Only XP Eee PC's available in stores ...
Richard Rasker
... because people want the Linux version, not the XP version, and now the
Linux ones are simply sold out:
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/07/14/asus_linux_eee_901_famine/
Cue the Wintrolls putting their twist to this ;-)
Richard Rasker
--
http://www.linetec.nl
Roy Schestowitz
Hash: SHA1
____/ Richard Rasker on Thursday 07 August 2008 11:01 : \____
They could be lying. Their excuses make less sense than this:
More evidence of Microsoft "tying up" the Asus EeePC
,----[ Quote ]
| Then, one of the makers of Netbooks will release a fantastic product using
| the paid Ubuntu/Netbook Remix, which will make us all forget about the EeePC
| — or, maybe we’ll remember it as one of the makers which used GNU/Linux in
| order to launch a product, and then gave in to Microsoft’s pressure.
|
| The real question is: will the next maker manage to resist Microsoft’s
| pressure? Or will everybody end up closely tied up with Microsoft?
`----
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/more_evidence_microsoft_tying_up_the_asus_eeepc
EXCLUSIVE: ASUS Speaks on the EEE PC
,----[ Quote ]
| TechTree: States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka promote the Linux
| operating system in its education and government sectors. Will ASUS roll out
| Linux alternatives for the new 904HD and 1000H models in India?
|
| Benson Lin: Currently, we're closely tied up with Microsoft and the EEE PC
| with Windows XP would be available to the Indian market.
`----
http://www.techtree.com/India/News/EXCLUSIVE_ASUS_Speaks_on_the_EEE_PC/551-91486-581.html
- --
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | {Hide sig} {Show sig} >{Close Application}<
http://Schestowitz.com | RHAT GNU/Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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Cork Soaker
> ... because people want the Linux version, not the XP version, and now the
> Linux ones are simply sold out:
>
> http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/07/14/asus_linux_eee_901_famine/
>
> Cue the Wintrolls putting their twist to this ;-)
Well, that because of 9/11 and Linux users are terrorists ;-)
There's a few on eBay...
bbgruff
>
> ... because people want the Linux version, not the XP version, and now the
> Linux ones are simply sold out:
>
> http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/07/14/asus_linux_eee_901_famine/
>
> Cue the Wintrolls putting their twist to this ;-)
Forgive my ignorance, but this is a serious question:
Granted, Linux is now very easy to install. I would say far easier than
Windows, in fact, and when one considers the Windows need for loading
applications separately, anti-virus, etc. very much more so!
One can perhaps appreciate that there will *be* problems installing Linux from
time to time (as there would be installing Windows), *but* I would venture to
suggest that there is *no* problem for either OS if one is simply installing
a disk image to an existing H/W configuration, and the image was taken from
that installed system. i.e. if one has a known H/W configuration, and
requires a given final install (apps etc.) it is no more than restoring from
a full disk backup.
So, QUESTION:-
Why are these manufacturers piddling around with different H/W, different O/Ss
etc? Why are they not selling just one set of H/W, and offering a disk image
of the OS?
e.g. Buy your little laptop, and buy also a USB pen (for the sake of
argument) with your chosen (note that word chosen!) OS, containing the image
for that H/W configuration. (XP pen price includes licence cost, of course).
I'm not suggesting running from the pen - just use it to carry the image.
Plug in, auto-install the image, as it were, and then keep the pen as your
backup.
Granted, that same pen could be used (in the XP case in particular) to install
umpteen boxes, but isn't that what WGA is all about, to stop that?
I'm baffled.
I can see why MS might not like it, but tell me, is there any technical
problem with the concept?
What am I missing?
chrisv
>... because people want the Linux version, not the XP version, and now the
>Linux ones are simply sold out:
>
>http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/07/14/asus_linux_eee_901_famine/
"Asus produces Linux and XP Eees in equal numbers, she claimed, and
will continue to do so: the Linux Eees are the better selling models.
"We think our version of Linux is how we will stand out from our
competitors," she said."
Wasn't that lying POS Quack recently claiming that the Linux version
was discontinued?
Hadron
No. What "Quack" said was that that crowd in India wanted the XP one
with the real hard drive. And I was scathing about Asus pretty much
ignoring the Linux one as they moved towards XP.
Do try and understand what is being said to you.
--
XP is a flop and when users are still asking for W98 it shows that they
aren't all taken in with the MS hype.
comp.os.linux.advocacy - where they put the lunacy in advocacy
Richard Rasker
Nothing, you're spot on. In fact, things like this are quickly becoming
reality. The last half-dozen or so Linux machines I installed were actually
$250 boxes preloaded with Windows XP or Windows Vista Basic, but without a
license. People who buy these machines and wish to run Windows, can
purchase a license for something in the region of $80-$100 (IIRC), after
which they get a key with which to unlock the system.
On the Linux side, Asus plans to churn out their new mainboards preloaded
with a fully functional Linux installation, with the added advantage of an
almost zero-second boot time.
I think we can safely say that Microsoft is no longer in a position to
dictate OEMs that only their OS be bundled with new PC's. The main reason
why the vast majority of new machines are still preloaded with Windows lies
in inertia of the market and the application landscape. This is changing,
albeit slowly.
