Cobalt makes Linux hardware (more or less) and it's great to see them get what ammounts to a large distribution deal.
Gateway is nothing more than a distributor of hardware anyway. The don't actually MAKE anything, so this deal gives them an entry into the LInux market.
The question I have is: Who will do the support? Coablt? or Gateway? Because if it's Cobalt, I think you have people that will incorrectly assume that Gateway has contracted their support to a 3rd party. If it's Gateway, I'd worry that they won't know HOW to support Linux systems.
Other than that, this seems like a great setup though.
While this is a fun article to read there really isn't anything all that earth-shattering here.
Some of the things he attibutes to Apple as reasons why it's great are pretty right-on the mark though.
Example: Apple WAS able to add USB to their boxes without worry about anything. They just did it. But I don't know if I wholly agree with his reasoning why. It seems to me that apple could make a jump like this precisely because they'd become a small niche-player in the industry. The smaller warrior always moves faster.
This is truly frightening..but I have to ask: what makes these seeds to great that anyone would be WILLING to buy seeds that can't re-produce? Can't farmers just walk down the street and buy someone else's seeds that DO re-produce? If all the big corp's start making terminator seeds can some small-time organic farmer just start selling his seeds? It seems like even if MonSanto (MS...hmmm) wanted to become the evil empire of farm products, they'd have a losing battle on their hands.
I agree totally. Truth is, this all depends on how you define "a real live sysadmin". I certainly would never hire a "real live sysadmin" who didn't install security patches. What kind of sysadmin would that be? For cryin' out loud...the only way to do this test is to apply all Red Hat errata that relate to security at all, AND to apply NT-SP5...that's what REAL sysadmins are already doing all over the world for both OSes.
At last! Someone stops screaming "Gattaca" and realizes that even that average (at best) movie was just a sad ripoff of Aldous Huxley's greastest story: Brave New World.
I recommend this book to anyone I can. It is a very entertaining read, and addresses the issues of genetic engineering and how society views outcats. What's more, it's funny!
READ IT if you have a few free hours (it's pretty short).
Well...there is one possible good that can come from this. I'm not saying that it's a good thing people's passwords are floating around, but at least the major systems out there are being forced to clean up their act a bit. I would be surprised if this hole lasts for long...and as long as they close it, that's a good thing.
Now if they'd just open source some of their stuff, we could actually HELP them patch the holes. OH well.
So...what I get from this, is that Slashdot as a community isn't really any more (or less) prone to knee-jerk reactions when someone trys to stir things up.
Sorry...but I don't think being afraid that people (who care's where they're from) are violating the GPL really makes for anti-commie paranoia.
There aren't that many Anti-Chinese remarks here...and those that are, have already been moderated down to off-topic (since the TOPIC is a violation of the GPL).
Ok....so if this is how you manage geeks, and (stretch) most geeks are really just autistic, then I think we've figured out how to solve the problems teachers have with autistic kids in school! I'm going to be rich!;-)
I have to agree. WHile it sucks that the 'net gets bogged down, and it's highly unfair to slow data transfer between countries that are not at war, this is a way to accomplish a goal (c'mon people...wars are reality) without actually killing people. Hip hip.
The problem is, that as a group, 'Slashdot readers' aren't really all that smart. There are plenty among us that ARE super-smart...but seperating the wheat from the chaffe is pretty damn hard...and the only way to do it is to be knowledgable in the first place.
I agree. Breaking up Microsoft would allow the "good" parts to flourish. Presumably the software division, or the "Office Products" division would continue to produce their fine office suite.
Despite the horrific bloat in MS-Office, Word still blows the doors off of Word Perfect (and I use Word Perfect for 80% of my word processing nowadays...so I know what I'm talking about).
On the other hand, does eliminating the close ties between software and OS prevent MS from leveraging their monopoly? I'm not so sure it does. I could see the OS division sill having too much clout. After all, there is nothing to stop them from giving preferencial treatment to the other divisions of MS or something like that.
