I wonder why your post is only modded '1'. If I had mod points, I would rate it at least, 'Interesting' since (apparently) they do use somewhat controvercial names - I can't check if it's true, of course, since I don't read Chinese, and am in China anyway.
> That's a pretty weird definition of mostly usable.
I guess it depends on your priorities, and I think you've exaggerated my complaints somewhat.
> Just to recap: you have no reliable WiFi
Wifi is reliable, just not with encryption (certain types; I forget which) - though I haven't really tried that hard to make it work. So, someone may have it working, I don't know. I hardly ever need encryption, but it would be nice to have it just for those occasions.
> or Bluetooth,
I couldn't get bt to work at all, and I tried fairly hard:| I even bought a new dongle, since the one I had for my Apple was specifically for the Apple (one of the first ones to be available), but the new one seemed to be the same, as far as I could tell. Again, I could have tried harder, I suppose.
> no external video output,
right...somewhat annoying...probably the biggest pain, actually.
> duff power management so your laptop can't be treated like a laptop,
I think it's better in edgy, but previously, it left a lot to be desired.
> and you can't type in your native language easily. Sounds great!
Actually, it's not my native language, it's the language of the country in which I live, and my wife's native language, which makes it a bit inconvenient for them, and, I guess, a little embarressing for me ("why don't you just use Windows" - but I got that with OS X too, since it was too different).
> The menu is at the top of the screen because you can move there more quickly with a mouse because you can hit the edge of screen therefore don't need to take as much care.
I know why it's there. However, I disagree with the premise that I need it there. It only helps in one dimension anyway. *Everything* else on the screen needs accurate pointer placement, and I've mastered the skill. I don't need it there, since I have to move the mouse much further to do anything. When I was using OS X, I would have a second monitor, meaning I have to move it even further for windows on the other monitor. God help us if Apple ever produce computers like SGI's where they could have hundreds of monitors. At the very least, they should give us the option, like on Linux (and MS Windows, so I'm told).
> Click to focus is a no-brainer, no accidental focus changing and clicking doesn't take appreciably more time than just moving, compared to the recovery time from occasional misfocusing.
It wouldn't be so objectionable if it didn't bring the window to the front, but I still don't much care for having to click. Again, having the option would be nice. Unfortunately, it's a pain to do because it would change the menu at the top of the screen - unless you have a full screen windows, it just won't work (perhaps a delay of some kind as the pointer travels over the desktop).
> I have some sympathy for desiring to be able to focus windows without raising them. It'd be nice if this was a right-click-on-title-bar feature or something. Obviously it shouldn't be the default, because you are more likely to want the window raised than not, so the common case should be the quickest and not take two operations (focus and raise).
They used to have this for the terminal; or was it the focus follows mouse; I forget... but they took it out again, I think.
No. I have been using computers (mostly SGI) that work a certain way for a long time. It's (literal) pain to be forced to work a different way, but because someone thinks it's better. It might be better if you start that way, but not if you have to change. SGI's 4Dwm worked just fine, thanks.
So, yes, I stand by "It's mostly useable", since it does actually perform it's main function....but, yes, I wish I had one of the new Intel Apples, then Ubuntu work even better.
> Regarding typing Chinese, I think it is partially what you're used to, as MS Window's default input methods all suck for me, and Apple's seem even worse. I use either SCIM or fcitx, what do you use?
I don't use either (I don't know much Chinese). It's my wife (she's a native), and any of the other Chinese people who happen to want to borrow my computer for a moment. They're (of course) all used to using MS's input methods and are very frustrated by anything unfamiliar.
It also isn't the most straightforward thing to install and get working - not that it's particularly straightforward on MS Windows either (just that I've done it a few times, so that's familiar too).
So, yes, it's mainly what you're used to - for multiple 'you's:)
I tried to use Aqua for a few years on my TiBook G4/800 DVI. It was nice and pretty/etc, but I could never get used to the GUI. All that 'single menu at the top of the screen', 'click to focus', and 'focused window has to be front window' crap they forced on me. Some of these things could be worked around with 3rd party hacks, but I never managed to fix all of them. IINM, MS Windows managed to allow all these things to be fixed, but "Apple knows better how I should work" - pah.
So, I switched to ubuntu earlier this year. It's been a mostly pleasant experience. Most things 'just worked'.
However, I *have* looked back, but haven't (yet) decided to go back.
