Works great for me! I use Windowmaker and while playing full-screen, desktop switching still works without texture corruption (I get texture corruption switching desktops running in windowed mode). --
I'm not a sysadmin either, but primarily a hardware guy. I kinda snuck Linux onto my workstation without anybody actually noticing for some time. Basically I started with an XP install...and a 4 gig drive on an old Pentium II. I complained about a lack of space, and was given another drive..I installed Debian into a 1 GB partition carved off the new drive, and started to experiment to see how well I could get it to work on our exclusively Windows network.
Initially I still used Windows for most of my work. But I eventually got file and print to work with SAMBA, and the Lotus Notes client to work with WINE (using instructions from IBM's website, no less!). I found I had to upgrade WINE to a later version for Notes to work 100% correctly, I upgraded Mozilla to 1.2.1, and installed OpenOffice.org and mplayer. Almost everything else is from Debian stable.
When I was found out (boss noticed me switching desktops in Windowmaker), there wasn't much fuss. He was impressed that Notes was running, and obviously I was getting all my work done using Linux...so no problem. It's a very small company, so there weren't really network security concerns. I was able to do some other things that got their attention, like changing the login screen to feature the company logo, and access Windows sessions using rdesktop. And I was happy because I had an environment I was comfortable with.
In the long run, Linux has even touched the server side of the company. Basically being a Sun reseller, we had stuff running on a 280-R. During a period recently where we had to change T-1 providers, we had a scenario in which we had to purchase more licensing for our Checkpoint firewall on another Solaris box in order to have some extra IPs for the transfer. I suggested a Linux solution and used a four-line iptables ruleset on an Ultra5 running Debian to replace a few hundred dollars worth of licenses. That raised a few eyebrows and along with some customer inquiries about Linux on Intel, things changed course somewhat...
I became the company's first RHCE and with the coming of our second RHCE soon we are anticipating becoming a Red Hat distributor.
I hope somebody mods the parent up. Red Hat entered into an agreement to distribute Sun's Java, and Sun will act as tier 1 (and 2?) support for Red Hat sold on Sun systems. It's part of their new "low cost" initiative.
Sun is also ditching Sun Linux in favor of Red Hat, which was what Sun Linux really was anyway.
This reminds me of a quote from Wings of Honneamise:
"I suppose it could carry that, but mostly it will be full of clever gadgets designed to keep you alive -- although we may have to skimp on some of those"
For those who do not know, WoH is an anime movie about a fictitious nation's attempt to get a man into orbit for the first time.
To add to these points, I work for a small reseller that deals mostly with Sun products. We are considering Linux as a possible solution for some of our customer needs, especially now with the introduction of the LX-50 server. In the course of researching our options I signed up for a few Red Hat webinars, and mentioned in my information that we were not yet deploying Linux but were looking seriously in that direction.
A few days later I received a call from a Red Hat representative. He asked how I had liked the webinars (I liked them), what our current stance on Linux was, etc, and offered his help. Now, I realize this is just a standard sales call, but the advice given and the questions asked were the kinds of things people providing solutions for the enterprise want to hear! Red Hat seems to be doing a lot to help make Linux a viable solution for business.
Not only that but do you think an MS representative is going to call you after reading your comments on a webinar signup? Not that you'd want them to;-) Red Hat is showing a desire for our business besides "we'll take your money".
Has anybody considered that this could very well be a good thing for _new_ systems? I think something like the ol' 1.44MB floppy is always going to be around. The article mentions only USB versions are available, but that could easily change. Other posters have pointed out the inadequacy of the current floppy bus, and I agree with that. So...why not phase out the relatively dated system with something like this? If it was introduced into new systems, it could become a standard over time. I think there will always be a use for cheap magnetic media.
Or it could be like the backup-to-VHS thingie that someone gave me, collecting dust somewhere around here. But if you ask me, anything is better than floppies. 'cept VHS tape.;-)
Slashdot Mirror
It is worth mentioning that you can play Anarchy Online in Linux using CVS Cedega:
AO Linux
Works great for me! I use Windowmaker and while playing full-screen, desktop switching still works without texture corruption (I get texture corruption switching desktops running in windowed mode).
