no Linux distribution is currently equivalent to Windows on the desktop for the average user
I don't mean to nitpick, but I'm putting a Linux box together for my dad. KDE 3, Konqueror, KMail, OpenOffice.org 1.1, and some board/chess/puzzle games and some other potentially useful/fun apps.
My dad is in his 60s and has been using Mac OS Classic on an ancient Performa 62xx for a number of years.
I definitely don't think of myself as an 'average' user, although, while I'm a fairly good programmer and have a general understanding of Linux and other OSes, and have a CS degree, I couldn't set up a network or put together a new PC out of separate components if you paid me.
My dad is probably not 'average', either, since all he really uses his PC for is e-mail and web browsing.
But, what I'm wondering is, what is an "average" computer user? Can you quantify that some how? If you do, is your statement about Linux more or less true?
(This goes back to my complaint that "noone uses Linux because Linux doesn't have the latest and greatest games"... I, for one, stick to PlayStation for my gaming experience, so I find it baffling that such a general statement gets made all over the place. Am I just so clueless to think that 'average' computer users don't all sit around playing the latest incarnation of Quake on their ?.?GHz PCs?)
that will be extra confusing for Joe Sixpack buying Linux at WalMart
Perhaps. But then again, they also sell countless brands of toothpaste, lots of different TVs, VCRs and DVD players, etc. Sometimes people are forced to pick/choose. It might end up being random... they might have done research beforehand... they might just ask the pimply-faced clerk "duh, what's gud for me two yoos?":)
For [some probably high percentage] of consumers out there, they don't think about, and usually don't care about, what "OS" is running on their phone.
As phones become more like PDAs, this will change. But, the last time I bought a phone, it was mostly an issue of cost and form-factor. I took what I could get, software-wise.
Surely there's a chance that LinuxDevices has a bit of an interest in this?
Looks like you didn't read carefully:^) LinuxDevices didn't do the study or release the report. They just wrote about it, just like Wired or CNN or Slashdot would...
I find it bizarre that people would go to somewhere like Starbucks, where you have to pay for the T-Mobile(?) wireless access, when, here in Davis Calif., at least, you can walk literally a few blocks away and go to another coffee shop which has completely free wireless (and better snacks:^) ) Walk another block up, and there's yet ANOTHER cafe with free, open wireless.
There's a southwest restaurant near where I live in Davis, and they have wireless you have to pay for. They now advertise "free wireless with $5 purchase," so I pulled by Zaurus out one time and tried it. It was only 20 minutes of access! (Quick calculation... that's $15-food-dollars per hour!)
Fortunately, at another shopping center where I live, there's yet another coffee shop with wireless. I'm lucky enough to have landed a job where I get to work from home, so I now use them as free office space. Completely free wireless... all I need to do is buy some coffee (and that's not even a rule, like it is at some places).
I doubt $10/hr wireless will last in places where there's demand for wireless, because a $50/month DSL line isn't that much, compared to the increased business you get for having free internet...
Sufficed to say, when UC Davis was in finals, this place got REALLY busy... lots of laptops.
At least, I hope one day I'll be able to connect my Atari XL up to the 'net.;)
-bill!
See Simputer in action in the Bay Area
on
State Of The Simputer
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
The Peninsula Linux Users Group (PenLUG) will be hosting a talk on the Simputer at their September 25th meeting down near Redwood City, in the SF Bay Area.
The same speaker will be visiting the Linux Users' Group of Davis (LUGOD) on October 20th, near Sacramento, Calif.
Bay Area Debian is having a shotgun meeting in Berkeley tonight. I'll be bringing Debian-swirl-iced sugar cookies, and hopefully some folks from the Sacramento area.;^)
Bastards!:) I tried posting something about this (which included news of the upcoming DVD release of the original series, to both the UK and the US), back in August!
2002-08-16 07:48:19 Blake's 7 coming to DVD (articles,movies) (rejected)
Oh well... I guess I'm more glad it got the attention, than I am for the karma points... the delicious... precious... karma points! *drool*
pick a name that doesn't attempt to ride the coat tails of the commercial version so you get free marketing name association
I never paid much attention to the FreeCraft project, nor have I ever played it, but I thought the main purpose was to allow people to play WarCraft under Linux. (e.g., using the user's own WarCraft CD that they went out and purchased)
The name just makes sense. "FreeWarCraft" would have been even more accurate, it just doesn't sound very good.;^)
Slashdot Mirror
If anyone's anger has no measure, it is the wrath of internet zealots who believe that code should be free to all (open source).
Yes. (glazed look) That's exactly how we all feel. We are of one mind. We all think MyDoom is great. Join us.
*feh* Morons...
no Linux distribution is currently equivalent to Windows on the desktop for the average user
I don't mean to nitpick, but I'm putting a Linux box together for my dad. KDE 3, Konqueror, KMail, OpenOffice.org 1.1, and some board/chess/puzzle games and some other potentially useful/fun apps.
My dad is in his 60s and has been using Mac OS Classic on an ancient Performa 62xx for a number of years.
I definitely don't think of myself as an 'average' user, although, while I'm a fairly good programmer and have a general understanding of Linux and other OSes, and have a CS degree, I couldn't set up a network or put together a new PC out of separate components if you paid me.
My dad is probably not 'average', either, since all he really uses his PC for is e-mail and web browsing.
But, what I'm wondering is, what is an "average" computer user? Can you quantify that some how? If you do, is your statement about Linux more or less true?
