Your OS choice is stupid...

[roussell]

There seems to be a lot of pent up frustration on the board about OS choices lately - I suppose it's been awhile since we had a good rant so maybe we're due. Anyway, to respect posts that have nothing to do with operating systems - I thought I'd start it off here - no need to limit it to just OS though, blow off some holiday steam and tell me if you agree or if I'm a big-ol' stupid-head.

I use Macs, Linux and Windows on a daily basis and they all have their faults. I prefer servers to have Linux/Unix; it used to be because of stability in the early days but now it's mostly just a personal preference. I prefer workstations to be Macs - even though I'm a Republican... I drive a huge environmental death machine - A Ford Diesel 4x4 crew cab log bed behemoth, and after playing with SageTV for a few weeks remember why I hate Java so much. I use Housebot for HA even though it's Windows-based because everything HA for Linux is crap. Microsoft Project is the worst piece of garbage ever created and I can't believe anyone with a brain between their ears would prefer it for project tracking. I hate Insteon even though I use it and haven't had a problem with it yet.

There, hows that for fodder? Have at it.

Terry

 

[Rupp]

Ah - sure. I used to agree with what you said but I left my government job which took me away from Apple PC's. Now it's only Windows for me and I've actually grown to hate Apple for the very simple fact that I can't add batteries to their "child sucking" devices.
At work we were a 100% unix shop and It was ok and I like it then but then Windows came aroung and stuff was soooo much easier. So we dumped unix and I've never looked back. I've never had a reason to look back either.
As far as HA software it's HomeSeer for me and I've yet to find anything as powerful. It's getting better now that we have a touch screen interface as well.

 

[sic0048]

....and your lighting technology smells funny.....

Thats just you wiring melting because you plugged in an Apple computer. Should have stuck with Windows.

PS - my CQC can beat up your Homeseer any day of the week. Just pick a time and place.

 

[roussell]

Ah - sure. I used to agree with what you said but I left my government job which took me away from Apple PC's. Now it's only Windows for me and I've actually grown to hate Apple for the very simple fact that I can't add batteries to their "child sucking" devices.
At work we were a 100% unix shop and It was ok and I like it then but then Windows came aroung and stuff was soooo much easier. So we dumped unix and I've never looked back. I've never had a reason to look back either.
As far as HA software it's HomeSeer for me and I've yet to find anything as powerful. It's getting better now that we have a touch screen interface as well.

I would love replaceable batteries and maybe even a external memory slot on portable iApples, but not if it means making the devices biger/bulkier. I like HomeSeer overall, I guess my biggest gripes are the web interface seems jumbled when you have tons of devices (I naturally gravitate toward a tree-view rather than flat-list), and I'm cheap. I'll agree that Windows is easier, but I also feel that the ease of use dilutes the intelligence pool somewhat. I think that's most prevalent on the development side. We have several .Net developers here and they're lost when I try to explain C, perl, python or anything whose IDE doesn't come with a code-completion feature. We have one developer that is now .Net but was an old mainfraim guy. Even today his .Net code is tight and much more compact than the .Net-only developers. He just has a different mindset because for so long he had to do a lot with few resources.

....and your lighting technology smells funny.....

Thats just you wiring melting because you plugged in an Apple computer. Should have stuck with Windows.

PS - my CQC can beat up your Homeseer any day of the week. Just pick a time and place.

That...is...awesome!

Terry

 

[AnthonyZ]

I am a Windows user, Google fanboy, like Apple hardware (but I flippin' HATE Steve Jobs, iTunes and Apple as a company) and have played with Ubuntu (but I'm yet to wrap my head around it). I prefer Atmel AVR's to Microchip's PIC's. Run Android OS on my phone. Lastly, I use UPB and Radio RA for lighting and can both speak highly and complain about both...

 

[Ira]

z/OS...most reliable "general computing" operating system there is. A little expensive though (both hardware and software), and I don't think there is any HA software that currently runs on it.

 

[mustangcoupe]

ok, I have to say I am a windows guy, but as much as I dislike the other OS's it is more because I don't use them much...

But what really gets me going is we are in this dam circle... The hardware gets improved because we can and need it to run the latest and greatest software, and it makes things incredibly fast, but then comes the software vendors, (all programs not just the OS), and say wow look at what we can do now that we have more X (ram, speed, graphics etc...) and they bloat their software and we then need to buy a newer and better model machine! and thus it happens again... better mobo, better graphics card, more ram, 32bit vs 64 but, DUAL CORE, QUAD CORE, i7 etc... hey look at all that horse power and what we can do NOW! You have to have this new software it is sooo improved oh wait we just passed that point of no return

 

[sic0048]

ok, I have to say I am a windows guy, but as much as I dislike the other OS's it is more because I don't use them much...

But what really gets me going is we are in this dam circle... The hardware gets improved because we can and need it to run the latest and greatest software, and it makes things incredibly fast, but then comes the software vendors, (all programs not just the OS), and say wow look at what we can do now that we have more X (ram, speed, graphics etc...) and they bloat their software and we then need to buy a newer and better model machine! and thus it happens again... better mobo, better graphics card, more ram, 32bit vs 64 but, DUAL CORE, QUAD CORE, i7 etc... hey look at all that horse power and what we can do NOW! You have to have this new software it is sooo improved oh wait we just passed that point of no return

I agree with that to some extent, but I think most "regular" programs like word prcessing, and other office programs have kind of hit a limit. You certainly don't need a fast dual core machine for most office work, email, and web surfing.

What faster processors have allowed us to do is encode media faster, have more realistic games (they are probably the biggest "push the envelope" software group), etc, etc, etc.

