If you are a large corporation and purchase say a 1000 computers or more, and are not interested in Windows but would like to install Linux, you could force vendors to sell their computers without Windows at a lower price.
And in many parts of the world, you can ask for a reimbursement of Windows if you are not using it. IIRC, it can be done in France.
The general public does not know that Linux exists! Once some Linux corporation starts marketing Linux like Apple does it (maybe Canonical in 5 years), things might change. And because corporations are already running Linux on the server side, they already have the expertises in house to manage Linux machines. When the big wigs discover that Linux on the desktop is viable and hip, they might be seriously think to switch their desktop machines from Windows to Linux. All depends of their dependency with their current applications.
What is being pirated now is already lost (or never was there as a market anyhow). However, the customers of Microsoft that are paying licenses could switch to Linux like Munich did. That is a lost of existing revenues, thus the real threat.
$100 for a keyboard that could last 10 years is not that expensive. I paid heavily for some keyboards. I wash the under water once in a while and they come out brand new. This kind of stuff last.
> but in 50 years we could have outer-space mining.
Yeah, right. In the 50's, that is what they were promising for the year 2000. Here we are in the 21st century and we still do not have practical, fuel efficient space travel. Hey, I am still waiting for my flying car they promised me.
Outer space 'anything' requires a lot of energy and is very expensive. There are no technology gain on the radar that seam to promise that any of this will change in the next 50 years. My bet is that in 50 years, life will be harder, not easier for humanity as scarcity of resources will take its toll. A good example is how slowly more people trade their car for a bicycle or public transport.
The problem with this idea is that there are simply not enough plants out there. Last year food prices increase was caused by higher demand for biofuels, causing many manifestations in poor countries because people suddenly could not afford their food anymore.
Plants are not very efficient solar collectors. I do not remember the numbers, but think of it; the leaves are green, not black. They thus reflect the green light instead of absorbing it.
Thus, you would need A LOT of land for planting enough plants so biofuels can become some major part of the energy pie. But pretty much all the good land out there that could grow plants is already being used by agriculture. There is simply not enough land on the Earth to do this. And as a society, we have to choose between feeding people or cars; both cannot be done because of the scarcity.
They are cheap solar collector to build though, as they grow by themselves.
I somewhat agree with you, but not 100%. Many of my personal files are ASCII (encrypted with GPG for those with sensitive data). However, submitting a resume in ASCII might cut you off of a few job opportunities. You need sometimes a word processor to project a professional persona.
Problem is, you have to live near a rental store... Else, how do you get to the store? Some stores bring you the car, but there is still the wait like a taxi and I believe you have to return the driver back to the store. If you have your vehicle in your garage, hop in and gone you are. No hassle.
You combine the two because it is practical for you and you are ready to sacrifice comfort/space/maneuverability for convenience and fast transit.
Good suggestion, except that when you purchase the Windows XP version, you get Windows XP for the fraction of the cost it if you bought it at your nearby computer shop. If you want to remain legal, particularly because you are running a business, you better go with the Windows XP version from the start if this is what your hart desires. That said, I am a Linux fan boy but I would prefer to get Ubuntu installed on one of these puppies.
Asus should however offer both OSs with the smaller disk version though. This way people can experiment with Linux if they feel for it.
We have that in Montreal, but it is always 2x or 3x more expensive. Also, it is still easier to do everything from home, from your computer; no need to go to the drugstore (I do not need to go there often).
And probably the quality provided by labs is better than that of the booths.
I have a hard time in Montreal (Canada) to find a photo service that provides an easy to use interface to upload picture. Many fall back to a basic service where you have to pick and select each picture one by one. Tedious when you have >60 pictures to upload. Kodak does this to Linux users. Windows and Mac users have a nice application to upload pictures in bulk.
I read that many Financial institutions in the US do not support Linux on there websites.
I believe, but I am not sure, that Hotmail extended features do not work on Linux. I think I read about it, but I am not sure. I invite anybody to confirm or invalidate my statement here.
