Apple is no longer selling the OS X Beta CD. It's several months old, doesn't support the newest G4 hardware, and doesn't work well with Mac OS 9.1. In little over a month, the final version of OS X will be shipping. If you NEED the beta, check eBay. If you need a more recent build of OS X, join the Apple Developer Connection for $500. You'll get monthly developer tools and newsletters mailed to you, as well as montly beta 'seed' CDs, technical support, hardware discounts, and lots of other goodies.
Projects such as this make me wonder what the future will hold for full-scale projects such as GIMP or Blender. Will they continue to be designed for X11 or will they evolve into backend framework and "plugable" GUI frontends. Say, perhaps, a Cocoa/Aqua frontend for MacOSX, an X11 frontend for Unix and GNU/Linux, and specific frontends for BeOS and Win32/Win64?
Any thoughts on this? Any projects doing this already?
Not too long ago the Linux community was about getting the most out of hardware. In the days of the Pentium 233, folks were able to make 486/66 systems jump sing and dance with Linux. By the time the Pentium II rolled around, a Pentium 200 was more than enough for an awesome desktop. Even today, most linux distros will work great on a 486/100, but it appears that is changing. The Linux world has slowly been turning into yet-another-windows forced churn, just like Apple in recent years. Code optimization has given way to throwing more hardware at the problem. People that once poked fun at the latest, fastest wiz-bang hardware for being overkill are now chomping at the bit to get that 1.5 GHz P4 or 1.6 GHz Athlon. Some are waiting a few more months for 2 GHz systems before they upgrade. Regardless of the hardware, it's the mentality that's changing. Gone are the days of pride, tight code, and making things work. Today the community just waits for faster hardware to solve their problems.
Where do you live? I really, really wish I could get cable from one of my local CLECs. In my area I can only get cable from TimeWarner ($38/month for expanded basic + $19/month for RoadRunner cable modem access). We have several CLECs, though based on the services they're providing I have had no reason to switch from Southwestern Bell.
The largest benefit of a T1/DS1, T3/DS3, or OC-class circuit is the quality of service. You get a point to point connection with loads of guarantees. Hardware troubleshooting (on both ends) is usually available around the clock, often with little more than 15 minutes of leadtime. Bandwith almost never an issue as most Tier-1 providers (sprintlink, uunet/worldcom/mci, cable&wireless, etc) have enormous headroom, oftentimes over 40% above any concievable usage. If a problem occurs, it's fixed fast and by someone that knows what they're doing. -- MOST of the time
This is not to say that many xDSL and cable setups *aren't* good. There are MANY excellent such setups, some even offering quality guarantees and excellent service, often times providing MUCH better bang for the buck.
It all comes down to the reputation, support, quality, and even scalability. If I were to start a large business, I'd probably get a fractional T3 from sprintlink. The pair of fiber (who uses a pair of coax anymore) that would come to my office could then easily be upgraded to support full or muliple T3 circuits in the future. AFAIK, a typical cable or xDSL circuit will probably never support more than 25 mbit, which, even then, would probably require the user to be 50 feet from the CO.
Bottom line, try to get a reputable cable or xDSL setup until you can afford or need something better. Wait for that IPO before you order a full T3 for the den.
Several of my friends have had 3+ mbit cable modems for quite some time now... and while browsing at the magazine section at B&N yesterday I noticed mention of 16-25 mbit broadband in MaximumPC. How far off are these from nationwide deployment? Are they available in major cities yet? What medium do they use (cable, xDSL, fiber-to-the-house)? I recall some marketing propaganda over the past year from both RoadRunner and Covad talking about 8+ mbit (1 MByte) access coming in the "near future". Does anyone have this sorta "mega broadband" yet, and if so, how's it been working for you?
Please note, I'm talking about --CONSUMER-- broadband, not multiple T1s, a T3, or OC3 to a household (regardless of what Rob Malda and countless dot-com folks can now afford).
Also, does anyone know of some GNU/Linux friendly broadband (1.5 mbit +) ISPs that I can recommend to new linux users?
