Hard Drives Preloaded With GNU-Darwin

proclus writes "A 40 gig Maxtor 3.5 inch, ATA/EIDE hard drive ready to go with GNU-Darwin OS pre-installed, plus GNU-Darwin Office, plus a full ports tree and select distfiles. This bundle includes Darwin-6.0.2, GNOME desktop, AbiWord, PyMOL, The GIMP, gdFortran, parallel computing, and much more. A triple CDR set is also included. Available now for ppc and x86 computers. The PPC version includes OpenOffice-1.0.1 and Mozilla-1.0. Compatibility is as specified for our OS installer CDs. Check out our updated ordering web page. (Mirror one mirror two.) You want it."

Comments

How is this news?

[JanusFury]

This doesn't even attempt to not look like an ad! A hard disk filled with (mostly) free software? How is this news?

Re:How is this news?

[ender81b]

Well it's just like any new distro coming out. I mean they post that and they are basically ads. How is this any different? People are interested in buying it so why not.

A distro is nothing more than a hard disk filled with mostly free software.

Re:How is this news?

[jmacgill]

But there has been no attempt here to write this as an editorial, to comment on why this disk distribution idea is good/bad etc.

A biased post that talks about a new distro comming out is still way better than this article which is a straight advert.

CLUE - visit OUR web site....

Novel Idea

[BoBaBrain]

But who's it for? The type of people who build their own PCs are also the type who shun all things pre-installed.

Unless there's a strain of pure hardware geeks out there...

Re:Novel Idea

[longbottle]

There are. I am one.

Not everyone enjoys fucking with software to get it working. That's one of the reasons I'm a big fan of Mac OS and BeOS, and still use Windows.

I'd much rather spend the free time I have playing with my hardware, coming up with new and novel configurations and ideas.

Software is only what enables you to use your sweet hardware. Don't forget that, bub.

Re:Novel Idea

[BoBaBrain]

Thanks for answering my question. It's good to know that there are hardcore hardware guys out there doing their thing.

Software really isn't anything more than a configuration tool for the big electron maze in the box. :)

This could be great for OS-newbies...

[dagg]

When I first installed Linux on my PC, I performed these 2 main tasks:

1. Went out and bought a new hard drive.
2. Downloaded and installed a linux distribution.

This hard drive/OS bundle reduces that to one step... right? That seems kind of cool.

--
I don't know my sex.

Hardware support?

[pope nihil]

Last time I checked, x86 darwin only supported a very limited set of hardware.

Hedged Bets?

[USC-MBA]

Though the company remains profitable, Aapple's recent performance in the market has been marked by a decline in sales, in comparison to both the previous quarter, and the previous year. Per-share revenues have dropped by almost half compared with 3rd quarter 2001, down to $0.09 per share from $0.17

And now GNU/Darwin developers are marketing their products directly, for use with the considerably less expensive x86 hardware. An attempt to hedge their bets in the face of a sluggish tech market and Apple's precieved weakness? Interesting times....

Another Distro, different kernel

[Coryoth]

It seems we have another distro based around GNU tools plus the other usual suspects. The only main difference I can see here is that it is running on Darwin instead of Linux or (Net|Open|Free)BSD.

It doesn't actually say so on the site, but given the software they do list, it is pretty clearly just running X like everybody else. Not that that is bad thing.

It would be nice if they could make it very Windowmaker/GNUStep centric for nostalgia sake though.

Anyway, it is good to see other kernels making it into new Distro's. It bodes well for the future.

Jedidiah.

Re:Another Distro, different kernel

[RAMMS EIN]

``It would be nice if they could make it very Windowmaker/GNUStep centric for nostalgia sake though.''
I don't think GNUStep is up to it yet. Once they are, it will probably be ported to Darwin, too. At any rate, Apple probably wouldn't push a GNUStep system; it comes too close to being an OS X replacement.

MS Tax

[Mr_Silver]

This could be an interesting way to avoid Microsoft tax. Provide the computer with a plug in hard drive and then sell them the HD seperately.

Because the PC has no HD, it has no OS and no tax can be paid. The users then simply purchase the HD (with stuff preloaded) and drop it right in. You could just provided them with the HD to install themselves, but that would require users opening up the computer - which could cause complications and also end up with warranty issues.

Of course, the far better way would be to get rid of this pointless MS tax in the first place - but until that happens, this is as good a start as any.

(subnote: Can anyone point me to a resource that describes the history of this MS tax, how it came about and why? I'm not really up on the whole thing)

A big yawn

[guacamole]

This is silly, why don't they package this software on CD instead and let people decide how and where to install it? You know, I could make a copy of my PC hard drive (currently running RedHat Linux) too, image it, and clone it on identicall disks. Not very impressive..

Re:No Desktop, and it's not GNU.

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice one, loser. It is indeed GNU-Darwin, if you'd actually thought to look into it before ranting.

Insane...

[cenonce]

Why in the hell would I spend 250 bucks on a 40 gig Maxtor harddrive with free software on it!?!

I can go to CompUSA, get robbed at 85 bucks for a Maxtor harddrive, order the stinking CD for 15 bucks and save myself 150 bucks!

If I want to get taken to the cleaners, I'll go buy Windows!

-A

Re:What's the point?

[skahshah]

There is no need for any effort on GNU/Darwin. Somebody has fun doing it, someone has fun using it. Why not have fun?

Where is the news here?

[ites]

Surely /. can do better than this. A new OS is always interesting, but how about a review that clarifies (a) what is special about this OS, (b) why the combination of HD+OS works, assuming it does, (c) how his can be used in combination with existing OSes , (d) etc.
What I've seen so far is one very thin infomercial followed by an uninformed discussion about useless details. Has anyone actually tried GNU-Darwin?

That's clearly not for me.

[viktor]

Interesting idea. A strange one, but interesting.

But, it isn't for me. What I love about my Mac OS X is that it actually works, and works well. The GUI and applications of Mac OS X are thought through, there are Human Interface Guidlines that people actually follow, and it "just works".

Gnome has Human Interface Guidlines that either aren't followed or aren't very good. I know I'm picky here, but why is there, for example, no visible difference between a single and double click on a Gnome desktop icon? You have to wait until the application (maybe) starts to determine if your second click went through. That can take a very long time. Surely the Gnome HIG should (maybe does) say that the immediately visible change from a single- and double-click should be different? This is a small picky detail, the kind that IMO Gnome is full of and OS X has just a handful of.

Really, I'm just trying to illustrate that IMO, Gnome/GNU are miles behind when it comes to GUIs. I don't see who would actually use this. Running Gimp is nice because it doesn't cost anything, but you don't need to buy a second harddisk to do that. People that will benefit from this disk run OS X. What could there possibly be to make them interested in switching to Gnome? "It's free and therefore better, I don't care if the GUI sucks!"?

Any insights into why people that run OS X would want to switch to Gnome would be appreciated, 'cause I don't get it. ;-)

Re:OS Pushing?

[racermd]

What I find rather amusing is that I'm able to buy an OEM copy of Windows at my local computer parts shop with the purchase of a $.05 case screw, else I'm required to pay for the full retail price. Specifically, they state "OEM only, Must be purchased with a piece of hardware." When I inquired as to what the minimum hardware purchase is to qualify for the OEM copy of Windows XP Pro ($159 for those wondering), a sales rep replied that their $.05 case screw is all that's required.

And, please, no jokes about how Windows XP is the item screwing the case...

My point is that if an OEM copy of Windows can be accompanied with a $.05 part, why not allow another OS be accompanied by (or installed on) a new hard disk?