Things I miss are :
1) easy ubuntu helped a *lot* by making Ubuntu useful for typical use, but I am using Edgy now, and it doesn't seem to have a version for that:| 2) DVI port - I've tried pretty hard to get the DVI port to work, without any success. It was pretty useful under OS X 3) sVideo/composite port - ditto - it was even more useful under OS X 4) bluetooth - I have yet to get bluetooth working (I use a dongle) acceptable, and I often used Apple's AddressBook app to receive/reply to SMS messages via my phone. Using the full sized keyboard was great. I can't find any s/w that can do that under Linux. 5) Typing Chinese is a bit of a struggle too. It can be done, but it's not the same (actually, even Aqua isn't as nice as in MS Windows - perhaps that's just a matter of familiarity, but that doesn't mean it's invalid). 6) The power management is a little shaky, but getting better (I used to always get it complain that it had failed to sleep, but maybe edgy has fixed that). 7) The networking tools is fairly flaky - locations don't seem to work as I expect (or at all). Maybe these are better under edgy too. 8) Wifi - Fine when there's no username/password for the network, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't work with some forms of encryption/logon/whatever, which is annoying at times (I visited a company and couldn't use their wifi).
The HFS+ filesystem, like NTFS, is readonly too, which is really annoying sometimes (a friend recently brought an NTFS USB disk to copy some stuff from me, but..no..I don't have a Microsoft machine here).
6-pin firewire? This is important for portable firewire drives, since the extra two pins provide power, and if it's a laptop we're talking about, you'd need a separate power supply to run the drive - very inconvenient at the best of times.
Show me *any* other laptop with a 6-pin firewire port...
This sucks - it seems I'm not allowed to look at these:((
"Currently, the playback feature of Google Video isn't available in your country."
" Hey man! The MirrorDot page you are looking for is not here. There are a few possible reasons:
* The mirror is brand new and is in the process of being created. This usually only takes a minute or two, so please try your request again.
* The page is expired and no longer mirrored here. We keep mirrors around for only a few days each.
* There might be a bug in MirrorDot's code. If you think this may be the case, please email us and let us know what URL you are looking for. "
> Companies can't really outsource and expect good results - it's a crapshoot.
I used to work for a US company, and they outsourced parts of their maintenance engineering to a company called, I think, Adacel, based in Australia. I thought their work was excellent, and IIRC some of my peers thought likewise. The bug fixing turnaround time was very quick (helped by the time zone difference, I'm sure).
I expect some people will disagree with me, but hey...
I have a friend or two who I know keep up with politics much more than me, and with whom I almost always agree. How about you ask them which way you should vote? If they really know you well, they might even tell you which way you would want to vote, instead of just which way they are going to vote. You can't know everything about everything, and some people are better at something that others - experts even. Sometimes it's good to trust other people's opinions....but pick someone you know and trust, not someone on a TV ad or who comes to the door holding a baby....or perhaps which way you vote is a taboo subject in the US?
They won't get my money again, until they get rid of the glossy screen (instead having a matt one).
They resolutions seems a little low too, no?
Unfortunately, I also want a 6-pin firewire400 port, and I can't find any laptop with one apart from Apple....looks like I'm sticking with my TiBook for a while yet, even though it's getting unreliable:|
Great if you run x86....pretty useless otherwise (I'm running Ubuntu on PowerPC). Unless I'm very much mistaken.
What annoys me is that they don't bother to tell you that it's x86 only, so you have to download the lot to find out (it only has one lib and a readme).
Slashdot Mirror
I wonder why your post is only modded '1'. If I had mod points, I would rate it at least, 'Interesting' since (apparently) they do use somewhat controvercial names - I can't check if it's true, of course, since I don't read Chinese, and am in China anyway.
...because they've moved all those thirsty hummers off to Iraq/etc.
I agree. A CD-based distro would make more sense, IMO.
> That's a pretty weird definition of mostly usable.
:| I even bought a new dongle, since the one I had for my Apple was specifically for the Apple (one of the first ones to be available), but the new one seemed to be the same, as far as I could tell. Again, I could have tried harder, I suppose.
... but they took it out again, I think.
...but, yes, I wish I had one of the new Intel Apples, then Ubuntu work even better.
I guess it depends on your priorities, and I think you've exaggerated my complaints somewhat.
> Just to recap: you have no reliable WiFi
Wifi is reliable, just not with encryption (certain types; I forget which) - though I haven't really tried that hard to make it work. So, someone may have it working, I don't know. I hardly ever need encryption, but it would be nice to have it just for those occasions.
