On Fri, 30 Nov 2001, Alec wrote: >I'm wondering what everyone's motivation is for using Linux on a laptop >instead of Cygwin + Windows. The way I see it, a laptop is basically a giant
Well, running windows is just too tricky. One has to be very careful not to break the system (did you know that the "dir" command in windows may completely destroy floppy disks? I didn't before it did that, at the very first time I tried to use windows) Installing programs in windows is very difficult. I know, I tried installing LyX with cygwin but there were problems with fonts. If you're a normal user, all you need is Debian--it comes with all software normal users need. With windows, you have to install tons of software separately, and it is not only difficult and time-consuming but costs a lot. In my case, I will be giving the laptop to my brother, who isn't expert with computers. So what's easier than him to plug the system in to the net so that I can ssh in and do the needed things? The windows has poor hardware support. You have to grab all drivers somewhere from the net, while in Debian and other Linux distributions they usually come with the CD. And even if you *do* have the drivers, they are usually buggy and do not support the hardware well. For example, the windows video drivers that came with my laptop (IBM Thinkpad) scramble the screen after each time I come up from suspend/hibernation/standby. Maybe there's a fix somewhere on the net, but why bother when I have a Debian CD handy? Then there's also the license issue. I bought an used laptop, and yes, it had windows pre-installed. So what, where is the license? I didn't get even any CDs, much less to talk about some "license" sheet of paper, or manuals. So I take it that the windows copy was an illegal copy. >keeping all their mail and personal archives in one place, etc. Laptops don't >get used much as servers or development workstations, are they? As a matter of fact, I thought a bit about this. And my conclusion is, why not? Laptops are as powerful as many desktop computers. They are less upgradeable, but on the other hand they do support hot-swapping (PCMCIA), use little electricity, generate little heat, take up little space--all are very preferable features for a server. And the battery is basically a build in UPS--you'll save a lot of money by avoiding bying one. The display is a bit expensive and useless for a server, though. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
