Clueless Newbie

Story: The Linux 2.6 Kernel: Cracking the CodeTotal Replies: 10
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Bob_Robertson

Jun 23, 2006
12:36 PM EDT
I would have said that about kernel 2.2, or 2.0 looking toward 2.2.

2.4 was pure adult, 2.6 is just more and more of the best.

The clue-bat here is that Linux has been dead rock solid stable since before 2.0, in terms of function, all that has really been added is functionality.

With so many people convinced that XP is the first stable WIndows, it's no wonder they also think Linux is playing catch-up.
dcparris

Jun 23, 2006
12:58 PM EDT
> With so many people convinced that XP is the first stable WIndows, it's no wonder they also think Linux is playing catch-up.

People are convinced XP is the first stable Windows? I thought we were still waiting for that. Stable Windows... I can only imagine what that must be like.
Bob_Robertson

Jun 23, 2006
1:05 PM EDT
Seriously! I see postings and in discussion with non-Linux people, they rave about the stability of XP. I must admit that I had no problem with it in the 10 minutes I looked at the games that came with my Vaio before wiping it with Debian. (ok, I played Age of Empires a couple of times before wiping, but that's all I swear!)

One contractor I worked with in Tokyo was convinced that XP was actually built on the BSD kernel. He died about a month after telling me this, of a heart attack, in Shinjuku, not far from the Microsoft corp office. I'm certain there is no connection what so ever.

Bob-

jdixon

Jun 23, 2006
1:13 PM EDT
> People are convinced XP is the first stable Windows?

Well, in comparison to the Win9x line, yes. In comparison to even the 1.0 Linux kernel, no. So to people who only have experience with Windows, it's stable. Though to be fair, Windows 2000 should hold that title. XP is really only a point revision of 2000.
tuxchick2

Jun 23, 2006
4:00 PM EDT
"One contractor I worked with in Tokyo was convinced that XP was actually built on the BSD kernel. He died about a month after telling me this, of a heart attack, in Shinjuku, not far from the Microsoft corp office. I'm certain there is no connection what so ever."

I believe God uses OS X.
dcparris

Jun 23, 2006
4:18 PM EDT
> (ok, I played Age of Empires a couple of times before wiping, but that's all I swear!)

Uh-huh. Sure. ;-)
grouch

Jun 23, 2006
4:45 PM EDT
MS Windows XP is to MS Windows 9x (and the mutant Moron Edition) as the Bronco II is to the Pinto: It rolls over and maims, it just doesn't blow up and incinerate.

(Ref: http://www.ewg.org/reports/upsidedown/release_20030310.php http://www.engineering.com/content/ContentDisplay?contentId=... )
dinotrac

Jun 23, 2006
6:16 PM EDT
Wow! You guys are harsh.

Xp doesn't seem that bad to me. It's more Klunky to use than my KDE desktops, but it's got lots of software, games etc.

And my experience with my wife's notebook is that XP is pretty stable.

So long as you don't try using XP for serious server work or anything mission-critical, I'm sure it makes a fine OS.

Surely nobody's dumb enough to use it for anything really important, right? Right?
Bob_Robertson

Jun 23, 2006
7:31 PM EDT
Ok, I did buy a 7200RPM drive to replace the 4800RPM HD that came with my laptop. The one place I notice real improvement is after I sign into KDM and load the KDE desktop. It comes up in about 7 seconds instead of 15, a nice change. I put the rest of the "snappy" feeling as psychological, because I didn't really run any benchmarks first/after.

On the old disk I reinstalled XP from the backup DVDs I'd made when I first got the machine. My reason is simple, it gives me a last critical test to make sure that a hardware fault really is a hardware fault before I give the machine back to Circuit City to fix it. So far, every time I've noticed a problem with Linux, it has indeed been the hardware. The DVD drive is fragile, it has broken 5 or 6 times since 2003 when I bought the Vaio.

Pretty hardware, fragile system, and even the fan is a non-customer-cleanable thing. Absurd. If I'd known I never would have bought the machine. But that's another story.

Now I've got this 4800RPM 60G disk, with WinXP on it, and what is the only reason I've swapped them out been? Age Of Empires, for about 2 hours.

At least I've no worries about them wiping the HD when it's in service, like they always seem to do, and wiping out Debian. I'll just put the Linux disk back in when it comes back and boot like it was never gone.

Bob-

grouch

Jun 24, 2006
4:38 AM EDT
dinotrac: >"Xp doesn't seem that bad to me. It's more Klunky to use than my KDE desktops, but it's got lots of software, games etc."

One of the games it has, which MS failed to tell people about, is the one that calls home every day to tell BillG your hard drive serial number, etc. It also calls home on every reboot.

See "Microsoft's Calling Home Problem: It's a Matter of Informed Consent" http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060608002958907

Still "doesn't seem that bad"?
dinotrac

Jun 24, 2006
3:38 PM EDT
grouch -

Thanks for the reminder. I'd forgotten about that...and the need to find out if there's a way to turn it off.

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