I might add to this that in the case of lusers who can't and won't learn, we have the solution also: A Chromebook. Impossible to screw up, and it runs Linux also.
Ah, but there's a few problems with that: 1. No universal package. So, you can guess deb and be right for that 50 percent(at best) of the Linux using population, but still... You've halved the number of potentially infectable systems. 2. Some distributions don't have such a GUI method; Debian for example. Which limits your malware's influence even further. 3. Gdebi, at least, comes up with a big red warning if you try to install an unverified package, which should provide/some/ security.
4. Any multi-user system, corporate install or geek-installed system will probably not allow sudo or root access to our luser's account, meaning that such an install won't work. The previous idea of a downloaded excecutable is more likely, as it could run using user permission.
I just think it'd be a lot harder than it would be on Windows or Mac, because on Linux everyone's used to using the repos for installing everything - Install by doubleclick isn't going to be done by accident.
Except that it won't: The user'd have to: 1. Click on the fake link. 2. Accept the file download(FF at least asks you to save or cancel with any download) 3. Right-click the saved file, click properties, and check the 'make excecutable' button. 4. Double click on the application, and then enter your password.
I think that'd take some doing to convince the user to do all that, especially when the user's used to clicking on the Main Menu -> System -> Update or w/e.
Erm... I don't have any iOS device, and have never used one(never will either). I use an n900, which has a completely different UI.
It's just that I always associate the "+" symbol with "add"... which is fair, considering everyone in gradeschool knows that when you have a "+", it means "add".
CAD wise when I used Autocad I had no such problem. Yes, trying to freehand-position points just/doesn't work/, but you shouldn't be doing that: Enter your points via the CLI, or offset it from 0. Then use offset and snap functions to add more lines to your points. Unless you're just drawing a line that's "somewhat longer" than it needs to be(which will then be trimmed later), you shouldn't be freehanding it, though the functionality should be there.
Also, snapping works so long as you're in school and need standard sizes, but often you need a lot more precision than you think. Still, those options are usually available by pressing ctrl or shift when moving the mouse...
Hm... No, I think MS has a far more insidious plan here: With the source exposed, any and every little bug and glitch in their interpretor/compiler will be easily found. Now, unlike a OSS app, the Good Guys won't be able to find them first and patch it... Because there's no good way to distribute the patched product to all MS customers! This will mean that until there's a stable, patched VB6 interpretor out there, all VB6 users will be horribly vulnerable, and may very well do what MS wasn't able to do themselves and kill the language! I wouldn't be surprised if MS are hoping that by the time someone creates a good VB6 interpretor, the language will be dead and "tainted" by the number of unpatched glitches it has. It probably won't happen that way -- People are too stubborn to give up a language simply because it's insecure -- but that could easily be what MS were thinking.
Ah, but you also miss the point: With a game, you have to keep up ~30fps, else it won't be playable. With most other software, you can get away with 1/3 if not less the performance, on top of most non-game software being written for older, slower x86 chips.
I think you could make people/really/ happy with a simple emulator, even if it's not fast enough for gaming.
Well, I think we're talking about the use case of laptops. With a laptop, windows power consumption may be lower than Linux/in some cases/(others swear it's the opposite), it's not the fault of Linux, just of how optimized it is for the device. Maemo's a good example of what you can do with a little optimization, and it doesn't really give much up compared to a desktop-optimized distro.
When it comes to tablets and phones, if we take the example of Maemo again, we can have a highly battery optimized Linux distro without sacrificing much in the name of 'mobile'. Windows 8 for ARM's supposed to do likewise, but we'll see how well it does.
Well, I think we're talking about the use case of laptops. With a laptop, windows power consumption may be lower than Linux/in some cases/(others swear it's the opposite), it's not the fault of Linux, just of how optimized it is for the device. Maemo's a good example of what you can do with a little optimization, and it doesn't really give much up compared to a desktop-optimized distro.
When it comes to tablets and phones, if we take the example of Maemo again, we can have a highly battery optimized Linux distro without sacrificing much in the name of 'mobile'. Windows 8 for ARM's supposed to do likewise, but we'll see how well it does.
That's basically my point.
