If the target demographic were as you say , more advanced users than it would make more sense to put a more recognized Linux on the box (perhaps red hat or the like). By putting Lindows on the box and playing up Windows compatibility... it is obvious they are trying to attract just the opposite type of user. Despite a (relatively small) difference of price, the average user is going to find him/herself clamoring to install real windows on the machine as soon as he discovers MOST off the shelf software will not run correctly on it. As for the machines appeal to the geek crowd... I'd have to say 1) I doubt most geeks buy their machines at Walmart and 2) Desktop Linux using geeks are still a small minority of computer buyers. These machines aren't destined to be a big hit.
I think to claim it compatible with windows... it had *better* run MOST windows software very well. The standard wine (not counting the enhanced versions like wineX, codeweavers) cannot run MOST complex windows programs, let alone Games which you can be sure a home user is going to be very interested in running. I'm willing to bet these boxen will not last 6 months at Walmart.
Note: I'm a full time linux user and advocate, but I'm also a realist.
I like a spud gun much better. Just get some PVC pipe, some lighter fluid, A pipe end, a ignitor out of an old grill, and a Potato. Spray in the fluid, stuff in the potato, hit the button and boom. I must have shot a potato a good 250 feet once. Lotsa fun.
Neatly disguised as a trumpet case, with a real CRT monitor to boot. And interchangeable storage device (aka tape drive). Still has the best games too.
I'm hard pressed to come up with any remakes that live up to the original. It's because it's always a derivative work, the original having a strong bering in the screen writers mind the whole time. No doubt the inspiration for the original came from a different source, perhaps a variety of sources. Unless the new version is inspired of the same sources, it's doomed to just seem like a shallow replica of the real thing.
No, a boycott would absolutely not work. No because the slashdot crowd is only a very small fraction of the computer using comunity... a good part of whom use alternate OS's anyway. The rest of the world either likes microsoft products or at least doesn't know of any alternatives and you can bet they will be lining up at the stores the day it goes on sale. Unfortunately, the average consumer isn't concerned about moral issues (such as Microsofts greed).
This may help the GIMP interface
on
GIMP And OS X
·
· Score: 2
This may be a good thing for the GIMP user interface. Despite it's power it's still has a fairly archaic front end. Having a hoard of 'look and feel' savvy users trying out the GIMP will only result in plenty of good feedback (aka constructive critisism). Maybe these improvements made to satisfy these mac users can be rolled back into the source for all the other unices as well?
I've actively tried to de-microsoftize our documentation at the place where I work. The first thing I did when I was hired was get rid of all those lousy excel and word files, and converted them all to HTML (making them available on our intranet web as a side benefit). I've also slowly but surely been able to convince (some) of my coworkers to exchange documents in open and well documented formats. And now, there are at least 5 of us who have snuck linux onto our work machines.
a bunch of C64's and C128's to get the chips. I loved my C128, it was a real beauty for it's time. It's to bad no one builds them anymore, even as a collectors item.
I don't mind the distro's containing alot of software... just don't stick it all on my hard drive as part of the default install. It's getting harder and harder to install linux in anything less than 600MB. Compare that to under 40MB for windows 95. Installing all that software during install is not the answer... instead distro's should concentrate on making it easy to install the software after the fact. Also, most people don't need 50 different hex editors (I'm exaggerating)- choose the 1 or 2 best of each kind of software and stick with that. My experience with these huge distro's (shovelware) is that lots of stuff is buggy anyway, they should choose fewer software packages and then make sure they actually work.
Compiling doesn't have to be all that bad... what really sucks is that software requires you to have a bunch of stuff installed before the compile process. It's bad enough installing a RPM and finding out there are failed dependancies. Having a compile fail partway through is even worse. I don't bother downloading source anymore because more often than not I'm missing something it expects me to have and I don't have all day to spend getting the stupid thing working. Developers should package as much as they can with their code... so that users don't have to go on a wild code goose chase to install their products. Sure the downloads will be bigger but many people have decent connection speeds these days. (Most) windows applications follow this rule... packaging required DLL's for example... just in case they are needed. This is part of the reason Windows apps are (usually) easy to install.
Do you suppose a motion blurring effect would improve the percieved image quality then (at lower frame rates). I think the latest Voodoo card has support for something like that? That being the case that you cannot have actual motion in a single frame... but evidence of motion.
