Re: [FRIAM] CNET reviews Psystar's Snow Leopard-based Open(Q) | Crave - CNET

2009-10-11 Thread Marcus Daniels

russell standish wrote:

OSX on a VM partition would be fantastic news for me, if the price is
right.
If that comes to fruition, there won't be any more $25 OSX upgrades from 
Apple, that's for sure.


Fedora 11 and Ubuntu 9.10 work on MacBooks, but not on external 
drives.   The hybrid GPT/MBR partitioning is just voodoo as far as I can 
tell, but it is possible to have Windows 7, Fedora 11 and Snow Leopard 
on the same laptop (I do).   Due to partitioning limitations, I had to 
restrict my Fedora 11 partition to a single partition, and not use ext4 
(so that I could boot from the same partition) nor have a swap drive 
(loopback swap files work though).


VMware isn't always an option if you are working with hardware like 
GPUs.   It's easier with desktops (e.g. Mac Pro), where you can take a 
whole SATA drive. 

Otherwise, VMware Fusion is a great product IMO. 


Marcus


FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org


[FRIAM] CNET reviews Psystar's Snow Leopard-based Open(Q) | Crave - CNET

2009-10-10 Thread Owen Densmore
Yet another attempt to make OSX available on generic PC hardware.   
This one is trying really hard though, and in the era of  
virtualization, may actually win.

  http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10372246-1.html

Lots of noise on the net about it: http://tinyurl.com/yhplse6

I'm not sure how the trade off REALLY works for Apple: sell fewer  
laptops/desktops but sell more versions of OSX and get more folks into  
the Apple camp.  I'm wondering if Apple just gave in and made sure  
they got a cut of the take they'd be better off.


I'd love it if it meant I could have a tablet laptop, or a netbook or  
some such but running OSX.  Unlikely though, unless psytar or their  
new OEM group supports all the drivers needed for that.


-- Owen




FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org


Re: [FRIAM] CNET reviews Psystar's Snow Leopard-based Open(Q) | Crave - CNET

2009-10-10 Thread Douglas Roberts
Geeze!

Why try so hard, when there are good http://www.ubuntu.com/,
viablehttp://www.kubuntu.org/
alternatives http://wiki.centos.org/?

--Doug

On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 11:36 AM, Owen Densmore o...@backspaces.net wrote:

 Yet another attempt to make OSX available on generic PC hardware.  This one
 is trying really hard though, and in the era of virtualization, may actually
 win.
  http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10372246-1.html

 Lots of noise on the net about it: http://tinyurl.com/yhplse6

 I'm not sure how the trade off REALLY works for Apple: sell fewer
 laptops/desktops but sell more versions of OSX and get more folks into the
 Apple camp.  I'm wondering if Apple just gave in and made sure they got a
 cut of the take they'd be better off.

 I'd love it if it meant I could have a tablet laptop, or a netbook or some
 such but running OSX.  Unlikely though, unless psytar or their new OEM group
 supports all the drivers needed for that.

-- Owen



 
 FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
 Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
 lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org




-- 
Doug Roberts
drobe...@rti.org
d...@parrot-farm.net
505-455-7333 - Office
505-670-8195 - Cell

FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org

Re: [FRIAM] CNET reviews Psystar's Snow Leopard-based Open(Q) | Crave - CNET

2009-10-10 Thread Douglas Roberts
To counter:

Competition Is Good!

More deep, penetrating comments below.

On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 5:37 PM, Owen Densmore o...@backspaces.net wrote:

 On Oct 10, 2009, at 4:33 PM, Douglas Roberts wrote:

 Geeze!

 Why try so hard, when there are good http://www.ubuntu.com/, 
 viablehttp://www.kubuntu.org/
  alternatives http://wiki.centos.org/?

 --Doug


 As wonderful as linux world is, they still are at war with each other.
  They do not have a unified software package management system across them
 all.  There are differing window systems and UI toolkits.


So?  Pick the one you like.


  Cut/paste is not always assured to work across different UI toolkits.  And
 linux servers are still the core target, not desktops.


Disagree about the core target.  The desktop is (K)Ubuntu's core target.

