[Coco] 512K upgrade

[Bill Loguidice]

I think your assessment of the "failings" of Windows and how wonderful
Linux is are rather overblown. For an operating system family with over 90%
market share on traditional computing platforms versus an operating system
family with under 2% marketshare, it really, honestly can't be all that
bad. A lot of the security issues you complain about come about from the
lack of sophistication of some its users and the very marketshare that
makes it so mainstream, and thus, a logical target. Really, if you have
recent versions of Windows like 7 and 8, half a chance, you'd see a stable,
secure operating system that's supremely well supported for users of every
level. It's great that there's some choice on traditional computing
platforms, though, be it Windows, MacOS, Linux, or even ChromeOS. For the
vast majority of users they don't ever really need to bother with what's
going on with their machine and have only basic needs, hence the popularity
of smartphones and tablets. We sometimes have to divorce ourselves from the
idea that "those people" should know better (or do more) and just accept
that we're all into different things. Myself, I'm into technology, but when
it comes to something like cars, for instance, I'm as hopeless as those
people who install the "virus known as Windows." It's one thing to express
your preference for something and the reasons why, it's another to expect
or look down upon those who don't share those same preferences or have
similar needs. Perhaps I'm a bit more sensitive to fierce brand loyalty
because I've made it one of my goals to try and fight for the joys of all
types of technology past and present, rather than laser focus or loyalty on
one brand or class of products (just look at my bibliography to understand
what I mean).

I think that type of thinking is one of the reasons why it's difficult to
expand our modern day CoCo community, for instance. A lot of today's
would-be collectors have it in their heads that a CoCo is primitive junk in
comparison to the more popular platforms of the day like the Apple II,
C-64, and Atari 8-bit. I think we should do what we can to understand and
promote the idea that we're all in the same small boat, past and present,
and need to evangelize this type of technology in general, rather than such
a blatant black and white, "this sucks."

-Bill

===================================================
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director; Armchair Arcade,
Inc.<http://www.armchairarcade.com>
===================================================
Authored Books<http://www.amazon.com/Bill-Loguidice/e/B001U7W3YS/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_1>and
Film <http://www.armchairarcade.com/film>; About me and other ways to get
in touch <http://about.me/billloguidice>
===================================================


On Sat, Mar 8, 2014 at 11:17 AM, Gene Heskett <gheskett at wdtv.com> wrote:

> On Saturday 08 March 2014 10:29:38 Bill did opine:
>
> > What should they run?
> >
> What a novel question, linux of course.  The coco, running os9, is a great
> teacher, it teaches you how a computer should be usable.  From os9 to
> nitros9, to amigados to linux, all multi-user, multitasking systems, and
> you never have to put up with the windows tax, or encounter its false, you
> can't do that controls.
>
> I have bought one (1) legit copy of windows in my life, instantly installed
> what is now mageia linux on it because I was going out of town for an
> extended period and needed something to keep my sanity and use for email
> while I was out of town.  A laptop, but you could not buy an assembled
> machine without windows on it.  I reinstalled another linux on it a couple
> months after I got home with it, that time wiping the xp partition which I
> had previously kept because of the wonders drivers for the BCM4318 radio in
> it.  They didn't work any better that the linux drivers for that chip, and
> 10 years later they still don't. So I use a usb dongle.  Now its battery is
> long since toast and it serves as a terminal in the shop that I use to log
> into one of the machines out there with an ssh -Y machinename, and write
> gcode to run those machines in relative comfort.
>
> I never caught the virus called windows, and I am not about to start now.
> The rest of these machines scattered about my local network, were all
> bought and assembled by me, so no further encroachments of windows has even
> been allowed on the property unless I m fixing somebody else's machine.
> And as I approach my 80th birthday, I no longer encourage an infected
> windows box to be brought to me. Most are better off if you don't save
> "your data" because you are probably saving infected files that will self
> reinstall their keyloggers and such, just wipe 'em clean and and format the
> drive(s) and reinstall.  But why should you do that?  Why not use linux,
> using a good firewall providing router with DD-WRT installed on it, and
> keep your data?  My corpus of email here for selected lists reaches back
> almost 15 years, as this list is not expired, ever.  Can any windows user
> claim that?
>
> Doubtful.  One gets the security he pays for. Most windows people connect
> their machines direct to the modem their service provider supplies. And
> because for that direct connection, the average windows machine is owned 10
> minutes after you plug in that cat5 cable.  Get pro-active about security
> people, if you insist on running windows, at least get a router that can be
> reflashed to DD-WRT, it will prolong the reinstall cycle to get rid of the
> viri from the black hats that want your banks login data so they can spend
> your money in Sebastapol. Or NK for that matter. Or the muzzy countries are
> getting good at that too.
>
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com [mailto:coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com]
> > On Behalf Of Steven Hirsch
> > Sent: Saturday, March 08, 2014 8:53 AM
> > To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts
> > Subject: Re: [Coco] 512K upgrade
> >
> > Exhibit A for why friends don't let friends run Windows.
> >
> >
> >