Metalbarthug

Well,

It has been a long time away. HP sent me a nice new HDD as the old one was actually faulty - It was a Seagate SATA 160GB incidentally.

So, I avoided using Linux at all until it catches up with IR keyboards and mice, TFT monitors and Realtek soundcards.

However, I did save up some pennies and bought a 2nd hand copy of VMWARE from a mate. This program is a godsend - I can happily fiddle with my old Win 98 CD, Linux 8 and 9.1 to my heart's content. No ****ing around with boot loaders, partitions etc.

I will continue to see if Linux is a worthy candidate to replace my OS needs, however I am still really disappointed in the posts some people continue to put up blaming the hardware or somesuch of other newbie's like me.

I work in an industry that is supportive of developing people's skills. If I adopted the same appoach to some of the posters on forums like this, I would be sacked on the spot. So, get a grip is all I am saying.

zeeone

Glad to hear our posts helped you out, and by the way, you are welcome.

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Research, research, research before you walk the plank.
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Metalbarthug

erm, your posts didn't help out. one bit. I ended up doing all the work myself. As an added postscript, I ordered a 5 CD set of Suse 10.0 OSS and IT IS WORKING JUST FINE ON MY HP T760. So, Zeeone, that useless remark about the PC being "There is a reason why HP is low on the off the shelf computer list" was just as I said, total conjecture and ill-founded opinion.

Apart from the simple fact that 3 months later, I still do no have a clue what the Hell you actually meant by that remark!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I am still right in thinking, your ill-founded off-handed rhetoric is exactly NOT what noobs like me want to hear when making a slow but concerted effort to move to Linux.

CodeRoot

Metalbarthug:
I am glad to see you have Linux working on your T760.

I appreciate your perseverance - a lot of people just give up at the first little problem...

I have to agree with you that everyone in the Linux community should put forth a positive and supportive [attitude/etc.] (as much as possible and it still be honest). I also understand, and can see rather clearly from the varied posting styles of the members of this forum, that the way people approach something is as different from one person to the next as there are places on the globe where they live. At least once or twice, I believe I have actually seen an "argument"/"debate" ensue between two people who were essentially in agreement with each other...

Since you have self-proclaimed yourself as a [Linux] "newbie", let me see if I can help you understand some of the "approaches" that others (newbie and non-newbie, alike) take with regard to your situation... (Keep in mind that I am in no way condoning anyone's "bad attitude", where it may apply - I just want to help you and others understand where some people in the Linux community "are coming from"...)

One of the really cool/nice things about the Linux community is, it seems to try really hard to provide support for just about any hardware that comes out - ASAP after it comes out. Somebody designs a new kind of printer -- no problem - wait just a little bit, and a new driver shows up. New technology? No problem...

There is a good probability that SuSE 10.0 now has a driver - that works (or works better) - with your particular hardware (video card and monitor) that did not exist when you started this "journey" - it was not that there was necessarily anything wrong with your hardware, but that perhaps the Linux community hadn't caught up with it yet.

Please understand that some people (perhaps because their experience with Linux has been nothing but great) may be of the opinion that - "if it doesn't work well under Linux, there must be something wrong with it and it is not worth having..." - which, as you know, is not a good general assumption...

If you read enough of this forum, you will discover that there are [certain hardware problems] still not completely worked out yet. The "screen blanking" occurrences are evidently still a wide-spread problem - there is something about the flat-screen technologies that seem to make them difficult to sense/detect properly... (I have not looked into it, and have no idea why...)

Just in case this helps...

From what I can tell, most if not all Linux users probably fit into one of the following descriptions:

In the context of this post, I am making the following definitions ("~ aspect of an OS"):

cost - the worth of an OS with regard to the monetary requirement in [legally] obtaining it.
political - the worth of an OS with regard to the fact that it is open-source or closed-source.
commercial - the worth of an OS strictly in terms of it being useful as a means of obtaining monetary profits.
practical - the worth of an OS strictly in terms of it being useful from a user-task-accomplishment point of view.
unique - the worth of an OS strictly in terms of its uniqueness.

The Commercial User

This Linux user is primarily/only concerned with the cost and commercial aspects - and are not concerned with any other aspect unless it has a particularly positive or negative affect on "the bottom line"... This Linux user will use any OS (Linux or non-Linux) they can exploit for personal gain, and ignores the dangers of - and accepts no responsibility for - any detrimental effects from the wide-spread use and support of [that particular] OS. Personal satisfaction exists only in terms of monetary profit.

Meaningful aspects are cost and commercial; Attitude and personal drive are based on "Can I get rich off of it?"...

The Nonchalant User

This Linux user is generally not concerned with any aspect at all - they just want to "toy" with it for amusement - and will "drop" it at whatever point they are no longer sufficiently amused... Personal satisfaction exists primarily/only in the realm of amusement.

