> Looking at the updates directory of core 3 > there are gigs of updates in there.
So? After clean install is like 200MB download for common system (when you do something like install every package it will be more of course) - this is something unusual? They actually are fixing things so there are updates. Duh.
As you obviously need to compare to XP - with XP you *need* (yes, you certainly need to do it) download like 200MB service pack.
Also keep in mind that XP is bare system (yeah useless WMP, MSIE, MSOE, Wordpad, Sol), installed Fedora is fully equiped workstation for lots of activities.
So it is a draw here.
0:0
> It didn't even install on my nVidia nForce > system because of bugs in the SATA drivers in > the 2.9 kernel. (It's fixed in 2.10 I believe.)
Well it is hard to judge here because I don't understand you quite well - next time you write about some imaginary bug in kernel 2.9 (hint: current kernel is 2.6) please also post URL to Bugzilla entry and if you don't find such entry - open one for you. How you wish to get things fixed if nobody knows about them?
As for me I've just installed contrib RPM packages with nvidia driver and it worked without any further tweaking needet (but I've tweaked it anyway - I like to tweak).
Also a draw here since no arguments were given.
0:0
> Installing the nVidia drivers (because shock > horror I wanted 3D) froze then system on boot > because of the rhgb red hat graphical boot > thingy.
I haven't noticed that. But that may happen - nvidia module conflicts with vesafb sometimes, but that is stated in README. Also I will put a draw here. My answer will be "I've installed Windows as default and in 5 seconds it was compromised by some worm from Internet" - like I should know about it.:)
0:0 still...
> The switch to udev caught me out here.
udev is actually very nice if you manage to get how it works.:)
(...)
> I also had weird sound corruption in some > programs which I tracked down to arts.
Well arts sucks.:)
> Turning the sound down in that sorted it but I > can't find any kind of a config file, let alone > a GUI application that sets a sound level which > survives a reboot. I sorted it my adding an > entry in rs.local.
Hmm. Well I don't know, my Fedora does store sound mixer state on shutdown.
> Also why on earth don't they compile NTFS > reading into the Kernel. (Captive NTFS would > also be nice as an option...)
Well this is due to legal problems with NTFS. I belive in US it is not compatible with GPL (due to patents or smth.) so it is not free (like in speech). Fedora is distributed for free (as in beer) also RH belives in free/openess so they won't distribute and base their distro on non-free stuff.
But it is fairly easy to get NTFS support in FC3. Try google around it.
> Sadly your average tech fiddler on the street > would have given up with this pallava and > installed Windows.
Well. No. I consider myself an average tech fiddler. And considering situations like yours - f.e. if I would somehow get unsupported (by Linux) audio card I would rather buy new supported one than use Windows.:)
And it is not about zealotry that I say "Linux is the best, Windoze suxxors". Nothing like that. I just like running Linux - it suits me. Also I like to be free which Linux offer me. Probably Windows is better in some ways but I would not sacrifice my freedom for it... It is what it all is about - freedom.
> XP Installation went without a hitch and worked > perfectly first time.
Oh! Here I would give 1 point to Linux. Man Windows installer sucks ass... I know it is suitable to do home system install on one computer. But this installer can't do anything. F.e. it cannot do part
No, it does and probably will not support MP3, DVD decss and other stuff... It is due this stuff is non compatible with GPL/non-free (at least in US where Red Hat resides). And Fedora as given away for free is free (as in speech) itself. Use Ogg instead.
I'am not talking about movie DVD's. Just plain DVD with data. I own DVD burner and right now I use growzisofs to do backups with it. But I remember some time when I bought my hardware I was looking for burning software and came across something like cdrecord-ProDVD which required me to get somekind of license (it was certainly not free as in speech). So I mean plain DVD burning may be free, but there are features that you can do with your burner but those features are not free...
Yes I agree with you. But on the other hand I *need* computer to do things for me (that is my job) and if I can't get those things free (as in speech) it is good that at least I can get it free as a beer.
