I have only used Centos for a simple server so it had a very limited amount of software on it. It was the stable version of Debian yes it had broken packages in the repository. I have not seen this perfect disto that you seem to think exists.
Well since you will have a nice block of metal inside a toothpaste tube I think it will show up. Plus the limits on the size of things like toothpaste allowed on board all kind of works against this.
"- stop switching kernel API's around every few releases, release a binary driver spec and stick to it" Too bad it probably will not happen. For some reason people seem to think that this will make companies release FOSS drivers. The fact that nVidia and ATI are still releasing closed drivers doesn't seem to matter to them. Then you have the statment that they don't have to write FOSS drivers they can just release the specs and the FOSS community will write better drivers than they can. Well ATI is releasing the specks for some of it's GPUs so I guess we will see. "- get rid of all those duplicate halfbaked projects and put all the effort into a single set of office software.
What use is to have 3 different versions of everything, with every forked and me-too project the chance of large scale end-user adoption for linux goes down." That can not be done. How do you tell someone that they can not write a program? Why would you want to?
I figure choice is a good thing. And since most of these projects are free what right do I have to tell them what to do?
"Now, the only genuine problem is when such library updates fail or are incompatible, and cause breakage of the app. However, in a properly-maintained distro that's not supposed to happen, so it shouldn't be a problem novice users (who should only be using the stable tree of a conservative distro) ever experience." So tell me what Distro doesn't have this problem? I know I have had it happen to me on OpenSuse, Ubuntu, and Debian. Just about the only place I haven't had it happen was Centos but I have not used it all that much.
"Lawbreaking != immorality." If the law is immoral then you are correct. However I and many others feel piracy is immoral. What is more to the point is if you "rent" a video using this service and then break the DRM and keep the video you are being at the very least unethical.
"Put it in an empty tube of toothpaste, a small bottle used for lotion, a remanufactured film container (not the plastic container but the metal one the film comes in) and a whole bunch of other places."
All of which will be put through an X-Ray machine. You may get away with it but I doubt it.
The problem with Li batteries is the energy density is so high. I have dead shorted alkaline batteries before and they got hot but didn't vent with flame. Li is the most common battery type for mobile devices that people will tend to carry on a plane so they are the primary target for this rule is my guess.
I doubt this has much to do with terrorism and everything to do with safety. A lithium battery in checked luggage that shorts out could be a major disaster. Take a look at what happened when some oxygen generators where not shipped properly.
If a fire happens in the passenger cabin it will be noticed and hopefully put out quickly. One in the luggage hold could be a bigger problem. When I think about just how battery/energy crazy we are getting I have to wonder if it really is a good idea. I have a six gigabyte memory card in my cellphone. When my wife and I travel we have two notebooks, two Nintendo DS's, two cell phones, an iPod video, and at least one digital camera! I wonder just how many batteries are being made a year these days?
Frankly these rules are a lot more logical than the restrictions on screwdrivers, nail files, nail clippers, and pocketknives. BTW great pictures on your blog.
The problem with spare Li batteries is that the contacts are often exposed and easy to short out. When that happens if the safety circuit doesn't kick in they will "vent" with flame.
Actually I am pretty Disto agnostic. I use OpenSuse, Centos, and Ubuntu all the time. They are all pretty good. gOS as the other review put it has some rough edges. You are just bound to like this box just because. I am judging it on it's merits as a complete end user experience. First if you read the other review you would find that to add ram you have to take off a big scary sticker that says. Warrenty void if removed. Second just how much help can you find on gOS? How many user forums, howtos, or books? Ubuntu while not my favorite distro has a much larger installed base than gOS. And yes back to the modem. It doesn't work. And unlike what some other people said they have no real intention of making it work. What they say is that they are hopping that some developers well get it working. What every Linux person of tne face of the earth has been saying for a long time is that we need to have Linux installed at the factory just like Windows. That way we know ALL the hardware works. Then you have the "Green" aspect of the PC that they are pushing. While the Motherboard is pretty low power they used a pretty bad power supply. So I would put that down as bad marketing. So for $199 you get a not so great Linux box. Not a terrible system and probably worth $199 but not great. So the low rating simply reflected the quality of the machine and not any plot by PC magazine.
