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Daniel D. Ferrante
Department of Physics (Computational High Energy Physics,
High Energy Physics);
Brown University - POBOX 1843; For a map of the local area follow this link.
My publications may be found at
SPIRES. |
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GNU/Linux |
I have been using GNU/Linux, more specifically, Debian GNU/Linux, since May of 1996 (or something like that... I actually recall something around September of 1994 but, my oldest file/record is from May96). Actually, I am registered as Linux Counter #34445 on Linux Counter.
Debian GNU/Linux, Apache, Postfix, GNU emacs, tcsh, Python, [La]TeX, xterm/konsole, KDE/fvwm, Opera, [plain] [x]html, pine/mutt, FORTRAN...
As you can see, there's a little doubt in my mind when it comes to X11 terminal applications: "That's, basically, because the KDE application - konsole - has managed to drive me away from the good-old xterminals!" [The tabbed browsing is really helpful.] But, fear not, whenever i'm not using one, i'm using the other! >;-) As for MUA (email clients), what can i say: "I was 'raised' in a pine world!" So, as {good,bad} as it sounds, i'm addicted to it. But, i'm slowly (snails pace) moving to mutt... (as soon as i can make it look like pine! >;-) One thing you can be certain of: "I'm not using any GUI MUAs, that's for sure!!!" Now... window managers (desktop managers). I'm definitely all for X11 (even though i've heard a thing or another about people that want to move away from it) but, once in it, the question is: "Which window/desktop manager to use?!" As you can see from this link, there are quite a few to choose from... and, being somewhat of an older generation, i started off with fvwm (the one and only: It was a matter of choosing between fvwm and twm >;-). Then, i moved on to fvwm2 and stayed there for a loOong time... (KDE 0.* and 1.* were not very usable and, to make matters worse, they hogged all the system resources! Hey, back in 96 if you could put your hands on a 486DX4 you were hot! >;-) But, i beta-tested KDE for awhile... i just didn't use it regularly, for my everyday tasks. [Take a look at the KDE history; it's quite fun to remember "those times"...]) Anyway, after that i kindda [quantum] leaped into the KDE 3.* series, and have been satisfied with it. I mean, what i really use (and like; and am not ashamed to say - even though i think i should) from it is konsole, kweather and Korganizer! >;-) Everything else i basically use the console [or emacs, or opera] to do. I chose Opera mainly because it's the fastest browser available out there. Furthermore, it's got a lot of nice goodies that captivated me. It's true that vrms (Virtual Richard M. Stallman) complains every now and then but... sometimes... somethings... Now, as for plain [x]html, i'm a big fan of it, basically because of bandwidth reasons! Besides, albeit sometimes nice, all those animations, bells'n whistles... very few people actually need all that, so i stick to vanilla [x]html and try to make everything as clean and lightweight as possible, this way i can - hopefully - make your "internet/browsing experience" a little better. As for FORTRAN, what can i say...?! It was the very first language i learned to speak... then came BASIC, MODULA (2 and 3), Pascal, scripting languages (bash, tcsh, make, perl, python), markup languages ([x]html, [La]TeX), etc, etc, etc... but, (as {bad,good} as it may sound) i never learned C/C++! Tough life, huh?! Anyway, if you're reading my webpage(s), you probably figured that i'm a physicist, so you probably know that i mostly have to do scientific/numerical computations rather than CS-type of things. So, the need for speed comes before the need for elegance and other necessities... But, worry not: [Nowadays] I can handle myself in C/C++ enough to debug some minor things. >;-)
Hopefully, those are the only holly wars out there... at least, those are the ones i know off! >;-) I apologize if my choices disappoint you but, hey, nobody is perfect! >:-)
Everything done in this website [and its different incarnations: HET Help, CHEP Group, Mechanics, QFT, Brownzilians and Olympus] was made possible by:
As for networks, my take on it if i were putting one together right now is that i'd put one or several servers up running LVS (Linux Virtual Server - maybe you also want to take a look at MOSIX) and, to it/them i'd hang thin clients (in the spirit of LTSP - Linux Terminal Server Project) from it. Thus, it should be possible for you to have your files/LDAP/email/IMAP/web/ssh/DHCP servers with proper load balancing while keeping the maintenance of the nodes to a minimum. Booting everything from the network is a choice and having thin clients in CDs is also a possible pick! >;-)
Even though those are very different "pieces" of the community philosophically speaking, at the "common folk" level they share some oddities... So, here are some links to possibly make you happy. >;-)
Local (Providence, RI - USA) Date and Time:
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