While certainly true (and I somehow closed this window and am now retyping this) there is so much potential there. Obviously it would need to be affordable. I do understand the trend towards miniaturization. I'm just pondering what might have been or what could be.
A long time ago I had a couple of towers. One was from Cray (that same company) and another from Digital. (It even had a modem.) Both of them were huge. Absolutely huge. They took three men and a boy and had things like the "bigfoot" hard drives in them. At least that's my memory of those heady days. Well. a limited subset of those memories.
Anyhow, can you imagine how much compute power we could fit into those today? We could cram everything PLUS the kitchen sink into them. We might even have an OS designed to take advantage of that while still being a desktop(-esque) system and we probably would if they were available and relatively inexpensive.
Can you imagine what the creative people could do on something like that? Need? No, we don't need it. It would still be nice to have. Properly cooling and managing the power would help and I'm sure that people smarter than I could make it work.
Actually, I bumped into an application yesterday. It's even free... Here: http://www.cgal.org/
On that page, just on the front page, there are a few pictures of things people have done with that application. Imagine, if you will, it having enough raw horsepower behind it to have nearly infinite data points. Imagine, if you will, that running in real time (or at least damned quickly).
And you're right - I don't even come close to using the resources I have. I don't even bother with a swap partition. Half the time I don't even install the OS but run from a live disk. I understand there's no need. But I can imagine the possibilities if it existed and was common. I can imagine the many ways that people would/could take advantage of those resources.
Even ten years from now, I'll still wonder the same thing. It could also be said that I'm curious if we'll ever start clustering and off-loading compute cycles on a regular basis and with the home PC market in mind. I'm neither qualified nor able to make such but I can imagine what might have been had we just kept up the density while keeping the form factor the same.
Hopefully that explains my thinking better. We've interacted enough to know that I'm not so very good at articulation. I am verbose, there's that. Can you imagine what might have been? Need? Nope. Want? Well, at least as a choice and at a reasonable price. I don't have the power to control anything. I don't know how I would use 64 discrete CPUs, specifically on the desktop, but I believe someone would show me how.
Are you really an engineer? What *kind* of engineer are you?
The majority of engineers that I've worked with are pretty logical. They'd likely opine that this is a good place to start and be happy that there's evidence suggesting that this is effective. They'd further opine that consideration should be given to seeing how this can solve other problems. They'd also be willing to discuss the other problems without a need for rhetoric and hyperbole.
Because it also helps them to help you better and because there's more than just you and you are a part of a whole who has done nothing by themselves, ever. Not only that, you'll do nothing by yourself. Ever. Even though you're a miserable failure you're still left alive at the grace of others.
Please, don't try to explain that you're a libertarian (you're not and wouldn't actually know the first thing about our platform). You're a petulant and selfish child with no experience that has never experienced success. In short, you're a pathetic human being who deserves to be physically punished because there's little hope of you actually understanding anything but violence.
They probably live in Detroit and aren't the person who is going to pay for it. Free costly infrastructure overhauls!!! WOOHOO!!! I bought four plots in Detroit a while ago. (Long but interesting story.) I had everything disconnected and razed the buildings. They're an investment. The buildings were beyond repair. Had the buildings been habitable, I'd have found someone to live there in exchange for keeping the property properly maintained.
Everyone has seemingly skipped your post and someone has moderated your post in the downward direction. I, on the other hand, am not scared.
So, elaborate - if you will. You've stated your emotional reply but not included any of the salient issues such as why you reached that conclusion. You don't appear to argue any of their points. You simply call them a 'cunt' and move along with a 'hugs and kisses.'
If you're even remotely associated with a protected class then you probably don't want a direct democracy no matter how much you think you do. Keep in mind that the majority of citizens, in the United States, still self-identify as believing in religion. The adage about democracy is fairly accurate; Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to have for dinner.
Direct democracy requires things like empathy, intelligence, and energy. Without those it will not be effective. It's a great ideal to aspire to but, frankly, I think it's about as realistic as an invisible unicorn. Ego, superstition, and tribal mentalities are the largest barriers that I can think of. I absolutely love the idea but, like many such ideas, there's just no realistic way to accomplish it on a large scale. I liken it to Communism. Sure, that's a beautiful idea. Let me know when you've changed the basic human into a being capable of behaving like that.
I've had a lot of experience fixing up information flows in public agencies.
Which is why, for the most part, your post has been ignored. You've been here long enough. We don't seem to take kindly to informed opinions or even expert opinions. Knowing what you're talking about is probably worse than reading the article.
Anyhow, it was a nice read. It's always interesting to hear from people who have worked within the system. I've dealt with many different municipalities over the years and dealt with them exclusively until we moved into pedestrian traffic modeling. People complain about the bureaucracy associated with private enterprise but, in my experience, it's much worse in the public sector.
I've had signed and registered mail, to a large municipality, still get lost and the person who signed for it wasn't so much as reprimanded as far as I know. To be honest, I am not sure (nor are they) if it was the fault of the person who accepted delivery.