I can't belive how head-strong Apple is towards IEEE-1394. The newest G4 towers and cubes **still** don't have USB 2.0... just USB 1.0 and vanilla IEEE-1394. There goes any chance of fast uploading to an MP3 player.
>>past about 40-50, your eyes can't even tell the difference anymore.
True, but only if the framerate is sustained (say, from a movie projector, or high-end graphics gear -- SGI or E&S). Personally I have my gaming rig set up with vsync on, it rarely dips below my refresh rate (72 Hz) locked on solid. Plus with vsync enabled, I don't get the screen "tearing" that comes with ultra-high framerates and lots of action.
I think it's high time we get a new web-based usenet leader, and judging from Google's beta, I don't think they're going to be it. That's not a bad thing, mind you, they're already a great web search engine. That said, I propose the following challenge:
An opensource-based Deja-like setup funded by a single ad atop each page. I have no doubts that the slashcoders could easily set this up and perhaps some startup funding could come from Andover, if not from rich-as-all-get-out Rob Malda. Granted, it would be hard to get archives, but why not start clean? Would be bad for those wanting to search right off the bat, but time moves on fast enough. I think the community can do this! Give'er Hell, folks!
Right now with the "new" google-deja, I can search a the past 6 months worth of usenet, though the newest posts I can see are about 24 hours old. I can't post, I can't access MyDeja. Help! Time to move over to MailAndNews, I guess.
Heh, good point! At least FinalCutPro continues to work. As far as "old 1980's technology", I know you're talking about classic Mac OS, wherein most of the real development took place between 1979 and 1984, but its kinda funny how Mac OS X (basicly OpenStep 5.0) hasn't changed much since the NeXT Cube and NeXTSTEP were released in 1988!
If it's a geforce2 mx, that sounds about right, it doesn't have the ram thruput or the fillrate for much higher than 60 fps at a decent resolution and normal texturing. If you have the horsepower of a 1 GHz system you really outta match it up with something with a better raster engine: GeForce 2 GTS, Pro, Ultra. Or, if you're doing professional gfx, consider a Wildcat or E&S. Also, any machine with a 1 or 1.5 GHz CPU really outta be decked out all around to feed that bad boy, otherwise you're better off with a 700 - 800 MHz CPU. Consider getting a board with dual channel PC800 Rambus or DDR-SDRAM "PC2100". Some good fast drives too, disk is the slowest thing on a system short of network.
need to be addressed before anyone should even bother putting an NV20 in a G4... such as the 4x AGP which Apple has just -now- come out with. 6x/8x AGP will be the standard by the release of NV20. Driver issues are also major. I can't belive nVidia and Apple even BOTHERED making drivers for the GeForce 2 MX for Mac OS 9 when OS X is right around the corner. All Mac software development should be towards AltiVec (PowerPC "G4" 7400/7410/7450) optimized, native Mac OS X code. Wasting time with Mac OS Classic (Mac OS 9 and the such) or even Carbon is just that, a waste of time. *sigh* Study up on the OS X IOkit, core gfx, core audio, and Cocoa and forget the cruft of the past.
Slashdot is *still* using the old Silicon Graphics logo. The company is now just "SGI" and has changed their logo almost two years ago. The Silicon Graphics "cube" logo was from the days of MIPS-based unix machines and overpriced Windows PCs. These days SGI sells not just unix boxes, but MANY different models of NT and Linux boxes, all with decent prices. Their new logo represents the future and the change of direction. Slashdot doesn't use the old rainbow Apple logo, why keep using the old Silicon Graphics logo?
I see two camps here... the folks that are heavily defending Apple and those that are completely angered. I ask again, why the heated debate? I venture to guess that MOST folks here on Slashdot neither own a Mac nor ever will. Perhaps there are a few folks that have a PowerBook running LinuxPPC, or use a G4 for FinalCutPro and DVD Studio Pro, or maybe are forced to use them in school, but those are certainly the exception.
