Subject: [linux-audio-user] Re: Is the Linux desktop really here?
From: Anthony DiSante (orders_AT_nodivisions.com)
Date: Mon Dec 08 2003 - 22:23:41 EET
Dave Phillips wrote:
> tim hall wrote:
>
>> PS: Watching my nine-year old and various friends use my system, I'd
>> say the Linux Desktop for casual users is here, given the availability
>> of technical support. IMX it's the configuration that is difficult,
>> not the installation & usage.
>>
>>
> Hi Tim:
>
> A few days ago I wrote to the list and recounted a story about setting
> up a Windows 2000 system for some
> very non-computer-savvy friends of mine. Well, that saga knows no end: I
> had to go to their house yesterday
> and get it going for them again. It's true that they are *really* in the
> dark about their machine, but it's got so
> ridiculous that I've decided on a new plan. I'm going to set up a Linux
> box for them and see how they do with it.
> These people do very little else but use a Web browser (what they call
> "the computer") so I want to see just how
> hard or easy it would be for them to use a modern Linux system. It'll be
> an interesting experiment, and if I have to deal
> with the system at least it will be a real OS with real tools and the
> real possibility of actually fixing it if it breaks.
> Win2K is nice, but what a vacant system ! I can't believe people have
> paid so much and received so little in return
> for their money.
>
> Anyway, if this experiment works I'll report back to this group. The
> folks using this box aren't music/sound people,
> but I do plan on setting up XMMS, RealPlayer, and possibly xine or
> Mplayer for on-line video feeds. Let me know if
> you have any suggestions for making it as easy as possible for them to use.
Also, the Helix player is a browser plugin that I use; from what I can tell,
it looks like it's set to be the next version of RealPlayer (made by the
same people, plays the same formats). Except instead of the
linux-functionality being an afterthought, as with the original RealPlayer,
this time it's designed for linux. Anyway it's at:
http://player.helixcommunity.org/
I'm using the Dec 5th nightly build and it works fine. I just had to make
one change to the hxplay script (hard-code the path to hxplay.bin at the top
of it); other than that, it installed and works without a hitch.
-Anthony
http://nodivisions.com/
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