31–40 of 66 posts
Wouldn't using the synaptic package manager work better? I've heard it touted as one of the reasons for Linux being superior than Windows and Mac (except for App store) by having a central repository of many programs. Want Gimp? sudo apt-get install gimp or mark Gimp in the package manager and it'll download and install all the related packages and dependencies. My only gripe is that the search is not good but Google…
I like Linux as much as the next guy, but his argument is basically 'Linux couldn't open a file that everybody else could, but by dicking around with random half-assed documented tools we could do it anyway!'. Basically, 'we managed to do something that is absolutely trivial for everybody else by jumping through hoops and spending a bunch of time on it to do it the convoluted way.'. Hmm right, not exactly a compellin…
He managed to find free, command-line tools to read a proprietary data format. This means he could potentially wrap a simple script around them and automate the process if he needed to do it on a regular basis. Would this be free & scriptable on Windows? It's been a while since I had to do anything comparable on Win, but I think he would have had to buy MS Office (Pro?) with VB or Visual C++ to do it.
I like Linux as much as the next guy, but his argument is basically 'Linux couldn't open a file that everybody else could, but by dicking around with random half-assed documented tools we could do it anyway!'. Basically, 'we managed to do something that is absolutely trivial for everybody else by jumping through hoops and spending a bunch of time on it to do it the convoluted way.'. Hmm right, not exactly a compellin…
mdb files are not easy to open, unless you have MS Access. Lots of Windows computers lack MS Access. Now, you can still open mdb files on Windows, using the Jet Engine and something like ADO, ADO.net or ODBC, but the details of that are a bit too gory for the mild mannered command line junkies here.
Of course, maybe the source of the data was wrong in choosing mdb as the format, and a csv would have sufficed. I don't know, that's not the point here. The point is that mdb is the easiest way to get 'database-like' information that is more complex that just a flat list of records into the hands of 'regular' users, as much as that may dismay those for whose platforms nobody has written software to open them.
Well, this is also my experience with linux: many things you want to do just don't work out of the box. There is always (nearly) a way to do things, though. But if you really want to do work and not always fight against your tool of choice, linux is not the thing to use. For coding, I replaced it with Mac OS. This saves me 98% of the problems I had on linux. To be fair: I wouldn't know an out-of-the-box way to conver…
To compare Linux with MacOS (or Windows) you should buy also a computer MADE to run Linux. Please, go ahead and install MacOS (or Windows) in a bunch of HP Proliants or in a Sun Blade. How about in a Compaq nc6300? OK, you probably like better a Thinkpad X1. Maybe in your Netbook? How about in that old P3 you have at the basement collecting dust? Even better, why don't you install Lion on your old PPC iMac? Well, I h…
Or use best of both worlds http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/gentoo-alt/prefix/bootstrap-ma...
Wouldn't using the synaptic package manager work better? I've heard it touted as one of the reasons for Linux being superior than Windows and Mac (except for App store) by having a central repository of many programs. Want Gimp? sudo apt-get install gimp or mark Gimp in the package manager and it'll download and install all the related packages and dependencies. My only gripe is that the search is not good but Google…
Isn't Synaptic just a GUI front end to apt-get?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
mdb files are not easy to open, unless you have MS Access. Lots of Windows computers lack MS Access. Now, you can still open mdb files on Windows, using the Jet Engine and something like ADO, ADO.net or ODBC, but the details of that are a bit too gory for the mild mannered command line junkies here.
Sure, and for a reason - they contain a lot more information than a csv file can. It contains metadata on the table columns, relationships, etc. We don't complain that MySql or Postgresql files are binary, so using 'it's binary' as an argument against mdb is bollocks. Of course, maybe the source of the data was wrong in choosing mdb as the format, and a csv would have sufficed. I don't know, that's not the point here…
Well, this is also my experience with linux: many things you want to do just don't work out of the box. There is always (nearly) a way to do things, though. But if you really want to do work and not always fight against your tool of choice, linux is not the thing to use. For coding, I replaced it with Mac OS. This saves me 98% of the problems I had on linux. To be fair: I wouldn't know an out-of-the-box way to conver…
I'm not trying to start an argument, but in regards to coding, I take your point completely if your talking about iOS development or something specific to Mac Programming, but if not, what exactly were the obstacles for development in Linux. I use Linux mainly because of its ease of use in terms of development. I would be interested in hearing your arguments for the Mac. My friend recently got a Mac, and unbeknown to…
I used linux on a Thinkpad T41 for years.
The problems are not so much the real development stuff, more about the things that you have to do apart from that, like cinerama mode for an external screen (took me several attempts with the configuration file), make beamers work, wireless (cough), permanent fan noise you want to get rid of but the power management did not work, kde that tries to copy windows ("you have old files on your destop", "miranda apeared in skype" while you try to give a presentation ) and thus is not usable IMHO (I used window maker which is fine), no decent office suite (open office is a copy of MS office but 10 years behind), software you just want to try, but have to compile, shared libraries problems, no bootable backup, no first class image manipulating software (gimp just sucks compared to photoshop), ... Is that sufficient?
Well, of course, this is all fixed in the latest version ;O) and everything has been solved by someone - get the point?
Linux is a very stable and reliable system though, once you have installed an configured it properly. But Mac OS is that too, and configuring it is quick and easy.
I am much more concerned about Apples latest iCloud stuff and about privacy on Macs. Thought already about using linux again. But productivity is certainly much higher on Macs.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure, and for a reason - they contain a lot more information than a csv file can. It contains metadata on the table columns, relationships, etc. We don't complain that MySql or Postgresql files are binary, so using 'it's binary' as an argument against mdb is bollocks. Of course, maybe the source of the data was wrong in choosing mdb as the format, and a csv would have sufficed. I don't know, that's not the point here…
You are correct in that a database file may contain more rich data that CSV. I think it is open to debate, however, whether a closed format like MDB is easier for the end user, over something open like SQLite.
For that to work with sqlite databases, one still needs to install a GUI tool first, hope that it associates the right extension with the sqlite file you have, and then get over the database-centric user interface that all of them have.
Look, I'm not saying that mdb is better than sqlite. But I am saying that the notion that the 'openness' of sqlite somehow makes it easier for regular users to open them is a crock.
Or maybe we can talk about if using sqlite databases in simple, 'script-like' applications is easier than doing the same with mdb/Access databases. That is more nuanced and depends on what environment you want to talk from etc. But that goes far beyond the definition of a 'user' as in the use case of the OP (a large student body to whom exam results need to be communicated).