We have 2 mom-and-pop coffee shops here in Mankato that have wireless access, and it seems to work well both places. One place just has a wide open AP (not that I'd recommend this, unless it's well firewalled). The other just takes your MAC address and adds it to their access point (access is MAC-address filtered). Oddly, the one where you have to sign up seems to have more wireless users, though this may just be due to the regulars at each place.
There are improvements that could be made to either. The wide-open one doesn't have a very strong signal, and I'm not sure that they're running it well-firewalled or with the knowledge of their ISP. The MAC-filtered option really should have some automated way of signing up (e.g. when you connect to the network, you fire up a browser and are taken to a sign-up page - I've seen Cisco equipment that can do this), or the people running the shop should know how to find the MAC address through the appropriate OSes (at least Windows and Mac OS - Linux geeks are likely to know how to type 'ifconfig').
Either way, if you spring for a better AP, you shouldn't need a linux box to power anything beyond what the AP can do. That'll save you at least $400 of the $500 you have planned for the linux box. And I think abuse won't be much of an issue. Mankato is about the same size as the town you're describing, and these two shops haven't had any issues (as far as I'm aware) with abuse. Set up firewall rules appropriately to make sure, but overall, it shouldn't take a very complex setup to do it well.
Now, the better option might be to try to convince the coffee shop that it would help their business, and get them to chip in.
Setting aside for the moment how angered I am by Bioware breaking their promise to both the Linux and Mac communities, I would like to remind folks:
Your dollar is your vote.
If every person who is displeased with the fact that Bioware didn't do the simultaneous release they had promised would write an e-mail to the company, chances are that Bioware would take notice.
Even more effective would be to pointedly refuse to buy the game until they release a shrink-wrapped Linux or Mac version. Being truly serious about wanting Microsoft to disappear requires that I never settle for using their software or any that depends on it.
If every geek who wants to run their games under Linux would both tell (with e-mails and such) and show (with actual sales, real money) the game companies that Linux games are in demand, the market would respond accordingly.
Want proof that we have a voice? Check out this article about what happened to the Winmodems in the Wal-mart OS-less PCs after/. and Newsforge folks raised a stink about it.
1). Price. Granted, they may not be THAT much more expensive, but I'm the kind of guy that keeps a computer a long time and doesn't buy a new computer until I find one I like that is *already* discontinued. Buying the latest thing every two years is not an option for me.
In most comparisons you could do on comparably equipped systems, the Mac is cheaper, sometimes quite significantly.
Take for example a recent comparison I did:
Dell Dimension 8200
Pentium 4 1.7GHz
256MB RAM
40GB HD (no 60GB available)
3yr ltd warranty/service plan
Windows XP Home
15in flat panel LCD (analog connector)
64MB Geforce2 MX
DVD-R/CD-RW drive
Dell Jukebox, Image Expert 2000, Standard Dell Movie Studio bundle
And in all actuality, the Mac you buy now is more likely to still be useful in three, five, ten years than any PC. 68k macs are still used - really used - for production publishing work.
2). I've invested too much in MS-DOS and Windows software that I still want to run now and then. "Sam and Max Hit The Road" being a good example. I bought it for my 386, and three computers later I still haven't finished with it.
You've still got that old PC around, right? Use it. Or, as previously mentioned, get VirtualPC. If it's only software you 'want to run now and then', what's the issue?
3). No compelling reason to switch. I can manage pictures and create MP3's and CD's on my old Pentium. I can create a VCD on my reconditioned Pentium III. Why would any reasonable person want to create his own DVDs? Even creating a VCD is a very time consuming process (capture the video in real time, then compress it for eight-twelve hours). Who has the equipment to create a professional quality DVD anyway? If it isn't going to be professional quality, why not just make a VCD instead?
Having no compelling personal reason is perfectly fair. To me there are several compelling reasons, but different things compel different people. But it seems the premise of your judgement on this one is misguided.
