One of the most important component of an automatic timing and scoring system is the software. GiroZ includes some computer programs for race timing:
Free software for tournament management. The current distribution includes FLaCo 0.2, prototype developed in JavaScript that runs inside the Firefox web browser.
Once a race has been configured the user will run each round from FLaCo and FLaCo will start a proper round manager.
GZround is the round manager that FLaCo will launch if you are running a GNU/Linux box. It is fully integrated with FLaCo, it is simple and it is very reliable.
If you have a low cost computer, even without hard disk, or you do not want to install GNU/Linux in your computer... do not worry, our distribution is itself is a Live CD GNU/Linux: Burn It, Boot It, Race It.
ZRound GiroZ / Lite is a round manager that FLaCo will launch if you are running a Windows XP box. The program has been developed by Jesús M. Broceño and it is included in our distribution (thank you very much to the author for preparing for us this fantastic edition).
You can download a CD that includes:
You can try this prototype of the tournament manager. You just need to install firefox in your computer (included in the CD).
Although running a Live distribution of GNU/Linux is a good idea to start, we recommend to install GNU/Linux in your computer. If you have GNU/Linux already installed in your computer you can download the following software and install it.
In the CD you will find an installer of a special release of ZRound: ZRound GiroZ / Lite.
Live CD GNU/Linux is a breed of Linux distribution. Unlike traditional Linux, live CD distributions run directly from a CD-ROM. You simply insert the live CD and boot your system. Everything then runs from the CD (operating system and applications).
There are a number of ways to get a live CD distribution. The easiest method requires a CD burner and a broadband Internet connection. Just download an ISO image of the CD and burn it with programs such as Nero or Easy CD (see other burner software above and the burning ISO howto). There are even a number of companies that sell Linux CDs for a nominal fee.
After you have the CD, make sure that your system is configured to boot from CD. This is the default behavior for many newer systems, but you may have to go into BIOS and change your boot sequence. Check your PC or motherboard manual or the manufacturer's web site for instructions.
If you are using MS-DOS, Windows 95 you can directly boot Slax
following the instructions in the CD:
\boot\dos\readme.
Slax is a customized version of the venerable Slackware Linux distribution, offering a way to test GNU/Linux without installing it. Slax is a very small distribution, weighing in at a mere 190MB. This means one-third the download time, which is a big plus if you're on a slow connection. It also means that the distribution will fit on a three-inch mini-CDR
Unlike the other distributions I tried, Slax boots to a command prompt rather than a GUI. However, there are some onscreen instructions for logging in, starting the GUI, and performing basic operations from the command line.
If your PC has a CD-burner drive, it will have come with software. If you find it confusing and cannot figure out how to correctly burn a ISO file to CD you can use an application called BurnCDCC (for Windows), that is specifically designed to burn ISO files to CDs. It does nothing else, so it is very easy to use. The URL is: http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/utilities.html.
Ubuntu offers through its wiki a guide explaining how to burn your ISO: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BurningIsoHowto.
Despite what some may say, Linux is perfectly suitable to run your computer and let you do everything you want to do. To make sure that your Linux transition is successful, it's important to get the right version of Linux paired up with the right computer. There are some things that you need to know before you get started:
You may have read or heard people say that Linux works well on older hardware. In a general sense, this is true. However, 'works well' depends on what you're going to do with the machine. This brings us to our next question:
For best results, this use of Linux requires newer hardware. As with anything, the newer the better. At the time of this writing, you really need a system that's at the Pentium III/AMD Athlon class or better with at least 256 MB of RAM. In order to install all the nice programs that will help you get your work done, you'll need at least 4 GB of space in your hard drive. You'll also need some additional space to store your files.
Versions (also known as distributions) of Linux that are well suited for this:
Linux is well suited to work as a central server for your business. With Linux, you can serve your own web pages up for public consumption and handle your own email, easing uptime and privacy concerns. You can centralize your print and file services under one roof, so to speak, with a Linux server running an application known as 'Samba'. There is much more that you can use a Linux machine for. The hardware doesn't have to be top of the line either. You can take advantage of older hardware to get these tasks done with Linux.
Versions of Linux that work well in this setting:
Though it requires powerful hardware, Linux works nicely as an application server, providing the programs for users on thin clients. The thin clients themselves can be running Linux on older hardware. (see below).
There are a lot of cases of individuals, organizations and business adapting Linux to their own special needs. This is because Linux is extremely versatile. For example, you can recycle PCs that normally wouldn't be useful for running the latest desktop applications by giving them other uses, such as:
Older machines can be converted into thin clients. These machines either have a minimalist Linux distribution installed or they boot their operating system over a network from a centralized application server. For more information about these types of systems, you may want to consult:
This is an excellent way to take advantage of hardware that would otherwise be unusable. A Linux firewall will help you keep unwanted visitors out of your network. These days, that's a must. A router running Linux is a great way to increase what you can do with your network. If your business is connected via broadband, a modest machine running Linux used as a router can help you pick up the slack from your commercial router and open up your network to a broader range of services. For more information:
No operating system can do everything, but Linux comes pretty close to being able to do it. However, you may find that Linux does not meet a special need that you have. At the time of this writing, Linux is still not able to run some advanced financial applications or reproduce some proprietary multimedia formats. There are probably other specific niche applications as well that Linux is not suitable for as this time. But as Linux gains popularity, these areas will be covered quickly.
Yes, you certainly can. Besides, there's no law that says you have to run top of the line hardware. Machines with less power than the ones we've mentioned are quite capable of running well as long as you use a less resource-intensive window manager. KDE and GNOME, the two most popular Linux desktop environments tend to consume a lot of computing power. A less demanding window manager like xfce or Fluxbox should free up some resource to run other more CPU and RAM intensive applications.
We mean that Linux, at the time of this writing, is capable of doing about 95% percent (in our estimation) of what Microsoft Windows systems do acting as a home computer system. If you focus only on the business desktop, we believe that popular Linux distributions provide 100% of the tools you need to get productive work done. In terms of the 5% of the home system that's lacking, Linux, at present, does not support a number of proprietary multimedia codecs, personal financial software packages and some graphics hardware used for enhancing game playing. In these cases, the developers of the codecs, software and drivers prefer to keep these closed and proprietary and Linux developers have no way to provide support for them.
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Last modified: Mon Dec 4 00:22:29 CET 2006