--
I'm not a sysadmin either, but primarily a hardware guy. I kinda snuck Linux onto my workstation without anybody actually noticing for some time. Basically I started with an XP install...and a 4 gig drive on an old Pentium II. I complained about a lack of space, and was given another drive..I installed Debian into a 1 GB partition carved off the new drive, and started to experiment to see how well I could get it to work on our exclusively Windows network.
Initially I still used Windows for most of my work. But I eventually got file and print to work with SAMBA, and the Lotus Notes client to work with WINE (using instructions from IBM's website, no less!). I found I had to upgrade WINE to a later version for Notes to work 100% correctly, I upgraded Mozilla to 1.2.1, and installed OpenOffice.org and mplayer. Almost everything else is from Debian stable.
When I was found out (boss noticed me switching desktops in Windowmaker), there wasn't much fuss. He was impressed that Notes was running, and obviously I was getting all my work done using Linux...so no problem. It's a very small company, so there weren't really network security concerns. I was able to do some other things that got their attention, like changing the login screen to feature the company logo, and access Windows sessions using rdesktop. And I was happy because I had an environment I was comfortable with.
In the long run, Linux has even touched the server side of the company. Basically being a Sun reseller, we had stuff running on a 280-R. During a period recently where we had to change T-1 providers, we had a scenario in which we had to purchase more licensing for our Checkpoint firewall on another Solaris box in order to have some extra IPs for the transfer. I suggested a Linux solution and used a four-line iptables ruleset on an Ultra5 running Debian to replace a few hundred dollars worth of licenses. That raised a few eyebrows and along with some customer inquiries about Linux on Intel, things changed course somewhat...
I became the company's first RHCE and with the coming of our second RHCE soon we are anticipating becoming a Red Hat distributor.
RN
I hope somebody mods the parent up. Red Hat entered into an agreement to distribute Sun's Java, and Sun will act as tier 1 (and 2?) support for Red Hat sold on Sun systems. It's part of their new "low cost" initiative.
Sun is also ditching Sun Linux in favor of Red Hat, which was what Sun Linux really was anyway.
RN
This reminds me of a quote from Wings of Honneamise:
"I suppose it could carry that, but mostly it will be full of clever gadgets designed to keep you alive -- although we may have to skimp on some of those"
For those who do not know, WoH is an anime movie about a fictitious nation's attempt to get a man into orbit for the first time.
--
RN
To add to these points, I work for a small reseller that deals mostly with Sun products. We are considering Linux as a possible solution for some of our customer needs, especially now with the introduction of the LX-50 server. In the course of researching our options I signed up for a few Red Hat webinars, and mentioned in my information that we were not yet deploying Linux but were looking seriously in that direction.
;-) Red Hat is showing a desire for our business besides "we'll take your money".
A few days later I received a call from a Red Hat representative. He asked how I had liked the webinars (I liked them), what our current stance on Linux was, etc, and offered his help. Now, I realize this is just a standard sales call, but the advice given and the questions asked were the kinds of things people providing solutions for the enterprise want to hear! Red Hat seems to be doing a lot to help make Linux a viable solution for business.
Not only that but do you think an MS representative is going to call you after reading your comments on a webinar signup? Not that you'd want them to
RN
Has anybody considered that this could very well be a good thing for _new_ systems? I think something like the ol' 1.44MB floppy is always going to be around. The article mentions only USB versions are available, but that could easily change. Other posters have pointed out the inadequacy of the current floppy bus, and I agree with that. So...why not phase out the relatively dated system with something like this? If it was introduced into new systems, it could become a standard over time. I think there will always be a use for cheap magnetic media.
;-)
Or it could be like the backup-to-VHS thingie that someone gave me, collecting dust somewhere around here. But if you ask me, anything is better than floppies. 'cept VHS tape.
RN
--