[wplug] If I were a Linux consultant...

[Alex Birch]

> | simple enough just to do:
> | su -
> | ifdown eth0 && ifup eth0
> |
> | but then su in red hat 8.0 didn't add the right path.
>
> 'su ' and 'su - ' are  different. the first has your path while the
> latter has roots.  check out the man page for su the '-' makes the shell a
> login shell.

Yes. And ifdown and ifup are located in /sbin which should be in root's path.


> | Why doesn't linux do what OS X does and automatically connect when there
> | is an internet connection?

> because if i want my computer connected to a hostile network i'll tell it
> to do so.

But when you plug in an ethernet cable or when the connection comes back
online, why not go online? If you've disconnected it (hence you've
proactively done this) your machine shouldn't automatically reconnect you.

> i don't know about 8, but in 9 i can click on a zip file in konqueror and
> it will show the files contents.
Good to know. Perhaps my sister-in-law should upgrade.

> | ln -s /dev /hardware
> | ln -s /home /users
> | ln -s /bin /system-programs
> | ln -s /usr/bin /user/programs
> | ln -s /sbin /administrator-programs
> | ln -s /etc /configuration
>
> because you can. really i would have no use for those links, but i'm
> familiar with linux. i'm assuming these are things you find in osX.
They aren't found in OS X.

I believe that Linux actually created /home. With Unix machines it's
actually /user(s)?

> i personally prefer the explicit nature of linux. if you want something
> you
> have to tell the computer you want it. while it could be made a little
> easier, i don't think it's overly difficult as things currently stand.
I agree that it's easy for most computer professionals. Yet how many
non-techies use Linux? Lindows seems to be moving in the desktop market.
They have a User Documents as the default location for gimp and other
things.

Even Gimp 1.3 has a nice menu system. Linux is good, but there is still a
TCO for the average Desktop user. I would suggest people use
OpenOffice.org, Thunderbird and Firebird on Windows to save money; just
not the OS itself.

Cheers,
Alex