> or Bluetooth,
I couldn't get bt to work at all, and I tried fairly hard
> no external video output,
right...somewhat annoying...probably the biggest pain, actually.
> duff power management so your laptop can't be treated like a laptop,
I think it's better in edgy, but previously, it left a lot to be desired.
> and you can't type in your native language easily. Sounds great!
Actually, it's not my native language, it's the language of the country in which I live, and my wife's native language, which makes it a bit inconvenient for them, and, I guess, a little embarressing for me ("why don't you just use Windows" - but I got that with OS X too, since it was too different).
> The menu is at the top of the screen because you can move there more quickly with a mouse because you can hit the edge of screen therefore don't need to take as much care.
I know why it's there. However, I disagree with the premise that I need it there. It only helps in one dimension anyway. *Everything* else on the screen needs accurate pointer placement, and I've mastered the skill. I don't need it there, since I have to move the mouse much further to do anything. When I was using OS X, I would have a second monitor, meaning I have to move it even further for windows on the other monitor. God help us if Apple ever produce computers like SGI's where they could have hundreds of monitors. At the very least, they should give us the option, like on Linux (and MS Windows, so I'm told).
> Click to focus is a no-brainer, no accidental focus changing and clicking doesn't take appreciably more time than just moving, compared to the recovery time from occasional misfocusing.
It wouldn't be so objectionable if it didn't bring the window to the front, but I still don't much care for having to click. Again, having the option would be nice. Unfortunately, it's a pain to do because it would change the menu at the top of the screen - unless you have a full screen windows, it just won't work (perhaps a delay of some kind as the pointer travels over the desktop).
> I have some sympathy for desiring to be able to focus windows without raising them. It'd be nice if this was a right-click-on-title-bar feature or something. Obviously it shouldn't be the default, because you are more likely to want the window raised than not, so the common case should be the quickest and not take two operations (focus and raise).
They used to have this for the terminal; or was it the focus follows mouse; I forget
No. I have been using computers (mostly SGI) that work a certain way for a long time. It's (literal) pain to be forced to work a different way, but because someone thinks it's better. It might be better if you start that way, but not if you have to change. SGI's 4Dwm worked just fine, thanks.
So, yes, I stand by "It's mostly useable", since it does actually perform it's main function.
> Regarding typing Chinese, I think it is partially what you're used to, as MS Window's default input methods all suck for me, and Apple's seem even worse. I use either SCIM or fcitx, what do you use?
:)
I don't use either (I don't know much Chinese). It's my wife (she's a native), and any of the other Chinese people who happen to want to borrow my computer for a moment. They're (of course) all used to using MS's input methods and are very frustrated by anything unfamiliar.
It also isn't the most straightforward thing to install and get working - not that it's particularly straightforward on MS Windows either (just that I've done it a few times, so that's familiar too).
So, yes, it's mainly what you're used to - for multiple 'you's
Max.
I tried to use Aqua for a few years on my TiBook G4/800 DVI. It was nice and pretty/etc, but I could never get used to the GUI. All that 'single menu at the top of the screen', 'click to focus', and 'focused window has to be front window' crap they forced on me. Some of these things could be worked around with 3rd party hacks, but I never managed to fix all of them. IINM, MS Windows managed to allow all these things to be fixed, but "Apple knows better how I should work" - pah.
:|
So, I switched to ubuntu earlier this year. It's been a mostly pleasant experience. Most things 'just worked'.
However, I *have* looked back, but haven't (yet) decided to go back.
Things I miss are :
1) easy ubuntu helped a *lot* by making Ubuntu useful for typical use, but I am using Edgy now, and it doesn't seem to have a version for that
2) DVI port - I've tried pretty hard to get the DVI port to work, without any success. It was pretty useful under OS X
3) sVideo/composite port - ditto - it was even more useful under OS X
4) bluetooth - I have yet to get bluetooth working (I use a dongle) acceptable, and I often used Apple's AddressBook app to receive/reply to SMS messages via my phone. Using the full sized keyboard was great. I can't find any s/w that can do that under Linux.
5) Typing Chinese is a bit of a struggle too. It can be done, but it's not the same (actually, even Aqua isn't as nice as in MS Windows - perhaps that's just a matter of familiarity, but that doesn't mean it's invalid).