For the average person with a monitor refreshing at 75hz for example, it's kind of pointless to update frames more often than that. In fact a common television only updates it's image 30 times a second (even though the electron beam passes over the screen twice as often)- which produces an acceptably smooth animation for most purposes.
It is my opinion that applications... the things that are the bread and butter of companies like Micro$oft will no longer be profitable as soon as the open source alternative have reached the level of quality, name recognition, and ease of use that people have come to expect of commercial applications. On the other hand, when you buy a game... very little of what you bought is 'application'... really what you are buying is music, artwork, and animated video. Most games are unique from one another and offer limitless posibilities. Perhaps games will start to be based on open-source game engines... none-the-less the entire work itself will likely not come under the open-source umbrella.
Screen size is a compromizing situation. Make the screen large enough for a pretty display... all of a sudden it doesn't fit in the palm of your hand anymore. The Eye glasses thing I think would work, also... maybe low-power projection directly at the eyes (I think I've seen this somewhere). Just stare at the red dot:-)
Reduce your images to 2 Bit pix maps, black, red, and blue... throw in a pair of those funky multi-colour 3D glasses and your in business. Brilliant 3D- Tiny Filez!
Mozilla looks like it'll be a great browser... someday, but in this market a timeline of years just isn't good enough. I personally think the AOL-Sun-Netscape alliance is to blame for not putting enough professional manpower behind the project from the beginning. I believe the open source aspect of Mozilla will prevail eventually, however it should had some serious corporate dollars to pull it out of it's long standing slump.
Theres no such thing, and there hasn't been for years. Not unless you want to tear up all your credit cards, get rid of your phone, internet connection, quit your job, let your drivers license expire, sell your house, flee the country, and fake your own death. If your willing to do all these things, flee to the woods in a little cabin with no electricity under dense tree cover... you might just get a little peace.
Slashdot Mirror
If the target demographic were as you say , more advanced users than it would make more sense to put a more recognized Linux on the box (perhaps red hat or the like). By putting Lindows on the box and playing up Windows compatibility... it is obvious they are trying to attract just the opposite type of user. Despite a (relatively small) difference of price, the average user is going to find him/herself clamoring to install real windows on the machine as soon as he discovers MOST off the shelf software will not run correctly on it. As for the machines appeal to the geek crowd... I'd have to say 1) I doubt most geeks buy their machines at Walmart and 2) Desktop Linux using geeks are still a small minority of computer buyers. These machines aren't destined to be a big hit.
* I mean geek as a complement of course
I think to claim it compatible with windows... it had *better* run MOST windows software very well. The standard wine (not counting the enhanced versions like wineX, codeweavers) cannot run MOST complex windows programs, let alone Games which you can be sure a home user is going to be very interested in running. I'm willing to bet these boxen will not last 6 months at Walmart.
Note: I'm a full time linux user and advocate, but I'm also a realist.
I like a spud gun much better. Just get some PVC pipe, some lighter fluid, A pipe end, a ignitor out of an old grill, and a Potato. Spray in the fluid, stuff in the potato, hit the button and boom. I must have shot a potato a good 250 feet once. Lotsa fun.
Don't forget Mr. Bill, he's my favorite claymate.
With the linux user base being notorious for not spending a dime, their concentrating on linux would have only brought them down faster
Neatly disguised as a trumpet case, with a real CRT monitor to boot. And interchangeable storage device (aka tape drive). Still has the best games too.
I'm hard pressed to come up with any remakes that live up to the original. It's because it's always a derivative work, the original having a strong bering in the screen writers mind the whole time. No doubt the inspiration for the original came from a different source, perhaps a variety of sources. Unless the new version is inspired of the same sources, it's doomed to just seem like a shallow replica of the real thing.
No, a boycott would absolutely not work. No because the slashdot crowd is only a very small fraction of the computer using comunity... a good part of whom use alternate OS's anyway. The rest of the world either likes microsoft products or at least doesn't know of any alternatives and you can bet they will be lining up at the stores the day it goes on sale. Unfortunately, the average consumer isn't concerned about moral issues (such as Microsofts greed).
true... true... ok, next subject.
