Preacher loves Linux
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Steven_Rosenber Oct 01, 2008 3:07 PM EDT |
I always like to see articles like this — written by people who are using FOSS in their everyday lives. This guy even addressed the iPod issue in his post on Mepis (he uses gtkPod, I think). He even linked to this PDF book, "Penguin in the Pew," by D.C. Parris: http://matheteuo.org/downloads/Penguin-in-the-Pew.pdf The book is a bit dated (2004) but represents quite a bit of effort on the part of its author. And it's a good model for bringing Linux to the masses, religious or otherwise. |
| Bob_Robertson Oct 01, 2008 3:24 PM EDT |
Heh heh, you said "masses". Heh heh heh... |
| herzeleid Oct 01, 2008 3:24 PM EDT |
> I always like to see articles like this — written by people who are using FOSS in their everyday lives. Indeed. Continuing in the same vein, I know an anthropology professor at Cal State Fullerton, whose primary computer is an HP laptop running suse 11.0. No windows partition and no virtualization. He's not a computer guy per se, he just prefers linux. |
| Steven_Rosenber Oct 01, 2008 3:43 PM EDT |
I consciously avoided about 50 relevant puns ... |
| dumper4311 Oct 01, 2008 3:49 PM EDT |
I've cried about this before, but these are good examples of how people end up moving to a better choice. Now if we could only get a better choice on the plate for people who need to exchange quickbooks data with their accountants. That single opportunity would open up a whole new world for the masses of SO/HO users chained to proprietary systems. If anyone knows of a reasonable solution, I'd still love to hear it. |
| Sander_Marechal Oct 01, 2008 4:40 PM EDT |
Reverse engineering the data format. If the FOSS crowd is smart enough to reverse engineer GPU chipsets and Microsoft's MAPI, quickbooks should be easy to do. |
| Steven_Rosenber Oct 01, 2008 4:41 PM EDT |
Question: What FOSS application does what Quickbooks does (and for that matter, what does Quickbooks do), even if it's not in a compatible file format. I know small business is all about Quickbooks ... but being financially ignorant (I have a cadre of "experts" to help me fake my way through OpenOffice Calc and Google Spreadsheets), I really know nothing about QuickBooks. |
| dumper4311 Oct 01, 2008 6:22 PM EDT |
@Sander:
Yep, quickbooks should be easy, but it apparently hasn't been enough of an itch for independents to scratch yet, and no corporate involvement has seen fit to spend that kind of time or money on the issue. I view this as a sad underestimation of the potential market, but that's just me. I figure CodeWeavers, Novell, Red Hat, IBM or other should be all over that idea as part of a SOHO systems offering, even if Intuit isn't particularly interested. @Steven: I'm not sure what F/OSS apps are as capable, but that's not been the real focus from the questions I've seen. People have their entire business history encoded in QB, and if they can't take that with them, they lose said history. Further, if they can't transfer back and forth to the accountant, they lose the ability to do any future work with that accountant. Mind you, I'm not particularly competent on the use or feature set of QB myself, any of the F/OSS options would do fine for my needs. This is not the case however, for many of the SOHO users I talk to, who would otherwise be willing to look at total Linux conversions. Here's a bit of discussion on the issue I just dug up: http://www.linux.com/feature/41026 http://fixunix.com/ubuntu/247469-need-replacement-quickbooks... The best solution I've seen (sadly) is a virtual Windows machine running just QB. |
| Steven_Rosenber Oct 02, 2008 1:58 PM EDT |
With virtualization going more mainstream, I expect that solution to be used more and more. I guess you need the full Windows install disc to do that in the VM. Since I haven't bought a new computer, aside from the Mac, since the Windows 3.1 days (I get everything as castoffs), how many new PCs ship with install CDs? |
| Bob_Robertson Oct 02, 2008 2:45 PM EDT |
"how many new PCs ship with install CDs?" None, as far as I know. Have to use the "Create System Recovery Media" tool to get any disk at all. There's always piracy, and a new (and completely legal) copy of Win2K Pro is only about $50. Edit: Checked Ebay, Win2K Pro starts at $0.99. |
