My dad can't seem to understand why I use Linux when it has so many quot;loopholesquot; (as he calls any inconvenience/lack of functionality when compared to Windows). Basically, if something does not work with Linux, he thinks that it is Linux's fault. The three biggest inconveniences I have that he attacks are:
1. Linux does not work with WPA (I only recently found out about WPA-supplicant). So when I got wifi I changed the network's encryption to WEP, and my brother's computer started having chronic wifi issues, although my mom's computer took the change in stride (Both run XP). My dad blamed Linux. Fortunately, I found out about wpa-supplicant and changed back to WPA. I would bet much money that my dad has no clue what WEP or WPA are.
2. He points out that I have no sound when running , but I do when i (rarely) run Vista. I come back with quot;Vista wouldn't give me sound either if the drivers hadn't been added by Toshibaquot;. So he asks why Toshiba didn't supply drivers for Linux. He doesn't seem to understand the concepts of a monolithic kernel, volunteer-written code, or even drivers in general. So I say that Toshiba does not make Linux drivers. He responds with quot;That's a loopholequot;, whatever he means by that.
3. Some websites are IE-only (this has been an issue ever since I started using Firefox in Windows). He thinks that this is because IE is superior. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the makers of those websites have to go out of their way to make it IE-only? The fact that FireFox is not allowed to visit those sites is looked at as FireFox's fault. When I say that FireFox is more secure, he doesn't understand why we need more security when we haven't had any problems (he also gets irritated when I run malware scans on my mom's computer because there is no malware because we didn't install it.
This is a guy who rarely touches a computer unless he is looking around on eBay. And even that is rare. He seems to suffer from all the misconceptions identified in the Linux is NOT Windows article. Especially in regards to the sound. quot;Why can't you get it fixed by talking to tech support or something? Why are you asking other people in a chat room? (I have never visited a chat room. I am in the forums.) What do they know? (another example of not understanding the concepts behind FOSS)quot;
He is driving me up the wall with his cyclical reasoning. I would like to be able to say that something does not work without him saying that Linux is flawed.
On a side note, would updating the kernel possibly fix my sound? I currently have version 2.6.20-16, it has updated once from automatic updates, and I am wondering if I can update straight to the latest version from kernel.org safely. And how to do it.
Sorry if I bored you or was not making much sense.
I wouldn't worry about it. Some people - mainly those who have little clue about any operating system - will always moan about anything that doesn't do things in the way they're used to. As an IT tech I spend most of my working life fixing windows PCs for people and although I try and convert them to Linux in the process it's an uphill battle againts MS brainwashing and conditioning.
Anyway, afraid I can't help you with the sound issue, but you might want to look at the user agent switcher extension for firefox - en-US/firefox/addon/59
So that IE-only sites think that I am using IE?
ok....getting sound to work is a different issue and can possibly be resolved by posting your results after running quot;lspci -vquot; fromt he command line.
as far as your father, i'm confused about whether this is your machine or whether you have converted everyone in the house to linux. if your father is so resistant to it, i'd suggest not forcing it on him. i don't force linux on anyone that does not have an open mind to it. i'm not sure of your situation but it sounds controversial in general and linux is the means to express it more fully. i don't know if your role in your house is the resident IT person or not either but some people want it their way and that's all. i'd suggest not stepping on toes or trying to prove a point because it will be fruitless. this is one of those life's lessons that not everyone is going to agree and there are those that want to infringe on your rights to freely express yourself while wrapping it in a disguise of something as rudimentary as a operating system choice.
the community will support your interest and growth because believe me we have all been in the same situation as the quot;outcastquot; of the operating system world. rather than focusing on the weakness of linux, focus on the strengths of linux. it's like a debate. count the devices in your house or in the public in general that run linux. talk about the backbone of the internet. pixar movies totally linux. cell phones. tivo. the list goes on and on.
thay are difarent, in many ways linux is superior to windows, espetialy vista junk
the websites that wont run in ff probaly depend on vbscript
quot;IE onlyquot; sites you mean sites that are driven by activeX will require IE yes. That's it. As long as you have your acrobat reader, flash, and java plguins then the rest should be ok. there might be some issues with certain odd flash sites but that is usually resolved by adding a certain plugin as well. you will not be able to circumvent activeX dependent sites though in linux.
installing a thing called wine and IE4linux does work to some degree though but it's a little buggy. you can try it. sounds like you need this site to complete your ubuntu experience:
from : localhost/easylinux.info/wiki/:Feisty
Originally Posted by sci-fi guySo that IE-only sites think that I am using IE?
