"Making software free, but only for folks with enough money to buy first class hardware is an interesting concept. Of course 5 years from now that will be different, but 5 years from now everyone will be running free GNU on their 200 MIPS, 64M SPARCstation-5."
- Andy Tanenbaum, Jan 30, 1992
"Maybe. But by then, the 386/486 will probably be where the PC is now: everyone will have one and they'll be dirt cheap. The timing will be about right. In which case Linux will fit right in, wouldn't you say?"
- Kevin Brown, Jan 31, 1992
"If you write programs for linux today, you shouldn't have too many surprises when you just recompile them for Hurd in the 21st century."
- Linus Torvalds, Jan 31, 1992
Re:Wow... a *BSD ported to x86, that's impressive.
on
Darwin Booting On x86
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· Score: 2
Folks,
The cool part is that Apple didn't do this port, community volunteers did! Lots of great work by Naoki Hamada, hacking away in Japan, and tons of other participants. This is a demonstration of the strength of the open source approach. Don't let your anti-Apple bias blur the message here.:-)
I'm pretty sure that was the point he was trying to make -- a developer sells a copy of the GPL'ed code to you, you *do* have the right to resell it, and not return $$$ to the original author.
A friend of mine has a WinCE, and he's a serious Windows fan, but I think even he uses the WinCE more as a toy than as a tool. The WinCE just doesn't provide the same useful user experience as the Palm (from what I've seen, YMMV).
Speaking as an ex-Franklin user and a current Palm user, the transition to Palm was a lot less painful than I thought, and I now end up using the Palm all the time. I organize info on the Palm in pretty much the same way I did with the Franklin, but it's significantly more fluid now. Errors are easier to correct, information is easier to find, and my notes are infinitely more readable.:-)
The built-in desktop software that comes with the Palm is great for the same reason that the Palm is great -- it's simple, and it does just what's necessary and no more. What I personally like about the desktop software is that it's essentially a view into the same data I keep on the Palm, organized in the same fashion, presented in the same manner. It's a seamless information space.
When I'm at my desk (Windows box for client development, Linux and Solaris for server development, all on the same desk), I use the (Windows-based) desktop to track work activites and todos along with the usual phone number/address book usage. I sync up as a matter of course when I'm leaving the office for an extended amount of time, and I can pick up where I left off with that data using the Palm -- without any jarring feeling of transition. (Unlike getting Word documents into and out of my laptop, which is an explicit act of will...) It's great to pull of relevent data about the project in a meeting, to take brief notes, and have it all back at my desktop pretty much instantly when I return to the office. When I'm offline and I need to send an email, I can write and address it on the Palm (a III) and forget about it. Next time I hotsync, the email is automatically transmitted. That's pretty darn convenient.
A GNOME-based desktop package (using Pyrite or something similar for connectivity) would be great! True wireless connectivity wouldn't hurt either, but I can wait for that.:-)
I'm using a Dell Inspiron 7000 with a Rage Pro LT chipset for portable 3D development. It's not as a good as a desktop with highest end 3D, but it's very usable. Perhaps Dell will build portable units with ATI's next generation chipset soon.
Game I'm currently playing on it: Dungeon Keeper 2
Sure you don't have to run Office 2000...unless you want to open documents created by someone with Office 2000. Changing file formats forces users to upgrade to even more bloated ware.
Slashdot Mirror
Awesome quotes:
"Making software free, but only for folks with enough money to buy first class hardware is an interesting concept. Of course 5 years from now that will be different, but 5 years from now everyone will be running free GNU on their 200 MIPS, 64M SPARCstation-5."
- Andy Tanenbaum, Jan 30, 1992
"Maybe. But by then, the 386/486 will probably be where the PC is now: everyone will have one and they'll be dirt cheap. The timing will be about right. In which case Linux will fit right in, wouldn't you say?"
- Kevin Brown, Jan 31, 1992
"If you write programs for linux today, you shouldn't have too many surprises when you just recompile them for Hurd in the 21st century."
- Linus Torvalds, Jan 31, 1992
Folks,
:-)
The cool part is that Apple didn't do this port, community volunteers did! Lots of great work by Naoki Hamada, hacking away in Japan, and tons of other participants. This is a demonstration of the strength of the open source approach. Don't let your anti-Apple bias blur the message here.
Jason
Absolutely! One of the reasons I like Python so much is that working with it is like working with ObjC.
I'd like to start hacking with these on NeXT hardware. Are they available?
Thanks!
Absolutely -- there needs to be a reason for hacking ham radio again. Wearable computing perhaps... :-)
Ok, no Java, but you might take a look at Python. :-)
What a fascinating suggestion. Bruce Sterling, are you listening? :-)
I'm pretty sure that was the point he was trying to make -- a developer sells a copy of the GPL'ed code to you, you *do* have the right to resell it, and not return $$$ to the original author.
Lord British is still at work creating Ultimas -- Ultima Ascension is nearing completion and looks incredible. Watch for it *this Christmas*!
:-)
_Hackers_ is one of my all time favorite books, glad to see it positively reviewed here.
Jason Asbahr
Origin Systems, Inc.
Ultima Online 2
Define "superior". :-)
That was using Zilla, a cool little program that predated SETI and Distributed.net by five years or more. Still wasn't automagic, however.
A friend of mine has a WinCE, and he's a serious Windows fan, but I think even he uses the WinCE more as a toy than as a tool. The WinCE just doesn't provide the same useful user experience as the Palm (from what I've seen, YMMV).
:-)
:-)
Speaking as an ex-Franklin user and a current Palm user, the transition to Palm was a lot less painful than I thought, and I now end up using the Palm all the time. I organize info on the Palm in pretty much the same way I did with the Franklin, but it's significantly more fluid now. Errors are easier to correct, information is easier to find, and my notes are infinitely more readable.
The built-in desktop software that comes with the Palm is great for the same reason that the Palm is great -- it's simple, and it does just what's necessary and no more. What I personally like about the desktop software is that it's essentially a view into the same data I keep on the Palm, organized in the same fashion, presented in the same manner. It's a seamless information space.
When I'm at my desk (Windows box for client development, Linux and Solaris for server development, all on the same desk), I use the (Windows-based) desktop to track work activites and todos along with the usual phone number/address book usage. I sync up as a matter of course when I'm leaving the office for an extended amount of time, and I can pick up where I left off with that data using the Palm -- without any jarring feeling of transition. (Unlike getting Word documents into and out of my laptop, which is an explicit act of will...) It's great to pull of relevent data about the project in a meeting, to take brief notes, and have it all back at my desktop pretty much instantly when I return to the office. When I'm offline and I need to send an email, I can write and address it on the Palm (a III) and forget about it. Next time I hotsync, the email is automatically transmitted. That's pretty darn convenient.
A GNOME-based desktop package (using Pyrite or something similar for connectivity) would be great! True wireless connectivity wouldn't hurt either, but I can wait for that.
I'm using a Dell Inspiron 7000 with a Rage Pro LT chipset for portable 3D development. It's not as a good as a desktop with highest end 3D, but it's very usable. Perhaps Dell will build portable units with ATI's next generation chipset soon.
Game I'm currently playing on it: Dungeon Keeper 2
:-)
Sure you don't have to run Office 2000...unless you want to open documents created by someone with Office 2000. Changing file formats forces users to upgrade to even more bloated ware.
Slackware on a 386 with 6 megs of RAM made a fine and stable server, firewall, and router for me. Linux is not limited to desktop workstations!