Linux-Hardware Digest #628, Volume #14 Sun, 15 Apr 01 16:13:08 EDT
Contents:
Re: Adaptec ACB-4070 bridgeboard. any software laying around (B'ichela)
I have about a zillion questions on mandrake (mostly hardware) (>)
Best RAID controller for RedHat 7.0? ("Greg Francis")
Re: I have about a zillion questions on mandrake (mostly hardware) ("Peter T.
Breuer")
driver for VH6 integrated sound card (Amine)
sound driver for Abit-VH6 (Amine)
Re: I have about a zillion questions on mandrake (mostly hardware) (>)
Problems with KT-133 + Geforce ("Thomas Hoell")
DVD players for Linux? (Karel Venken)
Re: Could Linux be used in this factory environment ? (Brent R)
Re: DVD players for Linux? ("Thomas Hoell")
Re: Adaptec ACB-4070 bridgeboard. any software laying around ("Rob Turk")
Scanner Acer S2W 3300U [USB] (Luis Angel Fdez. Fdez.)
Microsoft gets hard (unicat)
Re: DVD players for Linux? (Marc Ariberti)
Re: today's harddrives will surely fail before dialup users manage to (Chris Pitzel)
Re: Microsoft gets hard (Dougie Richardson)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (B'ichela)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.cpm,comp.periphs.scsi
Subject: Re: Adaptec ACB-4070 bridgeboard. any software laying around
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 16:33:06 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Sun, 15 Apr 2001 10:56:51 +0200, Rob Turk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Considering the changes you need to make, it will be ugly in any case, even
>if the C code is perfect. You will need to intercept the SCSI Inquiry
>command that goes out to probe the bus, and if a Check Condition is
>returned, you have to intercept that. Fill in your own ACB-4070 Inquiry and
>return good status in stead.
Thats what I have be thinking too.
>You will need to intercept the SCSI Inquiry command that goes out to probe
>the bus, and if a Check Condition is returned, you have to intercept that.
>Fill in your own ACB-4070 Inquiry and return good status in stead. As the
>SCSI system is layered, you may have to hack several files.
When it comes to how the Linux 2.0.38 kernal is assembled (the
Scsi routines in particular). I am not sure if I need to attack the
actual aha154x.c driver or the higher level SCSI drivers. As I said I
am not very familiar with this type of work.
When the Linux driver sends a Inquiry command. and the
ACB-4070 sees it what type of check condition command is returned? Or
is the command just ignored. although If I were the ACB-4070 I would
wonder why a host adaptor would say (in english). "Hey ACB-4070, che
parla scsi-2?" Being that the ACB-4000 series is barely scsi-1. the
bridgboard says "What!? what language is this?" It does not know what
the response IS to the query. At the same time the AHA-1542 is
paitently waiting for a response, it wont get one) thus it asserts the
RST line (hard reset of bus). (thanks to your book I figured the
hardware side of the interface out enough to understand why the
AHA-1542c driver does a reset of the bus. during the Linux boot up
phase).
>
>To Linux, the bridge board is invisible. The board acts as a harddisk,
>except you will have to fake some of it's functions.
>For the SCSI Inquiry I would return something like this:
>
>Byte 0: 00H - Random Access device
>Byte 1: 00H - No qualifier, not removable
>Byte 2: 01H - ANSI SCSI 1, no ISO or ECMA version
>Byte 3: 00H - Reserved
>Byte 4: 1BH - 27 additional bytes
>Byte 5: 00H - Reserved
>Byte 6: 00H - Reserved
>Byte 7: 00H - Reserved
>Byte 8 - 15: 'ADAPTEC ' - Vendor indentification (8 bytes, space to fill)
>Byte 16 - 31: 'ACB-4070 Bridge ' - Product identification (16 bytes, fill
>with spaces)
>
>You do need to monitor the LUN that Linux tries to address. If it's above
>LUN 1, you need to respond to Inquiry with the above data, except Byte 0,
>which needs to be FFH.
>You do not have to worry about arbitration. The 1542 will do that anyway ,
>but it has no effect on the ACB-4070 board. It will never arbitrate, so
>that's simple. One the 1542 has arbitrated for the bus, it will start
>selection phase, which is supported by the 4070. Disconnects also are no
>issue. Parity might be, so do disable it on the 1542 if possible.