"sticking more ram in" is not a "hacker tweak". Anyone can stick ram in a box - its easier than changing a windshield wiper blade. To continue the bad car analogies, its about akin to topping up the oil or brake fluid.
I can promise you that topping up the oil or brake fluid in a car is well beyond what most people feel comfortable with. Most of the people that have bought this computer are probably Linux fans. I am a long time Linux user and I am going to buy that motherboard and use it to build a home server. If they had used say Ubuntu and installed all all the codecs that you, Flash, and the Modem worked I would probably say this is a great system. As it is it is just a cheap not so good Linux box. The problem isn't with Linux it is with this PC. But for $199 it isn't bad but it isn't great.
"It also has a network card. If you're buying a "'net pc", you should at least have a half-decent net connection. Dial-up doesn't cut it any more. People move based on the availability of a decent net connection. Besides, if you really can't get anything other than dial-up, there's nothing stopping you from going through the local junk box and finding a real hardware-based modem. You should do that even with winboxen, since a winmodem sux, performance-wise. "
Man you just don't get it. When I buy a PC I expect it to work. I expect all of it to work. I don't use a dial up connection but I might want to use the modem to send a fax. Yes Winmodem do impose a cpu load that a real hardware modem doesn't but they also can be used as a telephony device when a hardware modem often can not. A good Winmodem can actually be used with a PBX system like Asterix to create an advanced home phone system. And it is just fine if you have to send a Fax to someone. As to sticking more ram into it. Yes this is a fine machine for a hacker to tweak and make into a home server or a spare machine. The problem is that isn't the market it is supposed to target. Using terms like Winboxen and Sux doesn't make it any different. This machine is far from perfect. As it stands it isn't a good machine for someone that knows nothing about Linux to take home and plug in.
Probably not. This case really isn't a threat to the power of the government. By letting this go to court they Chinese can say "Look we have the freedom to criticize our government and we have due process." Why do you think we are hearing about it?
"Why do you hate to say it?" Because you can only get it from Apple and you have fewer programs available for it. If I could build my own OS/X machine I would be happier with it but nothing in life is prefect:)
The security issues he has is Norton. My father actually does pretty well with his PC but Having to keep up with all the add on security programs is making him nuts. He wants a simpler way to check his email and do his online banking.
Another example of the problem with Windows and security. I was having dinner with some friends last night and their daughter was having computer problems. I told her to get Adaware, Spybot, and AVG just like I always do. She is a very bright young woman and is thinking about going into Civil engineering as a major. She finds using a PC complicated. She even has some friends at college that are CS majors and they are constantly fixing her PC for her. Maybe they are just doing a bad job because she is a really pretty blond and they want to help her more often or Windows PCs are just as a whole too hard to keep clean and functioning well. I don't have these problems with Windows but then I have decades of experience with computers. Just because I can keep a PC working doesn't mean that it is easy or that it is the best system for everyone. Maybe Apple is a better solution for a lot of people.
"They are going to come out with a modem driver for it, I guess that was their rationale for putting it in the box. I don't see why they did, because using it would be defeating the entire point of the machine." If you are going to put in a modem then it bloody well should work. With a working modem you could use it as a Fax machine or even an answering machine. Not to mention that not everyone has broadband.
"They didn't install flash - but doing so is super easy. The review says so but spins it in a way to make it seem like it isn't." Why didn't they install flash? If it is supposed to be an Internet based pc why not install Flash? They installed audio and video codecs so why not flash?
Yes it is a cheap PC that runs Linux. Is it a good value? Maybe. Is it a good Linux PC? maybe not. Could it be a better Linux PC? I think it could.
