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TurboLinux to Sell Wizpy Media Player Worldwide
MsManhattan writes "TurboLinux will attempt to lure Windows users over to the Linux operating system in baby steps this June when it starts selling its Wizpy media player worldwide. The pocket-sized device, which plays audio and video files, is really a Linux carrot of sorts, in that it also allows users to store a complete Linux desktop in its memory. You can plug the Wizpy into a PC's USB port and boot up the Linux system with all its user settings, passwords, bookmarks, etc. It originally launched in Japan, where TurboLinux marketed it to 'early adopters who are curious about using Linux but either don't want to or can't install the operating system.' The company will now target the same crowd around the globe, starting in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, India and Singapore."
It looks decent enough: http://www.turbolinux.com/products/wizpy/
just write your own drivers, GOD can't you do anything without being spoonhead you bonehead user! it's all your fault our OS can't handle many simple tasks
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
Knoppix and other livecd based distros do pretty much the same thing.
4Gb for $278? No thanks.
Bob
Listen to my latest album here
wireless cards require a fair amount of work that is beyond the "complete noobs" that this is targeting. other than that using generic drivers for ati or nvidia video cards will be enough to get just about every daily users computer up and running for them to have a look around. maybe the odd scanner will not work. dv and digital cameras and mp3 players that can't be switched to function as usb mass storage can be a hassle as well.
thats right, I rarely use capitals. deal with it. but don't mistake my laziness for stupidity
With the market share iPods enjoy it has to be a massive temptation to stick OSX on them and let users boot off them to help drive Mac hardware sales. It's not a strategy without risk but it potentially offers them a much greater share of the market very rapidly if they decide volume sales are the way to go.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
you see that is the ironic thing. I switched to Linux for it's network card support. The software you had to run to config the card it in windows crashed within 10 seconds of booting. I used an Ubuntu live CD and my cards worked fine, I configed my new router and and then installed it. Ubuntu was absolutely wonderful compared to Windows.
I like muppets.
omg one isolated example - you totally proved me wrong!
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
Of the 4 GB, 1.2 is for the Linux stuff. This leaves you with 2.8 GB of space. That's not very much for a $300 (rounded) media player. At least give this thing a couple SD expansion slots or something!
Silence is golden... and duct tape is silver.
wired card support is much better in linux than it is in windows. I have a couple of mobos with onboard 1 gig nic's that require a lot of work to run in windows. they install and run with 0 effort in every linux distro I've tried. even if it doesn't work out of the box the power is available to fix it yourself, instead of waiting for ms to decide its time to fix it for you. but thats an irrelevant point because the poeple they are targeting are not the kind of people who will be able to do that.
thats right, I rarely use capitals. deal with it. but don't mistake my laziness for stupidity
First of all the idea that Linux has bad support for hardware is an old myth that has been pretty much fixed in recent years. There are problem areas such as graphics and WiFi but Linux supports more hardware combinations than any other operating system. Graphics cards and WiFi just tend to be popular and give a bad impression.
Where Linux doesn't work 100% it does get pretty close and if you just want to stick your USB device in and get some work done it will almost certainly handle that. Assuming you can boot from USB, which I've noticed still causes problems in a lot of places.
---
http://www.linuxlaptops.eu/
XePhi Computers sell really cheap Linux CDs! http://www.xephi.co.uk
I'm a Linux user, I know what is can do, but I'm playing devils advocate. If it doesn't work 100% of the time, people will be upset and not go "oh it's Linux" it will be "this crappy thing only works some times! why am I bothering!?"
I like muppets.
I think you have that backwards, hardware its infamous for its lack of Linux. the vast majority of drivers are written for windows and/or mac. were the situation reversed, windows and mac would be said to have a problem with hardware support too. but then again, that myth isnt true anymore, linux supports alot of hardware at least partially that windows throws a fit over.
no it isnt, you can already run damn small linux from *inside* another OS and live cds dont seem to have a problem working either albeit not inside the host OS.
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
Nintendo had a great success with a game console whose name sounds like a word for urination.
So TurboLinux now comes out with a device whose name sounds like two words for urination.
That changes absolutely nothing. You can't get the same use out of a hardware device that's not functioning simply because you know it's not its fault that it's not working. That's borderline insanity. The fact is, Linux has shitty hardware support. That's it. That's the bottom line. Until that's changed, however that should happen, projects like this are flights of fancy with very, very limited application. Because if it doesn't work, what's the point in having it?
that's BS. Windows doesnt support A LOT of hardware- even some that Linux DOES support. the hardware that isnt supported out of the box by Linux certainly isnt by Windows.
