Ask me some time how much homework I had to do when purchasing the hardware for my new Linux home entertainment system...
But then good news: Nvidia 8200 chipsets kick ass and have good Linux support (ASUS M73N78-VM MB). Bullet-proof wireless -N micro-ATX box, AMD 3.0 GHx dual-core processor, 4 GB RAM, 1 TB drive, all for about $500. Oh, and it just works, driving a 46" Samsung LED flat panel TV, via a 700 W Denon amp. And my 20 year old Celestion 9 speakers, which still sound wonderful. Dropped DISH, there is no television to be found in the house; I get all of my content via the intertubes... --Doug On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 8:09 PM, Robert Holmes <[email protected]>wrote: > But let's not forget that Linux users are hopelessly optimistic about > hardware support...*http://xkcd.org/644* > > -- Robert > > > On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 6:00 PM, Douglas Roberts <[email protected]>wrote: > >> To counter: >> >> Competition Is Good! >> >> More deep, penetrating comments below. >> >> On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 5:37 PM, Owen Densmore <[email protected]>wrote: >> >>> On Oct 10, 2009, at 4:33 PM, Douglas Roberts wrote: >>> >>> Geeze! >>> >>> Why try so hard, when there are good <http://www.ubuntu.com/>, >>> viable<http://www.kubuntu.org/> >>> alternatives <http://wiki.centos.org/>? >>> >>> --Doug >>> >>> >>> As wonderful as linux world is, they still are at war with each other. >>> They do not have a unified software package management system across them >>> all. There are differing window systems and UI toolkits. >>> >> >> So? Pick the one you like. >> >> >>> Cut/paste is not always assured to work across different UI toolkits. >>> And linux servers are still the core target, not desktops. >>> >> >> Disagree about the core target. The desktop is (K)Ubuntu's core target. >> >> >> Cut and paste used to be a pain in the ass, but I haven't had any problems >> yet this year. Perhaps because I'm mostly running (K)Ubuntu on the 20 or so >> systems I manage on my various projects. For example, I have no (absolutely >> zero) problems cutting and pasting between a VNC session running on a CENTOS >> system to an Ubuntu host, nor vice versa. Nor between apps on either system >> (including EMACS, which always tended to be a bit different). >> >> >>> So much like the Mac/Windows incompatibilities, the linux platforms have >>> their own incompatibilities, thus form their own siloed communities. Your >>> foo won't work with my bar. >>> >> >> Haven't seen this. I use apps on Ubutnu, Kubuntu RHEL, SuSE, CENTOS, and >> Mandrake. I've never had an app work on one distro, but not another. >> [Discounting some of the oddball distros, like Arch and Slackware (where I >> started, btw).] Arch and Slackware are both good examples of active >> Darwinism in the OS world. Soon to become extinct. >> >> >>> >>> And the linux developers are hypersensitive to what their users consider >>> trivial, thus creating unnecessary divergence. >>> >> >> Agree. But, if I may: we Linux Fanbois pale in comparison to you Apple >> worshipers. Look up "Fanatic" on WikiPedia and you will find a picture of a >> wild-eyed geek brandishing an iWhaetver. >> >> >>> It does seem to be getting better, with Ubuntu leading the way to desktop >>> centric linux. Maybe it'll all converge eventually with a single window >>> system, desktop, UI toolkit, software package system, and application >>> interoperability (cut/paste etc). >>> >> >> I don't want that, because (wait for it) COMPETITION IS GOOD. As soon as >> one mega Corp/Distro maintainer achieves dominance, market sensitivity goes >> out the window. The tension between Ubuntu's Gnome bigots, and Kubuntu's >> KDE bigots had hardened both UIs. >> >> >>> >>> But until you spend less time fussing to get your system working than >>> linux requires, and have universal drivers so that when >>> you buy a laptop all of its features work very well with your linux distro, >>> and maybe even have a large number of vendors supporting linux systems, .. >>> you still have the linux of old: fussy, incomplete, and incompatible. >>> >> >> Universal, shmuniversal. I just want it to work, without having to leap >> hurdles. I don't care if it works for you, I just want it to work for me. >> >>> >>> You'll know you've >>> arrived when you don't ask your linux packing laptop friend which distro >>> he's using. >>> >> >> Back to that competition thing again. >> >> >>> >>> -- Owen >>> >> >> --Doug >> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> ============================================================ >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org >> > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > -- Doug Roberts [email protected] [email protected] 505-455-7333 - Office 505-670-8195 - Cell
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
