doing things.

Also, quite possibly the old-school accounts software work very well on WINE precisely because they are old-school and are not locked-in to the new Windows ways.

Hence no need for anything special for Linux being as they already run fine on Linux on WINE.


That is a very serious question. Intuit has written that software for UNIX(R), so why no port to Linux? There must be some reason.

Indeed so.

We have various proprietary commercial software running on our Linux servers that is dedicated to and tied to controlling certain hardware. The only pain we have is license renewals for those apps. They are a sharp reminder of the bureaucratic overhead and artificial restrictions for how they are to be run.

Myself, I have no qualms about paying a fair price. However, the arbitrary restrictions imposed can be irksome and even more costly than the license!


BTW: Note that at least the one big accounts package is run and supported on Linux... (Albeit with the requirement for the proprietary version of a database even though that also runs directly on Linux.)


All a game of business practices...

IT is what we make it and what we allow it to be...
Martin
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Message 1559189 - Posted: 19 Aug 2014, 23:19:04 UTC
Last modified: 19 Aug 2014, 23:19:32 UTC

This is a good gem of an article from one of the famous old dogs of the BIG computer world:


Ten Reasons Why You Can't Use GNU/Linux

Many years ago I was still working for Digital Equipment Corporation, but I was also going around the world talking about Free Software and GNU/Linux.

As I talked with people, they would come up to me and say “I would use Linux except...

(... FUD from some closed-source company) or it was no longer correct (it had been correct at one time but was no longer an issue). After a while I realized that for the most part I was answering the same questions over and over again, so I wrote a talk...

... they said “We just can't have the word 'Crap' in the program!”

Perhaps I should have used the word “S__t”...



There's some very good very direct comment in there!



And for those who might not know who "Mad Dog" is: Jon "maddog" Hall

... the Executive Director of Linux International... worked for Western Electric Corporation, Aetna Life and Casualty, Bell Laboratories, Digital Equipment Corporation (Digital), VA Linux Systems, and SGI...

... during his time with Digital that he initially became interested in Linux, and was instrumental in obtaining equipment and resources for Linus Torvalds to accomplish his first port, to Digital's Alpha platform...




IT is very much what we make it...
Martin
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Message 1559197 - Posted: 19 Aug 2014, 23:56:49 UTC

Well the gains that Linux made into the desktop/laptop market recently seem to have been washed away leaving the multi-flavoured OS back on 1.68% of market share (down from a dizzy high of 1.74%).

It also seems that the Germans of Munich could be about to drop their open source experiment.

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Message 1560353 - Posted: 21 Aug 2014, 23:50:04 UTC - in response to Message 1559197.  
Last modified: 21 Aug 2014, 23:51:05 UTC

... It also seems that the Germans of Munich could be about to drop their open source experiment.

There is somewhat more to that story including the old game of "politics"...


See one succinct list of comments on: LinuxVoice - Munich deploying Linux was a disaster ???


Note that:

The Mayor and Deputy Mayor and Microsoft appear to have in whatever way persuaded/arranged for Microsoft to move their German headquarters to Munich...

What 'financial' and 'political' incentives are there?

And the main complaints look to be trite with clear solutions already available even if the 'names/descriptions' used might not be "Microsoft" names...


Regardless, ongoing developments will be very interesting and a good expose of proprietary practices and lock-in and the cost of that...


IT is what we make it?...
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Message 1560823 - Posted: 22 Aug 2014, 20:39:31 UTC

Also note a similar looking story for Chile:


Claim: Microsoft Alt-F4'd Chilean government open-source install bid

... In April this year, Mirosevic proposed a bill that would have compelled Chile's government agencies to at least consider open-source software. Buying proprietary software would still be possible, once an agency justified the decision. ...and the bill had prospects of becoming law.

But those members soon found themselves in contact with a Microsoft representative who, the 'paper says, lobbied against the bill. Mirosevic soon found his support waning and, when the bill hit the floor of parliament this week, it didn't pass...



All a game of the finance of politics?...


IT is what we make it?...
Martin
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Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
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Message boards : Politics : Linux hits the world (cont #2)


 
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