The model reviewed by the article is just one of several types of Linux laptops sold by R Cubed Technologies, ranging in price from $999 to $1,454. I really think you're getting a better buying one of these Linux laptops than buying a Dell laptop where you have to pay the Micro$oft tax or one of those exhorbitantly expensive Apple laptops.
The R Cubed Linux laptops have Intel integrated graphics cards for which Intel has released 2D and 3D-accelerated open source graphics drivers that are capable of transparent windows and drop shadows with EXA as well as rotating cubes and wobbly windows with XGL and Compiz! Way to go Intel!
The ODF format is limited to the features and performance of OpenOffice and StarOffice
Micro$soft is lying through their nose. They know very well that KOffice, the Free & Open Source office suite that comes with the KDE desktop environment also supports the ODF format. In fact, they were publically informed about KOffice's capabilities last year in a open letter sent by the KOffice developers.
Yet they continue to spread the outright lie that only OpenOffice and its derivatives support the Oasis Open Document Format (ODF).
KOffice has a much cleaner architecture and a leaner codebase than OpenOffice, making its startup faster and facilitating the addition of new features. Because improving KOffice to meet the usability needs of governments, businesses and disabled individuals can be done with much less effort, KOffice is an even greater threat to Micro$oft.
I won't be buying Apple products (especially those based on Intel hardware) because they includes draconian Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). Apple and Intel have sold out their users to the entertainment cartel made up by the RIAA, MPAA and other leaches.
Why would anyone buy DRM-crippled hardware from Apple when there are so many Linux and Free Software friendly manufacturers that sell desktops and laptops pre-loaded with the GNU/Linux operating system and the KDE desktop environment?
This is similar to another open-source endeavor called ACTLab TV, with which you can stream TV programs from multiple users in real-time. A story about ACTLab TV appeared about a year ago.
It is also similar to Songbird, the Itunes-like application that focuses primarily on enabling users to download DRM-free music from independent artists. Songbird was also covered recently.
MythTV-based systems like OpenMedia will blow DRM-crippled products like Intel's Viiv right out of the water.
I mean, who in their right mind would buy a restrictive system like Viiv when free-as-in-speech OpenMedia systems are available? Of course, the challenge is explaining to consumers why Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) is against their interests, and spreading the word that MythTV-based systems are superior to DRM-crippled offerings.
Hastening the launch date by a couple of weeks isn't too significant, but AMD certainly deserves to be congratulated for (apparently) leaving DRM out of their AM2 microprocessors. In contrast, Intel has succumbed to RIAA/MPAA pressure and betrayed their customers by stuffing Treacherous Computing down their throats.
I'm also happy to see that AMD has not put DRM into its AMD Live! technology, which competes with Intel's DRM-ridden Viiv. I'm sure AMD is taking a lot of heat from the entertainment cartel for not handcuffing users, and I hope they'll continue to keep their products DRM-free.
And let's not forget that AMD has been supportive of LinuxBIOS by actively ensuring that their motherboards can run it.
Intel is pushing a technology called Treacherous Computing, which will prevent unsigned code from running on their hardware. So even if you have the source code, if you try to remove the DRM restrictions, the hardware will refuse to run the modified binary.
People who understand the dangers of Digital Restrictions Management at a technical level (ie.Free and Open Source software developers) should warn the general public to avoid buying DRM-crippled hardware. Consumers should know about the great variety of DRM-free computers and accessories built specifically to work with Linux, the KDE desktop, and other Free and Open Source applications.
On the music side, there are plenty of websites that legally sell DRM-free, RIAA-free music by independent artists. Consumers can use an iTunes-like application called Songbird to easily download songs from these sites.
As for movies, building a Linux media center works better than the DRM-crippled offering from M$FT. Just download MythTV and run it on a computer equipped with the pcHDTV HD-3000 card and the PVR-350 card -- these will capture both standard definition (NTSC) and Digital/Hi-Definition (ATSC/HDTV) signals.
Intel is pushing a technology called Treacherous Computing, which will prevent unsigned code from running on their hardware. So even if you have the source code, if you try to remove the DRM restrictions, the hardware will refuse to run the modified binary.
People who understand the dangers of Digital Restrictions Management at a technical level (ie.Free and Open Source software developers) should warn the general public to avoid buying DRM-crippled hardware. Consumers should know about the great variety of DRM-free computers and accessories built specifically to work with Linux, the KDE desktop, and other Free and Open Source applications.
On the music side, there are plenty of websites that legally sell DRM-free, RIAA-free music by independent artists. Consumers can use a cross-platform, iTunes-like application called Songbird to easily download songs from these sites.
As for movies, building a Linux media center works just as well as the DRM-crippled offering from M$FT. Just download MythTV and run it on a computer equipped with the pcHDTV HD-3000 card and the PVR-350 card -- these will capture both standard definition (NTSC) and Digital/Hi-Definition (ATSC/HDTV) signals.