Why bother getting all hot and bothered about the situation? If you're for Apple, then you're probably happy about the way things are going. If you're against Apple on this, then big deal, don't lose sleep over it... how big is Apple these days anyway? Do you see that many iMacs in Walmart or BestBuy? Do you realize there are way more WebTVs out there than G3 and G4 based Macs? If you don't like Apple, never will own a Mac anyway, and are pissed about the lawsuit, BIG DEAL! You're wasting your time venting on slashdot.
Most Slashdot-reading Linux kiddies aren't even old enough to remember the Intel Pentium fdiv bug, let alone 36-bit DEC systems. I'll bet they don't even know what parity is. To them life is nothing more than their Athlon, Geforce, and the latest Redhat. Maybe some new hardware to which they can make that weird whiney "schweeet" comment. What a future to look forward to. *sigh*
Took a tour of the Texas Tech University physial plant/tunnels/central-heating-and-cooling-plant. Kinda cool to see all of the co-generation they have going on to generate electricity from excess steam and other sources of heat.
Amarillo and Midland might be a good deal smaller than Lubbock, but at least they're pretty towns.
Go Red Raiders and get rid of Leach! At least the Band is award-winning.
I don't know about you, but aside from moveing some xterms around, or clicking on a link in Mozilla, I really don't use the mouse too often. I mean, this is linux and we've got awesome shells and awesome command line utilities. And probably the best part about not using GUIs for important things is that you can telnet/ssh in from another location and do you work without feeling 'crippled'. On a website forum where folks have vi vs emacs arguments, I'm really amazed to see someone consider the number of mouse buttons to even be an issue.
Slashdot Mirror
Apple is no longer selling the OS X Beta CD. It's several months old, doesn't support the newest G4 hardware, and doesn't work well with Mac OS 9.1. In little over a month, the final version of OS X will be shipping. If you NEED the beta, check eBay. If you need a more recent build of OS X, join the Apple Developer Connection for $500. You'll get monthly developer tools and newsletters mailed to you, as well as montly beta 'seed' CDs, technical support, hardware discounts, and lots of other goodies.
>> GNUstep represents NeXT circa 1994 More like 1988, if you ignore the fact that the first NeXT systems were monochrome.
I wasn't talking about GIMP sepcifically, or even GTK+. I was curious as to FUTURE GUIs on FUTURE projects.
Projects such as this make me wonder what the future will hold for full-scale projects such as GIMP or Blender. Will they continue to be designed for X11 or will they evolve into backend framework and "plugable" GUI frontends. Say, perhaps, a Cocoa/Aqua frontend for MacOSX, an X11 frontend for Unix and GNU/Linux, and specific frontends for BeOS and Win32/Win64?
Any thoughts on this? Any projects doing this already?
Not too long ago the Linux community was about getting the most out of hardware. In the days of the Pentium 233, folks were able to make 486/66 systems jump sing and dance with Linux. By the time the Pentium II rolled around, a Pentium 200 was more than enough for an awesome desktop. Even today, most linux distros will work great on a 486/100, but it appears that is changing. The Linux world has slowly been turning into yet-another-windows forced churn, just like Apple in recent years. Code optimization has given way to throwing more hardware at the problem. People that once poked fun at the latest, fastest wiz-bang hardware for being overkill are now chomping at the bit to get that 1.5 GHz P4 or 1.6 GHz Athlon. Some are waiting a few more months for 2 GHz systems before they upgrade. Regardless of the hardware, it's the mentality that's changing. Gone are the days of pride, tight code, and making things work. Today the community just waits for faster hardware to solve their problems.
Where do you live? I really, really wish I could get cable from one of my local CLECs. In my area I can only get cable from TimeWarner ($38/month for expanded basic + $19/month for RoadRunner cable modem access). We have several CLECs, though based on the services they're providing I have had no reason to switch from Southwestern Bell.
