
Download
The Next Windows
The idea is simple: Linux isn’t always the best non-Windows operating system. Windows is excellent and unbeatable for quite a few people and tasks. But neither is perfect. Almost exactly 10 years ago, a team began to search for a fix. In 1996, Linux was unusable for anyone but the most technologically ‘gifted’ and Windows 95 wasn’t anywhere near as complex as Windows today.
Originally called FreeWin95, the project had a decent idea, but terribly organized, implemented, and coded. Two years later, the dos-clone kernel was dumped, and the real project began. It was called ReactOS, and this time it was for real.
ReactOS is a 100% Open Source (mostly GPL) rewrite of the Windows Kernel. At its heart, ReactOS is an initiative to create an open-source project that is fully compatible with the all Windows NT-based drivers, applications, and services.
Famelix is named for the Faculdade Metropolitana de Guaramirim (FAMEG, or the Metropolitan College of Guaramirim) in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, where it was developed. The distribution is based on Debian and uses the KDE desktop, with wallpaper and other modifications designed to increase the resemblance to Windows XP, or, in the latest version, codenamed Hasta la Vista (Spanish for "goodbye"), to Windows Vista.
The distribution is directed by David Emmerich Jourdain, a German-born professor who has lived in Brazil since 1992. Jourdain became a free software advocate after hearing a speech by a local users' group while earning his master's degree at Stanford. When FAMEG offered him employment, the college had only a single computer room whose machines ran illegal copies of Windows. Jourdain said that he would accept the position only if he could deploy free software throughout the college and have time to prove its advantages. "My main intention was not working with proprietary software, whether legal or not," he says.
When FAMEG agreed to his conditions, Jourdain immediately ran into a problem: He was the only person locally with any knowledge of free software. As a result, he had to train his student assistants in kernel compiling and patching, as well as the Qt, PyQt, C++ and Kdialog programming and scripting languages.
Early on, he also realized that an interface too different from what he dismisses as "Teletubbies land" (presumably a reference to the default Windows XP theme) would be a barrier for acceptance, and decided to make the desktop as similar to Windows as possible.
Over the five years of Famelix's existence, some 70 students have assisted in its development. Currently, the distribution is maintained and developed by seven students, with occasional assistance from 18 others. During that time, Jourdain has seen the use of Famelix spread from his own private machine to the college's laboratories and administrative machines. In addition, "many students are using Famelix on their personal computers," he says, and have spread its use to their places of work after graduation.
As with any GNU/Linux distribution, exact figures for use are hard to come by for Famelix. However, other users of the distribution include 62 military units, and schools and digital inclusion centers throughout South America. On its home site, the distribution has had more than 22 million downloads -- at least 14 million of them in the last 12 months, thanks mainly to the first releases to support German, English, and Italian in addition to the original Spanish and Portugese. By any standard, the distribution seems a success.
But this success seems to have attracted the wrong kind of attention. In 2005, Jourdain and FAMEG's manager of infrastructure received a visit from two Microsoft representatives in which they were offered the "wonderful" chance of buying Windows for the college at the cost of a few thousand dollars.
"My first questions were about the freedoms that we would have to develop and to get into the system," Jourdain recalls. "Of course we knew the answers. In this situation, I finished the conversation with, 'As you see, our interests are not the same. We want to create developers. You want to sell. I believe that the proposal does into interest us.'"
The Microsoft representatives said that, if the college did not purchase licenses, its only solution would be to use pirated copies of Windows. "My answer was quite direct," Jourdain says. "'We use GNU/Linux. Hence, whether we have or do not have your system does not make any difference to us. Have a good day.'"
Whether the Microsoft representative mistook Famelix for Windows or were acting maliciously is uncertain, but, two weeks later, the college received notice that it was being investigated for illegal use of software. A representative of the Brazilian Justice department, two police officers, and a computer technician soon descended on the college.
According to Jourdain, one of the police offices was a FAMEG student and was familiar with Famelix. He told the Justice representative that the investigation was a waste of time, but it went ahead anyway.
After checking all FAMEG's computers, the Justice representative apologized and filled out the necessary reports on the investigation. As he was leaving, he asked, "Can you install this Famelix for me?"
"After that," Jourdain recalls, "we never had problems with our Microsoft friends again."
Unfortunately, Microsoft is not the only part of the Windows world that can cause difficulties for a successful distribution. Last month, Jourdain returned from a conference to hear that the college was being bought by Uniasselvi, a private educational concern whose image, according to Brazilian sources, is "not so good."
Jourdain was immediately concerned because Uniasselvi uses only Windows, and he believes that most of its copies are not licensed. Sure enough, when the sale to Uniasselvi was confirmed, the first point raised was whether Famelix should be continued.
The question of Famelix's future remains uncertain, and the lack of answers made Jourdain hesitate about whether to be interviewed for this article. However, in the end, urged on by Alexandre Oliva, a board member of FSF Latin America, Jourdain agreed to participate, hoping that the publicity might sway the college management's decision, and, perhaps, bring support and suggestions to help him safeguard the distribution's future.