Educating the younger generation is an investment in the world's future, yet it so often seems to fall off the radar of those in charge.
Not only that, but education is often manipulated by anti-consumer special interest groups. I hope Google will try to reverse that trend by helping developers perfect educational Free Software applications to the point that they are robust and usable by kids of all ages. The kids will then find out first-hand what the Free Software model of be sharing and collectively improving is all about.
There is no reason why anyone would buy DRM-infested music from iTunes isBogus when there is such a wide selection of DRM-Free music by independent artists.
This is especially true with the release of Songbird, which not only has many more features than iTunes, but also downloads songs from a greater variety of sites. All DRM-free and legal!
There are plenty of manufacturers that sell PCs and Laptops that are already loaded with GNU/Linux, KDE, and lots of other useful Free & Open Source Software applications.
Mark Shuttleworth is subsidizing the Kubuntu team is working on a software installer named Adept. I find this to be rather wasteful, since there is already an extremely feature-rich, robust and mature installer from SUSE named YAST. YAST is Free and Open Source (GPL) and it is built on the Qt/KDE framework and integrated in the KDE Control Center, so it would fit very nicely in the Kubuntu environment.
YaST is the app that makes the proverbial "Linux on the Desktop" a reality. It is the most robust, comprehensive and user-friendly configuration tool for GNU/Linux -- software management, hardware detection, system administration and much more. In short, it is everything the average newbie from W$ needs to set up and update his computer without having to touch the command line.
Devising a new GUI app for installing packages is reinventing the wheel by duplicating the gigantic functionality of YAST. This project will only yield a half-baked solution that will get abandoned as soon as it starts tackling the more thorny issues that YAST has already solved.
The YAST code is clean, and has already been used by Linux distros like Yoper, so it is definitely feasible to get it running under Debian/Kubuntu if their devs don't start reinventing the wheel. YAST might be complex, but then any program that excels at setting up and updating a Desktop Linux system is going to become complex no matter what.
UseFree.org/drm -- list of DRM-free music sites
on
Songbird Flies Today
·
· Score: 5, Informative
Here's a list of sites that sell DRM-free music by independent artists:
Slashdot Mirror
The model reviewed by the article is just one of several types of Linux laptops sold by R Cubed Technologies, ranging in price from $999 to $1,454. I really think you're getting a better buying one of these Linux laptops than buying a Dell laptop where you have to pay the Micro$oft tax or one of those exhorbitantly expensive Apple laptops.
The R Cubed Linux laptops have Intel integrated graphics cards for which Intel has released 2D and 3D-accelerated open source graphics drivers that are capable of transparent windows and drop shadows with EXA as well as rotating cubes and wobbly windows with XGL and Compiz! Way to go Intel!
The ODF format is limited to the features and performance of OpenOffice and StarOffice
Micro$soft is lying through their nose. They know very well that KOffice, the Free & Open Source office suite that comes with the KDE desktop environment also supports the ODF format. In fact, they were publically informed about KOffice's capabilities last year in a open letter sent by the KOffice developers.
Yet they continue to spread the outright lie that only OpenOffice and its derivatives support the Oasis Open Document Format (ODF).
KOffice has a much cleaner architecture and a leaner codebase than OpenOffice, making its startup faster and facilitating the addition of new features. Because improving KOffice to meet the usability needs of governments, businesses and disabled individuals can be done with much less effort, KOffice is an even greater threat to Micro$oft.
I won't be buying Apple products (especially those based on Intel hardware) because they includes draconian Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). Apple and Intel have sold out their users to the entertainment cartel made up by the RIAA, MPAA and other leaches.
Why would anyone buy DRM-crippled hardware from Apple when there are so many Linux and Free Software friendly manufacturers that sell desktops and laptops pre-loaded with the GNU/Linux operating system and the KDE desktop environment?
This is similar to another open-source endeavor called ACTLab TV, with which you can stream TV programs from multiple users in real-time. A story about ACTLab TV appeared about a year ago.
It is also similar to Songbird, the Itunes-like application that focuses primarily on enabling users to download DRM-free music from independent artists. Songbird was also covered recently.
MythTV-based systems like OpenMedia will blow DRM-crippled products like Intel's Viiv right out of the water.
I mean, who in their right mind would buy a restrictive system like Viiv when free-as-in-speech OpenMedia systems are available? Of course, the challenge is explaining to consumers why Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) is against their interests, and spreading the word that MythTV-based systems are superior to DRM-crippled offerings.
Hastening the launch date by a couple of weeks isn't too significant, but AMD certainly deserves to be congratulated for (apparently) leaving DRM out of their AM2 microprocessors. In contrast, Intel has succumbed to RIAA/MPAA pressure and betrayed their customers by stuffing Treacherous Computing down their throats.
I'm also happy to see that AMD has not put DRM into its AMD Live! technology, which competes with Intel's DRM-ridden Viiv. I'm sure AMD is taking a lot of heat from the entertainment cartel for not handcuffing users, and I hope they'll continue to keep their products DRM-free.
