This is part of The Pile, a partial archive of some open source mailing lists and newsgroups.
Subject: Re: Susan desperately seeking...LINUX !!!! From: Ray Dillinger <bear@sonic.net> Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2000 20:03:27 -0700 (PDT) On 3 Apr 2000, Sue Yascolt wrote: >My difficulty is this: >I have gotten along without a PC at home, lo, these many years. >My main consideration was that Bill Gates has so much money that >he doesn't need any of mine. > You're right, he doesn't. But most places, you can't buy assembled hardware without paying Bill for an MS operating system. Even if you don't *want* it. Even if they install some other OS for you. Fortunately, there are a few exceptions -- places where you can get systems with Linux preinstalled and not pledge any money to Bill's empire. >But I need your help. Any advice as to where I can go for >reliable, responsible advice and service ? Preferably >somewhere in the East Bay. I work in Walnut Creek but I >live in Oakland so Hayward or Berkeley is just fine. Locally, look at VA research (http://www.varesearch.com) in Sunnyvale, or Pengin Computing (http://www.penguincomputing.com) in San Francisco. If you're interested in a Linux laptop, try TuxTops (http://www.tuxtops.com) in Sunnyvale. I'm not sure of it but I think they may be some of the same people as VA research. These useful links are from http://www.balug.org/resLinks.html. and they're not the only useful links on that page. If you want actual tech support that wont get upset if they don't think you at least tried to solve your own problem, go to http://www.redhat.com and you can buy a tech support contract that'll last for a year for about $60. Also, check with whatever hardware vendor you pick first, because sometimes support is bundled with the OS. >Please remember that I'm an Applications Programmer/Analyst >(COBOL) .....not too techie so I can't build the car...I >only want to drive it..... Linux isn't particularly hard to get along with -- especially if you're accustomed to UNIX of whatever flavor from your mainframe days. If you actually *read* error messages and man pages you can usually figure out what's wrong or how to set up something differently . . . after a while. === Subject: Re: Susan desperately seeking...LINUX !!!! From: Dan Lyke <danlyke@flutterby.com> Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2000 09:37:35 -0700 (PDT) On 3 Apr 2000, Sue Yascolt wrote: > But I need your help. Any advice as to where I can go for reliable, > responsible advice and service ? I've only had a few encounters with 'em, but compared to everything else I've had in the bay area they were so good... University Computers, on Telegraph in Berkeley. Back before manufacturers cared about Linux I was at my wit's end trying to find a graphics card for XFree86. I walked in and said "I'm looking for a graphics card for a Unix system". The saleslady said "BSD or Linux"? I was in heaven. Alas, it's so far over there and parking's such a pain that I tend to be lazy, let friends do the research, and then say "hey, while you're ordering...". But I also generally work at the component level. ===