🚀 go-pugleaf

On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 10:12:20 +1100, Ribfeast <goaway@nospam.com>
wrote:

>On 19/11/04 5:33 PM, in article ja3rp0hk2dac2i0ta7bsmcm0eakbrktbub@4ax.com,
>"Rev Turd Fredericks" <nick_ballsack@forcedshaving.com> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 16:25:59 +1100, Ribfeast <goaway@nospam.com>
>> wrote:
SNIP>>>>>>>>>>
>> 
>> That's the key, build yourself but with *good* parts and put a free OS
>> on it and you are free from the monopolists.
>> 
>> If I could say something I like about Apple it is that giant LCD
>> screens they sell, very nice, but still very expensive. I could get a
>> 22" LCD TV for less, but it probably wouldn't be as good. They are
>> selling them where I work for $2300 US (last time I checked)
>> 
>Building a PC with *good* parts is rarely cheaper than a mac, that is what I
>am getting at.  Free OS is the way to go though, get rid of as much MS stuff
>as you can.  I do like the Office 2004 package for mac though, it is rather
>well featured and runs well here.  And no viruses  ;)  is there many viruses
>for Linux?  Haven't heard much about that side of things on Linux.

Almost 5 years ago now, I built a dual PIII machine with the "latest
and greatest" parts available my total cost for it was $1300, a
comaprable Mac was well over $5000. The gap is closing but PC's are
still at least 50% cheaper. If you just want an "entry level PC" and
want to run lindows on it, it will set you back only $199 USD. 
>
>I do like the Apple LCDs, especially the 20", brilliant color etc.  They are
>a tad expensive though, wish they could get the 20 inch to under $2000AU.

I was in awe of the one in our university bookstore. Unfortunately,
they are still just a bit out of range of what I am willing to pay. 
>
SNIP>>>>
>> 
>The older iMacs were plagued with analog board problems, but they were a
>budget machine anyway (with budget reliability), most people keep their
>comps for around 3 years, any longer than that and your hard drive and other
>hardware is running on borrowed time I reckon.  I've always owned the towers
>- G3, G4, and now a G5 tower, and they are rock solid powerhouses, no
>compromises in quality.
>
I guess that must be why all I see are broken ones. The G5's are
attractive, but I still don't think that justifies the
price/performance you get for the money.
>>> 
SNIP>>>>>
>
>Apple brings them out via Software Update every few weeks, or as often as
>necessary also.
>
Except for the security issues that's OK. 
SNIP>>>>
>> OSX seems pretty decent, but the mac users I know don't really know
>> how to use it, and run in compatibility mode or whatever it's called
>> so they can run the old programs.
>
>Yeah some mac users have a lot of 'classic' apps that they still run, I have
>weaned myself off them all now, but not everyone can afford to have the
>latest versions of everything all the time I guess.

They can if they run linux :-) I'm lucky, work pays for all my
(windows) software.
>> 
>>> 
SNIP>>>>>>>>>>>
>> 
>>  Probably because you are in such a minority (in that you are running
>> a mac) that you just haven't been found. That is security by
>> obscurity. If you don't have a fully patched system, and that's
>> provided Apple has bothered to issue a patch, you are vulnerable to a
>> number of nasty exploits.
>I have a fully patched system, but I agree with you there, a lot of the
>security on macs is through obscurity.  However to do any real damage to a
>mac don't you need the admin password?

Except that the same people that *wouldn't* regularly patch their
systems are also the people that use weak passwords. I'm not an expert
on mac security, because I don't really care that much, but some of
the mac security holes and the failure to patch them quickly have made
my jaw drop. It starts with somebody reporting a vulnerability to
Apple, Apple denying it's a problem and then 6 to 8 months later
releasing a patch for a problem that "didn't exist". (search on
www.cotse.com for some stories about this, I'm not sure how long they
keep the news items, but you should at least be able to find the
original vulnerabilities). I just don't like Apple's attitude towards
security, I don't like MS's much either.

>> 
>> No ports open is good, that is one thing I wish windows would do out
>> of the box, instead you have to close them manually.
>> 
>When I turned on the windows file sharing component in MacOS X I noticed a
>large amount of upstream traffic after a few days, so I'd say I might have
>been compromised that way, turning off windows file sharing fixed it
>instantly.  
Windows file sharing is an accident waiting to happen. If I have to
share files I set up an ftp server and hand out accounts on a need to
know basis. 

SNIP>>>>>>>>>
>> 
>> Heh, and children :-) At least you have the option for multibuttons so
>> that is a step in the right direction, how much of the software
>> supports multibutton?
>Any software that supports contextual menus supports multiple mouse buttons.
>To simulate a multiple button mouse just ctrl-click something on a mac.  I
>wish Apple would bundle a multibutton scroll mouse.  Keeps the 3rd party
>businesses alive I guess.
Can you use just any old mouse? 

>> 
SNIP>>>>>>>>
>> 
>> I'm not a big fan of XP, but it is vey stable, I rebooted my work
>> machine today for the first time since I installed service pack 2  and
>> I don't honestly remember when that was. I only rebooted because I
>> wanted to try knoppix.
>I've had it crash on me a number of times with Doom 3, but ended up being
>outdated ATI drivers.  They still need to work on their ease-of-networking
>issues though.

Mac or XP? ATI makes some decent products but they rush them to market
with crappy drivers, it's too bad. 

>
>>> Anyways that's my $0.02 + GST.
>> Canadian eh?
>
>Australian ;)  10% GST beats 22% sales tax on computers anyday :D

Oh, I didn't realize Ozzies used the GST method of taxation, and I
should know because my brother lives there.