Parity is disabled. as is disconnect/reconnect (in the bios of
the aha-1542c).
What I need to do to even begin getting this board to work is
either a> make a /dev file that directly accesses Scsi Id 0, Second
board (the aha-1542) or b> make a fake response to bus inquiry that
would allow the normal scsi /dev entries to run the bridgeboard.
I think that with the book and possibly a copy of more current
scsi specifications I can begin to figure the identification routine
out. I will see if the Adaptec web page has a white paper on Scsi-2
commands and responses that apply
--
B'ichela
------------------------------
From: <<>>
Subject: I have about a zillion questions on mandrake (mostly hardware)
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 13:43:52 -0700
I recently just bought mandrake 7.2 it installed without a problem. :-) but
there are a couple of questions concerning hardware:
my CD-RW doesn't work at ALL. you cannot even read CD's . i have tried
unmounting it, then remounting it, but that does not work. then i tried
deleting it, then reinstalling it, but i can not mount it. in harddrake it
is showing up as a scsi disk, but it really is an ide (atpi). it is a HP
9150i.
2nd question:
I have a diamond homefree PNA phoneline network card. I will not connect to
the net work. there is no drivers for it, but there is drivers for the
chipset, and AMD, and i cannot get those to install. any thoughts any
one????
last question:
I do not expect an answer out of this one, but it is worth a try
a winmodem :-(
it is a conexant HSP micromodem (56K) and i do not feel like buying a
external modem. i did find some drivers for it, but i cannot get them to
install. :-( is there any way someone can show me how to install them
properly... it is a .tar file.
thank-you for your patience... this posting was rather long...i know
thank-you very much
------------------------------
From: "Greg Francis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Best RAID controller for RedHat 7.0?
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 11:13:07 -0700
I'm looking for the best PCI-based RAID controller that will work with
RedHat 7.0 with a plan to move to the Linux 2.4 kernel at some point. I want
the ability to hook multiple external storage units like Dell's PowerVault
200S, decent management tools, and of course the ability to rebuild on the
fly. I also want very good performance.
Since I'm looking at purchasing a Dell PowerEdge 6450 with an external
PowerVault 200S, I'm considering Dell's PERC 2/QC RAID controller. Does it
work fine with RedHat 7.0? How about the 2.4 kernel?
Thanks,
Greg
--
Greg Francis
Unix System Administrator
Gonzaga University
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
509-323-6896
------------------------------
From: "Peter T. Breuer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: I have about a zillion questions on mandrake (mostly hardware)
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 20:15:36 +0200
< <>> wrote:
> my CD-RW doesn't work at ALL. you cannot even read CD's . i have tried
I'm sure it works fine. You probably just don't know which device it is.
> unmounting it, then remounting it, but that does not work. then i tried
Why should it? And what do you mean by "work"? Be precise: command,
error message.
> deleting it, then reinstalling it, but i can not mount it. in harddrake it
Mount it?
> is showing up as a scsi disk, but it really is an ide (atpi). it is a HP
It's supposed to be a scsi. That's the command interface used. There
should be a kernel module loaded that does the emulation over ide. In
fact, teher's not much to do, because it's the scsi command set that
the unit really understands. It's just wrapped in the atapi stuff.
> 9150i.
> 2nd question:
What was the first? I didn't see one!
> I have a diamond homefree PNA phoneline network card. I will not connect to
never heard of it. You say it's a NIC? What's its chip? What does
/proc/pci say? (or lspci).
> the net work. there is no drivers for it, but there is drivers for the
How do you know there are no drivers for it? Have you looked to see?
(the kernel source).
> chipset, and AMD, and i cannot get those to install. any thoughts any
> one????
Make up your mind! Are there or are there not dirvers, and how do you
know? Maybe you ought to tell us what the chipset is </sarcasm>.
> it is a conexant HSP micromodem (56K) and i do not feel like buying a
> external modem. i did find some drivers for it, but i cannot get them to
You sure? Are they for the HSP or the other kind (HCP? I'm not well up on
winmodems)? HSP means that the computer should do the signal
processing, which sounds to me kind of unlikely as a subject for a
playful code-writing exercise!