And if Yahoo gets bought by Microsoft...:/
And here is an example of a site not Linux friendly:
Drivers are not the only issue. Linux support on the web is important. The more Linux users, the more websites that are IE/Windows only centric will switch to become OS independent. The more Linux users, the more software will be written for it and better the interoperability will be.
Part of it. But will it be fixed in 08.04, or will Canonical tell us that it will be fixed in 08.10? I fear that once a release is out, only security fixes are brought in. In my experience with Fedora and Ubuntu, I always had to wait to the next release to get my bugs fixed.
I have been running 08.04 for over a month now (started with alpha). Firefox beta is very stable and works well. Most of my extensions are now supported. In this area, you do not need to fear.
However, I am disappointed by 08.04. Compiz is buggy. Even in normal desktop mode, keymaps are not working properly. It also lacks refinement. Stuff that used to work for me in Feisty Fawn do not work anymore. However, stuff that used to fail now works too. Overall, it is a worthwhile upgrade, but not the quality I expect of a LTS.
Yes, but if you want support from THE vendor, you won't get it. With Ubuntu, you can install for free and get support from THE vendor. Of course, you probably can get support for CentOS from 3rd parties, but large corporations prefer to get support from THE vendor, i.e. those who actually designed the product in the first place.
Yes, they plan to offer an enterprise version of the Desktop, but that requires a license. Organization with Linux on the Desktop will eventually influence what their employees run at home. But employees will probably get another free distribution. And if they are familiar and comfortable with a free and libre version at home, managers might be eventually enticed to switch the corporate desktops to this version too.
And AFAIK, free version usually have a bigger repository of software than enterprise versions. That is also appealing.
But in the long run, they might get bitten. Canonical's Ubuntu offer is fantastic. The server/desktop solution is essentially the same. The free version is THE enterprise version. In the Red Hat world, you install Fedora to try it. You find a problem and want support, tough. Scrap the OS and reinstall RHEL to get support from the Vendor. With Ubuntu, you just go and pay for support.
And corporations like to keep things simple. Why have two distributions (one for the desktops, one for the servers) when one could do the job? This is where Ubuntu outshines.
I am not too familiar with using Ubuntu on the server side. It lacks support from big ISV such as Rational (IBM) and maybe Oracle. However, since it is Debian derived, I would trust the OS for most server tasks. So while in the past we were more inclined to use RHEL, in my organization we are considering Ubuntu for the server side.
Red Hat is concentrating too much on the short term. Yes, they should not spend too much money marketing a desktop version or polishing it. Canonical barely does any marketing (ever saw an add from Ubuntu?). But Red Hat should have a presence on the desktop to remain in the race in the long term.
I have a lot of respect for Mark Shuttleworth (Canonical owner). He has a long term vision and while part of his goal is too be profitable, he also has a social goal.
I have been using a laptop in the subway for 3 years now and never had a problem. Granted, there is less vibration in a subway than a bus, but the HD are built to stand the beat.
And... always backup, just in case. I backup multiple time per day.
I do not understand it. Do these USB drives are meant to come with software? I believe they are just formated. If such is the case, then they should use some non Windows machines such as Linux to format them with Windows filesystems. I fail to grasp how on a factory floor where drives only need to be formated, worms have an actual chance to jump on the drives. This can only happen if they are using web connected and unsecured Windows machines to format them.
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Really not an expert in Android so I am just throwing ideas here.
Since Android is based on Linux, chmod a-rwx would be an easy staring point. If the application cannot be read and executed, it cannot be started.
Better, erase the unwanted apps with 'rm' and keep only the one you want, the browser.
If you are a large corporation and purchase say a 1000 computers or more, and are not interested in Windows but would like to install Linux, you could force vendors to sell their computers without Windows at a lower price.
And in many parts of the world, you can ask for a reimbursement of Windows if you are not using it. IIRC, it can be done in France.
