[ILUG] Naive ADSL/WiFi questions (long (sorry!))?

[David Golden]

On Thursday 21 June 2007 22:55, Timothy Murphy wrote:
> >
> > That all non-windows users must keep a windows partition around?
>
> Yes, unless you are a masochist.
>

Or, just maybe, not a windows user?  

Windows has always been a clunky-looking and unfamiliar OS for 
me -  I basically switched to Linux-on-PC from Linux-on-Amiga 
from AmigaOS-on-Amiga, Windows was a sideshow that appeared
installed on the first PC I bought, though not later ones.

So I haven't had a windows partition on a computer I own
since about 2000, and most of the rest of my family now
use Macs.

I know I'm not particularly masochistic,  I just pay for 
decent, known linux-compatible hardware (perhaps with 
FreeDOS for firmware updates if necessary) and services. 
It's not 1997 anymore, linux is pretty mainstream.


> > That non-windows users can not use all of their hardware?
>
> No. What is the connection with the previous question?
> Or are you saying you can't spare any of your precious hard disk?
>

Any "spare" space I might use for a windows partition 
could be better used as a test install of a more interesting 
OS, or as an extra 10GB or whatever of, like, spare space 
should  I want to download a bunch of isos on a whim or 
something.  My harddrives aren't so big that I wouldn't
miss a few gigs (I have about 200GB of space, 
presently about 70% full after a spring clean)

Screwing around resizing a windows partition is pointless 
if you're  never going to use it, just wipe the fucker 
and you can use your whole disk with a simpler and more 
robust partitioning scheme and bootloader setup that 
no closed-source crap is going to mysteriously corrupt 
for you. It's much easier maintaining a linux installation,
and a computer itself, if you're not worried about every 
trivial and normal-except-in-windowsland-apparently act 
of volume or hardware rearrangement breaking 
the fragile chain necessary to allow windows to dual-boot
(or even boot, according to what people say about windows
"activation", which I've never really had the "joy" of 
experiencing first-hand).