The lack of the modem driver just smacks of a quick attempt at a Linux box. If you bought a Windows Machine and the built in modem didn't work you would take it back. If it didn't default to the highest resolution you would have a fit.
I just don't think this is a conspiracy I just think this is a cheap, not so great Linux machine.
Or maybe this isn't that great of a Linux box. Take an honest look at it. 1. The modem doesn't work... Yes it is a Winmodem but should you build a box and put a none functioning modem in it? 2. They didn't install Flash and don't seem to have a super easy way to install Flash. 3. gOS? Yet another flavor of Ubuntu but not really Ubuntu. I would love to see this box compared to one of Dell's Ubuntu PCs. Maybe it is just not that great of a Linux Box. I am tempted to buy the motherboard from it and put it in one of the extra cases I have sitting at home. Maybe toss on Openfiler and see what if I could create a little Home server to replace my old PIII server.
Let's see. It takes me all of 20 seconds to check my phone for the cheapest gas available on my way home from work. I don't drive any extra for distance and I save $2.15 for 20 seconds of work. So exactly why should I pay that extra $2.15 instead of just checking my phone?
What is the problem? I do this all the time. My local grocery store deli takes phone orders. I often call them when I am in the store and place my order. They have a line for phone orders. I often see a huge line and I just call in my order, finish the rest of my shopping and pick up my sub. I also have a few restaurants in my cell phone that I go to often. They allow you to call ahead to reserve your place in line. I call when I leave my house and often I have no wait for a table. I thought using technology was a good thing.
Actually as much as 15 cents and sometimes within just a few blocks of one another. Yesterday I saw one place that had gas at 2.97 a gallon just a few blocks from a station that had gas at 3.17 a gallon. It is more handy when you are traveling. The gas station right on the exits tends to be pretty pricey and not every exit has a station. And of course it gives me the price and the distance to the station.
"Incidentally, a VM isn't an emulator." Well yes they kind of are. Most VMs these days don't emulate the cpu but they do tend to use emulation for the GPU, NIC, serial ports, and other hardware devices. So yes a VM does tend to also be an emulator but not a CPU emulator. But for the record my Father and I use the same bank and that bank works just fine with Firefox.
As I said I do use those programs myself or one just like them. But... No anti virus program will stop every virus. I honestly don't worry much about viruses since I don't click on.exe I get in email or install codecs from questionable websites. AVG works well. But again this is for my father. He is almost 70 and likes to travel, go hiking, and go on cruses. He just doesn't want to worry about his PC. Even with your solution to one of his problems I would still have to find software to install to replace iLife and then would still have to install iTunes for him to use his iPod with. I could set up a Windows Box that would be pretty safe and secure. I could set up a Linux Box that would be very safe and secure. Or he could buy a Mac. It is just easier to set up a secure mac and keep it secure than a Windows Box. There are Apple Stores all over the place where he can go if needs help and Apple's tech support line which I hear is much better than most Windows PC makers support lines. The thing is I think you have it backwards. He wants a new computer and a Mac will do everything he wants to do better and with less hassle than a Windows PC will. So why not get a Mac?
You can already buy video from the iTunes store so why not an over priced cup of coffee? Now if Apple can just get a GPS into the next iPhone it will be complete. You tap the starbucks icon and it finds the nearest Starbucks. You then get a menu select what you want and then you are good to go. You then get a text message when it is done. Could work for just about any restaurant. My cell phone already searches for gas by price and then can give me turn by turn directions to the station.
I have just about no experience with Elements, Gimp, photoshop, or iLife. I happen to like PaintShop Pro for the little stuff I do. I leave the big time digital image manipulation to my wife. From what I hear iLife is a joy to use for doing simple stuff. Adobe seems to make good professional tools. That doesn't mean that they make the best consumer tools and I would bet that the versions being given away with the Dell are not the latest and greatest.
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I have only used Centos for a simple server so it had a very limited amount of software on it.
It was the stable version of Debian yes it had broken packages in the repository.
I have not seen this perfect disto that you seem to think exists.
