Roy Lewallen wrote:

Thanks for the info. Since there's apparently no version control or
"standard" version of Linux or wine, I guess it's not really appropriate
to claim that "EZNEC runs on Linux using wine". My statement was based
on a single report, from someone using wine 0.9.2 with linux kernel
2.4.20-42.9. But even no two Windows installations are the same, so I'm
sure this is true for Linux also.

Good clue there Roy. The -42.9 would probably indicate that it is
Redhat or Redhat clone. I don't think anyone else uses that extended
kernel numbering format. The official kernels are almost always x.y.z,
with the rare special minor fix as x.y.z.a. The 42.9 signifies the
Redhat patch set applied, which often has nothing to do with official
releases, or sometimes it upgrades one kernel partially or completely to
another, unspecified, kernel. Redhat kernels are very confusing,
misleading, and have there own special bugs. This 2.4.20-42.9 may
actually mostly be 2.4.27, 7 versions newer. But you'll never know.

The "standard" in Linux is actually the kernel itself. The
distributions are the packages that surround the kernel. This includes
the desktop and all the other software that comes with the distribution
you install. Kind of like the VW bug engine and chassis and tons of
parts kits available. Except Redhat insists on changing random parts on
the engine, boring a 1600 out to 1950, and still calling it a 1.6 liter.

Before I am attacked, I am NOT running down Redhat here. I use Fedora
Core 6 at work, and am quite happy with it. As a desktop. As a server
platform however, their silly kernel numbering system often makes it
very hard to know how their kernel features map to the Linux standard
kernels. And when I need to be sure a piece of hardware such as a
particular SATA controller or SCSI RAID is supported, I am forced to
build a new kernel from scratch from a standard kernel source release.
Not hard, just a pain that would be alleviated by Redhat sticking to the
rules the rest of the distros (most) stick to.

tom
K0TAR