DO you think they will make enough money on Athlon? I certainly agree with you, it's a great chip and they deserve success. BUt I haven't seen much support from the industry yet, not sure that'll change any tiem soon. It's sad really.
It's absolutely no surprise to me that Mandrake is the best selling distribution, no matter what name (Macmillan) they put it under.
wrong. wrong. wrong. Useability is NOT what sells Mandrake and/or MacMillan Linux. In fact, the article at ZDNet even alludes to this. They mention that MacMillan has gotten "linux on teh shelves where other other distros could not". This is a game of marketing power and publishers of books having the power to get large stores to listen when smaller companies (yes Virginia, Red Hat is a small company) cannot win the ears of buyers.
Think about it...you're the guy making the decisions for Barnes and Noble about what to put on your shelves. You can deal with a (perceived) company full of geeks, OR (and here's the kicker) you can just rely on your old pals, MacMillan for supplies. Of course you're going to go with the people that are already sending you plenty of books, AND the people with whom you already have a working relationship.
Mandrake might be nice, it might be useable, and it might be the best distro (i have no idea). But I do NOT think that MacMIllan selling the most copies of linux is 1) worthy of respect, 2) due to the merit of their product, or 3) anything we need to care about one way or another.
Linux is the only place in the software world where a product can be judged by its merits, instead of the marketing dollars behind it. But, MacMIllan Linux goes against this 100%. They're using their marketing muscle to sell stuff, and I think that's sad.
Well...I for one would welcome NASA ads on rockets. here you have a budget-starved governmental agency that can barely get their projects off the ground (and then they malfunction because of a metric conversion error).
If you let them put ads on rockets, they'll have more money...and to me, NASA having more money is a good thing.
Oh I didn't mean at all to intimate that college kids are idiots. Heck, I was one myself until a couple years ago.
But....college kids that could care less about computeres (think English/Biology/Chemistry/PolySci/History/etc.) will buy something that looks cool before they bother with something that looks boring.
These will be wildly successful. IBM has already re-established itself as a leader in laptops (from a mind-share standpoint). There is no way college kids won't flock to these things. Many colleges now make owning a laptop that you can bring to class a requirement (at least one large university in Michigan has already).
I know that people who use computers as tools for word processing and email will think this is a great idea.
Finally, isn't this hitting Apple where it hurts a little? I mean, some peole still buy Macs for the OS and the name....but an increasing number of people are buying IMacs (and probably IBOoks) because they look cool. This could be an interesting saga in the evolution of computers.
Slashdot Mirror
I must applaud their choice of acronyms: "The Santa Clara Remote Extreme Environment Mechanism (SCREEM)".
Cobalt makes Linux hardware (more or less) and it's great to see them get what ammounts to a large distribution deal.
Gateway is nothing more than a distributor of hardware anyway. The don't actually MAKE anything, so this deal gives them an entry into the LInux market.
The question I have is: Who will do the support? Coablt? or Gateway? Because if it's Cobalt, I think you have people that will incorrectly assume that Gateway has contracted their support to a 3rd party. If it's Gateway, I'd worry that they won't know HOW to support Linux systems.
Other than that, this seems like a great setup though.
Some of the things he attibutes to Apple as reasons why it's great are pretty right-on the mark though.
Example: Apple WAS able to add USB to their boxes without worry about anything. They just did it. But I don't know if I wholly agree with his reasoning why. It seems to me that apple could make a jump like this precisely because they'd become a small niche-player in the industry. The smaller warrior always moves faster.
This is truly frightening..but I have to ask: what makes these seeds to great that anyone would be WILLING to buy seeds that can't re-produce? Can't farmers just walk down the street and buy someone else's seeds that DO re-produce? If all the big corp's start making terminator seeds can some small-time organic farmer just start selling his seeds? It seems like even if MonSanto (MS...hmmm) wanted to become the evil empire of farm products, they'd have a losing battle on their hands.
However, I submit that this will be proof of Intel's monopoly hold on the chip market. They will have all OEMs back on board and satiated in no time.
Imagine what would happen to a smaller company if they scrwed up this bad....they'd be gone forever.