With a [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maemo]little optimization[/url], Linux can be/far/ better with power than Windows ever can. Just because you're running a desktop-oriented distribution doesn't mean the underlying system's poor.
If some publishing company doesn't own the distribution rights, then possibly. But most orphaned works/do/ have a publisher with some rights, even if new contracts with the actual copyright owner cannot be found, and that company might sue you. Alternately, if the copyright owner ever reappears, he or she might sue you.
So set it to block from third-party sites and run with everything else? That'll speed up your browing a bit, increase your safety too, and you won't have to mess with it.
Alternately, I've gone with going between run scripts globally and block - Sometimes I just want to use it, sometimes I/don't/ want ths JS functionality.
I think it started being a way to make sure children got enough excercise, so they'd be fit to go into the army many years back. Now, I think it's certainly got out of hand, though.
Aand, that proves the parent post: You're not going to be running much if/anything/ via USB on a vm host - Maby a keyboard and mouse. And you're not going to be using a/gamer/ motherboard like that as a proper server. Also, I wouldn't call a missing USB3 driver "cripping". Yea, it'll be a pain for a bit until someone makes a driver, but the rest of the device is usable, and all/without/ any mfgr support. And like you said, a usb hub will solve most of your current problems.
Chrome better? Hah! I've had Chrome 11 installed for a while now, and won't use it for a variety of reasons: 1. It doesn't follow my system font configuration: I want hinted, aliased fonts(XP style). Every other program follows my settings. Not Chrome! 2. It's slow. Seriously. My firefox nightly is way faster, has hardware acceleration(I've got a Nvidia card), and doed a way better job with extensions. 3. Ugly user interface: Sorry, I don't like the "minimal" interface - Perhaps on a 1024x768 laptop it makes sense, but not with a full 1920x1080 desktop. I/like/ the good old file/edit/view menues, having my own "favorites" bar etc... Just like ff3.6(made my nightly look like FF 3.6 with tabs on the bottom etc.) 4. Not compatible with my FF extensions. Sure, I know it'd be near impossible to do it, but I have FF extensions without equal in the Chrome world(Like Sqlite Manager for one)
2% of the/desktop/ market perhaps(probably more like 5% actually), but more like 50%+ of the server market(especially web servers), and at least 50% of the smartphone market(thanks to Android), 80% of the home router, webTV, etc market... How many smartphones run WP7 vs Android? Not many. How many routers run Win CE or something? None? Etc.
Don't claim windows won the war when all they have is a tenative grip on the Desktop x86 PC market instead.
Yes, exactly. However, you'd need some user-interaction time if you used grub: You have to choose between the splashtop and the main OS at least. You could minimise it by adding that function to coreboot, so while it's already waiting for del or w/e to enter Setup, it can also take say f1 for splashtop...
I think the idea is that Coreboot can directly boot Linux kernels and such, so you'd be able to have native support for your splashtop right from bios(i.e., press f9 to boot splashtop), instead of having to load a bootloader like Grub first, which would mean even faster boots. Without it, though, it should still chainload into your OS of choice.
'course, having some recovery stuff on the harddisk for the 95% of the time that yopu just get a virus on Windows instead... It could be useful. But a recovery CD should still be provided.
Seriously? I've had a number of thinkpads, and the only hidden partition was a recovery one(Not great, but no problem if it gets wiped). Putting bios functions on a spinning disk - Or even a easily writable flash - is indeed a bad idea. Still, I'm talking about a splashtop, not the bios etc - If it gets corrupt, you should be able to just have to stick a CD in and re-image it. Heck, for/most/ corruption(all but first few KB), it should just display a message saying just that.
I've found that I need to have both ALSA and Pulse setup: ALSA for all my playback stuff, and Pulse(with some low-latency options) so I can have my microphone work in Steam via Wine. Seriously - Pulse isn't supported, and works better than ALSA, at least with my Audigy 2 for microphone input(Probably something to do with rate conversion)!
I might add to this that in the case of lusers who can't and won't learn, we have the solution also: A Chromebook. Impossible to screw up, and it runs Linux also.
Ah, but there's a few problems with that: /some/ security.
1. No universal package. So, you can guess deb and be right for that 50 percent(at best) of the Linux using population, but still... You've halved the number of potentially infectable systems.