Meaningful aspects are (none); Attitude and personal drive are based on "I can take it or leave it"...

The Scientific User

This Linux user is generally only concerned with the cost and practical aspects, unless it has a particularly positive or negative affect on their ability to use it to reach a goal... This Linux user will (generally) use any OS that will help them achieve their goal. Personal satisfaction exists primarily/only in the realm of accomplishment.

Meaningful aspects are cost and practical; Attitude and personal drive are based on "Is it a good means to an intended end?"...

The Pragmatic User

This Linux user is primarily concerned with the practical aspect. While cost may enter the equation and become an issue, it is not a primary concern. This Linux user will use whatever OS (Linux or non-Linux) they feel will "work best" for any particular purpose they have in mind. Personal satisfaction exists primarily/only in getting the result they desire.

Meaningful aspects are practical; Attitude and personal drive are based on "As long as I get what I want (in the short term)."...

The Believing User

This Linux user is primarily concerned with the practical and unique aspects. This Linux user uses Linux because it is "cool" and "fun" - and simply sees no reason not to use it (exclusively). Personal satisfaction exists primarily/only in the pure enjoyment of the learning/experience.

Meaningful aspects are practical and unique; Attitude and personal drive are based on "This is a blast!"...

The Anxious User

This Linux user is primarily concerned with the political and unique aspects. This Linux user uses Linux - and only Linux - because of what it is NOT (i.e., a different operating system that they despise... ). They have found a "haven" in Linux. Personal satisfaction exists primarily/only in the knowledge that Linux is NOT [something they hate].

Meaningful aspects are political and unique; Attitude and personal drive are based on "This is much better than * that * dung-heap!"...

The Principled User

This Linux user is primarily concerned with the political and practical aspects. This Linux user's use of [any particular] OS is based on a set of "principles" derived from their particular viewpoint with regard to the political and practical aspects of the OS - and how they fit into "the big picture"... Personal satisfaction exists primarily/only in the knowledge that they are doing the right thing.

Meaningful aspects are political and practical; Attitude and personal drive are based on "This is the correct course of action."...

The Skeptic User

This Linux user is not convinced that Linux has any worth at all. Personal satisfaction exists primarily/only in finding fault with Linux.

Meaningful aspects are (none); Attitude and personal drive are based on "I refuse to believe it."...

(anyone is welcome to suggest another description if they do not feel they fit into any of these)

These descriptions are not intended to negatively characterize anyone - rather, they are intended to objectively describe the central basic core identifying characteristic of the type of Linux user.

Remember -- there are all kinds on the forum - the range of level of knowledge/experience with Linux/kernel/network/hardware/software/programming/gaming/you-name-it pretty much runs the length of the scale... Most really want to help... Even some with little knowledge/experience want to help... I personally have extensive knowledge/experience in some areas, and not nearly as much (next to none) in others... (I wish to increase my knowledge/experience in these areas - I am learning new things just reading the posts of others...) I think perhaps the community as a whole is better balanced...

I applaud you for "sticking with it" -- there really are some really good reasons to invest in Linux - I hope you soon enough discover them all...

Keep asking questions -- hopefully someone will have the answer. And remember, there actually are people on this forum who truely want you to succeed with Linux! Because, more people having success with Linux means better Linux!

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* Linux 101 * Linux 102 * Computer 101 * Software 101 *
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Remember: amateurs built the ark... professionals built the Titanic

Metalbarthug

ISOS

Thank you very much for your considered and thoughtful reply. I do admit I was rather annoyed by what I saw as an attack on my paticular choice of hardware, which to be fair was the only post I have ever come across in all the forums I am a member of.

I do look around this forum and try to impart some of the knowledge I have gained (either through the direct support of other LQ'rs or my own research).

As we all know, PCs are still not cheap things to buy. And as you so rightly state, the Linux community still has to play catch up with the very latest in hardwares, although I think the gap is now getting shorter and shorter.

I am well and truly hooked on Linux, as someone from a non-IT background, and having spent 15 years "compelled" to use Windows, I find it intuitively a more comfortable OS to use. Knowing what goes on 'under the bonnet' so to speak.

I'll keep on going with the help of dudes like yourself and others

Cheers!

Metalbarthug

I've just completed the last in my full conversion to Linux, having just thrown out my despised Speedtouch 330 modem for a D-Link 300T Ethernet modem and am now sending this final post to this thread with Suse 10.0 OSS up and running!!!

CodeRoot

Jolly Good!! :P

__________________
* Linux 101 * Linux 102 * Computer 101 * Software 101 *
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Remember: amateurs built the ark... professionals built the Titanic