Cut and paste used to be a pain in the ass, but I haven't had any problems
yet this year.  Perhaps because I'm mostly running (K)Ubuntu on the 20 or so
systems I manage on my various projects. For example, I have no (absolutely
zero) problems cutting and pasting between a VNC session running on a CENTOS
system to an Ubuntu host, nor vice versa.  Nor between apps on either system
(including EMACS, which always tended to be a bit different).


 So much like the Mac/Windows incompatibilities, the linux platforms have
 their own incompatibilities, thus form their own siloed communities.  Your
 foo won't work with my bar.


Haven't seen this. I use apps on Ubutnu, Kubuntu RHEL, SuSE, CENTOS, and
Mandrake.  I've never had an app work on one distro, but not another.
[Discounting some of the oddball distros, like Arch and Slackware
(where I
started, btw).]  Arch and Slackware are both good examples of active
Darwinism in the OS world.  Soon to become extinct.



 And the linux developers are hypersensitive to what their users consider
 trivial, thus creating unnecessary divergence.


 Agree.  But, if I may: we Linux Fanbois pale in comparison to you Apple
worshipers. Look up Fanatic on WikiPedia and you will find a picture of a
wild-eyed geek brandishing an iWhaetver.


 It does seem to be getting better, with Ubuntu leading the way to desktop
 centric linux.  Maybe it'll all converge eventually with a single window
 system, desktop, UI toolkit, software package system, and application
 interoperability (cut/paste etc).


I don't want that, because (wait for it) COMPETITION IS GOOD.  As soon as
one mega Corp/Distro maintainer achieves dominance, market sensitivity goes
out the window.  The tension between Ubuntu's Gnome bigots, and Kubuntu's
KDE bigots had hardened both UIs.



 But until you spend less time fussing to get your system working than linux
 requires, and have universal drivers so that when
 you buy a laptop all of its features work very well with your linux distro, 
 and maybe even have a large number of vendors supporting linux systems, .. 
 you still have the linux of old: fussy, incomplete, and incompatible.


Universal, shmuniversal.  I just want it to work, without having to leap
hurdles.  I don't care if it works for you, I just want it to work for me.


 You'll know you've
 arrived when you don't ask your linux packing laptop friend which distro he's 
 using.


Back to that competition thing again.



 -- Owen


--Doug







FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org

Re: [FRIAM] CNET reviews Psystar's Snow Leopard-based Open(Q) | Crave - CNET

2009-10-10 Thread Robert Holmes
But let's not forget that Linux users are hopelessly optimistic about
hardware support...*http://xkcd.org/644*

-- Robert


On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 6:00 PM, Douglas Roberts d...@parrot-farm.netwrote:

 To counter:

 Competition Is Good!

 More deep, penetrating comments below.

 On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 5:37 PM, Owen Densmore o...@backspaces.netwrote:

 On Oct 10, 2009, at 4:33 PM, Douglas Roberts wrote:

 Geeze!

 Why try so hard, when there are good http://www.ubuntu.com/, 
 viablehttp://www.kubuntu.org/
  alternatives http://wiki.centos.org/?

 --Doug


 As wonderful as linux world is, they still are at war with each other.
  They do not have a unified software package management system across them
 all.  There are differing window systems and UI toolkits.


 So?  Pick the one you like.


  Cut/paste is not always assured to work across different UI toolkits.
  And linux servers are still the core target, not desktops.


 Disagree about the core target.  The desktop is (K)Ubuntu's core target.

 Cut and paste used to be a pain in the ass, but I haven't had any problems
 yet this year.  Perhaps because I'm mostly running (K)Ubuntu on the 20 or so
 systems I manage on my various projects. For example, I have no (absolutely
 zero) problems cutting and pasting between a VNC session running on a CENTOS
 system to an Ubuntu host, nor vice versa.  Nor between apps on either system
 (including EMACS, which always tended to be a bit different).


 So much like the Mac/Windows incompatibilities, the linux platforms have
 their own incompatibilities, thus form their own siloed communities.  Your
 foo won't work with my bar.