The general public does not know that Linux exists! Once some Linux corporation starts marketing Linux like Apple does it (maybe Canonical in 5 years), things might change. And because corporations are already running Linux on the server side, they already have the expertises in house to manage Linux machines. When the big wigs discover that Linux on the desktop is viable and hip, they might be seriously think to switch their desktop machines from Windows to Linux. All depends of their dependency with their current applications.
What is being pirated now is already lost (or never was there as a market anyhow). However, the customers of Microsoft that are paying licenses could switch to Linux like Munich did. That is a lost of existing revenues, thus the real threat.
$100 for a keyboard that could last 10 years is not that expensive. I paid heavily for some keyboards. I wash the under water once in a while and they come out brand new. This kind of stuff last.
Would I be able to go to the store and ask for a refund for the Windows license I was obliged to purchase when buying my computer?
I bet not...
> but in 50 years we could have outer-space mining.
Yeah, right. In the 50's, that is what they were promising for the year 2000. Here we are in the 21st century and we still do not have practical, fuel efficient space travel. Hey, I am still waiting for my flying car they promised me.
Outer space 'anything' requires a lot of energy and is very expensive. There are no technology gain on the radar that seam to promise that any of this will change in the next 50 years. My bet is that in 50 years, life will be harder, not easier for humanity as scarcity of resources will take its toll. A good example is how slowly more people trade their car for a bicycle or public transport.
The problem with this idea is that there are simply not enough plants out there. Last year food prices increase was caused by higher demand for biofuels, causing many manifestations in poor countries because people suddenly could not afford their food anymore.
Plants are not very efficient solar collectors. I do not remember the numbers, but think of it; the leaves are green, not black. They thus reflect the green light instead of absorbing it.
Thus, you would need A LOT of land for planting enough plants so biofuels can become some major part of the energy pie. But pretty much all the good land out there that could grow plants is already being used by agriculture. There is simply not enough land on the Earth to do this. And as a society, we have to choose between feeding people or cars; both cannot be done because of the scarcity.
They are cheap solar collector to build though, as they grow by themselves.
Since we are on the subject, Toronto did something similar at a larger scale:
http://www.toronto.ca/environment/initiatives/cooling.htm
Let us know if they do have a firmware updater for Linux. I only run Linux.
I somewhat agree with you, but not 100%. Many of my personal files are ASCII (encrypted with GPG for those with sensitive data). However, submitting a resume in ASCII might cut you off of a few job opportunities. You need sometimes a word processor to project a professional persona.
I have seen the Apple ad... Is it enough? ;)
I cannot comment about other models, but the Motorola W370 (http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=motorola+w370&btnG=Google+Search&meta=&aq=f) charged via a standard USB cable on my laptop running Ubuntu 08.04 without any problem. Maybe they changed their strategy?
Problem is, you have to live near a rental store... Else, how do you get to the store? Some stores bring you the car, but there is still the wait like a taxi and I believe you have to return the driver back to the store. If you have your vehicle in your garage, hop in and gone you are. No hassle.
You combine the two because it is practical for you and you are ready to sacrifice comfort/space/maneuverability for convenience and fast transit.
Good suggestion, except that when you purchase the Windows XP version, you get Windows XP for the fraction of the cost it if you bought it at your nearby computer shop. If you want to remain legal, particularly because you are running a business, you better go with the Windows XP version from the start if this is what your hart desires. That said, I am a Linux fan boy but I would prefer to get Ubuntu installed on one of these puppies.
Asus should however offer both OSs with the smaller disk version though. This way people can experiment with Linux if they feel for it.
We have that in Montreal, but it is always 2x or 3x more expensive. Also, it is still easier to do everything from home, from your computer; no need to go to the drugstore (I do not need to go there often).
And probably the quality provided by labs is better than that of the booths.
