Matthew Allen wrote: > Ok yeah I guess my semantics were wrong :)! Is there a way to > make other programs play nice? > I don't think you can... I do not believe that user types like me can make any Linux application do anything that it's not designed to do. It's no different than a Windows app to me. This is one of the interesting thing about being a user in the Linux world. In some ways it's worse than the Windows world. In Linux, since you know it's open source, the opportunity to change the code is so tantalizingly close that it becomes far more frustrating when things don't work the way you want or need them too. You keep feeling you can reach out and make it better, but the truth is that users cannot. Only programers can. In the Windows world you have no personal power beyond where you spend your money. you cannot change the way any commercial program works. However, taking your money is a very strong aphrodisiac for businessmen running companies, so they try to find inventive ways to take your money, and you try to find things that are worth your money. In general, if the free market system is working, some company will do a good job, will provide the right value for the right price and you get a tool that does what you need it to do. You have no power, but you can get things done with the tool you spent your money on. It's my opinion that some people who program probably don't appreciate how hard all of this is for people who don't program. Ever heard some Linux guy say 'Use the code Luke'. Did you ever wonder what that sounds like to someone who can barely use vi. I'm a second class citizen in both worlds - in Windows because I have no power, and in Linux because I have no ability. It's tough to be both dumb and poor... ;-) Off to get a pint, Mark