I suppose I should have been more clear. We do have them but not in workstations or home PCs for the most part. And we can deal with the heat - I'm assuming. We're already pretty good at that? We've been dealing with heat since the mentioned P3 was hot enough to warm a small house.:D
McCarthyism all over again - just with a new phrase and all the jingoisms of before. I was born not long after and grew up during the Cold War. I don't have much to add except to say that it is possible to view the cycles, concentric circles - if you would rather, and I think the most important thing is that I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised at all.
What's funny is the assumptions that people make. One of my favorites is seeing those who insist that acquisition of wealth means a lack of ethics. When you point out the faults in that logic you get, "Well, you're one of the good ones then." I can't help but feel that those are so very similar to the same things they used to say about black people. "Oh, don't mind Nigger Jim. He's one of the good ones."
*sighs*
Would that I could but, truth told, I've no answers that don't depend on people doing the right thing. There's as little chance of that happening as can be expected. The idiocy is found at both ends of the political spectrum and across many other planes as well. Sometimes I wonder if a benevolent dictatorship might actually be the answer. Again, I've no words of wisdom nor a possible, realistic, solution. Just because I don't know how to fix it doesn't mean I can't recognize that there is a problem.
I've been running Lubuntu lately so, of course, that means I've been helping them out on their forums and SE site. Please, stop encouraging the idiots to use Ubuntu. We've got enough already. Today I had someone tell me that the listed stats (at ever site) were wrong and that Intel was wrong and that their CPU from 2004-'05 was 64 bit - which it could have been except nowhere on the internet indicated that this was the case and every site agreed it was 32 bit. As in, this was a fairly popular model and the entire internet didn't notice that the OEM and Intel were wrong so they were silent. So this person was really, really, unhappy that their Kubuntu 64 bit didn't actually work very well. Imagine that... They were quite certain it was 64 bit.
Please, don't send more.;) Send them to DSL, Puppy, or Elementary, or maybe Arch - Arch is always wanting new users, right?
Because they're users and not makers. The more I think about this, and I've been lurking in this thread pondering and searching for an hour or more now, the more I realize... Good. I'm glad they have devices for slurping up data. Get them, and their retarded questions, off the internet. Hell, let them build a whole new protocol for mobile morons who can't figure out how to keep their PC safe.
They didn't really belong on a desktop anyhow. They still don't. Maybe we can go back to having desktops be places where you go to get shit done. This trend, this moving the consumers to small-screen mobile devices that are limited and disposable might actually be a good thing. This might be the end to Eternal September and that's a good thing.
It's okay to use those devices. Absolutely. It's okay to even like them and geek out on them. But if it moves the consumer to mobile friendly sites and keeps them from asking questions about various things then I'm sort of liking that idea. You can even use both in your life but it may not be a bad idea to encourage these people to select mobile devices like phones and tablets. Let them compute there. They're already gaming there. They're already browsing there. Good. Keep them there.
There are still plenty of us that want enough compute power to do something (should we want) and plenty of people who game or the likes. There are still those who want a full keyboard. I have a tablet. I kind of hate it. I have several of them - I've tried a bunch more. I'm just not into it.
Hell, encourage grandma and grandpa to get a tablet. They won't be calling you to add RAM. They won't need to have you fix their malware. When the device breaks they can chuck it in the recycling bin and upgrade like a good consumer because that's all they use a computer for - consumption. And that's okay, there's a place for them. Make them less of a hassle and it's all good.
No but, to use your example, I can buy a BMW for much less than a Porsche and have something functional, stylish, more than able to keep up in the real world, and actually get stuff done without having to worry about arguing who is and who isn't right on the internet.
Also, antivirus and support? Do you know where you are? We *are* the support and we don't need antivirus because we don't run Windows.
I think my first one was 32 GB and my second was actually a hybrid. I don't know if they even make those any more. I think it would be neat to have internal SSDs that just skipped trying to fit into a single bay and were one giant chunk of flash memory chips that would take up a couple of bays. I am also curious about the trend to make everything smaller.
If we can fit a bizillion instructions into a 1x1 CPU why not cram all those into the same size CPU socket we were using before? Imagine how many instructions could be processed today, on a single chip, inside the old form factor like the P3s. Obviously lots would change, we'd still need the increased I/O, but there'd be loads of room for more chips. It's not like my desktop is going to run out of space - we worked just fine with those sizes in the past. There could be like 64 discrete i7 CPUs inside that old form factor. Also, this is probably why I'm not a CPU architect.
But the trend to make stuff smaller is cool and all... I understand, I guess. But all that space that's now freed up could be filled with useful stuff like dozens of discrete CPUs for me to play with. Heat? Heh... I live in Maine, I'll stick it outside. Power? I get most of my power from solar and wind now. I actually make enough power to send some back in to the grid.
And the kicker...