 Haven't seen this. I use apps on Ubutnu, Kubuntu RHEL, SuSE, CENTOS, and
 Mandrake.  I've never had an app work on one distro, but not another. 
 [Discounting some of the oddball distros, like Arch and Slackware (where I
 started, btw).]  Arch and Slackware are both good examples of active
 Darwinism in the OS world.  Soon to become extinct.



 And the linux developers are hypersensitive to what their users consider
 trivial, thus creating unnecessary divergence.


  Agree.  But, if I may: we Linux Fanbois pale in comparison to you Apple
 worshipers. Look up Fanatic on WikiPedia and you will find a picture of a
 wild-eyed geek brandishing an iWhaetver.


 It does seem to be getting better, with Ubuntu leading the way to desktop
 centric linux.  Maybe it'll all converge eventually with a single window
 system, desktop, UI toolkit, software package system, and application
 interoperability (cut/paste etc).


 I don't want that, because (wait for it) COMPETITION IS GOOD.  As soon as
 one mega Corp/Distro maintainer achieves dominance, market sensitivity goes
 out the window.  The tension between Ubuntu's Gnome bigots, and Kubuntu's
 KDE bigots had hardened both UIs.



 But until you spend less time fussing to get your system working than
 linux requires, and have universal drivers so that when
 you buy a laptop all of its features work very well with your linux distro, 
 and maybe even have a large number of vendors supporting linux systems, .. 
 you still have the linux of old: fussy, incomplete, and incompatible.


 Universal, shmuniversal.  I just want it to work, without having to leap
 hurdles.  I don't care if it works for you, I just want it to work for me.


 You'll know you've
 arrived when you don't ask your linux packing laptop friend which distro 
 he's using.


 Back to that competition thing again.



 -- Owen


 --Doug







 
 FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
 Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
 lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org


FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org

Re: [FRIAM] CNET reviews Psystar's Snow Leopard-based Open(Q) | Crave - CNET

2009-10-10 Thread Douglas Roberts
Ask me some time how much homework I had to do when purchasing the hardware
for my new Linux home entertainment system...

But then good news:  Nvidia 8200 chipsets kick ass and have good Linux
support (ASUS M73N78-VM MB).  Bullet-proof wireless -N micro-ATX box, AMD
3.0 GHx dual-core processor, 4 GB RAM, 1 TB drive, all for about $500.

Oh,  and it just works, driving a 46 Samsung LED flat panel TV, via a 700 W
Denon amp.  And my 20 year old Celestion 9 speakers, which still sound
wonderful.

Dropped DISH, there is no television to be found in  the house; I get all of
my content via the intertubes...

--Doug

On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 8:09 PM, Robert Holmes rob...@holmesacosta.comwrote:

 But let's not forget that Linux users are hopelessly optimistic about
 hardware support...*http://xkcd.org/644*

 -- Robert


 On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 6:00 PM, Douglas Roberts d...@parrot-farm.netwrote:

 To counter:

 Competition Is Good!

 More deep, penetrating comments below.

 On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 5:37 PM, Owen Densmore o...@backspaces.netwrote:

 On Oct 10, 2009, at 4:33 PM, Douglas Roberts wrote:

 Geeze!

 Why try so hard, when there are good http://www.ubuntu.com/, 
 viablehttp://www.kubuntu.org/
  alternatives http://wiki.centos.org/?

 --Doug


 As wonderful as linux world is, they still are at war with each other.
  They do not have a unified software package management system across them
 all.  There are differing window systems and UI toolkits.


 So?  Pick the one you like.


  Cut/paste is not always assured to work across different UI toolkits.
  And linux servers are still the core target, not desktops.


 Disagree about the core target.  The desktop is (K)Ubuntu's core target.


 Cut and paste used to be a pain in the ass, but I haven't had any problems
 yet this year.  Perhaps because I'm mostly running (K)Ubuntu on the 20 or so
 systems I manage on my various projects. For example, I have no (absolutely
 zero) problems cutting and pasting between a VNC session running on a CENTOS
 system to an Ubuntu host, nor vice versa.  Nor between apps on either system
 (including EMACS, which always tended to be a bit different).


 So much like the Mac/Windows incompatibilities, the linux platforms have
 their own incompatibilities, thus form their own siloed communities.  Your
 foo won't work with my bar.


