[GTALUG] Advice -- Building Debian 8 PC To Replace Win XP PC;

[Russell Reiter]

On Jul 26, 2016 9:27 PM, "D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk" <talk at gtalug.org>
wrote:
>
> | From: "Steve Petrie, P.Eng. via talk" <talk at gtalug.org>
>
> | I don't really have a few weeks to spare. I need to get the Linux PC up
> | and running, so I can get back to the rest of my life.
>
<snip>
> Just to amplify what Len said:
>
> - external serial modems are very standard and well-supported

I believe as a general rule of thumb any Hayes compatable modem will work
with Linux. I've not tested this tho.

>
> - FAX is less standard.  With care, you can select a supported modem.
>   But FAX has died, thank goodness.  About once a year I find it would
>   be handy to send a FAX, but it is usually possible to just say that
>   you cannot do it.

A fax is still considered a legal transmission, that is a fax to fax
transmission is deemed to be accepted by the recipient. A scan of a
document attached to an email, for legal purposes requires confirmation by
the recipient.

I note that the Law Society of Upper Canada is introducing new rules
regarding privileged email sent in legal proceedings.

CRA won't accept document submissions by email but a Fax is acceptable. I
think this has to do with the chain of evidence in proceedings.

For the few faxes I do send I use FaxZero.com. You can send three free
faxes a day, limited to three pages or pay a premium to send more. They
attach a fairly discrete advert to the cover page.

>
> - I don't know about external USB modems.  With luck, they emulate
>   serial modems.  I have one in my cupboard "just in case".

I tinkered with GSM tethering. I did an install with the phone tethered and
linux found the phones modem and created the proper serial nodes at the
time. On reboot, I had to fool around with usb modeswitching from storage
to modem using a udev rule.

>
> - avoid "WinModems".  Those require proprietary drivers.  Some have

<snip the middle>

>
> If you don't have a broadband internet connection, all sorts of things
> that I don't notice might become problems.  Like updates.

I updated the unit I referred to above using the phones modem for about a
year. Even when I went over my Data plan (6gb high  speed the rest
throttled to 30kbs) I had no problems. I could even watch YouTube as long
as I used low res and preloaded for a couple of minutes.

>
> ================
>
> Good luck and have fun.
> ---
> Talk Mailing List
> talk at gtalug.org
> https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk

Russell
Sent from mobile.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://gtalug.org/pipermail/talk/attachments/20160727/ce57459a/attachment.html>