Creating a DVD doesn't take eight to twelve hours on a properly equipped Mac. Capture the video in real time on your digital camcorder, plug it into the FireWire port, transfer the clips over (not very time consuming considering the amount of data), cut up and arrange the clips in iMovie (remarkably easy), put the finished movie(s) into iDVD and arrange the menu(s) (also remarkably easy), insert blank DVD-R, and burn. Boom. This process might take, oh, 2-3 hours. Including cutting and arranging clips and adding transitions, titles, etc.
Anyone with a Mac with a SuperDrive has the equipment to create a professional-quality DVD. Including many employees of LucasFilm, Pixar,...
VCDs are barely recognized by the general public, and very few people could figure out how to play them. DVD players come with instructions. You hand grandma a DVD, and if she knows how to play the movies she's already got on DVD, she knows how to play your movie. The other advantages of DVDs have already been covered.
4). Mac users seem to be an elitist bunch. They look down on people that actually write software and enjoy tinkering with computers. Like Jeff Goldblum in the ads: "I don't want to be that person!" and "You can have a computer and not be a computer person." Who needs that?
And Linux users seem to be an elitist bunch who are unable to consider the needs of those who don't actually write software and enjoy tinkering with computers and have no desire to.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a linux geek to the core, and I love tinkering with things and writing software, but sometimes I don't want to be 'that person.'
Who needs to have a computer and not be a computer person? Even according to Katz's article, just about every middle-class mom and pop in America.
As for Katz, the ideal computer he's describing is in many ways the Mac, and specifically the iMac.
And again: His idea to fuse the desktop with pop culture is, in fact, a powerful one. But it's too soon.
Apple, and Steve Jobs, have been 'too soon' for years. Consider CD-ROMs, Ethernet, USB, FireWire, OPENSTEP (an easy-to-use Unix that was on the market before Linux was a gleam in Torvalds' eye, and which is now gaining inordinate praise in its latest form, Mac OS X), digital video, let's see, hmm, the GUI, uhh, Unix stability on the desktop, even candy-colored computer cases... the list goes on. They certainly haven't been on the forefront of every hot new trend. But they've been the leader of enough of them to be worthy of consideration.
It's not Apple's job to appeal to 95% of the market. Apple doesn't complain about their market share, especially considering that they have maintained the same percentage of the market for the past several years in a market that is growing rapidly in numbers. VW doesn't complain about their market share, they just make their cool little cars at the highest possible quality for the people who want them.
Choice of computer is personal, but it should be informed. Go to your nearest Apple Store, try stuff out, ask to look inside the tower (they'll gladly show you), ask lots of questions, hell, create a movie and burn a DVD in the store. Or try out whatever it is that you need out of a computer. Then try the same thing(s) on a PC, check out the market, see what's available and how well it works. Pick whichever one appeals to you more. But please, please, get the facts before you decide, and don't look down your noses at Apple. They deserve at least some respect for what they've been able to accomplish.
She was a Christian, an Episcopalian specifically, as is (was?) Madeline L'Engle -- another great woman and kind spirit who combined feminism and sci-fi/fantasy writing.
I'm still in the process of reading Mists, but I very much enjoy the change in perspective it gives on Arthurian legend -- not only by giving the feminine view, but also the Celtic view (as opposed to the Roman mangling of the myth through Chretien de Troy and Once and Future King). I plan on reading more of her writing. She sits on my shelf next to Joseph Campbell, Sam Keen, Robert Bly, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, and all my mythology collections.
Actually, this was the first nitpick that I found... the no-GUI bit hit me later. Think how many beta apps linux has at any given time -- ncftp3 comes immediately to mind, GNOME for a good long time (and KDE), Mozilla, the unstable kernel tree, 0.xx versions of countless CLI and GUI apps. I've got more betas in Linux on my box than I can count at any given time, and for the most part, they run just as reliably as stable versions of Linux apps.
That's not to mention the fact that the Debian unstable tree is currently running on our server (ringworld.org), and having very few problems, chugging along rather nicely with shell, web, and e-mail services.