I'm not actually sure what I'd do with the afore mentioned hypothetical 64 CPUs crammed into an old P3 slot (occupying the same space, not the same connection obviously). I really don't need faster hardware. I simply don't. I'm not sure when I realized that. I haven't stopped buying new hardware but lots of people seem to. I don't know that many people who bought new desktops lately, I don't know any off the top of my head and they'd usually tell me or ask my opinion. Well, I have. I am not counting me, I'm not normal. I really can't think of anyone that has bought one in the past year.
I'll almost certainly get one of these Surface Pro 4s provided it isn't locked or unable to be unlocked. I don't want to run Windows on it. It looks like really nice hardware. However, I absolutely do not need it. I don't even have much use for it other than to use it to replace something that's already doing its job just fine.
You're usually more rational than that. Hmm... I'm not sure how to reply?
Yes, yes those could both be used for evil. No, they haven't been. Yes, those could be things prone to errors done in ignorance. However, I don't think anyone is suggesting that they be done without oversight or without regulation.
As for GMO... I'd say that if a company wants they can put "GMO Free" on their packages (so long as they're honest about it). Putting "Contains GMO" implies that there's something wrong with it so I'd see the GMO Free much like I see "organic." I can't conclude what others would think but that's my opinion.
You type pretty well for someone in elementary school. Your UID is awfully low too. Are you using your dad's account (or your mom's) perhaps? It's a sad state of affairs when elementary school kids get so much homework that they need to buy their own laptop!
I plan on buying the Surface Pro 4. Of course, I plan on putting Linux on it - probably Lubuntu but maybe Debian or Arch. Maybe Elementary but that'd not be a long-term install by any means. The form factor looks interesting and it's got nice specs. I really don't need yet another computer but that's never stopped me before. In fact, that's kind of been a problem in the past. I have hardware still in boxes. I have a variety of hardware that spans the ages and I do get rid of it over time but I also like keeping a little from each generation to save for posterity.
Anyhow, I don't want to admit this but I did look at the article(s). I didn't read them, calm down. I looked at the pictures. I did read the words under/in the pictures and kind of skimmed a paragraph. Yes, I'm aware that I almost broke the rules but I felt it necessary and think the end result is good. Meaning this...
If this pisses off the OEMs and they don't have much in the way of recourse - maybe they could start offering more Linux desktops? You can generally find a few, here and there, but I can't say that I've ever once bought one just to have Linux installed. I generally buy white boxes or see something on sale that catches my eye and buy that. I can get an OS installed and generally don't like what it came with so that doesn't stay installed at all.
But, if they want to swing back at MS for this then offering and heavily promoting Linux might actually be a good way to do it. Don't mistake me for a zealot, however. I don't generally recommend people use Linux unless they have a compelling reason to switch. I'm the jackass that suggests people use what works best at allowing them to accomplish their needs with the least amount of effort. For most people, currently, that's Windows on the desktop. If they want something different (or better, in my opinion) then Linux it is... Or BSD... Anyhow, the OEMs could offer it, promote it, and whatnot... That's one way of swinging at MS and at least giving them a bloody nose before MS kicks the shit out of them. I mean, if you're going to get your ass kicked then you might as well fight back.
I don't know what they'll do and that's not a prediction - just a possible turn of events. It'd be interesting to hear people talk about the new Dell commercial that is advertising compatibility with Linux and coming installed with Ubuntu on it.
I guess that's some definition of working. As mentioned above, I really do like GhostBSD - I've been very happy with it in a VM. Sometimes I spin the image up and spend all day in it and I've had nary a problem though I haven't learned much about it yet. I know I can't get Opera working in it. Well, not the new versions. I'd be happy if I could and that's probably what is holding me back more than anything. I read something about their being a compatibility layer for Linux software but I've not yet found it and I don't actually know what to do with it when I do find it - I'm sure I'll learn it when I get time.
Anyhow, did you have a 'good' reason to stop with your Linux distro? Did systemd actually do anything harmful to you or your systems? Did it break anything? Did you give it a try or did you just bail out without actually looking to see how it worked? I'm genuinely curious. I'm pretty much just a passive consumer these days. I don't code much of anything. I don't do anything more than submit bug reports or sometimes try to fix a bug on my own and send that information along. I don't even do that much, most of the time. I browse, help people out in a few communities, and donate. That's my entire contribution to the ecosystem. Also, I write long diatribes on inane subjects like this.
LOL It's nice to see some of the "old timers" stick their heads in once in a while. You can tell the ACs that are fairly new but want to appear old. They talk about when/. was old and how it was good back then. No... Slashdot was never good.;) I mean, they let me join! Can't possibly have been good. I think my older ID was Unknown***** or the likes. I really can't remember. I also no longer have that email. It was tied to a domain name that I no longer control. I guess I'm SOL.
I haven't *had* to buy new hardware in years. Literally, years... I don't game. I don't work on graphics. I don't edit movies or sound. I use Linux and never reboot or reboot only once in a while or when I'm tweaking. I still buy at least a couple of new computers, desktops, every year and I don't have to. I'm not even sure, at this point, that I really notice much of a difference between them any more.
