[lug] M$ does it again...down under

[John Hernandez]

John Karns wrote:
> 
> On Tue, 7 Aug 2001, John Hernandez said:
> 
> > Bill Thoen wrote:
> >
> > > So maybe Linux could be used with old parts, but it's a bit of a
> > > job figuring out all the tweaks and problems. You need to have a
> > > set of skills beyond what most people have, and you will probably
> > > have difficulties with upgrades.
> > >
> >
> > Part of the reason I floated the question was an attempt to gauge how
> > much of a headache Linux would present to a charitable organization
> > that deals with a hodgepodge of old hardware.  After reading some of
> > the answers provided, even if installation challange was ironed out, I
> > think the resources required by X and its associated apps
> > (particularly productivity suites) are beyond the capabilities of many
> > older machines.  RAM and video hardware seem to be the biggest
> > problems.
>

It occurs to me that support for cheap (ie. dumb) printers and modems has also been a significant obstacle to running anything but Windows on many older (and newer) cookie-cutter PC's.  I'd bet the majority of the printers they see don't do PostScript.  And most of the modems are probably WinModems, literally trash without Windows.
  
> How about installing an older version of Linux?  Back when my machine was
> a 100MHz 486, I found that Slakware was more easily installed than the
> others I tried.  Re: office suite software, for resource starved machines
> of the older generations, I think perhaps Applix would be a smarter
> choice than StarOffice.  I don't know how the Corel suite stacks up as an
> alternative though.
> 
> > > Seems to me that since Microsoft made such a fuss about insisting
> > > that all computers be sold with Windows, what right to they have
> > > to insist that just because a new human is behind the same
> > > keyboard that that human must buy the latest copy of Windows? And
> > > good luck getting Win2000 to work on old computers!
> > >
> >
> > As everyone else pointed out, Microsoft has the legal right crack down
> > on them -- and even the obligation to defend the copyright, but I
> > still think they should choose their targets with more tact.  I am
> > convinced they MUST practice selective enforcement already, because as
> > a matter of time and efficiency, they cannot possibly follow up on
> > every piracy lead, aside from perhaps sending a toothless nastygram.
> >
> > Yes, yes, the charity pirates software and breaks the law.  It's
> > analagous to the tale of Robin Hood.  Sometimes ethics, morals,
> > philanthropy, and the law don't agree.  In cases like these, every
> > interest has a strong case, but my (perhaps irrational) romanticism
> > makes me want to side with the law-breaker.
> 
> There are some examples of OS's & applications which are distributed to
> educational or other non-profit org's with relaxed license terms.  One
> example is Caldera's OpenDOS (evolved from DR-DOS) ver 7.01 which is
> available to educational institutions without a fee:
> 
> "Caldera grants you a non-exclusive license to use the Software in
> source or binary form free of charge if (a) you are a student,
> faculty member or staff member of an educational institution
> (K-12, junior college, college or library), a staff member of
> a religious organization, or an employee of an  organization which
> meets Caldera's criteria for a charitable  non-profit organization" ...
> 

I'm a big proponent of this type of thing.  It shows some degree of compassion in an otherwise fairly cold and unforgiving corporate structure.

> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> John Karns                                        jkarns at csd.net
> 
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