Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Linux PC's, EMC, and BDI

Hi Weyland,

> Why am I seeing all this hallabaloo regarding problems
> with Linux installs and losing programs?
>
> Is EMC not fully debugged?

EMC, like virtually every other program, will probably never be fully
debugged. Last I heard Microsoft Windows ME had several thousand known bugs
still and every previous version of windows still has many bugs untrapped.
However, EMC is in a very workable state and it is only because people on
this list try to push it to the extreme (sometimes intentionally) that bugs
are discovered - and usually rapidly cured. With a 'home' system it
shouldn't pose any real problems.

> What is BDI?
>

The BDI is a CD put together by Paul Corner to make installing the latest
stable version of EMC easy - BDI means 'Brain Dead Install'. It was done
because quite a few people who were new to linux were having trouble going
through all the steps needed to install the whole system from scratch. With
the BDI CD you just pulg it into your drive, answer a few questions and it
automatically does the rest for you so that, in less than half an hour, you
can have a machine cutting under EMC control.

> Also, how would one get to install Linux if a laptop doesn't have a CD?
>

This would be a bit more difficult. The easiest way would be to network the
laptop with a PC having a CD drive and install that way (I'm not sure the
BDI is set up to do this as it stands) or you could copy the contents of the
BDI CD across the network and then run the install, erasing the copied files
afterwards but to do this you would have to have quite a big Hard drive and
you would need to make separate partitions for windows and linux (copy the
install files into a windows partition and then install into a linux
partition). I suppose in theory you could also copy the files across a few
at a time on floppy disks - rather you than me!! Or, finally, you could
borrow a parallel port CD drive from someone and hook it up to your laptop.

Ian
--
Ian W. Wright
Sheffield UK
www.iw63.freeserve.co.uk