Well. No. I've been using Linux for a while now and I find it somewhat cool that comercial company noted Linux presence and included an *option* (note: option - you can use it or you can ditch it) to get along with that.
All I want to say that I am Linux user and I find it quite good that Nero move... Also probably most of other Linux users do. Please don't judge Linux users after some tight group that shouts the loudest.:)
Probably most of Linux users are pragmatic like me.
>I misread this the first time through and thought >it was saying a free version was available for >Linux -- and didn't see the part about you had to > have a _registered_Windows_version_.
That is untrue, you only need to have serial key which you f.e. can get when you buy new BOXED CDRW set with Nero 6 included... You don't need any Windows.
With plain CDR writer - no. But with modern (I can be wrong here) DVD burning software you have some patented/non-free stuff going on... So basically you can't do some stuff with k3b... And Nero (keep in mind that is my assumption) will do this and it will be legal.
Well nobody really buys Nero tools... Usually you get them along with burning (CDRW/DVDR) hardware as an OEM... So this is kind of cool - I haven't get a grip on that yet - you buy hardware and actually get a working software (? I haven't tried it yet) for Linux. For me it is something unusual... Point for Nero! Keep in mind that some stuff around burning CDs just can't be free (like in beer) since it is patented. But well... It is still some usefull stuff. It is nice that you get license on those stupid patented stuff when you buy hardware. Isn't it?
You can try recompiling your freetype library to support patented BCI mechanizm (it is perfectly legal to do so). When you do so, with proper fonts (like mscorefonts) you will get exactly the same look as on MS Windows.;) I use such setup. fonts. in range of 8px to 12px are non-antialiased, fonts outside that range and bold are antialiased. It looks really slick for me. In fact I can post a screenshot to give you insight on what I mean.
http://oceanic.wsisiz.edu.pl/~kosmowsk/misc/slas hd ot1.jpeg
> I find it tragic that noone has released a high > quality POSIX C client. Maybe the OpenBSD guys > will eventually get around to OpenBT?
Well there is C BitTorrent client. A bit stagnated (meaning developement/releases) but it works usually and is under GPL so it is nice base to start off.
http://ctorrent.sourceforge.net/
Keep in mind that this client is writen in *nix way - meaning that it does not have fancy GUI at all, it does not do queue etc. - it just gets torrents.
I've used to use ctorrent, but now I am only using BTQueue which is very extended original BitTorrent client. It has queue abilities, gives loads of info, can do throttling etc. extremely configurable. It is a bit raw but can be used once you get used to it.:)
http://btqueue.sourceforge.net/
It even exports WebService with ACL for full control.:)
> What if you have a valid purchased Office > running on Wine and want to get updates for it?
Consider that MS Office maybe (and is f.e. DCOM or MSI) using some files that are made by Microsoft. You need it in order to install MS Office. Now usually to use some files you need to have rights (valid license) to use these files, as these are Windows files you need Windows license to use them. Simple like that.
Also f.e. you can not take Windows XP SP2, extract some DLL's from it and use it without Windows. It is perfectly OK for me. The same like you can not take GPL'ed code, modify it and distribute binaries without source. It is the same here - it is about *license*.
Of course targeting specificaly WINE is not so good. But MS have *full* rights to do that.
Red Hat People are working on native Eclipse port... This would be for RAD. Also for "LAN" (what do you mean anyway? Local Area Network?) - they are starting the Stateless Linux project that touches this surface (mobile, desktops etc.). Also Fedora incorporates lot's of desktop enhancements like RH NetworkManager and (desktop) configuration utilities and so on... Also they are looking at embeded Linux market. So they are (or wan't to be) in almost every market that Linux can be used... IMHO.
Having looked at the linked product, it appears that the thumbprint device unlocks a cache of stored passwords on the host PC, and the cache then transfers the (text) user name and password to the input fields of the websites. So the websites would not have to be compatible with the thumbprint device per se; it just has to allow autocompleted user/pass info. And most do.
