MEWXPZLFUDAWV Club!

[NejinOniwa]

So.
Old Billy is leaving the bridge, and the company stops the engines of its trusty mothership XP.
All within two days of each other.
Anyone see a sign here?
Maybe, just maybe, mister Gates doesn't want to go much further in the direction the company is going now.
Think about it - he privately told Ballmer as early as 2004 that he wanted to leave the company, and it was announced in 2006 that he would.
I don't know, but reading that flame from 2003 to his devs, I'm seeing some of the man behind the behemoth he's been driving. And he looks considerably different from Ballmer - and where the company stands now, together with its CEO.

I might just be rambling, but meh - i might just be seeing through it all, too. As usual.

Also, 1 day left with ALPHA (because post doesn't come on sundays _._) leaves me a bit nostalgic. I've gone through a lot with this machine, and learned tons.
Then again, the reason I've learned so much is probably because there's been so much for me to fix by myself - left on its own it'd probably crash within a month. So it's probably about the last thing that kept me to IE back in the day - honor. Firefox gained its honor with me when I used it to get past the school's badly set-up firewalls and site blocks, and the period of time I knew about FF and used IE was something like 1 week. So much for old-timers.

Unlike most of you who'd probably change the old comp's OS and have it as a secondary, I'll most likely completely evacuate ALPHA entirely. The challenge for me is time, since I've got 10-hour workdays the rest of the week, and go north when the weekend comes. Depending on how much I've gotten done I might bring DELTA with me - then again, it's not as simple to bring a stationary as a notebook. At least I'll need a monitor. So we'll see how it goes with that.

So one Monday with 17 hours of awake time will probably be spent on something like 13 hours of config, and 4 hours of mandatory socializing (and tending to that damn dog) and perhaps, perhaps if I can get everything working in time...some badass gaming.

I've never gone through HL2 in its entirety before, and I'm quite eager to play HL2 and SupCom without the shitty performance I've suffered before.
I'll see if I can get to that tomorrow.

//N

[C-Chan]

Umm,... sorry people for the interruption but,... forgive me, but I might have sinned. ^^;

A friend of mine had an old laptop (that he apparently got from someone else) that he hadn't used n a year and was interested in getting Linux on it.  So I agreed and happily waited until I got the beleaguered laptop in question.....

....

Although it wasn't a PC....

...but an iBook G3 PowerPC with OSX Jaguar on it and barely enough RAM to get it operating properly.  I talked a bit with him, but he had assured me that the Apple store wasn't very helpful regarding a RAM upgrade (as it was too old), and he wasn't interested in any of the apps (and paying for them at that).  

Soooooooooooooo,........

....

On Debian PPC went.....

Can confirm that it's definitely not as out-of-the-box as an x86 installation, but I was able to tinker up a perfectly working state using the Lenny branch (minus a small problem with Suspend, that I still have to patch).  Suffice to say, KDE Debian really makes this PPC purr so beautifully. ^___^

But I still can't help but feel dirty,... maybe I've grown so used to having Macs reside in Macs.

If you need me, I'll be in the closet.... moping.  -.-

But before I leave...

Good luck, Nejin-san, and good for you Bella-sama. ^^

*pulls door shut*

[NejinOniwa]

PLEASE COME BACK, C-CHAN
YOUR EXCORCISM TECHNIQUES ARE WONDERFUL

[Kami-Tux]

Heh, C-Chan, No need to feel dirty! It runs Linux now! And that is good! Now use it in textmode to confuse the everliving hell out of Mac Evangelists out there

Added after 6 hours 24 minutes:

In other news: Kami-tux, do you have a single non-crappy computer? And how many crappy ones do you have, anyway? >_>

I have one only slightly crappy system, meaning that it is only single core and has only 512 MB RAM. That is jenji. I also have 3 crappy ones: sydi (the craptop, nuff said), slowtux (450 MHz AMD K6-2, 256 MB RAM) and Francesco (my first computer a 'TurboXT' and about as old as I am).

[C-Chan]

[muffled from behind door] Noo,... I think I'm gonna stay here for a while, and stew in my own juices of misery and melancholy....  