> install. :-( is there any way someone can show me how to install them
> properly... it is a .tar file.
Then untar it and read the instructions. But as I said, I guess you
have got the wrong driver.
> thank-you for your patience... this posting was rather long...i know
It's annoyingly vague, is what it is. Please be precise about your data
and your observations, offering all the proof necessary to guarantee
that you are offering facts, not your interpretations. Cut and paste,
please.
Peter
------------------------------
From: Amine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: driver for VH6 integrated sound card
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 20:33:48 +0200
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Hi everybody,
I don't know if it really exists, I'm looking for a driver for PCI Audio
VIA which is an audio card (I don't know if we can call it like that)
integrated in the Abit VH6 motherboard.
Please help me ! I can't live whithout sound.
Thanks a lot.
--
Amine - who likes talking computers
------------------------------
From: Amine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: sound driver for Abit-VH6
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 20:37:42 +0200
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Hi everybody,
I don't know if it really exists, I'm looking for a driver for PCI Audio
VIA which is an audio card (I don't know if we can call it like that)
integrated in the Abit VH6 motherboard to use with my Mandrake 7.2.
Please help me ! I can't live whithout sound.
Thanks a lot.
--
Amine -
------------------------------
From: <<>>
Subject: Re: I have about a zillion questions on mandrake (mostly hardware)
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 14:38:49 -0700
screw this... if people are going to be Jack(&#$ about this then forget
it....... I can go somewhere else :-(
good riddance!!!
"Peter T. Breuer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> < <>> wrote:
> > my CD-RW doesn't work at ALL. you cannot even read CD's . i have tried
>
> I'm sure it works fine. You probably just don't know which device it is.
>
> > unmounting it, then remounting it, but that does not work. then i tried
>
> Why should it? And what do you mean by "work"? Be precise: command,
> error message.
>
> > deleting it, then reinstalling it, but i can not mount it. in harddrake
it
>
> Mount it?
>
> > is showing up as a scsi disk, but it really is an ide (atpi). it is a HP
>
> It's supposed to be a scsi. That's the command interface used. There
> should be a kernel module loaded that does the emulation over ide. In
> fact, teher's not much to do, because it's the scsi command set that
> the unit really understands. It's just wrapped in the atapi stuff.
>
> > 9150i.
>
> > 2nd question:
>
> What was the first? I didn't see one!
>
> > I have a diamond homefree PNA phoneline network card. I will not connect
to
>
> never heard of it. You say it's a NIC? What's its chip? What does
> /proc/pci say? (or lspci).
>
> > the net work. there is no drivers for it, but there is drivers for the
>
> How do you know there are no drivers for it? Have you looked to see?
> (the kernel source).
>
> > chipset, and AMD, and i cannot get those to install. any thoughts any
> > one????
>
> Make up your mind! Are there or are there not dirvers, and how do you
> know? Maybe you ought to tell us what the chipset is </sarcasm>.
>
> > it is a conexant HSP micromodem (56K) and i do not feel like buying a
> > external modem. i did find some drivers for it, but i cannot get them to
>
> You sure? Are they for the HSP or the other kind (HCP? I'm not well up on
> winmodems)? HSP means that the computer should do the signal
> processing, which sounds to me kind of unlikely as a subject for a
> playful code-writing exercise!
>
> > install. :-( is there any way someone can show me how to install them
> > properly... it is a .tar file.
>
> Then untar it and read the instructions. But as I said, I guess you
> have got the wrong driver.
>
> > thank-you for your patience... this posting was rather long...i know
>
> It's annoyingly vague, is what it is. Please be precise about your data
> and your observations, offering all the proof necessary to guarantee
> that you are offering facts, not your interpretations. Cut and paste,
> please.
>
> Peter
------------------------------
From: "Thomas Hoell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Problems with KT-133 + Geforce
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 20:40:52 +0200
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Hi,
I was wondering if someone else has problems with newer VIA chipsets in
combination with nvidia chips. My problem is the following:
A long, long time ago when the latest stable kernel was 2.2.xx and the
most current nvidia driver was 0.9-4, everything worked (nearly) fine.