Linonut
> So, QUESTION:-
> Why are these manufacturers piddling around with different H/W, ...
Probably this -- enhancing slim profit margins.
> different O/Ss
> etc? Why are they not selling just one set of H/W, and offering a disk image
> of the OS?
Probably this -- enhancing slim profit margins using Microsoft
incentives.
--
Karl's version of Parkinson's Law: Work expands to exceed the time alloted it.
Linonut
> Nothing, you're spot on. In fact, things like this are quickly becoming
> reality. The last half-dozen or so Linux machines I installed were actually
> $250 boxes preloaded with Windows XP or Windows Vista Basic, but without a
> license. People who buy these machines and wish to run Windows, can
> purchase a license for something in the region of $80-$100 (IIRC), after
> which they get a key with which to unlock the system.
A welcome development. Put the price of the OS out front, where it can
be seen, given consumer more meat for a rational choice.
> On the Linux side, Asus plans to churn out their new mainboards preloaded
> with a fully functional Linux installation, with the added advantage of an
> almost zero-second boot time.
--
Microsoft is not about greed. It's about innovation and fairness.
-- Bill Gates
bbgruff
Ah - OK, and thanks for your reply, Richard.
What I was suggesting was, I suppose, equivalent to letting the customer do
what the vendor currently does - install an image to the disk prior to use.
Your account of "gratis" MS pre-installs, with a charge for activation, is
something that I had appreciated was possible, but I wasn't aware that it was
being done. In that form, it applies only to the MS OS though - if you
wanted Linux, you'd still need to do an installation. Nevertheless, it means
that MS OSs *can* be *put out" at no initial cost to the buyer, and with the
option to use (and pay) or not.
An interesting precedent if/when the E.U. legislates against bundling?:-)
The nearest that I could get to what I was suggesting was this, but that goes
the other way - no MS option:-)
http://club.mandriva.com/xwiki/bin/view/Main/GDiumInfo
7
May be Ausus should stop producing equal numbers of unsellable windummy
EEE laptops.
They are equally unsellable whether they are produced
in equal numbers or not.
Ding!
Producing the faster selling Linux EEE is top priority
for management - not faking sales by producing
equal numbers.
Linonut
> chrisv wrote:
>
>> Richard Rasker wrote:
>>
>>>... because people want the Linux version, not the XP version, and now the
>>>Linux ones are simply sold out:
>>>
>>>http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/07/14/asus_linux_eee_901_famine/
>>
>> "Asus produces Linux and XP Eees in equal numbers, she claimed, and
>> will continue to do so: the Linux Eees are the better selling models.
>> "We think our version of Linux is how we will stand out from our
>> competitors," she said."
>>
>> Wasn't that lying POS Quack recently claiming that the Linux version
>> was discontinued?
>
> May be Ausus should stop producing equal numbers of unsellable windummy
> EEE laptops.
The punchline for that article:
"That may explain why there aren't any now: they've been sold,
leaving only the less popular XP models still available to buy."
--
We prefer to believe that the absence of inverted commas guarantees the
originality of a thought, whereas it may be merely that the utterer has
forgotten its source.
-- Clifton Fadiman, "Any Number Can Play"
Charlie Wilkes
Asus has solved this problem with the 1000 series... they only offer
Linux on a model that few people will want, i.e., the $700 model with a
static hard drive.
So I decided to buy the Windows model and install Linux myself, and now I
am fucking around with compiling drivers and it really annoys me.
Charlie
7
> * 7 peremptorily fired off this memo:
>
>> chrisv wrote:
>>
>>> Richard Rasker wrote:
>>>
>>>>... because people want the Linux version, not the XP version, and now
>>>>the Linux ones are simply sold out:
>>>>
>>>>http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/07/14/asus_linux_eee_901_famine/
>>>
>>> "Asus produces Linux and XP Eees in equal numbers, she claimed, and
>>> will continue to do so: the Linux Eees are the better selling models.
>>> "We think our version of Linux is how we will stand out from our
>>> competitors," she said."
>>>
>>> Wasn't that lying POS Quack recently claiming that the Linux version
>>> was discontinued?
>>
>> May be Ausus should stop producing equal numbers of unsellable windummy
>> EEE laptops.
>
> The punchline for that article:
>
> "That may explain why there aren't any now: they've been sold,
> leaving only the less popular XP models still available to buy."
One has to wonder why they are still being produced in equal numbers.
Probably micoshaft has tricked Asus and other similar manufacturers
into signing a bag of smoke and mirror tricks of licenses wherein the
hardware vendor MUST sell a number each month to keep up with monthly
license payments even if the public don't want it, otherwise they
are loosing money all around owing money to Redmond even if nothing
is selling from Redmond.
It should be subject of anti-trust investigation by government
authorities. It is more than likely Micoshaft knew its products
are not selling and so they tricked the hardware vendors with
materially false information booking products sitting on
the shelves as products sold to customers giving
licensors the materially false impression there is a market when
materially there was none.
Linonut
Have you first gotten a Live CD or Damn Small Linux to run, so you can
see which drivers they try?