Although....

I did forget to bring food with me, so right now all I'm eating to keep me going is dried FUD.  Actually tastes a little like dried cud, I kid you not....

Here, have a taste...

*slips some FUD under the closet door*

http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/06/26/microsoft-symbians-open-source-move-good-luck
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-9980413-16.html

[Kami-Tux]

Ewww...

In Microsoft's definition, "open platform" means a proprietary operating system, the development of which is completely and tightly controlled by Microsoft, and that is accessed via some 120 documented APIs available to application developers.

My brain... I was using it! Evil newspeak attempting to get in.


In other news: Sun seems to make more 'sales' volume by selling subscriptions to OpenSolaris than by selling licenses. At least according to the German heise.de

To get back to the topic of this thread: heise.de, an opensource friendly, but not completely OSS related site posted the monthly browser and OS stats from its site: Anteile der Betriebssysteme auf heise online im Juni  2008:
Windows XP 59,5 %, Linux 14,1 %,
Windows Vista 9,2 %, Mac OS 7,7 %, Windows 2000 5,4 %,
andere/unbekannt 2,6 %, Windows .NET 1,6 %

andere/unbekannt means others/unknown. I like how this club has a solid majority against Vista

[Bella]

Umm,... sorry people for the interruption but,... forgive me, but I might have sinned. ^^;

A friend of mine had an old laptop (that he apparently got from someone else) that he hadn't used n a year and was interested in getting Linux on it. So I agreed and happily waited until I got the beleaguered laptop in question.....

....

Although it wasn't a PC....

...but an iBook G3 PowerPC with OSX Jaguar on it and barely enough RAM to get it operating properly. I talked a bit with him, but he had assured me that the Apple store wasn't very helpful regarding a RAM upgrade (as it was too old), and he wasn't interested in any of the apps (and paying for them at that).

Soooooooooooooo,........

....

On Debian PPC went.....

Oh lawd after gazing over this, I thought this was going to be a tale about you picking up a Mac on the cheap XD

Can confirm that it's definitely not as out-of-the-box as an x86 installation, but I was able to tinker up a perfectly working state using the Lenny branch (minus a small problem with Suspend, that I still have to patch). Suffice to say, KDE Debian really makes this PPC purr so beautifully. ^___^

But I still can't help but feel dirty,... maybe I've grown so used to having Macs reside in Macs.

If you need me, I'll be in the closet.... moping. -.-

Okay, I think this makes you a Linux evangelist. I mean, c'mon, you converted a Mac!

Speaking of which, I'm a bit dismayed cause of this whole XP thing. It's official, I'm not buying startup disks. I can't even get funding to buy them.

You see, for the family business...we're getting a Mac. Not a matter of if but when at this point. Nobody's really going to own the computer, since it's technically a work machine, but I'm probably going to be the one who has to work with it the most.

Now let's talk about my dad, who's gonna be funding its purchase. He's the ex-Windows zealot turned Mac fan. Chances are, this is going to be his computer when it's not being used. I can't say whether or not I see him getting along with it, as he, y'know, has problems working with XP (he can use it pretty well, though). And XP, as we know, is one of the most usable OSes ever.

So I says to my father, "you might want to get XP startup disks while you can still buy them."

His reply: "Why? My next computer will probably be running OS X or Linux."

Me: "Yeah, but I can't say...you'll get along so well with either one..."

(C-Chan, you may think you're a sinner, but here I am trying desperately, I mean, really desperately, to steer away from OS X and Linux!)

To which his reply came: "Oh, if I want it to run XP, I could always barrow a installation disk from a friend."

Me: "Okay, I think what you're talking about is illegal. Not to mention you'd have to crack the activation code or whatever the hell, I have no idea how any of that works."

I better stop recounting this story; the conversation from here took on a rather seedy side about piracy, and so on and so forth.  ;026

Bottom line of this tale: M$ is screwing the consumer over. A lot. >__<

[Aurora Borealis]

Umm,... sorry people for the interruption but,... forgive me, but I might have sinned. ^^;

A friend of mine had an old laptop (that he apparently got from someone else) that he hadn't used n a year and was interested in getting Linux on it.  So I agreed and happily waited until I got the beleaguered laptop in question.....