Then nvidia released 0.9-5 and my problems begun: The X server crashes
now and then, especially during CPU intensive tasks like compiling a
kernel. 'make dep modules bzImage' never finishes. X crashed during
compilation due to a segfault. So I downgraded to 0.9-4 and it workes
again. But now, under kernel 2.4.x, I cannot use 0.9-4 anymore. So I
tried switching from WindowMaker to KDE. Crashes caused by segfaults have
disappeared (does KDE catch them?), but the whole system locks up sometimes.
It does not happen very often, but it *DOES* happen.
But, not liking KDE, I tried to get WindowMaker working again. I edited
the XServer-source and let the signal handler ignore SIGSEGV. Now X locks
up completely ;)
Does anyone else have this problem, or, better, a solution?
Regards,
Thomas
--
As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not
certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.
-- Albert Einstein
GnuPG-Key 0x0FFE104B
------------------------------
From: Karel Venken <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: DVD players for Linux?
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 18:55:00 GMT
I have a Tishiba DVD-ROM drive in combination with an MPEG2-decoder
(Guillemot Maxi Theater RealMagic Holiwood+)
Is there any Linux support for this board?
Is there any Linux DVD-player at all?
--
Karel Venken - Schilde - Belgium
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
From: Brent R <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: Could Linux be used in this factory environment ?
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 18:58:58 GMT
franek wrote:
>
> Ed Blackman wrote:
> > On 25 Feb 2001 22:31:08 +0800, Paul Repacholi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > >"Adam Warner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> > >> > Of course the workers would have to access the system to enter data,
> > >> > etc, so the user interfaces can't be too complicated (GUI?).
> > >> Your workers would know how to use a web browser, so why not make the
> > >> inventory system accessible through any web browser? The MySQL database
> > >> and PHP scripting language would be a good combination for this task.
> > >
> > >Never worked in afactory have you? How long will the mouse keep working
> > >after it has been grabbed by a paint/glue/oil... covered hand?
> >
> > So be conservative with your HTML and make sure the page renders nicely
> > in lynx or another text mode browser.
> I could never understand this enamoration with HTML-based interfaces. There's a good
>case
> for using HTML in a normal web-based environment, but why the hell one would want to
>use
> this crude and slow method in a standalone system is beyond me. Maybe they're
>influenced
> by Microsoft with their huge "innovations" like "look at your desktop as a web
>page"! Wow.
> End of desktop as we knew it. What you need on a factory floor is an industrial
> air/water-tight enclosure with a freaken touch screen (which you can purchase either
>built
> into the strengthened box itself--there are products like that--or as a hardware
>add-on)
> and then a normal, fast-responding gui like Qt, or anything at all really. Just make
>sure
> your buttons are really HUGE, so that you can easily poke them with a gloved finger.
>Btw,
> these pokes come through as mouse clicks, so, programmatically, it is kinda
>mouse-driven.
>
> >
> > Ed
No way man, you're wrong ... everything that's computer-related must
look like a web-page... if it doesn't then you're just behind the times.
The factory worker's will be soooo much more productive if they feel
like they're searching the web, plus they're normal people so they won't
understand anything on the computer that doesn't look like the web.
I mean God we need to start designing ATM's with PHP-generated html or
else we'll be considered behind the times. And we need to start
designing radar terminals to look like web pages as well as all
terminals in life.
As Americans it is our duty to delete all software that doesn't resemble
web pages. From now on all software (including CAD and games) must
resemble a browser complete with 'stop' and 'forward' buttons and
clickable hypertext. Also all books in the computer section will be
burned except for texts on HTML, JavaScript, PHP, and "The internet for
dummies". All other programming and administration texts will be
incinerated.
--
- Brent
http://rotten168.home.att.net
------------------------------
From: "Thomas Hoell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: DVD players for Linux?
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 20:58:54 +0200
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Karel Venken"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I have a Tishiba DVD-ROM drive in combination with an MPEG2-decoder
> (Guillemot Maxi Theater RealMagic Holiwood+)
>
> Is there any Linux support for this board? Is there any Linux DVD-player
> at all?
