Why is this modded interesting. Google docs exports to ODF by default, as well as PDF and DOC. How is that lock-in? Standards based formats? And 'held hostage'?? I can get my docs off Google's servers at any time by clicking File > Download. God forbid I'd want an easy free service to store my documents in a location I can access securely anywhere in the world. If it really scares you, don't use it, or use it, download the documents to a flash drive and delete them off Google Docs. Thankfully they're not in a locked-in format such as docx that can only be read in ONE application suite with any degree of certainty.
And I didn't even start talking about how much easier collaboration is in these suites.
The Dell mini 10v is $299. Get solid state drive for an extra $30. Same price for Ubuntu or WinXP. Looks like they just got rid of the mini 9, too bad. It was also $299.
Can't see prices getting too much lower than that!
I'm with you. I've been using Ardour and Hydrogen for years. Also use Rosegarden for keyboard synth. My keyboard is a M-Audio 49-key USB interface, just plug it in and go. I've set up a few audio production systems for friends as well. Shane Bertrand has been recording and mixing his own music on one for 5 years now. A 10 input M-Audio Delta 1010LT sound card, Ardour, and Hydrogen are his main tools. They recorded and produced both CWO albums on this setup. They used 5 mics to record the drummer; Shane's modest system had no problems handling it all, even at more than 40 tracks in a song. He had a Sempron 2500+ and 512MB RAM w/ Kubuntu, just upgraded to a X2 3800, 2GB RAM a few months ago.
The situation this clause of the LGPL is aimed at is one wherein Google would be obligated by their patent license to require that everyone they distributed the program to sign a patent sublicensing agreement that took away rights granted by the LGPL.
Wouldn't they be able to license included libraries under different agreements to compensate for this? Or does a patent agreement not work the same as copyright agreements in that respect?
I use OpenOffice Draw as an alternative to Visio. I'm able to make good looking flowcharts and network diagrams and save them to PDF. Works great for what I need it for. Colleagues have never had a negative comment regarding the diagrams etc.
It's odd how little need I have for spreadsheet software. I don't know where I'm going wrong that I don't get to use one more often:) As a network engineer and administrator, I still find the only value for me in a spreadsheet is doing my monthly finances (very simple) at home. Once in a while I'll use Calc to format some cvs file before importing to a database. I guess I've also built up some service quotes in a spreadsheet, but Calc was good enough for that as well, and the resulting PDF looked great, rather professional even.
Patience, young Padawan. They're coming; Motorola's been all abuzz about it for a few months now, they're hoping it will save their skin. Samsung and Sony are among others that have announced phones arriving in 2009.
Besides, there's only one Android phone in the US market now, and it just came out 6 months ago.
Yes but makers of netbooks aren't targeting Linux users, they're targeting users. So the above question is valid, although I do think vendors are already picking up and polishing Linux to go on their devices. If you want a Dell Mini 9, it's clear that Ubuntu is available on it, and it's clear that it's cheaper. It's the only OS option for the $299 starter price, and on the higher price points w/ camera and bluetooth, Windows and Linux purchase buttons are right beside each other. If they're that forward with offering Linux on the device, they're (hopefully) providing a well tested and polished version, especially since they've been putting Linux on machines for a few years now.
In my office, a few techs have had to help a realtor that bought a Samsung netbook w/ Linux. He's enjoying it, a frustration here and there (his company's office printer would need extra licensing to print postscript, and Linux doesn't have a non-postscript driver for a Sharp AR-M355N). From what I've overheard, it sounds like a modified Gnome desktop, but I don't know what package manager/distro.
Scratch that, it has gOS.
We, the Linux users, will probably install whatever distro we want anyways. The vendors don't care what happens once it's purchased, and you'll wipe it clean if it needs warranty repair. The upside is a better chance that all the hardware in the device works immediately.
Google Apps and "the Cloud" (sounds like a seventies pop group) is where Google becomes the new Microsoft.
The Great Unwashed will flock to move over to Google Apps and before they know it, they'll be locked in. They'll be beholden to Google.
You mark my words...
Isn't it good that Google Docs saves documents to your desktop as ODF by default, can export PDF easily, and can read/export iCal format? Using open formats ensures that we can move to another platform if necessary.
I just found Group-Office last week, and decided to try it, as I was setting up a new client mail server at the time. Followed this.
