My first day of school at University and already I am feeling ill.
I use Vector Linux on an old Dell laptop and it has served me quite
well over my senior year in secondary school. Now I am at University
level as a psych major and I have been instructed by 4 of my 5
professors that Linux is not acceptable for class.
Reasons given, and I asked in each class, were poor support of Word
formatted documents and spreadsheets. Terrible translation of tables
and formula and also no support for the various programs given out by
the school for use in class. One professor got annoyed when I asked for
specifics about poor support and he started to rant and rave about how
he is sick and tired of trying to decipher files sent to him by Linux
users. I gave up at this point and purchased a copy of Windows XP from
the school bookstore for very small amount. I don't have the time or
energy to fight the system.
The one class that allows Linux is my Physics class, but even that
professor said that some of the simulations he hands out will not run
with Linux. He did say that if it were up to him the entire university
would use Linux but it is not.
Heddy Seafield

Heddy Seafield wrote:
> My first day of school at University and already I am feeling ill.

All night raving and 5 tabs of ecstasy can do that.

> I use Vector Linux on an old Dell laptop and it has served me quite
> well over my senior year in secondary school. Now I am at University
> level as a psych major and I have been instructed by 4 of my 5
> professors that Linux is not acceptable for class.

Too much work with crazy people I say.

>  One professor got annoyed when I asked for
> specifics about poor support and he started to rant and rave about how
> he is sick and tired of trying to decipher files sent to him by Linux
> users.

I diagnose a severe case of anal euphoria coupled with an insatiable 
desire to satisfy his Oedipal lust for a cat named Tiffy.

> I gave up at this point and purchased a copy of Windows XP from
> the school bookstore for very small amount. I don't have the time or
> energy to fight the system.

Right -- but yet you want to become a clinical psychologist.

> The one class that allows Linux is my Physics class, but even that
> professor said that some of the simulations he hands out will not run
> with Linux. He did say that if it were up to him the entire university
> would use Linux but it is not.

If wishes were horses, then we all would ride!

(I'm sorry I said that...)

> Heddy Seafield

In article <1126197136.308588.102580@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
Heddy Seafield wrote:
> My first day of school at University and already I am feeling ill.

 No history at all for heddy_seafield@yahoo.com, or even "Heddy
Seafield", on Google Groups. This is a crossposting troll, please
ignore.

-- 
 Sincerely,

 Ray Ingles                                (313) 227-2317
 
 "Una saus victus nullam sperare salutem." - The one hope
       of the damned is not to hope for safety.

Heddy Seafield babbled:

<massive snippage of crap>

Google/Yahoo troll with no posting history, who can't even be arsed to
say which college this is.

Get stuffed, fuckstain.

Heddy Seafield wrote:
> Now I am at University level as a psych major and I have been 
> instructed by 4 of my 5 professors that Linux is not acceptable for 
> class. Reasons given, and I asked in each class, were poor support of 
> Word formatted documents and spreadsheets. Terrible translation of 
> tables and formula and also no support for the various programs given 
> out by the school for use in class.

Professors who need to write a lot of math and such, always do it in LaTeX.


> One professor got annoyed when I asked for specifics about poor 
> support and he started to rant and rave about how he is sick and 
> tired of trying to decipher files sent to him by Linux users.

My professor happily accepts PDFs created by pdfLaTeX.  In your case, 
the professor must be either poorly educated, or who knows what else. 
(Now don't tell him that, of course.)


> I gave up at this point and purchased a copy of Windows XP from the 
> school bookstore for very small amount. I don't have the time or 
> energy to fight the system. The one class that allows Linux is my 
> Physics class, but even that professor said that some of the 
> simulations he hands out will not run with Linux. He did say that if 
> it were up to him the entire university would use Linux but it is 
> not.

In any event, your University's decision to use Windows instead of Unix
(not Linux; Unix in general) has nothing to do with Linux advocation.  I 
  didn't hear anyone here say things like "hey, at MIT we're using Unix".
  An OS is not better or worse than another one just because a University
chooses to use it or not.

And don't freakin' crosspost; only trolls do that.  And therefore, you
smell like one to me...

>> Now I am at University level as a psych major and I have been
>> instructed by 4 of my 5 professors that Linux is not acceptable for
>> class. Reasons given, and I asked in each class, were poor support of
>> Word formatted documents and spreadsheets. Terrible translation of
>> tables and formula and also no support for the various programs given
>> out by the school for use in class.



> Professors who need to write a lot of math and such, always do it in LaTeX.


I certainly understand what you meant but be careful when using
absolutes around here. ("Professors... *always* do it in LaTeX.) I once
said that "all (non-trivial) software has bugs."  The attacks insued
because one software application (LaTeX incidentally) is widely
acknowledged to be bug-free.

Seems that at COLA focusing on the actual subject at hand is optional
at times. Some people become fixated on examining the individual words
without any bearing on the context in which they are being used. So a
technical (but not practical) argument can be made that professors do
not "always" use LaTex for writing math.

Good day,

-LQ

begin  virus.txt.scr Heddy Seafield (flatfish) wrote:

< snip flatfish droppings >

Hi flatfish, how is that open relay in brazil working? Fast enough for your
inane trollings  and lies?

