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Hee! Linux for the win
Apr. 29th, 2009 09:37 pmI was sitting at the circulation check-in desk this evening and talking about the database that I'm recoding. I wanted something from my desktop machine, which was 40 feet away, logged out, and monitor turned off. So I logged into my machine remotely using xdm. That brings up the entire GUI/Desktop and you can switch between it and the local machine with ALT+Fkeys. It seems that made an unexpected impression. I don't think much about it any more, I just do it if it's convenient.
"No, you can't do that with Windows unless you have a bunch of extra commercial software installed at both ends."
"Yes, I can do it from any Linux machine in the building."
"Yes, Linux is free. Yes, you could install Linux and switch between it and Windows on the same machine. No, you don't need antivirus software with Linux..." And so forth.
Suddenly there was some actual interest in Linux from folks who have been using it daily without realizing how very different from Windows it actually can be. That's because the machines they use were set up to look as much like Windows as possible so they wouldn't panic and freak out.
In other news, we sighted a wood duck (female) this morning in an oak tree near the house. Wood ducks are one of a very few species of ducks that actually nest in trees. They build in cavities as much as 30 or 40 feet above the ground. When the ducklings leave the nest, they aren't able to fly yet. They just fall to the ground and head for the water. I've never seen this happen, and probably won't see it here because there are no suitable hollows in our trees as far as I know, but it was nice spotting and hearing the duck anyway. Wood ducks are very handsome too, resembling a colored painting of a waterbird in some northwest native American styles.
Gary has been looking for crochet cotton in finer, lace makers' sizes. At one time you could buy that at any dime store. He was having a lot of difficulty finding any at all. I got on the web and found it is still available in all sizes and many colors, but only by mail order. At least we can still get it.
"No, you can't do that with Windows unless you have a bunch of extra commercial software installed at both ends."
"Yes, I can do it from any Linux machine in the building."
"Yes, Linux is free. Yes, you could install Linux and switch between it and Windows on the same machine. No, you don't need antivirus software with Linux..." And so forth.
Suddenly there was some actual interest in Linux from folks who have been using it daily without realizing how very different from Windows it actually can be. That's because the machines they use were set up to look as much like Windows as possible so they wouldn't panic and freak out.
In other news, we sighted a wood duck (female) this morning in an oak tree near the house. Wood ducks are one of a very few species of ducks that actually nest in trees. They build in cavities as much as 30 or 40 feet above the ground. When the ducklings leave the nest, they aren't able to fly yet. They just fall to the ground and head for the water. I've never seen this happen, and probably won't see it here because there are no suitable hollows in our trees as far as I know, but it was nice spotting and hearing the duck anyway. Wood ducks are very handsome too, resembling a colored painting of a waterbird in some northwest native American styles.
Gary has been looking for crochet cotton in finer, lace makers' sizes. At one time you could buy that at any dime store. He was having a lot of difficulty finding any at all. I got on the web and found it is still available in all sizes and many colors, but only by mail order. At least we can still get it.