So, I've got postfix and dovecot, MySQL for user management, and what I consider a really beautiful web frontend with mail, contacts, personal and shared calendars, tasks, summary page, etc. I like that I have complete control over the mail backends, making IMAP/POP3/SMTP config familiar and easy.
Not that this could be a drop-in replacement for Exchange, but it's great that more options are becoming available every day.
One thing I'd like to say on this note - I tried Boxee for viewing video off Hulu, and found the interface was unusable when compared to Hulu's own interface for finding and playing content. In Boxee, all the videos were jumbled together in no discernible order. In Hulu's interface, I can see content separated by show, popularity, date, etc and can see episodes in dated order.
That being said, I'm sorry this has to happen, and I hope Boxee continues to grow.
Thankfully it works for me on every machine I've touched in the past 3 years (many.. I've installed Linux on a few hundred machines in that time). I only restart my work laptop for kernel updates. It's a Dell Latitude D600, getting up there in years. Otherwise, I suspend on avg. 5 times a day. My desktop and TV PCs at home with recent nvidia chipsets suspend, hibernate and wake without issues as well.
The thing that usually interests people the most when they're asking me about Linux is the reduced dependence on antivirus and anti-spyware software to ensure their system continues to work as expected. That and fancy desktop effects at little cost.
What happens to these netbooks when Symantec realtime scan and spybot/etc are running, or when they go to install Outlook?
Odd, it works great here. Pretty much any nforce chipset, and mostly Biostar boards. I've never had a problem, at all, with suspend. That's on TVs and workstations. On my laptop, I never shut it down. Always suspend. Always:) Takes 2 secs do go down, 2 to come back up. Crappy old Dell Latitude D600 from work.
Also, CPU throttling works great IMO, even on the desktops. My 2.5GHz X2 runs at 1GHz until it starts doing anything. The 1.8GHz in the laptop usually sits at 600mHz. On the lappy, I average 1/2 hr. better battery time in Kubuntu vs. XP Pro. Still run the bare metal XP in a VM though, under a diff. hardware profile.
YMMV. My home network is WPA2, and all TVs and workstations are Kubuntu. Connectivity is a non-issue on atheros, broadcom, and intel chipsets (out of the box, no post-install setup). I have $20 PCI and USB adapters with realtek chips in them, ndiswrapper setup takes 2 mins with the provided driver CD (ndiswrapper -i or ndisgtk, whatever preference). Also, most every client I travel to is still on WEP; my work laptop knows which connections I've used and connects without interaction.
I haven't been able to try 8.10 yet, but thankfully this didn't happen to me on 8.04.1 + KDE4.1.2. It's running on my desktop at work, where I don't logout or reboot for weeks, possibly months.
We're going to be trying Brutus at our office, for possible deployment to select clients who don't want/need all users running Outlook. They are using Outlook Web Access for many employees, but the problem a tech sees is the users commonly click on an email link, and currently their Novell mail client still comes up.
Brutus requires a connecting agent to be installed server-side, so isn't an option for everyone. But if you're in a position where you have sway with the server admins (or are one), it could be a viable solution.
As to the suggestions of Thunderbird/etc, this is good, but can they get full calendar support? This is very important in an exchange environment, where calendaring (shared calendars, delegates, etc) is the killer feature.
I've been pushing to offer Zimbra or similar as an alternative to Exchange for our clients, but I've still got some headway to make there.
Is the price difference a result of higher mandatory manufacturer warranty in Europe? Are hardware prices commonly higher than the US, or is this uncommon?
Thanks for this post. Consumer-grade networking products are the bane of my existence. I think I'll try Tomato, once I find out whether it will support VoIP for Vonage service. For WAPs, I've about given up. I spent nearly as much as one can on consumer, getting a Linksys WAP4400N WAP, and it still has a shotty signal. I'll likely be purchasing a Cisco WAP using my company's discount, its signal is amazing, and just what I need to stream video to the HTPC upstairs.
Slashdot Mirror
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1275379&cid=28397147&art_pos=5
A post of mine from a similar story a short time ago:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1275379&cid=28397147&art_pos=4
M-Audio, Ardour, Jack, etc in production, with some examples of end results.
