"Class not registered"

[Bob Eager]

I use Pan. What, as a matter of interest, is it missing (IYO)? Just curious...I can think of flagging threads that I am 'in' (used to love that with the previous newsreader).

[T i m]

I use Agent in a pretty 'manual' way. I open the newsgroup I'm interested in, check for new headers and open the threads that I am interested in that are now highlighted in (as it happens), Red, indicating a new thread (with or without new sub messages) or a new message in the thread. The fields in said new Thread / message will be in Red, making it very easy to spot.

It's also nearly instant in all things, even on the single core Apple Mac running a very mature install of XP and with 1218218 messages (some headers, most header + message body) in this particular newsgroup alone.

If I am happy I've read all I want to read, I can (then or any time later, multiply the same day) check for new messages and all existing messages will be rest to black and only new messages (or threads etc) then appear in red.

Pan also just seems much 'cruder', as do many Linux apps to me (not that that bothers me too much, as long as they work).

Maybe it's down to there generally not being such a 'common look and feel' with more individuals writing apps at home (as it were).

There are also many instances of dialogue boxes that aren't applicable ... likes saying 'Cancel' instead of 'Finish' (I think the default Debian DVD writer has such).

With the advent of cheap SSDs and W10 I find myself booting into Linux less often, and when I do it's only because I know I'm not going to need much more that a web browser etc.

Most of that is because of things like Agent or that most of the other things I use have no real Linux support, or no better support than on Windows.

I try to keep my hand in with it though and I just installed Ubuntu

15.10 MATE on a PC I've just put together from my bits box to be able to process (wipe and test) a load of drives I have kicking about (narrow / wide SCSI, SATA and IDE). I currently have removable drive bays for the IDE and wide SCSI fitted, have a narrow tray to fit and will need to get a trayless SATA (I have them in many of my other machines). I really need a full height tower case with at least 7 external 5-1/4" bays as I also have a full height unit that takes 3 x 2.5" SATA drives.

I had to download the driver for the Adaptec 2940UW for W7 but I'm guessing Ubuntu should find it automatically. Shame Ubuntu is stuck in

640 x 480. Of course, the Linux nerds will blame it on 'my choice of hardware' (too old, too new, not supported) ... strange that although W7 just shows it as a 'Std VGA graphics adaptor' (it's onboard) I can get up to 1600x1200 resolution?

I might swap out the motherboard as that is often the easiest way for me to overcome such issues (with Linux).

Oh, and the Windows system updates install themselves as I shut my machine down (and that's how I set most machines, especially for others because I know if I didn't they would never get done). ;-(

Cheers, T i m

[Bob Eager]

I just get Pan to hide messages I've read.

I actually 'live' in FreeBSD...using Windows only very occasionally.

I haven't had that problem with old hardware, but then it isn't Linux here. Not that that should make much difference, as it'll probably be an xorg driver problem.

I tend to update rarely (e.g. annually) apart from security fixes. The system is stable, so I leave it be.

[T i m]

Hmm, I'm not sure that's what I would want (in case I wanted to go back and re-read something (and I often do). No, what I *want* is it to work like I want it to work, like Agent works (as it happens).

I *could* live in Linux, if it wasn't for the myriad of things I need that Linux simply can't do (like iTunes for instance). I don't use it personally but (say) if I'm looking at an iDevice for someone it's often handy to use it to back stuff up or check that it will work etc.

But then I'm a 'hardware guy' and even Linus himself admits that dealing with the vast range of stuff out there makes it more difficult for GNU/Linux to cope. Not an issue for servers or embedded devices (like my TV or router) as their environment is static.

Do you (for instance) use your PC to run car diagnostic interfaces (and I know it is FreeBSD but I wonder how that would cope) that only seem to come with Windows apps? Trust me, I have been trying Linux for long enough now to know that whilst it's good ... and slowly getting better, it's never going to reach the levels of compatibility and support the range of games, apps and general programs of Windows because it's userbase is just not big enough. And don't get me wrong, I'd like it to have more / better support across all facets because then it would be a credible alternative for me as well.

The difference between me and many other Linux users is I'm not buying a pre-installed Linux machine, I'm not seeking out 'Linux compatible' hardware and I *am* playing with Linux across a vast range and quantity of machines, more so than even most Linux geeks. So, if anyone is going to come across a problem then it's going to be me! ;-( [1]

I'll have to try FreeBSD again.

And that sends a cold shiver down my spine because I'm a 'hardware guy', not a programmer.

*Even* when Linux has tried to make the handling of drivers as easy as Windows, it (for me anyway) fails (catastrophically) more often that it works. The number of times I've had to re-install Linux (not that that it difficult) simply because I made the mistake of accepting the 'Default' video driver and the system wouldn't reboot (into the GUI). At that point I know (from bitter experience) that the *quickest* way to recover the situation is to reinstall. In Windows I would go into Safe Mode and would still have a GUI.

I was talking about the security fixes (as well) Bob. It seem every time I turn on any of my Linux boxes (or see anyone running Linux (that inevitably I have installed for them)) they are showing outstanding updates. 'People' CBA but I'm guessing these update are generally there for good reason.

Well, there is the 'don't fix what's not broken' but there is a massive gap between 'stable' and 'secure'.

I'm sure if I was more of a geek I could spend more of my time 'learning Linux' but I don't want to. 'Learning Linux' inevitably means the CLI and 'programming' and that really isn't my bag. It's also not something I've had to do with any OS in the past so I'm not going to start now! I have no issues 'using' Linux, just as I don't 'using' OSX, Windows or Android, but I don't have to fight those to work on my (inevitably 'Designed for Windows') hardware. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[1] Even doing that (running several machines) caused an issue for Linux. I have an Aten 2 port KVM switch going between a Mac Mini (dual booting OSX / XP) and a home made box dual booting W7 / Linux.

The mouse was fine (useable speed) in OSX, XP and W7 but was over fast in Linux. Now, I could faff with some CLI stuff to reduced the speed of the mouse (the GUI mouse utility wasn't sufficient) *but*, as soon as I switch over to another machine and back the 'fix' was lost. After being accused of lying (by the nutjobs on the Linux n/gs), and a load of other attacks (because they had no defence) I found someone who was able to access my Linux machine remotely and after a good couple of hours programming and testing, managed to fix it for me. There is no way I could ever have done that myself and I hadn't ever needed to after nearly 30+ years playing with the things. ;-(

*Apparently* it was an issue because it was a 'gaming mouse' (it was actually just a basic two button USB mouse) but because it was 'high res', that was what Linux couldn't cope with. A wired mouse FFS. ;-(

p.s. This guy puts the extended point across (I'm not interested in the points themselves particularly) in that there is often lots of denial and protectionism that doesn't help the 'Linux cause'.

It's not Linux I have an issue with, it's a tiny minority of Linux geeks who seem to have an issue seeing the world though the eyes of others when I'm looking for 'basic' help. Sound familiar (here) Bob. ;-)