....

Although it wasn't a PC....

...but an iBook G3 PowerPC with OSX Jaguar on it and barely enough RAM to get it operating properly.  I talked a bit with him, but he had assured me that the Apple store wasn't very helpful regarding a RAM upgrade (as it was too old), and he wasn't interested in any of the apps (and paying for them at that).  

Soooooooooooooo,........

....

On Debian PPC went.....

Can confirm that it's definitely not as out-of-the-box as an x86 installation, but I was able to tinker up a perfectly working state using the Lenny branch (minus a small problem with Suspend, that I still have to patch).  Suffice to say, KDE Debian really makes this PPC purr so beautifully. ^___^

But I still can't help but feel dirty,... maybe I've grown so used to having Macs reside in Macs.

If you need me, I'll be in the closet.... moping.  -.-

But before I leave...

Good luck, Nejin-san, and good for you Bella-sama. ^^

*pulls door shut*

No, you didn't sin. Porting other OSes to Macs is more common than you think. There are several reporters of older Macs (even including vintage ones!) running A/UX, NetBSD and Debian. And of course there is Yellow Dog Linux, a distro originally designed for PPC Mac hardware!

And if installing another OS greatly improved that iBook's performance, I think you did the right thing.

[C-Chan]

*creeks open closet door*

*pokes head out timidly*

*twitches ears and sniffles snout*

[quietly]  Really.... ? ''

....

Well I guess if a Mac user is okay with that, I should be in the clear then.  I'm glad!  ^__^

*hops happily out of the closet*

In fairness, it's still not 100% functional.  I still can't figure out how to work pbbuttonsd, which is supposed to help get the Apple keyboard's Special Keys to work.  Without it, my friend won't be able to open the CD drive (at least not without carrying a paperclip with him).  ^.^;

Once that and a few other knick-knacks are in order, then all should be gravy.  ^__^
I do with there were a Mandriva/PCLOS version for PPC, though,... I guess I've been spoiled too much by their respective Control Centers.  ^.^

andere/unbekannt means others/unknown. I like how this club has a solid majority against Vista

Wow, now that's not a market breakout I see every day.  @v@
The browser stats are also pretty impressive as well -- Firefox is literally sweeping the floor with them.  Is this a local or national trend?

Oh lawd after gazing over this, I thought this was going to be a tale about you picking up a Mac on the cheap XD

I swear I'm gonna have to use that Bostonian term going forward.  ^___^
Oh lawd, oh LAWD!!  ^V^

Okay, I think this makes you a Linux evangelist. I mean, c'mon, you converted a Mac!

Suppose it can't be helped much at this point.  ^^;
I'll have to learn BSD now to help offer some balance.  ^__^;

Speaking of which, I'm a bit dismayed cause of this whole XP thing. It's official, I'm not buying startup disks. I can't even get funding to buy them.

If you think that's dismaying, wait'll you hear about this ODDBALL maneuver....  ^^;

http://www.itwire.com/content/view/19154/53/

His reply: "Why? My next computer will probably be running OS X or Linux."

@.@

I heard that last part right?  Have our OSC antics somehow diffused themselves into your family life?  Or has stuff like the EeePC and gPC and my beloved Shuttle KPC helped?  ^___^

http://www.zareason.com/shop/product.php?productid=16176&cat=0&page=1

Chances are, this is going to be his computer when it's not being used. I can't say whether or not I see him getting along with it, as he, y'know, has problems working with XP (he can use it pretty well, though). And XP, as we know, is one of the most usable OSes ever.

Hmmm,... I think I see what you mean,... although rest assured that the branding behind Macs are very ingenius,.... I mean certainly for that price-point, one BETTER like it or else.  ^___^;

But nah, having used it myself, I think it'll invite your pop to explore system usage a lot more, if anything for the sheer beauty of watching files flip around like jukebox selections.  Plus a lot of the software that was once Windows-only works on OSX -- Photoshop and MS Office, for instance, and of course Inkscape and OpenOffice.  Anything that's left behind can be handled through Virtualbox or at worse BootCamp.