I mean that the passwords are still still transfered unencrypted over untrusted network (the Internet, most of forum sites (question and ad mentions that) do not use SSL with valid certificates) - so it does not change security itself it just can be more convinient.
I do not mean how they (passwords) are *stored* on *server* side. I mean how they are *sent* from your computer to server - if the case is that security is about weakest chain. You can have ultra-secure gizmo on your computer, running most secure operating system etc. but it does not matter because it will break in other place (f.e. network transport or the server itself will be untrusted).
This marketing buzz-shit about these readers is stupid. Of course such devices may increase security when properly used - like in controled organization where systems are properly configured, runnin in secured network and authenticating to trusted servers on basis of bio-information - yes this will be secure. But saying it will make your passwords on some obscure forums safer is a lie. If you wish to have passwords managed centrally you can use f.e. Firefox Browser to remember your passwords (then you can choose strong ones like "kainBohaiDryknyu") and use a master password that is required for each session (the sesion fades when you are inactive for lets say 5 minutes) - it gives the same level of security (or insecurity) as those readers.
For home users (home - arguing about forums and websites) it is in no matter mo safe way.
How do you plan to use it? You've mentioned online forums etc. - they don't support this (at least majority of forums I know), most of such sites use passwords, often in unencrypted matter - if you are sending unencrypted password between two untrusted hosts etc. really password quality (be it 123809243+ random characters) does not matter at all...
How it is secure depends on how you plan to implement it. Security is not about buing some gizmo, security is a complex project from ground up/design to implementation and also the hardest part - human element.
So this device alone cannot be proclaimed safe or unsafe - it depends on how you will use it.
I don't really track this specific hardware. I just commented about merit of your question in general.
I mostly wanted to focus the question: If somebody is downoloading one file, does him/her watch entire clip? With such streaming scheme you can stat what clips are watched fully (probably good ones) and what clips are watched only first 15s and then disconnected.:) It can help you manage that what is really the most important - the *content*.
Bandwith is like fucking cheap now, just pay some more if you have some more visitors on your site. Or if you have more visitors but you are not gaining money even to pay connection bill it is time to close this business since it is pointless from commercial viewpoint (the more visitors you get, more you earn - bandwith is not concern here since it is really cheap).
It is like MSIE - with MSIE IPSs can set their own instalations (f.e. installing modem diriver) to change just few strings in registry and than instead of "Internet Explorer" on window title you will get "Internet Explorer - *FOOSHMOO* Welcomes you in Internet", this changes can reach (AFAIR) as deep as toolbar background, spinning "E" icon, bookmarks (as these are just files) and so on.
So things that I always considered as stupid crap are now possible via another way - via open software...
I don't diss OSS here, mind you. I've just have this though.
Just stupid P.I.T.A. for me - I work in small company (~machines), I do own licenses for Windows XP Home Edition - it works for us and it is really cheap, also any other commercial software - I own it. We are not thieves.
But! I make my live easier by using techinques like (no central passwd management since HE can't run in domain) workstation disk imagining (we do images every few nights as a backup copies), documents are stored on central server and backuped every night, I have scripts that install everything (including reg keys pushing in licenses). All of my key infrastre runs Linux (router/GW is OpenBSD). Windows machines are ran with automatic update on (they connect via transparent proxy so this is not bandwith hog at all, an I have control on what gets installed). All because Windows is expensive and hardware is cheap.
But now somehow I know some (or entire) of my infrastructure will break upon this scheme.
I just can't wait till I get my CorelDRAW working on Linux and till my goverment stops pushing me towards Windows (we must run Windows to pay taxes - tax softare is only Windows)...
I know Flash is closed and so on. But for now it is the only plugin that works flawlessly (a bit slow on Linux) in most browsers. So you take a MPEG file, put it on server use Flash (rendered on client) to pull it over and stream it right to client browser... Have you actually though of people downloading entire of one of your clips but watching only few percent of it? Well with streaming they download only if they watch - so if they actually stop watching they don't consume bandwith.
