[WriteLog] Operating system--followup

[Walt Niemczura]

W0UN--John Brosnahan wrote:
<snip>
> 
> By far and away my first choice for OS would be Linux--but none of the
> logging program authors have chosen to make that leap.  Which is
> really too bad.  Hint--I would pay MORE for the logging program if the
> OS was free!  Even DOUBLE the price!
> 
<snip>
> And maybe having a dedicated logging computer that never accesses the
> internet would reduce my anxiety about sharing my files/data with MS--so
> MAYBE XP pro is the right way.  But 2000 pro is still in the race--and there
> would be NO race if/when Writelog comes out for Linux!

While I don't usually like the "me too" responses to postings I must add to
what John says here.

Obviously there is little hope that commercial OSs will go in a direction that
will be useful to amateur radio applications now or in the future. We do have
a lot of odd requirements based on old habits and available technology. The 
loss of COM/LPT ports, ISA slots etc. are a couple of examples. We are just
a gnats cry in the sea of voices that drive modern computer marketing.

Almost all of us have piles of old equipment that are still quite useful but are
being rendered useless by resource hog OSs. I saw a post on the "digitalradio"
reflector recently about a SSTV program that *needs* a 2 GHz machine. Sheese.

I've moved one of my boat anchors over to LINUX. It's an old 166 MHz machine
and runs fine. I first experimented with this on an older 66 MHz/550 MB HDD/32 
MB RAM box and even that was somewhat functional. I've downloaded the few LINUX 
ham applications (which, oddly enough, are more numerous than Mac apps) that 
are available and they run fine. Some of these are real-time sound card based 
packages that would probably choke on this system under anything newer than 
Win 95.

I would also pay money for a LINUX based logging program. It would be worth
it. I'd go for double. I'm amassing some of the general packages out there 
for this OS and they are just as good as the MS types and do what I want. 
I would love to migrate all the shack systems to this platform.

I think that we should all consider taking the plunge. Get that old box out 
from the back of the closet, download or invest $80.00 in a LINUX package,
install and download the available HAM apps and see how it plays. Start asking
for a migration to this platform. If enough of us are willing to pay for this
it might be worth the effort.

The whole philosophy behind LINUX is very similar to that which we all subscribe
to in our pursuit of Ham activities. It is intended as a freeware platform that
is UNIX like for a PC environment with open source which would build on and grow 
with user generated applications. 

We all like to experiment and tinker. Well, this is a system that invites this
kind of behavior. Try it. It's not obscure. There is not a lot of "secret stuff"
that goes on in the background. It's different but you have a chance of understanding
it's working better and with much less effort. I doubt if very many of us will
ever truly understand how XP and any future variants operates. This will only get
worse.

So yes, I agree with John and I encourage everyone who can to try this out. I 
KNOW you'll like it and as you learn more about LINUX it starts to become fun
again and less of the war we face with every change and SP to our current OS
environment. I would say that 90% of the "I can't get WL to run on my XYZ
system" posts would go away and be replaced with "I have this neat widget to 
help you ...".

73 es Aloha,

Walt
AH6OZ