The only way I've managed to do serious damage to my data (i.e. I just wiped my hard drive clean) was with an overheated processor that liked to lock up and/or reboot at random (not that I couldn't have made it go nasty...). I don't think my friend (and fellow ringworld.org sysadmin) could say that about his NT4 server at home (on which at one time he was having to reinstall the OS every week).
Keep your eyes on the prize (not necessarily on the competition). A GUI doesn't have to share any look and feel with M$ - there's other ways of doing everything (trust me, I'm an American living in Germany;p).
--Kevin Bullock "How many fingers do you see?" "Four." "You're focusing too much on the problem." ... "Now how many do you see?" "Eight! I see eight!" (approximate paraphrase from Patch Adams, a.k.a. my post-appropriate signature)
1. Windoze games ports - id has been good about this. Starcraft runs under WINE. More real ports would be really really nice. But some support is growing very slowly.
2. Universal font installation. Like windows font installer in NT or even Win31! - Good point. This would help draw in the DTP crowd a lot easier.
3. Better Html tools. Nice if Hotmetal PRo by Softquad had a port. - I s'pose. I prefer not to use anything more than Emacs to edit HTML, but that's beside the point. HTML tools would do good things to turn people on to Linux.
4. Better development tools. Nice GUI ide's for C/C++ developers. Definitely needed. We need something to kick VC++'s ass.
5. Winamp X11amp already exists. Supports all the fun stuff winamp does, based on an mpg123 engine.
6. A browser that supports skins. Change the look of Netscape. Nice, but not real necessary to gain a user base IMHO.
7. G2-Realplayer. Haven't checked up on this lately. They do seem to stay somewhat behind in their linux support.
All in all, I would say the author of this article is in need of a good smack. He makes it sound like corporations are gods and greed is even better. He makes home-brewed a dirty word. Haven't billions of human hours been spent developing Linux software, just as much as Microsoft crap? Don't products tend to be of much less quality when the only motivation for creating them is money? (*correct answer: a resounding YES*)
I'm glad to see another distribution based on Debian -- there's enough redhat-based dists already:) And hopefully they'll integrate apt nicely and everything will be good...
I'm also glad to see that RH is going for GNOME (did I read that right?). After all, they did manage to come out with some stable GNOME packages before Debian. (Anyone have a clue when Debian will get some 1.0 pkg's?)
IceWM is good looking and functional, and it supports themes;) I never thought WindowMaker was remotely functional. I ran afterstep for a while, when the 1.0 versions were out, and i customized it nicely and i liked it. It's become progressively more WindowMaker-wanna-be. Blackbox has potential. Enlightenment doesn't much like my P100 with 32MB RAM either;p
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We have 2 mom-and-pop coffee shops here in Mankato that have wireless access, and it seems to work well both places. One place just has a wide open AP (not that I'd recommend this, unless it's well firewalled). The other just takes your MAC address and adds it to their access point (access is MAC-address filtered). Oddly, the one where you have to sign up seems to have more wireless users, though this may just be due to the regulars at each place.
There are improvements that could be made to either. The wide-open one doesn't have a very strong signal, and I'm not sure that they're running it well-firewalled or with the knowledge of their ISP. The MAC-filtered option really should have some automated way of signing up (e.g. when you connect to the network, you fire up a browser and are taken to a sign-up page - I've seen Cisco equipment that can do this), or the people running the shop should know how to find the MAC address through the appropriate OSes (at least Windows and Mac OS - Linux geeks are likely to know how to type 'ifconfig').
Either way, if you spring for a better AP, you shouldn't need a linux box to power anything beyond what the AP can do. That'll save you at least $400 of the $500 you have planned for the linux box. And I think abuse won't be much of an issue. Mankato is about the same size as the town you're describing, and these two shops haven't had any issues (as far as I'm aware) with abuse. Set up firewall rules appropriately to make sure, but overall, it shouldn't take a very complex setup to do it well.
Now, the better option might be to try to convince the coffee shop that it would help their business, and get them to chip in.