Or maybe go for Real streaming services - the clients run fine on Windows and Linux. But they don't get installed by default - client has to download it - hey but as you've stated you only care about your own bandwith so if somebody has to grab 10MB installer (no problem for me) from *other* site it should be not a problem for you... With Real you get streams that automagically (ignore *buffering* comments - Real technology is quite advanced and working) change their bitrates to match client connection...
I guess the licence forces them to leave brandings. Once we (in Poland) have a group (this gropu is still here and active) that translated and released tweaked versions of Mozilla suite (that was even before somebody recognized Firefox as a broser) along with sourcecode and few addons as "MozillaPL" - well they had to stop this cause it was in conflict with the license. Locally here it was a loud (sites PL-like-slashdot were alarming about this) case - they had to change the name to original "Mozilla" - so they did, you will find MozillaPL only as sf.net project name, not product name. Few refferences:
So in summary they used to call their releases as "mozillapl" - f.e. installers files and running programs were named like this, but now it is just Mozilla or Mozilla Firefox.
But I don't know if it is about trademark or license - but now we have also "Novell Evolution" (and RH has to state that in their release).:)
I am sure that the more user-friendly distros, like suse and mandrake, or fedora, have many problems solved. In my mind, these distros are giving up some of what I like about Linux.
I run Fedora Core 3 on my laptop, two home workstations, tivo-like settopbox (running freevo) and two Athlon64 servers... I haven't notice giving something up... Of course Fedora got all that GUI stuff and so on - but you can simply not install it, and then you have normal Linux system (with kernel, all common net-services, X11, sophisticated package management and so on). I think you just haven't dig to much into Fedora?
Slashdot Mirror
> Looking at the updates directory of core 3
:)
:)
:)
:)
> there are gigs of updates in there.
So? After clean install is like 200MB download for common system (when you do something like install every package it will be more of course) - this is something unusual? They actually are fixing things so there are updates. Duh.
As you obviously need to compare to XP - with XP you *need* (yes, you certainly need to do it) download like 200MB service pack.
Also keep in mind that XP is bare system (yeah useless WMP, MSIE, MSOE, Wordpad, Sol), installed Fedora is fully equiped workstation for lots of activities.
So it is a draw here.
0:0
> It didn't even install on my nVidia nForce
> system because of bugs in the SATA drivers in
> the 2.9 kernel. (It's fixed in 2.10 I believe.)
Well it is hard to judge here because I don't understand you quite well - next time you write about some imaginary bug in kernel 2.9 (hint: current kernel is 2.6) please also post URL to Bugzilla entry and if you don't find such entry - open one for you. How you wish to get things fixed if nobody knows about them?
As for me I've just installed contrib RPM packages with nvidia driver and it worked without any further tweaking needet (but I've tweaked it anyway - I like to tweak).
Also a draw here since no arguments were given.
0:0
> Installing the nVidia drivers (because shock
> horror I wanted 3D) froze then system on boot
> because of the rhgb red hat graphical boot
> thingy.
I haven't noticed that. But that may happen - nvidia module conflicts with vesafb sometimes, but that is stated in README. Also I will put a draw here. My answer will be "I've installed Windows as default and in 5 seconds it was compromised by some worm from Internet" - like I should know about it.
0:0 still...
> The switch to udev caught me out here.
udev is actually very nice if you manage to get how it works.
(...)
> I also had weird sound corruption in some
> programs which I tracked down to arts.
Well arts sucks.
> Turning the sound down in that sorted it but I
> can't find any kind of a config file, let alone
> a GUI application that sets a sound level which
> survives a reboot. I sorted it my adding an
> entry in rs.local.
Hmm. Well I don't know, my Fedora does store sound mixer state on shutdown.
> Also why on earth don't they compile NTFS
> reading into the Kernel. (Captive NTFS would
> also be nice as an option...)