I was one of the early adopters to put my OS on an SSD. (Oddly, those drives are still probably functional but I do tend to replace stuff often so they've not had a hard life.) I was one of the earlier people to go to 8 or 16 GB of RAM. These days I think everything has 32 GB of RAM in it - I even have a laptop with that much RAM in it.
I've got a whole house full of computers that don't get used - I regularly go through (like twice a year) and collect them and donate them to the local elementary school. The IT guy there loves it and is grateful. They only have 56 students so I pretty much take care of the whole thing for them - I even got them all iPads and a few spares a couple of years ago. Well, no, technically "Santa" did as it was at Christmas time. I might refresh them over the holiday season this year and the students can keep their existing devices and the new ones will be used. I've yet to talk it over with Matt.
Anyhow, I think a lot of it might be there - to follow your idea... It was all done before and we have it all already. Everything is a copy of everything else. Everyone has the devices they need and, really, they simply run fast enough now. Only a few of us, comparatively, are still interested in keeping up with the edge of the wave and the rest just have devices that already work for them and they don't even have to replace or upgrade them often.
I imagine that Windows 10 would, for instance, run "okay" on 4 GB of RAM on an old 2.8 GHz, dual core, AMD from say 2007 or so. I imagine it would... I know I sometimes pull out older hardware to play with and stuff still runs fine once it is loaded. If you've got RAM then it's usually just fine and RAM is cheap.
So, nobody needs new copies of older stuff that's just polished and has the features hidden in new menu locations. That's what I'm thinking, at least.
This is true. I usually buy high end stuff and chuck the stuff my ISP sends me into a box for playing with at another time. I have, seriously, dozens of routers from the ISP that haven't even been unboxed. I have 3 separate lines; one in my garage, one in my house, and one in the house that was here when I had my house built - used for guests and whatnot. Anyhow, they send me three new routers at a time - every time.
Strangely, at least once a year but usually twice a year, I get three new routers without asking for them and I never use them. I got a phone call asking me why I'd not plugged in the router they sent. I guess they want to be able to manage my router for me from their office. I neighbor has a similar setup, well the same ISP, and now he can't connect to 192.168.1.100 any more - it takes him to a connection outside of the network and through the ISP. (I wonder how he's supposed to fix it if he messes up and it no longer connects to the 'net?)
Anyhow, they asked me why I hadn't connected (after sending that batch). I told them that my current equipment worked fine. They said they had new equipment and that I had to install it. I told them no, that I didn't think I'd be doing that. They offered to send someone out to help me or to talk me through the directions on the phone. I told them that I was okay with it the way it was. The lady kept asking a few more questions and finally gave up. They've not canceled my service. In my state I can get my service from anyone that offers it. They're also not the company that put in my lines. I paid for my lines and a CO just so I could have broadband out here. I think that might also be why I have static IP addresses, can run a server, and have "business" on some of the portal sites but my bill is clearly "residential" and the price reflects that it is residential. (It's about $35/line.)
They mostly leave me alone but the send out the equipment at least once a year. I got two this year so that means I really got six. I have no idea why I'd want them to remotely manage my router. In fact, that's about the last thing I want them to do. I don't even want them coming past the edge of my house - anything on the inside is mine and I'll manage it on my own or hire a qualified professional to do so. They can run lines and provision service, that's fine. I don't even need them to provision me with any equipment, I'll take care of that too. It's not like I don't generally buy at least one extra to have on hand.
Well, I guess, I've played with my own router/access point with a Linux box at one point. I even dicked around on an old router (like a buck at a yard sale too and I'd recognized the name/model at the time) and put the Tomato (I think it was) firmware on it. It didn't break or anything and had a lot of options but there wasn't anything that I really felt I needed with it. The same goes for my roll-your-own Linux router. It was interesting and I probably learned something but I wasn't going to keep putting any effort into it and it was mostly a distraction.
I mostly grab business class routers from Cisco or the likes. I generally look at NewEgg or Amazon and find something that's not entirely consumer oriented just to make sure that I'm getting something that's going to last. They've usually got loads more options, including firewalls and sometimes even terms of service portals that people have to agree to if they use the wireless here, but I don't actually use/enable half the stuff for more than a day or two before I reset it and put it back to a pretty much stock environment. I just don't need the extra work and I only like to tinker with the stuff until I get bored. I get bored pretty quickly.
Today, more or less, I check for new firmware updates once a month or so. I don't check logs. I don't tweak, poke, push, pull, or otherwise molest it. Maybe I've just lost the 'spark' or something? I have no idea, really. There are a lot of things that I don't tweak any more. I find myself spending more and more time as a passive consumer of tech - not watching but reading a lot and, I guess, contributing in walls of mindless text such as this post or helping on various Linux forums or the likes. I'm kind of poking at tablets lately... Meh... I digress, of course.
Slashdot Mirror
While certainly true (and I somehow closed this window and am now retyping this) there is so much potential there. Obviously it would need to be affordable. I do understand the trend towards miniaturization. I'm just pondering what might have been or what could be.
