[mgp-users 01213] Re: Cygwin vs Knoppix - which is quicker?

[Sven Guckes <guckes@math.fu-berlin.de>]

* Marc Baaden <baaden@smplinux.de> [2003-06-17 11:19]:
> what would be really cool, is a self-consistent
> system.  What I mean is you bring your CD with
> magicpoint/cygwin-dll/Xserver etc (what else is
> needed ?) so that it can be started from a
> Windows box without prior installation.
> ..
> A bootable system like knoppix is *not*
> an alternative, as usually the speaker
> before/after you will want his powerpoint,
> and having to reboot is quite annoying.

oh - so you *must* use windows because the
*minute* it takes to start the computer
with a knoppix cd takes too *long?*  well,
then you *must* use powerpoint, right?

give me a break!

what do you gain when cygwin and all is on
the CD?  would this really start up quicker?
and who really gives a damn about the tool
you are using for your presentation?  exactly.

i think your scenario can at most take a CD
with your presentation in PDF or powerpoint.
after all, if the startup of knoppix takes
too long then *every* second counts, right?

several years ago when i was using Macs i have
seen a LOT of different files which basically
provided both the data and the viewer program
in itself; but is this really the way to go?

i still prefer a small and simple text file
as input - and a small program like magicpoint
to display it.  just put the data onto a floppy -
and magicpoint, too.  should suffice.

USB sticks are nicer, though.  USB is supported by
most computers now and they can hold 32/64/128/256MB.
(my 128MB stick holds almost about 89 floppies.
 should suffice.) and the sticks are usually
preformatted with some windows file system
(FAT16?), so windows should be happy.

but if you are really lucky then the computer
can even boot from USB.  that's where you *win*!
i just wish there were cheap 1GB USB sticks
and knoppix images to go with it, too.

in the end all those workarounds just suck.
gimme a real system with a good shell anytime!

Sven