gmane.linux.suse.general

Re: 5 years later and still whining

Rajko — 2013-05-26T09:04:14

On Wed, 22 May 2013 13:44:55 -0400
Larry Stotler <larrystotler< at >gmail.com> wrote:


While it was a lot different with not much compatibility with KDE3,
naming it KDE4 was logical consequence of being based on Qt4, like KDE3
being based on Qt3. 

The basic problem was how it was introduced to the people. 

It was pushed on all users in order to have larger user base that will
test and report bugs, which will result in faster development. Problem
was that majority of computer users have no actual experience in
debugging and can't create useful bug reports. What they will do is
just instal another desktop option, distro, or go back to Windows. That
was my path when I had minimal knowledge and no idea that there are
help options like Usenet and mail lists. 

In general any change in software that introduces new concepts is
painful as people must change habits, which is not as easy as to create
new one. Add to that problems with user setups that are not easily
transferable to the new system, bugs in a new software

Re: low cost PC with a RS-232 port? Possibly an ARM?

2013-05-26T08:35:58

I've been using Zotac computers for several years.  I really like them
for what they are - small, simple and inexpensive.  I have used an
ID10 for a XBMC machine for ages.

For a bit more oompf, the Giga ID70 model is pretty good (nVidia 430
video, 2600 series i3 CPU, 4GB RAM) and it's quiet.  Runs openSUSE
with no issues (WiFi is the usual wobbly to begin with).

If you want an interesting 100% silent computer for a livingroom media
centre, check out the MK808 (search for it on Amazon).  Runs Android,
and is the size of a USB stick. HDMI out, USB powered (so if you've
got USB on your TV, you can power it direct from the TV). I've got
one, and with XBMC, it's pretty good (especially for the price).

C.
--
openSUSE 12.3 x86_64, KDE 4.10

Re: low cost PC with a RS-232 port? Possibly an ARM?

Per Jessen — 2013-05-26T08:28:35


I looked at thoe Zotac boxes at some point, I was thinking of a MythTV
box for the livingroom.  (apparently they are a little too noisy for
that).

Re: low cost PC with a RS-232 port? Possibly an ARM?

Per Jessen — 2013-05-26T08:24:49


I looked into something similar a little while ago.  I have an equally
elderly PC running environmental and security controls. (PII 333MHz,
96Mb RAM).

http://www.pc-engines.ch/ - many variations. 

I have not yet decided on one of these, priorities changed.

Re: Re: low cost PC with a RS-232 port? Possibly an ARM?

Greg Freemyer — 2013-05-26T03:45:37


Malcolm <malcolmlewis< at >cableone.net> wrote:


That looks like a good form factor, now I still need to pick an actual pc.

Greg

Re: low cost PC with a RS-232 port? Possibly an ARM?

Dirk Gently — 2013-05-26T03:35:10

In your searches, you might include the term UART (Universal Asynchronious
Receiver Transmitter), as this is the circuit which is used to make an
RS-232 interface.

Re: Re: low cost PC with a RS-232 port? Possibly an ARM?

Cristian Rodríguez — 2013-05-26T03:29:35

El 25/05/13 22:12, Malcolm escribió:

Yeah, that's another reasonable alternative for the OP.

http://store.viatech.com/protected/product/frontProductList.action?productListUrl=/protected/product/frontListProductByCategory.action?id=6&perRowCnt=5&rowCnt=5

Or the equivalent ones with intel CPUs..

Not exactly the cheaper solution but should be the most practical one.

Re: low cost PC with a RS-232 port? Possibly an ARM?

Malcolm — 2013-05-26T02:12:18

Hi
What about a pico-itx device, I have one running SLES 11 SP2 with a 8GB
IDE SSD for the OS and a rotating 250GB SATA for data... it has a
serial port....

Re: low cost PC with a RS-232 port? Possibly an ARM?