Well this is due to legal problems with NTFS. I belive in US it is not compatible with GPL (due to patents or smth.) so it is not free (like in speech). Fedora is distributed for free (as in beer) also RH belives in free/openess so they won't distribute and base their distro on non-free stuff.
But it is fairly easy to get NTFS support in FC3. Try google around it.
> Sadly your average tech fiddler on the street
> would have given up with this pallava and
> installed Windows.
Well. No. I consider myself an average tech fiddler. And considering situations like yours - f.e. if I would somehow get unsupported (by Linux) audio card I would rather buy new supported one than use Windows.
And it is not about zealotry that I say "Linux is the best, Windoze suxxors". Nothing like that. I just like running Linux - it suits me. Also I like to be free which Linux offer me. Probably Windows is better in some ways but I would not sacrifice my freedom for it... It is what it all is about - freedom.
> XP Installation went without a hitch and worked
> perfectly first time.
Oh! Here I would give 1 point to Linux. Man Windows installer sucks ass... I know it is suitable to do home system install on one computer. But this installer can't do anything. F.e. it cannot do part
No, it does and probably will not support MP3, DVD decss and other stuff... It is due this stuff is non compatible with GPL/non-free (at least in US where Red Hat resides). And Fedora as given away for free is free (as in speech) itself. Use Ogg instead.
I'am not talking about movie DVD's. Just plain DVD with data. I own DVD burner and right now I use growzisofs to do backups with it. But I remember some time when I bought my hardware I was looking for burning software and came across something like cdrecord-ProDVD which required me to get somekind of license (it was certainly not free as in speech). So I mean plain DVD burning may be free, but there are features that you can do with your burner but those features are not free...
Yes I agree with you. But on the other hand I *need* computer to do things for me (that is my job) and if I can't get those things free (as in speech) it is good that at least I can get it free as a beer.
Please wake up. Hello!
Apache, PHP, Samba, Linux, Darwin etc. - these are all mainstream and open products...
Well. No. I've been using Linux for a while now and I find it somewhat cool that comercial company noted Linux presence and included an *option* (note: option - you can use it or you can ditch it) to get along with that.
:)
All I want to say that I am Linux user and I find it quite good that Nero move... Also probably most of other Linux users do. Please don't judge Linux users after some tight group that shouts the loudest.
Probably most of Linux users are pragmatic like me.
>I misread this the first time through and thought
>it was saying a free version was available for
>Linux -- and didn't see the part about you had to
> have a _registered_Windows_version_.
That is untrue, you only need to have serial key which you f.e. can get when you buy new BOXED CDRW set with Nero 6 included... You don't need any Windows.
With plain CDR writer - no. But with modern (I can be wrong here) DVD burning software you have some patented/non-free stuff going on... So basically you can't do some stuff with k3b... And Nero (keep in mind that is my assumption) will do this and it will be legal.
Well nobody really buys Nero tools... Usually you get them along with burning (CDRW/DVDR) hardware as an OEM... So this is kind of cool - I haven't get a grip on that yet - you buy hardware and actually get a working software (? I haven't tried it yet) for Linux. For me it is something unusual... Point for Nero! Keep in mind that some stuff around burning CDs just can't be free (like in beer) since it is patented. But well... It is still some usefull stuff. It is nice that you get license on those stupid patented stuff when you buy hardware. Isn't it?
You can try recompiling your freetype library to support patented BCI mechanizm (it is perfectly legal to do so). When you do so, with proper fonts (like mscorefonts) you will get exactly the same look as on MS Windows. ;) I use such setup. fonts. in range of 8px to 12px are non-antialiased, fonts outside that range and bold are antialiased. It looks really slick for me. In fact I can post a screenshot to give you insight on what I mean.
s hd ot1.jpeg
http://oceanic.wsisiz.edu.pl/~kosmowsk/misc/sla
> I find it tragic that noone has released a high
:)
:)
> quality POSIX C client. Maybe the OpenBSD guys
> will eventually get around to OpenBT?