Why is this modded interesting. Google docs exports to ODF by default, as well as PDF and DOC. How is that lock-in? Standards based formats? And 'held hostage'?? I can get my docs off Google's servers at any time by clicking File > Download. God forbid I'd want an easy free service to store my documents in a location I can access securely anywhere in the world. If it really scares you, don't use it, or use it, download the documents to a flash drive and delete them off Google Docs. Thankfully they're not in a locked-in format such as docx that can only be read in ONE application suite with any degree of certainty.
And I didn't even start talking about how much easier collaboration is in these suites.
Sheesh.
The Dell mini 10v is $299. Get solid state drive for an extra $30. Same price for Ubuntu or WinXP. Looks like they just got rid of the mini 9, too bad. It was also $299.
Can't see prices getting too much lower than that!
That's how the Web started out - free of commercials. People got greedy though.
:-)
I'm with you. I've been using Ardour and Hydrogen for years. Also use Rosegarden for keyboard synth. My keyboard is a M-Audio 49-key USB interface, just plug it in and go. I've set up a few audio production systems for friends as well. Shane Bertrand has been recording and mixing his own music on one for 5 years now. A 10 input M-Audio Delta 1010LT sound card, Ardour, and Hydrogen are his main tools. They recorded and produced both CWO albums on this setup. They used 5 mics to record the drummer; Shane's modest system had no problems handling it all, even at more than 40 tracks in a song. He had a Sempron 2500+ and 512MB RAM w/ Kubuntu, just upgraded to a X2 3800, 2GB RAM a few months ago.
The situation this clause of the LGPL is aimed at is one wherein Google would be obligated by their patent license to require that everyone they distributed the program to sign a patent sublicensing agreement that took away rights granted by the LGPL.
Wouldn't they be able to license included libraries under different agreements to compensate for this? Or does a patent agreement not work the same as copyright agreements in that respect?
I use OpenOffice Draw as an alternative to Visio. I'm able to make good looking flowcharts and network diagrams and save them to PDF. Works great for what I need it for. Colleagues have never had a negative comment regarding the diagrams etc.
It's odd how little need I have for spreadsheet software. I don't know where I'm going wrong that I don't get to use one more often :) As a network engineer and administrator, I still find the only value for me in a spreadsheet is doing my monthly finances (very simple) at home. Once in a while I'll use Calc to format some cvs file before importing to a database. I guess I've also built up some service quotes in a spreadsheet, but Calc was good enough for that as well, and the resulting PDF looked great, rather professional even.
Patience, young Padawan. They're coming; Motorola's been all abuzz about it for a few months now, they're hoping it will save their skin. Samsung and Sony are among others that have announced phones arriving in 2009.
Besides, there's only one Android phone in the US market now, and it just came out 6 months ago.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/smartphones/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212501692
Yes but makers of netbooks aren't targeting Linux users, they're targeting users. So the above question is valid, although I do think vendors are already picking up and polishing Linux to go on their devices. If you want a Dell Mini 9, it's clear that Ubuntu is available on it, and it's clear that it's cheaper. It's the only OS option for the $299 starter price, and on the higher price points w/ camera and bluetooth, Windows and Linux purchase buttons are right beside each other. If they're that forward with offering Linux on the device, they're (hopefully) providing a well tested and polished version, especially since they've been putting Linux on machines for a few years now.
In my office, a few techs have had to help a realtor that bought a Samsung netbook w/ Linux. He's enjoying it, a frustration here and there (his company's office printer would need extra licensing to print postscript, and Linux doesn't have a non-postscript driver for a Sharp AR-M355N). From what I've overheard, it sounds like a modified Gnome desktop, but I don't know what package manager/distro.
Scratch that, it has gOS.
We, the Linux users, will probably install whatever distro we want anyways. The vendors don't care what happens once it's purchased, and you'll wipe it clean if it needs warranty repair. The upside is a better chance that all the hardware in the device works immediately.
Google Apps and "the Cloud" (sounds like a seventies pop group) is where Google becomes the new Microsoft.
The Great Unwashed will flock to move over to Google Apps and before they know it, they'll be locked in. They'll be beholden to Google.
You mark my words...
Isn't it good that Google Docs saves documents to your desktop as ODF by default, can export PDF easily, and can read/export iCal format? Using open formats ensures that we can move to another platform if necessary.
I just found Group-Office last week, and decided to try it, as I was setting up a new client mail server at the time. Followed this.