Word from the wise, though,... get a three button mouse PRONTO.  ^^;

Linux is a similar story but in reverse, as the inexpensiveness of the system just makes them comforting and charming to use.  I gifted a Shuttle KPC to a friend who recently got married -- and once I helped her set up Virtualbox and install proprietary codecs and teach her how to download more software, she's absolutely loving it.  It's literally a system that she can use with full peace of mind, without thinking too much about security risks or money expenditure.

Plus small DE's with "Easy Mode" interfaces are starting to get very popular -- I'm looking forward to how Linpus Lite on the Acer Aspire One implements its own "point and click" solution.  It's SO jaw-droppingly simple and user-friendly, it drew a control freak like me nuts.  ^v^;

But wait, I'm preaching to the choir no?  ^^;

To which his reply came: "Oh, if I want it to run XP, I could always barrow a installation disk from a friend."

Me: "Okay, I think what you're talking about is illegal. Not to mention you'd have to crack the activation code or whatever the hell, I have no idea how any of that works."

I better stop recounting this story; the conversation from here took on a rather seedy side about piracy, and so on and so forth.  

Bottom line of this tale: M$ is screwing the consumer over. A lot. >__<

Well the sad truth of it is that M$, despite what it says, loves,adores and lovingly nuzzles piracy. Not only is it a very effective form of advertisement, and also puts the price-point on parity with FOSS platforms and software, but it also provides potential leverage for litigation later on.  Not unlike what happened to Ernie Ball Strings a couple of years ago:

http://news.cnet.com/2008-1082_3-5065859.html

So yes, they are doing a disservice to consumers, but it does strike me as interesting that your pop is adamant about trying out these new systems, and that's a good mindset I think.  It may be hard, but you CAN get used to anything new if you apply your mind to it -- not unlike how I got used to using that crappy version of OpenSUSE that very nearly scared me away from Linux (before Xubuntu saved the day).  It's not unlike Sterling Ball from that article -- who was resolute in purging the company of any M$ products, even if it meant forcing his employees to use abacuses.  

So if he's that self-motivated (and believe me, I know people who give up just trying to learn the name properly!), I think there will be nothing to fear.  Both Mac and Linux offer virtualization solutions anyway (I'd mention Wine, but better hold off on that for a while) -- unless he's used to it from seeing you and your laptop, I think he'll be impressed by how little he has to sacrifice in the end, and how much he has to gain by exploring alternatives.  Case in point, I wasn't much different from your Pop I think -- once upon a time, I exposed the virtues of Windows (and its games) over everything else, and jeered at the antiquated Old World Macs (as well as the fruity New World ones) to the point of savagery.  Thanks to the experience of the past couple of years, I feel I've changed for the better since I'm no longer as closed and bellicose as I once was in this regard.

Do keep me posted.  When the day comes, always remember that I/we offer free technical support here 24/7.  ^____^

There are several reporters of older Macs (even including vintage ones!) running A/UX, NetBSD and Debian. And of course there is Yellow Dog Linux, a distro originally designed for PPC Mac hardware!

Ah yes, I've heard that even the old PowerPCs are capable of better upscaling than x86 machines -- when equipped with the right equipment and RAM, they actually make incredibly valuable (and incredibly cost-efficient) servers.  ^^

And now then,... for the major news of the day,....

....

A little poetic justice,... albeit at the frightening cost of bidding farewell to Lin-chan and Free-chan.  Eeep..... @___@;

http://practical-tech.com/operating-system/surprise-desktop-linux-move-xandros-buys-linspire/
http://www.osnews.com/comments/19942

[NejinOniwa]

To which his reply came: "Oh, if I want it to run XP, I could always barrow a installation disk from a friend."

Me: "Okay, I think what you're talking about is illegal. Not to mention you'd have to crack the activation code or whatever the hell, I have no idea how any of that works."

