This is actually much closer to the mark, the user in this case has properly identified that the "hard-disk" is a computer component, and has even decided that it is a disk (though not the right one).
Yeah but nowadays... if you take a look at HP laptops (on the hp.com website; home section) you'll find about 1/3 come w/ AMD processors (not counting the netbooks), While most other vendors don't offer as many AMD options, you can find some other vendors as well (at least Toshiba, Dell has no AMD based laptops) and you can find AMD desktops and servers fairly easily. So the options are there, NOW, if you look for them, and if intel starts tacking an extra "EU settlement fee" to there CPU / motherboard prices, then AMD starts to become even more of a leader in value/cost.
"Hello AT&T, I'm having trouble with my internet connection" "Okay, does your computer run Windows or is it a Macintosh?" "Uh, it runs linux" "I"m sorry, we don't support linux" click.
This condenses a conversation I had with AT&T, they do list Unix as a supported operating system, I would've installed Solaris and called them back, but I was having trouble with my internet connection.
I played X-com apocalypse on Dosbox. It was ok, but not as much fun as UFO defense or Terror From the Deep. Still worth playing through, though. And better than those new-fangled games kids without DOS emulators are playin'. Also, I've got a Version of UFO defense that runs natively in windows.
It's not true that every company experianced higher returns of linux based netbooks; they exceptions were dell, which reported that it sold 1/3 of it's mini 9 models with Ubuntu pre-installed and had a return rate comparable to the Windows version. Acer also reported a comparable return rate for Linx based Eees.
And I think the lesson that hardware manufacturers should walk away from this with is that you actually need to make sure all your hardware works with the linux distrubution you chose, you need to make sure your linux distrubution runs well on your platform.
Unfortunately for everybody involved except Microsoft, the general public has already formed a somewhat bad impression of linux from the hardware companies that screwed up on thier first run of linux on netbooks (like the HP 2133, the MSI wind, and Acer), and I think that MSI and Acer are just giving up on the Market, while HP is moving towards a model of linux as a "custom" option only (thus raising the cost of thier linux based models).
But there is a silver lining to the whole fiasco; I think dell, asus, and hp will continue to offer at least some linux based netbooks and linux users (like me) can buy them. Also; even if Microsoft is right and 94% of all netbooks are sold with Windows pre-installed... I think when you do the math and figure out the total number of linux based personal computers this year, and compare it to figures from, say, 3 years ago, you would actually see a significant growth in the percentage of computers sold with linux pre-installed.
And something else that I think might make sense:
Let's not market netbook linux as 'linux" or just 'linux'. Let's market Ubuntu, Xandros, Suse Enterprise Linux,... whatever, since, these really are operating sytems, not just a kernel, and just becuase you like/dislike one or the other, there's no garuentee that you would like/dislike the others.
Ubuntu (or any unix) CAN'T be better then windows at running windows apps. By nature, Wine is ALWAYS going to lag behind windows in application support, becuase Microsoft develops the API and then Wine re-implements it. And if you sell Linux as a platform for running Windows apps, well then, what's the point? Windows does that better and chances are it's what you already have / it's what's pre-installed on the vast majority of new machines sold.
Actually, you've needed an admin account since Windows XP, maybe even all the way back to Windows NT, the problem is most users just use XP AS the administrator, or create THEMSELVES an admin account.
Is a slightly older "ultraportable" that comes without a camera, you can still buy 'em new from Toshiba though. That said, a LOT of older laptops, including older ultraportables, do not come with webcams, and are available much cheaper used then they used to sell for new.
No, I'm just saying that this isn't really gonna help the x86 processor market much, just like fining Microsoft didn't really do anything to open up the Operating System / Word Processing / Web Browser markets. It's like the EU saying, "ok, it's fine for you to be a monopoly, you just have to cut us in on the profits".
That was my thought exactly; if Intel still kills off it's main competitor (and a lot of people seeem to think they might), what's the point of levying a fine agianst them?