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
Is it possible for a device like this to circumvent XP to the point where it can be used to delete files/kill processes that are being protected by freindly spyware processes?
I've been confronted by several XP machines that have spyware which can pretty much never be removed within XP, but which also don't run Knoppix or other 'lite' linux distros. Unless they happen to have a floppy drive for a DOS boot disk, it's a major pain removing spyware.
A Linux USB stick might help, depending on how it's implemented...
Whence? Hence. Whither? Thither.
I've got plenty of hardware that's Linux only, a lot of which I got free or cheap when the owners upgraded to a version of Windows which obsoleted drivers. There's Matrox G200 MMS video cards that won't work under any version of Windows, but's fine with Linux, Half a dozen D-Link wireless cards that have never been supported on XP (I scored those for free when the company that bought them upgraded from '98), and more.
The thing is, the pool of drivers for Linux is increasing all the time as people get motivated to write support for their favorite toy. The pool of drivers for Windows is shrinking each time a manufacturer drops support for an older version.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
seriously think about your argument there.... I just purchased a $300 device and linux doesn't work on it... what am i going to ditch first, the $300 or the free os?
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
people keep flapping their gums about it but i don't see no proof bobby-joe
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
heh... let me guess proprietary/company driver? did windows work out of the box on it? didnt think so.
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
can you ever think of a time that windows supported hardware out of the box that linux didnt?
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
how often do you use linux to have real familiarity with its "shitty hardware support" when was the last time you had to install chipset drivers with a linux distro to get usb 2.0 or onboard audio working? I have to do it every time with fresh installs of XP, yes even SP2. don't just slander linux without naming specific devices that are an issue. those of us who use it admit wifi and 3d graphics are an issue. I don't ignore those issues because I feel its someone elses fault, I ignore them because I feel other advantages [speed, reliability, power] outweigh them. you will need to learn to work ndiswrapper or madwifi if you want wireless, but aside from people doing CAD and graphic design you don't need ultra high power 3d graphics except to game. and lack of games is more of an issue on that front than drivers are. especially considering most PC gamers I know have the knowledge to work a graphics driver out on their own. generic drivers will get you far enough to get recipes and driving directions off the web and check your email, all most people do on a daily basis. those people need to know there is something out there that can do what they need better and cheaper than windows and all on cheaper hardware as well.
thats right, I rarely use capitals. deal with it. but don't mistake my laziness for stupidity
What a great Scrabble score you'd get.
It's up there with 'Kwyjibo' (google it ;)
monk.e.boy
Open source, flash charts
not once, and I use both daily. the advantage for windows on that front is that windows drivers are easier for the computer illiterate to get running. 1 missing driver in a linux distro is harder for an average joe to fix than 5 windows drivers.
thats right, I rarely use capitals. deal with it. but don't mistake my laziness for stupidity
I agree that there is some hardware out there that Linux doesn't run 100% on, but there is VERY little hardware that doesn't work at all.
Compare that to Apple who's software only runs on a very small set of hardware options, and Windows which has a lots of devices supported but the quality of those drivers is usually incredibly bad. By the way I don't think that is Microsoft's fault, but the hardware manufacturer. If they release open specs then it's Microsoft's fault.
I'd say Linux is the perfect choice for this, I can't think of another OS which would boot and provide at least a usable environment on such a wide range of hardware. The other OSes have some serious catching up to do if they're interested in being equivalent.
XePhi Computers sell really cheap Linux CDs! http://www.xephi.co.uk
No. Aliens use proprietary technology and Apple is the only terrestrial company to license it.
After all, I am strangely colored.
With VOIP, E-mail, browser, office and radio, this sounds more like a iPhone all they need to put in this is a larger screen and 3G mobile network capability and it will become iPhone 2nd Generation killer
If their goal really is to make Linux available to the curious masses, is this the right platform? In my opinion, it would be better to make such a push on a platform people almost everyone is comfortable on, the PC. Why haven't we seen a big push through the various media platforms to make Linux visible? I would love to see things like live CDs shipped with mainstream magazines, a few commercials, CD distribution in retail stores etc. As for the device itself, I agree with previous posts about too little storage. If the device doesn't have slots for external flash memory it is useless to me.
GOD can't you do anything without being spoonhead you bonehead user!
Spoonhead? That's one I've never seen before. Maybe I should go add it to the Eggcorn Database...
This guy's the limit!
Does nobody who uses Linux understand marketing? How can you have an article about a portable media player WITHOUT ANY FUCKING PICTURES?