You lately posted as 

Aftab Singh, allison_hunt1969, Anna Banger, anonymous, Archie Watermann,
Baba Booey, Babu Singh, bill.gates.loves.me, bison, Bjarne Jensen,
BklynBoy, Boyce Mabri, Buster, Charles LeGrand, Charlie, Choppers McGee,
Christine Abernathy, Claire Lynn, Collie Entragion, Connie Hines, Corrie
Titlaand, dbx_boy, Deadpenguin, Elliot Zimmermann, Emmanuel Arias, Fawn
Lebowitz, flatfish+++, foamy, Gary Stewart, George Littlefield, Gilbert
Hochaim, gilligan, Greg Finnigan, Greg Laplante, Hans Kimm, Heather,
Heather69,  Heddy Seafield, hepcat, Ishmeal Hafizi, itchy balls, Ivan
Mctavish, IvanaB, Jeff Szarka, Jose Lopez, juke_joint, kaptain kaput, Karla
Snodgress, kathy_krantz, Kendra, Le Farter, Les Turner, Lilly, Lindy, Lisa
Shavas, long_tong_ling, Lukumi Babalu Aye, Luna Lane, Major Mynor, McSwain,
Moses, narrows_whitefish@yahoo.com, nate_mcspook, okto_pussy, Paddy 
McCrockett, Patricia, Peter Gluckman, Phillip Cornwall, phoung quoak,
pickle_pete, Poopy Pants McGee, Quimby, Richie O'Toole, Robert Strunk,
rothstein_ivan, Sally Vadi, Sammy, Sammy Whalen, Saul Goldblatt, Schlomo
Smykowski, Sharon Cackle, Sharon Hubbasland, Sean, Sean Fitzhenry, Sean
Macpherson, Sewer Rat, sewer_clown, Spammy_Davis, spanny_davis, Stephan
Simonsen, Stephen, Stephen Townshend, SuckyB, SunnyB, Susan Lapinski, Susan
Wong, Suzie Wong, Swampee, The Beaver, Thorsten, Toby Rastus Roosovelt III,
Tomas Bicsak, Tori, Tori Wassermann, Tracee, trailerpark, Trina Swallows,
Vince Fontain, Vladimir Yepifano, Walter Bubniak, Wang Mycock, Whizzer,
Wilbur J, Willy Wong, Winnie Septos,Wobbles and zyklon_C.  
Plus many, many, many more.

-- 
"Against stupidity, the very gods themselves contend in vain." 
Friedrich Schiller

Heddy Seafield (flatfish) LIED when it wrote:

>My first day of school at University 

Get a new script, flatfish, you lying sack of shite.

*plonk*

On 8 Sep 2005 09:32:16 -0700, "Heddy Seafield"
<heddy_seafield@yahoo.com> wrote in message
<<1126197136.308588.102580@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>>:

> My first day of school

Only one day at school and you were already spanked for lying to your
teacher.  Straighten up and swim right!

Heddy Seafield wrote:
> My first day of school at University and already I am feeling ill.
> I use Vector Linux on an old Dell laptop and it has served me quite
> well over my senior year in secondary school. Now I am at University
> level as a psych major and I have been instructed by 4 of my 5
> professors that Linux is not acceptable for class.
Funny you should ask--Just today, I found that Linux is fully supported 
by my college. Tough luck for you, hmm?

> Reasons given, and I asked in each class, were poor support of Word
> formatted documents and spreadsheets. Terrible translation of tables
> and formula and also no support for the various programs given out by
> the school for use in class. One professor got annoyed when I asked for
> specifics about poor support and he started to rant and rave about how
> he is sick and tired of trying to decipher files sent to him by Linux
> users. I gave up at this point and purchased a copy of Windows XP from
> the school bookstore for very small amount. I don't have the time or
> energy to fight the system.
It's not the fault of Linux that stupid users don't convert the files 
properly.

> The one class that allows Linux is my Physics class, but even that
> professor said that some of the simulations he hands out will not run
> with Linux. He did say that if it were up to him the entire university
> would use Linux but it is not.
> Heddy Seafield
> 

Heddy Seafield wrote:

> The one class that allows Linux is my Physics class, but even that
> professor said that some of the simulations he hands out will not run
> with Linux. He did say that if it were up to him the entire university
> would use Linux but it is not.

And that is where the whole thing falls flat on its face.  A professor
genuinely keen on Linux would ensure that his simulations would run in a
Linux environment. The first way of doing this is the KISS rule - 'keep it
simple, stupid', design and use the spreadsheets in a straightforward way. 
They are then unlikely to fail to run on the various open source
spreadsheet programs.  

begin  risky.vbs
	<1126200830.014588.307250@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
	lqualig@uku.co.uk writes:
> 

>> Professors who need to write a lot of math and such, always do it
>> in LaTeX.

> 
> I certainly understand what you meant but be careful when using
> absolutes around here. ("Professors... *always* do it in LaTeX.) I once
> said that "all (non-trivial) software has bugs."  The attacks insued
> because one software application (LaTeX incidentally) is widely
> acknowledged to be bug-free.

TeX actually and no one knows if it is bug free. Knuth though is so
confident that he'll pay anyone who finds a bug. MS would be out of
business if they had to pay for ech bug found in their SW.

-- 
Rich Bell in thread: Things I couldn't do if I switched to Linux
Message-ID: <tB7Oe.182$yo7.65@newssvr23.news.prodigy.net>
    I am connected to the Net using a Linksys WRT54G router. I don't
    get hacked.

On Thu, 08 Sep 2005 10:06:34 -0700, Beowulf TrollsHammer wrote:

> Heddy Seafield babbled:
> 
> <massive snippage of crap>
> 
> Google/Yahoo troll with no posting history, who can't even be arsed to
> say which college this is.
> 

No surprise, since he pulled it out of his arse. Gawd, I wish these trolls
would at least put in some effort to be original, this is the third (or is
it fourth?) time we've read this bollocks.

