Message-ID: <01FD6EC775C6D4119CDF0090273F74A455A7CF@emwatent02.meters.com.au>
From: "da Silva, Joe" <Joe DOT daSilva AT emailmetering DOT com>
To: "'opendos AT delorie DOT com'" <opendos AT delorie DOT com>
Subject: RE: multitasking?
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2001 11:24:50 +1100
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Reply-To: opendos AT delorie DOT com

Well, from what I have read so far, Mandrake Linux looks
extremely easy to install on modern PC's - even for non-geek
and dumb Windoze users!

This and other Linux packages, also FreeBSD, appear to be
viable alternatives to Windoze. The only things I need Windoze
for, are Acrobat and IE, while some people also need to access
M$-Office crap. Now, Acrobat is available for Linux and will
run just fine on FreeBSD, Netscape (and other browsers) is also
available for Linux and will run on FreeBSD, StarOffice is available
for free and can read M$ documents pretty well. So, it seems to
me that every possible application, for which I may have previously
required Windoze, has a *free* alternative in the Linux and FreeBSD
domains.

So, when time and courage permit, I will be installing Linux on
my PC, dual-booting with DR-DOS, and will be wiping off all traces
of that accursed Windoze crap! It should be fun! BTW, although
Mandrake looks extremely easy to install, I think I will be going
with Red Hat instead, because it gives me more control over the
process. Both options (and FreeBSD, I think), normally allow and
indeed assume you will be dual-booting, so you won't be "jumping
off the deep end" by going this route. It is quite encouraging in
fact, that Windoze is no longer required!!!  :-)

Joe.

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Paul O. Bartlett [SMTP:bartlett AT smart DOT net]
> Sent:	Tuesday, October 30, 2001 10:04 AM
> To:	opendos AT delorie DOT com
> Subject:	Re: multitasking?
> 
> On Mon, 29 Oct 2001, Alex Venn wrote (excerpt):
> 
> >                                          but the real problem is that it
> > stopped development some years ago.
> 
>     Sadly, this seems to be true for nearly everything in the DOS
> world.  If I don't want to be trapped in the Windoozy world, I might
> have to bite the bullet and try to go with Linux.  Unfortunately, I
> know next to nothing about Linux administration and would probably do
> well in addition by installing a second HDD (I am no hardware monkey),
> so Linux seems to be a bit of a daunting task.  I briefly looked at
> BeOS, as it provides a (mostly) Posix-compliant shell with most of the
> customary *nix-style utilities, but development there also seems to be
> almost on the rocks.  Mac is out, as I am not in the market for a new
> system.  Is there no alternative to Windoozy for some of poor non-geek
> saps?
> 
> -- 
> Paul Bartlett
> bartlett AT smart DOT net
> PGP key info in message headers
>