Is there anyone out there who mantains a list of countries, cities, companies, &c who have made the move to Linux? If not...well, it would be useful for making Open Source pitches to prospective switch-ers in government, business, and the like. To be sure, Munich isn't alone, but how much company does the city have? I imagine something like one of those push-pin maps, sorted by distro, perhaps, and by the size of the switch (citywide, countrywide, corporate). Would be neat. Does it exist?
Seamless transition from 68000 to PowerPC? You must be joking. The 'transition' models, i.e. the PowerMac/Performa 5200-53xx and 6200-6320 are utter crap, and I should know : I have about 20 of them in my basement right now.
Some of the *cough cough* bright bulbs over there at Apple decided that it would be a good idea to stick the PPC 603 on an LC 475 mainboard. The things can't even do hardware handshaking for serial ports, except on the last revision of the board. So good luck using external ANYTHING with them...you can't have a modem FASTER THAN 9600 BPS!
If you have an internal ethernet card, the printer port simply won't work.
Any article that contains the phrase "shrieking geeks" is not criticism in the constructive sense. It is bitching. Plain and simple. She wants help but she wants to be a bitch too? No thanks. She can get screwed.
If you can get past a single, arguably inflammatory comment, you'll notice that the article is an in-depth treatment of the trials and tribulations for a newbie installing Linux on ancient hardware. It's not bitching--it's an attempt to qualify an experience by benchmarks (i.e. the windows experience) that you may not like but, like it or not, the world works by. That the experience didn't go so well is by no means her fault. In fact--she's right! Installation and use should be easy and to stop reading or discount the article on the weight of a jibe like that shows a tad bit of running from reality. If the Linux community cannot respond to criticism like this (and I shudder to think of this apparently terrible insult when compared to some of the incendiary comments thrown at MS these days) I fear for its future.
What nonsense. If people have such thin skins then they are hardly well adapted for this world.
Who has the thin skin, I wonder? Is it the confused newbie, the one who has concern for the future of Linux, or the one who gets hot and bothered by a harmless adjective? Hmmmm....
You have provided a fabulous example of why, at this rate, Linux will NEVER become a mainstream OS, and will never recieve the benefits of being one.
If developers (or users, for that matter) mantain a screw-the-newbies attitude, the OS is going to reflect that. How can an OS be user-friendly and easy to install if the people who are its (few, comparatively) advocates figure that the people who don't "get it" can just go back to Windows.
Imagine what the situation would be like if the government stopped giving Social Security benefits to people who weren't grateful for it (protesters? (; ). Imagine Ari Fliescher saying,
"Clearly, they don't understand what a great deal they're getting so they can just pack their bags and MOVE OUT! If they're going to be so rude lets keep these ungrateful brats away from the United States."
Of course, it's an extreme and rather amusing example, if I do say so myself. But regardless of the aptness of the comparison I find your comments strange for a person who evidently uses Linux and probably would benefit from and be pleased by improvements to the OS that undeniably would come with mainstream acceptance.
It's like all those lower-middle-class republicans voting against their own economic interests because they're pro-life or something social like that. It doesn't make sense to vote yourself into poverty over an ideal like that. Vote yourself into prosperity and then do your lobbying.
Oops. I couldn't help it. I slipped..I find it hard to avoid political commentary.
Another thing that gave me pause about your post is the whole "gift" idea. It's great that the community has put so much work into a product. But if the community can't take criticism the product (or do you consider it a "gift," and not a product?) won't improve very quickly and won't gain a user base so fast either. You also fail to notice that she PAID for the software she got. Notice the comments about the box for Linux for Windows? Nice gift the community's given her of functionality at a reasonable price, eh? Redhat Professional? SuSE Professional? Lycoris? That doesn't look like much of a gift to me. It looks like a big hole in her pocket.
Not to mention that your post is far more pugnacious (and far less helpful) than her article, complete with "shrieking geeks" reference. If you look in context, she's not being so much accusatory as you are. One would think that slashdot readers, from what I see in the comments, would be used to such talk (to the point of thinking that it's fairly benign!) by now. Furthermore, her article is actually very productive. Imagine--what a newbie she is! In fact, I'd make the case for her being a perfect newbie! She documents meticulously what she wants out of the operating system, how it failed to meet her needs and, what's more, what should be changed! Not to mention that she has seemingly inhuman persistence! If I were mandrake, or redhat, or Lycoris, (or...ad nauseam) I'd hire her away from her current job as a tester. Or maybe not...but you get the idea. Your comments just serve to insult and degrade the user base which is exactly what Linux doesn't need.
Built-in Bluetooth(TM) technology allows you to pair your CLIÉ(TM) handheld with other Bluetooth(TM) compatible peripheral devices. HotSync® your CLIÉ(TM) handheld with a Bluetooth(TM) enabled VAIO® PC, exchange data or play games between CLIÉ(TM) handhelds using Bluetooth(TM), or connect to the Internet via mobile phone with built-in Bluetooth(TM) -- all wirelessly (Bluetooth(TM) compatible peripherals sold separately and internet service provider required)! These are only a few of the possibilities.
The "nipple" is not Toshiba's. Theirs is a fine (and green) imitation. The original was concieved of in IBM's Almaden Labs and went into IBM laptops very early on. I can think of a time when a repairman thought the trackpoint couldn't possibly have been a pointing device.
"It's to hold the screen up!" He said. (:
I don't understand how people live with touch/trackpads. The trackpoint (because that's what it's called) is infinitely superior in my mind.
It's not just asian countries. A north american only needs look so far as...south america. While I can't find the article, there has been more than one south american country considering the switch to open source or actually doing it.