So, I've got postfix and dovecot, MySQL for user management, and what I consider a really beautiful web frontend with mail, contacts, personal and shared calendars, tasks, summary page, etc. I like that I have complete control over the mail backends, making IMAP/POP3/SMTP config familiar and easy.
Not that this could be a drop-in replacement for Exchange, but it's great that more options are becoming available every day.
One thing I'd like to say on this note - I tried Boxee for viewing video off Hulu, and found the interface was unusable when compared to Hulu's own interface for finding and playing content. In Boxee, all the videos were jumbled together in no discernible order. In Hulu's interface, I can see content separated by show, popularity, date, etc and can see episodes in dated order.
That being said, I'm sorry this has to happen, and I hope Boxee continues to grow.
Thankfully it works for me on every machine I've touched in the past 3 years (many.. I've installed Linux on a few hundred machines in that time). I only restart my work laptop for kernel updates. It's a Dell Latitude D600, getting up there in years. Otherwise, I suspend on avg. 5 times a day. My desktop and TV PCs at home with recent nvidia chipsets suspend, hibernate and wake without issues as well.
The thing that usually interests people the most when they're asking me about Linux is the reduced dependence on antivirus and anti-spyware software to ensure their system continues to work as expected. That and fancy desktop effects at little cost.
What happens to these netbooks when Symantec realtime scan and spybot/etc are running, or when they go to install Outlook?
I haven't even gotten to use Chrome yet :( I hope they release a Linux version soon!
Odd, it works great here. Pretty much any nforce chipset, and mostly Biostar boards. I've never had a problem, at all, with suspend. That's on TVs and workstations. On my laptop, I never shut it down. Always suspend. Always :) Takes 2 secs do go down, 2 to come back up. Crappy old Dell Latitude D600 from work.
Also, CPU throttling works great IMO, even on the desktops. My 2.5GHz X2 runs at 1GHz until it starts doing anything. The 1.8GHz in the laptop usually sits at 600mHz. On the lappy, I average 1/2 hr. better battery time in Kubuntu vs. XP Pro. Still run the bare metal XP in a VM though, under a diff. hardware profile.
YMMV. My home network is WPA2, and all TVs and workstations are Kubuntu. Connectivity is a non-issue on atheros, broadcom, and intel chipsets (out of the box, no post-install setup). I have $20 PCI and USB adapters with realtek chips in them, ndiswrapper setup takes 2 mins with the provided driver CD (ndiswrapper -i or ndisgtk, whatever preference). Also, most every client I travel to is still on WEP; my work laptop knows which connections I've used and connects without interaction.
I haven't been able to try 8.10 yet, but thankfully this didn't happen to me on 8.04.1 + KDE4.1.2. It's running on my desktop at work, where I don't logout or reboot for weeks, possibly months.
Here's your best bet for KDE4.1.2 on 8.04.1:
http://www.kubuntu.org/news/kde-4.1.2
Real painless, and a great desktop experience afterwards (IMO).
We're going to be trying Brutus at our office, for possible deployment to select clients who don't want/need all users running Outlook. They are using Outlook Web Access for many employees, but the problem a tech sees is the users commonly click on an email link, and currently their Novell mail client still comes up.
Brutus requires a connecting agent to be installed server-side, so isn't an option for everyone. But if you're in a position where you have sway with the server admins (or are one), it could be a viable solution.
As to the suggestions of Thunderbird/etc, this is good, but can they get full calendar support? This is very important in an exchange environment, where calendaring (shared calendars, delegates, etc) is the killer feature.
I've been pushing to offer Zimbra or similar as an alternative to Exchange for our clients, but I've still got some headway to make there.
Or rather, when is it coming out?
Thanks, that answers my question from a few posts up.
Is the price difference a result of higher mandatory manufacturer warranty in Europe? Are hardware prices commonly higher than the US, or is this uncommon?
Thanks for this post. Consumer-grade networking products are the bane of my existence. I think I'll try Tomato, once I find out whether it will support VoIP for Vonage service. For WAPs, I've about given up. I spent nearly as much as one can on consumer, getting a Linksys WAP4400N WAP, and it still has a shotty signal. I'll likely be purchasing a Cisco WAP using my company's discount, its signal is amazing, and just what I need to stream video to the HTPC upstairs.