(This goes back to my complaint that "noone uses Linux because Linux doesn't have the latest and greatest games"... I, for one, stick to PlayStation for my gaming experience, so I find it baffling that such a general statement gets made all over the place. Am I just so clueless to think that 'average' computer users don't all sit around playing the latest incarnation of Quake on their ?.?GHz PCs?)
Anyway, sorry for the long ramble...
that will be extra confusing for Joe Sixpack buying Linux at WalMart
:)
Perhaps. But then again, they also sell countless brands of toothpaste, lots of different TVs, VCRs and DVD players, etc. Sometimes people are forced to pick/choose. It might end up being random... they might have done research beforehand... they might just ask the pimply-faced clerk "duh, what's gud for me two yoos?"
For [some probably high percentage] of consumers out there, they don't think about, and usually don't care about, what "OS" is running on their phone.
As phones become more like PDAs, this will change. But, the last time I bought a phone, it was mostly an issue of cost and form-factor. I took what I could get, software-wise.
Surely there's a chance that LinuxDevices has a bit of an interest in this?
:^) LinuxDevices didn't do the study or release the report. They just wrote about it, just like Wired or CNN or Slashdot would...
Looks like you didn't read carefully
Article over at LinuxDevices.com: "Motorola has launched its first embedded Linux/Java smartphone, the much-anticipated A760, in the Asian market."
Java? No wonder it takes days to turn the thing around!
*rimshot*
My kid's program, Tux Paint, has been translated into over 30 languages, including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Hebrew (right-to-left) and Tamil. :^)
;^) )
I'll gladly accept a Farsi translastion. (Or any other that's still missing
I find it bizarre that people would go to somewhere like Starbucks, where you have to pay for the T-Mobile(?) wireless access, when, here in Davis Calif., at least, you can walk literally a few blocks away and go to another coffee shop which has completely free wireless (and better snacks :^) ) Walk another block up, and there's yet ANOTHER cafe with free, open wireless.
There's a southwest restaurant near where I live in Davis, and they have wireless you have to pay for. They now advertise "free wireless with $5 purchase," so I pulled by Zaurus out one time and tried it. It was only 20 minutes of access! (Quick calculation... that's $15-food-dollars per hour!)
Fortunately, at another shopping center where I live, there's yet another coffee shop with wireless. I'm lucky enough to have landed a job where I get to work from home, so I now use them as free office space. Completely free wireless... all I need to do is buy some coffee (and that's not even a rule, like it is at some places).
I doubt $10/hr wireless will last in places where there's demand for wireless, because a $50/month DSL line isn't that much, compared to the increased business you get for having free internet...
Sufficed to say, when UC Davis was in finals, this place got REALLY busy... lots of laptops.
So, who wants to translated Tux Paint for me? ;^)
Find these, and tons of other Linux games (just browse around for multiplayer!), over at The Linux Game Tome.
That site's been around since before I was even using Linux (1998), so I'm shocked to find people who've never seen it!!!
I've mirrored the mirror of photos. :^)
0 -photos/
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/bill/zaurus-sl600
Enjoy!
Thanks for the mirror of the photos!
Some other articles (mostly ones mentioning the Zaurus User Group article, unfortunately) include:
LinuxDevices.com
BrightHand.com
and
PDALive.com
Enjoy!
Well, my Atari 8-bit can display 4096 colors without any hardware upgrades. Mwahaahhaa :)
-bill!
(who demo'd his Atari 800XL at VCS 6.0 in Mountain View this weekend)
Kick-ass! I'm very excited about SVG. This is excellent news
-bill!
(Tux Paint dude)
At least, I hope one day I'll be able to connect my Atari XL up to the 'net. ;)
-bill!
The Peninsula Linux Users Group (PenLUG) will be hosting a talk on the Simputer at their September 25th meeting down near Redwood City, in the SF Bay Area.
The same speaker will be visiting the Linux Users' Group of Davis (LUGOD) on October 20th, near Sacramento, Calif.
I want to be paid to write more stuff like Tux Paint. :^)
But, I suppose that's mainly because I'm lacking a full-time job. (Stupid Worldcom)
Bay Area Debian is having a shotgun meeting in Berkeley tonight. I'll be bringing Debian-swirl-iced sugar cookies, and hopefully some folks from the Sacramento area. ;^)
-bill!
Turn the screen around and close it and you have a regular PDA-style stylus-based device.
Exactly. I wonder if any of the trolls around here actually looked at the photographs that were thrown up in the mini-review! >:^P
Bruce - Will you be dropping by Picn*x12 after LinuxWorld? ;^)
Bastards! :) I tried posting something about this (which included news of the upcoming DVD release of the original series, to both the UK and the US), back in August!
2002-08-16 07:48:19 Blake's 7 coming to DVD (articles,movies) (rejected)
Oh well... I guess I'm more glad it got the attention, than I am for the karma points... the delicious... precious... karma points! *drool*
I'll take a trip to Bangladesh, if it means getting a job again, finally. ;^)
pick a name that doesn't attempt to ride the coat tails of the commercial version so you get free marketing name association
;^)
I never paid much attention to the FreeCraft project, nor have I ever played it, but I thought the main purpose was to allow people to play WarCraft under Linux. (e.g., using the user's own WarCraft CD that they went out and purchased)
The name just makes sense. "FreeWarCraft" would have been even more accurate, it just doesn't sound very good.
Seriously, will OSS ever produce an original idea, or will it all be about copycat-ism?
:^P
1) "OSS" _has_ produced original ideas.
2) Go right ahead! Write an original game and release it as Open Source. Or was someone stopping you?