How about it Transmeta? Let's see a version of Linux that does not run on top of the the translation layer.
AFAIK, the translation layer of Transmeta CPUs is a good thing, as it can optimize the code on the fly. There is a cache for translated code, so this will mostly benefit repeating stuff like scientific computing.
However, I completely agree with your point of discarding x86. Switching to a different CPU seems like the least hardware issue, at least with Linux and BSDs. Unfortunately things are different for the masses that use closed source. Besides, my next computer will probably be an x86 anyway as I can't afford anything technically superior.
Via's Nehemiah core (what a name!) is not as efficient as the modern x86 cores, so running an Eden at 1GHz is approximately the same as a P3 at 6-800 MHz, if you could buy such a thing.
It's the C3 processor that now has the Nehemiah core. Eden is a different CPU altogether, and AFAIK less powerful per MHz than the C3. (To be precise, the Nehemiah version is called C3-2 to separate it from the older C3 with the Ezra core.)
Now, the CPU has other things which make up for it, hardware-assisted mpeg-2 playback
Via's EPIA motherboards have a _chipset_ that does hardware MPEG2 decoding. It's not in the CPU.
If you add a ide->compactflash converter and use one of their fanless 55w psu's you've got a machine with *no* moving parts.
BZZT! Wrong! It will still have moving electrons.:-)
Besides, switching power supplies sometimes make high-pitched noise (at the switching frequency). But well designed systems have this frequency outside the audible range.
I second the symmetry argument, even if my laptop only has the left one. I also think this is an issue of getting used to one way or the other. It's not a huge difference like Emacs vs. VI. I can't imagine things getting easier or harder if I switched Ctrl and Capslock.
While it's always possible to customize the hell out of your system, things can get weird whenever you need to use a different computer. (I get this problem often as I live in Finland but prefer a US/UK keyboard layout for hacking.)
Of course, this argument does not mean we should Switch(TM) to Windows because everyone else uses it. It would seriously affect how we get our work done. But the Ctrl/Capslock thing would hardly affect it.
On the other hand, it's pretty annoying to have to use AltGr for some punctuation marks like []{}\^, because the Scandinavian characters are in their place. Shift is fine because you can use one hand for that while pressing the key with another, but there's only one AltGr. Most of the relevant keys are on the right, just like AltGr.
This is why I use a British keyboard layout for almost everything, and setxkbmap fi or loadkeys fi-latin1 if I need to write in my native Finnish. Also, it's possible to get accents using special key combinations in X and console, so for short phrases I use those instead of the layout switch.
It also pisses me off that the Scandinavian keyboards have more changes (wrt US/UK) than what our alphabet requires. The punctuations are in truly horrible places for any coding, latex and shell work. I'm sure many would agree that the Gr refers not to graphical/greek characters, but to the frustration: GRRR!;-)
The one day Satan came along and tried to ruin it all by replacing init with some rubbish written in Python.
How ironic. The snake in the paradise is portrayed as evil, whereas he was only bringing more knowledge for the people. Makes Adam and Eve look like nice, obedient DRM-welcoming consumers who are scared by any extra information. Perhaps the Bible was written by M$ after all?
I was under the impression Linus started work on Linux while an undergraduate student?
True, but Linus didn't plan it as the next big thing that replaces Unix and Windows. It turned out quite well after years of work by many contributors, and the same thing might as well happen to Y. It's too early to predict anything, so in the meantime it's probably best to do as Linus says: forget about competition and just focus on writing good software.
Slashdot Mirror
I once had one. Then I started reading Slashdot.
Women require time and money:
Women = time * money.
Time is money:
Women = money^2.
Money is the root of all evil:
Money = sqrt(evil). Hence money^2 = evil
Conclusion: Women = evil.
(Voice of Beavis) I am Cornholio! I need CD for my bumhole!
just make it fusion-power itself
AFAIK, the translation layer of Transmeta CPUs is a good thing, as it can optimize the code on the fly. There is a cache for translated code, so this will mostly benefit repeating stuff like scientific computing.
However, I completely agree with your point of discarding x86. Switching to a different CPU seems like the least hardware issue, at least with Linux and BSDs. Unfortunately things are different for the masses that use closed source. Besides, my next computer will probably be an x86 anyway as I can't afford anything technically superior.
It's the C3 processor that now has the Nehemiah core. Eden is a different CPU altogether, and AFAIK less powerful per MHz than the C3. (To be precise, the Nehemiah version is called C3-2 to separate it from the older C3 with the Ezra core.)
Now, the CPU has other things which make up for it, hardware-assisted mpeg-2 playback
Via's EPIA motherboards have a _chipset_ that does hardware MPEG2 decoding. It's not in the CPU.
BZZT! Wrong! It will still have moving electrons. :-)
Besides, switching power supplies sometimes make high-pitched noise (at the switching frequency). But well designed systems have this frequency outside the audible range.
In Soviet AI research, XBOX cluster imagines YOU!
Unfortunately, that would mean I needed a longer sig. With the /. limitations, there's no point in calculating more than a couple of decimals.
Scientists have discovered that the liquid phase of dihydrogen monoxide has a peculiar property called 'wetness'.
While it's always possible to customize the hell out of your system, things can get weird whenever you need to use a different computer. (I get this problem often as I live in Finland but prefer a US/UK keyboard layout for hacking.)
Of course, this argument does not mean we should Switch(TM) to Windows because everyone else uses it. It would seriously affect how we get our work done. But the Ctrl/Capslock thing would hardly affect it.
This is why I use a British keyboard layout for almost everything, and setxkbmap fi or loadkeys fi-latin1 if I need to write in my native Finnish. Also, it's possible to get accents using special key combinations in X and console, so for short phrases I use those instead of the layout switch.
It also pisses me off that the Scandinavian keyboards have more changes (wrt US/UK) than what our alphabet requires. The punctuations are in truly horrible places for any coding, latex and shell work. I'm sure many would agree that the Gr refers not to graphical/greek characters, but to the frustration: GRRR! ;-)
I, for one, welcome our new extreme programlords.
Gnu's Not Unix. Linux Is Not UniX. RMS said in the GNU manifesto that copying Unix is not essential, and GNU will have improvements where appropriate.
How ironic. The snake in the paradise is portrayed as evil, whereas he was only bringing more knowledge for the people. Makes Adam and Eve look like nice, obedient DRM-welcoming consumers who are scared by any extra information. Perhaps the Bible was written by M$ after all?
I, for one, welcome our new computer leftoverlords into the Beowulf cluster I just imagined.
I think that has more to do with corporate upper-level management than unemployment...
You throw your popcorn kernels in,
What, don't you have to compile them first?
But it's the Chinese who are more used to reading and writing such incomprehensible mess.
BTW, mS stands for milli-Siemens. Siemens is the European equivalent of mho (inverse ohm). Goes quite well with pr0n I guess *splat*
I couldn't think of it, but my Beowulf AI of 386SX/16s just imagined it.
Real men boot their machines with M$. *ducks*
News for obsessive-compulsive upgraders. Stuff that antimatters.
To put the popularity argument in perspective: Windows is the best OS in the same way as McDonald's makes the best food.
True, but Linus didn't plan it as the next big thing that replaces Unix and Windows. It turned out quite well after years of work by many contributors, and the same thing might as well happen to Y. It's too early to predict anything, so in the meantime it's probably best to do as Linus says: forget about competition and just focus on writing good software.