-- 
Kier

TheLetterK <theletterk@spymac.nosppam.com> writes:

>Heddy Seafield wrote:
>> My first day of school at University and already I am feeling ill.
>> I use Vector Linux on an old Dell laptop and it has served me quite
>> well over my senior year in secondary school. Now I am at University
>> level as a psych major and I have been instructed by 4 of my 5
>> professors that Linux is not acceptable for class.

YOu do computing in your psych classes? What do they know about or care
about Linux? I think you did not understandthem or they did not understand
you.

In what context did they say "Linux is not acceptable for class".

>Funny you should ask--Just today, I found that Linux is fully supported 
>by my college. Tough luck for you, hmm?

>> Reasons given, and I asked in each class, were poor support of Word
>> formatted documents and spreadsheets. Terrible translation of tables
>> and formula and also no support for the various programs given out by
>> the school for use in class. One professor got annoyed when I asked for
>> specifics about poor support and he started to rant and rave about how
>> he is sick and tired of trying to decipher files sent to him by Linux
>> users. I gave up at this point and purchased a copy of Windows XP from
>> the school bookstore for very small amount. I don't have the time or
>> energy to fight the system.

Here I am ready to outlaw windows. For example windows is incapable of
downloading my pdf files. It throws away the first 1K randomly. 


>It's not the fault of Linux that stupid users don't convert the files 
>properly.

>> The one class that allows Linux is my Physics class, but even that
>> professor said that some of the simulations he hands out will not run
>> with Linux. He did say that if it were up to him the entire university
>> would use Linux but it is not.

My simulations do not run under Windows.


>> Heddy Seafield
>> 

> Nikos Chantziaras <realnc@arcor.de> said:

[snip]

> My professor happily accepts PDFs created by pdfLaTeX.  In your case, 
> the professor must be either poorly educated, or who knows what else. 
> (Now don't tell him that, of course.)

I'd also like to know which university this is. I use OpenOffice at work,
and the translation problem is from MSO to OO, not the other way around.
I've yet to receive a complaint about one of my documents being unreadable,
but often have to resize fonts from Word users. Either way, it works, so my
experience is entirely the opposite of the troll's.

Most professors I've run into accept assignments in plain text, Word 6.0/95
format, or PDFs. They specifically ask for the format, since not everyone
can afford or cares to waste money on a $450 software package when some
older format has more than enough features. $450 is usually more than enough
to buy books for a semester, and those are widely considered to be way
overpriced.


-- 

Heddy Seafield wrote:

My first day of school at University and already I am feeling ill.
I have virus.
Windopes PC is dead on arrival.
The support lines are jammed.
No one want to help and blame me for virus.

Then I saw others use Vector Linux on an old Dell laptop and it has served
them quite well over my senior year in secondary school. Now I am at
University  level as a psych major and I have been instructed by 4 of my 5
professors that Linux is the only acceptable OS for computer, maths, physics
and electronics class.

Quantian Linux comes with xmaxima that allows formulas to be
symbolically written and solved instantly!! Woweee! Jee wiz!
I get my own mathematician to help me with university.
All free and hundreds of liveCD downloadable from http://livecdlist.com

Reasons given for disliking windopes in class room, and I asked in each
class, were poor support of Word.
Word is not capable of recognising previous versions.
Word is crap.
It can't open past academic document or produce PDF thesis.
Its only open office (download free from http://www.openoffice.org )
that actually opens legacy word documents, and produces thesis
quality PDF documents. For diagramming, the draw package is
unbelievabe. Its more sophisticated than vision crap, and its free.
You can make transparent lines and objects, place connectors on them,
and then link them together with arrows, and move objects around whilst
those arrows maintain their connection relationships. You can put
transparent objects one behind another and get great advanced
graphics that windopes just can't even begin to understand.

No wonder windopes is losing ground in universities and
everbody adopts open source in droves.
The software is free, and so is the source code, making
it a worthwhile experience learning both, because
nothing becomes obsolete unlike commercial brands
that can't seem to support previous versions.


> Heddy Seafield

On Thu, 08 Sep 2005 10:33:50 -0700, lqualig wrote:

> Professors... *always* do it in LaTeX.

Kinky profs!

-- 
rapskat -  18:02:28 up 2 days,  9:40,  1 user,  load average: 0.45, 0.40, 0.25
        "Immortality is an adequate definition of high availability for
me."
        --- Gregory F. Pfister

On Thu, 08 Sep 2005 09:32:16 -0700, Heddy Seafield wrote:

> My first day of school at University and already I am feeling ill.
> I use Vector Linux on an old Dell laptop and it has served me quite
> well over my senior year in secondary school. Now I am at University
> level as a psych major and I have been instructed by 4 of my 5
> professors that Linux is not acceptable for class.
> Reasons given, and I asked in each class, were poor support of Word
> formatted documents and spreadsheets. Terrible translation of tables
> and formula and also no support for the various programs given out by
> the school for use in class. One professor got annoyed when I asked for
> specifics about poor support and he started to rant and rave about how
> he is sick and tired of trying to decipher files sent to him by Linux
> users. I gave up at this point and purchased a copy of Windows XP from
> the school bookstore for very small amount. I don't have the time or
> energy to fight the system.
> The one class that allows Linux is my Physics class, but even that
> professor said that some of the simulations he hands out will not run
> with Linux. He did say that if it were up to him the entire university
> would use Linux but it is not.
> Heddy Seafield

Does this university have a name? I'll bet it's not Boston U. which has
it's own linux distribution!

begin  risky.vbs
	<1126197136.308588.102580@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
	"Heddy Seafield" <heddy_seafield@yahoo.com> writes:
>
> [snip]

5 out of 5 posts via google with a throwaway yahoo email address and
posting through an open proxy are flatfish posts.

