Okay.. so I tried reading some of the comments posted in response to this article.. after about the 500th "Isn't it free already?" comment, I think I might bring up some points as to why this was worded that way..
First of all, this is from a mainstream media source (BBC) so the concept of a TOTALLY FREE software product might be completely alien to them, or at least unconventional. I posit that the writers/editors of the article emphasized the free aspect of the donation so that their readers, who may or may not have even heard of UNIX, let alone Linux, would see it as a significant event..
Secondly, while it is true that RedHat bundles some non-opensource 3rd party software in it's boxed versions, the main thing RH is selling is the support.. and even in that department Colin Tenwick RH's VP-Europe has stated he's not looking to make a profit from the situation.
So, why don't we just take this for what it is? A Good Thing. Free SW for kids to learn and use. That many more Linux users in the world. (it's a big party, the more the merrier) And especially, kids who will perhaps have their first experience with a computer using an OS that is WELL DESIGNED and MAINTAINED.. unlike *other* operating systems... so just feel happy for the kids and give some credit to RedHat for giving back to the community.
it does look better than winamp, in fact.. there's a utility to use with xmms.. kint_xmms, i think it is.. http://www.dgs.monash.edu.au/~timf/xmms/ but what does WinAmp do that xmms can't do..? I haven't found anything I miss from WinAmp...just curious
I used to use ONLY WM up to like 0.61.0, then after i saw E 0.16.2, i switched..
one advantage of this was that E detected the Gnome apps I had installed and they're available off the normal desktop menu (right-click).. same with KDE stuff..
once in a while I start the panel but that's becoming more and more rare.. that seems to take quite a bit of memory..
xmms (X MultiMedia System) is a WinAmp-like program for Linux/X-Windows.. it was spawned from the ashes of X11Amp if I'm not mistaken.. and some distros still include x11amp..
so you use it to play mp3's and as someone has mentioned there's a utility to give it a way cool front end.. available here.. http://www.dgs.monash.edu.au/~timf/xmms/
it also has pointers to sites with skins you can use.
I may be wrong, but it seems XMMS.org opened up a competition to see who could come up with the best plugin for xmms.. the prize being..? i haven't read the details of the competition yet.. but if these plugins are any better than the few that come with xmms.. then they should kick some ass! I personally like the 3d OpenGL analyer..;)
because most of the time Linux peforms well for most applications.. but it isn't optimal under heavy network load. So *BSD is good for ekeing out the best performance on the same H/W when you anticipate a high network load.. (see yahoo.com)
last time I checked.. WindowMaker ran on my BSD laptop.. and they have quite an extensive array of ports of major open source software.. not to mention support for linux binaries..
and it's more secure out of the box.. outperforms linux as a network server.. as for *needing* kde or gnome..
Someone's read "Moon is a Harsh Mistress".. *wink, wink*..
while it is true that technology growth and, more specifically, that of the PC has taken on a life of it's own, I believe that the impetus for the birth of these areas was provided by the need for computing power during WWII to help break the codes used by Axis powers..
I have a good friend who's been using a Ricochet and.. i forget which ISP all over Silicon Valley.. although it was used mainly on Win98 since he hadn't gotten the Linux support for it figgered out yet..
"starving college students" -- price $0.00 "professionals with more money than sense" -- price $999.99
but seriously.. this might be worth it, except for the fact of how expensive Alpha boxes are.. anyone out there use one at home.. and how much did it cost?
all good points, although StarOffice/WordPerfect don't bother me on my linux box.. results may vary..
Netscape has yet to spit up on me.. and it runs faster than Nutscrape on Win98 for me...
I've used visual studio.. it's the BEST choice for authoring *Windows* applications.. I'd probably like CodeWarrior better or some other non-MS product, simply for the fact that it might not have such a close binding to the WinAPI.
DirectX.. 3D rendering aside.. my graphics work pretty well on Linux.. i use WindowMaker at 1280x1024x16.. (larger res/same bpp as Win98) and it's faster than Win for me.. Diamond Viper V770 AGP 32MB..
i agree Blackdown has fallen behind in it's java porting project (IIRC IBM has releast a JDK for Linux as well.. someone can verify?)
Have you ever seen Enlightenment work on a a good display?.. it's much more rich and fun to look at than any windows display i've seen.. check out the screen shots at www.enlightenment.org..
so.. software quality may be an issue.. but i can guarantee the issues will be resolved before MS releases the version of Windows after Win2000.. (Windows3000?)
I personally would rather wait a year for a solid, stable, robust Linux than FOREVER for MS to fix what's wrong with Windows..
okay.. apart from the DVD player.. which is coming soon, I'm sure.. (too many people who use Linux want it to happen for it not to be on the horizon).. you gave good examples of specialized software that is not really available on Linux (someone prove me wrong here..) But if it's 3d rendering you crave..check out Moonlight Creator.. (forget what the URL is.. )
Granted these are "corners" of the market that Linux has yet to exert it's influence on.. so Windows in this case is a better choice.. but for the most part, I'll stick with linux. And I wouldn't be surprised if Linux base-solutions arise for those niches as well..