The largest benefit of a T1/DS1, T3/DS3, or OC-class circuit is the quality of service. You get a point to point connection with loads of guarantees. Hardware troubleshooting (on both ends) is usually available around the clock, often with little more than 15 minutes of leadtime. Bandwith almost never an issue as most Tier-1 providers (sprintlink, uunet/worldcom/mci, cable&wireless, etc) have enormous headroom, oftentimes over 40% above any concievable usage. If a problem occurs, it's fixed fast and by someone that knows what they're doing. -- MOST of the time
This is not to say that many xDSL and cable setups *aren't* good. There are MANY excellent such setups, some even offering quality guarantees and excellent service, often times providing MUCH better bang for the buck.
It all comes down to the reputation, support, quality, and even scalability. If I were to start a large business, I'd probably get a fractional T3 from sprintlink. The pair of fiber (who uses a pair of coax anymore) that would come to my office could then easily be upgraded to support full or muliple T3 circuits in the future. AFAIK, a typical cable or xDSL circuit will probably never support more than 25 mbit, which, even then, would probably require the user to be 50 feet from the CO.
Bottom line, try to get a reputable cable or xDSL setup until you can afford or need something better. Wait for that IPO before you order a full T3 for the den.
Several of my friends have had 3+ mbit cable modems for quite some time now... and while browsing at the magazine section at B&N yesterday I noticed mention of 16-25 mbit broadband in MaximumPC. How far off are these from nationwide deployment? Are they available in major cities yet? What medium do they use (cable, xDSL, fiber-to-the-house)? I recall some marketing propaganda over the past year from both RoadRunner and Covad talking about 8+ mbit (1 MByte) access coming in the "near future". Does anyone have this sorta "mega broadband" yet, and if so, how's it been working for you?
Please note, I'm talking about --CONSUMER-- broadband, not multiple T1s, a T3, or OC3 to a household (regardless of what Rob Malda and countless dot-com folks can now afford).
Also, does anyone know of some GNU/Linux friendly broadband (1.5 mbit +) ISPs that I can recommend to new linux users?
There was some confusion a ways up in this thread about Netscape for SGI IRIX. Here are three useful links:
. 76/unix/supported/irix65/
SGI's build of 4.75 (4.76 should be there soon):
http://www.sgi.com/products/evaluation/
Netscape's build of 4.76:
ftp://ftp.netscape.com/pub/communicator/english/4
Mozilla, etc, for SGI IRIX:
http://reality.sgi.com/rhess_engr/mozilla/irix/
I can't belive how head-strong Apple is towards IEEE-1394. The newest G4 towers and cubes **still** don't have USB 2.0... just USB 1.0 and vanilla IEEE-1394. There goes any chance of fast uploading to an MP3 player.
>>past about 40-50, your eyes can't even tell the difference anymore.
True, but only if the framerate is sustained (say, from a movie projector, or high-end graphics gear -- SGI or E&S). Personally I have my gaming rig set up with vsync on, it rarely dips below my refresh rate (72 Hz) locked on solid. Plus with vsync enabled, I don't get the screen "tearing" that comes with ultra-high framerates and lots of action.
I think it's high time we get a new web-based usenet leader, and judging from Google's beta, I don't think they're going to be it. That's not a bad thing, mind you, they're already a great web search engine. That said, I propose the following challenge:
An opensource-based Deja-like setup funded by a single ad atop each page. I have no doubts that the slashcoders could easily set this up and perhaps some startup funding could come from Andover, if not from rich-as-all-get-out Rob Malda. Granted, it would be hard to get archives, but why not start clean? Would be bad for those wanting to search right off the bat, but time moves on fast enough. I think the community can do this! Give'er Hell, folks!
Right now with the "new" google-deja, I can search a the past 6 months worth of usenet, though the newest posts I can see are about 24 hours old. I can't post, I can't access MyDeja. Help! Time to move over to MailAndNews, I guess.
Heh, good point! At least FinalCutPro continues to work. As far as "old 1980's technology", I know you're talking about classic Mac OS, wherein most of the real development took place between 1979 and 1984, but its kinda funny how Mac OS X (basicly OpenStep 5.0) hasn't changed much since the NeXT Cube and NeXTSTEP were released in 1988!