Actually cracking XP is simple as hell, especially the corporate versions. Besides, with a setup like that, you can just use the same code as his friend used I BETTER STOP TALKING ABOUT THINGS LIKE THIS NOW OR I'LL BET THE B&! AGAIN, I RECKON


The fact that the cracking and installed pirated XP versions on comps are pretty everyday work for me should be a bit disturbing...but it's not >_>

If you think that's dismaying, wait'll you hear about this ODDBALL maneuver.... ^^;

http://www.itwire.com/content/view/19154/53/

OH! EXPLOITABLE!!!
You just gotta LOVE these guys who screw around with M$. =w=

Well the sad truth of it is that M$, despite what it says, loves,adores and lovingly nuzzles piracy. Not only is it a very effective form of advertisement, and also puts the price-point on parity with FOSS platforms and software, but it also provides potential leverage for litigation later on. Not unlike what happened to Ernie Ball Strings a couple of years ago:

http://news.cnet.com/2008-1082_3-5065859.html

This should be spread. Seriously. Someone has to set up a spam server just to mail out newsletters on opensource to random people. I think that's a great idea, actually.
Actually, I might just go away and do that myself. Right now. Or something.
*trots off*

[C-Chan]

*sweatdrops*

Fufufu,... I, uh,... not sure if I want FOSS stuff featured alongside free viagra.  
Let's just get more of them to appear in Google Ads instead.  ^^;

Or how about just getting more Freedom Toasters spread around the world:

http://www.freedomtoaster.org/
http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/06/17/bridging-the-african-digital-divide-%E2%80%93-with-a-%E2%80%98toaster%E2%80%99/

Yeah, now that's MY kind of vending machine.  

In other news, here's an article to compliment a recent "Topicless" discussion:

http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=985

And yes, DR-DOS-chan does get an honorable mention -- and good thing too.  A BBC article I read last week incorrectly attributed the creation of MS-DOS to,... shall we say,... the wrong person.....  

[Bella]

I swear I'm gonna have to use that Bostonian term going forward. ^___^
Oh lawd, oh LAWD!! ^V^

Like I've always said, Bostonian is the most elegant of the English-disfiguring accents.

If you think that's dismaying, wait'll you hear about this ODDBALL maneuver.... ^^;

http://www.itwire.com/content/view/19154/53/

Oh hell's bells....they're packaging XP with Vista?! That's like being forced to buy a slab of roadkill when all you want in the fine cut of steak [worse metaphor ever\]

@.@

I heard that last part right? Have our OSC antics somehow diffused themselves into your family life? Or has stuff like the EeePC and gPC and my beloved Shuttle KPC helped? ^___^

http://www.zareason.com/shop/product.php?productid=16176&cat=0&page=1

I think my constant Vista bashing is kinda making its way into my family life XD

Hmmm,... I think I see what you mean,... although rest assured that the branding behind Macs are very ingenius,.... I mean certainly for that price-point, one BETTER like it or else. ^___^;

But nah, having used it myself, I think it'll invite your pop to explore system usage a lot more, if anything for the sheer beauty of watching files flip around like jukebox selections. Plus a lot of the software that was once Windows-only works on OSX -- Photoshop and MS Office, for instance, and of course Inkscape and OpenOffice. Anything that's left behind can be handled through Virtualbox or at worse BootCamp.

Word from the wise, though,... get a three button mouse PRONTO. ^^;

I always assumed Photoshop was developed for Mac and ported to Windows, actually...

Linux is a similar story but in reverse, as the inexpensiveness of the system just makes them comforting and charming to use. I gifted a Shuttle KPC to a friend who recently got married -- and once I helped her set up Virtualbox and install proprietary codecs and teach her how to download more software, she's absolutely loving it. It's literally a system that she can use with full peace of mind, without thinking too much about security risks or money expenditure.