A long time ago I had a couple of towers. One was from Cray (that same company) and another from Digital. (It even had a modem.) Both of them were huge. Absolutely huge. They took three men and a boy and had things like the "bigfoot" hard drives in them. At least that's my memory of those heady days. Well. a limited subset of those memories.
Anyhow, can you imagine how much compute power we could fit into those today? We could cram everything PLUS the kitchen sink into them. We might even have an OS designed to take advantage of that while still being a desktop(-esque) system and we probably would if they were available and relatively inexpensive.
Can you imagine what the creative people could do on something like that? Need? No, we don't need it. It would still be nice to have. Properly cooling and managing the power would help and I'm sure that people smarter than I could make it work.
Actually, I bumped into an application yesterday. It's even free... Here:
http://www.cgal.org/
On that page, just on the front page, there are a few pictures of things people have done with that application. Imagine, if you will, it having enough raw horsepower behind it to have nearly infinite data points. Imagine, if you will, that running in real time (or at least damned quickly).
And you're right - I don't even come close to using the resources I have. I don't even bother with a swap partition. Half the time I don't even install the OS but run from a live disk. I understand there's no need. But I can imagine the possibilities if it existed and was common. I can imagine the many ways that people would/could take advantage of those resources.
Even ten years from now, I'll still wonder the same thing. It could also be said that I'm curious if we'll ever start clustering and off-loading compute cycles on a regular basis and with the home PC market in mind. I'm neither qualified nor able to make such but I can imagine what might have been had we just kept up the density while keeping the form factor the same.
Hopefully that explains my thinking better. We've interacted enough to know that I'm not so very good at articulation. I am verbose, there's that. Can you imagine what might have been? Need? Nope. Want? Well, at least as a choice and at a reasonable price. I don't have the power to control anything. I don't know how I would use 64 discrete CPUs, specifically on the desktop, but I believe someone would show me how.
Are you really an engineer? What *kind* of engineer are you?
The majority of engineers that I've worked with are pretty logical. They'd likely opine that this is a good place to start and be happy that there's evidence suggesting that this is effective. They'd further opine that consideration should be given to seeing how this can solve other problems. They'd also be willing to discuss the other problems without a need for rhetoric and hyperbole.
You're not really an engineer, are you?
Because it also helps them to help you better and because there's more than just you and you are a part of a whole who has done nothing by themselves, ever. Not only that, you'll do nothing by yourself. Ever. Even though you're a miserable failure you're still left alive at the grace of others.
Please, don't try to explain that you're a libertarian (you're not and wouldn't actually know the first thing about our platform). You're a petulant and selfish child with no experience that has never experienced success. In short, you're a pathetic human being who deserves to be physically punished because there's little hope of you actually understanding anything but violence.
They probably live in Detroit and aren't the person who is going to pay for it. Free costly infrastructure overhauls!!! WOOHOO!!! I bought four plots in Detroit a while ago. (Long but interesting story.) I had everything disconnected and razed the buildings. They're an investment. The buildings were beyond repair. Had the buildings been habitable, I'd have found someone to live there in exchange for keeping the property properly maintained.
Everyone has seemingly skipped your post and someone has moderated your post in the downward direction. I, on the other hand, am not scared.
So, elaborate - if you will. You've stated your emotional reply but not included any of the salient issues such as why you reached that conclusion. You don't appear to argue any of their points. You simply call them a 'cunt' and move along with a 'hugs and kisses.'
If you're even remotely associated with a protected class then you probably don't want a direct democracy no matter how much you think you do. Keep in mind that the majority of citizens, in the United States, still self-identify as believing in religion. The adage about democracy is fairly accurate; Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to have for dinner.
Direct democracy requires things like empathy, intelligence, and energy. Without those it will not be effective. It's a great ideal to aspire to but, frankly, I think it's about as realistic as an invisible unicorn. Ego, superstition, and tribal mentalities are the largest barriers that I can think of. I absolutely love the idea but, like many such ideas, there's just no realistic way to accomplish it on a large scale. I liken it to Communism. Sure, that's a beautiful idea. Let me know when you've changed the basic human into a being capable of behaving like that.
I've had a lot of experience fixing up information flows in public agencies.
Which is why, for the most part, your post has been ignored. You've been here long enough. We don't seem to take kindly to informed opinions or even expert opinions. Knowing what you're talking about is probably worse than reading the article.
Anyhow, it was a nice read. It's always interesting to hear from people who have worked within the system. I've dealt with many different municipalities over the years and dealt with them exclusively until we moved into pedestrian traffic modeling. People complain about the bureaucracy associated with private enterprise but, in my experience, it's much worse in the public sector.
I've had signed and registered mail, to a large municipality, still get lost and the person who signed for it wasn't so much as reprimanded as far as I know. To be honest, I am not sure (nor are they) if it was the fault of the person who accepted delivery.
I was pretty clear about that and your post does absolutely nothing to answer my question.
