Matthew's Weblog

From the same Slashdot computer-configuration article:

On Windows
(Score:5, Informative)
by ewhac (5844) on Thursday April 05, @12:32PM (#18625205)
I’ve done this a couple of times recently — once for my new machine, and once for a friend of mine whose machine got pwn3d. My checklist works roughly like this:

* Perform an inventory of the hardware in the machine. Note especially the vendor and model number of the major components. You’ll need this later.
* Establish partitions on the boot drive (only if I’m dual-booting Linux or BeOS or something).
* Yank network cable.
* Install Windows from installation media. This takes a ridiculous amount of time, considering that most of the work is (should be) simply copying files. Reboot.
* Install Service Pack 2, which I conveniently have on a separate CD I burned. Reboot.
* Crank up Windows firewall to highest setting, or moral equivalent thereof (I’m behind a NAT router, so that works).
* Visit Windows Update, and download all security and bug fixes. Duration depends on connection speed, but it can easily consume an hour. Reboot.
* Using the hardware inventory you prepared earlier: for $item in $inventory ; do
o Visit hardware vendor’s site.
o Locate, download, and install latest device driver(s) for $item.
o Reboot.
* done

At this point, you have a usable machine. If it’s my machine (and even if it isn’t my machine), I usually install the following software:

* Firefox [mozilla.com]
* Vim [vim.org]
* VirtuaWin [sourceforge.net]
* TreeSize [jam-software.com]
* PuTTY [greenend.org.uk]
* WinSCP [winscp.net]
* TweakUI [microsoft.com]

Schwab
–

with settings and all…
from a Slashdot discussion comment thread:

20 minutes
(Score:4, Informative)
by iusty (104688) on Thursday April 05, @11:28AM (#18624189)
Let’s see:
– copy old /home/username dir
– “debconf-get-selections” on old computer and pipe to “debconf-set-selections” on new one
– “dpkg -l |grep ^ii” on old computer and replicate the package list
– go drink some tea while the apt-get proceeds
– done!

I carried my home dir with its settings across about three or four new computers in the last eight years or so, and I didn’t have to tweak things very much. Only upgrading major components require some maintenance, but other than that, it’s simple.

*
Re:20 minutes
(Score:5, Informative)
by umeboshi (196301) on Thursday April 05, @11:45AM (#18624481)
For replicating the package list, try this:
dpkg –get-selections > packages.txt on old machine,
then do:
dpkg –set-selections packages.txt on new machine,
then do:
apt-get dselect-upgrade on new machine.

I’m really interested in mobile websites because I want to be able to get my data everywhere, but they’re not easy to find. Case in point: a WSJ article on mobile sites references an ESPN mobile site, which would save me enormous pain when I’m checking sports sites… but no link, and ESPN’s home page doesn’t direct you to the mobile site when you have a mobile browser… nor does it even link to it in any place I can find on that tiny screen.

Here’s to hope that mobile sites will actually be more findable.