2. Some distributions don't have such a GUI method; Debian for example. Which limits your malware's influence even further.
3. Gdebi, at least, comes up with a big red warning if you try to install an unverified package, which should provide
4. Any multi-user system, corporate install or geek-installed system will probably not allow sudo or root access to our luser's account, meaning that such an install won't work. The previous idea of a downloaded excecutable is more likely, as it could run using user permission.
I just think it'd be a lot harder than it would be on Windows or Mac, because on Linux everyone's used to using the repos for installing everything - Install by doubleclick isn't going to be done by accident.
Mod parent funny! That's just awesome.
Except that it won't: The user'd have to:
1. Click on the fake link.
2. Accept the file download(FF at least asks you to save or cancel with any download)
3. Right-click the saved file, click properties, and check the 'make excecutable' button.
4. Double click on the application, and then enter your password.
I think that'd take some doing to convince the user to do all that, especially when the user's used to clicking on the Main Menu -> System -> Update or w/e.
Erm... I don't have any iOS device, and have never used one(never will either). I use an n900, which has a completely different UI.
It's just that I always associate the "+" symbol with "add"... which is fair, considering everyone in gradeschool knows that when you have a "+", it means "add".
CAD wise when I used Autocad I had no such problem. Yes, trying to freehand-position points just /doesn't work/, but you shouldn't be doing that: Enter your points via the CLI, or offset it from 0. Then use offset and snap functions to add more lines to your points. Unless you're just drawing a line that's "somewhat longer" than it needs to be(which will then be trimmed later), you shouldn't be freehanding it, though the functionality should be there.
Also, snapping works so long as you're in school and need standard sizes, but often you need a lot more precision than you think. Still, those options are usually available by pressing ctrl or shift when moving the mouse...
Yea. That looks perfectly intuitive. There's a + next to "alarm"... what /else/ could it do?
Hm... No, I think MS has a far more insidious plan here: With the source exposed, any and every little bug and glitch in their interpretor/compiler will be easily found. Now, unlike a OSS app, the Good Guys won't be able to find them first and patch it... Because there's no good way to distribute the patched product to all MS customers!
This will mean that until there's a stable, patched VB6 interpretor out there, all VB6 users will be horribly vulnerable, and may very well do what MS wasn't able to do themselves and kill the language!
I wouldn't be surprised if MS are hoping that by the time someone creates a good VB6 interpretor, the language will be dead and "tainted" by the number of unpatched glitches it has.
It probably won't happen that way -- People are too stubborn to give up a language simply because it's insecure -- but that could easily be what MS were thinking.
Ah, but you also miss the point: With a game, you have to keep up ~30fps, else it won't be playable. With most other software, you can get away with 1/3 if not less the performance, on top of most non-game software being written for older, slower x86 chips. I think you could make people /really/ happy with a simple emulator, even if it's not fast enough for gaming.
{Oops, html mode makes aweful looking plain text)
Well, I think we're talking about the use case of laptops. With a laptop, windows power consumption may be lower than Linux /in some cases/(others swear it's the opposite), it's not the fault of Linux, just of how optimized it is for the device. Maemo's a good example of what you can do with a little optimization, and it doesn't really give much up compared to a desktop-optimized distro.
When it comes to tablets and phones, if we take the example of Maemo again, we can have a highly battery optimized Linux distro without sacrificing much in the name of 'mobile'. Windows 8 for ARM's supposed to do likewise, but we'll see how well it does.
That's basically my point.
Well, I think we're talking about the use case of laptops. With a laptop, windows power consumption may be lower than Linux /in some cases/(others swear it's the opposite), it's not the fault of Linux, just of how optimized it is for the device. Maemo's a good example of what you can do with a little optimization, and it doesn't really give much up compared to a desktop-optimized distro.
When it comes to tablets and phones, if we take the example of Maemo again, we can have a highly battery optimized Linux distro without sacrificing much in the name of 'mobile'. Windows 8 for ARM's supposed to do likewise, but we'll see how well it does.
That's basically my point.
Erm, how does Windows CE(and arm-compatible windows CE binaries) have anything to do with legacy x86 applications?