These are the same folks who created the interesting (depending on how you see it...) Silo home that sold on eBay recently--since it has a full airstrip on the property, it would seem that there would be no better place for the paranoid maniac who bought the silo to put a shiny new plane-home. (;
Slate, the MSN-run news-ish site, ran a piece about the impending demise of TiVo on October 9th. It can be found here. I found it a fine read, with some interesting points.
Slashdot Mirror
Is there anyone out there who mantains a list of countries, cities, companies, &c who have made the move to Linux? If not...well, it would be useful for making Open Source pitches to prospective switch-ers in government, business, and the like. To be sure, Munich isn't alone, but how much company does the city have? I imagine something like one of those push-pin maps, sorted by distro, perhaps, and by the size of the switch (citywide, countrywide, corporate). Would be neat. Does it exist?
Seamless transition from 68000 to PowerPC? You must be joking. The 'transition' models, i.e. the PowerMac/Performa 5200-53xx and 6200-6320 are utter crap, and I should know : I have about 20 of them in my basement right now.
Some of the *cough cough* bright bulbs over there at Apple decided that it would be a good idea to stick the PPC 603 on an LC 475 mainboard. The things can't even do hardware handshaking for serial ports, except on the last revision of the board. So good luck using external ANYTHING with them...you can't have a modem FASTER THAN 9600 BPS!
If you have an internal ethernet card, the printer port simply won't work.
There's more, but I won't bother...
You have provided a fabulous example of why, at this rate, Linux will NEVER become a mainstream OS, and will never recieve the benefits of being one.
If developers (or users, for that matter) mantain a screw-the-newbies attitude, the OS is going to reflect that. How can an OS be user-friendly and easy to install if the people who are its (few, comparatively) advocates figure that the people who don't "get it" can just go back to Windows.
Imagine what the situation would be like if the government stopped giving Social Security benefits to people who weren't grateful for it (protesters? (; ). Imagine Ari Fliescher saying,
"Clearly, they don't understand what a great deal they're getting so they can just pack their bags and MOVE OUT! If they're going to be so rude lets keep these ungrateful brats away from the United States."
Of course, it's an extreme and rather amusing example, if I do say so myself. But regardless of the aptness of the comparison I find your comments strange for a person who evidently uses Linux and probably would benefit from and be pleased by improvements to the OS that undeniably would come with mainstream acceptance.
It's like all those lower-middle-class republicans voting against their own economic interests because they're pro-life or something social like that. It doesn't make sense to vote yourself into poverty over an ideal like that. Vote yourself into prosperity and then do your lobbying.
Oops. I couldn't help it. I slipped..I find it hard to avoid political commentary.
Another thing that gave me pause about your post is the whole "gift" idea. It's great that the community has put so much work into a product. But if the community can't take criticism the product (or do you consider it a "gift," and not a product?) won't improve very quickly and won't gain a user base so fast either. You also fail to notice that she PAID for the software she got. Notice the comments about the box for Linux for Windows? Nice gift the community's given her of functionality at a reasonable price, eh? Redhat Professional? SuSE Professional? Lycoris? That doesn't look like much of a gift to me. It looks like a big hole in her pocket.
Not to mention that your post is far more pugnacious (and far less helpful) than her article, complete with "shrieking geeks" reference. If you look in context, she's not being so much accusatory as you are. One would think that slashdot readers, from what I see in the comments, would be used to such talk (to the point of thinking that it's fairly benign!) by now. Furthermore, her article is actually very productive. Imagine--what a newbie she is! In fact, I'd make the case for her being a perfect newbie! She documents meticulously what she wants out of the operating system, how it failed to meet her needs and, what's more, what should be changed! Not to mention that she has seemingly inhuman persistence! If I were mandrake, or redhat, or Lycoris, (or...ad nauseam) I'd hire her away from her current job as a tester. Or maybe not...but you get the idea. Your comments just serve to insult and degrade the user base which is exactly what Linux doesn't need.
Phew. That was intense. Have a nice day.
Built-in Bluetooth(TM) technology allows you to pair your CLIÉ(TM) handheld with other Bluetooth(TM) compatible peripheral devices. HotSync® your CLIÉ(TM) handheld with a Bluetooth(TM) enabled VAIO® PC, exchange data or play games between CLIÉ(TM) handhelds using Bluetooth(TM), or connect to the Internet via mobile phone with built-in Bluetooth(TM) -- all wirelessly (Bluetooth(TM) compatible peripherals sold separately and internet service provider required)! These are only a few of the possibilities.
Good(TM) to(TM) know(TM) that(TM) there's(TM) a(TM) hardware(TM) review(TM) site(TM) out(TM) there(TM) that(TM) has(TM) some shred of(TM) journalistic(TM) integrity!(TM)(TM)(TM)(TM)(TM)(TM)(TM)
The "nipple" is not Toshiba's. Theirs is a fine (and green) imitation. The original was concieved of in IBM's Almaden Labs and went into IBM laptops very early on. I can think of a time when a repairman thought the trackpoint couldn't possibly have been a pointing device.
"It's to hold the screen up!" He said. (:
I don't understand how people live with touch/trackpads. The trackpoint (because that's what it's called) is infinitely superior in my mind.
Welcome to the world of "hardware review" sites. Bias is their collective middle name.
It's not just asian countries. A north american only needs look so far as...south america. While I can't find the article, there has been more than one south american country considering the switch to open source or actually doing it.
These are the same folks who created the interesting (depending on how you see it...) Silo home that sold on eBay recently--since it has a full airstrip on the property, it would seem that there would be no better place for the paranoid maniac who bought the silo to put a shiny new plane-home. (;
Slate, the MSN-run news-ish site, ran a piece about the impending demise of TiVo on October 9th. It can be found here. I found it a fine read, with some interesting points.