The point of Linux is not to compete with Microsoft and Apple. The point of Linux is to give the user power and choice. That's the entire reason it uses the GPL. If we lose that, we have nothing.
And within the next 6 months to a year, the open-source ATI drivers will be quite acceptable. They're already working for the R500 and earlier (that fglrx no longer supports) in most distros.
That's fine. I just don't want to buy a new computer that has some ports that are 2.0 and some that are 3.0, so I have to remember to plug my external hard drive into only one specific port, and my mouse into one of the other ones. That'd be a horrendous pain in the ass, and is what the parent was alluding do. Lots of machines have 1.1 only ports as well as only one or two of their ports being 2.0 capable. Hope you remember which is which, otherwise your 1GB of data will copy in an hour instead of seconds.
Thanks for the info. I wasn't aware of that... I saw it looked like interesting 2D graphics that should be easily handled by most dual-core CPUs and basic GPUs that are common any more.
Look into open-source games. Nexuiz, OpenArena... some of those Quake3 based games work fine. Neverball, Neverputt, Tuxracer... and of course, all the 2D and flash games that actually make up the majority of the games that people play. Flash is probably the most prevalent gaming platform in the world.
Most of the world has a computer barely capable of 3D graphics. If you want a game like that, look into World of Goo, Braid, Mahjongg, a number of board games, or something similar. There are new games, what in the hell are you bitching about?
If your physical hardware doesn't support 3D, THERE IS NO MAGIC THAT WILL CHANGE THAT! That said, new machines are coming out with better graphics all the time. Even entry level machines have more capable GPUs in them. My main point was that it is cheap as shit to get a decently performing gaming box nowdays. You can spend less than $50 to upgrade almost any desktop to play fairly modern 3D games.
Or were you simply complaining that your integrated hardware isn't fast enough to run stuff like Crysis, and you're feeling left out? If so... tough shit. My car can't take a Corvette in a race, either. I'm not bitching that nobody makes fuel that will make my car competitive, or a race that my car will win, because that would be stupid.
RadeonHD and Radeon both have the same functionality any more. I don't know what you're doing with your system that it's slow, or what you've tried to do, but out of the box, Ubuntu runs quite peppy on even my Radeon 3200HD. Really... did you look through the link I posted?
If you're still running into problems, it could be that your distro is misconfiguring X, and you need to change something in the config.
It takes time for driver development. Good things are in the pipeline. If you don't mind compiling code, you can get them now. If you do, Ubuntu 9.10 should have some basic 3D support (up to OpenGL 1.4), but no KMS for the R600/R700 chips. You can also look at some guides for getting it going.
I'm sorry you're having bad luck with your card. I know it can be a pain. But remember, the Nvidia drivers replace the whole X graphics stack. When things move to KMS/DRI2/Gallium3D, they'll be left in the cold, where the ATI open-source drivers will work.
If you are using Windows and have a PCIe slot, you can pick up a 3xxx or 4xxx series ATI card for around the same price that will blow the 1650 out of the water. An open-box 4650 is smoking fast for only $40. If you're limited by AGP, a 3450 is still probably faster than the x1650, and definitely faster than your x1300. Lots of options available on a budget.
Seconded. I played lots of games with my 4670 at 1680x1050. Now that I have two of them, there aren't a ton of games I can't play at that res, even on decent settings (AA, and so on), and I paid less than $100 total for the pair of 'em.
And today, they're running OpenGL 1.4 and lots of games work great (OpenArena, Nexuiz, Doom3), and waiting for Gallium3D to change the X acceleration architecture so they can get GLSL and such going. Check the Phoronix forums for the current state of affairs. Things change fast in open-source land.
solar, wind and hydro each have drawbacks that nuclear doesn't. Solar, it depends on where you are, and doesn't work at night. Wind, very unpredicatable generation. It's good as a supplement, but not a main source. Hydro... that only works in certain areas with big enough rivers, and even that isn't terribly environmentally friendly. Nuclear has none of those drawbacks.
If you want a compatible upgrade, just check Newegg. An X1650pro would do a lot more for BOINC than your current card, is supported by the exact same drivers, and only runs $54 if you do the free shipping option. A "daughterboard" or even just a new chip would require a heatsink, more power, and so on... a replacement just makes more sense, especially since the newest generations of cards are multiple times more powerful than your current one.
Keep an eye on the radeon development. They just pushed OpenGL 1.4 acceleration to the Radeon driver for all ATI cards (including the current r600/700 cards, the 2xxx/3xxx/4xxx series), and it's just getting better. It'll really fly once Gallium3D drops and allows GLSL and other improvements. Most distros should be including it when they get the 2.6.32 kernels shipping with them. So, Fedora 12 alphas have it running, Ubuntu 9.10 should have 3D without the KMS for the new radeons, and things in general are just moving along smoothly. ATI has really committed to open-source drivers.
