OT: Easy changeover from Windows pay for everything mode

Warning: somewhat off topic post (but important to Gnutella users)

No reason to run Windows anymore. No reason to keep paying Billy Gates his ransom. Mandrake Linux 8.2 is free and easy to use, not virus prone, doesn't crash and....
LOOKS AND WORKS just like windows, plus....
"SOT, a Linux-distributor is offering SOT Office, a free productivity suite partly based on OpenOffice, it is fully compatible with MS Office and StarOffice."
More and more games are available now from major companies, all the hardware out there is pretty much supported now, and Linux comes with a lot of software already installed, nothing to buy!
E-mail programs, web browsers and more are already installed! It's time to make the switch, and it's easy.
You can FTP the CD-ROMs for free from ftp://ftp.uni-bayreuth.de/pub/linux/Mandrake/iso/
or other mirrors http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/cookerdevel.php3
(make sure you use binary mode in your FTP transfer)

KDE is "Windows" for the Linux OS, it's easy and is just like windows, but with all the software already installed for you.
And there's always the Lindows project, but it's not ready yet. http://www.lindows.com/
The OpenOffice story is at http://slashdot.org/articles/02/04/29/0411218.shtml or http://www.sot.com/
And a good newbie site is http://linuxnewbie.com/

Why is this important to Gnutella users? One reason is if the RIAA has their way, Windows will be forced to make any MP3 type players copyright protected. Your only choice for freedom will be with Linux and open source.
Windows always crashes and you get used to it. I remember when I ran Windows all the time I got used to the crashes and saving things every 2 minutes just in case. Now I leave things overnight and come back and it's still there. Even if a particular program crashes, the OS doesn't! I have seen Win 2000 crash blue screen too so it's not any better. $300 for NT isn't a good choice either.
I spend several hours a week helping my friends with problems from viruses and locked up IE (spamware popups and hidden registry startups) and have been slowly changing them over to Linux.
Linux doesn't get those viruses, I download them all the time just to look them over in a binary editor, people think I am crazy but they can't affect Linux. Viruses are very hard to make work on Linux, open source developers are security minded. What does that say about the Windows developers? Why run a OS that threatens your privacy and security?
"Wine" for Linux will let you run some windows software, it is what Lindows is doing, and DOS runs fine on it. When "wine" crashes, you restart the WINDOW! it's funny!
You have total control with Linux, you can run it 24/7 without worry, it's more hacker proof than any other OS and it's what the WWW is built on! Browsing and transfers are faster and the TCP/IP stack is designed better. Software RAID is possible and easy to do, hardware cards are supported. With Mandrake sharing a dial up connection over your private LAN is easy as pressing a few buttons.
You can relax now, no more worries about spyware, crashes, restarts, viruses, hackers, firewalls, strange popups and a screwed up registry. There is no "registry" required in Linux, what a stupid concept that was. Spyware would be very hard to sneak past people since it's open source.
Your "root" directory is protected, unlike windows, linux protects it's main "system" files from "user" files. No more calls to your "computer guy" in the middle of the night.
I have personally installed Mandrake on 3 laptops and many, many different PCs, old and new. It is very, very easy now that 8.2 mandrake is out. I haven't paid for a software program in over 4 years now. I used to buy one every few months for Windows.
After showing people Linux on my laptop they all want to try it out and are amazed at how easy the conversion was because it's just like windows!
Give it a try! Linux P2P programs are waiting for you to try them out! Spread the word! Pass some Linux CDs to your friends. It's time.
Tell us here about your experiences when changing over.

No offence man but lets be a little honest about things...

1) linux is difficult... not in the sense that it's confusing (I use it in a dual boot setting at my house) but in a sense that people are familiar with windows... the point is why switch... take cars for example... I drive a standard, I love driving standard and would never ever consider going back to an automatic... people don't just start driving an standard because there is a learning curve associated with it... most people feel comfortable with windows and therefore will have a hard time changing...

2) currently most new computers come preinstalled with Windows... which means that the people are already paying for a copy of the OS, so why would they spend the time getting another OS if Windows is already included...

3) windows won't be forced to make MP3 players copyright protected... that will be something that is beyond their control... they can't monitor every open source project out there... there will always be options out there... who knows maybe we will just have to move to OGG instead... big deal... I like OGG a bit better...

4) Linux does not work and look like Windows... personally I think Linux looks better and right now Windows is trying to catch up... but it doesn't work like windows it works very differently... Linux works on an entirely different mindset... how do you explain to someone who's used windows all their life that to get to their CDROM they have to mount it first?? or in the case of supermount that it's no longer just in the d:\ location that you have to go find it in /mnt/????/... or packages... I personally don't think that packaging managers have come far enough... I haven't used Debian yet... but most of the other package mangers are a pain with dependancies etc... there are some solutions like Debian's APT-GET and Sorcerer Linux, and I think GENTO linux or something that looks like that... where it takes care of any dependancies...

