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Hi Harry -- Here's one screenshot showing the desktop that holds XyWrite along with Midnight Commander, and another showing the desktop where I keep the browsers (Chrome and Firefox) & Thunderbird. What you can't see is 1) fullscreen XyWrite, which looks quite nice -- though it does not allow one to access the video hardware directly, so things like Ultravision are a no-go, or 2) the Compiz "cube" plugin, which allows you to access all your desktops by rotating a cube, like you can see here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaYqVrCfeHQ Of course it's just eye candy but it's very cool eye candy. For anyone at all curious, I'd suggest buying a new hard drive, which doesn't have to be very big -- Ubuntu's system files will fit in <10GB partition, though you'd probably want at least a 60GB partition for your data -- or if you've got an oldish laptop or desktop lying around, try it out on that. Installation is quite simple: you download the image and burn it to a DVD or better yet, a USB stick you've made bootable, then set your computer to boot from that device, and follow the prompts. Something along these lines: http://howtoubuntu.org/how-to-install-ubuntu-12-04-precise-pangolin/ If instead of wiping the HD clean, you want to keep Windows and convert free space in your hard disk to Linux partitions, I think the installation routine can do that, but I suggest doing some digging first because this can get complicated (eg, on HP laptops which already have four primary partitions). Spend a little time having fun in Ubuntu, and if/when curiosity strikes and yuo want to get an idea of what running XyWrite would be like, peruse Mr. Mendelson's page about WP/dosemu http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/linux.html The more technical parts here are in fact the basic parts of what you'll need to understand to start to get under the hood of Linux, where "Everything is a file": partition naming conventions, file permissions and user privileges, and the structure of Linux's directory system. I have go to warn you: once you overcome the learning curve and come to rely on it daily, using Linux is a lot of fun & highly addictive, and can cause you to feel overcome with an uncontrollable sensation of smugness and profound thrift. After a year or two you will be tempted to sign off listserv emails with quotes like "When users don't control the program, the program controls the users." -Rafe On 05/20/2012 06:13 PM, Harry Binswanger wrote: Yes, I am interested. Do you have a screenshot, for starters? |
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