BTW, I'm just saying this as just a fan of their products and politics. I'm not an employee or paid by them in any way. If you want to see how things are going for yourself (and try out the bleeding-edge code), check out the Phoronix open-source ATI forums. The actual ATI devs post there pretty much daily.
Just FYI, I picked up a pair of Radeon 4670's for ~$50 each open-box from Newegg and a bridge for $7, and in Crossfire they perform about like a 4850 from my benchmarking and basic testing. And they don't need a secondary power cable, either. It's a cheap, easy upgrade if you have two x8/x16 PCIe slots.
So you're saying I should be free to burgle someone else if I get things stolen? After all, fair is fair. Insurance won't cover all of my losses. The police won't protect me. My choice is to either protect my life, my family and my property from possibly violent burglars, or lose them. Not a hard choice. I'm not going to give a burglar a chance to prove that they're just there to steal and not rape my wife or hurt my child. If he's invading my home, his life is forfeit. He started the violence. I will end it. The easy solution and sense of proportion comes in where he realizes that it's a bad thing to invade homes and take things that don't belong to him and hurt other people.
Besides, to your "point", the law is on my side. I have a right to be secure in my possessions and person.
I will not shoot someone on sight for trespassing. But I will shoot someone who routinely (or even once) burglarizes my home, or assaulted my wife or family. Given the very low rate of catching people for doing those kinds of things, there is very little incentive for criminals to not run rampant, unless there is the risk of them getting hurt. Why do you think that all massshootingsin recent memory have happened in "firearm free" zones?
No, you don't get the bill for his door if you walk through the empty hole. You get charged with trespassing, and that's it. Just like you don't get charged for a fence if you cross over onto someone's property. The limits are for ACTUAL DAMAGES. Not having something is not "damages".
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The point of Linux is not to compete with Microsoft and Apple. The point of Linux is to give the user power and choice. That's the entire reason it uses the GPL. If we lose that, we have nothing.
And within the next 6 months to a year, the open-source ATI drivers will be quite acceptable. They're already working for the R500 and earlier (that fglrx no longer supports) in most distros.
That's fine. I just don't want to buy a new computer that has some ports that are 2.0 and some that are 3.0, so I have to remember to plug my external hard drive into only one specific port, and my mouse into one of the other ones. That'd be a horrendous pain in the ass, and is what the parent was alluding do. Lots of machines have 1.1 only ports as well as only one or two of their ports being 2.0 capable. Hope you remember which is which, otherwise your 1GB of data will copy in an hour instead of seconds.
Thanks for the info. I wasn't aware of that... I saw it looked like interesting 2D graphics that should be easily handled by most dual-core CPUs and basic GPUs that are common any more.
If they keep compatibility with Wii games and controllers, I'd buy the new console.
Aye. Isn't IE pretty much designed to be a component and embedded in everything?
Look into open-source games. Nexuiz, OpenArena... some of those Quake3 based games work fine. Neverball, Neverputt, Tuxracer... and of course, all the 2D and flash games that actually make up the majority of the games that people play. Flash is probably the most prevalent gaming platform in the world.
As a follow-on, this is the most successful computer game, ever. Probably the most successful of ANY video game. Even my parents have played it. http://kotaku.com/391693/the-most-successful-video-game-of-all-time
Most of the world has a computer barely capable of 3D graphics. If you want a game like that, look into World of Goo, Braid, Mahjongg, a number of board games, or something similar. There are new games, what in the hell are you bitching about?
If your physical hardware doesn't support 3D, THERE IS NO MAGIC THAT WILL CHANGE THAT! That said, new machines are coming out with better graphics all the time. Even entry level machines have more capable GPUs in them. My main point was that it is cheap as shit to get a decently performing gaming box nowdays. You can spend less than $50 to upgrade almost any desktop to play fairly modern 3D games.
Or were you simply complaining that your integrated hardware isn't fast enough to run stuff like Crysis, and you're feeling left out? If so... tough shit. My car can't take a Corvette in a race, either. I'm not bitching that nobody makes fuel that will make my car competitive, or a race that my car will win, because that would be stupid.
RadeonHD and Radeon both have the same functionality any more. I don't know what you're doing with your system that it's slow, or what you've tried to do, but out of the box, Ubuntu runs quite peppy on even my Radeon 3200HD. Really... did you look through the link I posted?
If you're still running into problems, it could be that your distro is misconfiguring X, and you need to change something in the config.