Bet I'm closer to the mark than you are flatfish.

-- 
Rich Bell in thread: Things I couldn't do if I switched to Linux
Message-ID: <tB7Oe.182$yo7.65@newssvr23.news.prodigy.net>
    I am connected to the Net using a Linksys WRT54G router. I don't
    get hacked.

7 wrote:

<snip>
> No wonder windopes is losing ground in universities and
> everbody adopts open source in droves.
> The software is free, and so is the source code, making
> it a worthwhile experience learning both, because
> nothing becomes obsolete unlike commercial brands
> that can't seem to support previous versions.
> 
I had trouble doing a law assignment with Office 97.  It kept putting
footnotes on the following page and did other weird things.  I had to do a
lot of kludging to produce an acceptable result.  I did another one with
Open Office and had no trouble laying it out as required.

On Thursday 08 September 2005 22:42 Bones wrote:

>> Nikos Chantziaras <realnc@arcor.de> said:
> 
> [snip]
> 
>> My professor happily accepts PDFs created by pdfLaTeX.  In your case,
>> the professor must be either poorly educated, or who knows what else.
>> (Now don't tell him that, of course.)
> 
> I'd also like to know which university this is. I use OpenOffice at
> work, and the translation problem is from MSO to OO, not the other way
> around. I've yet to receive a complaint about one of my documents
> being unreadable, but often have to resize fonts from Word users.
> Either way, it works, so my experience is entirely the opposite of the
> troll's.

Indeed Bones.
That's exactly my own experience (though it's been rare), and it's also
the experience of every comparative review I've ever read.
NO problems going OO -> Word
Sometimes (rarely) problems Word -> OO
 
> Most professors I've run into accept assignments in plain text, Word
> 6.0/95 format, or PDFs. They specifically ask for the format, since
> not everyone can afford or cares to waste money on a $450 software
> package when some older format has more than enough features. $450 is
> usually more than enough to buy books for a semester, and those are
> widely considered to be way overpriced.

Sorry Bones.
That response isn't good enough.
You are trying to answer an out-and-out troll in a polite, logical and
truthful manner.  In fact, you are giving him facts.  No good - facts
aren't what he's here for:-)

(btw, perhaps you could add to that the probability that specifying a
RECENT MS format will simply increase the piracy.  I was told locally
that the guy running a course at the Adult Education Centre actually
hands out a MS CD (Office) for the students to install on their home
computers.  It's a copy, with the key written on the CD, and they pass
it around amongst themselves!)

Bill

Hi  Unruh, BC.NET, NNTP.ITServices.UBC.CA, __Unruh_@_Physics_.UBC.CA,

Are you  Thee  Unruh of Unruh_Radiation fame ?  Holy crap !

I see no reason why your simulations shouldn't run on Win_XP.
Perhaps you need to separate out the User_Interface.
I'd be willing to do some of the work for you.

Where's your web page ?

Jeff_Relf <Me@Privacy.NET> writes:


>Hi  Unruh, BC.NET, NNTP.ITServices.UBC.CA, __Unruh_@_Physics_.UBC.CA,

>Are you  Thee  Unruh of Unruh_Radiation fame ?  Holy crap !

Yes.


>I see no reason why your simulations shouldn't run on Win_XP.
>Perhaps you need to separate out the User_Interface.
>I'd be willing to do some of the work for you.

They use xforms as the user interface. They are promarily about the user
interface(demonstrating fourier addition and playing the composite form
through the speaker. I wrote it primarily to demonstrate that the ear is
highly insensitive to phase differences of the harmonics, but also to
analyse sections of sound for their fourier transforms.

www.theory.physics.ubc.ca/synth.html

>Where's your web page ?

Heddy Seafield wrote:
> My first day of school at University and already I am feeling ill.
> I use Vector Linux on an old Dell laptop and it has served me quite
> well over my senior year in secondary school. Now I am at University
> level as a psych major and I have been instructed by 4 of my 5
> professors that Linux is not acceptable for class.

Which university is this?  I'm sure there are some high school kids who
woould want to avoid this college.

My Daughter attends UCCS and is in her Sophomore year.  Her brother
configured her computer for Linux and she used it all of last year for
all of her classes.  She also uses it for Chat, e-mail, and other
collaboration tools.

90% of the time, the teachers don't have a problem with her results,
but that is because she doesn't go bananas trying to use proprietary
features of either MS-Office or Open-Office.  She's been using Linux
since her sophomore year in high shool.

> Reasons given, and I asked in each class, were poor support of Word
> formatted documents and spreadsheets.

Some classic problems that I have seen are tables within tables (fixed
in spring), and tail recursion in macros.  Both of those can be heavy
drains of memory and resources even on Windows/Word systems.

> Terrible translation of tables
> and formula and also no support for the various programs given out by
> the school for use in class.

This can often be handled with WINE if the application is Windows 9x
compatible.  Unfortunately, more and more applications are using Com+
objects and these do not run well on WINE.  In some cases, the only
option is to use Bochs or VMWare and run Windows under the VM.