What could you *possibly* run on Windoze that has no close approximation on Linux? Not to mention the fact that Linux applications are much more frequently update/fixed/enhanced..
As far as the H/W issue goes.. if you're going to put ANY OS on a computer, you're going to want reliable, brand name hardware (not necessarily top-of-the-line, mind you).. and in that case, the odds are that Linux can support it..
With regard to games.. yes Linux doesn't, at present, support as many games as Windows9x does.. but on the other hand if ALL you're going to use an OS for is to play games.. then you might as well just use Window anyway.. (I personally keep Windows somewhere on my box just to play said games.. anything worthwhile is done on Linux )
Oh, and *nix systems are stable because they were written to be that way (over 2 decades ago), unlike Windows which was written to merely please the lowest common denominator, and buggily at that. At least linux is upgrading itself constantly in such a way as to not require the user to BUY at bloated prices a bloated piece of software that's supposed to fix usability issues, but quite often, just creates more problems, hassles.. etc...
DSL comes in flavors from 144 kbps all the way up to 1.5 Mbps.. which is about the same as a T1 linespeed.. so it's not like a T1 is gonna be all that slow either.. but DSL is more cost-effective in that it can run over existing POTS infrastructure.. with some minor modifications..
There is a pretty wide variety of DSL services available.. (xDSL) basically you can have inbound and outbount bandwidths that are the same or different.. ADSL v. SDSL ( I know there are more variants, but just keeping it simple ).. which stand for Asymmetric DSL and Symmetric DSL, respectively..
I've seen SDSL available in up to 1.5 Mbps both up and down-stream.. so go figure.. but I'm not sure of the cost comparison w/ a T1 for $200/mo.
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smurf, the other blue meat
Okay.. so I tried reading some of the comments posted in response to this article.. after about the 500th "Isn't it free already?" comment, I think I might bring up some points as to why this was worded that way..
First of all, this is from a mainstream media source (BBC) so the concept of a TOTALLY FREE software product might be completely alien to them, or at least unconventional. I posit that the writers/editors of the article emphasized the free aspect of the donation so that their readers, who may or may not have even heard of UNIX, let alone Linux, would see it as a significant event..
Secondly, while it is true that RedHat bundles some non-opensource 3rd party software in it's boxed versions, the main thing RH is selling is the support.. and even in that department Colin Tenwick RH's VP-Europe has stated he's not looking to make a profit from the situation.
So, why don't we just take this for what it is?
A Good Thing. Free SW for kids to learn and use. That many more Linux users in the world. (it's a big party, the more the merrier) And especially, kids who will perhaps have their first experience with a computer using an OS that is WELL DESIGNED and MAINTAINED.. unlike *other* operating systems... so just feel happy for the kids and give some credit to RedHat for giving back to the community.
i've been using Linux-Mandrake 6.1 for about a month now..
that's cool.. I've been postulating using Debian for some time now..
sounds like a neat feature..
:)
it does look better than winamp, in fact.. there's a utility to use with xmms.. kint_xmms, i think it is.. http://www.dgs.monash.edu.au/~timf/xmms/ but what does WinAmp do that xmms can't do..? I haven't found anything I miss from WinAmp...just curious
I used to use ONLY WM up to like 0.61.0, then after i saw E 0.16.2, i switched..
one advantage of this was that E detected the Gnome apps I had installed and they're available off the normal desktop menu (right-click).. same with KDE stuff..
once in a while I start the panel but that's becoming more and more rare.. that seems to take quite a bit of memory..
xmms (X MultiMedia System) is a WinAmp-like program for Linux/X-Windows.. it was spawned from the ashes of X11Amp if I'm not mistaken.. and some distros still include x11amp..
so you use it to play mp3's and as someone has mentioned there's a utility to give it a way cool front end..
available here..
http://www.dgs.monash.edu.au/~timf/xmms/
it also has pointers to sites with skins you can use.
:)
I may be wrong, but it seems XMMS.org opened up a competition to see who could come up with the best plugin for xmms.. the prize being..? i haven't read the details of the competition yet.. but if these plugins are any better than the few that come with xmms.. then they should kick some ass! ;)
I personally like the 3d OpenGL analyer..
but then of course.. TMTOWTDI.
i agree. Nothing like some mildly pr0nographic Star Wars haiku for a good chuckle.. ;)
most of the others are just dumb.. but for some reason i liked this one too
she does???
