A Vista v. Linux

While I have not used Vista either, since I refuse to buy it, I DO have extensive experience with Win98SE AND various Mepis versions since 2004.

Win98SE is better than Win95 and Win98, but it is still an extremely crappy piece of software. My wife's computer still runs Win98SE - but only after I did make extensive modifications back in 2003 to make it more reliable.....).

Mepis runs circles around Win98SE. And WinXP-MCE (which is installed on my HP-laptop as I couldn't buy a HP-laptop without WinXP installed) is not in the same class as Mepis.
Sure, there are Windows apps that have no equivalent in the Linux world, but hey.... most of the features in modern distros -like Mepis- are just missing in ALL versions of Windows.

Please substantiate your claims with facts - or back down. You are probably very wrong in judging the nature of your problems with Mepis. The main cause of computer-problems (as most savvy PC users know from hard experience..) is sitting in front of a computerscreen.

This is not saying Mepis is perfect. It isn't. But it sure isn't crappy like Win98SE.

Regards, Ko

Ko Bros

When Alex mentions "the whole Linux concept," perhaps he means working on Linux now as an investment in the future. Therefore, comparisons between Linux and Windows *now* may be rather pointless because the focus of Linux development is its fruition sometime tomorrow....or the next day...

I don't have a problem with this in principle. This is why gripes about Linux simply aren't as potent as gripes about Windows. The two have entirely different trajectories.

I'm not advocating complacency over glitches in Mepis or any other Linux distro. It's just that glitches *mean* something different depending on whether I'm in my Mepis or my Windows partition.

As an aside: I guess I've been lucky to not have had the kind of glitches Alex complains of. No gripes about my Mepis installations for a long time. In contrast, I vividly remember weeks and weeks of struggle with Windows 95 because my cd-rom drive connected directly to a busted sound card. Or something like that. I was innocent and no one in the Windows world was helpful. (Except that I knew Jon way back then and he held my hand.)

--Malanrich

Please substantiate your claims with facts - or back down. You are probably very wrong in judging the nature of your problems with Mepis. The main cause of computer-problems (as most savvy PC users know from hard experience..) is sitting in front of a computerscreen.
Regards, Ko

I can add another two glitches as you call them. Just now it refused to open an ordinary common-or-garden PDF file. It did a few days ago! Kontact crashed on log on and I could not run a backtrace "because the application did not exist"!

"The main cause of computer-problems (as most savvy PC users know from hard experience..) is sitting in front of a computerscreen." Really? What shall I do? Go and have a cup of coffee and leave the computer to sort itself out?

I am relating my experience here. How can I substantiate what I have written and what would be in it for me if I could? I cannot judge an OS by your experience, which is clearly different. I am glad but that does not help me, because I need an OS that works NOW.

Win95 was not a good OS, but I am not comparing Mepis with it.

If you have a problem with Windows (any) just type the error message in Google and you will get instructions what to do.

With Mepis you don't get the error message, so you depend on the goodwill and knowledge of Mepis users. I have been to the Forum for help many times and in some intances I was given good advice; in others I got no response at all! That is just not good enough for me.

Alex

Opening a .pdf works fine here, as well as running Kontact.
Running a backtrace is indeed only possible after you install some programs. I don't know what you did in the past few days causing the loss of being capable to open .pdf files.
btw: Mepis perfectly changed to summertime last night.

No, just give us more facts on what you did and what happened and how. "It doen't work" fails as a proper description to get a solution - or even a fix.

Win95 was not a good OS, but I am not comparing Mepis with it.

If you have a problem with Windows (any) just type the error message in Google and you will get instructions what to do.

I don't need it as I don't use Windows at all.

Alex

OK - Why don't you run some of your troublesome programs in a konsole and look at or even show us the texts that appear.
"Not good enough".....? You haven't even tried to get some facts by yourself.

Regards, Ko

Ko Bros

I would defintely like to know:
- what hardware are you using
- which mepis version
- have you updated everything
- did you install extra software? How?

Your problems are absolutely non-typical. That will be of little comfort to you, but once initial hardware compatibility issues have been ironed out, MEPIS is renowned for its stability and hassle free use.