> One professor got annoyed when I asked for
> specifics about poor support and he started to rant and rave about how
> he is sick and tired of trying to decipher files sent to him by Linux
> users.

This has been a problem.  If Linux users are giving him LaTeX documents
or PostScript documents, those don't play well on Windows.  On the
other hand, OpenOffice should be considered "standard equipment" on any
College computer, including those of professors.  After all, it costs
nothing, and it takes very little memory and resources.  As a courtesy,
you can publish a document in both MS-Office format and OpenOffice
format, but it's usually a good idea to let them know that which is the
original and which is the derivative.


> I gave up at this point and purchased a copy of Windows XP from
> the school bookstore for very small amount. I don't have the time or
> energy to fight the system.

It depends on your laptop.  Sometimes putting XP on an "Old Dell
Laptop" can be a real problem.  It sounds like you didn't have to many
problems.  Often drivers are not available for the older machines.

Most people do not have the choice of public school, but college should
be a personal choice.  How a college relates to Linux tells you more
about the college than just the attitude of their teachers.  A college
that rejects Linux is more likely to stifle innovation and initiative.
A college that embraces Linux is also more likely to be on the leading
edge of innovation and initiative in the rest of their cirriculum.

If you are looking to become a lawyer or accountant, you might want to
stick with the more conservative school.  These are professions in
which being too "creative" can lead to federal prison.

If you are looking at a career in engineering, medicine, or business,
you will want a more "innovation oriented" school.

> The one class that allows Linux is my Physics class, but even that
> professor said that some of the simulations he hands out will not run
> with Linux. He did say that if it were up to him the entire university
> would use Linux but it is not.

Again, we have the professor who is focused on encouraging initiative
and innovation.  In high school physics, and perhaps freshman physics,
you might only be expected to reproduce well established traditional
experiments, to hone your lab techniques.  By Sophomore and
upperclassmen, you will be seeking to innovate and to take the
initiative, proving the previously unproven.


> Heddy Seafield

Nikos Chantziaras <realnc@arcor.de> writes:

> Heddy Seafield wrote:
>> One professor got annoyed when I asked for specifics about poor
>> support and he started to rant and rave about how he is sick and
>> tired of trying to decipher files sent to him by Linux users.
>
> My professor happily accepts PDFs created by pdfLaTeX.  In your case, 
> the professor must be either poorly educated, or who knows what else. 
> (Now don't tell him that, of course.)

I know an instructor in Eindhoven that won't accept Word documents for
assignments.  Either give him PDF/postscript or a hard copy.

Know him?  Hell.  I am him.

No damn reason I should try to read a word processor document and
wonder whether what I see is what you intended.  Give me a document
that appears the same on my computer as on yours.  And one that opens
by default in a *reader* and not an *editor*.

-- 
"The Hammer is not force.  It is absolute power. The Hammer is from Idea Space.
That's the real world.  Here is the magical realm.
You are creatures in that realm, who do not quite understand.
But it doesn't matter.  There is a story to be told..." James S. Harris, poet.

On Friday 09 September 2005 06:59 r.e.ballard@usa.net wrote:

> Heddy Seafield wrote:
>> My first day of school at University and already I am feeling ill.
>> I use Vector Linux on an old Dell laptop and it has served me quite
>> well over my senior year in secondary school. Now I am at University
>> level as a psych major and I have been instructed by 4 of my 5
>> professors that Linux is not acceptable for class.
 
> Which university is this?  I'm sure there are some high school kids
> who woould want to avoid this college.

Perhaps things are different in the U.S., but I found the post rather
puzzling, Rex.  My own "first day at University" is now a good few
years behind me, but my recollection is that I was in my SECOND year
before we were lectured by ANY prof.
This guy not only met FIVE professors on his FIRST DAY, but was
instructed by four of them on such comparatively mundane as which OS
NOT to use!

Turning to Winkipedia, I found part of the answer at least:-

> In Britain and some Commonwealth countries (but not Canada, which
follows the North American system), equivalently senior academics to
assistant and associate professors are generally known as "Lecturers",
"Senior Lecturers" and "Readers", with professorships reserved for only
the most senior academic staff. A Professor in these countries holds
either a departmental chair (generally as the head of the department or
of a sub-department) or a personal chair (a professorship awarded
specifically to that individual). In that sense, only full professors
(North American style) are equivalents of professors. The title of
"Professor" is a great honour, normally reserved in correspondence to
full professors only; lecturers and readers are properly addressed by
their academic qualification (Dr for a Ph.D. or M.D. and Mr otherwise). 

In short, professors be buggered!  This bloke isn't making up what his
would-be PROFESSORS said, he's making up what his would-be LECTURERS
said!

Conclusion:-  The OP is specifically North American, and lying about
events which he imagines to occur in specifically North American
Universities.

Bill

Hi  W_G_Unruh,  Holy shit... what an honor to meet you !

I saw this link of yours when I Googled:  "W.G. Unruh" site:Physics.UBC.CA

  http://www.theory.physics.ubc.ca/soundcard/soundcard.html

I'm surprized that you're so much into Linux and audio,
especially here in Usenet_Land.

Looking at your User_Interface:

  http://www.theory.physics.ubc.ca/synth-fourier.gif
  
I found the text a bit cramped and hard to read.

I recommend using a monospaced font, 80 columns, in a maximized window,
....irregardless of the size of your monitor or screen resolution.
For example, this is what my Visual_Studio_Editor looks like:

  http://www.Cotse.NET/users/jeffrelf/X_CPP.PNG
  FYI, this was the code sampled:  http://www.Cotse.NET/users/jeffrelf/X.CPP
  
I find that layout less distracting, for one thing.
But, I must admit, others don't find it so appealing.