Complete and utter failure. Stop making such a big deal over each little cutesy change to your OSes and start making them a way of life. You should expect the best, not beg for it.
the point is that drivers *exist* and *work* for windows, but they don't *exist* or don't *work* for linux. If it's *impossible* to get hardware to work properly for linux, that's a real problem. Hardware problems are the #1 thing keeping the linux desktop/laptop in eternal limbo... Even my ubuntu install on fairly common hardware has issues...
As for OSX... that's a whole different ballgame. You rarely hear "this hardware didn't work perfectly" complaints from mac users, but that's because most of the core system is designed or handpicked by apple. Aside from that the main video card venders always have decent (if not 100% as good as windows) drivers for mac.
they'd run into a ton of hardware support issues... the range of computers that osx will run on right now is pretty minimal. If they ever sold generic x86 they'd probably be selling it in partnership with dell or some "apple clone" manufacturer.
Besides, with apple's brand they really wouldn't need that kind of marketing.
This is a great illustration of how to use Linux correctly in creating a commercial product. That is, not just correctly license-wise, but in getting the most market benefit out of using Linux. Wizpy offers power users and opinion leaders a useful, attractive, and powerful tool. Surely a lot of Wizpys will be sold to this specific audience, and that will give Wizpy a leg up on all the other contenders in the media player business.
Or, look at it this way: When someone asks "Why buy a Wizpy?" there is a specific answer. SanDisk's and Creative's players are nice, too. But what is the answer to "Why buy a SanDisk, or a Creative?"
In contrast, Palm's Foleo is a huge missed opportunity. It runs Linux, but only incidentally, and only in service to a weird product formulation that manages to subtract value from what could have been a nifty Linux subnotebook. Even on blogs that generally welcome new Linux-based products, the questions about Foleo is "Why does this even exist?"
I wrote parts of this stuff
I just wanted to point out: why does nobody else provide this? A separate bootable partition can be added to (almost) any mass storage device and boot on (almost) any (modern) computer. There's no magic in here (just a LiveUSB distro), so why is this device presented as a revolution ? The same will come within OpenMoko, discussion is open: http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Wishlist:LiveUSB_dis tro
I've never had trouble booting Knoppix, and I've thrown it into a lot of random systems. It performs a hell of a lot better than than a plain XP install, especially since you have to pull shenanigans to even get the boot disk won't even recognize the disk controller on modern systems.
Well, that will be easy.
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.-TJ
So the two main points to make wider Linux marketshare are :
- Have system builders that hand-pick components known to work with Linux distros. Both small Linux shops and initiatives from large manufacturers like Dell shipping Ubuntu on some computers will help. If they build machines on which Linux just installs(tm), that will be a nice step forward.
This will be much more creative than bitching whose OS is better for a clean install and throwing personal anecdotes at each other as arguments. (Yes, I know you can find WiFi cards that don't work on Linux out of the box. On the other hand you can also find server that are completely supported in Linux - Chipset, RAID controllers, etc. - whereas under Windows you need to pop several floppy disks just to get the install started. It's just a matter of who selected the hardware and for what purpose)
- Put pressure on the makers of chips used in WiFi, GFX Cards, etc... to release enough specs so the community will be able to write a decent opensource driver.
This is the only possible solution. Keeping a stable ABI or using shims/BLOBs is a fundamentally bad idea. Unless you want to bring Windows' "my printer drivers made the whole system crash" stability to Linux. And accompanying driver portability on anything but x86 architecture (Do I really need to bring the subject of driver availability under Windows XP 64bits edition ?). If the drivers aren't GPLed, drivers produced by manufacturer aren't that much useful.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.a spx?sku=A0741431&cs=19&c=us&l=en
That has 8GB and all of the features you list.
Ugh... Why is it so hard to find DAB devices? I want DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) on my radios along with FM... They still build radios with cassette players, but no DAB. Nobody cares about cassette players anymore but people would love DAB if it was available.
a sting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio_broadc
http://www.cab-acr.ca/drri/index.shtm
Remember the year 2000? They promised us flying cars. They delivered the PT Cruiser...
TurboLinux was introduced in 1992; that's 15 years ago. What bizarre definition of early adapter includes those jumping on the bandwagon 15 years later?
or, did someone already welcome them as overlords?
Let me just say, I'm all for working in those underground sugar caves.
