Interesting choices, odd criteria
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| caitlyn May 10, 2012 1:08 AM EDT |
His criteria for off line seems to be that you can't get online to grab any software or updates ever. In my experience, the ability to work offline doesn't preclude getting online now and again. He effectively eliminates any U.S. based distro or any other distro that cannot, for legal reasons, offer full multimedia codecs, including patent infringing ones, out of the box. For that reason both Zenwalk and Vector Linux (his #1 choice) make the grade and something like SalixOS does not. However, if I can get online exactly once SalixOS then offers precisely what he likes so much about Vector. I'm not saying that his choices are necessarily bad ones. I'm just saying his criteria do not fit a common usage model. |
| mbaehrlxer May 10, 2012 7:45 AM EDT |
but it may fit his usage model. being able to get online exactly once is even less likely than to either have at least occasional online access or not have online access at all. my parents in law live so far outside the city that internet is simply not available. all they can get is 3g mobile internet which is to expensive for a distribution update. greetings, eMBee. |
| Koriel May 10, 2012 5:14 PM EDT |
I used to be in this predicament just 3 years ago when their was no internet where we were other than dial up, so an offline distro was a must.
Things were so bad I know of one person who had no choice but to leave the area due to lack of quality internet as his job as a graphics artist was suffering and im sure a lot more left that I don't know about. I think you might be suprised at how many folk in the world or even just the USA that do not have access to good quality internet even in this day and age. His usage case is fine, an enlightening article for those who need this sort of thing. |
| Khamul May 10, 2012 5:17 PM EDT |
The US is much like many African nations as far as infrastructure is concerned. There's plenty of good internet access (not that cheap though) in the metro areas, but outside of that it's spotty and in rural areas it's frequently non-existent. More advanced nations don't have this problem. |
| Koriel May 10, 2012 5:35 PM EDT |
Yep, Plenty of rural areas in Vermont that still don't have good quality internet access although things are changing in this state but only because the incumbent supplier Failpoint was legally hand tied by the state into providing DSL to the rural areas as part of the Verizon network sell off to Failpoint being allowed to happen. But since Failpoint declared bankruptcy that rural roll out has slowed to a crawl so i'm told, my area was lucky as it was one of the first to be upgraded prior to their bankruptcy. I used Slackware DVD's and the DVD issue of PCLinuxOS which I had delivered snail mail as my offline distro's back then. I can also safely say that if the Failpoint deal had fallen through we would have also had to move to the nearest town. |
| Steven_Rosenber May 10, 2012 5:58 PM EDT |
With Slackware you can get a mess of CDs or DVDs. Same with Debian. You can order from places like http://www.osdisc.com/ |
| caitlyn May 10, 2012 6:34 PM EDT |
@Koriel: My experience traveling in North Carolina is that there are a lot of rural areas where DSL and cable may not be available but where cell phone coverage remains strong. Nowadays 3G or "4G" service may be a very viable option. I have Virgin Mobile's service for my business. It's "unlimited" but they can slow you down after 5GB of data use. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Even the slow rate is far, far better than dial up, as in fast enough for me to do remote sysadmin work. |
| djohnston May 10, 2012 9:47 PM EDT |
Quoting:With Slackware you can get a mess of CDs or DVDs. Same with Debian. You can order from places like http://www.osdisc.com/ Yes, but you'd need internet access. |
| jdixon May 10, 2012 10:14 PM EDT |
> Yes, but you'd need internet access. Most such places have these old fashioned things called phones. They've even been known to take orders over them. |
| Koriel May 10, 2012 10:59 PM EDT |
@caitlyn No cellphone either, you need to travel about a mile away and you might get a single bar if your lucky. <homesick mode on> I would be understating things if I said the telecoms infrastructure in this state(VT) is one of the worst I have ever come across and don't even get me started on the power companies and regular power outages. I have actually had to put a clause in my contracts that if the work that I do is delayed due to power outages then I can't be held responsible as unlike other folks around here I can't afford a backup generator although that situation may change soon. We are only 30 mins away from a large town but you would think we were on the moon in fact it might be better if we were on the moon at least you managed to send some tech there. Makes me sometimes wish I had never left Scotland where you couldn't move for tripping over DSL cable, the streets are paved with gold and red haired virgin lasses as far as the eye can see. (Ok that last couple of bits might not be true but the DSL is) <homesick mode off/> |
