Life on the Road - Trucking News Blog

Open Source does not mean hackers. Whoever starts those rumors is half witted moron that knows nothing about how computers work. Take Linux operating system. Linux is almost impossible to hack, there are no viruses for Linux and yet anything on Linux is open source.

Ability to view and edit source of a program does not open anything for hackers, on the contrary. Look at the source code for Linux operating system and if you are any kind of software developer at all you will arrive at a conclusion that it is very clean and that you can not hack in to it.

It is not the source that allows the hacker in, it is a dump architecture. Source is a recipe. Just because you have a recipe for miller beer does not mean that you can compromise ever bottle and turn all miller beer in to anthrax. It is the same with computers.

Windows is not an open source and yet there are many viruses and hacks for it. Linux is open source. I challenge you to hack it.

Developer http://www.largosoftware.com

Alex is dead on on this issue. As a long time user of Linux (Suse & Ubuntu) I am sold on the concept.

Sadly though, I have to use Windows for certain programs, otherwise, all my boxes would be Linux.

Uh, Alex, does that give you any ideas where to go with Nautilus?

You can run it on Linux, yes. But you have to download the PostgreSQL for Linux off the http://www.postgresql.org website and configure it properly. I do not have the installer written.

I can send you the instructions on what needs to be setup to run on Linux.

The problem with writing commercial software for Linux OS is that there are too few people who use Linux and want to spend money on software. The second problem is that one can not buy a PC in a store with Linux on it, Billy G got it all monopolized bought and paid-for including the congress long time ago. So 99% of Linux software is free and open source. I would give Nautilus away of cause if some one would pay the food on my table and lights in my house…

Today while we as tribal apes approaching the mysterious black monolith of the new Google open source phone platform I ask my self - can it be useful for the trucker accounting software I am slaving over..? Well, the problem with phones is data entry. I dare you entering your trip information on a 1.5 by 1 inch screen with ten numbered buttons. I do not know about you, but I would go mad before I finish entering the trip data in. The problem is DATA ENTRY.

The smaller the device the harder it is to enter any data. Voice data entry? Not until year 2020. Last thing we want to do is to be at a perpetual argument with a small pocket computer. The days when you can say: “Open bay door number 3 HAL” and HAL understands that you want to be stranded on the outskirts of Jupiter are far away, and for now this means QWERTY and QWERTY means keyboard of a laptop.

Alexander developer http://www.largosoftware.com

Alex, DELL offers a line of Linux based computers using UBUNTU. They only manufacturer that I am aware of to do so.

Wal mart has sold out of their $200 linux based pc here.

There is one problem.
Once the first time computer user goes to the store and buys a piece of software to run on his Linux box only to realize that it would not install. Oops.

No please do not get me wrong, I love Linux and I would rather see M$ burn and die. But the reality is: The software shelves are filled with Windows stuff and unless you know how to run CVS and compile your own source you are SOL and JWF.

Linux needs thee things:
1) More computers sold with Linux in the store
2) More commercial easy and ready to use software available for it.
3) Hardware support for all the latest stuff such as wireless cards etc.