Well there is C BitTorrent client. A bit stagnated (meaning developement/releases) but it works usually and is under GPL so it is nice base to start off.
http://ctorrent.sourceforge.net/
Keep in mind that this client is writen in *nix way - meaning that it does not have fancy GUI at all, it does not do queue etc. - it just gets torrents.
I've used to use ctorrent, but now I am only using BTQueue which is very extended original BitTorrent client. It has queue abilities, gives loads of info, can do throttling etc. extremely configurable. It is a bit raw but can be used once you get used to it.
http://btqueue.sourceforge.net/
It even exports WebService with ACL for full control.
Mind that a virus or something can easly do that.
> What if you have a valid purchased Office
> running on Wine and want to get updates for it?
Consider that MS Office maybe (and is f.e. DCOM or MSI) using some files that are made by Microsoft. You need it in order to install MS Office. Now usually to use some files you need to have rights (valid license) to use these files, as these are Windows files you need Windows license to use them. Simple like that.
Also f.e. you can not take Windows XP SP2, extract some DLL's from it and use it without Windows. It is perfectly OK for me. The same like you can not take GPL'ed code, modify it and distribute binaries without source. It is the same here - it is about *license*.
Of course targeting specificaly WINE is not so good. But MS have *full* rights to do that.
Red Hat People are working on native Eclipse port... This would be for RAD. Also for "LAN" (what do you mean anyway? Local Area Network?) - they are starting the Stateless Linux project that touches this surface (mobile, desktops etc.). Also Fedora incorporates lot's of desktop enhancements like RH NetworkManager and (desktop) configuration utilities and so on... Also they are looking at embeded Linux market. So they are (or wan't to be) in almost every market that Linux can be used... IMHO.
Having looked at the linked product, it appears that the thumbprint device unlocks a cache of stored passwords on the host PC, and the cache then transfers the (text) user name and password to the input fields of the websites. So the websites would not have to be compatible with the thumbprint device per se; it just has to allow autocompleted user/pass info. And most do.
I mean that the passwords are still still transfered unencrypted over untrusted network (the Internet, most of forum sites (question and ad mentions that) do not use SSL with valid certificates) - so it does not change security itself it just can be more convinient.
I do not mean how they (passwords) are *stored* on *server* side. I mean how they are *sent* from your computer to server - if the case is that security is about weakest chain. You can have ultra-secure gizmo on your computer, running most secure operating system etc. but it does not matter because it will break in other place (f.e. network transport or the server itself will be untrusted).
This marketing buzz-shit about these readers is stupid. Of course such devices may increase security when properly used - like in controled organization where systems are properly configured, runnin in secured network and authenticating to trusted servers on basis of bio-information - yes this will be secure. But saying it will make your passwords on some obscure forums safer is a lie. If you wish to have passwords managed centrally you can use f.e. Firefox Browser to remember your passwords (then you can choose strong ones like "kainBohaiDryknyu") and use a master password that is required for each session (the sesion fades when you are inactive for lets say 5 minutes) - it gives the same level of security (or insecurity) as those readers.
For home users (home - arguing about forums and websites) it is in no matter mo safe way.
How do you plan to use it? You've mentioned online forums etc. - they don't support this (at least majority of forums I know), most of such sites use passwords, often in unencrypted matter - if you are sending unencrypted password between two untrusted hosts etc. really password quality (be it 123809243+ random characters) does not matter at all...
How it is secure depends on how you plan to implement it. Security is not about buing some gizmo, security is a complex project from ground up/design to implementation and also the hardest part - human element.
So this device alone cannot be proclaimed safe or unsafe - it depends on how you will use it.
I don't really track this specific hardware. I just commented about merit of your question in general.
$ lynx -source http://search.msn.com/ | wc -c
3008
Not that I like MSN...
mhhm OpenBSD?
:P
nope just flaming.
