Microsoft will block non Windows on the ARM platform. Big deal. It is if installing Linux on any other Laptop is easy. Sure you can install Linux on most Laptops today. But does it really work? Do you get the same battery time with Linux as with Windows? Nope. Do your multimedia Keys work? In 90% of the cases only partially. Does your computer suspend or hibernates as in Windows? in about 50% of the cases the answer is no. Does your Graphics Card works the same as under Windows ? NOPE.
So, the situation is like this: OEM A makes a deal with M$ and writes proper drivers to the hardware and SomeUser Joe gets a hardware which works perfect with Windows 7. Later, SomeUser Joe, installs SomeCrack for SomeCoolSoftware which contains a Trojan which he can't get rid of. After some frustration, he decides to quit with this M$ thingi and give Ubuntu a try, because he heard it's cool. He than tries Ubuntu and discovers some things don't work. Here our little story splits.
First possibility, the Linux Sucks possibility. SomeUser Joe, is frustrated, his computer will freeze every time he resumes it from suspend. Or the graphics card is slow, or the Fan always works loudly. Linux Sucks. Period. SomeUser Joe, bites it, and installs Windows 7. His next computer will be Apple.
Second possibility, the Linux has a cool community, SomeUser Joe, heard about it and wants to join. So, he files another bug, which might be taken seriously, or not, in Ubuntu's bugzilla. This bug might find it's way upstream to the Kernel developers and they might solve it, but the patch will only be in the next release of Ubuntu maybe in 6 months from now. Damn speculations. But Linux works at most. So, in 3 years from now SomeUser Joe, might look for a new Laptop, without the Windows Tax, and will save a scrap of 50 bucks, which he will spend 100 times more money in working hours value digging through forums and IRC channels trying to get he's M$ free Laptop to work.
Third Possibility, SomeUser Joe buy his next Laptop with Linux pre-installed. Hell yes! UEFI is a great thing. I wish all M$ devices would never run Linux. It will force Linux fan boys to see that by saving $50 to $100 dollars buying a Laptop from OEM's which sell Windows, they sleep with the Devil. UEFI is a great opportunity to Linux and FOSS, because we have a great OS in our hands and now we have also Free Hardware like the BeagleBoard, PandaBoard, RaspberryPi and even the GTA04.
There are some small companies the sell Linux laptops which have the latest trends in hardware. If there are just 1 Million Linux users and just one third of them will buy a new device this year, that is about 300,000 laptops sold with Linux. I think this is a huge jump in sales for a small company like ZaReason or System76. They would be then more then able to go out on a broad campaign putting Linux on the main stream student Laptop.
So, please, stop whining about UEFI. Just don't buy laptop from OEM like Dell or Lenovo or Acer or Asus. There are ENOUGH alternatives for Preinstalled Linux Laptops. Here is a short list:
If you happen to know of others, please let me know through a comment!
(P.S. Dell don't count! Dell's Ubuntu offering mock Linux users, offering a free OS with lousy hardware which costs more than the Windows installed laptops with cost cheaper for better hardware. Just because of this mockery, I will never recommend any customer of mine or buy myself any product of Dell).
Showing posts with label Windows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Windows. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Revisiting Windows 7 - Package management is possible
After a very long time I did not use Windows for my private needs, I have finally found the times to take a longer look on Windows 7. I have decided to install the operating system on a real machine to see it's real behaviour and interaction with plastic and iron.
Here are a few quick observations. The installer is WAY better than Windows XP. I have no clue how it was in Widows Vista. Unfortunately Windows still requires a lot of reboots until the process is done. It took about 1hour to complete the installation, and after that I feared I will have to click hundreds of next next next to finish the process of configuring the hardware and installing software to make the Laptop usable. Fortunately, I kept the disk of drivers which came with the laptop when I bought it. The auto installer just did the job with out to much pain. My next step was to google and find if there is already a DECENT Package manager for windows. Guess what ? there are a few of them. And after testing a little bit I settled on NPacked. It is not perfect, but it made the computer somewhat more reach with software with relatively little pain. My biggest criticism on it, is the sparse collection of software available, and the fact that it does not read local XML file, only those hosted on some webserver. I hope posting here will publish NPacked somewhat more and help it gain more software to the repo. Unfortunately, this project seems like a one man show, which does not really ensure the sustainability of this project.
There is not much more to say. I am not so eager to use that OS, but I have to make myself some what familiar with it.
Here are a few quick observations. The installer is WAY better than Windows XP. I have no clue how it was in Widows Vista. Unfortunately Windows still requires a lot of reboots until the process is done. It took about 1hour to complete the installation, and after that I feared I will have to click hundreds of next next next to finish the process of configuring the hardware and installing software to make the Laptop usable. Fortunately, I kept the disk of drivers which came with the laptop when I bought it. The auto installer just did the job with out to much pain. My next step was to google and find if there is already a DECENT Package manager for windows. Guess what ? there are a few of them. And after testing a little bit I settled on NPacked. It is not perfect, but it made the computer somewhat more reach with software with relatively little pain. My biggest criticism on it, is the sparse collection of software available, and the fact that it does not read local XML file, only those hosted on some webserver. I hope posting here will publish NPacked somewhat more and help it gain more software to the repo. Unfortunately, this project seems like a one man show, which does not really ensure the sustainability of this project.
There is not much more to say. I am not so eager to use that OS, but I have to make myself some what familiar with it.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Linux users: stop whining about UEFI Secure booting!
Sorry for the provocative title, but I think Linux and other FOSS Operating System should really stop whining about the UEFI secure booting.