When I switch to various screen/printer resolutions,
the font I get often has odd height/width ratios
despite the fact that I asked for a very specific hieght.

My solution was to place each character using only floating point numbers,
padding each one with the appropriate inter_character and inter_line spacing
so as to maintain a consistent hight_width ratio at any resolution.

Speaking of Win_XP and your models, 
such as the one at:  www.Theory.Physics.UBC.CA/synth.html
You told me:

  They use xforms as the user interface. 
  
  They are promarily about the user interface,
  demonstrating fourier addition 
  and playing the composite form through the speaker.
    
  I wrote it primarily to demonstrate that the ear is
  highly insensitive to phase differences of the harmonics, 
  but also to analyse sections of sound for their fourier transforms.

Does it runs on Win_XP under a windows manager ?
Either way, maybe I could help you make your models a bit more user friendly.

For the last 12 to 13 years I've been coding games that bankers
play with each other to learn about FDIC regulations, 
interest_rate_sensitivity, securites, etc.

This is the professor I work for, Chip Haley:

  http://bschool.washington.edu/faculty/faculty_detail.asp?ID=12

By the way, I posit that randomness is incomplete information.
Randomness is ever virtual, never real.  What say you to that ?

In article <3od6n3F5cp32U1@individual.net>, bbgruff@yahoo.co.uk says...
> On Friday 09 September 2005 06:59 r.e.ballard@usa.net wrote:
> 
> > Heddy Seafield wrote:
> >> My first day of school at University and already I am feeling ill.
> >> I use Vector Linux on an old Dell laptop and it has served me quite
> >> well over my senior year in secondary school. Now I am at University
> >> level as a psych major and I have been instructed by 4 of my 5
> >> professors that Linux is not acceptable for class.
>  
> > Which university is this?  I'm sure there are some high school kids
> > who woould want to avoid this college.
 
> In short, professors be buggered!  This bloke isn't making up what his
> would-be PROFESSORS said, he's making up what his would-be LECTURERS
> said!
> 
> Conclusion:-  The OP is specifically North American, and lying about
> events which he imagines to occur in specifically North American
> Universities.


Not neccessarily - there are 16 Professors working in the Department 
where I work - it's certainly possible to get a few of them for 
lectures. When I did my degree in a different department of the same 
university, I'm fairly sure I got lectures in about 5 separate subjects 
from Profs. This is in a Scottish university.

-- 
AG

Remove removes from address to remove anti-spam measures.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Alan Gauton           E-Mail agauton @ postmaster.co.uk

Never for me the lowered banner, never the last endeavour! 
					    (Damon Hill - 16th June 1999)

On Friday 09 September 2005 11:36 Alan Gauton wrote:

> Not neccessarily - there are 16 Professors working in the Department
> where I work - it's certainly possible to get a few of them for
> lectures. When I did my degree in a different department of the same
> university, I'm fairly sure I got lectures in about 5 separate
> subjects from Profs. This is in a Scottish university.

Oh!  That's interesting - thx:-)

Even so, I reckon that the OP was lying about a North American
University rather than lying about a Scottish University:-)

Bill

On 2005-09-09, B Gruff <bbgruff@yahoo.co.uk> posted something concerning:
> On Friday 09 September 2005 11:36 Alan Gauton wrote:
>
>> Not neccessarily - there are 16 Professors working in the Department
>> where I work - it's certainly possible to get a few of them for
>> lectures. When I did my degree in a different department of the same
>> university, I'm fairly sure I got lectures in about 5 separate
>> subjects from Profs. This is in a Scottish university.
>
> Oh!  That's interesting - thx:-)
>
> Even so, I reckon that the OP was lying about a North American
> University rather than lying about a Scottish University:-)

And still, he met a whole slew of professors/lecturers/readers on day
one, and they all talked to him about what OS he should use if he wants
to stay on the good side of academics.

Not course requirements. Not general outlines of the course. Not
expected rules of behavior or anything related to learning. Not
anything to do with learning or expectations. The operating system that
will keep him on the good side of failing.

Flatfart /never/ thinks these things through before ly^H^Hposting
s/h/it's nonsense.

-- 
A Windows utility is a virus with seniority.

Heddy Seafield wrote:
> My first day of school at University and already I am feeling ill.
> I use Vector Linux on an old Dell laptop and it has served me quite
> well over my senior year in secondary school. Now I am at University
> level as a psych major and I have been instructed by 4 of my 5
> professors that Linux is not acceptable for class.
> Reasons given, and I asked in each class, were poor support of Word
> formatted documents and spreadsheets. Terrible translation of tables
> and formula and also no support for the various programs given out by
> the school for use in class. One professor got annoyed when I asked for
> specifics about poor support and he started to rant and rave about how
> he is sick and tired of trying to decipher files sent to him by Linux
> users. I gave up at this point and purchased a copy of Windows XP from
> the school bookstore for very small amount. I don't have the time or
> energy to fight the system.
> The one class that allows Linux is my Physics class, but even that
> professor said that some of the simulations he hands out will not run
> with Linux. He did say that if it were up to him the entire university
> would use Linux but it is not.
> Heddy Seafield
> 

well, what do you know, my son has just come across the exact same 
problem at secondary school. His teachers won't accept documents in 
Oasis opendocument format (the default save format for OpenOffice 2.0), 
so I called them this morning and reached a mutually beneficial 
compromise. They'll be getting them in Adobe 7 pdf. OK, so it means that 
the documents they get back won't be easily editable, but then 
corrections can be entered into a vanilla text file, right? Right. 
Sorted. I'm happy because I don't have to send Laddo to school with an 
XP-laden laptop, they're happy because they don't have to persuade their 
ICT staff to install yet more software to further weigh down their 
already-bursting-at-the-seams suite of workstations.

