On 03/08/2014, Mark Carroll <m...@ixod.org> wrote: > Bret Busby <bret.bu...@gmail.com> writes: > >> On 03/08/2014, Andrew McGlashan <andrew.mcglas...@affinityvision.com.au> >> wrote: >>> On 3/08/2014 4:39 AM, Brian wrote: >>>> On Sun 03 Aug 2014 at 01:29:57 +0800, Bret Busby wrote:
<snip> > > At least that you've noticed. (-: A persistently irritating problem with > both Skype and Google Hangouts, at least for me, is that they have > consistently worked far better and more reliably than any of the > open-source alternatives! However, Skype don't even seem to bother > offering amd64 packages so, as with acroread, I run it from a 32-bit > chroot -- I thus guess that their interest in supporting Linux is > minimal. (I am also irritated with how Google's package sneakily adds > its own /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ file.) > <snip> There's an interesting point - from what I understand, Skype (at least, Skype for Linux - I am not sure about Skype for Windows, and, I regard MS Windows to be too risky to connect to the Internet) is not available, now, in a 64 bit version - that it has to be installed as a 32 bit system, with 32 bit stuff needing to be installed to run it. I guess that it is a matter of Microsft needing to maintain its reputation, as a World Leader In Failing To Keep Up With Technology. >From memory, when the 80486 CPU was released into production, we (it might have been at university, I think - it was so many years ago, now) were told that the available version of Microsoft Windows, that came with 486 computers, was unable to make proper use of the 486 technology - that to make full use of the 486 technology, UNIX was required. From memory, it was to do with multi-threading, where MS Windows 95 (I think that that was the version of MS Windows, that was supplied in the Wintel 486 systems) could only run a single task at a time, and, whilst UNIX had previously used pre-emptive multitasking; switching between tasks, to enable multitasking, with the capability of the 80486 CPU, multithreading was available, and, MS Windows simply did not provide for it, whereas, from memory, UNIX did. I remember seeing a video of a presentation, to do with the Mach kernel, which enalbled mutithreadiung, from memory, the Mach kernel coming from Cornell University, from memory, and, I think that this might have been when (I could have the timeline a bit wrong, but, it is as I remember it) Linux (before version 1) had just had a patch released, that allowed it to run on the 80386 CPU. As I said, the timeline, to do with the 0.9x version of Linux, could be wrong, but I distinctly remember being told, that Microsoft Windows, as available in the Wintel 486 systems, was unable to fully use the capacity of the 80486 CPU, and, was a little bit like running MS -DOS 6 (which may have been the version of DOS, that was ioncorporated in MS Windows 95), on an 80486 CPU. So, I believe that Skype for Linux, is not available as a 64 bit version, and, I believe that Skype For Linux, is not as easily installable as Skype 2.2.0.x (mine is 2.2.0.35), which I have as skype-debian_2.2.0.35-1_amd64.deb , which, from memory, simply needed to be downloaded and, then installed, using a package manager such as Synaptic, and, so, I believe that this is simply indicative of the premise that Microsoft is simply working to maintain its reuttation as a World Leader In Failing To Keep Up With Technology (I wonder whether an award exists, for that), as the version of Skype that I have, which worked, before being banned by Microsoft, due to it being something that worked, was from before Microsoft took over Skype, I believe. -- Bret Busby Armadale West Australia .............. "So once you do know what the question actually is, you'll know what the answer means." - Deep Thought, Chapter 28 of Book 1 of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy In Four Parts", written by Douglas Adams, published by Pan Books, 1992 .................................................... -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/cacx6j8mqt_qmz27wcspxxkobkm3gkmcggdloc_t0sm6dtmq...@mail.gmail.com
