[ale] Linux the $400 Operating System

[Bao C. Ha]

On Wed, Aug 21, 2002 at 10:35:09AM -0400, ChangingLINKS.com wrote:

Hi ChangingLINK,

There are two approaches to this type of problem.

(1)  In the tradition of Linux community, it would be a good thing
if someone either solve the problem or to document it in the How-To.

(2)  In the tradition of American corporate mentality, figure out
how to do it and set up technical services to market it.

I have also spent countless hours trying to solve Win2k problems.
After paying for some Microsoft "technical services", their best
suggestion is to reinstall everything.

Bao

> For over a half decade, a new Unix variant offers users more speed, stability 
> and security than MicroSoft Windows. The variant's name is Linux. Currently 
> Linux has grown into an operating system that comes with thousands of free 
> programs and an install (with all it's upgrades) can use 6-8 times more space 
> than Windows 98.
> 
> Most people believe that since it's beginning's, Linux has been "free," at 
> least insofar as being able to download and use the operating system on a 
> daily basis. However, what many users are finding, is that there are costs 
> that can be incurred after committing to the operating system.
> 
> "In the beginning, I tried to fully install Linux - and just couldn't. I ended 
> up paying a company called "Onyx" $90 to install it for me - and they refused 
> to help with data encryption or playing DVDs," a spokesman from 
> ChangingLINKS.com. He went on to say, "As time went on, I shelled out other 
> varying amounts of cash to "Linux gurus" in an effort to learn how to use the 
> operating system better."
> 
> In all fairness, he did mention that he got lots of help from the Linux 
> community - including encoding a video tape for playback on a CD which would 
> have cost a couple hundred dollars to create using a graphics company. Still 
> on the downside, is the countless hours spent trying to understand various 
> programs and features. "You come across some topics, like security - and it 
> seems like there is only one or two guys that can help. In windows encrypting 
> a filesystem 'on the fly' and using it daily is easy. My data is still 
> unencrypted to this day," the spokesman said.
> 
> But what of the price tag that entitles this article? It is spent on data 
> loss. After calling around to various data recovery companies, the minimum 
> estimate for recovering data for Linux was $400. The price includes a 
> standard diagnostic charge. In Windows, data recovery is relatively easy. 
> There are programs like "Recover" and "Winhex" that will undelete your data 
> with a few simple clicks. Don't make the same mistake with Linux though- it 
> could cost you hundreds, especially if you are using the "ext3" filesystem.
> 
> "In my 12 years of using Windows, I have never lost a 100,000 byte file - and 
> my first Windows box was was installed (and reinstalled) on a computer with a 
> defective hard drive. For years, each time I booted the compter, some of the 
> hard drive medium would be permanently damaged and unusable. But, I still 
> never lost mor than a screenfull of data." 
> 
> The spokesman was using Worker on Linux, and accidentally deleted an directory 
> tree. Next, he spent day and night trying to learn how to undelete the data 
> from the ext3 partition, and is currently looking a Windows solutions to 
> recover the data. "I'm just hoping that Windows can bail me out, because I 
> have not been able to understand the results from the Linux based tools. For 
> data recovery and encryption, Windows is simply the way to go."
> 
> So before downloading your next distro or using programs that automate 
> deletion of files on Linux, at least be careful. The mantra that you will 
> hear from the Linux community is "restore from your backup" but that is 
> useless when you do 8 hours of work - and your back up was not sceduled until 
> 12 hours have elapsed.
> 
> All in all, the real Losers (of data) are the Lusers that end up having to 
> spend $400 to get their data back. In some cases the only "freedom" about 
> Linux provides your computer is "freedom from important data."
> 
> staff writer
> -- 
> Wishing you Happiness, Joy and Laughter,
> Drew
> http://www.ChangingLINKS.com
> 
> ---
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-- 
Bao C. Ha                    voice: (310) 980-3805
8D66 6672 7A9B 6879 85CD  42E0 9F6C 7908 ED95 6B38
Primary Perpetrator of "Slackware Linux Unleashed"

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