I suppose I should have been more clear. We do have them but not in workstations or home PCs for the most part. And we can deal with the heat - I'm assuming. We're already pretty good at that? We've been dealing with heat since the mentioned P3 was hot enough to warm a small house. :D
McCarthyism all over again - just with a new phrase and all the jingoisms of before. I was born not long after and grew up during the Cold War. I don't have much to add except to say that it is possible to view the cycles, concentric circles - if you would rather, and I think the most important thing is that I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised at all.
What's funny is the assumptions that people make. One of my favorites is seeing those who insist that acquisition of wealth means a lack of ethics. When you point out the faults in that logic you get, "Well, you're one of the good ones then." I can't help but feel that those are so very similar to the same things they used to say about black people. "Oh, don't mind Nigger Jim. He's one of the good ones."
*sighs*
Would that I could but, truth told, I've no answers that don't depend on people doing the right thing. There's as little chance of that happening as can be expected. The idiocy is found at both ends of the political spectrum and across many other planes as well. Sometimes I wonder if a benevolent dictatorship might actually be the answer. Again, I've no words of wisdom nor a possible, realistic, solution. Just because I don't know how to fix it doesn't mean I can't recognize that there is a problem.
They do make good keyboards and mice.
http://www.unetbootin.sourcefo...
curl -s slashdot.org|sed -e 's/.*Interesting stories from crazy graybeards reminiscing: //' -e 's/ /n /n.*$//'
You know that Google makes one of the most popular OSes on the planet, right?
I've been running Lubuntu lately so, of course, that means I've been helping them out on their forums and SE site. Please, stop encouraging the idiots to use Ubuntu. We've got enough already. Today I had someone tell me that the listed stats (at ever site) were wrong and that Intel was wrong and that their CPU from 2004-'05 was 64 bit - which it could have been except nowhere on the internet indicated that this was the case and every site agreed it was 32 bit. As in, this was a fairly popular model and the entire internet didn't notice that the OEM and Intel were wrong so they were silent. So this person was really, really, unhappy that their Kubuntu 64 bit didn't actually work very well. Imagine that... They were quite certain it was 64 bit.
Please, don't send more. ;) Send them to DSL, Puppy, or Elementary, or maybe Arch - Arch is always wanting new users, right?
Because they're users and not makers. The more I think about this, and I've been lurking in this thread pondering and searching for an hour or more now, the more I realize... Good. I'm glad they have devices for slurping up data. Get them, and their retarded questions, off the internet. Hell, let them build a whole new protocol for mobile morons who can't figure out how to keep their PC safe.
They didn't really belong on a desktop anyhow. They still don't. Maybe we can go back to having desktops be places where you go to get shit done. This trend, this moving the consumers to small-screen mobile devices that are limited and disposable might actually be a good thing. This might be the end to Eternal September and that's a good thing.
It's okay to use those devices. Absolutely. It's okay to even like them and geek out on them. But if it moves the consumer to mobile friendly sites and keeps them from asking questions about various things then I'm sort of liking that idea. You can even use both in your life but it may not be a bad idea to encourage these people to select mobile devices like phones and tablets. Let them compute there. They're already gaming there. They're already browsing there. Good. Keep them there.
There are still plenty of us that want enough compute power to do something (should we want) and plenty of people who game or the likes. There are still those who want a full keyboard. I have a tablet. I kind of hate it. I have several of them - I've tried a bunch more. I'm just not into it.
Hell, encourage grandma and grandpa to get a tablet. They won't be calling you to add RAM. They won't need to have you fix their malware. When the device breaks they can chuck it in the recycling bin and upgrade like a good consumer because that's all they use a computer for - consumption. And that's okay, there's a place for them. Make them less of a hassle and it's all good.
No but, to use your example, I can buy a BMW for much less than a Porsche and have something functional, stylish, more than able to keep up in the real world, and actually get stuff done without having to worry about arguing who is and who isn't right on the internet.
Also, antivirus and support? Do you know where you are? We *are* the support and we don't need antivirus because we don't run Windows.
I think my first one was 32 GB and my second was actually a hybrid. I don't know if they even make those any more. I think it would be neat to have internal SSDs that just skipped trying to fit into a single bay and were one giant chunk of flash memory chips that would take up a couple of bays. I am also curious about the trend to make everything smaller.
If we can fit a bizillion instructions into a 1x1 CPU why not cram all those into the same size CPU socket we were using before? Imagine how many instructions could be processed today, on a single chip, inside the old form factor like the P3s. Obviously lots would change, we'd still need the increased I/O, but there'd be loads of room for more chips. It's not like my desktop is going to run out of space - we worked just fine with those sizes in the past. There could be like 64 discrete i7 CPUs inside that old form factor. Also, this is probably why I'm not a CPU architect.
But the trend to make stuff smaller is cool and all... I understand, I guess. But all that space that's now freed up could be filled with useful stuff like dozens of discrete CPUs for me to play with. Heat? Heh... I live in Maine, I'll stick it outside. Power? I get most of my power from solar and wind now. I actually make enough power to send some back in to the grid.
And the kicker...