Well since you will have a nice block of metal inside a toothpaste tube I think it will show up. Plus the limits on the size of things like toothpaste allowed on board all kind of works against this.
"- stop switching kernel API's around every few releases, release a binary driver spec and stick to it"
Too bad it probably will not happen.
For some reason people seem to think that this will make companies release FOSS drivers. The fact that nVidia and ATI are still releasing closed drivers doesn't seem to matter to them.
Then you have the statment that they don't have to write FOSS drivers they can just release the specs and the FOSS community will write better drivers than they can.
Well ATI is releasing the specks for some of it's GPUs so I guess we will see.
"- get rid of all those duplicate halfbaked projects and put all the effort into a single set of office software.
What use is to have 3 different versions of everything, with every forked and me-too project the chance of large scale end-user adoption for linux goes down."
That can not be done. How do you tell someone that they can not write a program? Why would you want to?
I figure choice is a good thing. And since most of these projects are free what right do I have to tell them what to do?
"Now, the only genuine problem is when such library updates fail or are incompatible, and cause breakage of the app. However, in a properly-maintained distro that's not supposed to happen, so it shouldn't be a problem novice users (who should only be using the stable tree of a conservative distro) ever experience."
So tell me what Distro doesn't have this problem?
I know I have had it happen to me on OpenSuse, Ubuntu, and Debian.
Just about the only place I haven't had it happen was Centos but I have not used it all that much.
"Lawbreaking != immorality."
If the law is immoral then you are correct.
However I and many others feel piracy is immoral.
What is more to the point is if you "rent" a video using this service and then break the DRM and keep the video you are being at the very least unethical.
"Put it in an empty tube of toothpaste, a small bottle used for lotion, a remanufactured film container (not the plastic container but the metal one the film comes in) and a whole bunch of other places."
All of which will be put through an X-Ray machine. You may get away with it but I doubt it.
Just how would you get Sodium on to an airliner?
Every time I have seen Sodium it was stored under kerosene or some other oil.
The problem with Li batteries is the energy density is so high.
I have dead shorted alkaline batteries before and they got hot but didn't
vent with flame.
Li is the most common battery type for mobile devices that people will tend to carry on a plane so they are the primary target for this rule is my guess.
I doubt this has much to do with terrorism and everything to do with safety.
A lithium battery in checked luggage that shorts out could be a major disaster. Take a look at what happened when some oxygen generators where not shipped properly.
If a fire happens in the passenger cabin it will be noticed and hopefully put out quickly. One in the luggage hold could be a bigger problem.
When I think about just how battery/energy crazy we are getting I have to wonder if it really is a good idea.
I have a six gigabyte memory card in my cellphone. When my wife and I travel we have two notebooks, two Nintendo DS's, two cell phones, an iPod video, and at least one digital camera!
I wonder just how many batteries are being made a year these days?
Frankly these rules are a lot more logical than the restrictions on screwdrivers, nail files, nail clippers, and pocketknives.
BTW great pictures on your blog.
The problem with spare Li batteries is that the contacts are often exposed and easy to short out. When that happens if the safety circuit doesn't kick in they will "vent" with flame.
Actually I am pretty Disto agnostic. I use OpenSuse, Centos, and Ubuntu all the time.
They are all pretty good. gOS as the other review put it has some rough edges.
You are just bound to like this box just because.
I am judging it on it's merits as a complete end user experience.
First if you read the other review you would find that to add ram you have to take off a big scary sticker that says. Warrenty void if removed.
Second just how much help can you find on gOS? How many user forums, howtos, or books? Ubuntu while not my favorite distro has a much larger installed base than gOS.
And yes back to the modem. It doesn't work. And unlike what some other people said they have no real intention of making it work. What they say is that they are hopping that some developers well get it working. What every Linux person of tne face of the earth has been saying for a long time is that we need to have Linux installed at the factory just like Windows. That way we know ALL the hardware works.