Setting aside for the moment how angered I am by Bioware breaking their promise to both the Linux and Mac communities, I would like to remind folks:
Your dollar is your vote.
If every person who is displeased with the fact that Bioware didn't do the simultaneous release they had promised would write an e-mail to the company, chances are that Bioware would take notice.
Even more effective would be to pointedly refuse to buy the game until they release a shrink-wrapped Linux or Mac version. Being truly serious about wanting Microsoft to disappear requires that I never settle for using their software or any that depends on it.
If every geek who wants to run their games under Linux would both tell (with e-mails and such) and show (with actual sales, real money) the game companies that Linux games are in demand, the market would respond accordingly.
Want proof that we have a voice? Check out this article about what happened to the Winmodems in the Wal-mart OS-less PCs after /. and Newsforge folks raised a stink about it.
1). Price. Granted, they may not be THAT much more expensive, but I'm the kind of guy that keeps a computer a long time and doesn't buy a new computer until I find one I like that is *already* discontinued. Buying the latest thing every two years is not an option for me.
In most comparisons you could do on comparably equipped systems, the Mac is cheaper, sometimes quite significantly.
Take for example a recent comparison I did:
And in all actuality, the Mac you buy now is more likely to still be useful in three, five, ten years than any PC. 68k macs are still used - really used - for production publishing work.
2). I've invested too much in MS-DOS and Windows software that I still want to run now and then. "Sam and Max Hit The Road" being a good example. I bought it for my 386, and three computers later I still haven't finished with it.
You've still got that old PC around, right? Use it. Or, as previously mentioned, get VirtualPC. If it's only software you 'want to run now and then', what's the issue?
3). No compelling reason to switch. I can manage pictures and create MP3's and CD's on my old Pentium. I can create a VCD on my reconditioned Pentium III. Why would any reasonable person want to create his own DVDs? Even creating a VCD is a very time consuming process (capture the video in real time, then compress it for eight-twelve hours). Who has the equipment to create a professional quality DVD anyway? If it isn't going to be professional quality, why not just make a VCD instead?
Having no compelling personal reason is perfectly fair. To me there are several compelling reasons, but different things compel different people. But it seems the premise of your judgement on this one is misguided.
4). Mac users seem to be an elitist bunch. They look down on people that actually write software and enjoy tinkering with computers. Like Jeff Goldblum in the ads: "I don't want to be that person!" and "You can have a computer and not be a computer person." Who needs that?
And Linux users seem to be an elitist bunch who are unable to consider the needs of those who don't actually write software and enjoy tinkering with computers and have no desire to.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a linux geek to the core, and I love tinkering with things and writing software, but sometimes I don't want to be 'that person.'
Who needs to have a computer and not be a computer person? Even according to Katz's article, just about every middle-class mom and pop in America.
As for Katz, the ideal computer he's describing is in many ways the Mac, and specifically the iMac.
And again: His idea to fuse the desktop with pop culture is, in fact, a powerful one. But it's too soon.
Apple, and Steve Jobs, have been 'too soon' for years. Consider CD-ROMs, Ethernet, USB, FireWire, OPENSTEP (an easy-to-use Unix that was on the market before Linux was a gleam in Torvalds' eye, and which is now gaining inordinate praise in its latest form, Mac OS X), digital video, let's see, hmm, the GUI, uhh, Unix stability on the desktop, even candy-colored computer cases... the list goes on. They certainly haven't been on the forefront of every hot new trend. But they've been the leader of enough of them to be worthy of consideration.
It's not Apple's job to appeal to 95% of the market. Apple doesn't complain about their market share, especially considering that they have maintained the same percentage of the market for the past several years in a market that is growing rapidly in numbers. VW doesn't complain about their market share, they just make their cool little cars at the highest possible quality for the people who want them.