Back to my coffee.


-- 
Cheers,					http://www.dotware.co.uk
Jim			  http://www.dotware-entertainment.co.uk

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion, It is by the beans of 
Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shaking, the shaking 
becomes a warning, it is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

"Heddy Seafield" <heddy_seafield@yahoo.com> writes:

> My first day of school at University and already I am feeling ill.
> I use Vector Linux on an old Dell laptop and it has served me quite
> well over my senior year in secondary school. Now I am at University
> level as a psych major and I have been instructed by 4 of my 5
> professors that Linux is not acceptable for class.
> Reasons given, and I asked in each class, were poor support of Word
> formatted documents and spreadsheets. Terrible translation of tables
> and formula and also no support for the various programs given out by
> the school for use in class. One professor got annoyed when I asked for
> specifics about poor support and he started to rant and rave about how
> he is sick and tired of trying to decipher files sent to him by Linux
> users. I gave up at this point and purchased a copy of Windows XP from
> the school bookstore for very small amount. I don't have the time or
> energy to fight the system.


Your professors regularly hand out spreadsheets?  Or require homework
completed on spreadsheets?  Gosh.  That's unusual for a Psych major,
don't you think?

Well, that's tough for you.  I don't know how you got into so many
classes where your OS matters.  In the overwhelming majority of
classes, homework is turned in hand-written or typed.  In the case of
essays, it is fairly rare that a prof gives a darn what word processor
you used, since they only want the hard copy.  (Markup with a red pen
is a heck of a lot more convenient than trying to mark it
electronically.)


> The one class that allows Linux is my Physics class, but even that
> professor said that some of the simulations he hands out will not run
> with Linux. He did say that if it were up to him the entire university
> would use Linux but it is not.

Simulations he hands out?  Like what?  I've never come across this
issue in a general purpose physics course.

Golly, it seems like you're awfully unlucky here.  Well, enjoy XP.
It sure sounds better suited for these unusual courses of yours.

-- 
Jesse F. Hughes

"Quincy, why should you not play with matches?"
"Because... [pause] Aahhh!  I'm on fire!!"

On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 11:42:08 +0000, Jim wrote:


> 
> well, what do you know, my son has just come across the exact same 
> problem at secondary school. His teachers won't accept documents in 
> Oasis opendocument format (the default save format for OpenOffice 2.0), 
> so I called them this morning and reached a mutually beneficial 
> compromise. They'll be getting them in Adobe 7 pdf. OK, so it means that 
> the documents they get back won't be easily editable, but then 
> corrections can be entered into a vanilla text file, right? Right. 
> Sorted. I'm happy because I don't have to send Laddo to school with an 
> XP-laden laptop, they're happy because they don't have to persuade their 
> ICT staff to install yet more software to further weigh down their 
> already-bursting-at-the-seams suite of workstations.
> 
> Back to my coffee.

I had a similar problem with my children in secondary school. They would
only accept *.doc format and the kids know all about *.doc and Outlook
virus and so forth.

I spoke to the teachers and they had no problem accepting *.rtf format and
all was well.

Personally I wouldn't expect them to accept Openoffice format because it
has so few users.

-- 
Stephen Olsen	
Gearslut Extraordinaire
If it ain't broke, don't fix it! 
Dump the numbers to reply. Damm Spam!

Stephen Olsen wrote:
> On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 11:42:08 +0000, Jim wrote:
>
>
> >
> > well, what do you know, my son has just come across the exact same
> > problem at secondary school. His teachers won't accept documents in
> > Oasis opendocument format (the default save format for OpenOffice 2.0),
> > so I called them this morning and reached a mutually beneficial
> > compromise. They'll be getting them in Adobe 7 pdf. OK, so it means that
> > the documents they get back won't be easily editable, but then
> > corrections can be entered into a vanilla text file, right? Right.
> > Sorted. I'm happy because I don't have to send Laddo to school with an
> > XP-laden laptop, they're happy because they don't have to persuade their
> > ICT staff to install yet more software to further weigh down their
> > already-bursting-at-the-seams suite of workstations.
> >
> > Back to my coffee.
>
> I had a similar problem with my children in secondary school. They would
> only accept *.doc format and the kids know all about *.doc and Outlook
> virus and so forth.
>
> I spoke to the teachers and they had no problem accepting *.rtf format and
> all was well.
>


> Personally I wouldn't expect them to accept Openoffice format because it
> has so few users.


As long as the document is in a format that the teacher can open with
his or her MS-Office (.doc, .rtf, etc) then they shouldn't care (or
even know) what app was used to create the document.

On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 12:41:06 -0400, Stephen Olsen wrote:

<snip>
> 
> I had a similar problem with my children in secondary school. They would
> only accept *.doc format and the kids know all about *.doc and Outlook
> virus and so forth.
> 
> I spoke to the teachers and they had no problem accepting *.rtf format and
> all was well.
> 
> Personally I wouldn't expect them to accept Openoffice format because it
> has so few users.

They don't actually need to, as OO.org will save in .doc format.