Oh well...i don't even care that much...just felt like pointing out the obvious.
I agree totally. Truth is, this all depends on how you define "a real live sysadmin". I certainly would never hire a "real live sysadmin" who didn't install security patches. What kind of sysadmin would that be? For cryin' out loud...the only way to do this test is to apply all Red Hat errata that relate to security at all, AND to apply NT-SP5...that's what REAL sysadmins are already doing all over the world for both OSes.
I recommend this book to anyone I can. It is a very entertaining read, and addresses the issues of genetic engineering and how society views outcats. What's more, it's funny!
READ IT if you have a few free hours (it's pretty short).
Now if they'd just open source some of their stuff, we could actually HELP them patch the holes. OH well.
So...what I get from this, is that Slashdot as a community isn't really any more (or less) prone to knee-jerk reactions when someone trys to stir things up.
Seriously...i'm not entirely sure people WANT virtual worlds on the Internet. I've played with MS-Comic Chat and it's just not that great. ;-)
There aren't that many Anti-Chinese remarks here...and those that are, have already been moderated down to off-topic (since the TOPIC is a violation of the GPL).
just wondering.
Ok....so if this is how you manage geeks, and (stretch) most geeks are really just autistic, then I think we've figured out how to solve the problems teachers have with autistic kids in school! I'm going to be rich! ;-)
I have to agree. WHile it sucks that the 'net gets bogged down, and it's highly unfair to slow data transfer between countries that are not at war, this is a way to accomplish a goal (c'mon people...wars are reality) without actually killing people. Hip hip.
This show is a great idea! How better to keep us glued to our sets. It's like MTV's Real World, only the people could actually DIE!
The problem is, that as a group, 'Slashdot readers' aren't really all that smart. There are plenty among us that ARE super-smart...but seperating the wheat from the chaffe is pretty damn hard...and the only way to do it is to be knowledgable in the first place.
Why would they implant electrodes in your leg? "Leg-cam"? I'm confused. ;-)
Despite the horrific bloat in MS-Office, Word still blows the doors off of Word Perfect (and I use Word Perfect for 80% of my word processing nowadays...so I know what I'm talking about).
On the other hand, does eliminating the close ties between software and OS prevent MS from leveraging their monopoly? I'm not so sure it does. I could see the OS division sill having too much clout. After all, there is nothing to stop them from giving preferencial treatment to the other divisions of MS or something like that.
or the theme to that annoying old 80s sitcom "Sledge Hammer". Yikes! :-)
DO you think they will make enough money on Athlon? I certainly agree with you, it's a great chip and they deserve success. BUt I haven't seen much support from the industry yet, not sure that'll change any tiem soon. It's sad really.
Think about it...you're the guy making the decisions for Barnes and Noble about what to put on your shelves. You can deal with a (perceived) company full of geeks, OR (and here's the kicker) you can just rely on your old pals, MacMillan for supplies. Of course you're going to go with the people that are already sending you plenty of books, AND the people with whom you already have a working relationship.
Mandrake might be nice, it might be useable, and it might be the best distro (i have no idea). But I do NOT think that MacMIllan selling the most copies of linux is 1) worthy of respect, 2) due to the merit of their product, or 3) anything we need to care about one way or another.
Linux is the only place in the software world where a product can be judged by its merits, instead of the marketing dollars behind it. But, MacMIllan Linux goes against this 100%. They're using their marketing muscle to sell stuff, and I think that's sad.
If you let them put ads on rockets, they'll have more money...and to me, NASA having more money is a good thing.
But....college kids that could care less about computeres (think English/Biology/Chemistry/PolySci/History/etc.) will buy something that looks cool before they bother with something that looks boring.
I know that people who use computers as tools for word processing and email will think this is a great idea.
Finally, isn't this hitting Apple where it hurts a little? I mean, some peole still buy Macs for the OS and the name....but an increasing number of people are buying IMacs (and probably IBOoks) because they look cool. This could be an interesting saga in the evolution of computers.