It takes time for driver development. Good things are in the pipeline. If you don't mind compiling code, you can get them now. If you do, Ubuntu 9.10 should have some basic 3D support (up to OpenGL 1.4), but no KMS for the R600/R700 chips. You can also look at some guides for getting it going.
I'm sorry you're having bad luck with your card. I know it can be a pain. But remember, the Nvidia drivers replace the whole X graphics stack. When things move to KMS/DRI2/Gallium3D, they'll be left in the cold, where the ATI open-source drivers will work.
If you are using Windows and have a PCIe slot, you can pick up a 3xxx or 4xxx series ATI card for around the same price that will blow the 1650 out of the water. An open-box 4650 is smoking fast for only $40. If you're limited by AGP, a 3450 is still probably faster than the x1650, and definitely faster than your x1300. Lots of options available on a budget.
Thanks for playing, but try again. The police have no obligation to protect you. They do sometimes, but they aren't required to.
Seconded. I played lots of games with my 4670 at 1680x1050. Now that I have two of them, there aren't a ton of games I can't play at that res, even on decent settings (AA, and so on), and I paid less than $100 total for the pair of 'em.
And today, they're running OpenGL 1.4 and lots of games work great (OpenArena, Nexuiz, Doom3), and waiting for Gallium3D to change the X acceleration architecture so they can get GLSL and such going. Check the Phoronix forums for the current state of affairs. Things change fast in open-source land.
Since when have the law and common sense aligned?
solar, wind and hydro each have drawbacks that nuclear doesn't. Solar, it depends on where you are, and doesn't work at night. Wind, very unpredicatable generation. It's good as a supplement, but not a main source. Hydro... that only works in certain areas with big enough rivers, and even that isn't terribly environmentally friendly. Nuclear has none of those drawbacks.
If you want a compatible upgrade, just check Newegg. An X1650pro would do a lot more for BOINC than your current card, is supported by the exact same drivers, and only runs $54 if you do the free shipping option. A "daughterboard" or even just a new chip would require a heatsink, more power, and so on... a replacement just makes more sense, especially since the newest generations of cards are multiple times more powerful than your current one.
Keep an eye on the radeon development. They just pushed OpenGL 1.4 acceleration to the Radeon driver for all ATI cards (including the current r600/700 cards, the 2xxx/3xxx/4xxx series), and it's just getting better. It'll really fly once Gallium3D drops and allows GLSL and other improvements. Most distros should be including it when they get the 2.6.32 kernels shipping with them. So, Fedora 12 alphas have it running, Ubuntu 9.10 should have 3D without the KMS for the new radeons, and things in general are just moving along smoothly. ATI has really committed to open-source drivers.
BTW, I'm just saying this as just a fan of their products and politics. I'm not an employee or paid by them in any way. If you want to see how things are going for yourself (and try out the bleeding-edge code), check out the Phoronix open-source ATI forums. The actual ATI devs post there pretty much daily.
Just FYI, I picked up a pair of Radeon 4670's for ~$50 each open-box from Newegg and a bridge for $7, and in Crossfire they perform about like a 4850 from my benchmarking and basic testing. And they don't need a secondary power cable, either. It's a cheap, easy upgrade if you have two x8/x16 PCIe slots.
So you're saying I should be free to burgle someone else if I get things stolen? After all, fair is fair. Insurance won't cover all of my losses. The police won't protect me. My choice is to either protect my life, my family and my property from possibly violent burglars, or lose them. Not a hard choice. I'm not going to give a burglar a chance to prove that they're just there to steal and not rape my wife or hurt my child. If he's invading my home, his life is forfeit. He started the violence. I will end it. The easy solution and sense of proportion comes in where he realizes that it's a bad thing to invade homes and take things that don't belong to him and hurt other people.
Don't be stupid. The Supreme Court has specifically said the police are not indebted to protect you. If you think otherwise, you're a moron.
Besides, to your "point", the law is on my side. I have a right to be secure in my possessions and person.
I will not shoot someone on sight for trespassing. But I will shoot someone who routinely (or even once) burglarizes my home, or assaulted my wife or family. Given the very low rate of catching people for doing those kinds of things, there is very little incentive for criminals to not run rampant, unless there is the risk of them getting hurt. Why do you think that all mass shootings in recent memory have happened in "firearm free" zones?
But if a thief stole something from your car and got caught, he is not the one who would be forced to buy the locks. That's the difference.
Kinda like what's happening here in the US with our response to terrorism...
No, you don't get the bill for his door if you walk through the empty hole. You get charged with trespassing, and that's it. Just like you don't get charged for a fence if you cross over onto someone's property. The limits are for ACTUAL DAMAGES. Not having something is not "damages".
Hell, it's not even that. It's making him pay for new locks because he pointed out that they didn't have any.