As usual Mary Sheridan opened the meeting with a far ranging discussion of MS Windows topics. Two new members were welcomed along with four visitors.

The opening discussions centered on virus detectors, as this was the burning topic at this juncture in the PC Internet developments. The "I LOVE YOU" virus being prevalent in early June causing many email systems and ISP providers to be totally on their knees. The main virus detector announced was PC-cillin98 as this is free for the download.

It was also stated that Defrag could double as a memory checker. If Defrag runs without aborting then it has most likely determined that the PC memory is sound. It was also announced that PC memory prices have started to rise again. A 64-MB module has risen by $25 in price in recent weeks.

IP routers were stated to provide an excellent firewall for DSL and Road Runner users. IP routers or cable system routers were stated to sell for $200. Contact Steve Singer of RDI for further details at http://morevalu.net/, the RDI web site.

Our featured presenters for this meeting, one of our more interesting, haled from the Suncoast Linux Users Group (SLUG) which boasts 250 members already. Monthly meetings are held at the Brandon Town Center Barnes and Noble bookstore. Our presenters, namely Bill Preece and Norbert, whose last name I have misplaced, host the SLUG meeting on the first Thursday of each month between 8 & 9 PM. The group also holds other monthly meetings in the area. Our presenters were clearly most enthused as to their conviction that Linux was a far superior operating system than MS Windows and believed it would be only a short time until the PC community would use nothing other than Linux operating systems. A number of Linux application programs are currently available and our presenters believed that the whole world would quickly wholeheartedly embrace Linux as the first choice as a total replacement for Windows. Being skeptical of all and any claims, I asked our presenters to state the reasons for their adoration of all things Linux. First, however, comparisons were rendered between the various competing versions of Linux, Turbo Linux, RedHat Linux and Corel Linux. Turbo Linux was stated to be preferable as a workplace system. Staples is apparently offering a 100% rebate on Turbo Linux. It was also stated that Red Hat Linux is the choice for server systems. Corel Linux was a newer version but was very well supported. Our presenters had indulged in Linux only for the last six months but were clearly fanatics in their belief of the superiority of Linux as an operating system. Our presenters stated they live, eat and sleep with Linux.

What are these magnificent features that endear Linux so much to our presenters. First Linux can run on a 386 with only 4MB and in general compared to Windows runs faster. Sez who? Linux is very robust with the latest Avalon chip sets due to the extra cache on the chip set that Linux uses to maximum advantage. Linux offers better security and the cost advantage will win over the corporate PC world. Some versions of Linux are as inexpensive as only two dollars a copy. The scalability of installation packages ranges from 720 KB to a system that requires 18 CD’s…. Turbo Cluster! The prime advantage is that open source allows everyone free accessibility to every line of code for both operating systems and applications.

Linux was originally developed in the early nineties by the Finn Linus Torvalds as a hobby project and over 10 years has gained approximately 20 million users.

Not all chip sets achieve compatibility and consequently many variants now exist. However the problem is considered not as great as that experienced by MS Window users. Free rapid support is currently available to all users at Linux.COM. Support for PDA devices is also available. There are two major office suites available in Linux: Sun Microsystems’ "Star" Office Suite and the Corel WordPerfect Suite. The Star suite is available free at http://www.sun.com/staroffice/. Corel Linux comes complete with its own partitioning system, which installs with only four mouse clicks required. Yes, installation problems have been encountered.

It was determined also that our presenters had experienced crashes; however, the system did not normally abort and recovery was easy and did not require a re-boot of the PC. Therefore Linux is more crash proof than MS Windows because it handles itself more gracefully. One of our most conservative members, namely Merle Nicholson, claims that he has no problems with MS Windows, as he is very careful as to what applications he installs on his computer. This only requires patience and understanding and a good knowledge of compatibility. Norbert takes great pride in running a whole host of applications simultaneously under Linux.

Overall this was one of our best presentations of recent years. No doubt we thrive on controversy………….

The following were the door prize winners:

David Rodriquez – MS Developer; Bob LaFave – Second Chance; William Coleman – 3D Universe; Brian Lance – Data Keeper; Mike Hodges – Front Page 45 day Demo; Brian Lance – Smart Suite 97; Bill Coleman – Mouse Pad u