You seem to be forgetting that Mandrake has a developement version of their distro - "Cooker". This is a work in progress towards their next distro. Much like Rawhide. I personally believe that Mandrake and Redhat are starting to diverge from Redhat 6.0 - the next version of Mandrake will be much different. But of course - they're always going to snarf the best bits out of the next Redhat to add into their distro - but then Redhat can do the same.
Lothar, DiskDrake, Panoramix, KOffice funding the list goes on. How can anyone not love a company that puts it's own money into producing GPL'd software?
Hmm... just because it's Linux doesn't stop it being administered. I admit that I have the root passwords in my current X-ray astronomy job (for Solaris as well as Linux) - but in my last job the root passwords to the Linux boxes were just as secret as those for the Solaris and Digital Unix boxes.
I keep seeing KDE people using "Wizards" for easy setup and such. I have a problem with this - isn't "Wizard" in this context a trademark or copyright of Microsoft? Seems like KDE people are setting themselves up as Cannon Fodder of Microsofts lawyers here if they continue to brazenly steal Microsoft's "ideas" and trademarks.
As an X-ray astronomer myself I'd like to add that one of the main reasons for Linux being popular in our field is CHEAPNESS. I'm originally from the UK - where the computer systems are governed by a central organisation called Starlink (http://star-www.rl.ac.uk). They've been the subject of many budget cut backs that means that the previously supported platforms Solaris and Digital Unix are fast becoming too expensive to maintain.
So Linux came along - cheap hardware - free OS - easy portability and it's Unix enough that for users of DU or Solaris it can be picked up quickly.
Now most of the work I'm doing is on Linux - alot of the software developement for XMM (ESA's companion to Chandra) is being done on Linux (including work I am doing myself).
So no - as someone else pointed out - Linux in astronomy is nothing new - I'm betting on Linux being the number one operating system used in Astronomy - simply because that area is populated by hackers and the computer savvy, exactly the kind of people who made Linux what it is today.
>Yes, but when was the last time they launched a shuttle into space, or sent probes to mars, etc?
Actually ESA is involved in space probes to Mars (MarsExpress with ISAS). Don't think that the shuttle = good. Actually it's a pretty publicity exercise. After all you can get people into Space cheaper (i.e. for the Space Station with rockets). Want to get satellites into orbit - you don't need people to do that. Use rockets again. Once the space station is online, Shuttles will seem pretty pointless you'll see. Just an expensive way of ferrying people around.
>They don't seem to be quite as high profile as NASA, nor as active. Yes, there have been some experiments done by the ESA, but not on the scale of NASA.
Ahem - OK - so NASA just launched AXAF (sorry Chandra) - but ESA is launching an equally big and important (not to mention expensive) X-ray telescope called XMM in December. Also INTEGRAL will be the pioneering Gamma-Ray telescope in the next Millenium. Planck is the next COBE (but much much better), and will hopefully reveal the mysteries of the early universe. Rosetta will be rendezvousing with a comet (cool!). Hipparcos has provided us with the most accurate astrometric information available (astrometry == measuring the position of stars on the sky). Giotto rendezvoused with Halley's comet and another comet.
Ignorance and (most likely American Arrogance) has lead to you believe that ESA don't do anything. In actual fact although they are involved in less missions - those missions they are involved in are of the highest quality on par with the top NASA missions.
For the record I work on the XMM mission. NASA has a minority interest in that satellite - and as such pay my wages. ESA and NASA work together very well, (cf the SOHO mission) and any cut in NASA's budget would devastate the space community.
100 quid a month is pretty heavy use. I used to pay around 30 quid a month and I was on the Internet every night - you just get used to using it sparingly (download emails - hang up - read and reply - phone up again - upload).
Out of interest MSN are just jumping on the bandwagon of become-free-or-die. My own personal experience as a mailing list owner is that people are leaving AOL and the like in swarms to the new free ISPs such as Freeserve (the original and biggest).
Something new has also happened in the UK. A Telco has set up a ISP and are giving free calls to their ISP service if you sign up to use them for your phone calls instead of British Telecom (BT). There called screaming.net if anyone's interested.