Exactly, my bank's site refused to work with Firefox -unsupported browser message - but with this extension I can fool it into thinking it's IE6. Then everything works fine.
Originally Posted by sci-fi guyMy dad can't seem to understand why I use Linux when it has so many quot;loopholesquot; (as he calls any inconvenience/lack of functionality when compared to Windows). Basically, if something does not work with Linux, he thinks that it is Linux's fault. The three biggest inconveniences I have that he attacks are:
1. Linux does not work with WPA (I only recently found out about WPA-supplicant). So when I got wifi I changed the network's encryption to WEP, and my brother's computer started having chronic wifi issues, although my mom's computer took the change in stride (Both run XP). My dad blamed Linux. Fortunately, I found out about wpa-supplicant and changed back to WPA. I would bet much money that my dad has no clue what WEP or WPA are.
2. He points out that I have no sound when running , but I do when i (rarely) run Vista. I come back with quot;Vista wouldn't give me sound either if the drivers hadn't been added by Toshibaquot;. So he asks why Toshiba didn't supply drivers for Linux. He doesn't seem to understand the concepts of a monolithic kernel, volunteer-written code, or even drivers in general. So I say that Toshiba does not make Linux drivers. He responds with quot;That's a loopholequot;, whatever he means by that.
3. Some websites are IE-only (this has been an issue ever since I started using Firefox in Windows). He thinks that this is because IE is superior. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the makers of those websites have to go out of their way to make it IE-only? The fact that FireFox is not allowed to visit those sites is looked at as FireFox's fault. When I say that FireFox is more secure, he doesn't understand why we need more security when we haven't had any problems (he also gets irritated when I run malware scans on my mom's computer because there is no malware because we didn't install it.
This is a guy who rarely touches a computer unless he is looking around on eBay. And even that is rare. He seems to suffer from all the misconceptions identified in the Linux is NOT Windows article. Especially in regards to the sound. quot;Why can't you get it fixed by talking to tech support or something? Why are you asking other people in a chat room? (I have never visited a chat room. I am in the forums.) What do they know? (another example of not understanding the concepts behind FOSS)quot;
He is driving me up the wall with his cyclical reasoning. I would like to be able to say that something does not work without him saying that Linux is flawed.
On a side note, would updating the kernel possibly fix my sound? I currently have version 2.6.20-16, it has updated once from automatic updates, and I am wondering if I can update straight to the latest version from kernel.org safely. And how to do it.
Sorry if I bored you or was not making much sense.
Lets address each one of those points.
1. Linux can do WPA. As a matter of fact I do WPA2 on my home network. I used to only do WPA since my girlfriend's XP laptop could only do WPA. Now that she got a new Vista equipped laptop it supports WPA2.
2. I have Toshiba laptop and the sounds works perfectly. Here is the fix if you have an SB450 HDA sound card.
from : localhost/ There are VERY FEW websites that must have IE. I have not encountered one in a long time. There are a few websites (M$ especially) that the formatting looks better in IE, but they still work using Firefox.
Site to your father about all the phishing, stolen passwords, hacked buffers, etc. XP has had so many security vulnerabilities in the past they are too many to mention. So you father thinks that security is a non-factor in today's computing age?
Are you running Feisty? If so your Toshiba laptop should have an Atheros card. My site will help you get your laptop set up right. I can watch DVDs and play CDs, burn CDs and DVDs. Play mp3 and rip CDs to mp3. My laptop can do everything that an XP laptop can besides get viruses and spyware.
Dont worry about what other ppl say or do about linux... If they like it or not is personal preference and not for you to worry about. Why dont you just show them what Vista takes ram wise on fresh boot and example at how linux is nowhere near that with Beryl etc on.
Load his computer up with viruses and spyware. That usually shuts them up. |
Post at 2011-1-22 01:50
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