There may be a couple of glitches. Scanners can be a pain if they are not linux friendly. And I don't know about your exact printer, so it may also not be a Linux suited machine. I can asssure you that my canon scanner never gives any problem, and I recently bought an HP 2605 colour laser printer, that works magnificently with MEPIS.

So, it all depends, but my guess is that some things have happened to your installation to explain the strange behaviour. Especially apps opening or not at will is definitely not a built-in feature of MEPIS.

Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question

Thank you Rocksolid. Nice to know that I am not alone. I am now running WinME and about to update to XP (if I like it).

Alex

Well! Mine is still on GMT! But if I right-click on the clock, type my root password, take the "X" out of "Set Time and Date automatically" put the "X" again and click on "OK" it will change........ and I have to do that every day to keep the clock accurate!!!!

Ko, you are too kind, but my point is that the average user does not want to do all that!

But, since you ask, I'll have a go, but I don't know how to run an application in Konsole.

What is the command line to run Kooka/OCR
- OCRAD in Konsole?
Regards,
Alex

It seems that you forgot to configure your timezone.
Why would you need to set the time every day? Is ntpdate not installed on your system? CMOS battery nearly on the blink?

But, since you ask, I'll have a go, but I don't know how to run an application in Konsole.

What is the command line to run Kooka/OCR
- OCRAD in Konsole?
Regards,
Alex

I don't know any "average user". Apparently you do. Most people who come here asking something don't have a problem with doing a little 'homework'.

Press Alt+F2 (or just open a konsole, Look in K-menu under Systems. There's Konsole)

This is the menu entry for Kooka (which I do not use as I don't use a scanner) - without the quotes:

"kooka %i %m %U"

My guess is these a,m and U parameters do control start options. Look it up by typing kooka --help in the konsole

Just type kooka in the konsole and press enter to start kooka.

Regards, Ko

Ko Bros

The above post does not reflect the universe I live in. I am a retired 75 year old Tech. (Not Computers). I maintain a 5 station system along with a wireless Broadband port for Notebooks in the Clubhouse of the retirement community where I live. We have a computer club and of course they all have Windows systems. I do my best to help them out. When the un-attended desktop systems are left up so that residents without computers can get on line. They are running on Kiosk Linux CD's for my survival. When teaching they run Win-XP.
By the end of the winter season I am exhausted from cleaning broken windows systems, I have been trying for over 2 years to teach our members how to keep their systems safe wit only limited success. I have managed to switch a few to Linux. I gave up on windows 5 years ago and Mepis has been my Primary system for the last 3. My opinion for what it is worth is that time would be better spent learning Linux than constantly trying to fix Windows.

Maurice,

That is a GREAT testimonial. And pardon me, but your story shows that linux is for ALL age groups, not just for the geeky guy with pimples and a high forehead.

Cheers on you!

Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question

Just type kooka in the konsole and press enter to start kooka.

Regards, Ko

Well! I had a go and this is what appeared in Konsole.

Alex@1[~]$ kooka
libkscan: WARNING: Trying to copy a not healthy option (no name nor desc)
libkscan: WARNING: Trying to copy a not healthy option (no name nor desc)
kooka: WARNING: KLocale: trying to look up "" in catalog. Fix the program

Alex

Intel Pentium II 300MHz (80522 Klamath 4.5X67Mhz); 376MB Extended Memory.
Scanner: Canon CanoScan Lide 20
Mepis 6.0 i386, kernel 2.6.15-26-386
Not updated anything since installation
Installed Quiteinsane and removed Samba through Synaptic

I don't doubt that, but many of my applications do not work well or not at all, so as you say other people's experience is of not help to me.

In a few weeks I will be installing Athlon motherboard and AMD Athlon Pentium 4 CPU with 1Gb extended memory, 250Gb Hard Drive and new CD/DVD R/W drive. At that time I might update Windows ME to XP. I am not hung up about the O\S - if it works, I'll use it.

I wish my experience was the same, but unfortunately it is not! Ideally, I would like to run only Mepis, but if I am forced to use Windows with some applications, then it would be simpler to use Windows all the time. Regarding other comments, I too had problems with Win95, but Win98SE and WinME have run well.