Of course I recently moved to California so I now get my ISP calls free - and have a dial in via my office - so it's 100% free for me... nice.:o)
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You seem to be forgetting that Mandrake has a developement version of their distro - "Cooker". This is a work in progress towards their next distro. Much like Rawhide. I personally believe that Mandrake and Redhat are starting to diverge from Redhat 6.0 - the next version of Mandrake will be much different. But of course - they're always going to snarf the best bits out of the next Redhat to add into their distro - but then Redhat can do the same.
Lothar, DiskDrake, Panoramix, KOffice funding the list goes on. How can anyone not love a company that puts it's own money into producing GPL'd software?
> you suddenly OWN that magical ROOT password
Hmm... just because it's Linux doesn't stop it being administered. I admit that I have the root passwords in my current X-ray astronomy job (for Solaris as well as Linux) - but in my last job the root passwords to the Linux boxes were just as secret as those for the Solaris and Digital Unix boxes.
I keep seeing KDE people using "Wizards" for easy setup and such. I have a problem with this - isn't "Wizard" in this context a trademark or copyright of Microsoft? Seems like KDE people are setting themselves up as Cannon Fodder of Microsofts lawyers here if they continue to brazenly steal Microsoft's "ideas" and trademarks.
As an X-ray astronomer myself I'd like to add that one of the main reasons for Linux being popular in our field is CHEAPNESS. I'm originally from the UK - where the computer systems are governed by a central organisation called Starlink (http://star-www.rl.ac.uk). They've been the subject of many budget cut backs that means that the previously supported platforms Solaris and Digital Unix are fast becoming too expensive to maintain.
So Linux came along - cheap hardware - free OS - easy portability and it's Unix enough that for users of DU or Solaris it can be picked up quickly.
Now most of the work I'm doing is on Linux - alot of the software developement for XMM (ESA's companion to Chandra) is being done on Linux (including work I am doing myself).
So no - as someone else pointed out - Linux in astronomy is nothing new - I'm betting on Linux being the number one operating system used in Astronomy - simply because that area is populated by hackers and the computer savvy, exactly the kind of people who made Linux what it is today.
>Yes, but when was the last time they launched a shuttle into space, or sent probes to mars, etc?
Actually ESA is involved in space probes to Mars (MarsExpress with ISAS). Don't think that the shuttle = good. Actually it's a pretty publicity exercise. After all you can get people into Space cheaper (i.e. for the Space Station with rockets). Want to get satellites into orbit - you don't need people to do that. Use rockets again. Once the space station is online, Shuttles will seem pretty pointless you'll see. Just an expensive way of ferrying people around.
>They don't seem to be quite as high profile as NASA, nor as active. Yes, there have been some experiments done by the ESA, but not on the scale of NASA.
Ahem - OK - so NASA just launched AXAF (sorry Chandra) - but ESA is launching an equally big and important (not to mention expensive) X-ray telescope called XMM in December. Also INTEGRAL will be the pioneering Gamma-Ray telescope in the next Millenium. Planck is the next COBE (but much much better), and will hopefully reveal the mysteries of the early universe. Rosetta will be rendezvousing with a comet (cool!). Hipparcos has provided us with the most accurate astrometric information available (astrometry == measuring the position of stars on the sky). Giotto rendezvoused with Halley's comet and another comet.
Ignorance and (most likely American Arrogance) has lead to you believe that ESA don't do anything. In actual fact although they are involved in less missions - those missions they are involved in are of the highest quality on par with the top NASA missions.
For the record I work on the XMM mission. NASA has a minority interest in that satellite - and as such pay my wages. ESA and NASA work together very well, (cf the SOHO mission) and any cut in NASA's budget would devastate the space community.
100 quid a month is pretty heavy use. I used to pay around 30 quid a month and I was on the Internet every night - you just get used to using it sparingly (download emails - hang up - read and reply - phone up again - upload).
:o)
Out of interest MSN are just jumping on the bandwagon of become-free-or-die. My own personal experience as a mailing list owner is that people are leaving AOL and the like in swarms to the new free ISPs such as Freeserve (the original and biggest).
Something new has also happened in the UK. A Telco has set up a ISP and are giving free calls to their ISP service if you sign up to use them for your phone calls instead of British Telecom (BT). There called screaming.net if anyone's interested.
Of course I recently moved to California so I now get my ISP calls free - and have a dial in via my office - so it's 100% free for me... nice.