This may be a good thing for the GIMP user interface. Despite it's power it's still has a fairly archaic front end. Having a hoard of 'look and feel' savvy users trying out the GIMP will only result in plenty of good feedback (aka constructive critisism). Maybe these improvements made to satisfy these mac users can be rolled back into the source for all the other unices as well?
with a live dog's brain?
Yeah... it's a shame not to see ME (Chris Roberts), but I'm not 'THE' famous chris roberts unfortunately.
I want exclusive rights to the phrase... "could it beeeeeeeee SATAN!"
I've actively tried to de-microsoftize our documentation at the place where I work. The first thing I did when I was hired was get rid of all those lousy excel and word files, and converted them all to HTML (making them available on our intranet web as a side benefit). I've also slowly but surely been able to convince (some) of my coworkers to exchange documents in open and well documented formats. And now, there are at least 5 of us who have snuck linux onto our work machines.
a bunch of C64's and C128's to get the chips. I loved my C128, it was a real beauty for it's time. It's to bad no one builds them anymore, even as a collectors item.
I don't mind the distro's containing alot of software... just don't stick it all on my hard drive as part of the default install. It's getting harder and harder to install linux in anything less than 600MB. Compare that to under 40MB for windows 95. Installing all that software during install is not the answer... instead distro's should concentrate on making it easy to install the software after the fact. Also, most people don't need 50 different hex editors (I'm exaggerating)- choose the 1 or 2 best of each kind of software and stick with that. My experience with these huge distro's (shovelware) is that lots of stuff is buggy anyway, they should choose fewer software packages and then make sure they actually work.
Compiling doesn't have to be all that bad... what really sucks is that software requires you to have a bunch of stuff installed before the compile process. It's bad enough installing a RPM and finding out there are failed dependancies. Having a compile fail partway through is even worse. I don't bother downloading source anymore because more often than not I'm missing something it expects me to have and I don't have all day to spend getting the stupid thing working. Developers should package as much as they can with their code... so that users don't have to go on a wild code goose chase to install their products. Sure the downloads will be bigger but many people have decent connection speeds these days. (Most) windows applications follow this rule... packaging required DLL's for example... just in case they are needed. This is part of the reason Windows apps are (usually) easy to install.
Do you suppose a motion blurring effect would improve the percieved image quality then (at lower frame rates). I think the latest Voodoo card has support for something like that? That being the case that you cannot have actual motion in a single frame... but evidence of motion.
For the average person with a monitor refreshing at 75hz for example, it's kind of pointless to update frames more often than that. In fact a common television only updates it's image 30 times a second (even though the electron beam passes over the screen twice as often)- which produces an acceptably smooth animation for most purposes.
It is my opinion that applications... the things that are the bread and butter of companies like Micro$oft will no longer be profitable as soon as the open source alternative have reached the level of quality, name recognition, and ease of use that people have come to expect of commercial applications. On the other hand, when you buy a game... very little of what you bought is 'application'... really what you are buying is music, artwork, and animated video. Most games are unique from one another and offer limitless posibilities. Perhaps games will start to be based on open-source game engines... none-the-less the entire work itself will likely not come under the open-source umbrella.
Screen size is a compromizing situation. Make the screen large enough for a pretty display... all of a sudden it doesn't fit in the palm of your hand anymore. The Eye glasses thing I think would work, also... maybe low-power projection directly at the eyes (I think I've seen this somewhere). Just stare at the red dot :-)
Reduce your images to 2 Bit pix maps, black, red, and blue... throw in a pair of those funky multi-colour 3D glasses and your in business. Brilliant 3D- Tiny Filez!
It's because they let geeks run the site unfettered, they need to get some suits to sit in their big chair and anticipate such things.
Mozilla looks like it'll be a great browser... someday, but in this market a timeline of years just isn't good enough. I personally think the AOL-Sun-Netscape alliance is to blame for not putting enough professional manpower behind the project from the beginning. I believe the open source aspect of Mozilla will prevail eventually, however it should had some serious corporate dollars to pull it out of it's long standing slump.
Theres no such thing, and there hasn't been for years. Not unless you want to tear up all your credit cards, get rid of your phone, internet connection, quit your job, let your drivers license expire, sell your house, flee the country, and fake your own death. If your willing to do all these things, flee to the woods in a little cabin with no electricity under dense tree cover... you might just get a little peace.