Does anyone know if this is real or is it just vaporware?
I just got a nüvi 660 and the only CD-ROM that comes with it is for
the user manual. The instructions to install the it (wich is in PDF)
are for Windows and Mac.
I am sure you are expecting more, but that's a indication of the
direction Garmin is taking.
Just by using PDF you can tell that Garmin is not a Microsoft slave,
and their web site is based on Linux, which is appropriate for a
company that makes airplane grade equipment.
Not even Bill Gates will get into an airplane or emergency hospital
equipment based on Windows.
-Ramon
What I wrote is not a mathematical proof, it is an indication, which
coupled with my other two observations (airplane grade reliability +
Linux web server) points in the direction of not being Microsoft
subservients. It is just a conjecture, an hypothesis, an educated
guess.
Besides PDF and Word, there are other ways to distribute manuals: web
based or Microsoft Help file are just two examples.
I have known companies which will wait for the so-called Acrobat killer
(Metro) which Microsoft is preparing, and they expect to replace PDF. I
wouldn't bet on it.
-Ramon
Which year?
>
> "Airplane grade reliability" on some of their products (NOT ALL!) does
> not have anything to do with what platform they choose or decline to
> develop for on any given product.
>
It has something to do. It is called corporate culture.
Garmin is the best. They must employ some of the best engineers, who
tend to use the best OS and tools.
Of course, you can go to their cleaning closet and say: "look, I found
an exception to Ramon's claim: they don't use the best broom!".
-Ramon
>
> Dude, they are servants to their shareholders--period. They make money
> for their shareholders--period. Those are the only masters they serve.
>
Microsoft has been known to pay companies in order to have them
sabotage competitors. This has been documented in courts. I am familiar
with one case: Dialogic voice boards. After Microsoft acquired some 16%
of their stock, they were ordered to drop the support for Sun/Unix.
Fortunately, Intel acquired 100% of Dialogic and the first order of
business was to develop and promote Linux.
There are some payments that don't exactly go to the shareholder, just
to an individual.
You should follow the cases in which Microsoft is a defendant. Too bad
a large number of them are settled under the condition that the details
will remain secret.
-Ramon
>
> One could go into that PDF and find out what application created the
> original document.
>
Ah! Good idea. I went into it and they used Adobe inDesign. Until
somebody proves otherwise, I claim that Garmin is aligned with the
non-Microsoft crowd, based on the available evidence.
One more time: yes, I realize that I don't have an airtight case.
Anyway, in my next coast to coast trip I intend to stop at Garmin in
Kansas City. I'll see what I can find out about the topic.
-Ramon
>
> What brand of crack are you on that you come to these conclusions?
> > It is just a conjecture, a hypothesis, an educated guess.
>
> Out of wacko thin air.
You have never watched "Monk", have you?
-Ramon
Out of context.
-Ramon
> Just by using PDF you can tell that Garmin is not a Microsoft slave
I'm actually more interested in the software that will let me do things
like install new MapSource data, stuff like that. A PDF of the manual
can be downloaded from their web site.
> I claim that Garmin is aligned with the
> non-Microsoft crowd, based on the available evidence
But, up until now, all their software has been Windows only.
I plugged my Garmin GPS unit into my Linux system,
and nothing happened. Plus they don't sell software
for Linux systems.
I am, though, pleased to see this:
http://www.garmin.com/aboutGarmin/jobs/job.jsp?id=423
>One more time: yes, I realize that I don't have an airtight case.
Er, yeah. ;-)
--
Joel Plutchak
"Things just fall apart." - Now They'll Sleep (Belly)
> Ramon F Herrera <gopo...@jonjay.com> wrote:
>>Until somebody proves otherwise, I claim that Garmin is aligned with the
>>non-Microsoft crowd, based on the available evidence.
>
> I plugged my Garmin GPS unit into my Linux system, and nothing happened.
> Plus they don't sell software for Linux systems.
FWIW, I'm running Delorme Road Atlas under Windows XP in a VMware virtual
machine on Ubuntu. It works fine. Not using MS Streets & Trips anymore but
I gave it a brief try and the mapping worked fine. Streets & Trips
didn't talk to my Delorme Earthmate GPS even when Windows was the
primary OS so I can't say how well it communicates with devices. The nice
thing about this (as opposed to dual-booting) is that I can run Linux
for everything else (Delorme is the only Windows application for which
Linux doesn't have a good equivalent).
For USB devices (and I think serial ports, too) it isn't necessary for
Linux to have the drivers for the device in order for the virtual machine
to access it. In fact, you may even have to remove Linux drivers to keep
them from getting in the way.
The only gotcha is that VMware can't do its simulation at USB 2 speeds, so
it makes a USB 2 port look like USB 1.1 to the software. If the device
can't handle that, plug a USB 1.1 hub into your USB 2.0 port and plug the
GPS into the hub.
BTW if you have a Windows XP OEM that's bios-locked to your motherboard,
you can eventually get MS to give up a key that will make it work in your
VM. If you don't care for the hassle, Win2K doesn't use WPA and will
probably run GPS software.
I don't expect Garmin, or any other similar software to run on Linux
ever.
Linus Torvalds says that it will take 5 years for Linux to really
arrive to the desktop.
The strength of Linux is on the server side. I wish Linux the best on
the desktop, by my laptop and desktop run Windows. Is a fact of life.
-Ramon
"In another life, there will not be Windows".
Microsoft has thousands of exclusive deals with hardware vendors. They
pretty much say: "if you ever make your hardware compatible with Linux,
you will never use Windows again and we will sue the crap out of you".
If all those contracts ever saw the light of day, Bill Gates and
Ballmer could easily end up in jail, under the RICO act. It will never
happen, of course.
-Ramon
The other reality is that we can all conjure up schemes that Microsoft has
exclusive agreements with this vendor or that, but we all seem to lack
something important.. evidence of such things.
Ken
"Ramon F Herrera" <gopo...@jonjay.com> wrote in message
news:1163787973.7...@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Ramon F Herrera <gopo...@jonjay.com> wrote:
>
>>Until somebody proves otherwise, I claim that Garmin is aligned with the
>>non-Microsoft crowd, based on the available evidence.
>
>
> I plugged my Garmin GPS unit into my Linux system,
> and nothing happened. Plus they don't sell software
> for Linux systems.
> I am, though, pleased to see this:
>
> http://www.garmin.com/aboutGarmin/jobs/job.jsp?id=423
The guy reports to the "Software Engineering Team Leader". As near as I
can tell the linux guys job will be to meticulously avoid any contacts
with or inputs from people that buy the hardware while, at the same
time, occasionally dropping much used and liked features to make room
for new features not the least bit remotely related to navigating with
GPS receivers.
The next generation of Garmin GPS receivers will have built egg timers
for soft boiling eggs and can display the Aperiodic Table of elements in
36 languages. But they'll no longer store favorites (user waypoints).
Why would user's want to store Favorites anyway? The Garmin POI
databases already know where everything is.
Jack
--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com)
That makes all the contracts null and void. If you can't take them out of
the box to enforce them, what good are they. When you sue someone for
breach of contract, you need to produce to contracts to show they've been
breached.