| Khamul May 10, 2012 11:26 PM EDT |
Regular power outages? Nice to know that American infrastructure ranks right up there with India. |
| caitlyn May 10, 2012 11:49 PM EDT |
No, Khamul, American infrastructure is not comparable to India. I've lived in Florida, Alaska, and several states in between. I've never dealt with regular power outages. Rural Vermont where Koriel lives in NOT typical. |
| Koriel May 10, 2012 11:49 PM EDT |
@Khamul Please don't turn this into a US bashing thread Vermont is just one small state in a huge nation, and a big part of the Vermont problem was and still is Vermonters themselves as none of them wanted things like cell towers, microwave arrays and such in their back yards or even someone digging up their dirt tracks to lay cables. One of the many reasons why Verizon pulled out, it was just too much trouble for the little money they were making, even though I wouldn't pss on Verizon if they were on fire I can still understand their reasoning. |
| Fettoosh May 11, 2012 9:44 AM EDT |
Quoting: ... and a big part of the Vermont problem was and still is Vermonters themselves as none of them wanted things like cell towers, microwave arrays and such in their back yards or even someone digging up their dirt tracks to lay cables. And you call that a problem? Personally, I call that a solution for all the stress and headache people get in other places. :-) |
| Koriel May 11, 2012 11:43 AM EDT |
Yes I do call it a problem, see the link below for what can be achieved if the will is there.
The primary source of income for the area is tourism, farming and light tech industries, cellphone and broadband internet is 99% coverage as of 2007 probably closer to 100% now, the primary income is tourism everything has to be done with respect to the environment and as a kid it was a joy being raised here. http://www.northernsights.net/culbokie/culbokie.html This is what can be achieved, the second row down of these photo's were taken about 100 yards from where I lived and I would wake up every morning to these views, hmmm the modern world appears to have had little impact, I wonder how they did that? Bet you can't see the windfarm which is a shame as on a clear day it looks awesome. Well I could tell you but since it was achieved by having a very different political system I won't bother in this forum. |
| Fettoosh May 11, 2012 12:01 PM EDT |
Amazingly beautiful, might need few more fruitful trees. I wouldn't have left. It looks to me you had to leave for some good/bad reason, Were you chased out? :-) |
| Koriel May 11, 2012 12:31 PM EDT |
No real reason, I moved to the city when I went to university discovered I loved city life more than country life and pretty much never went back except when visiting the parents, hey I was young! I would go back there now in a heartbeat but unfortunately their are other personal reasons involved preventing me returning to Scotland at this point in time one's that may resolve themselves with time. |
| caitlyn May 11, 2012 12:50 PM EDT |
@Koriel, I understand the way you feel about Scotland. I have the same sort of feelings for a couple of places where my family lives in Israel. I will certainly retire there. If I can meet certain personal and financial goals I'd move there sooner rather than later. Regarding the very different political system, I suspect we'd be in strong agreement about that as well, but I dare not say more here. I have cousins who are modern Orthodox Jewish. One way I think the Orthodox get it right is that they take one day a week with no work, no switching on any electric appliances (timers for lights are fine), no computers, no phone calls, no starting the car. I spent Shabbat with my cousins one year and we walked around their town on a beautiful fall day. I think if we all did that one day a week (without anything religious required, of course) our society would be much, much healthier for it. |
| Koriel May 11, 2012 1:19 PM EDT |
@caitlyn Yep homesickness can be a real pain in the glutius maximus sometimes and not only that this spelling checker doesn't recognise Latin. |
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