Hi everybody,
I got a very encouraging mail praising Fedora and I'd like to share it
with you because I think the praise belongs to all the developers,
testers and other contributors, not just to those who can't keep their
mouths shut like me ;-).
Nils
-------- Forwarded Message --------
1 December 2004
Mr. Nils Phillippsen
Red Hat.com
Dear Mr. Phillippsen:
I apologize for making you the victim of this message, but you seem to
be relatively high profile in the Red Hat Linux development community.
I believe that many thank yous, plaudits and congratulations are due
your team. Fedora Core simply keeps improving and improving.
I am a relative neophyte to Linux. I came in through the back door, if
you will. A friend of mine is in the hospitality business and the
franchisor imposed upon the franchisees a DOS software system written in
1986 and running in Caldera Linux. The problem is that the franchisees
had no control over any program matters and the franchisor was
constantly downloading private information and selling this to any
buyer. The information included credit card information and cases of
fraud arose.
I asked my friend to send me a complete image of his fixed disk. While
awaiting the arrival of this, I purchased the Red Hat Linux Bible, which
came with Fedora Core 1. This was my introduction to Linux.
I loaded the image on one fixed disk and Fedora on another. I was able
to, “look-in,” on the Caldera system to obtain the information I needed.
I was able to change the root password on the Caldera system and lock
the franchisor out of my friend's system. The, because of the fraudulent
activities, I was able to supply system logs, find dead end dialing
numbers for the purpose of elevating toll charges and remove the auto-
dialer.
After this experience, I upgraded to Linux. I have five computers, plus
one business computer. These I networked, some on wireless (11.02g) and
some by cable with T1 access. I knew Windows had problems, but it was
not until I became familiar with the never-ending features of Linux,
that I realized the extent of Windows shortcomings (I am being nice). I
had converted to Mozilla as soon as it was available for Windows, so I
eliminated the problems of IE6. The most amazing Linus surprise was in
the transfer of files. My business program is in DOS. To transfer 700
files via the Windows network, takes 14 minutes. Linux transfers the
same data in less than a minute. So, I run both SAMBA and NFS.
The GIMP is every bit the equal of Photoshop and Corel PhotoPaint, both
of which I have. OpenOffice is a great word processor. The only program
I miss from Windows is MAGIX Samplitude and Audio Studio. These have
superb sound manipulation and equalizers. I am not aware of any such
equalizers available for Linux.
I have three HP Photosmart printers which I hope to send aboard the next
NASA deep space exploration vehicle. I hope aliens do not find these
printers. They will think we are not as advance a society as they may
have presumed. Linux and CUPS actually make the HP printers function in
an acceptable manner, so I am considering a reprieve for the HP's,
thanks to Linux.
I will not bore you with other details. I merely thank you again for the
fine work you and your team is doing with FC 2 And FC 3, both of which I
use. The only issue is with “eggcups.”
Sincerely,
John MacEwan
--
Nils Philippsen / Red Hat / nphilipp@xxxxxxxxxx
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- B. Franklin, 1759
PGP fingerprint: C4A8 9474 5C4C ADE3 2B8F 656D 47D8 9B65 6951 3011