>
I don't know about that card, but a working DVD player is available at
http://www.linuxvideo.org
You need to grab libcss, oms and omi. (via CVS)
It's still in early stages, so don't expect too much.
Thomas
--
As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not
certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.
-- Albert Einstein
GnuPG-Key 0x0FFE104B
------------------------------
From: "Rob Turk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.cpm,comp.periphs.scsi
Subject: Re: Adaptec ACB-4070 bridgeboard. any software laying around
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 21:25:35 +0200
"B'ichela" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> When it comes to how the Linux 2.0.38 kernal is assembled (the
> Scsi routines in particular). I am not sure if I need to attack the
> actual aha154x.c driver or the higher level SCSI drivers. As I said I
> am not very familiar with this type of work.
I don't think you need to dive into the adapter driver code. Each adapter
driver is only responsible for transporting a SCSI command to its SCSI bus,
and returning status. The layers above the adapter driver determine *which*
SCSI commands to send, and *what* to do with the returned status.
I downloaded the 2.0.39 sources to check what happens where. My first
attempt would be in the linux/drivers/scsi/scsi.c file. The most likely
routine is scan_scsis_single() which first sends out a Test Unit Ready, and
then an Inquiry. If the Inquiry command fails with a Check condition, sense
key 05H (Illegal Request), you should copy your fake Inquiry data and return
'all is OK' from there. I have not actually tried this, but this is where I
would start. Try enabling debug in scsi.c to see what fails and how...
Rob
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Luis Angel Fdez. Fdez.)
Subject: Scanner Acer S2W 3300U [USB]
Date: 15 Apr 2001 21:48:26 +0100
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
=====BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE=====
Hash: SHA1
Hi!
I have an Acer s2w 3300U scanner, I can't use it under linux. I did
everything I read at kernel Documentation.
I have USB support in kernel as modules.
I did mknod /dev/usbscanner c 180 48
Then modprobe usb-ohci and
modprobe scanner
mount -t usbdevfs /proc/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb
In the /etc/modules.conf I put a line like this:
options scanner vendor=0x04a5 product=0x20de
I get those values from /proc/bus/usb/devices
Then: mount -t usbdevfs /proc/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb
And finally I read at somewhere that I have to do:
~/acerfirm -v /dev/usbscanner u222v062.bin
Where acerfirm is a perl script I have downloaded from somewhere (I can't
remember from where) and u222v062.bin is the driver file for windows. I
tried with all .bin files from CD drivers.
I see, this scanner isn't in the supported scanners list, but I thinked if
I used the perl script and the .bin file I can use the scanner under linux.
Can I? What is wrong? Do I forget something? Or simply I can't use the
scanner under linux yet.
Thanks in advance.
- --
|> Luis Angel Fdez. Fdez. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #5881541
|> Linux 2.4.2 - AMD Athlon - Linux User #99754
|> Clave GPG: http://www.telecable.es/personales/muxin/miKey.asc
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------------------------------
From: unicat <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
comp.arch,comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Microsoft gets hard
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 16:12:07 -0400
Reply-To: admin@localhost, administrator@exchange
(The folowing are the editorial opinions of the author,
no more no less...)
I recenly saw rumors on some internet chat pages that Linux hackers are already
porting Linux, and Apache, to the Microsoft X-box using Xbox developers kits....
And suddenly, as the ghost of David Bowman says in '2010', "You see, it's all very
clear to me now..."
Microsoft must have realized that Windows is dying, and they are building the basis
for their future as a hardware company. They have to walk a tightrope for now,
because they can't afford to alienate the other hardware vendors quite yet. If they
tip their hand prematurely, someone else might be the first to come out wih a cheap
Linux desktop box and beat Microsoft to market.
But just think of the rumors we have heard recently, with MS recruiting for Linux
developers, and "sightings" of MS Office for Linux being repored all over the
place.