| techiem2 Oct 02, 2008 3:29 PM EDT |
Quoting:how many new PCs ship with install CDs At best, you get a restore CD set locked to that particular model. Common now seems to be the method of putting an image build system on a partition and giving you one shot with some manufacturer installed program to create yourself a restore set. If you're lucky their restore system will give you the option to restore your image or restore the factory image when you boot it. If not, good luck when you get infested with spyware and haven't made the set yet. Then of course there's the issue of a dying hard disk....good luck doing a factory restore when the partition doesn't exist. |
| Sander_Marechal Oct 02, 2008 6:10 PM EDT |
Quoting:Checked Ebay, Win2K Pro starts at $0.99. If it's too good to be true, it probably is. You can be pretty sure that $0.99 Win2K disks are pirated copies. |
| Steven_Rosenber Oct 02, 2008 7:13 PM EDT |
And it's easier to get upgrade discs as opposed to full install discs. I have a Win 2K upgrade disc, but I first have to use my 3.51 NT disc to do the initial installation. "Barbaric" doesn't begin to cover it ... |
| jdixon Oct 02, 2008 7:47 PM EDT |
> I have a Win 2K upgrade disc, but I first have to use my 3.51 NT disc to do the initial installation. I'm not certain, but I believe nlite will let you get around that: http://www.nliteos.com/ For those who've never encountered it, it's a tool for building custom install cd's for Win2K and XP. Almost essential if you're trying install either on a sata system. |
| Bob_Robertson Oct 03, 2008 9:56 AM EDT |
"If it's too good to be true, it probably is." It's hardly "too good to be true". If my PC came with a Windows OEM disk, I'd sell it too, because it's worthless to me. Anyway, in a box as opposed to OEM, it's still around $50. |
| drelle Oct 07, 2008 11:10 AM EDT |
I identify with the minister. I've been in ministry for over 25 years. I started using Linux almost 12 years ago and have been sold on it ever since. The early years were difficult but I made it through. Today, my day job keeps me working with 8 RH servers and I've never been happier. I do my Sunday preparation using GnomeSword and believe it or not, our Church computer runs Open Suse on which a 60 year old couple keep our church financial records. They are new to the whole computer thing and keep asking why their computer at home (Windows) keeps having problems unlike the system at church. |
| Bob_Robertson Oct 07, 2008 11:13 AM EDT |
"why their computer at home (Windows) keeps having problems unlike the system at church." Divine Intervention of Saints Torvalds and iGNUcious. |
| Pastor_Ron Oct 07, 2008 11:27 AM EDT |
I haven't been using Linux as long as drelle has, but I wouldn't go back to a Windows environment for anything. Sadly, though, my clerk is so firmly entrenched into Windows programs, it would be a hard battle getting him to switch to Linux. Here's an interesting story: We record most all of our services, and the Mother's Day message was especially powerful. Several people ordered copies, and we thought it would be no problem to run off as many as we needed, with some extra, too. Our brand new CD/DVD duplicator is a great machine that spits out copies in a hurry. Well, after about 5 tries, my duplicating team gave up and asked if I could make a few copies from home. Keep in mind, this was after the master CD was taken to my sound man's house to make copies on his Windows box. It was a no go; he even tried on the Windows box in the sound booth. Well, I took the CD home, fired up k3b and made the copies needed. I also fixed some other things using Linux software, took the freshly copied CD back to the church duplicator, and made the appropriate number of copies. Linux to the rescue again! |
| drelle Oct 07, 2008 11:42 AM EDT |
I also have two potential converts (to Linux that is). A 58 year old retiree from A&R Gas and a 19 year old college freshman. In all, I have 6 little baby penquins I'm mentoring. |
| happyfeet Oct 07, 2008 1:54 PM EDT |
@drelle - Quoting:6 little baby penguins I'm mentoring- Great image! |
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