Dramatically Increase Browsing Speed!!

S

st3ve

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Parkview, JHB
Okay so I know that most of the seasoned users in this forum are already aware of this fact, so sorry to bore you.

But I just installed Firefox as my webrowser and holy f8k i can't believe how fast pages load... Not only that, but most hackers don't design exploit software for anything but IE, so you're pretty safe from spyware and other unwanted crap .

Now this is what dsl is all about, what the heck am I paying Telkom for? The speed is also in the browser software, not just the connection.

I got the software shipped to me for FREE from Switzerland, I only ordered one copy but they suggested sending me ten since the shipping costs (that they pay) are the same.

So if you want fast browsing and more go here to order ten or twenty free versions of Linux Ubuntu (the platform - like windows), which includes firefox and Open Office - The free version of MSoffice.

http://www.shipit.ubuntulinux.org/

It'll take a few weeks before you get it in the post and the SA post office did not charge me any import duties (like they normally do with amazon)

If you're really, really, really desperate to get your hands on a free copy without waiting a few weeks, and you live in the joburg area I do have five copies left and I'd be happy to give them away.

First five respondents who are closest to Parkview and don't mind driving round to pick up a copy, let me know I'll leave them in my mailbox for you.

Other than that I think firefox is only a few MB anyway, so you can download it - search google and off you go.

Any rate, I'm a happy surfer right now.

Cheers
 
I thought it was all about Debian ...

Yeah - got mine shipped through the post some time back, gave it a spin on my dual boot box, but I decided to stick with Slackware - 10.1 has just been released, getting someone with a better line than mine to d/l it (read - I don't want to kill my 3gig cap !)
 
I have tried to give the laternative operating systems a go, but has not been very successful, the effort that has to be invested to get the same functionality that Windows is giving me, is just not worth the while.

I have got one machine which I am using as a print server, and thought about installing Linux on there, but I am not sure what benefit is going to be except for the principal of not using MS Software.
 
Good day!

If you cannot justify Linux or any alternative operating system, don't. I am a huge Linux fan and if it doesn't tickle your imagination to fiddle with it and see it live and breathe next to you, then don't. You will know when you need it. You might want a stable web server, file server, SAMBA shares manager, FTP server, network management workstation and so forth. Then the benefits will scream at you! But if you have no need and there is no urgency, don't worry about it. Giving Microsoft the middle finger is something that nature dictates and nature resides in the market. Does that sound too philosophical?

Anyhow, what will be will be. If you have the need, the method of servicing it exists. All you have to do is drive to Parkview (or a similarly cool place) and pick up a copy in a mailbox, free! I don't think you will see that happen with MS any time soon...

Cheers
Ant
 
Well said Antowan. Anyway, giving Micro$oft the finger can be done to a large extent on its own operating system... Firefox, OpenOffice.org, etc. all cater for Window$.
 
I have got one machine which I am using as a print server, and thought about installing Linux on there, but I am not sure what benefit is going to be except for the principal of not using MS Software.
Click to expand...

It depends entirely on what you do - coming from a microsoft world, it's hard to see what use Linux could be for a person on the desktop.

My main platform for working is windows and will be until Linux has the software I require to do my work - Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks etc.
The Linux "equivalents" just don't cut it.

I also prefer Microsoft word to Open Office - Open Office just feels unstable and klunky to me and the biggest issue is that it still isn't 100% compatible with MS Office, so writing a document in it, saving as word and sending to a client is far too risky.

Running a virtual machine on Linux is something I may consider - using Vmware or something and Samba on the Linux host machine to share a drive - could be an option, depending on speed. I'm thinking of that for the office machine - I don't doing any gaming at the office.

As for what I do use Linux for :-

1. Web Hosting - my hosting company, hetzner, is exclusivey *nix based and I wouldn't have it any other way.

2. Firewall - I use smoothwall

3. File server / web dev box - at the office, I'm running a slackware linux box running appletalk and samba and apache. My brother is a mac user (designer), so I'm running appletalk for him and samba for me sharing the same folder, which works like a dream.

4. For fun and to see where Linux on the desktop is going - I have a spare old AMD 1333 with 256meg ram, TNT2 vid card and a 40gig HD at home. I have a keyboard/monitor switcher between my win work/gaming box and that linux box.
Currently I'm running Slackware 10 on it and use it to surf, or just mess about with Linux. That box I keep Slackware and will be upgrading it to Slackware 10.1 when I get my CD's (can't afford to d/l them cos of the 3gig cap)
My windows box I dual boot to test out other Linux distributions - it's a bit of an odd hobby, but I just can't help myself. I've recently gone through the latest Mandrake 10.1 which I consider total overkill in terms of all the damn software you get with it. i've also given Ubuntu a whirl - it was ok, but I like slackware better as I feel more comfortable with it. Then again, slackware and debian are very similar in design methodologies and Ubuntu is to all intents and purposes a customised debian distribution,

I live in hope that one day, the applications I need will run natively on Linux and that game dev companies start supporting Linux more, as it's clear to me that although I'm happy with windows right now, the next iteration of windows will be severely "dumbed down" and will rest more control away from the user.

Also, spending 30mins every other day checking for "nasties" on my computer, having to run software firewalls, spyware scanners and all manner of protection p1sses me off no end !
 
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fair point on all counts

To be honest I whipped Red Hat Linux straight off a PC I got for my dad, simply because I'm not familiar with the system and it's a tad difficult explaining basic PC over the phone every second day when you're not familiar with the OS.

That said next time I'm round there I will be installing firefox on his system as the default web browser mainly because it should protect his system from all the rubbish that goes on while surfing.

And because it really is twice as fast, or more... I mean you click and blam the page has loaded. Truly impressive.
 
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