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View Full Version : a "thank you" to you all.



realpc
02-28-2005, 10:31 PM
hello all.

may i take this opportunity to thank all the people who have posted advice and solutions to problems within this forum, i (like many others i feel) have scoured these forums over the last few weeks looking for answers to issues i hit while i made the break from windows.

these answers i found, applied and have enabled me to make great headway in using Knoppix.

i have many years IT experience, worked for large networking companies, support roles and now i run my own IT support and maintenance company in Spain, however all the while i was spoon fed windows, this "linux" thing kept nagging at me...

i played around with it a little a few years ago, red hat mainly, however when you think you know an industry its not nice learning to walk again by changing os like that, so back on the shelf it went.

as time has gone on, i have become more and more aware that this "conditioned" atmosphere IT exists in isn't so healthy.

i (like many others) became irritated with the constant virus and spy ware (in my opinion the next real nemesis of widows) problems on both my windows systems and customers, the constant upgrades, service packs, high speed versioning etc.

so off i went in search of an alternative that satisfied me, the route was...

DSL, then Feather Linux, then KNOPPIX!

now Knoppix (and the support these forums have provided) has enabled me to turn the way i work around. i have not booted to windows for 5 weeks, apart from for support calls.

sounds silly but to me its a goal reached, a mountain climbed.

i have procrastinated a lot, spent an unhealthy amount of time on my system, and written notes all along the way, but i am pleased to be here.

i am not knocking windows, it has its place, it has a presence in the market place, however its VERY oversold and over marketed, in my opinion Knoppix is as good... no wait... its better.

this is my way of saying thanks to the people in this forum who by their contributions have helped me and all others like me get the most from this operating system (you know who you are).

they found ways around things, solutions to problems and had the decency to tell us lot how they did it, they sat up all night head scratching over other peoples problems and then provided the answers, all on their own time all unpaid for.

this supporting community is the reason i managed to make the switch, as time goes on, i want to be in the position to give something back.

my learning curve is so steep now its painful and i am learning to walk all over again but thats fine.

my only regret is that i never did this years ago...

samhainbaphomet
03-03-2005, 10:25 PM
I find spending time reading through this forum every now and then a great way to learn about linux. There was so much I didnt know before I came here. I don't post much, but I do visit very often.

I have been using knoppix for a while now, and I am reading through tutorials on making a dual boot option. I hope to have one soon so I never have to go onto windows again.

chris-harry
03-04-2005, 01:34 PM
trust me... duel boot is easier then it sounds... (most of the time anyway)

pureone
03-04-2005, 01:53 PM
if you want to give something back to knoppix. help some people out with it everynow(tips on how you got things working etc) and give some cds to friends and show them how to use it.

chris-harry
03-06-2005, 06:51 AM
giving cd's to friends and showing them how to use it is the easy part... thats what i did... then, when they ask you a question you dont know... just run out of the room... :D

samhainbaphomet
03-06-2005, 10:31 PM
if you want to give something back to knoppix. help some people out with it everynow(tips on how you got things working etc) and give some cds to friends and show them how to use it.

Im going to make copies of my knoppix and give them to friends. One friend has shown an interest and wants to try it out as well. I have converted a few people to Firefox, and they are all pleased with it!

If I see anyone ask a question I can help with I will try and help out :)

chris-harry
03-07-2005, 10:35 AM
FireFox is easy to convert too... mainly because its stress free... :D

gildedlink
03-08-2005, 03:39 AM
giving cd's to friends and showing them how to use it is the easy part... thats what i did... then, when they ask you a question you dont know... just run out of the room... :D

Long ago I tried convincing a friend to use knoppix. He never even knew there was the option of making a dual boot system, it took me a while to realize that. He thought installing any distro of linux would replace windows and was too big of a leap to take. Thats when I explained dual boot to him, and then I gave him a knoppix cd, configured his bios so it would run, and he liked alot. Its interesting how alot of people don't know about such possibilities yet. I haven't switched to a dual boot yet, I still use the knoppix live cd (I tried installing Debian, but the whole partitioning part just confused me a bit much at the time). That doesn't mean I won't try again though eventually. This definitely got me a great start into the world of linux, after hearing so much about it and never having the guts to try it, with little hard drive space, and realizing that I didn't have to install it.

