A Dedicated Ecabinets Linux Distribution

[Bryan J Tanner]

There seems to be a bit of discussion, as always, about Mac's and PC's.

My idea is this: How about a Dedicated Linux Distribution for E-cabinets, Running only E-cabinets, an e-mail client and open office.

From my experience Linux is a lot more stable and secure than windows. It is freely available and can be installed to dual boot on PC's and Mac's.

It's just a thought and I don't know much about the mechanics of it.

So how about some feedback from you guys out there on the forum that do know a bit about it? Is it do-able? What, if any, are the advantages of being windows software?

E-cabinets is the only reason I still use Windows.

Give us your thoughts

[Rick Palechuk]

The Windows family of operating systems make up about 90%, Linux about 4.6%.... It's not viable to build a program that could only cover 4.6% of the planet.

[DanEpps]

What Rick said plus this:

1. A great number of users (most?) are "afraid" of Windows, which they've been using for several years--these users would be terrified of Linux.

2. The sheer number of lines of code in eCabinets makes rewriting it to run on Linux a HUGE task--if you think the Windows version of eCabinets has issues, it would take a few years to get a Linux version to a stable state.

3. Installing software on Linux is not quite the sinple task it is on Windows. Quite a number of tasks must be executed from a command line using very cryptic commands.

4. Linux is, by its very nature, a server operating system. Granted, there are graphic frontends that make it appear to be a workstation OS, but it is still a server OS.

5. Software add-ons to make Linux more user-friendly come from various sources and are not part of the operating system. You have numerous places to search for support when something doesn't work correctly.

6. Worms, trojans, viruses, etc were first developed using and targeting Unix-based systems so saying "security" in the same sentence as Linux implies a lack of. Windows systems are now the target of hackers because of market share. If Mac owned the majority market, then Mac would be the most targeted by hackers.

I say all of this from a position of being a former Unix bigot. I worked as a systems programmer on Unix systems for many years and with Unix itself for over 25 years. After many years of fighting Windows, I came to the conclusion that it was best to succumb to the software availability pressure and move--kicking and screaming--to Windows. There are some areas where it pays to be a conformist rather than bucking the system.

[Bryan J Tanner]

Hey Dan,

How are you doing?


I agree with most everything you said, especially no. 2.

My thought was this, that if you build a os for e-cabs from the ground up it should be more stable.
Install that os with open office and an email client and the users wouldn't know the difference. Kerry always says to run e-cabs on a dedicated system, with nothing else running, this takes it one step further.

I'm not talking getting users to change to linux completely, just boot their computer into e-cabinets.

I say all of this from a position of being a former Unix bigot. I worked as a systems programmer on Unix systems for many years and with Unix itself for over 25 years. After many years of fighting Windows, I came to the conclusion that it was best to succumb to the software availability pressure and move--kicking and screaming--to Windows. There are some areas where it pays to be a conformist rather than bucking the system.

Your comment above is nicely said, and I feel window 7 is a vast improvement and seems a lot more stable.

6. Worms, trojans, viruses, etc were first developed using and targeting Unix-based systems so saying "security" in the same sentence as Linux implies a lack of. Windows systems are now the target of hackers because of market share. If Mac owned the majority market, then Mac would be the most targeted by hackers.

Agreed that market share make an os a target for malicious code, but the linux community are a lot quicker than corporates at patching vulnerabilities.

4. Linux is, by its very nature, a server operating system. Granted, there are graphic frontends that make it appear to be a workstation OS, but it is still a server OS.

5. Software add-ons to make Linux more user-friendly come from various sources and are not part of the operating system. You have numerous places to search for support when something doesn't work correctly.

Have you tried Ubuntu of Kubuntu recently?



I don't see it ever happening, and I just wanted to put the idea out there. Ecabinets is fantastic and I like to offer any idea that I feel may improve it.

Thanks for your input Dan.

[Neville Bastian]

Hi Dan,
I think the major reason everyone likes Macs is they seem very reliable. Not having one I can't prove this except for the large amount of Apple groupies out there. I think the reason why they are reliable is you have the one company making the hardware and the unix based software. With windows its free range and conflicts happen.

With Linux option there was a wine user group who were financed by Adobe I think. This made a lot of windows programs work in Linux. Maybe this would be a easier option than rewriting ecabinets in Linux.
Maybe Thermwood, if the third party software they use works in Linux could spell out what you need to use with Linux distribution and the Dell model computer they recommend.
Having said all this if it runs slower than Windows and falls over, well it will be all a waste of time. Maybe this what Dean thinks will happen. If it works better because Thermwood has more control over hardware and software then users will have to pay the price for free advanced software. That is buy a new computer every couple of years.
Just my two cents worth which is not worth much because we don't have one or two cent pieces any more in Oz.

Regrads
Neville

[Bryan J Tanner]

That's the story, its all about controlling the variables.

A customised version of Linux/Wine on recommend hardware. Users never need to know they aren't running windows.

Just boot the computer straight into ecabinets. No unnecessary rubbish running in the background.