5) Linux is powerful and secure only if you have someone who knows what they are doing at the helm... most of the time the average user couldn't set up a linux firewall or any other settings to save their life... and downloading security patches isn't something that is high on most peoples list... also one of the reasons why we don't see a lot of viri directed to Linux is because there isn't a large number of people using it... no one would target the smallest portion of the population with a virus... but if Linux becomes more prevalant in the future more bugs and vunerabilities will be exploited...

I will level with you I enjoy both Windows and Linux but as far as what the general populous is ready for I don't think Linux is there... albeit the closest thing I've seen yet is Lycoris Linux (the old Redmond Linux) they have a pretty user friendly system... I figure that Linux will eventually be pushed further into the fray but at the moment it doesn't have the marketing clout or the familiarity that windows has... it needs time...

Originally posted by Unregistered
currently most new computers come preinstalled with Windows... which means that the people are already paying for a copy of the OS

Linux does not work and look like Windows...

There was a big lawsuit over this and now computer makers must give you a choice to opt out of windows pre install (and receive a discount).

And where have you been? Go get 8.2 Mandrake with KDE and tell me it doesn't work and look just like windows. You can even set up the "widgets" to look and feel just like a Mac, Windows, Custom, your choice all at a simple click of the mouse.

Get a new copy of Mandrake, firewall setup is a simple click in a control panel, so are a lot of other things. It's come a long way, you need to check out the latest versions before you make comments like this.

Another place to download the CDROMs for free from
http://www.linuxiso.org/distro.php?distro=29

Or buy the 3 CD set from
http://cart.cheapbytes.com/cgi-bin/cart/0070010793 $6 SH $5
http://www.tech-broker.com/catalog/m.html $12 SH $0
http://www.linux-now.com/mandrake/index.html $12 SH $0

http://www.cheapbytes.com
http://www.tech-broker.com
http://www.iso-top.de Germany

You can use this FREE program to see your screen from a remote location, even via a modem connection.
http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/
"VNC stands for Virtual Network Computing. It is, in essence, a remote display system which allows you to view a computing 'desktop' environment not only on the machine where it is running, but from anywhere on the Internet and from a wide variety of machine architectures."

Lots of HOWTOs have been written for Linux, but....
note that most of the typical settings you need for linux, like firewalls, LAN setups, connections sharing and such are now done via the GUI and a click of the mouse in Mandrake.
http://www.ibiblio.org/mdw/HOWTO/HOW...EX/howtos.html

Some places to get good information are
http://www.mandrakeuser.org
http://www.mandrakeforum.com
and you can type in a question to a sort of AI interface at
http://www.mandrakeexpert.com

And linux users find FREE programs in "RPM" format (like a "ZIP" file), and it's a easy install.
http://rpmfind.net/

Isn't it about time to switch to Linux?

does linus pay you or something?

I got a free OS from him several times now, he's a great guy.
I am sure that if you go to one of those mirror sites he would let you have one too.

From Michael Robertson, the creator of mp3.com

"Now, I had always heard that Linux® was more stable than Microsoft products, but I had to experience this for myself to become a believer. Because LindowsOS makes it trivial for people to experience Linux, I was able to witness this first hand when I converted from Microsoft Windows 2000 to LindowsOS. Prior to the conversion, I'd experience crashes midway through a day of computing. I'd open too many browser windows (which I'm prone to do) or my email folders which were just too big. I'm really enjoying using my system without the hang-ups requiring me to restart. I typically have more than 30 browser windows going to different locations and LindowsOS never stopped working.

I just finished an entire week of computing with LindowsOS without system hangs requiring me to restart. At one time, I had more than 30 browser windows going to different locations and LindowsOS never stopped working. Nice!"

http://www.lindows.com/

My comment:
Why is this news to you windows users? Why do you even put up with ONE crash/restart at all? One crash like that and you should ask for a refund. WTF - do you think we are all lying about Linux? Have you noticed that most Linux gurus know something about computers? You think they don't know a good thing when they see it? Are you going to sit there and wait till "every one else switches over"? Well just wait, sit there and do nothing, and no one else will either and you will have this crap OS for years more.

I changed one full department and may spread the change further by using the BSA's scare tactics and their current advertising campain. My boss heard one
of their ad's that say "We'll fine you 100,000 dollars per incident, which can add up to millions!" and asked if we are compliant.... I honestly answered, that if a
sane person did the audit, yes. but by BSA standards... no, and if we are ever audited they will leave with a fine on us even if we were 100% perfect... it's just
like OSHA, they never leave without issuing a violation. I also informed him that cince the employees are allowed to take their laptops home there can be
upwards of 20 violations per computer as we have no control over what the employees do at home or outside the building... I can wipe all the laptops, but then
the salespeople will whine again..

he then asked me if there was another solution, and I wipped out my Redhat 7.3 laptop with open office..

Guess what... we're gonna switch to NON-MS.. all thanks to the BSA.

so basically... Use Microsoft's and the BSA's tactics to your advantage... push the fear,loathing and threats they are pushing... keep mentioning the 100,000
dollar fine PER incident. that the companies sensitive data will be accessable by strangers during the BSA visit, and the business disruption and public
notification by the BSA that XYZ company STEALS.

works great..... Thanks Microsoft and the BSA for the BEST tools a Linux Advocate could ever want.