And let's not forget that AMD has been supportive of LinuxBIOS by actively ensuring that their motherboards can run it.
Another great essay by Richard Stallman in which he discusses the many dangers of DRM (aka. Treacherous Computing and Handcuffware) is:
Can you trust your computer?
Intel is pushing a technology called Treacherous Computing, which will prevent unsigned code from running on their hardware. So even if you have the source code, if you try to remove the DRM restrictions, the hardware will refuse to run the modified binary.
The Free Software Foundation admits that the anti-DRM provisions in the GPLv3 will not be enough on their own to prevent the nightmare scenario where users can't trust their own computers.
People who understand the dangers of Digital Restrictions Management at a technical level (ie.Free and Open Source software developers) should warn the general public to avoid buying DRM-crippled hardware. Consumers should know about the great variety of DRM-free computers and accessories built specifically to work with Linux, the KDE desktop, and other Free and Open Source applications.
On the music side, there are plenty of websites that legally sell DRM-free, RIAA-free music by independent artists. Consumers can use an iTunes-like application called Songbird to easily download songs from these sites.
As for movies, building a Linux media center works better than the DRM-crippled offering from M$FT. Just download MythTV and run it on a computer equipped with the pcHDTV HD-3000 card and the PVR-350 card -- these will capture both standard definition (NTSC) and Digital/Hi-Definition (ATSC/HDTV) signals.
Now is the time to cancel your AOL subscription!
Intel is pushing a technology called Treacherous Computing, which will prevent unsigned code from running on their hardware. So even if you have the source code, if you try to remove the DRM restrictions, the hardware will refuse to run the modified binary.
The Free Software Foundation admits that the anti-DRM provisions in the GPLv3 will not be enough on their own to prevent the nightmare scenario where users can't trust their own computers.
People who understand the dangers of Digital Restrictions Management at a technical level (ie.Free and Open Source software developers) should warn the general public to avoid buying DRM-crippled hardware. Consumers should know about the great variety of DRM-free computers and accessories built specifically to work with Linux, the KDE desktop, and other Free and Open Source applications.
On the music side, there are plenty of websites that legally sell DRM-free, RIAA-free music by independent artists. Consumers can use a cross-platform, iTunes-like application called Songbird to easily download songs from these sites.
As for movies, building a Linux media center works just as well as the DRM-crippled offering from M$FT. Just download MythTV and run it on a computer equipped with the pcHDTV HD-3000 card and the PVR-350 card -- these will capture both standard definition (NTSC) and Digital/Hi-Definition (ATSC/HDTV) signals.
Educating the younger generation is an investment in the world's future, yet it so often seems to fall off the radar of those in charge.
Not only that, but education is often manipulated by anti-consumer special interest groups. I hope Google will try to reverse that trend by helping developers perfect educational Free Software applications to the point that they are robust and usable by kids of all ages. The kids will then find out first-hand what the Free Software model of be sharing and collectively improving is all about.
There is no reason why anyone would buy DRM-infested music from iTunes isBogus when there is such a wide selection of DRM-Free music by independent artists.
This is especially true with the release of Songbird, which not only has many more features than iTunes, but also downloads songs from a greater variety of sites. All DRM-free and legal!
There are plenty of manufacturers that sell PCs and Laptops that are already loaded with GNU/Linux, KDE, and lots of other useful Free & Open Source Software applications.
There's absolutely no reason to buy computers or accessories from the major manufacturers that stuff Treatcherous Computing, Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) and M$ Winblows down your throat.
Mark Shuttleworth is subsidizing the Kubuntu team is working on a software installer named Adept. I find this to be rather wasteful, since there is already an extremely feature-rich, robust and mature installer from SUSE named YAST. YAST is Free and Open Source (GPL) and it is built on the Qt/KDE framework and integrated in the KDE Control Center, so it would fit very nicely in the Kubuntu environment.
YaST is the app that makes the proverbial "Linux on the Desktop" a reality. It is the most robust, comprehensive and user-friendly configuration tool for GNU/Linux -- software management, hardware detection, system administration and much more. In short, it is everything the average newbie from W$ needs to set up and update his computer without having to touch the command line.
Devising a new GUI app for installing packages is reinventing the wheel by duplicating the gigantic functionality of YAST. This project will only yield a half-baked solution that will get abandoned as soon as it starts tackling the more thorny issues that YAST has already solved.
The YAST code is clean, and has already been used by Linux distros like Yoper, so it is definitely feasible to get it running under Debian/Kubuntu if their devs don't start reinventing the wheel. YAST might be complex, but then any program that excels at setting up and updating a Desktop Linux system is going to become complex no matter what.
Here's a list of sites that sell DRM-free music by independent artists:
UseFree.org/drm
Songbird works with most if not all of these sites, and thus makes it easier than ever to break our dependency on RIAA's music and the cancerous DRM technology that it is pushing.