From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Oct 25 17:34:30 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 877C416A4CE for ; Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:34:30 +0000 (GMT) Received: from rosebud.otenet.gr (rosebud.otenet.gr [195.170.0.26]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C390743D48 for ; Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:34:29 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from keramida@ceid.upatras.gr) Received: from orion.daedalusnetworks.priv (aris.bedc.ondsl.gr [62.103.39.226])i9PHXvLF018829; Mon, 25 Oct 2004 20:34:09 +0300 Received: from orion.daedalusnetworks.priv (orion [127.0.0.1]) i9PHXsDt001914; Mon, 25 Oct 2004 20:33:54 +0300 (EEST) (envelope-from keramida@ceid.upatras.gr) Received: (from keramida@localhost)i9PHXeB4001905; Mon, 25 Oct 2004 20:33:40 +0300 (EEST) (envelope-from keramida@ceid.upatras.gr) Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 20:33:40 +0300 From: Giorgos Keramidas To: Bart Silverstrim Message-ID: <20041025173340.GA1859@orion.daedalusnetworks.priv> References: <8e.18645afb.2eae7275@aol.com> <20041025163640.GA1244@orion.daedalusnetworks.priv> <20041025170700.GA1638@orion.daedalusnetworks.priv> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Serious investigations into UNIX and Windows X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:34:30 -0000 On 2004-10-25 13:18, Bart Silverstrim wrote: >On Oct 25, 2004, at 1:07 PM, Giorgos Keramidas wrote: >>On 2004-10-25 12:49, Bart Silverstrim wrote: >>>On Oct 25, 2004, at 12:36 PM, Giorgos Keramidas wrote: >>>>On 2004-10-25 11:15, TM4525@aol.com wrote: >>>>> You're also missing my point on this. You don't have to get into >>>>> the guts of windows to make it work. You dont have to be a >>>>> programmer to tweak all of the applications, in fact I know more >>>>> than one "windows tech" who knows how to set things up but really >>>>> has no idea what the settings mean. >>>> >>>> This is not really an advantage though, if you ponder a bit the >>>> implications it has. It basically means that your average "Windows >>>> tech" knows nothing about the guts of the system (he doesn't need to, >>>> according to your description). Then, when a day comes that >>>> something breaks *badly* his best suggestion is "throw away the >>>> entire thing, and start over with a bootable CD-ROM of Windows XYZ". >>> >>> And this differs from your experience in the Windows world...how? :-) >> >> I'm not sure I understand your question. Rephrase or make it more >> specific, because answering to such a vague question is pointless. > > Just a side comment from the peanut gallery... > > I was referring to the fact that in most cases, the solution in the > end most often IS to just reformat and reinstall because there's so > much cruft/crap/crud in the registry and Windows directories that that > is the best solution, unless you want to spend an extra couple days > trying to sort everything out. Ah, I see. You have a point there. I was referring to problems that require a bit of esoteric knowledge about how things work but not really a reinstallation of the entire system, i.e.: - the reinstallation of a device driver - trouble shooting by skimming through system logs - network-related and/or connectivity problems A typical example of the common Windows-technicial mindset is what happened to me just yesterday. A friend called me to ask about a problem with his wireless network connection. He asked me if I had a bit of time, as a last chance before reinstalling Windows 2000 on his personal workstation. It turned out that the USB cable he used to connect his external NetGear adapter had "issues". We swapped a new cable and all works now. This is only just *one* example of the method the typical Windows tech uses around here to fix problems. Reinstall it all and hope that the problem (sort of "magically") goes away. The time and resources wasted to reinstall a perfectly working system is absolutely unbearable as a thought to someone who has worked a while with UNIX systems and has spent the time to learn how things actually work -- something that our local Windows fan, TM4525@aol.com, seems to somehow consider a disadvantage of UNIX. I beg to differ... - Giorgos