I would be much more cynical about that, Oracly WANTS to destroy MS's monopoly and usurp it for itself, if at all possible. The only way we're going to foster innovation and interoperability is if no one company ever achieves 90% market penetration again.
I have no problem with someone re-implementing software because they don't like with the architecture of the original implementation, or just for fun, for that matter. I know there's a downside to having too many choices, but hey, if you want to code whatever and offer it up as free software, who am I to tell you what to do.
I'm just saying, I think pure politics is a stupid reason to write code, and that going through and REMOVING code and re-releasing the linux kernel is stupid as well.
It's true that this IS a general problem, and the decision to work on Gnash might actually be technically motivated, as opposed to politically motivated, but I can't think of one good reason to implement yet another pdf viewer, evince covers Gnome and Xfce users, Okular and the old kpdf-viewer covers KDE users, people looking for seriously lightweight apps can use Epdfview or the, admittedly dated, xpdf.
And I don't see how cutting source code out of the linux kernel is productive. If they (the FSF or whoever) were going to actually fix hurd to a point where it was usable, then I'd say more power to them. I ha
"Windows XP Mode is specifically designed to help small businesses move to Windows 7," Scott Woodgate, director of Windows enterprise and virtualization strategy, said in a blog entry last Friday.
Corrected:
"Windows XP Mode is specifically designed to help us move copies of Windows 7 proffessional and ultimate, as opposed to the cheaper home addition,"S cott Woodgate, director of Windows enterprise and virtualization strategy, meant in a blog entry last Friday.
In the real world SAAS is a gamble which hedges lower startup costs as well as (possibly) lower maintenence costs) against the following:
1) Software / Hardware failure on your provider's part 2) Discontinuation of service, bringing costs associated with migration 3) Inability to recover data encoded in proprietary formats and/or stored remotely upon discontinuation of service 4) Inability to find an alternate service provider in the event of discontinuation of service 5) Increased prices for renewel of your service contract
Good planning can help mitigate the risks above, but when you look at SaaS providers with an eye toward mitigating the above risks you may find that it is indeed cheaper just to do it yourself.
Speaking of this, if you actually read the review he also talks about two new projects:
GNUpdf - a completely FOSS pdf viewer Gnash - a completely FOSS flash player
but there are already tons of existing FOSS pdf viewers, evince, Epdfview, Okular, xpdf, and I'll bet at least one of these is GPL licensed.
And for gnash, there's swfdec, which is lgpl, and at least partially functional. (swfdec plays youtube vidoes on my computer w/o sound and frequently crashes firefox, last time I tried gnash I couldn't play youtube videos at all)
Then there's the whole "snipping bits out of the linux kernal". Which makes me feel like RMS & followers are doing a whole lot of pointless work, when they could actually be doing something useful, like maybe working to improve existing FOSS projects (I mean, swfdec could definately use some improvement)
I guess Boxee or MythTv on top of Linux has an advantage in that, if all you want is Basically a DVR that can maybe also browse the internet, you're not shelling out an exta $80-$100 (what does Vista Home Premium sell for these days?) for the OS, for a system that could otherwise probably be built for under $500.
Of coures, the "average" person doesn't want to hastle w/ building thier own DVR in the first place, regardless of what OS they use, and will just buy one for less than the build cost above anyway.
Maybe you would be interested in this when it comes out. Or maybe you'll just be able to use the OS (95% sure it's linux based, hopefully they'll gpl thier additions)
Slashdot Mirror
Really? I had assumed they were trying to play it while running linux...
It's Apple's fault; them and their "iMacs". Laptops also probably contribute to this misnomer.
This is actually much closer to the mark, the user in this case has properly identified that the "hard-disk" is a computer component, and has even decided that it is a disk (though not the right one).
My first thought would be how much $ I could save by switching to Geico.