Then you have the "Green" aspect of the PC that they are pushing. While the Motherboard is pretty low power they used a pretty bad power supply. So I would put that down as bad marketing.
So for $199 you get a not so great Linux box. Not a terrible system and probably worth $199 but not great. So the low rating simply reflected the quality of the machine and not any plot by PC magazine.
"sticking more ram in" is not a "hacker tweak". Anyone can stick ram in a box - its easier than changing a windshield wiper blade. To continue the bad car analogies, its about akin to topping up the oil or brake fluid.
I can promise you that topping up the oil or brake fluid in a car is well beyond what most people feel comfortable with.
Most of the people that have bought this computer are probably Linux fans. I am a long time Linux user and I am going to buy that motherboard and use it to build a home server.
If they had used say Ubuntu and installed all all the codecs that you, Flash, and the Modem worked I would probably say this is a great system.
As it is it is just a cheap not so good Linux box.
The problem isn't with Linux it is with this PC. But for $199 it isn't bad but it isn't great.
"It also has a network card. If you're buying a "'net pc", you should at least have a half-decent net connection. Dial-up doesn't cut it any more. People move based on the availability of a decent net connection. Besides, if you really can't get anything other than dial-up, there's nothing stopping you from going through the local junk box and finding a real hardware-based modem. You should do that even with winboxen, since a winmodem sux, performance-wise. "
Man you just don't get it. When I buy a PC I expect it to work. I expect all of it to work. I don't use a dial up connection but I might want to use the modem to send a fax. Yes Winmodem do impose a cpu load that a real hardware modem doesn't but they also can be used as a telephony device when a hardware modem often can not. A good Winmodem can actually be used with a PBX system like Asterix to create an advanced home phone system. And it is just fine if you have to send a Fax to someone.
As to sticking more ram into it. Yes this is a fine machine for a hacker to tweak and make into a home server or a spare machine. The problem is that isn't the market it is supposed to target.
Using terms like Winboxen and Sux doesn't make it any different.
This machine is far from perfect. As it stands it isn't a good machine for someone that knows nothing about Linux to take home and plug in.
Probably not.
This case really isn't a threat to the power of the government.
By letting this go to court they Chinese can say "Look we have the freedom to criticize our government and we have due process."
Why do you think we are hearing about it?
"Why do you hate to say it?" :)
Because you can only get it from Apple and you have fewer programs available for it.
If I could build my own OS/X machine I would be happier with it but nothing in life is prefect
The security issues he has is Norton.
My father actually does pretty well with his PC but Having to keep up with all the add on security programs is making him nuts.
He wants a simpler way to check his email and do his online banking.
Another example of the problem with Windows and security.
I was having dinner with some friends last night and their daughter was having computer problems.
I told her to get Adaware, Spybot, and AVG just like I always do. She is a very bright young woman and is thinking about going into Civil engineering as a major. She finds using a PC complicated. She even has some friends at college that are CS majors and they are constantly fixing her PC for her. Maybe they are just doing a bad job because she is a really pretty blond and they want to help her more often or Windows PCs are just as a whole too hard to keep clean and functioning well.
I don't have these problems with Windows but then I have decades of experience with computers. Just because I can keep a PC working doesn't mean that it is easy or that it is the best system for everyone.
Maybe Apple is a better solution for a lot of people.
"They are going to come out with a modem driver for it, I guess that was their rationale for putting it in the box. I don't see why they did, because using it would be defeating the entire point of the machine."
If you are going to put in a modem then it bloody well should work. With a working modem you could use it as a Fax machine or even an answering machine. Not to mention that not everyone has broadband.
"They didn't install flash - but doing so is super easy. The review says so but spins it in a way to make it seem like it isn't."
Why didn't they install flash? If it is supposed to be an Internet based pc why not install Flash? They installed audio and video codecs so why not flash?
Yes it is a cheap PC that runs Linux. Is it a good value? Maybe. Is it a good Linux PC? maybe not. Could it be a better Linux PC? I think it could.