Choice of computer is personal, but it should be informed. Go to your nearest Apple Store, try stuff out, ask to look inside the tower (they'll gladly show you), ask lots of questions, hell, create a movie and burn a DVD in the store. Or try out whatever it is that you need out of a computer. Then try the same thing(s) on a PC, check out the market, see what's available and how well it works. Pick whichever one appeals to you more. But please, please, get the facts before you decide, and don't look down your noses at Apple. They deserve at least some respect for what they've been able to accomplish.
I'm still in the process of reading Mists, but I very much enjoy the change in perspective it gives on Arthurian legend -- not only by giving the feminine view, but also the Celtic view (as opposed to the Roman mangling of the myth through Chretien de Troy and Once and Future King). I plan on reading more of her writing. She sits on my shelf next to Joseph Campbell, Sam Keen, Robert Bly, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, and all my mythology collections.
Actually, this was the first nitpick that I found... the no-GUI bit hit me later. Think how many beta apps linux has at any given time -- ncftp3 comes immediately to mind, GNOME for a good long time (and KDE), Mozilla, the unstable kernel tree, 0.xx versions of countless CLI and GUI apps. I've got more betas in Linux on my box than I can count at any given time, and for the most part, they run just as reliably as stable versions of Linux apps.
;p).
That's not to mention the fact that the Debian unstable tree is currently running on our server (ringworld.org), and having very few problems, chugging along rather nicely with shell, web, and e-mail services.
The only way I've managed to do serious damage to my data (i.e. I just wiped my hard drive clean) was with an overheated processor that liked to lock up and/or reboot at random (not that I couldn't have made it go nasty...). I don't think my friend (and fellow ringworld.org sysadmin) could say that about his NT4 server at home (on which at one time he was having to reinstall the OS every week).
Keep your eyes on the prize (not necessarily on the competition). A GUI doesn't have to share any look and feel with M$ - there's other ways of doing everything (trust me, I'm an American living in Germany
--Kevin Bullock
"How many fingers do you see?"
"Four."
"You're focusing too much on the problem."
...
"Now how many do you see?"
"Eight! I see eight!"
(approximate paraphrase from Patch Adams, a.k.a. my post-appropriate signature)
1. Windoze games ports
- id has been good about this. Starcraft runs under WINE. More real ports would be really really nice. But some support is growing very slowly.
2. Universal font installation. Like windows font installer in NT or even Win31!
- Good point. This would help draw in the DTP crowd a lot easier.
3. Better Html tools. Nice if Hotmetal PRo by Softquad had a port.
- I s'pose. I prefer not to use anything more than Emacs to edit HTML, but that's beside the point. HTML tools would do good things to turn people on to Linux.
4. Better development tools. Nice GUI ide's for C/C++ developers.
Definitely needed. We need something to kick VC++'s ass.
5. Winamp
X11amp already exists. Supports all the fun stuff winamp does, based on an mpg123 engine.
6. A browser that supports skins. Change the look of Netscape.
Nice, but not real necessary to gain a user base IMHO.
7. G2-Realplayer.
Haven't checked up on this lately. They do seem to stay somewhat behind in their linux support.
All in all, I would say the author of this article is in need of a good smack. He makes it sound like corporations are gods and greed is even better. He makes home-brewed a dirty word. Haven't billions of human hours been spent developing Linux software, just as much as Microsoft crap? Don't products tend to be of much less quality when the only motivation for creating them is money?
(*correct answer: a resounding YES*)
I'm glad to see another distribution based on Debian -- there's enough redhat-based dists already :) And hopefully they'll integrate apt nicely and everything will be good...
I'm also glad to see that RH is going for GNOME (did I read that right?). After all, they did manage to come out with some stable GNOME packages before Debian. (Anyone have a clue when Debian will get some 1.0 pkg's?)
IceWM is good looking and functional, and it supports themes ;) I never thought WindowMaker was remotely functional. I ran afterstep for a while, when the 1.0 versions were out, and i customized it nicely and i liked it. It's become progressively more WindowMaker-wanna-be. Blackbox has potential. Enlightenment doesn't much like my P100 with 32MB RAM either ;p