Yeah but nowadays ... if you take a look at HP laptops (on the hp.com website; home section) you'll find about 1/3 come w/ AMD processors (not counting the netbooks), While most other vendors don't offer as many AMD options, you can find some other vendors as well (at least Toshiba, Dell has no AMD based laptops) and you can find AMD desktops and servers fairly easily. So the options are there, NOW, if you look for them, and if intel starts tacking an extra "EU settlement fee" to there CPU / motherboard prices, then AMD starts to become even more of a leader in value/cost.
Fine, you want links:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1228455&cid=27907337
I found that one by googling "acer Eee PC returns"
and this one:
http://blog.laptopmag.com/one-third-of-dell-inspiron-mini-9s-sold-run-linux
I got from googling "dell mini9 linux sales"
Next time you can do your OWN fact checking.
Actually, the problem is more like this:
"Hello AT&T, I'm having trouble with my internet connection"
"Okay, does your computer run Windows or is it a Macintosh?"
"Uh, it runs linux"
"I"m sorry, we don't support linux"
click.
This condenses a conversation I had with AT&T, they do list Unix as a supported operating system, I would've installed Solaris and called them back, but I was having trouble with my internet connection.
I played X-com apocalypse on Dosbox. It was ok, but not as much fun as UFO defense or Terror From the Deep. Still worth playing through, though. And better than those new-fangled games kids without DOS emulators are playin'. Also, I've got a Version of UFO defense that runs natively in windows.
It's not true that every company experianced higher returns of linux based netbooks; they exceptions were dell, which reported that it sold 1/3 of it's mini 9 models with Ubuntu pre-installed and had a return rate comparable to the Windows version. Acer also reported a comparable return rate for Linx based Eees.
And I think the lesson that hardware manufacturers should walk away from this with is that you actually need to make sure all your hardware works with the linux distrubution you chose, you need to make sure your linux distrubution runs well on your platform.
Unfortunately for everybody involved except Microsoft, the general public has already formed a somewhat bad impression of linux from the hardware companies that screwed up on thier first run of linux on netbooks (like the HP 2133, the MSI wind, and Acer), and I think that MSI and Acer are just giving up on the Market, while HP is moving towards a model of linux as a "custom" option only (thus raising the cost of thier linux based models).
But there is a silver lining to the whole fiasco; I think dell, asus, and hp will continue to offer at least some linux based netbooks and linux users (like me) can buy them. Also; even if Microsoft is right and 94% of all netbooks are sold with Windows pre-installed ... I think when you do the math and figure out the total number of linux based personal computers this year, and compare it to figures from, say, 3 years ago, you would actually see a significant growth in the percentage of computers sold with linux pre-installed.
And something else that I think might make sense:
Let's not market netbook linux as 'linux" or just 'linux'. Let's market Ubuntu, Xandros, Suse Enterprise Linux, ... whatever, since, these really are operating sytems, not just a kernel, and just becuase you like/dislike one or the other, there's no garuentee that you would like/dislike the others.
Ubuntu (or any unix) CAN'T be better then windows at running windows apps. By nature, Wine is ALWAYS going to lag behind windows in application support, becuase Microsoft develops the API and then Wine re-implements it. And if you sell Linux as a platform for running Windows apps, well then, what's the point? Windows does that better and chances are it's what you already have / it's what's pre-installed on the vast majority of new machines sold.
Actually, you've needed an admin account since Windows XP, maybe even all the way back to Windows NT, the problem is most users just use XP AS the administrator, or create THEMSELVES an admin account.
Is a slightly older "ultraportable" that comes without a camera, you can still buy 'em new from Toshiba though. That said, a LOT of older laptops, including older ultraportables, do not come with webcams, and are available much cheaper used then they used to sell for new.
No, I'm just saying that this isn't really gonna help the x86 processor market much, just like fining Microsoft didn't really do anything to open up the Operating System / Word Processing / Web Browser markets. It's like the EU saying, "ok, it's fine for you to be a monopoly, you just have to cut us in on the profits".