If it's a geforce2 mx, that sounds about right, it doesn't have the ram thruput or the fillrate for much higher than 60 fps at a decent resolution and normal texturing. If you have the horsepower of a 1 GHz system you really outta match it up with something with a better raster engine: GeForce 2 GTS, Pro, Ultra. Or, if you're doing professional gfx, consider a Wildcat or E&S. Also, any machine with a 1 or 1.5 GHz CPU really outta be decked out all around to feed that bad boy, otherwise you're better off with a 700 - 800 MHz CPU. Consider getting a board with dual channel PC800 Rambus or DDR-SDRAM "PC2100". Some good fast drives too, disk is the slowest thing on a system short of network.
need to be addressed before anyone should even bother putting an NV20 in a G4... such as the 4x AGP which Apple has just -now- come out with. 6x/8x AGP will be the standard by the release of NV20. Driver issues are also major. I can't belive nVidia and Apple even BOTHERED making drivers for the GeForce 2 MX for Mac OS 9 when OS X is right around the corner. All Mac software development should be towards AltiVec (PowerPC "G4" 7400/7410/7450) optimized, native Mac OS X code. Wasting time with Mac OS Classic (Mac OS 9 and the such) or even Carbon is just that, a waste of time. *sigh* Study up on the OS X IOkit, core gfx, core audio, and Cocoa and forget the cruft of the past.
see above
Slashdot is *still* using the old Silicon Graphics logo. The company is now just "SGI" and has changed their logo almost two years ago. The Silicon Graphics "cube" logo was from the days of MIPS-based unix machines and overpriced Windows PCs. These days SGI sells not just unix boxes, but MANY different models of NT and Linux boxes, all with decent prices. Their new logo represents the future and the change of direction. Slashdot doesn't use the old rainbow Apple logo, why keep using the old Silicon Graphics logo?
I see two camps here... the folks that are heavily defending Apple and those that are completely angered. I ask again, why the heated debate? I venture to guess that MOST folks here on Slashdot neither own a Mac nor ever will. Perhaps there are a few folks that have a PowerBook running LinuxPPC, or use a G4 for FinalCutPro and DVD Studio Pro, or maybe are forced to use them in school, but those are certainly the exception.
Why bother getting all hot and bothered about the situation? If you're for Apple, then you're probably happy about the way things are going. If you're against Apple on this, then big deal, don't lose sleep over it... how big is Apple these days anyway? Do you see that many iMacs in Walmart or BestBuy? Do you realize there are way more WebTVs out there than G3 and G4 based Macs? If you don't like Apple, never will own a Mac anyway, and are pissed about the lawsuit, BIG DEAL! You're wasting your time venting on slashdot.
SPARCplug
we start to see Redhat Ready Crays? Shouldn't be too hard, since the non-vector Cray T3E uses modified Alphas.
Correct
Most Slashdot-reading Linux kiddies aren't even old enough to remember the Intel Pentium fdiv bug, let alone 36-bit DEC systems. I'll bet they don't even know what parity is. To them life is nothing more than their Athlon, Geforce, and the latest Redhat. Maybe some new hardware to which they can make that weird whiney "schweeet" comment. What a future to look forward to. *sigh*
Took a tour of the Texas Tech University physial plant/tunnels/central-heating-and-cooling-plant. Kinda cool to see all of the co-generation they have going on to generate electricity from excess steam and other sources of heat.
Amarillo and Midland might be a good deal smaller than Lubbock, but at least they're pretty towns.
Go Red Raiders and get rid of Leach! At least the Band is award-winning.
I don't know about you, but aside from moveing some xterms around, or clicking on a link in Mozilla, I really don't use the mouse too often. I mean, this is linux and we've got awesome shells and awesome command line utilities. And probably the best part about not using GUIs for important things is that you can telnet/ssh in from another location and do you work without feeling 'crippled'. On a website forum where folks have vi vs emacs arguments, I'm really amazed to see someone consider the number of mouse buttons to even be an issue.