YDL in Mac OS X Hints today

[Ray Auge]

I simply *must* put in my two cents.


On Fri, 2004-02-27 at 22:10, Clinton MacDonald wrote:
> Norberto:
> 
> Your challenge cannot go unmet! :-)
> 
> The following is a *RANT*. As such, it may be
> considered off-topic or boring by some. Feel free to
> pass this message by!
> 
> Norberto Quintanar <nquintanar AT yahoo DOT com>
> wrote:
> > I've often found that people just don't want to
> > be bothered by learning curves.
> 
> That would be me. I *like* the inexhaustible,
> plodding, dull consistency of the Macintosh operating
> system (Mac OS 9 or OS X). I *like* that command-Q
> ALWAYS means "Quit." (Conversely, I *hate* that, while
>...

> > Honestly, how could Linux not fit ANY of your needs?
> 
> Okay -- how about copy-and-paste in a word processor?
> (That was a low blow, and I should be ashamed.)
Is there a problem here, I've never seen it. I'd say wrong or bad 
version of softwares.

> Well, Linux meets *some*, but by no means *all* of my
> needs. Mac OS X meets many more (though not all) of my
> needs. One of the reasons I am experimenting with
> Linux is that I imagine it will meet more of my needs
> in the near-to-medium future.
> 
> Thomas Leonard <tleonard AT bridgew DOT edu> wrote:
> > Perhaps it didn't fit his desktop needs?
> 
> I agree with the implication of Mr. Leonard's
> rhetorical question: Linux does not meet my desktop
> needs (it meets some of my other needs -- see below).
> My desktop needs are uncomplicated, but nonnegotiable.
> I write grants for a living (we do science, too, but
> the grants pay the bills). For this I need to be able
> to type long diatribes into poorly designed forms,
> while including complex diagrams and using
> institutionally specified fonts. OpenOffice.org
> doesn't fit the bill (surprisingly, I find that poor
> font support, rather than forms, to be the biggest
I have just about every TTF, MathML, Mathmatica, dings, bings,
diddle-di-doos fonts installed with OOo (well over 2000, try that with
M$, 800+ and your in trouble).

Me thinks your using either a bad build, or the wrong version of OOo.

> issue).
> 
> I need a laptop computer that unerringly goes to sleep
> when I close the lid and wakes when I open it again.
I typically close the lid (entering sleep mode) during compiles when a
class ends and I'm in transit. Open the lid and carry on with whatever
I'm doing, compile or email whatever... I've never had a problem.

> It doesn't fly if pmud dies mysteriously every second
Never happened to me. (ibook2, 600Mhz, YDL 3.0.1)

> or third day, and must be restarted using arcane
> commands.
> 
> I need to be able to copy files to removable media
> with a flick of the wrist in the time it takes to say
> "removable media," not after opening a console,
If your removable media doesn't show up as a link on your desktop, then 
you have a problem.

> logging in as root, typing in a password, looking up a
> command in a cheat sheet, typing in that command,
> etc., etc.
> 
> I need a Web browser that can copy text from a text
> editor, then paste it into a Web form field. I need to
Mozilla?? I do it at least a few times a day. The catch is to use the
combinations of <ctrl>-c (copy) and <middle-click> on the mouse (paste).

> be able to install new software in fewer than
yum, apt-get, etc... I didn't think that you could approach the
simplicity of the packaging paradigm with any other system.

> two-and-one-half hours. I need a shareware application
> that allows me to manage my e-mail POP accounts. I
I have 6 pop accounts pulled into a 7th via fetchmail which I access 
via IMAP (so that I have access to the same email and folders from anywhere 
I go) with Evolution while it does extensive spam/content 
filtering/organizing/categorizing.

> need a shareware application that turns xmms on and
AT and/or cron can schedule anything, even XMMS, and there are even
GUI's for both???

> off at predetermined times. I need a Usenet News
*Pan*! _Is_ there any other Usenet application?
> reader that lists all the available newsgroups, rather
> than having me guess their names. I need a file
> browser that allows me to click on a file to select
> it, but requires a double-click to launch it, and that
KDE, just gotta set it up that way (in about four clicks).

> remembers from one time to the next which application
> I want to launch files of that type.
File associations? I challenge anyone to argue the power over file
associations that KDE has. You can associate multiple programs with any
file type, the first is the default. The rest show up in the right-click
context menu... Does any other OS/WM do that??? 

> I need an operating system that stores applications in
> one (or at most two) locations, not in six directories
> (and counting) -- many of which are not in my "PATH"
If an installed piece of software does not show up in your path, then
either it's a development package, or it wasn't installed properly to
begin with.

> (whatever that is). I need to be able to perform daily
> (if not hourly) chores while logged in as an
And the problem is? In OSX when you login with an administrator account
you ARE root, so what is the difference?

> administrative user, not as root. I need GUI-based
> applications with a common scripting API so that I can
The whole of OOo, has *Basic* with OLE, is scriptable via macros, can
produce forms just like Access, etc...

> control them in ways the authors did not envision
> (and, no, access to the source code does not help me
> at all).
> 
> I need a beer.
I concur.

> Mandrake Linux on the Anony-box is an epiphany. So,
> *THAT's* how Linux is supposed to work! YDL is about
I agree here, but there are about 5,000,000 more developers on the x86
platform that the ppc, so we must understand the latency.
> two to three years behind the Linux curve. There
> really exist GUI apps and wizards to manage your
I agree these are an issue with YDL, but they _are_ being worked on.
> Internet connection. There are many, many applications
> that do many, many things. In some categories, there
> are too many applications (text editor, anyone?).
> There are alternatives to the plain-vanilla KDE and
I beg to differ, I don't think you can get to much more exciting that
Konqueror. I browse the Internet while at the command line, while making
photo-galleries AND browsing the file system all in one window. Try that
with another file manger.

> GNOME file browsers. Some things just work out of the
> box.
> 
> But plenty of things don't, and that's where the
> future of Linux lies. If the advances I see between
I agree that there is much room to grow. But I also think that few
realize how much time they really did have to invest in those other
Operating systems to learn them initially. And then think that Linux is
hard, right off the bat. Even though they haven't invested even a
fraction of the time they did with the others. As a result it gets an
unfair assessment. 

> Mandrake on a PC versus YDL on a PowerBook represent
> three years of advancement, then I imagine that I will
> be satisfied with Linux in about three more years. At
> that point, Linux will move out of my "hobby" category
> into my "desktop/laptop" category. I am looking
> forward to that day.
I AM really thrilled that you are treading in the Linux waters. I hope
that my comments do not come across as malevolent in any way, but that
maybe they show that perhaps some things were overlooked because they
were not in a familiar place. Explore some more, there is lots to see.

> 
> Sorry for the rant!
It was a worthy rant.
> 
> Best wishes,
> Clint

-- 
Ray Auge <rayauge@doublebite.com>

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Mirco$oft is the MATRIX. Richard Stallman is Morpheus. Linus Torvalds
is Neo. Bill Gates is the ARCHITECT. Linux is Zion.

And, FREEDOM is the RED PILL.

You can guess what the BLUE PILL is. 
So, take a dose of freedom and you might just get to see Zion.

PS: Nobody said FREEDOM was easy. But, it definitely is better.
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