What a brilliant strategy. MS releases a $300 intel PC with 64MB RAM and an 8GB
hard drive. Perfect for a home PC. But they swear up and down that it isn't a PC
because they will NEVER put 'real'
windows on it.And besides, a TV isn't a PC monitor (just ignore that HDTV port on
the back) Nyah-hah-hah. And then.... As soon as the Linux community does their
dirty work for them, MS will just shrug its shoulders, and say, "Well shucks, we
didn't MEAN for this to happen, but now that it has, they will start shipping MS
Office for the new Lin-Xbox, and suddenly Microsoft becomes Microhard.
And Dell, Gateway, and Compaq take it in the shorts for not having a $300 linux box
to compete.
Of course there's a name for companies that trusted Microsoft as a busniess
partner...extinct!
"Somethings about to happen.... something wonderful!"
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Marc Ariberti)
Subject: Re: DVD players for Linux?
Date: 15 Apr 2001 19:59:18 GMT
On Sun, 15 Apr 2001 18:55:00 GMT,
Karel Venken <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Is there any Linux DVD-player at all?
The VideoLAN client is a good MPEG2 player, it can also play DVD on
various platforms (works fine with linux).
You can find sources, tarballs, .deb... archive at the following address
http://www.videolan.org
This software is in development and new releases are often made.
I hope you'll find it great.
--
Marc ARIBERTI
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
From: Chris Pitzel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.arch.storage,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage
Subject: Re: today's harddrives will surely fail before dialup users manage to
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 19:59:40 GMT
Well, yes. It has been significantly less expensive to just buy more
disk space than it has been to muck around with deleting files for most
users for the past number of years.
Dan Jacobson wrote:
>
> It seems that at least for a home dialup user, today's PC hard disks
> would surely fail before he could manage to fill it all up via say,
> browsing, even with caching proxies, etc. Therefore it seems deleting
> unneeded files might become a routine of the past? Hmm, 30 GB /(20
> MB/day)=4 years
> --
> http://www.geocities.com/jidanni Tel886-4-25854780 e-mail:restore .com.
------------------------------
From: Dougie Richardson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
comp.arch,comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: Microsoft gets hard
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 21:07:11 +0100
unicat wrote:
> (The folowing are the editorial opinions of the author,
> no more no less...)
>
> I recenly saw rumors on some internet chat pages that Linux hackers are
> already
> porting Linux, and Apache, to the Microsoft X-box using Xbox developers
> kits....
>
> And suddenly, as the ghost of David Bowman says in '2010', "You see, it's
> all very clear to me now..."
>
> Microsoft must have realized that Windows is dying, and they are building
> the basis for their future as a hardware company. They have to walk a
> tightrope for now, because they can't afford to alienate the other
> hardware vendors quite yet. If they tip their hand prematurely, someone
> else might be the first to come out wih a cheap Linux desktop box and beat
> Microsoft to market.
>
> But just think of the rumors we have heard recently, with MS recruiting
> for Linux developers, and "sightings" of MS Office for Linux being repored
> all over the place.
>
> What a brilliant strategy. MS releases a $300 intel PC with 64MB RAM and
> an 8GB hard drive. Perfect for a home PC. But they swear up and down that
> it isn't a PC because they will NEVER put 'real'
> windows on it.And besides, a TV isn't a PC monitor (just ignore that HDTV
> port on the back) Nyah-hah-hah. And then.... As soon as the Linux
> community does their dirty work for them, MS will just shrug its
> shoulders, and say, "Well shucks, we didn't MEAN for this to happen, but
> now that it has, they will start shipping MS Office for the new Lin-Xbox,
> and suddenly Microsoft becomes Microhard.
>
> And Dell, Gateway, and Compaq take it in the shorts for not having a $300
> linux box to compete.
>
> Of course there's a name for companies that trusted Microsoft as a
> busniess partner...extinct!
>
> "Somethings about to happen.... something wonderful!"
>
I agree with this up to a point, however I think that the reason Microsoft
is so into the Xbox thing is twofold - firstly they know there's money in
games and have been trying to get into it for years, and secondly the Xbox
is more of a warning shot over Sony's bow.
There was talk of the PS2 having home office apps developed for it as well
as add ons such as modems - so then browsers and mail clients. This is a
typical MS strategy - through money at a product that probably wont take
off long enough to steal the competitions thunder.
Incedently, it could be simply sour grapes over the PS2 development
system...
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