I see no difference between someone who buys a laptop made by Apple and a someone who buys a Laptop with Windows OS. As the saying goes: "If you sleep with dogs, you wake up with flees". For a very long time the Linux Community ignored the WINTEL monopoly and did very little to support free hardware manufacturers. Many people would invest tons of time in hacking and patching Linux and drivers where they where manufacturers ignored deliberately or unintentionally Linux.
I don't buy hardware very often. And so most people who use Linux don't need to. But when I do buy hardware or asked to recommend hardware, I never do buy anything with Windows, or NVIDIA, or ATI.
I won't even answer friends or family question in the style "can you recommend this WinLaptop or that WinLaptop?". Sounds extreme, I know. But in fact, my strategy works. I have successfully bought my own Laptop from a small company that sells Clevo laptops with out windows. And more than 5 friends of mine who saw "Linux Just Works" out of the box, decided to buy these laptops too. I think it shows that there is a Market for people who are not interested in Windows. Even if it is small, it is growing.
But besides looking for a Laptop which does not come with Windows. You can specifically buy Hardware from manufacturers that do support Linux. Nowadays the ARM architecture is rising, and provides computational power which is enough for most home users. In fact, the beagleboard provided more computational power than my 6 years old Laptop which still works. Not only that, the architecture is completely open, so I know, no UEFI Secure boot will shit on my head from the manufacturer.
There are a few more hardware manufacturers which make nice and OPEN hardware. To mention a few:
gumstix, opencircuits, hawkboard, pandaboard, igep and even more.
And there is even a whole Laptop/Tablet based on beagle board.
You might mock the "lousy" or humble hardware offering in this free field. But in fact it is enough for text processing and multimedia. It is enough for me, and I know, my next laptop, will be based on ARM, because I give a #!$% about UEFI, and I don't care what Microsoft does. Instead of fighting it directly, I will give my money to companies which promote my computational freedom.
I hope this post will encourage at least one extra person to re-consider his next WINTEL/AMD/NVIDIA buying.
I see no difference between someone who buys a laptop made by Apple and a someone who buys a Laptop with Windows OS. As the saying goes: "If you sleep with dogs, you wake up with flees". For a very long time the Linux Community ignored the WINTEL monopoly and did very little to support free hardware manufacturers. Many people would invest tons of time in hacking and patching Linux and drivers where they where manufacturers ignored deliberately or unintentionally Linux.
I don't buy hardware very often. And so most people who use Linux don't need to. But when I do buy hardware or asked to recommend hardware, I never do buy anything with Windows, or NVIDIA, or ATI.
I won't even answer friends or family question in the style "can you recommend this WinLaptop or that WinLaptop?". Sounds extreme, I know. But in fact, my strategy works. I have successfully bought my own Laptop from a small company that sells Clevo laptops with out windows. And more than 5 friends of mine who saw "Linux Just Works" out of the box, decided to buy these laptops too. I think it shows that there is a Market for people who are not interested in Windows. Even if it is small, it is growing.
But besides looking for a Laptop which does not come with Windows. You can specifically buy Hardware from manufacturers that do support Linux. Nowadays the ARM architecture is rising, and provides computational power which is enough for most home users. In fact, the beagleboard provided more computational power than my 6 years old Laptop which still works. Not only that, the architecture is completely open, so I know, no UEFI Secure boot will shit on my head from the manufacturer.
There are a few more hardware manufacturers which make nice and OPEN hardware. To mention a few:
gumstix, opencircuits, hawkboard, pandaboard, igep and even more.
And there is even a whole Laptop/Tablet based on beagle board.
You might mock the "lousy" or humble hardware offering in this free field. But in fact it is enough for text processing and multimedia. It is enough for me, and I know, my next laptop, will be based on ARM, because I give a #!$% about UEFI, and I don't care what Microsoft does. Instead of fighting it directly, I will give my money to companies which promote my computational freedom.
I hope this post will encourage at least one extra person to re-consider his next WINTEL/AMD/NVIDIA buying.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
The future of Windows
Last week I participated in a Windows 7 course. I was sent to the course by my employer, although in my official role is Linux System Engineer. 9 people attended the course. Looking around my colleagues I had some interesting observations, I'd like to share.
First of all, among the participants, I was the youngest. 2 Other guys where also Linux admins, the rest were Windows admins. Some external appearances really struck me. Usually, Linux guys have the image of being wild hairy beasts with long unshaven beards. Well ... there are some differences with the Windows guys, but not what I expected:
Another anecdote I have noticed while learning Windows 7, is it's lousy backward compatibility. Windows 7 does not include Solitaire or Minesweeper, at least in the VM's we had ... Imagine, passing 2 days in front of the most boring OS, without minesweeper...
First of all, among the participants, I was the youngest. 2 Other guys where also Linux admins, the rest were Windows admins. Some external appearances really struck me. Usually, Linux guys have the image of being wild hairy beasts with long unshaven beards. Well ... there are some differences with the Windows guys, but not what I expected:
- All the Linux guys were younger then 35, windows guys are older. This is a very strong indicator about the future of this OS.
- The Linux Guys (including me) dress sportive casual stuff, short pants, some sport brand cool shirt or just plain T's. Windows guys are dressed business casual: jeans or some fancy pants, with a button up shirt tucked in their pants behind some leather belt usually holding a role over fat stomach.
- Linux Guys come to the course cycling (MTB or Road bike), Windows guys all came with a Car, which can explain the fat stomach phenomena.
- Out of 6 guys, 3 guy actually had facial hairs, and our instructor a mustache! Personally, I find people with mustaches unreliable.
Another anecdote I have noticed while learning Windows 7, is it's lousy backward compatibility. Windows 7 does not include Solitaire or Minesweeper, at least in the VM's we had ... Imagine, passing 2 days in front of the most boring OS, without minesweeper...
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