I'm not actually sure what I'd do with the afore mentioned hypothetical 64 CPUs crammed into an old P3 slot (occupying the same space, not the same connection obviously). I really don't need faster hardware. I simply don't. I'm not sure when I realized that. I haven't stopped buying new hardware but lots of people seem to. I don't know that many people who bought new desktops lately, I don't know any off the top of my head and they'd usually tell me or ask my opinion. Well, I have. I am not counting me, I'm not normal. I really can't think of anyone that has bought one in the past year.
I'll almost certainly get one of these Surface Pro 4s provided it isn't locked or unable to be unlocked. I don't want to run Windows on it. It looks like really nice hardware. However, I absolutely do not need it. I don't even have much use for it other than to use it to replace something that's already doing its job just fine.
You're usually more rational than that. Hmm... I'm not sure how to reply?
Yes, yes those could both be used for evil. No, they haven't been. Yes, those could be things prone to errors done in ignorance. However, I don't think anyone is suggesting that they be done without oversight or without regulation.
As for GMO... I'd say that if a company wants they can put "GMO Free" on their packages (so long as they're honest about it). Putting "Contains GMO" implies that there's something wrong with it so I'd see the GMO Free much like I see "organic." I can't conclude what others would think but that's my opinion.
You type pretty well for someone in elementary school. Your UID is awfully low too. Are you using your dad's account (or your mom's) perhaps? It's a sad state of affairs when elementary school kids get so much homework that they need to buy their own laptop!
*giggles like little schoolgirl*
I plan on buying the Surface Pro 4. Of course, I plan on putting Linux on it - probably Lubuntu but maybe Debian or Arch. Maybe Elementary but that'd not be a long-term install by any means. The form factor looks interesting and it's got nice specs. I really don't need yet another computer but that's never stopped me before. In fact, that's kind of been a problem in the past. I have hardware still in boxes. I have a variety of hardware that spans the ages and I do get rid of it over time but I also like keeping a little from each generation to save for posterity.
Anyhow, I don't want to admit this but I did look at the article(s). I didn't read them, calm down. I looked at the pictures. I did read the words under/in the pictures and kind of skimmed a paragraph. Yes, I'm aware that I almost broke the rules but I felt it necessary and think the end result is good. Meaning this...
If this pisses off the OEMs and they don't have much in the way of recourse - maybe they could start offering more Linux desktops? You can generally find a few, here and there, but I can't say that I've ever once bought one just to have Linux installed. I generally buy white boxes or see something on sale that catches my eye and buy that. I can get an OS installed and generally don't like what it came with so that doesn't stay installed at all.
But, if they want to swing back at MS for this then offering and heavily promoting Linux might actually be a good way to do it. Don't mistake me for a zealot, however. I don't generally recommend people use Linux unless they have a compelling reason to switch. I'm the jackass that suggests people use what works best at allowing them to accomplish their needs with the least amount of effort. For most people, currently, that's Windows on the desktop. If they want something different (or better, in my opinion) then Linux it is... Or BSD... Anyhow, the OEMs could offer it, promote it, and whatnot... That's one way of swinging at MS and at least giving them a bloody nose before MS kicks the shit out of them. I mean, if you're going to get your ass kicked then you might as well fight back.
I don't know what they'll do and that's not a prediction - just a possible turn of events. It'd be interesting to hear people talk about the new Dell commercial that is advertising compatibility with Linux and coming installed with Ubuntu on it.
I guess that's some definition of working. As mentioned above, I really do like GhostBSD - I've been very happy with it in a VM. Sometimes I spin the image up and spend all day in it and I've had nary a problem though I haven't learned much about it yet. I know I can't get Opera working in it. Well, not the new versions. I'd be happy if I could and that's probably what is holding me back more than anything. I read something about their being a compatibility layer for Linux software but I've not yet found it and I don't actually know what to do with it when I do find it - I'm sure I'll learn it when I get time.
Anyhow, did you have a 'good' reason to stop with your Linux distro? Did systemd actually do anything harmful to you or your systems? Did it break anything? Did you give it a try or did you just bail out without actually looking to see how it worked? I'm genuinely curious. I'm pretty much just a passive consumer these days. I don't code much of anything. I don't do anything more than submit bug reports or sometimes try to fix a bug on my own and send that information along. I don't even do that much, most of the time. I browse, help people out in a few communities, and donate. That's my entire contribution to the ecosystem. Also, I write long diatribes on inane subjects like this.
LOL It's nice to see some of the "old timers" stick their heads in once in a while. You can tell the ACs that are fairly new but want to appear old. They talk about when /. was old and how it was good back then. No... Slashdot was never good. ;) I mean, they let me join! Can't possibly have been good. I think my older ID was Unknown***** or the likes. I really can't remember. I also no longer have that email. It was tied to a domain name that I no longer control. I guess I'm SOL.
Marginally related...