I have a hard time in Montreal (Canada) to find a photo service that provides an easy to use interface to upload picture. Many fall back to a basic service where you have to pick and select each picture one by one. Tedious when you have >60 pictures to upload. Kodak does this to Linux users. Windows and Mac users have a nice application to upload pictures in bulk.
:/
I read that many Financial institutions in the US do not support Linux on there websites.
I believe, but I am not sure, that Hotmail extended features do not work on Linux. I think I read about it, but I am not sure. I invite anybody to confirm or invalidate my statement here.
And if Yahoo gets bought by Microsoft...
And here is an example of a site not Linux friendly:
http://www.pcoutlet.com/pcoutlet/servlet/WBServlet?webfunctionid=web.login&action=login&functionid=login
try to browse around...
Drivers are not the only issue. Linux support on the web is important. The more Linux users, the more websites that are IE/Windows only centric will switch to become OS independent. The more Linux users, the more software will be written for it and better the interoperability will be.
Part of it. But will it be fixed in 08.04, or will Canonical tell us that it will be fixed in 08.10? I fear that once a release is out, only security fixes are brought in. In my experience with Fedora and Ubuntu, I always had to wait to the next release to get my bugs fixed.
I have been running 08.04 for over a month now (started with alpha). Firefox beta is very stable and works well. Most of my extensions are now supported. In this area, you do not need to fear.
However, I am disappointed by 08.04. Compiz is buggy. Even in normal desktop mode, keymaps are not working properly. It also lacks refinement. Stuff that used to work for me in Feisty Fawn do not work anymore. However, stuff that used to fail now works too. Overall, it is a worthwhile upgrade, but not the quality I expect of a LTS.
Yes, but if you want support from THE vendor, you won't get it. With Ubuntu, you can install for free and get support from THE vendor. Of course, you probably can get support for CentOS from 3rd parties, but large corporations prefer to get support from THE vendor, i.e. those who actually designed the product in the first place.
Replying to myself.
Yes, they plan to offer an enterprise version of the Desktop, but that requires a license. Organization with Linux on the Desktop will eventually influence what their employees run at home. But employees will probably get another free distribution. And if they are familiar and comfortable with a free and libre version at home, managers might be eventually enticed to switch the corporate desktops to this version too.
And AFAIK, free version usually have a bigger repository of software than enterprise versions. That is also appealing.
But in the long run, they might get bitten. Canonical's Ubuntu offer is fantastic. The server/desktop solution is essentially the same. The free version is THE enterprise version. In the Red Hat world, you install Fedora to try it. You find a problem and want support, tough. Scrap the OS and reinstall RHEL to get support from the Vendor. With Ubuntu, you just go and pay for support.
And corporations like to keep things simple. Why have two distributions (one for the desktops, one for the servers) when one could do the job? This is where Ubuntu outshines.
I am not too familiar with using Ubuntu on the server side. It lacks support from big ISV such as Rational (IBM) and maybe Oracle. However, since it is Debian derived, I would trust the OS for most server tasks. So while in the past we were more inclined to use RHEL, in my organization we are considering Ubuntu for the server side.
Red Hat is concentrating too much on the short term. Yes, they should not spend too much money marketing a desktop version or polishing it. Canonical barely does any marketing (ever saw an add from Ubuntu?). But Red Hat should have a presence on the desktop to remain in the race in the long term.
I have a lot of respect for Mark Shuttleworth (Canonical owner). He has a long term vision and while part of his goal is too be profitable, he also has a social goal.
I have been using a laptop in the subway for 3 years now and never had a problem. Granted, there is less vibration in a subway than a bus, but the HD are built to stand the beat.
And... always backup, just in case. I backup multiple time per day.
I do not understand it. Do these USB drives are meant to come with software? I believe they are just formated. If such is the case, then they should use some non Windows machines such as Linux to format them with Windows filesystems. I fail to grasp how on a factory floor where drives only need to be formated, worms have an actual chance to jump on the drives. This can only happen if they are using web connected and unsecured Windows machines to format them.