[Kde-games-devel] ping

[Ian Wadham]

Ian Wadham wrote:
> this is just a test ...
Hey, it worked !!! :-) :-)

In case you think I'm just sitting around playing games,
I've had a really torrid 4 weeks, ever since installing
broadband.  I had it going in Win 98 SE on a USB
connection but wanted to install a recent Ethernet
card to use with Linux.

That meant installing Win XP to get a driver so I paid
my $100 like a good Microsoft citizen, only to find that
it would not install.  Unreadable files on the CD, ring
MS support.  So I did and they talked me into some
obscure workaround, which failed again and ended
up maiming my Win 98 system (eg. it took 120 sec
to check my email and maybe "lost" my email to KDE
Games somehow).  So I took Win XP back to the
store and demanded my money back.

"Oh no, you can't bring it back once you've broken
the seal, blah, blah, blah".  "Do I look like a pirate?",
I said and quoted our Trade Practices Act at them
(I have an authoritative thatch of grey hair which helps).
So eventually they gave in and returned my money,
but not until they rang MS themselves and checked
out my story.

Win 98 finally died completely when I installed the
new network card with a Win 2000 driver (which
works in France, according to Netgear's forum there).
I think it was all that firewall, virus protection, anti-spam
and anti-pest software that dragged Win 98 under, by
trying to use the net before the install was complete.
That stuff was occupying nearly 80% of my RAM :-(
Who needs a bunch of security guards who take up
most of your house, drink your beer and then wreck
your house?

So, with nothing to lose, I booted Linux (SuSE 10.0).
YasT2 installed a driver, no fuss, and found my modem
and the net OK via DHCP.  So then I clicked on Firefox --
and bang! -- up it came.  Within a few more minutes I
had configured KMail, checked my mail and converted
all my Outlook Express email folders across.

So now my wife and I are full-time Linux users and no
longer dialup-challenged.  If I had had known it would
be so easy, I would have made the change years ago.
I can't wait to get back to work on KGoldrunner. :-)

All the best, Ian W.