I haven't *had* to buy new hardware in years. Literally, years... I don't game. I don't work on graphics. I don't edit movies or sound. I use Linux and never reboot or reboot only once in a while or when I'm tweaking. I still buy at least a couple of new computers, desktops, every year and I don't have to. I'm not even sure, at this point, that I really notice much of a difference between them any more.
I was one of the early adopters to put my OS on an SSD. (Oddly, those drives are still probably functional but I do tend to replace stuff often so they've not had a hard life.) I was one of the earlier people to go to 8 or 16 GB of RAM. These days I think everything has 32 GB of RAM in it - I even have a laptop with that much RAM in it.
I've got a whole house full of computers that don't get used - I regularly go through (like twice a year) and collect them and donate them to the local elementary school. The IT guy there loves it and is grateful. They only have 56 students so I pretty much take care of the whole thing for them - I even got them all iPads and a few spares a couple of years ago. Well, no, technically "Santa" did as it was at Christmas time. I might refresh them over the holiday season this year and the students can keep their existing devices and the new ones will be used. I've yet to talk it over with Matt.
Anyhow, I think a lot of it might be there - to follow your idea... It was all done before and we have it all already. Everything is a copy of everything else. Everyone has the devices they need and, really, they simply run fast enough now. Only a few of us, comparatively, are still interested in keeping up with the edge of the wave and the rest just have devices that already work for them and they don't even have to replace or upgrade them often.
I imagine that Windows 10 would, for instance, run "okay" on 4 GB of RAM on an old 2.8 GHz, dual core, AMD from say 2007 or so. I imagine it would... I know I sometimes pull out older hardware to play with and stuff still runs fine once it is loaded. If you've got RAM then it's usually just fine and RAM is cheap.
So, nobody needs new copies of older stuff that's just polished and has the features hidden in new menu locations. That's what I'm thinking, at least.
This is true. I usually buy high end stuff and chuck the stuff my ISP sends me into a box for playing with at another time. I have, seriously, dozens of routers from the ISP that haven't even been unboxed. I have 3 separate lines; one in my garage, one in my house, and one in the house that was here when I had my house built - used for guests and whatnot. Anyhow, they send me three new routers at a time - every time.
Strangely, at least once a year but usually twice a year, I get three new routers without asking for them and I never use them. I got a phone call asking me why I'd not plugged in the router they sent. I guess they want to be able to manage my router for me from their office. I neighbor has a similar setup, well the same ISP, and now he can't connect to 192.168.1.100 any more - it takes him to a connection outside of the network and through the ISP. (I wonder how he's supposed to fix it if he messes up and it no longer connects to the 'net?)
Anyhow, they asked me why I hadn't connected (after sending that batch). I told them that my current equipment worked fine. They said they had new equipment and that I had to install it. I told them no, that I didn't think I'd be doing that. They offered to send someone out to help me or to talk me through the directions on the phone. I told them that I was okay with it the way it was. The lady kept asking a few more questions and finally gave up. They've not canceled my service. In my state I can get my service from anyone that offers it. They're also not the company that put in my lines. I paid for my lines and a CO just so I could have broadband out here. I think that might also be why I have static IP addresses, can run a server, and have "business" on some of the portal sites but my bill is clearly "residential" and the price reflects that it is residential. (It's about $35/line.)
They mostly leave me alone but the send out the equipment at least once a year. I got two this year so that means I really got six. I have no idea why I'd want them to remotely manage my router. In fact, that's about the last thing I want them to do. I don't even want them coming past the edge of my house - anything on the inside is mine and I'll manage it on my own or hire a qualified professional to do so. They can run lines and provision service, that's fine. I don't even need them to provision me with any equipment, I'll take care of that too. It's not like I don't generally buy at least one extra to have on hand.
Well, I guess, I've played with my own router/access point with a Linux box at one point. I even dicked around on an old router (like a buck at a yard sale too and I'd recognized the name/model at the time) and put the Tomato (I think it was) firmware on it. It didn't break or anything and had a lot of options but there wasn't anything that I really felt I needed with it. The same goes for my roll-your-own Linux router. It was interesting and I probably learned something but I wasn't going to keep putting any effort into it and it was mostly a distraction.
I mostly grab business class routers from Cisco or the likes. I generally look at NewEgg or Amazon and find something that's not entirely consumer oriented just to make sure that I'm getting something that's going to last. They've usually got loads more options, including firewalls and sometimes even terms of service portals that people have to agree to if they use the wireless here, but I don't actually use/enable half the stuff for more than a day or two before I reset it and put it back to a pretty much stock environment. I just don't need the extra work and I only like to tinker with the stuff until I get bored. I get bored pretty quickly.
Today, more or less, I check for new firmware updates once a month or so. I don't check logs. I don't tweak, poke, push, pull, or otherwise molest it. Maybe I've just lost the 'spark' or something? I have no idea, really. There are a lot of things that I don't tweak any more. I find myself spending more and more time as a passive consumer of tech - not watching but reading a lot and, I guess, contributing in walls of mindless text such as this post or helping on various Linux forums or the likes. I'm kind of poking at tablets lately... Meh... I digress, of course.