|
We were happy to welcome Dave Eden back at our October meeting. He has pretty much recovered from neck surgery.
This meeting was devoted to answering members' questions. One theme that came up was the recent surge in the popularity of Linux. It's easy to explain. Even though Linux is free, it is not a "toy" or a demo. It's a full- featured operating system, as powerful as commercial versions of UNIX. It supports the vast majority of PC hardware devices; has lots of application software, including the free Staroffice suite, a lookalike to Microsoft Office; runs several GUIs; can be installed on a system along with DOS, Windows, or OS/2; runs well on a 386 or 486, and very well on a Pentium; and it is more capable and more secure for networking applications than any version of Windows. There are even "emulators" for Linux that allow it to run some (but not all) older DOS and Windows applications.
|
It's not too hard to get started with Linux, either. There are plenty of good books on it, and lots of users groups (see Sacra Blue for the next meeting of the SPCUG Linux SIG). Several of our members have been using Linux recently and are pleased with it.
Our next meeting will not be held in November. It will be held on Wednesday, December 1, at the Davis Public Library. We hope to see you then. In the meantime, have a nice Thanksgiving!
—
Tim Feldman
|
