Author: Christophe Theron
Date: 07:20:57 01/21/03
Go up one level in this thread
On January 20, 2003 at 13:30:22, Frank Phillips wrote:
>On January 19, 2003 at 14:13:58, Christophe Theron wrote:
>
>>On January 19, 2003 at 00:08:19, ERIQ wrote:
>>
>>>On January 18, 2003 at 13:42:50, Christophe Theron wrote:
>>>
>>>>On January 18, 2003 at 09:52:07, ERIQ wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>Is it possible to work out something w/ Felipe Bergo the developer of eboard.
>>>>>eboard is the best looking interface available to unix IMHO and Mr. Bergo seems
>>>>>to be a reasonable person. It would seem that both of you have something to
>>>>>gain. His handle on FICS is "pulga".
>>>>>
>>>>>I think that if his interface was uci capable and your engine would work
>>>>>flawlessly within it, Maybe this would be a great commercial product and perhaps
>>>>>the start of something (ie. other engine developers might make ports)
>>>>>
>>>>>I would most certainly play $100.00 us for it. I payed more than that for a dos
>>>>>rebel 8,9 and I think the graphics are better in eboard!! infact I like it
>>>>>better than chesspartners interface it just doesn't have all the features yet
>>>>>but w/ some help who knows ( hint, hint ).
>>>>>
>>>>>I wish you all the success.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sign,
>>>>> Eriq
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>I think we might work out something in the future if he agrees, but it's maybe
>>>>too early to start something.
>>>>
>>>>At this time I'm still learning Linux and try to make it my every day desktop.
>>>>For example I have just transferred all my "Favorites" URLs from IE6 (Windows)
>>>>to Mozilla (Linux) and I'm writing this message under Mozilla.
>>>>
>>>>When I finish moving to Linux I will start porting Chess Tiger to Linux, which
>>>>might take some time (not too long I hope because the code has been written to
>>>>be portable and has already been ported to another platform which was more
>>>>different of Windows than Linux is).
>>>>
>>>>Then Linux will be my main developpement platform, so the Linux version of Chess
>>>>Tiger will probably be always the most up to date.
>>>>
>>>>When this happens I will post an announcement here and if you want we will
>>>>discuss the interfacing possibilities.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Christophe
>>>
>>>linux is not bad, I started learning about unix first w/ linux and now have
>>>moved to freebsd not much different as gnu stuff is gnu stuff. Well anyway I
>>>know it won't take you long to figure it out, so good luck.
>>
>>
>>
>>Actually it took me some time to figure some things out, for 2 reasons:
>>
>>1) I have started a few months ago with a small distro (small in size: 200Mb)
>>called Peanut Linux. While Peanut is a great distro, it's not ideal for Linux
>>newbies like me. It provides a lot of basic functionnalities like a very good
>>GUI, Internet and email and Office replacement, but I had to add myself some
>>components (amongst other things programming tools). And when you add components
>>that have not been made specifically for the distro you are using, sometimes it
>>does not work perfectly. So you need to know more about Linux than a newbie and
>>you run into small problems. These problems add up and in the end it gets on
>>your nerves. I can tell that I have learned a lot by using Peanut (well I was
>>forced to), but RedHat was much easier to use because all the components I
>>needed were already there or could be installed very easily. And they were all
>>working fine with each other (that's what RedHat has been working on for so
>>long).
>>
>>2) I have to know much more about the system than the typical user, because I'm
>>going to write software for it. So I had to learn things that most users do not
>>even care to know.
>>
>>I think a good distro like RedHat is almost ready for the average desktop user.
>>It provides all the functions you need for everyday use: superb GUI (much better
>>looking than Windows, and much more customizable). A replacement for Microsoft
>>Office: if you know how to use MS Office, then you will feel at home with RedHat
>>8. You have a replacement for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and a few others. They
>>look almost exactly the same as the Microsoft ones. Internet tools: you have the
>>choice between 2 browsers (Mozilla is almost as good as IE6) and 2 email
>>programs (Kmail, simple and efficient, and Evolution which is an Outlook clone).
>>Audio and video: RedHat 8 provides an audio media player, but you will have to
>>download a small plugin to read MP3 files (RedHat wanted to avoid any copyright
>>issues with MP3 and decided to not include the MP3 plugin in their distro). The
>>same problem exists for video formats, so if you want to read videos you need to
>>download XINE and RealPlayer.
>>
>>My standard test to answer the question "is Linux ready for the desktop" is to
>>install it on my mother's computer and see if she can do all the tasks she knows
>>how to do under Windows without too much trouble. I have not tried this test
>>yet, but I think Linux RedHat 8 would pass the test. I would just have to be
>>around so I can answer her questions.
>>
>>Configuring Linux is slightly more difficult than configuring Windows, but
>>anyway this is never done by the average user. It must be done by a qualified
>>technician (and it has be done at the factory for preinstalled PCs). So Linux
>>currently just puts a little more pressure on qualified technicians at the time
>>of install. But it's just at install time. When the system is configured and
>>running, it is rock solid, which is not the case at all with Windows!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>linux I think is a better desktop than freebsd but try to still make freebsd
>>>native binary as their are plenty of nerds that prefer bsd's in general. It
>>>should not be to hard as it's just a slight change in the makefile for crafty.
>>
>>
>>
>>I will consider trying to be compatible with FreeBSD, especially because FreeBSD
>>is the basic layer of MacOS X.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> I
>>>will continue to make suggestions for new features in eboard to pulga and
>>>hopefully by the time you are ready, eboard will be too.
>>
>>
>>
>>OK.
>>
>>
>>
>> Christophe
>
>
>I think Mandrake 9.0 is an even better Desktop Linux than RedHat. It also has
>more point and click tools for setting up a LAN easily (to share an internet
>connection for example) than I found on RedHat. Also RedHat8.0 IIRC does not
>have all the multimedia programs that you normally get in a distro becuase of
>issues with mp3
I have chosen RedHat because it has the biggest market share. In theory that
means that when I'm hunting for a particular program I have more chances to find
it in i386.rpm format compiled for RedHat (I really HATE to have to compile a
program distributed in source code form).
In practice it is true that I notice that every time I find a RedHat RPM there
is a Mandrake RPM available too.
It is also true that RedHat does not include the MP3 encoder/decoder in their
distribution, but it's extremely easy to find the missing module on the net (and
it's a 10 seconds download).
For the video player however I had to download XINE (5Mb) and RealPlayer. I wish
they could have been included on the RedHat CD but I understand the legal
concerns of RedHat about proprietary formats. And after the download these
programs installed flawlessly.
So the lack of multimedia support "out of the box" is not a big issue and it can
be solved very easily.
>Remembering Mandrake is French and I am English, you will understand how hard it
>is for me to say this :-)
What a brave heart! :)
Christophe
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