For example, I can now run several instances of a Commercial Skipping program on my quad core machine. It scans my H.264 video files and marks where all the commericals are, so my SageTV software will skip right over them. I couldn't even run 1 instance on my older P4 machine and now I am running several. I also use PlayOn software to download and serve up online content like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon VOD so I can view it on my Sage Extenders.

So I for one have a much more usable system since upgrading to a quad core machine. I suspect as CPU power increases more advances like this will occur. But that doesn't mean you'll have to have a octoplet core machine to surf the web or use the typical office type programs.

In fact, I think we are seing a much bigger push towards slower, less power consuming machines with this whole "Green" push.

 

[roussell]

...
For example, I can now run several instances of a Commercial Skipping program on my quad core machine. It scans my H.264 video files and marks where all the commericals are, so my SageTV software will skip right over them. I couldn't even run 1 instance on my older P4 machine and now I am running several. I also use PlayOn software to download and serve up online content like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon VOD so I can view it on my Sage Extenders.
...

Brian, what OS are you running with Sage? I have quad core box with 8GB of RAM and I'm trying to decide between XP32 which means I'd have to pull out most of the RAM, or Win7 which is unsupported by Sage but can use the RAM and is the more future-prone OS. THe box came with Vista and that's what I've been trying Sage with. I was okay until the latest SageMC, BMI, Moviewall install and then I started getting tons-o-lockups. Backend server with HD200s BTW.

I love the incredible amount of tech we have at our disposal today, and I share your disdain for the nasty circle we get into - kinda like the spinning circle of death I've been seeing with sage lately. Funny thing about that, my wife thought it looked like a snake eating it's butt.

Terry

 

[DavidL]

roussell, I am running SageTV server on Windows Home Server. Runs great.
Also using HD100 / HD200s.
Oh, by the way, it's time to upgrade your phone technology:
http://talluscorp.com/mediawiki/index.php?...eTV_Application


I would say "If you have an iPhone, your technology sucks"....but I also have an iPhone.

 

[roussell]

I'll admit I'm an iFanboy - I'd buy an iTurd if Stevie-boy would start making them. I like the Sage viewer on Android (also a Google Kool-aide lover) but what does it provide over the sage web interface plugin?

 

[Steve]

I can't believe all this discussion over 'best' OS or pc. We all know what the best one is...

Nothing can beat the Z80!

I used to think no pc or OS was as good as a hardware panel and while I basically still do, running CQC on an XP machine for 5 years now has taught me what others have said - Windoze CAN be a reliable platform if you leave it the hell alone. As long as you don't surf the net with it and mess with it daily, it can and will run very reliably for years. Too bad I can't say the same about hard drives. Wish SSDs could totally replace hard drives.

PS - my CQC can beat up your Homeseer any day of the week. Just pick a time and place.

Let me know where the match is and I will throw my CQC into it as well. We can tag team HS.

Oh, by the way, it's time to upgrade your phone technology:
http://talluscorp.com/mediawiki/index.php?...eTV_Application

so you carry an iPhone but your first release of this is for Droid??? When does the i version come out?

And I agree with Mr. Z, really like Apple hardware and engineering, but absolutely hate the policies and such. I s'pose some of it is to keep the hardware and stuff 'clean' but they are a little too controlling for my tastes.

 

[Dave X10]

There seems to be a lot of pent up frustration on the board about OS choices lately - I suppose it's been awhile since we had a good rant so maybe we're due.

I hate those posts that start out with something.. generally like "I can't believe BLANK can't run on Linux".

What originally sounds like a gripe about Home Automation Software.... is usually (and quickly) exposed as anti-Microsoft. America is hated by many as the great evil. Most of those people who hate Americans are forgien... but some are born and raised in the USA. Computers, the Internet, and Microsoft are as symbolic of the USA as our flag is... for most non-Americans. I truly believe most anti-windows posts... are in actuality just anti-American rants.

I worked with all flavors of windows over the years. I would be shocked if Apple didn't work better than windows... Microsoft doesn't control the hardware like Apple does. I have played with Linux.... and how can I complain... it was free. I retired as a network admin... and I am a fan of windows. Every version (IMHO) has been better than the previous. For HA... I use an old saved from the trash P3.. running XP.

 

[signal15]

The reasons I like linux over Windows:
- It's free
- It's far more stable. You can argue until you are blue in the face that Windows is just as stable, but it always comes with all sorts of preconditions like making sure you don't install too much stuff on it or making sure it's a purpose built box that is basically locked in time so no one can mess with it. FSM help you if you do too much stuff with the same windows box.
- *I* can do more with unix, more quickly than I can do it in windows
- I don't have to reboot it every "patch Tuesday"
- I don't need to reboot it at all unless I'm updating the kernel (and even then, there's a version of linux where you can do live code insertion for kernel updates without a reboot)
- There are interesting tools that do NOT exist on windows
- I've never had "stability" problems because I installed too many apps and ran them concurrently.
- directory structure is more scalable, mountpoints can exist anywhere. Your single directory structure can contain disk, memory cards, USB sticks, virtual filesystems held in RAM, and network drives. In windows, C:, D:, etc can cause application problems if you move something to another drive and the app has registry entries or config files that look for something on the original drive.
- It doesn't have a registry.

 

[sic0048]

Brian, what OS are you running with Sage? I have quad core box with 8GB of RAM and I'm trying to decide between XP32 which means I'd have to pull out most of the RAM, or Win7 which is unsupported by Sage but can use the RAM and is the more future-prone OS. THe box came with Vista and that's what I've been trying Sage with. I was okay until the latest SageMC, BMI, Moviewall install and then I started getting tons-o-lockups. Backend server with HD200s BTW.

Terry

I'm running it on my WHS machine with 4gb ram.