With a [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maemo]little optimization[/url], Linux can be /far/ better with power than Windows ever can.
Just because you're running a desktop-oriented distribution doesn't mean the underlying system's poor.
That's for sure - Legend of Kyrandia via ScummVM looks /amazing/ on my 800x480, 260dpi, 3.5" phone screen. Also plays great, including the audio!
If some publishing company doesn't own the distribution rights, then possibly. But most orphaned works /do/ have a publisher with some rights, even if new contracts with the actual copyright owner cannot be found, and that company might sue you.
Alternately, if the copyright owner ever reappears, he or she might sue you.
So set it to block from third-party sites and run with everything else? That'll speed up your browing a bit, increase your safety too, and you won't have to mess with it.
Alternately, I've gone with going between run scripts globally and block - Sometimes I just want to use it, sometimes I /don't/ want ths JS functionality.
I think it started being a way to make sure children got enough excercise, so they'd be fit to go into the army many years back.
Now, I think it's certainly got out of hand, though.
Aand, that proves the parent post: You're not going to be running much if /anything/ via USB on a vm host - Maby a keyboard and mouse. And you're not going to be using a /gamer/ motherboard like that as a proper server. /without/ any mfgr support. And like you said, a usb hub will solve most of your current problems.
Also, I wouldn't call a missing USB3 driver "cripping". Yea, it'll be a pain for a bit until someone makes a driver, but the rest of the device is usable, and all
Chrome better? Hah! /like/ the good old file/edit/view menues, having my own "favorites" bar etc... Just like ff3.6(made my nightly look like FF 3.6 with tabs on the bottom etc.)
I've had Chrome 11 installed for a while now, and won't use it for a variety of reasons:
1. It doesn't follow my system font configuration: I want hinted, aliased fonts(XP style). Every other program follows my settings. Not Chrome!
2. It's slow. Seriously. My firefox nightly is way faster, has hardware acceleration(I've got a Nvidia card), and doed a way better job with extensions.
3. Ugly user interface: Sorry, I don't like the "minimal" interface - Perhaps on a 1024x768 laptop it makes sense, but not with a full 1920x1080 desktop. I
4. Not compatible with my FF extensions. Sure, I know it'd be near impossible to do it, but I have FF extensions without equal in the Chrome world(Like Sqlite Manager for one)
2% of the /desktop/ market perhaps(probably more like 5% actually), but more like 50%+ of the server market(especially web servers), and at least 50% of the smartphone market(thanks to Android), 80% of the home router, webTV, etc market...
How many smartphones run WP7 vs Android? Not many.
How many routers run Win CE or something? None?
Etc.
Don't claim windows won the war when all they have is a tenative grip on the Desktop x86 PC market instead.
Yes, exactly. However, you'd need some user-interaction time if you used grub: You have to choose between the splashtop and the main OS at least.
You could minimise it by adding that function to coreboot, so while it's already waiting for del or w/e to enter Setup, it can also take say f1 for splashtop...
I think the idea is that Coreboot can directly boot Linux kernels and such, so you'd be able to have native support for your splashtop right from bios(i.e., press f9 to boot splashtop), instead of having to load a bootloader like Grub first, which would mean even faster boots.
Without it, though, it should still chainload into your OS of choice.
That is true. But for a splashtop it's fine.
'course, having some recovery stuff on the harddisk for the 95% of the time that yopu just get a virus on Windows instead... It could be useful. But a recovery CD should still be provided.
Seriously? I've had a number of thinkpads, and the only hidden partition was a recovery one(Not great, but no problem if it gets wiped). /most/ corruption(all but first few KB), it should just display a message saying just that.
Putting bios functions on a spinning disk - Or even a easily writable flash - is indeed a bad idea.
Still, I'm talking about a splashtop, not the bios etc - If it gets corrupt, you should be able to just have to stick a CD in and re-image it. Heck, for
I've found that I need to have both ALSA and Pulse setup:
ALSA for all my playback stuff, and Pulse(with some low-latency options) so I can have my microphone work in Steam via Wine.
Seriously - Pulse isn't supported, and works better than ALSA, at least with my Audigy 2 for microphone input(Probably something to do with rate conversion)!