Whether this latest threat is independent is uncertain, and really doesn't matter. Either way, Famelix proving itself an alternative to Windows seems only the first battle in its struggle for existence.
Code: |
{ if (isInNet(myIpAddress(), "192.168.1.0", "255.255.255.0")) return "PROXY 192.168.1.1:8080"; else return "DIRECT"; } |
Code: |
{ if (shExpMatch(url, "http://principia.mo.techpaths.com*")) { return "DIRECT"; } if (isInNet(myIpAddress(), "192.168.1.0", "255.255.255.0")) return "PROXY 192.168.1.1:8080"; else return "DIRECT"; } |
Code: |
{ // variable strings to return var proxy_yes = "PROXY 192.168.1.1:8080"; var proxy_no = "DIRECT"; if (shExpMatch(url, "http://www.mycompanywebsite.com*")) { return proxy_no; } if (shExpMatch(url, "http://www.myotherwebsite.com*")) { return proxy_no; } if (shExpMatch(url, "http://www.my3rdlocalsite.com*")) { return proxy_no; } // Proxy anything else return proxy_yes; } |
Code: |
{ // variable strings to return var proxy_yes = "PROXY 192.168.1.1:8080"; var proxy_no = "DIRECT"; if (shExpMatch(url, "http://www.mycompanywebsite.com*")) { return proxy_no; } if (shExpMatch(url, "http://www.myotherwebsite.com*")) { return proxy_no; } if (shExpMatch(url, "http://www.my3rdlocalsite.com*")) { return proxy_no; } if (shExpMatch(url, "http://192.168.1.100*")) { return proxy_no; } // Proxy if PC is on local LAN if (isInNet(myIpAddress(), "192.168.1.0", "255.255.255.0")) return "PROXY 192.168.1.1:8080"; else return "DIRECT"; } |
Code: |
http://192.168.1.1:1959/data/proxy.pac |
Code: |
file:///c|/windows/proxy.pac |
Code: |
file://c:/windows/proxy.pac |
Code: |
#Regedit /s z:\public\setpxy.reg |
Code: |
REGEDIT4 (or whatever version of REGEDIT is on your PC, such as REGEDT32) [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings] "ProxyServer"=" "ProxyEnable"=dword:00000001 "ProxyOverride"=" |
Code: |
http://support.novell.com/cgi-bin/search/searchtid.cgi?/2953490.htm |
Code: |
http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/IE/reskit/ie5/part3/ch13sser.asp |
Code: |
http://home.netscape.com/bisdev/distribution/index.html |
Code: |
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ieak/default.asp PROXY.PAC Files |
- What To Do When:
1. Your PC Shuts Down Slowly or Won't Shut Down At All
2. Your PC Runs Slowly or Erratically
3. Your PC Internet Connection Is Show
4. You Can?t Open Email Attachments
5. and more ...
- This guide teaches you how to maintain and fix your PC in times of crisis. Suitable for both beginners or professionals.
http://urlinn.com/?wf0u
Fix Your Own PCLet me put it this way, for the past 7 years my life has revolved around advertising websites online through Google. I know every rule, advertising policy, and exactly how to advertise any website to make it unbelievably profitable. In fact, Google has actually recognized me as one of their Qualified Advertising Professionals.
Learn How I Use Google - the Worlds Most Popular Search Engine, To Make THOUSANDS of Dollars Every Day through Affiliate Marketing!
I have combined my knowledge of Google advertising with internet affiliate marketing and have put all of this information into a downloadable guide.
You WILL NOT find any of the information contained in Google Money Pro anywhere else on the web. Google Money Pro contains all of my personal secrets, tips, and techniques allowing you to set up an extremely profitable affiliate account by professionally advertising with Google AdWords. Best of all, I show you how to do everything in an easy to follow, step by step, illustrated guide.
I wrote Google Money Pro so anyone can benefit from it. This means that if you don't have a website or a product and you don't have any internet or business experience, Google Money Pro will be perfect for you. It starts with extremely basic information that everyone can understand and as you read along it will gradually become more advanced so by the time you're finished reading it you will fully understand everything. I've had teenagers to people in their late 80s purchase Google Money Pro and email me telling me how much they appreciated me writing it, so I know everyone can benefit from this. If you ever get lost, confused, or need help in any way just email me and I'll personally reply to your email with the answer to your question.
Even if you're already experienced with internet marketing and Google AdWords, you'll be amazed at how many things you're doing wrong that's costing you money every single day. You would be surprised to know how many books on Google AdWords are completely wrong and contain information that's costing you thousands of dollars.
I receive emails all the time with people listing off all the books they've bought on internet marketing and they ask me "Why does the information in Google Money Pro goes against what all their other books say to do". I even receive emails from my competition telling me their customers are asking questions referring to my book and they don't know how to answer them properly. This is because the money making techniques in Google Money Pro are completely different from any other book.