[plug] Make The Move website launched!

[Chris Smart]

> At 07:12 AM 5/01/2007, Chris Smart wrote:
>>Dear pluggers,
>>
>>I am a clugger, but wanted to post to the plug list about a new website
>>that I've launched, http://makethemove.net (coding by MattV in Albany).
>
> Well done to Chris and MattV.
> Couple of comments in a constructive spirit, if I may...
Hi Denis,
Thanks for taking the time to check it out for me. Happy to have some
constructive criticism :)

>
> 1. In the "Why should I Move?" section's "compatibility" subsection I
> would
> be cautious about saying that Linux "runs on anything ..[even the].. old
> ones that you were going to throw away."    While few people these days
> would have 386 machines running Win9x with 64MB RAM, the experience of
> moving from that configuration - which does function with acceptable speed
> - to the same hardware running anything other than Computer Angels' distro
> is likely to lead to disappointment.
I guess what I was saying is that it runs on any architecture, including
old machines. I think that you can run Puppy or Damn Small Linux with much
success on old machines, and I think they'd out-perform Windows 98. I mean
Damn Small only needs 8Mb ram to run. However Ubuntu or a larger distro
like that certainly will chug. I'll have another think about it :)

>
> I think someone on the PLUG list made the comment before....    Setting up
> too much positive anticipation might be counter productive.    Indeed I
> have seen Win XP out perform Ubuntu and SuSE on low-end hardware so
> perhaps
> suggest a minimum specification for hardware that most first-time users
> would find acceptable?
Well, I guess it's down to individual distros. I think I do mention
minimum specs, not specifying any myself but say that most distros offer
minimum requirements and to check them out. Again though it's hard because
each distro is different, but I understand where you're coming from. The
thing is too that Win98 is not supported by MS anymore, so you get no
security updates, etc. And if you use a Distribution from 1997 instead of
the latest greatest KDE with Xgl distro it will probably work better on
hardware from that time. People wouldn't dream trying to run Vista or even
Windows XP on an old machine like that, should we expect the latest Linux
to as well? I think I'm getting side-tracked here, but what I'm saying is
that there are specific distros specialising in support for old machines,
and I tried to point people with older hardware to those distros instead.
I'll re-read it again though and see if I can improve it :)

>
> 2. It might help to have another link to commercial entities, schools,
> local councils, government bodies and even countries that have embraced
> Linux.    There are several major international banks and the German
> Postal
> Service(?) that have gone over to Linux and / or FOSS.    A sort of "Case
> Histories of Significant Movers to Linux" page.
I do have an update coming that talks about Linux and commercial entities,
support from companies etc, so this should fit in there.

>
> 3. Not sure if this suggestion is appropriate and if so, this would need
> the approval of the SLPWA group as well as Chris.    What about a link to
> SLPWA insofar as providing "comfort" for corporate employees who might
> visit the site?  There may be commercial organisations in WA which would
> move across if they felt that commercial-grade support was at hand.
Looks interesting. Hadn't heard about them, so I'll read up on their page,
thanks!

>
> I like the nice clean no-fuss layout :-)   I also like the page detailing
> "FOSS that you may be using now" - I think it is important to allow people
> to come to the idea of FOSS gently and this is a nice way to do it.
Thanks. Please let me know if you have any more suggestions. Although I've
tried to freeze the content for now (makes translations tricky) I'm taking
ideas for the next version, which will be in the pipeline soon.

Cheers,
Chris