Alex

Hi,

Kooka just starts here in a konsole (as user).
In the settings you can set whatever (3 options) OCR you need.

I'm afraid there are some problems on your systems. I have never used Kooka and it just starts here, Also from konsole.
Wait a week then install Mepis 6.5 on your system.
Or wait until you have your new system.

Regards, ko

Ko Bros

I see that processor is quite on the slow side. With that machine you probably would have been better off with Mepis lite.

I recommend kepping up with the updates. MEPIS 6 and 6.5 are built around the Dapper repos, and each update can quite safely be regarded as a security and / or bug fix.

Instead of jumping through hoops, right now I would wait until you have done the upgrade, then, as Ko says, install 6.5.

I also have a Canon Lide. It works great. Though sometimes Kooka takes a bit longer to startup. Maybe on your machine it gives a timeout, due to the slow processor. Hang in there.....

Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question

It's not just you, Alex.

I have the same Canon scanner on my computer with Mepis 6.0 Over the winter, I tried to use it to print a page-sized copy of an 8.5 by 11" paper. A simple 1:1 copy of a page. I think I used Kooka.

Anyway my printed copy either ended up too big for the page or only 4 1/8" wide. No good at all! I gave up in frustration because the scanner has a driver for WindowsXP Pro such that if you press a button on the printer under Windows it automatically prints a 1:1 copy. I have WindowsXP on my computer as dual-boot, so I had no reason to try to get the task done in Mepis.

As far as .pdf's go, I use kghostview to view them.
It works well.
commandline syntax:
$kghostview /path/to/file.pdf &

Alan

I am still having problems with scanning. I just started kooka (console)
The application hasn't shown up yet but in top or Ksysguard it is showing between 70 and 80% of system use. This is essentialy the same scanning problem reported for Gimp back in mid 2006 (had to remove the scan options before Gimp would run)

Not only is that PC slow, it's positively ARCANE. From what you describe, it sounds like you have failing RAM and a failing hard drive. It could also be that the thing is full of dust and dirt. Dust on the processor core or slot can wreak havoc on the system, not to mention burn out the processor. PCI and ISA slots (especially ISA slots!!!) are also notorious for causing a system to act up if they collect a little too much dust and lint.

I read your complaint about your CD drive causing the machine to lock up. That's an IDE fault and quite probably is caused by dust and dirt. Open the box and CLEAN IT OUT!!! Get into the PCI, ISA, processor and RAM slots with a fine, SYNTHETIC artist's paint brush. (Natural bristles are CONDUCTIVE!) Use a large Chinese paintbrush to brush off the board itself. (KEEP THE CHINESE BRUSH AWAY FROM THE SLOTS!!!!) DO NOT USE PRESSURIZED AIR TO CLEAN THE BOARD!!! Pressurized air only removes the loose surface dust but the baked on, caked on, hard-as-a-rock dirt will be left behind.

Furthermore, a machine of that age is about to kick any way. So, I can pretty well assure you that not only are your problems typical, they're to be expected on that age hardware.

As for the scanner, get a real one. Canon makes good cameras and OK copiers. If you want a good scanner, get one that is made by people that know how to build a scanner.

*Emphasis added

I think we just found the core of the problem.... And it's right where someone said it would be... In front of the screen...

(Dude, AMD doesn't make Pentium 4 CPUs. That would be Intel. AMD makes the Athlon family of processors which are not hardware cross-compatible with Intel.)

All joking and jibes aside, I can say MEPIS (and Linux in general) is stable on older hardware IF that hardware is in good shape. I have a MEPIS SoHo Server sitting in my office that I routinely take down every 60 days for a good cleaning and diagnostics. It has an 8.4GB HDD, 24X CD-ROM (which is bad), 3.5" floppy, 384MB PC100 SDRAM and a P-III 500MHz processor. It only gets shut down on the 60-day maintenance mark and NEVER before. This poor little box is our web development server, running Apache2, MySQL and some other goodies. Despite it's small size and arcane hardware, it runs consistenly well and never so much as hiccups.