6) The power management is a little shaky, but getting better (I used to always get it complain that it had failed to sleep, but maybe edgy has fixed that).
7) The networking tools is fairly flaky - locations don't seem to work as I expect (or at all). Maybe these are better under edgy too.
8) Wifi - Fine when there's no username/password for the network, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't work with some forms of encryption/logon/whatever, which is annoying at times (I visited a company and couldn't use their wifi).
The HFS+ filesystem, like NTFS, is readonly too, which is really annoying sometimes (a friend recently brought an NTFS USB disk to copy some stuff from me, but..no..I don't have a Microsoft machine here).
However, it's mostly quite usable.
6-pin firewire? This is important for portable firewire drives, since the extra two pins provide power, and if it's a laptop we're talking about, you'd need a separate power supply to run the drive - very inconvenient at the best of times.
Show me *any* other laptop with a 6-pin firewire port...
Looks like Google *Maps* to me....which would be cool if there was a link to the crater they're talking about....
This sucks - it seems I'm not allowed to look at these :((
"Currently, the playback feature of Google Video isn't available in your country."
"
Hey man! The MirrorDot page you are looking for is not here. There are a few possible reasons:
* The mirror is brand new and is in the process of being created. This usually only takes a minute or two, so please try your request again.
* The page is expired and no longer mirrored here. We keep mirrors around for only a few days each.
* There might be a bug in MirrorDot's code. If you think this may be the case, please email us and let us know what URL you are looking for.
"
> Companies can't really outsource and expect good results - it's a crapshoot.
I used to work for a US company, and they outsourced parts of their maintenance engineering to a company called, I think, Adacel, based in Australia. I thought their work was excellent, and IIRC some of my peers thought likewise. The bug fixing turnaround time was very quick (helped by the time zone difference, I'm sure).
I expect some people will disagree with me, but hey...
> What they don't realise is that they're actually English.
e ws/2006/09/21/uhammond.xml
o n-top-gear-after-crash/2006/09/26/1159036516486.ht ml
l
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1414369/
Well, I'm not sure being a Brummy counts. He's also the same guy who crashed in that 'fast'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/n
(well, it used to be fast)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/bbc-puts-brakes-
car a month or two back...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/richard_hammond.shtm
I wonder what happened exactly. Some mechanical failure, or plain driver error?
WD-40? Is that a WD-40BB or WD-40JB?
I didn't know they still made 4GB disks. I used the 200GB ones myself - the WD-2000.
I've never seen an implementation without -print0 -0 (apart from embedded linux), and never seen the '+' option either.
you also obvious don't have any files with spaces in their names. try :
find / -print0 | xargs -0 chmod ugo+wrx
or simply :
find / -exec chmod ugo+wrx {} \;
Max.
...perhaps they're interested in other markets then??? "Other markets than the US???" shock. horror.
You have friends, right?
...but pick someone you know and trust, not someone on a TV ad or who comes to the door holding a baby. ...or perhaps which way you vote is a taboo subject in the US?
I have a friend or two who I know keep up with politics much more than me, and with whom I almost always agree. How about you ask them which way you should vote? If they really know you well, they might even tell you which way you would want to vote, instead of just which way they are going to vote. You can't know everything about everything, and some people are better at something that others - experts even. Sometimes it's good to trust other people's opinions.
Max.
The rest thought he was joking.
...or lager or stout :)
I'm curious what the actual hardware was....anyone actually know?
show me a non-Apple laptop with a *6-pin* firewire 400 port...
oh. looks like you can configure the screen without the glossy coating. hrm. looks like it's a possibility then :)
They won't get my money again, until they get rid of the glossy screen (instead having a matt one).
:|
They resolutions seems a little low too, no?
Unfortunately, I also want a 6-pin firewire400 port, and I can't find any laptop with one apart from Apple....looks like I'm sticking with my TiBook for a while yet, even though it's getting unreliable
Max.
Not surprised, no.
I can watch mpeg, avi, realvideo, hrm...pretty much anything apart from various Quicktime and WMV. Not sure about the exact details.
Max.
Great if you run x86....pretty useless otherwise (I'm running Ubuntu on PowerPC). Unless I'm very much mistaken.
What annoys me is that they don't bother to tell you that it's x86 only, so you have to download the lot to find out (it only has one lib and a readme).
> If Apple did make a phone, which I doubt they could because of the barriers to entry in the cell phone service space,
... like China, for example.
Don't ignore other markets