You generally shouldn't have to compile drivers unless the device driver
isn't in the kernel, and AFAIK most distros include a lot of drivers
compiled as modules.
--
A penny saved is a penny to squander.
-- Ambrose Bierce
Sinister Midget
A lot of users already do similar themselves. They already know Winders
is going to crap itself. Nobody ever needs to tell them it will. They
have experience with it. So they buy (or "borrow") Ghost, make backups
and use that to start over.
Some make frequent backups to maintain the current state of whatever
they percieve to be a "stable" state that's more the way they want
things.
The danger here, though, is that the OS has usually had time to start
its bitrot cycle, and it gets worse as time passes. Since they can't be
absolutely sure that the copy they're about to save is as "stable" as
it appears, they can only safely get by if they save at least a couple
of versions.
OK. But what happens if they don't trust the last copy completely
either? They may be paranoid enough (and rightly so) that they need to
save back an additional level.
That game can go on and on. So some people save the last version, a
previous version, and the "pristine" copy they made at the beginning,
then hope for the best.
What a waste of disk space, money, time and everything else. But I
suppose Windozers are used to that, what with having to buy all of the
useless "protection" that companies like Trend Micro and Symantec
peddle.
To be fair, I've considered setting everything up exactly how I like it
and making a copy. /A/ copy, not multiples. And not because I think
what I'm using will fall apart. I'd do it because I change around a lot
thanks to live CDs that take minutes to evaluate and minutes more to
install. I've figured I might like to have one distro and one version
that I can go back to when I don't feel like playing for awhile.
Something like Debian Stable, or Mepis, or whatever I decide I like to
fall back on when I just want stability for awhile. It would save the
extra time I usually spend installing a lot more stuff that I always
like to have around.
--
The sad thing about bashing Windows is that it's all true.
Charlie Wilkes
> * Charlie Wilkes peremptorily fired off this memo:
>
>> On Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:01:32 +0200, Richard Rasker wrote:
>>
>>> ... because people want the Linux version, not the XP version, and now
>>> the Linux ones are simply sold out:
>>>
>>> http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/07/14/asus_linux_eee_901_famine/
>>>
>>> Cue the Wintrolls putting their twist to this ;-)
>>>
>>> Richard Rasker
>>
>> Asus has solved this problem with the 1000 series... they only offer
>> Linux on a model that few people will want, i.e., the $700 model with a
>> static hard drive.
>>
>> So I decided to buy the Windows model and install Linux myself, and now
>> I am fucking around with compiling drivers and it really annoys me.
>
> Have you first gotten"Candace Dempsey" <canda...@gmail.com a Live CD
or Damn Small Linux to run, so you can
> see which drivers they try?
>
> You generally shouldn't have to compile drivers unless the device driver
> isn't in the kernel, and AFAIK most distros include a lot of drivers
> compiled as modules.
In the case of Ubuntu/eee 1000h it's necessary to compile drivers for
both wireless and ethernet connectivity. I wouldn't have had a clue how
to even get started, but someone in the eee user group wrote a guide.
Even with the documentation it was a miserable task that involved porting
source files on a USB stick. Now it seems to be working fine and I have
a dual-boot setup, which is more versatile. But this isn't about higher
support costs any such garbage. This is about Microsoft pressuring a
smaller company at the expense of me, the consumer, and I don't like it.
It merely hardens my resolve never to use any version of Windows beyond
XP.
Charlie
RonB
> In the case of Ubuntu/eee 1000h it's necessary to compile drivers for
> both wireless and ethernet connectivity. I wouldn't have had a clue how
> to even get started, but someone in the eee user group wrote a guide.
> Even with the documentation it was a miserable task that involved porting
> source files on a USB stick. Now it seems to be working fine and I have
> a dual-boot setup, which is more versatile.
Congratulations. The 1000h looks like a nice computer.
--
RonB
"There's a story there...somewhere"
Linonut
> On Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:51:19 -0400, Linonut wrote:
>>
>> You generally shouldn't have to compile drivers unless the device driver
>> isn't in the kernel, and AFAIK most distros include a lot of drivers
>> compiled as modules.
>
> In the case of Ubuntu/eee 1000h it's necessary to compile drivers for
> both wireless and ethernet connectivity. I wouldn't have had a clue how
> to even get started, but someone in the eee user group wrote a guide.
I was curious who created the drivers, and why they're not part of the
kernel source tree (yet).
> Even with the documentation it was a miserable task that involved porting
> source files on a USB stick. Now it seems to be working fine and I have
> a dual-boot setup, which is more versatile. But this isn't about higher
> support costs any such garbage. This is about Microsoft pressuring a
> smaller company at the expense of me, the consumer, and I don't like it.
> It merely hardens my resolve never to use any version of Windows beyond
> XP.
That's the thing. Some people just give up, and backslide to Windows,
while others find hardened resolve.
I was pretty lucky. Something about Linux clicked with me pretty
quickly, and now I'm most comfortable in a GNU/Linux environment.
--
The fancy is indeed no other than a mode of memory emancipated from the order
of space and time. -- Samuel Taylor Coleridge