;)
because most of the time Linux peforms well for most applications.. but it isn't optimal under heavy network load. So *BSD is good for ekeing out the best performance on the same H/W when you anticipate a high network load.. (see yahoo.com)
last time I checked.. WindowMaker ran on my BSD laptop.. and they have quite an extensive array of ports of major open source software.. not to mention support for linux binaries..
and it's more secure out of the box.. outperforms linux as a network server..
as for *needing* kde or gnome..
see http://www.freebsd.org/ports/
'nuff said..
better yet.. how but they just go metric to begin with rather than all that silly conversion..
Someone's read "Moon is a Harsh Mistress".. *wink, wink*..
while it is true that technology growth and, more specifically, that of the PC has taken on a life of it's own, I believe that the impetus for the birth of these areas was provided by the need for computing power during WWII to help break the codes used by Axis powers..
(Cryptonomicon anyone?)
:-)
thanks.. and I don't care if you're off topic..
*wink, wink*
I have a good friend who's been using a Ricochet and .. i forget which ISP all over Silicon Valley.. although it was used mainly on Win98 since he hadn't gotten the Linux support for it figgered out yet..
define "fastest"...
floating point.. integer.. ??
I mean.. are there any other categories.. like
"starving college students" -- price $0.00
"professionals with more money
than sense" -- price $999.99
but seriously.. this might be worth it, except for the fact of how expensive Alpha boxes are.. anyone out there use one at home.. and how much did it cost?
and that gives the script kiddies a WHOLE NEW way to screw over users with "BackOrifice"...
-----------------------------------
all good points, although StarOffice/WordPerfect don't bother me on my linux box.. results may vary..
Netscape has yet to spit up on me.. and it runs faster than Nutscrape on Win98 for me...
I've used visual studio.. it's the BEST choice for authoring *Windows* applications.. I'd probably like CodeWarrior better or some other non-MS product, simply for the fact that it might not have such a close binding to the WinAPI.
DirectX.. 3D rendering aside.. my graphics work pretty well on Linux.. i use WindowMaker at 1280x1024x16.. (larger res/same bpp as Win98) and it's faster than Win for me.. Diamond Viper V770 AGP 32MB..
i agree Blackdown has fallen behind in it's java porting project (IIRC IBM has releast a JDK for Linux as well.. someone can verify?)
Have you ever seen Enlightenment work on a a good display?.. it's much more rich and fun to look at than any windows display i've seen.. check out the screen shots at www.enlightenment.org..
so.. software quality may be an issue.. but i can guarantee the issues will be resolved before MS releases the version of Windows after Win2000.. (Windows3000?)
I personally would rather wait a year for a solid, stable, robust Linux than FOREVER for MS to fix what's wrong with Windows..
okay.. apart from the DVD player.. which is coming soon, I'm sure.. (too many people who use Linux want it to happen for it not to be on the horizon).. you gave good examples of specialized software that is not really available on Linux (someone prove me wrong here..) But if it's 3d rendering you crave..check out Moonlight Creator.. (forget what the URL is.. )
Granted these are "corners" of the market that Linux has yet to exert it's influence on.. so Windows in this case is a better choice.. but for the most part, I'll stick with linux. And I wouldn't be surprised if Linux base-solutions arise for those niches as well..
What could you *possibly* run on Windoze that has no close approximation on Linux? Not to mention the fact that Linux applications are much more frequently update/fixed/enhanced..
As far as the H/W issue goes.. if you're going to put ANY OS on a computer, you're going to want reliable, brand name hardware (not necessarily top-of-the-line, mind you).. and in that case, the odds are that Linux can support it..
With regard to games.. yes Linux doesn't, at present, support as many games as Windows9x does.. but on the other hand if ALL you're going to use an OS for is to play games.. then you might as well just use Window anyway.. (I personally keep Windows somewhere on my box just to play said games.. anything worthwhile is done on Linux )
Oh, and *nix systems are stable because they were written to be that way (over 2 decades ago), unlike Windows which was written to merely please the lowest common denominator, and buggily at that. At least linux is upgrading itself constantly in such a way as to not require the user to BUY at bloated prices a bloated piece of software that's supposed to fix usability issues, but quite often, just creates more problems, hassles.. etc...
DSL comes in flavors from 144 kbps all the way up to 1.5 Mbps.. which is about the same as a T1 linespeed.. so it's not like a T1 is gonna be all that slow either.. but DSL is more cost-effective in that it can run over existing POTS infrastructure.. with some minor modifications..
There is a pretty wide variety of DSL services available.. (xDSL) basically you can have inbound and outbount bandwidths that are the same or different.. ADSL v. SDSL ( I know there are more variants, but just keeping it simple )..
which stand for Asymmetric DSL and Symmetric DSL, respectively..
I've seen SDSL available in up to 1.5 Mbps both up and down-stream.. so go figure.. but I'm not sure of the cost comparison w/ a T1 for $200/mo.
Butter enabless the memory to use SED..
Butter AND Sour Cream gets you DED/SEC memory..
and I think RDRAM (Rambus) has something to do
with either 'tater skins or bacon bits..
:-)