[PLUG] I can;t go to meetings, but....

[Michael C. Robinson]

On Wed, 2003-06-04 at 07:16, Bill Barry wrote:
> On Wed, Jun 04, 2003 at 02:20:24AM -0700, Michael P Hopcroft wrote:
> >        My work schedule prohibits me from going to meetings, but I could
> >    use some help. I have a 1GHz Athlon with two very large hard drives
> >    (100GB main drive, 160GB secondary drive). My bios will only allow
> >    Windows to formayt 128GB of that second drive.
> > 
> >        I want to crate a dual-boot system with Windows residing on the C:
> >    dirve (the 100GB) and Linux splitting the 160GB drive into two 80GB
> >    drives. (I hope the BIOS allows me to do this). 
> 
> I suggest putting 3 partitions on the 100GB drive, a 50-100M boot
> partition, the ~98.5GB windows partition and a ~1GB (depends on your
> memory size) linux swap partition. This way all your boot information
> is on one disk, and when your running linux from disk2, the swap will
> be on a separate disk.
> 
> >    I want to eventually use the Linux part of the system to do all
> >    my business (Internet, publishing, etc.) and use the Windows part
> >    of the system for recreational uses, eventually migrating
> >    everything over to Linux if possible. I also want to transfer my
> >    work documents (which include images, .doc files and dozens of
> >    PDF files) to the Linux part of the system (so I hope that
> >    whatever distribution I get includes both openOffice,org and
> >    Acrobat Reader for Linux). I've also heard about some of the
> >    various 
> 
> You can leave your work documents on the windows partitions and still
> access them from Linux, but not the other way around, so it's probably
> best during the migration to leave the documents on the windows side.
> Several distributions include openOffice and the include pdf readers
> such as xpdf.  You can get Acrobat Reader for Linux directly from the
> Adobe website if you need it.
> 
> >    Is there anyone who can
> >    help me with my system? I am expecting to get DSL soon (I"m on
> >    dialup now) and while my ISP is going to be Qwest/MSN, I hope
> >    that isn;t all that relevant to my ability to use Libux to
> >    control my Internet connection. I'm more concerned with things
> >    like RealOne Player; I don;t know if there is a Linux version and
> >    it's the only way I can use the account I have with Major league
> >    baseball that lets me listen to live and archived games. 
> 
> Realplayer 8 is the latest version on Linux. I have never come across
> any realmedia that Realplayer 8 could not handle, but that doesn't
> mean there isn't any. Maybe the guys at Thursday's meeting can answer
> this.
> 
> >    I'm also
> >    concerned about the Windows sports sims I play -- if I can play
> >    them using a Windows emulator I'll be very happy. Finally, I have
> >    a whole bunch of source files that I'm going to want to transfer
> >    to the Linux system (I may have already mentioned this -- it's
> >    lkate) incluidng all my MP3s, my work documents, and a collection
> >    of about a hundred electronic RPG books that I want to read
> >    intact. (I"m an e-publisher by profession, so it;'s important
> >    that i maintain compatibility with the people whgo are seniding
> >    me art and text files).  > Does anyone know what I should, or
> >    can, do in this situation?
> 
> I don't know about the RPG books, maybe somebody else on the list has
> experience with RPG books under linux.
> 
> Bill Barry
> 
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Why not distribute an open replacement format for RPG that is
universal?  Docbook may be a good place to look.  I have never
understood why restricted documentation formats are so ubiquitous,
isn't publishing about communicating information to others in mass?
Perhaps you can publish an RPG book that teaches your customers how
to migrate to a format that is friendly to both Linux and Windows.

     --  Michael