chris-harry
03-08-2005, 08:22 AM
hehe... most of me friends know i love linux... and hate windows with a pation...

so... they usually hear what i can do with linux... :D

hay, i did something today...

the kids at me school (CURSE THEM!!!), all wanna make stick fighting movies, and games... but use powerpoint instead of flash (HENCE THE CURSE!!!)... anyway... I converted a few today... when i decided to make a crazzy scientist (one that does bio), dance...

that i feel proud... now... the next step... show them linux!!!

jjmac
03-16-2005, 12:41 AM
gildedlink wrote:
>>
Long ago I tried convincing a friend to use knoppix. He never even knew there was the option of making a dual boot system, it took me a while to realize that. He thought installing any distro of linux would replace windows and was too big of a leap to take.
>>

Yes, it's all to common. MS have been quite successful really, at educating a couple of generations in a totally erronous computing model.

Especially the "it's all to technical" belief that seems to infect everyone. Where as, the real reason is just that the docs sux (grin).


Dilbert came up with something funny yesterday ...

------------------------------------------------
MS Headquarters:

(employee: standing)
(guess_who: not seen, at a desk)

employee: [We misspelled a word in our spell checking software]


guess_who: [You know what to do]


employee: [Um ... use our Market Power to make the new word an Industry Standard ?]


guess_who: [And ... ?]


employee: [Kill myself as an example to others ?]


guess_who: [In our booth at "COMDEX" ]
------------------------------------------------


Well, it's a bit funnier with the pictures :)


jm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

chris-harry
03-16-2005, 07:43 AM
uhehe... thats dilbert... :D

but really you know who.. (voldermold, i mean bill)... would really say "Who cares. its not like they ever are going to pick it up"... :D

Cuddles
04-14-2005, 03:07 PM
Getting back to the discussion....

Ways to "give back" to what you believe in...

Donate $$$$$ to your favorite distro; whether it be Knoppix, Kanotix, Gento, Suse, Debian, etc... (considering that the "majority" of distro's are run by people who just love to see what they can do, and how far they can go with it.)

Donate time to the irc chat rooms, or the forums, that your favorite distro sponsors. This is a great way to learn, and keep the knowledge "flowing" on to others.

Join a Users Group, or start one, for your Linux. Not just for the specific distro, considering that there are many, leave it open to whatever anyone who wants to attend, uses. This is a great way to distribute distros, ideas, knowledge, and learning. (I started the WIPLUG in my "small" town, which stands for WIsconsin Phillips Linux Users Group, in case you didnt figure it out on your own :) )

If you are more into the programming, or debugging, stuff... Get on a programming, or testing, or beta tester for the distrobution you favor. It takes resources for the distro to get made, and some of those people, are just volunteers, if not most. I am even quite sure that the "Debian Security" alerts are being found by just regular users of the distro.

As another thought, if you have an idea on how to make your favorite distro, better. Donate your ideas. Send your ideas to the distro, heck, I am quite sure that a lot of things that get "introduced" into a new version of a distro, had to come from "someone" who came up with the idea.

Advertise your favorite distro. Tell friends, neighbors, etc... Dont try and "glossy coat" the facts, just tell it the way you feel. If the distro of your choice has some pitfalls, then so be it. People dont like being lied to, and many can tell if you are. I have one friend who attests they will "never" run Linux, because it doesnt do "plug-n-play" as good as Windows, or that you have to compile your NVidia drivers into the kernel, whereas, Windows just installs the drivers. In this case, I dont promote that Linux can do what "Windows" can do, but, tell them that the compiling isnt really that hard, and you get a pretty fast, and stable, operating system out of the deal. Not to mention, the cost factor, and what comes "already installed" with Linux; productivity software, office software, photo retouching software, and a ton of other software, free for the installing, just a simple download away... He is starting to come around, but not too soon, though. Security is about the easiest way to get people interested. Considering all the viri attacks on "Windows" PC's lately, this can be a very easy way to get the "bug" in there heads that, Linux may be a better thought.

Just some thoughts,
Ms. Cuddles
-=- Sometimes, when saving the "known" Universe from evil attacking spawn, you gotta take a bathroom break -=-