Linux

[Nathan Sivin nsivin@xxxxxxxx]

Jeff Seager has raised the question of XyWrite under Linux. I
wonder if I might begin a new slightly broader thread for a
problem I have been thinking about for a long time?

I too am thoroughly fed up with the propensity of Windows 95 to
crash, and gather that NT, despite the PR, is equally prone to do
so if one uses DOS and 16-bit Windows programs under it. I would
like to convert to Linux on an impending new computer, preferably
without also installing Windows. I still use a number of DOS
programs that have added only bloat in their Windows versions.
But I would like to go further because I do not want to load vast
numbers of Linux files needed to operate a network when I will
not be part of one.

I am raising two related questions:

1. Is it possible to set Linux up without the network files
(keeping only those needed for modem access to the Internet)? Is
there any guidance available for doing it? I have looked
unsystematically at a number of books and web sites, but none of
them mention the possibility.

2. How would XyDOS and XyWin work on such an installation? I will
need to continue using both. How stable is Linux using non-Linux
hardware? If there is a difference between versions, which is the
best for the purpose?

Cheers,
--
Nathan Sivin
History and Sociology of Science
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia PA 19104-6304
(215) 898-7454
nsivin@xxxxxxxx