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Mandrake to Come Preloaded on Wal-Mart PCs
surfimp writes "Here's a story from NewsForge: 'MandrakeSoft CEO Jacques Le Marois confirms the news this morning, and company spokeswoman Margaret Waters says, while a contract with Microtel has not been finalized, the company is working on getting Mandrake certified to run like clockwork on the Microtel systems. Waters is hopeful that the dotted line will be signed and PCs up for sale by the end of next week.'" Update: 06/20 17:21 GMT by T : Ooops! The Mandrake spokeswoman's name is Margaret Waples, not Waters. Apologies, and thanks to Todd Lyons of Mandrakesoft for the correction.
For L0rdkariya, a musical first post. Hey, I guess that's just the way it is.
fp! wahoo!
Red Hat Inc. (RHAT), which provides open source software, didn't comment in its earnings news release on the narrower first quarter loss. A representative wasn't immediately available.
Excluding items, Red Hat met the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call for breakeven results in the quarter.
The company said large enterprise revenue grew to $17.1 million in the first quarter, from $16.4 million in the fourth quarter.
Similar information wasn't included in the year-ago first quarter earnings report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In that report, the company said it recently had begun to focus on expanding its enterprise customer base.
..the condescending remark about Walmart customers this time! How are we geeks supposed to maintain any self-esteem unless we can pick on someone else the way that we were picked on at high-school?
Linux Mandrake is just the latest in a long line of quirkily christened versions of Linux. Previous versions of Linux have been named Red Hat, Slack Ware, Storm and Coral. In stark contrast to the mundane names such as 98, ME or NT preferred by Microsoft, the crazy names of each Linux release hint at its renegade nature.
My foray into the world of Linux began by downloading a "CD image" from the Linux web site. But don't worry, this isn't software piracy, it's perfectly legal! Linux is shareware, meaning that it can be freely redistributed without fear of a visit by the Business Software Alliance. The free availability of Linux is a major reason for its popularity among cash-strapped students and self-styled anti-capitalist hackers.
Before installing new software, it is always advisable to read the documentation. Unfortunately, an unpleasant surprise was in store for me in the "required configuration" section of the manual. I was shocked to learn that Linux Mandrake only runs on Pentium processors, meaning that my hopes of testing the water with my old Gateway 486 were dashed. Furthermore, a whopping 32 megabytes of memory are required to run Linux! Although the advocates of Linux self-righteously boast the efficiency of their chosen operating system and deride the "bloatware" produced by Microsoft, it appears that their claims are blatantly incorrect. Although my humble 486 will happily run Windows 95, it seems that Linux requires far more powerful, and more expensive, computer hardware. Is this really the sign of a lean, mean operating system? Of course not.
Sadly, not even being able to install Linux is just the first of my many complaints. A brief perusal of the features of Linux Mandrake reveals that Linux is sorely lacking many crucial productivity applications. For example, why isn't the industry standard web browser, Internet Explorer, included with Linux? Despite the best efforts of the experts at the Internet Engineering Task Force to encourage adoption of the Internet Explorer standard, the creators of Linux seem to think that they know better. By refusing to adhere to recognised standards, Linux is simply undermining its own credibility.
Similarly, almost all of the world's most popular and widely used software is completely incompatible with Linux! It may surprise you to learn that your copy of Microsoft Office, Outlook Express, or Lotus Notes will not work under Linux. Those who wish to use their computer for recreational purposes are also out of luck, for almost all of the most popular games are unavailable for Linux. Although a wide range of software is freely available for Linux, these pitiful offerings are mostly unfinished, unreliable and do not bear comparison to their commercial counterparts.
Computer security is also an area that seems to have been overlooked by the developers of Linux. In these times when hacking and viruses are commonplace, it defies belief to learn that no anti-virus software is available for Linux. To add insult to injury, there is no Linux version of the popular ZoneAlarm firewall. By using Linux, you are issuing an open invitation to the hordes of ne'er-do-wells on the Internet.
The shortcomings of Linux are obvious. Without even installing Linux Mandrake, I have exposed several fundamental flaws. Surely it is not too much to expect that, after ten years of development, the creators of Linux would have addressed these problems? The real question that the prospective Linux user must ask himself is, "Why bother?" After all, Microsoft Windows comes free with most PCs and there simply isn't a need to replace it, particularly not with a product of inferior quality.
Although it is always tempting to support the underdog, Windows XP will be the deserved victor in the battle ahead. I recommend that those Adequacy readers who are hoping to upgrade their operating system patiently wait for the release of Windows XP, rather than foolishly wasting their time, effort and money on Linux.
Because Mandrake is French and you, stupid american, you should better use French Products instead of Crappy American Products (Redhat, Lindows, Windows, Fucking American cars...)
I doubt if Dell is wondering anything. Dell and Microsoft both know perfectly well what happened...
... *.45 revolver cocking*
Dell: Linux is starting to get popular, so lets offer PCs with Linux preloaded, just like Windows!
Microsoft: I don't think that's such a good idea
Dell: Ummm... maybe you're right, Linux might not be ready for the mainstream yet...
I am not your blowing wind, I am the lightning.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
So the German soldiers can march in the shade.
Danke Schoen!
"What is the sound of one belly slapping?"
Many people here are too young to remember the earlier days of personal computing. When a Commodore 64 with a tape drive was considered a luxury item. With Apple, Atari, Commodore, IBM, and others competing for the same (relatively) small market share, there were many options for those that wanted to buy a computer.
When I would walk to the local book store to look at the software (on a shelf with a box of floppy disks that cost more than some CPUs cost now), I would see different sections, with signs like Apple or Commodore or IBM. Most of them had the same games available, too.
Asking my mother for a new game for my birthday didn't involve going with her to the store, writing it down, or ending up with an Atari game for my C64. Without ever touching the computer, she knew it was a Commodore 64, just like I knew that my dad drove a GM station wagon, even though I wasn't allowed to drive it.
Every kid I knew with a computer was able to get the correct kind of software. The small computer lab that we somehow ended up with at my elementary school ended up with the correct software. I never even remember hearing of anyone that had any confusion about the type of computer they were using.
Now, some might say that computers are a commodity item, a mass market item, something that every home needs in the same room as the TV. I have no problem with that. I think it is great, as it will drive down prices for all of us. Let the masses have their Microtel computers.
But when they try to install Windows software on their shiny new computers, we should laugh at them. The same way that 'hillbillies', as people have called them, would laugh at you if you put the wrong fuel mixture in your chainsaw. Read and learn, or be a fool. There is no excuse for ignorance, and it doesn't take much brainwork to figure out what kind of operating system you are running. Read the fucking manual.
What this really boils down to is the fact that todays publishers simply have no backbone. What makes this especially depressing is the fact that the "censored" companies involved are themselves giants. They should be able to survive the negative effects of not being sold in Wal-mart for a month.
Time is certainly big enough to tell Walmart to "bugger off". Yet they choose to bow and scrape for a relatively small proportion of their total sales. The problem here is not that Walmart has power to abuse. The problem here is that our so-called journalists are actually whores that will sell out at the drop of a hat. If they are too frightened to stand up to Walmart, whom else are they not bothering to "stand up to".
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.