A known and usual problem with alternative operating systems is getting them on normal users' desktops. OEMs won't take you seriously until you gain massive traction, and even then your chances are still pretty low. So, iXsystems, PC-BSD's parent company, decided to take matters into its own hands, and has unveiled a PC-BSD workstation, with a PC-BSD laptop under way.
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Member since:2005-07-06
People are voting with their money, and we're getting proprietary everything because of it since, like it or not, most people don't care as long as it works.
No, even worse. Voting is a conscious process. People just spend money without thinking. They expect it to work, but unfortunately it almost never "just works". Instead of starting to think of ways to get the stuff to work, they just offload it to others in exchange for money or worse; they just appeal to the kindness of a tech savvy person for free.
It's this "I just consume and someone else will clean up the mess after me" that keeps so many shoddy products on the market alive.
Member since:2008-02-26
In the case of nVidia it's not really a bad product, it might actually be the best hardware, it's just that they enjoy mistreating their customers. Nothing they hide in the driver can be as valuable as they make it to be. If it was it would have been illegally reverse-engineered by a rival years ago as I am sure it is not beyond a single decent REer to do it.
Others, well, they don't have a good product, they don't even have a good driver, but they do make sure you won't be able to use their products even if you keep using the same version of Windows on the same computer.
Like everything in life, if you vote you will most likely lose, but if you don't vote you will lose for sure.
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2007-01-17
Funny, I did the same thing (bought a Thinkpad R60 with Intel graphics just to run Linux/X11) and I haven't looked back since. The Intel driver has been much better for my stress-level than the Nvidia drivers (installs as part of the base OS, works without hassles and a few xorg.conf tweaks have greatly improved performance). Granted, I don't play 3D FPS games on my laptop, but for standard 3d and visual effects it can't be beat in my experience.
I'm also still using Xubuntu 8.10, maybe that has something to do with it.
Yahoo is acquiring Tumblr, the microblogging and social networking website, for $1.1 billion USD. Tumblr offers little revenue but lots of eyeballs if Yahoo can monetarize them. Now Yahoo is bidding for Hulu, the streaming video service. After years of ineffective responses while Google, Facebook, and others took large chunks of the online advertising market, Yahoo is fighting back. Can Yahoo reignite the momentum it had at the turn of the century? What do you think?
"Sources have described iOS 7 as 'black, white, and flat all over'. This refers to the dropping of heavy textures and the addition of several new black and white user interface elements." I couldn't be happier.
"Ilja van Sprundel, a security researcher with IOActive, has discovered a large number of issues in the way various X client libraries handle the responses they receive from servers, and has worked with X.Org's security team to analyze, confirm, and fix these issues."
"Google is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display-advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said." Sucks to be Google today, apparently.
"In the midst of the major press blitz surrounding its annual I/O Conference, Google dropped some unfortunate news about its instant messaging plans. In several places around the web, the company is replacing the existing 'Talk' platform with a new one called 'Hangouts' that sharply diminishes support for the open messaging protocol known as XMPP (or sometimes informally Jabber), and also removes the option to disable the archiving of all chat communications. These changes represent a switch from open protocols to proprietary ones, and a clear step backward for many users." That's why I always say: only suckers trust companies.
"The wave of departures is a sign of internal struggle, but amidst all the bad news, there is a glimmer of hope. According to an anonymous HTC executive cited by WSJ, the crucial HTC One is selling 'pretty good so far'. The executive revealed that HTC sold about five million One units since launch, a performance that is deemed encouraging. However, sales have been limited by the persisting supply issues that still plague the production of the HTC One." Finally some good news for HTC. Five million units amidst supply constraints is very impressive.
"Sony gave the PS4 50% more raw shader performance, plain and simple (768 SPs @ 800MHz vs. 1152 SPs & 800MHz). Unlike last generation, you don't need to be some sort of Jedi to extract the PS4's potential here. The Xbox One and PS4 architectures are quite similar, Sony just has more hardware under the hood. Weâll have to wait and see how this hardware delta gets exposed in games over time, but the gap is definitely there. The funny thing about game consoles is that itâs usually the lowest common denominator that determines the bulk of the experience across all platforms. On the plus side, the Xbox One should enjoy better power/thermal characteristics compared to the PlayStation 4. Even compared to the Xbox 360 we should see improvement in many use cases thanks to modern power management techniques." AnandTech does its usual in-depth thing."The Verge has learned that HTC's Chief Product Officer, Kouji Kodera, left the company last week. Kodera was responsible for HTC's overall product strategy, which makes the departure especially notable on the heels of the global launch of the make-or-break One. It's not just Kodera. In the past three-odd months, HTC has lost a number of employees in rapid succession." I really hope HTC pulls it together.
"It is with huge pleasure that the Debian GNU/Hurd team announces the release of Debian GNU/Hurd 2013. This is a snapshot of Debian 'sid' at the time of the Debian 'wheezy' release (May 2013), so it is mostly based on the same sources. It is not an official Debian release, but it is an official Debian GNU/Hurd port release." Important note: 75% of Debian packages are supported bu Debian GNU/Hurd. Impressive.
"The first killer app was VisiCalc. This early spreadsheet turned the Apple II from a hobbyist toy to a business computer. VisiCalc came with room for improvement, though. In addition, a new architecture and operating system, the Intel-based IBM PC and MS-DOS, also needed a spreadsheet to be taken seriously. That spreadsheet, released in early 1983, would be Lotus 1-2-3, and it would change the world. It became the PC's killer app, and the world would never be the same. On May 14, IBM quietly announced the end of the road for 1-2-3, along with Lotus Organizer and the Lotus SmartSuite office suite. Lotus 1-2-3's day is done." Impressive 30 year run.
Member since:
2008-07-15
You are voting with your money(and this also goes to OEMs). Don't vote for the Ass-Rapers Party.
Oh yes, people are voting with their money. It's a shame the rather small (by comparison) amount of people who care about open source vs proprietary don't really have enough buying power to make a dent as compared to those who don't... and usually, we end up voting the other way than the masses. People are voting with their money, and we're getting proprietary everything because of it since, like it or not, most people don't care as long as it works.