As for my personal machine at home, I run only Debian 3.1 Etch (Testing) with some packages from Sid (Unstable) on a custom Media Center PC. I built the PC and have been re-writing the Media Center software. It's guts contain a 1.8GHz (32-bit) Pentium 4, 2GB PC3200 DDR, 80GB Master HDD, 200GB Slave HDD, 16X DVD D/L Burner, 52X CD Burner, nVidia GeForce 4 MX 4000 (128MB and using the 9631 driver), built-in Realtek 6-channel Audio, D-Link Wireless Ethernet Card (Atheros-based), and Hauppauge PVR-150 MCE TV card (which is ONLY supposed to work with Windows Media Center PCs... Go Figure...) I'm also running Compiz and Beryl on my user login. I'm printing, scanning and copying on an HP PSC 1410V using Kooka with OCRAD and I loving it. Everything comes out perfectly every time.

Just to set the record straight, I push my machines to their limits and they don't complain. They're both pure Linux and perfectly stable.

Next time you decide to complain about the OS, make sure it isn't the hardware that's the problem. In other words, do some freakin' diagnostics before you complain, dude.

Michael
=====================================================

The box said "Requires Windows 98 or better"
....so I installed LINUX!!!

Why so much RAM? lol

My wife is now running SimplyMEPIS 6.0-4 Beta 4 on an old 300mhz PII Mobile based laptop with 256MB of RAM.

But, it doesn't really need that much to run. With Firefox 2.0 running Flash 9 content from our ISP's home page, it still uses less than 100MB (not even touching the swap partition). lol

For some reason, this old laptop seems to use less in the way of resources compared to my newer Desktop. It's probably the device drivers, video differences, etc. It works just fine with this release. I haven't tried the newer betas or Release Candidates yet. I updated it from one of the 3.4.x Release Candidates (or perhaps one of the betas) she was running for a long time. Before that, she was running SimplyMEPIS 3.3 on it.

I'll probably just leave it as is (no upgrades since it's working fine without any issues with 6.0-4 Beta 4).

Jim C.

Thank you dancingdog777 for your non-question. I'm assuming that you decided to drop this information here to simply say something and did not plan on getting a reply. So I shall not go on much.

If you do come back, then I'll ask you a question. Have you ever INSTALLED an operating system before, other than your non-successes with Linux? When you claim "...make them do what Windows does the first time, everytime." I believe you are comparing your installation attempts to a pre-installed copy of Windows. And you do realize that you did actually pay for that copy of Windows don't you? The cost was just buried in the other costs of the machine(s) you used. How much did you pay for all of your Windows applications?

Linux is not just for hobbyists, but it is for people who are willing to learn about their computers. If you are not willing to learn how to do things with your computer, then by all means stick with what you like.

If you wish to share other experiences, and want to progress further, please feel free to stop back. And ask some questions. You will find the folks here very good at answering your questions and helping you along

Jon

In /dev/null, no one can hear you type...

This is a sign. A bad sign. Particularly for a first post.

Actually, you are being egregiously rude.

You don't because, over the years, we've become accustomed to rudeness.

Thanks for trying to tell us that, but we have something called facts to guide us in our decisions.
I'm sorry if this upsets you, but this is the battle cry of the indolent. It is becoming quite tiresome.

Whatever... It's actually far more than just those things--security, reliability and other such esoteric nonsense--but you aren't interested in those hallmarks of quality. You like windoze and are happy with it.

As Jon mentioned....it's that pre-installed, OEM crutch-supported windoze that you're comparing Linux with.

Unfortunately, for your comparison, some of us have compared non-OEM versions of windoze with your generic Linux distributions, as well as some of the better Linux distributions out there (yes, MEPIS included), and have repeatedly found that windoze fares far worse in terms of out of the box hardware support.

http://www.gabston-howell.org/swl/index.php?/archives/8-xp...BLECH!.html
http://www.gabston-howell.org/swl/index.php?/archives/10-Dear-J-and-M-A-sidebar-convo-reply.html

Also...please read through http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html


If nothing else, serving as a dire warning to others is not a bad thing to be.

...You use your tongue better 'n a twenty-dollar whore

One of my favorite quotes from the movie "Blazing Saddles"

Jon

In /dev/null, no one can hear you type...

LOL...but I'm at 5 or 6 weeks off the cigs, so it's all good.


If nothing else, serving as a dire warning to others is not a bad thing to be.