Doug — 2013-05-26T00:06:36

If the pc has any open card slots, you should be able to find a serial 
port card to plug in.
Also, there have been some surplus JP and Dell office machines that are 
designed for
low-profile horizontal. About $100~$135, or so.  Don't know if they have 
any open card
slots, tho. Or maybe they have a serial port?

Just a couple of ideas.

--doug

Re: low cost PC with a RS-232 port? Possibly an ARM?

Carlos E. R. — 2013-05-25T22:54:45

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1



On Saturday, 2013-05-25 at 18:47 -0400, Cristian Rodríguez wrote:


There is no hardware handshake.

Or no hardware IRQ on receive of a char or toggle a line, thus no-way you 
can use them things with GPS precision clocks.

- -- 
Cheers,
        Carlos E. R.
        (from 12.1 x86_64 "Asparagus" at Telcontar)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v2.0.18 (GNU/Linux)

iEYEARECAAYFAlGhQTUACgkQtTMYHG2NR9WurwCgj3SoNAE1xzb+9VYan2Xp3QE8
kr4AnjSek7FbUrWYFESDY1cxE861wQPL
=2srL
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Re: low cost PC with a RS-232 port? Possibly an ARM?

Carlos E. R. — 2013-05-25T22:52:29

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1



On Sunday, 2013-05-26 at 00:34 +0200, Carlos E. R. wrote:

A few more. Prices go from about 100€ to 3000€. The web is in Spanish, but 
the business is German, it has more sites. Not UK, though.

<https://www.alternate.es/html/product/listing.html?navId=16407&tk=8&lk=7337>

Have a look here, it has some links:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barebone_computer>


But I have seen smaller somewhere... :-?


- -- 
Cheers,
        Carlos E. R.
        (from 12.1 x86_64 "Asparagus" at Telcontar)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v2.0.18 (GNU/Linux)

iEYEARECAAYFAlGhQLcACgkQtTMYHG2NR9UoOACfRTmQ+wa3wcKuHSj6pxNDbpCK
IEwAn0TaiwQolQNmTXjEVNao9DA2iebs
=GZEK
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Re: low cost PC with a RS-232 port? Possibly an ARM?

Cristian Rodríguez — 2013-05-25T22:47:57

El 25/05/13 18:07, Greg Freemyer escribió:

Yes, test if what you read about usb-to-rs232 adapters being problematic 
is true in practice, they might just have been using crappy adapters.

Re: low cost PC with a RS-232 port? Possibly an ARM?

Carlos E. R. — 2013-05-25T22:34:59

On Saturday, 2013-05-25 at 18:07 -0400, Greg Freemyer wrote:


Maybe...

https://www.gumstix.com/

I know I have seen small and cheap somewhere, but I don't have the links 
collected, it seems :-(

low cost PC with a RS-232 port? Possibly an ARM?

Greg Freemyer — 2013-05-25T22:07:38

All,

I built a webserver for a rs-232 connected weatherstation from 1998
era laptop.  (256 MB ram, low power CPU)

I only used the screen / keyboard early on to configure things.  Also
the laptop never moves so there is no advantage to it being a laptop.
The laptop has died so I want to replace it.

I'd like the replacement to be relatively small so it can fit under a bed, etc.

I've got a keyboard / mouse / monitor I can hook up for the initial
build, but I would hope after that all support would be via ssh.  I'd
like the PC to have a rs-232 connection just because I've read the
weatherstation doesn't work well with usb-to-rs232 adapters.

Recommendations?

Maybe an ARM based platform (one supported by openSUSE).

Thanks
Greg

Re: Can't get Dolphin to default to open .html with OpenOffice.................

Duaine Hechler — 2013-05-25T21:44:10

Yes, I can open the file this way - the problem it is not the default.

Yes, can run it from the command line.

Will have to look into.

