Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2014 December 18

= December 18 =

Spred Spectrum
hi.just bought a nu pc yesterday.while exploring the pc bios i come to a setup named spred spectrum.i wonder what is it for and when i click on it, it pop out +/-0.2%,0.35 & so on.i want to know what is it for.


 * It allows a CPU or chipset to intentionally modify the clock frequency to avoid a certain type of electromagnetic (radio) interference. Here's a very old Pentium II-era application note available from Intel for the general public: Design for EMI (1999).  It explains the concept.  Newer computers support this feature in many more places with many more variations.  Nimur (talk) 03:05, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

ok.thank 4 the info — Preceding unsigned comment added by 219.94.83.162 (talk) 05:04, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

Is ms dos supported on beagleboard?
Has anyone ever tried to install ms dos on the beagleboard?Whereismylunch (talk) 04:42, 18 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Has anyone ever tried to install an x86-based operating system on an ARM-based single-board computer? Quite possibly. People try all sorts of things. It seems rather unlikely to have worked though. AndyTheGrump (talk) 04:55, 18 December 2014 (UTC)
 * It's more likely that FreeDOS, rather than Microsoft DOS, has been ported... but if you ever played around on DOS, you know that the system doesn't abstract very much of the machine. "Making DOS run" is quite different from "making a Beagle-* computer run applications that were designed for Intel 386 on DOS".  Perhaps what you really seek is Linux on Beagle-* with a supplemental, application-layer DOS-like virtual machine like DOSBOX.  Nimur (talk) 15:21, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

If I wanted to use version control for text files
What could I use in Linux to get different version of text files, pictures (that are being worked on) and the like? It has to be offline.
 * LyX and LaTeX has SVN (Apache Subversion). Would that suit you? Better than MS Word too.--Aspro (talk) 23:45, 18 December 2014 (UTC)


 * You include 'pictures'. For what purpose are you wanting this revision control feature for? If it is for some heavy duty stuff, then there is a beta version of Scrivener (software) available for Linux.--Aspro (talk) 00:34, 19 December 2014 (UTC)


 * I use Git (software) because it allows me to commit changes even if offline and later merge with my main repository. It's fine for text. For images, a new version is, well, new. Editing binary files fills up the repository, but realistically, disks have become so large that few things you do manually can cause a problem with space... --Stephan Schulz (talk) 00:55, 19 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Another vote for Git here. It really has everything I want/need from version control.-- Link (t&bull;c&bull;m) 10:24, 19 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Git is great if you are saving to a network store and will be offline a lot. If this is sitting on one computer and the files are not going anywhere, it is overkill. SVN will suffice. Best of all, you can pick sides in the eternal Git/SVN flame war and then, when you feel battle-hardened, you can jump into the Vi/Emacs flame war (and troll with Nano). Finally, when you feel really ready to waste your life, get in on the KDE/Gnome fight.
 * Nano and pico are both still terminal programs, so I prefer to troll with MSWord :) Also please sign your posts in the future. SemanticMantis (talk) 20:26, 19 December 2014 (UTC)
 * I've used CVS (back in the days) and Subversion, and there is nothing really wrong with them for most users. But I find git just as easy or even easier to set up, I can model the same workflows, and I get the distributed aspect for free if I ever need it. So I wouldn't start a new project with anything else at the moment. And, of course, the only valid choices are Emacs, vi and ed. In fact, |ed is the standard text editor. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 21:12, 19 December 2014 (UTC)
 * I use GNU Bazaar because it can be used purely with a local repository or in a distributed fashion with a central server. This gives me flexibility to work offline on private projects on my own machine but later to make them accessible to a team. However, Bazaar may not be still actively developed. See also Comparison of revision control software.- gadfium 21:45, 19 December 2014 (UTC)