Reader's Letters
Dear PCLOS Magazine:
I want to thank you for the magazine, it has been very helpful for me and some partners interested in PCLINUXOS as the default OS in our boxes. I met the magazine just few months ago and I would like to ask you if you can write more or at least one example per issue about linux commands: cat, grep, etc; how are they used and all that stuffs.
Thanks again and keep walking the magazine...
Regards....Noe C.
Thanks, Noe, for the suggestion. Look for us to begin providing just such CLI usage information in the near future. I'm sure you realize, though that PCLinuxOS has very detailed information on the CLI command set in the man pages. We will try to provide a "real world approach" to using those commands, as the man pages can be very daunting if you just need to accomplish a simple task.
Tim
Dear PCLOS Magazine:
I have been watching PCLinuxOS with a lot of interest and this magazine makes me seriously want to change to Linux (Windows Vista also helped me change my mind). I started with computers back in the late 70's and early 80's and have watched M$ grow into a monster. Your magazine is a breath of fresh air for me and I will be downloading every issue and also PCLOS 2007 when the final version is released in the next few weeks. Keep up the great work - a magazine is perfect for newbies to Linux like me who don't want to trawl through hundreds of pages of forums.
Thank you for the great read. Thomas M.
Thanks for the kind words Thomas. We hope you enjoy every issue. In spite of the recent problems with our hosting service and the coincidental failure of the Ibiblio repository, PCLinuxOS is alive and well, the forum is now back up and development on TR4 (and Final) has proceeded apace. The forum can indeed be a bit daunting, but if you join in and spend time using the search function, you will find an enormous amount of information available, to say nothing of the hundreds of helpful members that will jump at the opportunity to help with any problems you have.
Tim
Dear PCLOS Magazine:
I realize that this is the form for the April issue but the May issue does not seem to be up in HTML format yet, so I am using this. At any rate what I wanted to comment about was in this April issue anyway. In your reply to Padma quoted below:
"It's really just a nit-pick, but it grated on my eyes to see Free as in Beer being defined as Free as in Speech. - Padma
Dear Padma, did you check the free beer website? Did you research other sources? I did. While I do not claim any great expertise, I stand by what I said. The free in "free beer" is liberty. The free in closed source software is 'without monetary cost'. The two are not the same thing. There are open source companies that charge, though their code is open. That makes them free (as in liberty). Freeware companies hide their code, thus they are not free, no matter that they give away their software . Open is free . Closed is not free . The exchange of money or lack there of has nothing to do with it. - Merlin Whitewolf, Editor"
Your views are correct but the wording is a little off. As Padma said it is a nitpick but it was one of those things that just scratched me wrong. Don't misunderstand; you and the others are doing a fine job on the magazine and while I don't read every single issue, my computer time is limited these days, the ones I have read I've enjoyed. With that in mind here is the quote from The Free Software Foundation. Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of free as in free speech, not as in free beer. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
Your point is still valid but by mixing the free beer and free speech around it sounds just a little off to people who have heard or read that phrase before.
Keep up the good work with the magazine. yetiman
Thank you for those comments, yetiman. The "free as in beer" phrase has been a source of confusion for lots of people new to the FOSS environment. Hopefully, between the information provided in the original article, and the comments received since that article was published, our readers will have a clearer understanding and appreciation for BOTH forms of freedom.
Tim
Dear PCLOS Magazine:
You had an article running in May about updating to final from TR4. It stated that it was not recommended as there were hidden files that were specific to each application and might not load. As I understand an up date process, would not the files hidden or not be over written from TR4 to the final? Therefore I cannot see a problem happening if you were to go that way. If you could give some clarification on this in the next issue it would be appreciated.
Thanks for a great magazine. T.Watcher
Since Final has not been released as of this date (05/17/07), this matter is still up in the air. As a general statement, it is always advisable to do a clean install when switching from a test release to a final version. During the test release cycle, the primary goal of the developers is to receive feedback regarding problems and fix those that are identified. It is doubtful that their goal is to absolutely maintain compatibility that would make upgrades possible without a clean install. That being said, Tex is the final word. When Final is released, I am certain that he will post on the forum whether it is safe to simply upgrade or if he advises a clean install. We are all waiting expectantly now to see what happens.
Tim