The lack of the modem driver just smacks of a quick attempt at a Linux box. If you bought a Windows Machine and the built in modem didn't work you would take it back. If it didn't default to the highest resolution you would have a fit.
I just don't think this is a conspiracy I just think this is a cheap, not so great Linux machine.
Or maybe this isn't that great of a Linux box.
Take an honest look at it.
1. The modem doesn't work... Yes it is a Winmodem but should you build a box and put a none functioning modem in it?
2. They didn't install Flash and don't seem to have a super easy way to install Flash.
3. gOS? Yet another flavor of Ubuntu but not really Ubuntu.
I would love to see this box compared to one of Dell's Ubuntu PCs.
Maybe it is just not that great of a Linux Box.
I am tempted to buy the motherboard from it and put it in one of the extra cases I have sitting at home. Maybe toss on Openfiler and see what if I could create a little Home server to replace my old PIII server.
Let's see. It takes me all of 20 seconds to check my phone for the cheapest gas available on my way home from work. I don't drive any extra for distance and I save $2.15 for 20 seconds of work.
So exactly why should I pay that extra $2.15 instead of just checking my phone?
What is the problem?
I do this all the time. My local grocery store deli takes phone orders. I often call them when I am in the store and place my order. They have a line for phone orders. I often see a huge line and I just call in my order, finish the rest of my shopping and pick up my sub.
I also have a few restaurants in my cell phone that I go to often. They allow you to call ahead to reserve your place in line. I call when I leave my house and often I have no wait for a table.
I thought using technology was a good thing.
Actually as much as 15 cents and sometimes within just a few blocks of one another. Yesterday I saw one place that had gas at 2.97 a gallon just a few blocks from a station that had gas at 3.17 a gallon.
It is more handy when you are traveling. The gas station right on the exits tends to be pretty pricey and not every exit has a station.
And of course it gives me the price and the distance to the station.
"Incidentally, a VM isn't an emulator."
Well yes they kind of are.
Most VMs these days don't emulate the cpu but they do tend to use emulation for the GPU, NIC, serial ports, and other hardware devices.
So yes a VM does tend to also be an emulator but not a CPU emulator.
But for the record my Father and I use the same bank and that bank works just fine with Firefox.
As I said I do use those programs myself or one just like them. .exe I get in email or install codecs from questionable websites. AVG works well.
But...
No anti virus program will stop every virus. I honestly don't worry much about viruses since I don't click on
But again this is for my father. He is almost 70 and likes to travel, go hiking, and go on cruses. He just doesn't want to worry about his PC.
Even with your solution to one of his problems I would still have to find software to install to replace iLife and then would still have to install iTunes for him to use his iPod with.
I could set up a Windows Box that would be pretty safe and secure. I could set up a Linux Box that would be very safe and secure. Or he could buy a Mac.
It is just easier to set up a secure mac and keep it secure than a Windows Box.
There are Apple Stores all over the place where he can go if needs help and Apple's tech support line which I hear is much better than most Windows PC makers support lines.
The thing is I think you have it backwards.
He wants a new computer and a Mac will do everything he wants to do better and with less hassle than a Windows PC will.
So why not get a Mac?
You can already buy video from the iTunes store so why not an over priced cup of coffee?
Now if Apple can just get a GPS into the next iPhone it will be complete.
You tap the starbucks icon and it finds the nearest Starbucks. You then get a menu select what you want and then you are good to go.
You then get a text message when it is done.
Could work for just about any restaurant. My cell phone already searches for gas by price and then can give me turn by turn directions to the station.
I have just about no experience with Elements, Gimp, photoshop, or iLife.
I happen to like PaintShop Pro for the little stuff I do. I leave the big time digital image manipulation to my wife.
From what I hear iLife is a joy to use for doing simple stuff.
Adobe seems to make good professional tools. That doesn't mean that they make the best consumer tools and I would bet that the versions being given away with the Dell are not the latest and greatest.