I had the opportunity recently to test Linux, the freeware operating system, as a standalone, bootable CD. The version I tried was SimplyMEPIS 7.0, a configuration of the Linux OS and many popular open source programs, with a good graphic user interface (GUI).
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Anybody up to writing good directory software?
Tue, 2007-02-20 11:17 — David JonathanSince the very beginning, directories (of any kind) have had a very central role in the internet. (I have recently grown fond of Free Web Directory. Even Slashdot can be considered a directory: a collection of great news and invaluable user-generated comments. As far as software is concerned, doing a quick search on Google about software directories will return the free (as in freedom) software directories like Savannah, SourceForge, Freshmeat and so on, followed by shareware and freeware sites such as FileBuzz, PCWin Download Center and All Freeware (great if you're looking for shareware and freeware, but definitely less comprehensive than their free-as-in-freedom counterparts).
Is better education the key to finding better software?
Sat, 2007-03-03 03:25 — Edward RusselI read David Jonathon's article Anybody Up To Writing Good Directory Software? the other day, which got me thinking about software directories in general. As David mentioned, many of the software directories one finds when doing a quick google search are free as in beer, not as in freedom. But what interests me is the software directories that already exist, providing a combination of both free as in beer software, and open source software. Sites such as Freeware Downloads and Shareware Download don't advertise themselves as providing free as in liberty software, but each of them have a good selection of open source software available... if you know where to look.
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capricornus
4 years 3 weeks 2 days 23 hours ago
MEPIS 7 is a winner, I think
I test them all, really, and my favorites are Mint, Mepis and Granular.
Especially MEPIS7 is so straightforward, intuitive, simple AND complete, that people don't believe it till they've seen it. And even then they ask themselves: why didn't we know this? What is God Gates hiding for our eyes?
Well, because a Sidux install went totally wrong, I lost all my MEPIS7, so I had to start all over again, and believe me, in less than an half our, I had it running, with CrossOver/Wine and even OfficeXP running.
You just don't believe me at all. Just try it out. You can't go wrong. You'll end up richer than you were before, and all that for FREE.
http://thegolux...
4 years 3 weeks 2 days 18 hours ago
Freeware? Shareware?
Not much point reading a review of a GNU/Linux distro by someone who writes things like this:
"Linux, the freeware operating system"
and this:
"there are thousands of freeware and shareware Linux programs available online."
I don't expect or want to see reviews of "horseless carriages" in the auto pages either.
aboutblank
4 years 3 weeks 2 days 13 hours ago
Understanding is the Key
We should understand all the issues involved here so that we can correct others in a way that they can relate with.
Many people are ignorant about software freedom. These people have learned to judge programs by how convenient it is and how much it costs to obtain. This is why they often make a point of programs being gratis or commercial. This is why they often complain that our free systems are less convenient because it is incompatible with their current investments in proprietary software and proprietary data.
Many people are not knowledgeable about the technical aspects of computer software and so, are often confused about how each program relates to each other. This includes the term "Operating System" which explains why people refer to "POSIX portable and not Linux specific" software as "Linux software" and why they refer to a "Linux Operating System" despite RMS's assertion that Linux one part of an OS and not a OS in itself.
Balzac
4 years 2 weeks 6 days 15 hours ago
It's like asking someone not to eat at McDonalds.
If a person has never really had good food, they feel thankful, even for junk-food. They are emotionally connected to products like McDonalds Big Mac and Coca Cola, just as they are emotionally connected to Microsoft Windows.
It makes me a little sad to think of how emotionally connected people feel to their corn-syrup-laden, caffeinated, carbonated, phosphate beverage and their shredded mad-cow burgers and familiar Microsoft Windows.
We have to be patient with the "under-privileged" consumer-class who don't know yet that they deserve better.