Back to Debian

Well almost. There are a few debian distributions around which are much easier to set up than the original. I saw a review of one called Mepis which was a 2 CD download for the lot. After downloading and burning I found I didn't need the 2nd cd as it allows all the usual debian downloads which is a huge selection of software. Mepis installed almost more easily than Mandrake. I didn't need to do anything with the video or my mousepad and my trackball. On Mandrake I had to search the net and install software to get mousepad and trackball to work, as well as play with xfconfig settings. Looks like I go back to debian. Mandrake isn't any longer as pleasant to use. Although I am a mandrake club member it is a pain to get software. I am updating from debian experimental which might mean crashes, but not so far.

Why use free email?

I have changed my isp every 1-2 years. My first isp folded after around a year, a year later, so did my second. Each one since then has become more expensive in relation to the rest over around 18 months. It has been cheaper to change than stay, so I did. The most stable part of my internet experience has been my email. Some people recommend free email is best for unnecessary mail, spam and stuff. That, too, is true in lots of cases. But not so with me, isps come and go. Yahoo remains.

Swen.a

Very annoying worm. A google search, or any of the other engines most likely will find many fixes you can download and run. Don't forget to apply the fixes after rebooting and hitting F8 on a windows computer while doing so. That way the fix programs are more likely to take effectively.

Free online Virus/Trojan scanning

Lots of companies will scan for viruses and trojans for free online. If I can't get rid of malware with the programs on my computer I go to one of these. A google search will find heaps.

Operating Systems I would prefer to use instead of Windows

Mandrake is a Linux distribution which I use as my alternate operating system to Windows. If I could get my XP programs to work on it well and cheaply I would use it instead of XP. Now I have a dual boot system and I am only playing with linux instead of seriusly moving over to it. Mandrake started it's life as Redhat with Kde installed instead of Gnome and some other differences. Since its acceptance on the opensource network it has become a separate entity. Kde and Gnome are gui(Graphical User Interface) desktops. At the time Kde was older and more developed than Gnome with a different licence. Kde wasn't opensource, Gnome was, I think they are more equal in standing and capabilities now but I have an idea Kde is used by more people and is a better desktop. Kde became opensource at least a year ago, more likely 2.
I have tried many Linux distros including Debian. Debian's philosophy is wonderful but I had too many problems trying to install it. I spent 3 days and nights trying to install it a few years ago without success. I hope it is easier now. Mandrake 9.1 took me 45 minutes to install, with gigabytes of additional software, compared to around 1 1/2 hours for win XP, with nothing.
There are many distributions of Linux and at least 2 other OS around. Freebsd and the rest of the BSD clan, with the Mac OS too. Mac is also released as an opensource OS called Open Darwin, based on FreeBsd I believe. If I could get the brilliant graphics which is part of mac popularity and XP programs to work I would use Darwin. VMware may present my opportunity to do so.

Pegasus, one of the best email clients and free too!

Pegasus is one of my favourite programs. I tried lots of email clients before and while using Pegasus. I started using it a long time ago, around version 2. Probably around 1995-97, whenever it was released. It was one of the best email clients then and remains so now. It has every feature I need except a pim. I am waiting for David Harris the owner/programmer to include one. I have been waiting a year now so I may as well settle in for the long haul :-). Pegasus is a 4 meg download and uses 6 meg of memory on my machine(A dell c640 with 512meg ram 2g p4 chip). Brilliant. Outlook and Outlook Express slowed my computer and gave me a less pleasant environment in which to work. They use too much memory(my outlook uses 24 meg), I had to move my mouse to look at each item in a digest then I had to close each item and open the next, how tedious. In my opinion Pegasus is cleaner, better, at its only function, email.

Free and Great Software continued!

I meant to write more on my webpage but I ran out of space on my very first webpage. I had no room on page 1 and I didn't know how to make page 2 so here I am making my first weblog. Cool, two firsts in 2 days.
I wanted to write about another program, YahooPops this I use to get my mail from Yahoo. I only had to use my mail program(Pegasus-free, reliable, small, doesn't usually get viruses) until Yahoo decided to make it a pay service. I have had this account since their service came into being. Oh well it was a great service while it lasted. It remains a good service, but no pop3 without dollars paid. However my new email is another freebie from Yahoo in Oz and it has pop3.
The place where I got YahooPops is Sourceforge another great place for free software. Sourceforge has free software, usually copylefted. The free software philosophy sits well with me.
There is very little commercial, as in bought, software on my computer. If it is commercial it came with the computer, new hardware or magazine disks, eg., Win98, Win XP, scanner software. Magazine disks provide lots of commercial software with free rego. Often as a leg in to get people to buy new software. Consequently most of my commercial software is often the last but one version. OTOH I got Quicken years ago for free off a mag. I don't need more than that program provides. Sometimes software companies offer a freebie or a paid version of their software. Trillian for example, have a multi client IM program in free and paid versions. The freebie is excellent, the paid version doesn't offer enough more to convince me I need to buy it. Hard to better excellent. If Trillian put up a paypal donation link I will donate but not $30(In Oz that works out closer to $60 than $30), like I said, Trillian is excellent. There are a bunch of other very good to excellent free IM programs too. I am sure there are review pages for them all over the net.