That was my thought exactly; if Intel still kills off it's main competitor (and a lot of people seeem to think they might), what's the point of levying a fine agianst them?
I would be much more cynical about that, Oracly WANTS to destroy MS's monopoly and usurp it for itself, if at all possible. The only way we're going to foster innovation and interoperability is if no one company ever achieves 90% market penetration again.
You should look up "Star Office", and then ask yourself why nobody buys it.
(hit submit on accident)
I have no problem with someone re-implementing software because they don't like with the architecture of the original implementation, or just for fun, for that matter. I know there's a downside to having too many choices, but hey, if you want to code whatever and offer it up as free software, who am I to tell you what to do.
I'm just saying, I think pure politics is a stupid reason to write code, and that going through and REMOVING code and re-releasing the linux kernel is stupid as well.
It's true that this IS a general problem, and the decision to work on Gnash might actually be technically motivated, as opposed to politically motivated, but I can't think of one good reason to implement yet another pdf viewer, evince covers Gnome and Xfce users, Okular and the old kpdf-viewer covers KDE users, people looking for seriously lightweight apps can use Epdfview or the, admittedly dated, xpdf.
And I don't see how cutting source code out of the linux kernel is productive. If they (the FSF or whoever) were going to actually fix hurd to a point where it was usable, then I'd say more power to them. I ha
From TFA:
"Windows XP Mode is specifically designed to help small businesses move to Windows 7," Scott Woodgate, director of Windows enterprise and virtualization strategy, said in a blog entry last Friday.
Corrected:
"Windows XP Mode is specifically designed to help us move copies of Windows 7 proffessional and ultimate, as opposed to the cheaper home addition,"S cott Woodgate, director of Windows enterprise and virtualization strategy, meant in a blog entry last Friday.
In the real world SAAS is a gamble which hedges lower startup costs as well as (possibly) lower maintenence costs) against the following:
1) Software / Hardware failure on your provider's part
2) Discontinuation of service, bringing costs associated with migration
3) Inability to recover data encoded in proprietary formats and/or stored remotely upon discontinuation of service
4) Inability to find an alternate service provider in the event of discontinuation of service
5) Increased prices for renewel of your service contract
Good planning can help mitigate the risks above, but when you look at SaaS providers with an eye toward mitigating the above risks you may find that it is indeed cheaper just to do it yourself.
Speaking of this, if you actually read the review he also talks about two new projects:
GNUpdf - a completely FOSS pdf viewer
Gnash - a completely FOSS flash player
but there are already tons of existing FOSS pdf viewers, evince, Epdfview, Okular, xpdf, and I'll bet at least one of these is GPL licensed.
And for gnash, there's swfdec, which is lgpl, and at least partially functional. (swfdec plays youtube vidoes on my computer w/o sound and frequently crashes firefox, last time I tried gnash I couldn't play youtube videos at all)
Then there's the whole "snipping bits out of the linux kernal". Which makes me feel like RMS & followers are doing a whole lot of pointless work, when they could actually be doing something useful, like maybe working to improve existing FOSS projects (I mean, swfdec could definately use some improvement)
And know a message from our corporate sponsers:
look at these
or try:
these
I would like to say that 'if I had the money, these would be cool to own', but I'm kinda thinking, "no". YMMV.
I guess Boxee or MythTv on top of Linux has an advantage in that, if all you want is Basically a DVR that can maybe also browse the internet, you're not shelling out an exta $80-$100 (what does Vista Home Premium sell for these days?) for the OS, for a system that could otherwise probably be built for under $500.
Of coures, the "average" person doesn't want to hastle w/ building thier own DVR in the first place, regardless of what OS they use, and will just buy one for less than the build cost above anyway.
Also if you mess with Sun, you mess with Oracle.
Maybe you would be interested in this when it comes out. Or maybe you'll just be able to use the OS (95% sure it's linux based, hopefully they'll gpl thier additions)