I mostly wanted to focus the question: If somebody is downoloading one file, does him/her watch entire clip? With such streaming scheme you can stat what clips are watched fully (probably good ones) and what clips are watched only first 15s and then disconnected. :) It can help you manage that what is really the most important - the *content*.
Bandwith is like fucking cheap now, just pay some more if you have some more visitors on your site. Or if you have more visitors but you are not gaining money even to pay connection bill it is time to close this business since it is pointless from commercial viewpoint (the more visitors you get, more you earn - bandwith is not concern here since it is really cheap).
It is like MSIE - with MSIE IPSs can set their own instalations (f.e. installing modem diriver) to change just few strings in registry and than instead of "Internet Explorer" on window title you will get "Internet Explorer - *FOOSHMOO* Welcomes you in Internet", this changes can reach (AFAIR) as deep as toolbar background, spinning "E" icon, bookmarks (as these are just files) and so on.
So things that I always considered as stupid crap are now possible via another way - via open software...
I don't diss OSS here, mind you. I've just have this though.
Just stupid P.I.T.A. for me - I work in small company (~machines), I do own licenses for Windows XP Home Edition - it works for us and it is really cheap, also any other commercial software - I own it. We are not thieves.
But! I make my live easier by using techinques like (no central passwd management since HE can't run in domain) workstation disk imagining (we do images every few nights as a backup copies), documents are stored on central server and backuped every night, I have scripts that install everything (including reg keys pushing in licenses). All of my key infrastre runs Linux (router/GW is OpenBSD). Windows machines are ran with automatic update on (they connect via transparent proxy so this is not bandwith hog at all, an I have control on what gets installed). All because Windows is expensive and hardware is cheap.
But now somehow I know some (or entire) of my infrastructure will break upon this scheme.
I just can't wait till I get my CorelDRAW working on Linux and till my goverment stops pushing me towards Windows (we must run Windows to pay taxes - tax softare is only Windows)...
I know Flash is closed and so on. But for now it is the only plugin that works flawlessly (a bit slow on Linux) in most browsers. So you take a MPEG file, put it on server use Flash (rendered on client) to pull it over and stream it right to client browser... Have you actually though of people downloading entire of one of your clips but watching only few percent of it? Well with streaming they download only if they watch - so if they actually stop watching they don't consume bandwith.
Or maybe go for Real streaming services - the clients run fine on Windows and Linux. But they don't get installed by default - client has to download it - hey but as you've stated you only care about your own bandwith so if somebody has to grab 10MB installer (no problem for me) from *other* site it should be not a problem for you... With Real you get streams that automagically (ignore *buffering* comments - Real technology is quite advanced and working) change their bitrates to match client connection...
I guess the licence forces them to leave brandings. Once we (in Poland) have a group (this gropu is still here and active) that translated and released tweaked versions of Mozilla suite (that was even before somebody recognized Firefox as a broser) along with sourcecode and few addons as "MozillaPL" - well they had to stop this cause it was in conflict with the license. Locally here it was a loud (sites PL-like-slashdot were alarming about this) case - they had to change the name to original "Mozilla" - so they did, you will find MozillaPL only as sf.net project name, not product name. Few refferences:
: //mozillapl.org/
:)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mozillapl
http
http://firefox.pl/
So in summary they used to call their releases as "mozillapl" - f.e. installers files and running programs were named like this, but now it is just Mozilla or Mozilla Firefox.
But I don't know if it is about trademark or license - but now we have also "Novell Evolution" (and RH has to state that in their release).
I am sure that the more user-friendly distros, like suse and mandrake, or fedora, have many problems solved. In my mind, these distros are giving up some of what I like about Linux.
I run Fedora Core 3 on my laptop, two home workstations, tivo-like settopbox (running freevo) and two Athlon64 servers... I haven't notice giving something up... Of course Fedora got all that GUI stuff and so on - but you can simply not install it, and then you have normal Linux system (with kernel, all common net-services, X11, sophisticated package management and so on). I think you just haven't dig to much into Fedora?