Subj : Polling - Still not a solution To : Rick Christian From : Jeff Smith Date : Tue Oct 25 2016 08:26 pm Hello rick, > On 10/21/2016 08:56 PM, Jeff Smith -> Rick Christian wrote: >> Compiling one's own software can indeed sometimes involve more work and >> effort. But I simply look at it as a learning curve that will increase > You and I are in this for different reasons. > Why do I use Linux? > 1) F-R-E-E, and that word has only ONE MEANING, no cost! Agreed. Running Linux sure does beat the $100-$1000 USD depending on the version desired for Windows 10+. The same also applies to a lot of the software that runs on Linux. My #2 would be that (For Me) Linux is more flexible, configurable, and stable for what I need it to do. > 2) It is basically back to doing things the way I've done them most of my > life via computers.. Here I don't see your attitude as being any worse or better than mine. Just different. I look at Linux and a path to better understanding the OS and how it and the software works. > Things that do NOT MATTER to me in Linux > 1) CODE I don't claim any particular degree of programming ability. Although I have dabbled in Pascal, Perl, and PHP when I was much younger. As a result I don't use Linux from a "CODE" point of view. I also don't think there is a need to understand "CODE" to any real degree to understand what a piece of software needs to have to run or to compile properly. Again I am looking at this from my POV. There are a number of things in life that I look at just as you seem to do. I want it to work without wanting or needing to understanding its inner workings. But things related to computers and electronics have always peaked my interest. Ever since I was 10 or so and decided to take apart my mothers new BW tele to see how and what made it work. Mom had a rather direct and to the point way of instilling in me the desire to either learn or leave stuff ALONE. By 12 I was building my own test equipment to fix televisions and radios. > 2) Uptight agendas like DFSG over things like MP3 etc.. > When I am using a computer for LEARNING then maybe I want the code, in THIS > CASE, fidonet.. I couldn't care less. In my case I got into computers in school long before Fido when the "Computer" was comprised of vacuum tubes and completely filled the whole room at school. > I want to install the stuff, do the setup of the config files, and get on > with things. I don't care about the code. That ability is good to have. And I tended to look at it that way too when I use a Windows based PC (Which I still have a couple of). > If I have an issue I will file a bug report, the author fixes it, release > a new versions, makes DEBS, I pull the DEBS and update... done. > Rinse repeat. I also do that for some software authors to help test software upgrades to their software. [...] > I am not in THIS CASE. I want to install stuff and get on with using it. > And compiling is not some right of passage to use an OS or a computer. > We are past that! The 70's are over! I post this several times... Linux IMHO has long been a more "Hands On" ever since the Unix days. Although today's Linux distros are a lot more user friendly than they used to be. > YOU might be an expert in C and compiling.. No... I don't claim any expertise in either. > Well I am an expert in SQL and RF systems. Cool, now I know the DB man to go to. > So we are on different views of this.. That is simply the primary point here. Two individuals looking at something from two different POV's. > If you have something along the lines of : > Hey, I tried to compile this too! And I found you need to do: > apt-get install lib1 lib2 lib3 > Then do compile via magic 3 Umm.. That would have been my next suggestion. > If you are just here to berate me for not being interested in the code and > deeper inner workings of that code and the OS.. well then I am not sure > what the point is... No berating intended. Just a suggestion to consider and an observation from an alternative point of view. Jeff --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Dada-2 * Origin: The OuijaBoard - Anoka, MN (1:282/1031) .