The new MSV alpha
The Wii sounded like both a child's name for the penis and the act of urination. The Whiz-pee sounds like urination raised to the second power. I don't know whether to applaud or cry.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
There is a standards war of sorts going on with DAB. The far east and new adopters are moving to AAC/AAC+ for encoding whereas we have settled with MP2, but might have to roll out AAC for compatibility, which will make all existing digital radios obsolete. And of course, the US has hardly touched it at all.
Anyone recommend one?
Deleted
I still encounter people who don't even know that Macs have been running Unix for the last seven years, or that they're not limited to one-button mouses, etc.
It may sound crazy, but maybe if Firefox had a default splash screen with logos and links to linux distros, they might become more popular. State how Firefox is free and open source and that the Linux OS is also free and open-source. Use the most popular Windows OSS program to spread the word about Linux.
I hate these arguments, because neither side will ever actually admit the others strengths.
If you install any major Linux distro, most, if not all hardware will work automagically with no need for any manual driver installation. However, you might come across some hardware which either will not work at all, or will need some considerable tweaking to get working.
If you install XP SP2, every single piece of consumer hardware you own that's less than six years old will be supported*(see footnote 1). However, you might need to manually install them from CDs or by downloading from the vendors website.
Can we please stop pretending that XP is a complete nightmare to install, and that Linux requires you to compile drivers from source and tweak a dozen config files to get a soundcard working *(see footnote 2).
Footnote 1
Yes, I expect someone reading this will own something that doesn't work in XP, but honestly, I have not seen a single piece of hardware in the last six years that's not XP compatible.
Footnote 2
To the parent. I'm not suggesting you did either of these things. In, fact, your point is fairly reasonable. Your post was just the one in this thread I happened to be reading when I decided to post this. Having said that, your reply and the comment you replied to do perfectly illustrate what I'm talking about. One person screaming Linux has poor hardware support, the other talking about the need to add drivers to XP post install. Both ignoring the other systems strengths, and focusing only on weaknesses.
"I realise this is not a very popular opinion but it's the truth, and there for needs to be said" -Bill Hicks
A wiz is someone who's good at something. It's short for "wizard." You're thinking of "whiz."
Can they self destruct like the Wisps from Warcraft 3?
So your main gripe is that you couldn't be bothered to hook a Ethernet card to your computer to read the online documentation?
Seriously if you are going to the trouble of swapping out 4 other PCI cards you might as well just move the computer and do an off site installation.
Trolling aside the lack of readily available offline, printed or installed, documentation for any Linux Distro is one of the major problems holding Linux back from wider adoption.
Whenever I reinstall Windows, the network drivers--the ONLY drivers I need to download the rest--NEVER WORK.
I'm not talking marginal hardware here, either. Most recently: my 6-month old Dell.
Whenever I install Ubuntu (e.g.), the network and everything else works, no problem. I can be using Ubuntu before I'd be done trying to determine the model number of my DVD drive to get the right driver from support.dell.com.
Results:
No other particular issues are coming to mind. Linux's autodetection was great, better than I've ever had before, but it is by no means better than Vista's. This is especially true if you include the automatically downloaded drivers off MS Update. Additionally, manually installing drivers on Windows is usually easier than on Linux, in cases when such is needed.
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
You can already boot Linux up over USB just fine, using Knoppix.
Here's a guide I wrote:
http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/Bootable_USB_Key
Do this with a USB key and it will have Linux on it, ready to be booted up. Works on any PC, needing no installation, and leaving no traces behind (unlike SanDisk's lousy "U3" software). Because it's Knoppix, it's all self-contained, and can autodetect enough hardware to be useful.
Because Knoppix was intended to be ran from CD, it doesn't write anything back to the USB key. This is a nice fringe benefit, as it will make your USB key last longer (no write cycles).
The only unfortunate thing is that few BIOS's can cleanly boot from USB keys. It's a shame that motherboard makers don't really consider this important, and so don't test for it.
Dr. Demento On The 'Net!
Example: I bought an HP travel mouse for my HP nx6125 laptop (dual-boot XP and Fedora Linux). It has never worked under XP. XP claims to detect it, and tries to download the right driver, but it never installed cleanly. I have removed, downloaded and re-installed the Windows driver repeatedly but still no dice. And this is just a bog-standard USB mouse.
So I gave up on Windows.
On the other hand, the Linux X window system has supported it from the start. No problem with running the mouse and touchpad simultaneously and no need to download any special drivers.
True story.
Above all else, that is just wrong.
Of course people care, otherwise why would this be news?
The whole point of my comment is that people now care about this, and you can add value through the use of open source software, or you can try to smother it in a layer of crud and end up subtracting value.
I wrote parts of this stuff
sounds cool, but I haven't got enough money???!!!