Thanks, Duaine

Re: Font Rendering FireFox vs. Opera

Felix Miata — 2013-05-25T20:35:07

On 2013-05-25 16:43 (GMT-0300) Marco Calistri composed:





























Firefox uses Mozilla's Gecko engine. That's highly unlikely ever to change. 
The engine itself does get changed. Its development is a constant process, 
though changes aren't always evident. Maybe now it's in a temporary phase 
that's responsible for what you don't like. Have you tried any older (e.g. 
3.6 or 2.0) or development versions to see if they are different?

I can't say for sure, as you failed to answer all questions, but the display 
you are using (1366x768) is among the lowest quality available in today's 
marketplace. It's little more than a widened 1024x768 screen. 768 tall is XGA 
quality, around 25 years old. How acceptable XGA can be depends very much on 
its size, but also on the user's vision and personal taste, besides the settings.

Add a scanner in a different subnet

Toshi Esumi — 2013-05-25T20:05:09

Hi,

I have an HP Photosmart C309g and previously in the same subnet
192.168.199.240/28 with my SuSE 12.3 PC. But recently I separated PC
subnet to 172.16.1.0/24. Printer part of C309g seems to be working as it
was before. But I lost scanner part of C309g somehow and so far can't
find a way to reattach via YaST. I'm using KDE, by the way.

Toshi

Re: Font Rendering FireFox vs. Opera

Marco Calistri — 2013-05-25T19:43:06

Il 25/05/2013 15:40, Felix Miata ha scritto:
12.3 x86_64
Right!
The look of fonts I have on my system is acceptable/good on many of the
apps I am using, but the comparison is really in favor of Opera browser
on some specific URL as the Java one, FireFox is looking definitely worst!
Then that's the answer: they use different rendering engines, than
instead to a user became crazy by adjusting something that works well
for the 99% of the apps, Mozilla should change the engine rendering used
by FireFox, I beleive.

Thank you anyway for your answers!

Cheers,

Re: Font Rendering FireFox vs. Opera

Felix Miata — 2013-05-25T18:40:13

On 2013-05-25 14:51 (GMT-0300) Marco Calistri composed:






How can someone try to replicate what you see without knowing?





Some here may be of use to help observe and compare them:
http://fm.no-ip.com/Auth/Font/font-calibri.html
http://fm.no-ip.com/Auth/Font/font-tahoma.html
http://fm.no-ip.com/Auth/Font/fontm-consolas.html
http://fm.no-ip.com/Auth/Font/fonts-face-samplesL.html
http://fm.no-ip.com/Auth/Font/fonts-face-samplesLW.html (under reconstruction)
http://fm.no-ip.com/Auth/Font/fonts-face-index.html



On the screen I am typing this on, most text on that page is sub-legible 
mousetype.





 From density and resolution size could be calculated. From size and 
resolution, density could be calculated. Knowing only one of the three is of 
little use.



They use different rendering engines. The global settings can't tell a 
complete story. Without enough information, we don't know what range of sizes 
in device pixels you are looking at.





Without a complete answer to the resolution/size/densit

Re: Font Rendering FireFox vs. Opera

Marco Calistri — 2013-05-25T17:51:05

Answers in line to your questions:


Il 25/05/2013 13:01, Felix Miata ha scritto:
Gnome 3.6.2
Default openSUSE fonts in addition the following Truetype Microsoft
which I am testing:Consolas, Calibri, Tahoma, Verdana
Oracle Sun Java test page http://www.java.com/en/download/testjava.jsp
Opera definitely
1366X768 (16:9)
I don't understood what you mean here but if the settings are the same
why different browser behave differently? They both depends from same
global settings or not?
Yes
Less than 1 meter, I estimate from 60 to 80 cm

Cheers,

Re: Font Rendering FireFox vs. Opera

Felix Miata — 2013-05-25T16:01:17

On 2013-05-25 12:47 (GMT-0300) Marco Calistri composed:



Which openSUSE?

Which DE?

Which fonts are actually installed on your system?

Which URLs are you comparing?

Which browser does better?

What is your display's size, resolution and density?

Does your desktop's assumed density match your display's actual density?

Is your display using its native resolution?

How close are your eyes to your display?