-- 
Kier

> B Gruff <bbgruff@yahoo.co.uk> said:

[snip]

> Sorry Bones.
> That response isn't good enough.
> You are trying to answer an out-and-out troll in a polite, logical and
> truthful manner.  In fact, you are giving him facts.  No good - facts
> aren't what he's here for:-)

I guess I deserve that criticizm, since only a few days ago I insisted that
the proper place for a troll is the killfile, not the other side of a
conversation.


-- 

On 2005-09-09, B Gruff <bbgruff@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> Perhaps things are different in the U.S., but I found the post rather
> puzzling, Rex.  My own "first day at University" is now a good few
> years behind me, but my recollection is that I was in my SECOND year
> before we were lectured by ANY prof.

I'm sure it depends on the univrsity. I went to a small, liberal arts 
university and all my classes were taught by professors.

-- 

John (john@os2.dhs.org)

["Followup-To:" header set to comp.os.linux.misc.]
On 2005-09-08, Heddy Seafield <heddy_seafield@yahoo.com> wrote:

> My first day of school at University and already I am feeling ill.
> I use Vector Linux on an old Dell laptop and it has served me quite
> well over my senior year in secondary school. Now I am at University
> level as a psych major and I have been instructed by 4 of my 5
> professors that Linux is not acceptable for class.
> Reasons given, and I asked in each class, were poor support of Word
> formatted documents and spreadsheets. Terrible translation of tables
> and formula and also no support for the various programs given out by
> the school for use in class. One professor got annoyed when I asked for
> specifics about poor support and he started to rant and rave about how
> he is sick and tired of trying to decipher files sent to him by Linux
> users. I gave up at this point and purchased a copy of Windows XP from
> the school bookstore for very small amount. I don't have the time or
> energy to fight the system.
> The one class that allows Linux is my Physics class, but even that
> professor said that some of the simulations he hands out will not run
> with Linux. He did say that if it were up to him the entire university
> would use Linux but it is not.

Bummer. I'm just finishing my Master's degree in health care and have been 
using linux for all my computer work. I use OpenOffice.org for 
MS-Word/Excel/Powerpoint compatibility and have had no significant 
problems. I have to submit my written work in APA format, which shouldn't 
put a strain on any on any editor software. I originally thought of using 
LaTeX and submitting in pdf format but they insisted on MS-Word format 
(and then go on in tiresome detail about how important it is to scan your 
submissions for viruses before sending them in -- go figure).


-- 

John (john@os2.dhs.org)

On Saturday 10 September 2005 21:05, John Thompson <john@vector.os2.dhs.org>
(<slrndi72qb.3tk.john@vector.os2.dhs.org>) wrote:

> On 2005-09-09, B Gruff <bbgruff@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> 
>> Perhaps things are different in the U.S., but I found the post rather
>> puzzling, Rex.  My own "first day at University" is now a good few
>> years behind me, but my recollection is that I was in my SECOND year
>> before we were lectured by ANY prof.
> 
> I'm sure it depends on the univrsity. I went to a small, liberal arts
> university and all my classes were taught by professors.

The duties and responsibilities of a "Professor" aren't the same in the US
and the UK.

On 2005-09-11, John Thompson <john@vector.os2.dhs.org> wrote:
> On 2005-09-09, B Gruff <bbgruff@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> Perhaps things are different in the U.S., but I found the post rather
>> puzzling, Rex.  My own "first day at University" is now a good few
>> years behind me, but my recollection is that I was in my SECOND year
>> before we were lectured by ANY prof.
>
> I'm sure it depends on the univrsity. I went to a small, liberal arts 
> university and all my classes were taught by professors.

Absolutely.  I attended a small (2,500 students) university for Computer 
Science and all my classes were taught by professors.  A larger university
in my province, which is ten times the size, employs lecturers.  It's
up to the professor.

B Gruff is taking his own experience and extrapolating it to be the norm
or even the gold standard, which is logically flawed.

-- 
FreeBSD 4.8-RELEASE i386
 2:05PM  up 55 days,  1:54, 1 user, load averages: 0.00, 0.03, 0.00

On 2005-09-08, Nikos Chantziaras <realnc@arcor.de> wrote:
> Heddy Seafield wrote:
>> Now I am at University level as a psych major and I have been 
>> instructed by 4 of my 5 professors that Linux is not acceptable for 
>> class. Reasons given, and I asked in each class, were poor support of 
>> Word formatted documents and spreadsheets. Terrible translation of 
>> tables and formula and also no support for the various programs given 
>> out by the school for use in class.
>
> Professors who need to write a lot of math and such, always do it in LaTeX.

In 1998, the standard for psychology papers in my university
was WordPerfect, which was still alive then.  It had a TeX-like equation 
editor built in.

-- 
FreeBSD 4.8-RELEASE i386
 2:05PM  up 55 days,  1:54, 1 user, load averages: 0.00, 0.03, 0.00

General Protection Fault <you@must.be.joking.mil> writes:

> On 2005-09-08, Nikos Chantziaras <realnc@arcor.de> wrote:
>>
>> Professors who need to write a lot of math and such, always do it in LaTeX.
>
> In 1998, the standard for psychology papers in my university
> was WordPerfect, which was still alive then.  It had a TeX-like equation 
> editor built in.

An equation editor does not approximate the degree of support TeX
brings to mathematical papers.

-- 
"If you see math knowledge as a tool--as a hammer--with which
you can attack other people then ... you defeat rational discourse."
"I get to call my proof the Hammer.  It's more powerful than *any*
physical object.  It is overwhelming force."  -- Two JSH quotes