 Haven't seen this. I use apps on Ubutnu, Kubuntu RHEL, SuSE, CENTOS, and
 Mandrake.  I've never had an app work on one distro, but not another. 
 [Discounting some of the oddball distros, like Arch and Slackware (where I
 started, btw).]  Arch and Slackware are both good examples of active
 Darwinism in the OS world.  Soon to become extinct.



 And the linux developers are hypersensitive to what their users consider
 trivial, thus creating unnecessary divergence.


  Agree.  But, if I may: we Linux Fanbois pale in comparison to you Apple
 worshipers. Look up Fanatic on WikiPedia and you will find a picture of a
 wild-eyed geek brandishing an iWhaetver.


 It does seem to be getting better, with Ubuntu leading the way to desktop
 centric linux.  Maybe it'll all converge eventually with a single window
 system, desktop, UI toolkit, software package system, and application
 interoperability (cut/paste etc).


 I don't want that, because (wait for it) COMPETITION IS GOOD.  As soon as
 one mega Corp/Distro maintainer achieves dominance, market sensitivity goes
 out the window.  The tension between Ubuntu's Gnome bigots, and Kubuntu's
 KDE bigots had hardened both UIs.



 But until you spend less time fussing to get your system working than
 linux requires, and have universal drivers so that when
 you buy a laptop all of its features work very well with your linux distro, 
 and maybe even have a large number of vendors supporting linux systems, .. 
 you still have the linux of old: fussy, incomplete, and incompatible.


 Universal, shmuniversal.  I just want it to work, without having to leap
 hurdles.  I don't care if it works for you, I just want it to work for me.


 You'll know you've
 arrived when you don't ask your linux packing laptop friend which distro 
 he's using.


 Back to that competition thing again.



 -- Owen


 --Doug







 
 FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
 Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
 lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org



 
 FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
 Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
 lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org




-- 
Doug Roberts
drobe...@rti.org
d...@parrot-farm.net
505-455-7333 - Office
505-670-8195 - Cell

FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org

Re: [FRIAM] CNET reviews Psystar's Snow Leopard-based Open(Q) | Crave - CNET

2009-10-10 Thread russell standish
As a developer of software on Linux, I would like to support a Mac OSX
port, just as I do a Windows port (via Cygwin). The Window I use runs
on a VMWare partition. I would like the same of a Mac OS without
having to purchase a very expensive computer to do it. Current Mac
offerings are more than an order of magnitude more expensive than what
I'm prepared to pay, and even ebay doesn't seem to have much but pre
OSX machines out there, which are no good to me.

OSX on a VM partition would be fantastic news for me, if the price is
right. Until then, Mac users will have to do their own support ...


Cheers

On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 04:33:25PM -0600, Douglas Roberts wrote:
 Geeze!
 
 Why try so hard, when there are good http://www.ubuntu.com/,
 viablehttp://www.kubuntu.org/
 alternatives http://wiki.centos.org/?
 
 --Doug
 
 On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 11:36 AM, Owen Densmore o...@backspaces.net wrote:
 
  Yet another attempt to make OSX available on generic PC hardware.  This one
  is trying really hard though, and in the era of virtualization, may actually
  win.
   http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10372246-1.html
 
  Lots of noise on the net about it: http://tinyurl.com/yhplse6
 
  I'm not sure how the trade off REALLY works for Apple: sell fewer
  laptops/desktops but sell more versions of OSX and get more folks into the
  Apple camp.  I'm wondering if Apple just gave in and made sure they got a
  cut of the take they'd be better off.
 
  I'd love it if it meant I could have a tablet laptop, or a netbook or some
  such but running OSX.  Unlikely though, unless psytar or their new OEM group
  supports all the drivers needed for that.
 
 -- Owen
 
 
 
  
  FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
  Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
  lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
 
 
 
 
 -- 
 Doug Roberts
 drobe...@rti.org
 d...@parrot-farm.net
 505-455-7333 - Office
 505-670-8195 - Cell

 
 FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
 Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
 lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org

-- 


Prof Russell Standish  Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Mathematics  
UNSW SYDNEY 2052 hpco...@hpcoders.com.au
Australiahttp://www.hpcoders.com.au



FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org