[aclug-L] 101 things you can do in Linux, but not in Windoze

["John Alexander" <john.alexander@xxxxxxx>]

I found this thread in com.os.linux.misc. Think we can take it to 101?
> I'm talking about those things that make Linux a
> better OS. I want everyone to add to this and we all may
> learn something. Can we make it 101????
> 
> 
> 1. You can hold down the shift key and press 'Page up' to
> see 'x' number of screens that has scrolled up out of view.
> 'x' is 8 on my system.
> 
> 2. You can <left alt><F2>, etc, to switch consoles and do
> real command line multitaksing. You can multitask more
> than one task at a time (aka - preemptive).

This might be better as:
2. You can <left alt><F2>, etc, to switch consoles and login
as a different user without stopping any running programs.

> 
> 3. You can kill off a nasty program without resorting to
> the "big red switch" reboot.
> 
> 4. You can install new programs without rebooting (unlike
> MS's install-reboot-install-reboot process).
> 
> 5. You don't have to worry about overwriting a new .dll
> with an old one when you install an application. An
> application install won't degrade your system to obsolete
> libraries.
> 
> 6. There is no device mangler (a Win95/98 thing). There
> is no brain dead wizzard (another Win95/98 thing).
> Yahooooooooooo!
> 
> 7. You don't have to spend hundrends of $$ on a 2nd party
> X Windows emulation package, like eXceed. X is free!
> 
> 8. You can have arbitrary long filenames.
> 
> 9. Read news while you burn CDRs.
> 
> 10. No "out of environment" errors
> 
> 11. No "stack overflow" errors
> 
> 12 No this_is_my_file.txt as thmyfile.txt
Windows 95/NT -> THISIS~1.TXT or TH3BD5~1.TXT, if your long file names 
get corrupted.
> 
> 13. When mysterious things happen, if all else fails, you can look
> at the source code.
When we get 101, make this one #101!

Here are some more:

14. You can change to root and do administrative tasks 
without closing all applications and logging out.

15. You can change the look and feel of the graphical user interface 
to match your preferences.

16. You can change your IP address without rebooting.

17. Applications that crash don't take down the operating system.

18. You can set up a server without a graphical user interface slowing
it down.

19. You can run a program on one machine, displaying the output on 
another.

20. You can completely administer your machine without even having a 
keyboard, mouse, or monitor attached.

21. You can mess up while upgrading your operating system kernel, 
boot the old version, and redo the upgrade.

22. You can run multiple graphical user interfaces at one time on one
monitor, each with different look and feel.

23. No 'Out of Disk Space' errors in the root directory if you
use long file names.

24. Standardized locations for dynamic libraries, so you don't have
4 incompatible versions (WINDOWS, WINDOWS\SYSTEM, application
directory, and who knows where else!) of the same library.

25. Lots of people who are willing to help you out if you have a
problem, and who have better advice than "Reinstall Windows."

26. Bugs get acknowledged, fixed, and new versions distributed fast,
at no cost.

27. More than 8 command line interfaces available, take your pick.
(all of them better than COMMAND.COM)

28. You can customize the system to run the way you want it to.

29. If the graphical user interface dies, you can just restart it
and go back to work without needing to reboot.

30. You can make use of almost all of your discarded computers
to do useful work and take the load off of your main computer.
(file servers, routers, etc.)

31. You can leave your computer on all year without worrying about
it locking up or running out of memory.

32. If you don't like the way some portion of the system works,
you can find a program you like better, rewrite that portion
of the system, or write scripts to make it work better.

33. You have text-based configuration files that you can understand
and edit. (as opposed to one, undocumented, binary file with
configuration information about everything under the sun in it.)
One disk error in the 95 or NT registry and your system is down.

34. You can type & after a command to run it in the background and
get your command prompt back immediately.

35. You can type nohup before a command to allow it to continue to run
after you have logged out.

36. 'ls *help*' displays all files with 'help' anywhere in them.
In DOS, 'dir *help*' displays ALL files.

37. You can have FAT16, FAT32, HPFS, and NTFS partitions available 
at the same time, plus many more.

38. Your entire file system is in one tree, as opposed to having
every partition and network drive be its own tree on a different
drive letter. You can have more than 26 partitions/network drives 
mounted at the same time.

39. You can create a symbolic link to a file, so you can have access
to the same file in two places, or by two names.


John Alexander
MCI/Worldcom LAN Administrator
Wichita TeleMarketing Center
VNET 780-1024, Local 631-1024 

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