Plus small DE's with "Easy Mode" interfaces are starting to get very popular -- I'm looking forward to how Linpus Lite on the Acer Aspire One implements its own "point and click" solution. It's SO jaw-droppingly simple and user-friendly, it drew a control freak like me nuts. ^v^;

But wait, I'm preaching to the choir no? ^^;

Easy mode!? They're doing everything to get noobs to run Linux, huh

Well the sad truth of it is that M$, despite what it says, loves,adores and lovingly nuzzles piracy. Not only is it a very effective form of advertisement, and also puts the price-point on parity with FOSS platforms and software, but it also provides potential leverage for litigation later on. Not unlike what happened to Ernie Ball Strings a couple of years ago:

http://news.cnet.com/2008-1082_3-5065859.html

So yes, they are doing a disservice to consumers, but it does strike me as interesting that your pop is adamant about trying out these new systems, and that's a good mindset I think. It may be hard, but you CAN get used to anything new if you apply your mind to it -- not unlike how I got used to using that crappy version of OpenSUSE that very nearly scared me away from Linux (before Xubuntu saved the day). It's not unlike Sterling Ball from that article -- who was resolute in purging the company of any M$ products, even if it meant forcing his employees to use abacuses.

Haha, you know what I say, "abacuses before Vista" XD

So if he's that self-motivated (and believe me, I know people who give up just trying to learn the name properly!), I think there will be nothing to fear. Both Mac and Linux offer virtualization solutions anyway (I'd mention Wine, but better hold off on that for a while) -- unless he's used to it from seeing you and your laptop, I think he'll be impressed by how little he has to sacrifice in the end, and how much he has to gain by exploring alternatives. Case in point, I wasn't much different from your Pop I think -- once upon a time, I exposed the virtues of Windows (and its games) over everything else, and jeered at the antiquated Old World Macs (as well as the fruity New World ones) to the point of savagery. Thanks to the experience of the past couple of years, I feel I've changed for the better since I'm no longer as closed and bellicose as I once was in this regard.

Do keep me posted. When the day comes, always remember that I/we offer free technical support here 24/7. ^____^

Yeah, on one hand I can see where he'd probably get along well with Linux, as he does no gaming, and just uses computers to write and web surf and stuff. The reason he's leaning toward a Mac, however, is it has to be able to run Photoshop; it's going to be used for a lot of photo editing and stuff. The price he's not too concerned about, it'll probably be a Mac Mini.

A little poetic justice,... albeit at the frightening cost of bidding farewell to Lin-chan and Free-chan. Eeep..... @___@;

http://practical-tech.com/operating-system/surprise-desktop-linux-move-xandros-buys-linspire/
http://www.osnews.com/comments/19942

Ah Lin-chan and Free-chan we knew thee well...even the XP dopplegangers are being knocked off T__T

Actually cracking XP is simple as hell, especially the corporate versions. Besides, with a setup like that, you can just use the same code as his friend used I BETTER STOP TALKING ABOUT THINGS LIKE THIS NOW OR I'LL BET THE B&! AGAIN, I RECKON

Good thinking, there O_________O

Or how about just getting more Freedom Toasters spread around the world:

http://www.freedomtoaster.org/
http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/06/17/bridging-the-african-digital-divide-%E2%80%93-with-a-%E2%80%98toaster%E2%80%99/

Yeah, now that's MY kind of vending machine.

OMG I thought this was gonna be about BSD toasters XD

In other news, here's an article to compliment a recent "Topicless" discussion:

http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=985

And yes, DR-DOS-chan does get an honorable mention -- and good thing too. A BBC article I read last week incorrectly attributed the creation of MS-DOS to,... shall we say,... the wrong person.....

A more fitting farewell I have yet to witness...they make M$ look like the Exxon Valdez of software companies XD

[Aurora Borealis]

Oh hell's bells....they're packaging XP with Vista?! That's like being forced to buy a slab of roadkill when all you want in the fine cut of steak [worse metaphor ever\]

I thought that was a pretty good metaphor! ;010

I always assumed Photoshop was developed for Mac and ported to Windows, actually...

That is correct- Photoshop was originally made for the Mac!

Photoshop 1.0 was released in 1990 and was Mac only until version 2.5 which introduced support for Windows, IRIX and Solaris.

A little poetic justice,... albeit at the frightening cost of bidding farewell to Lin-chan and Free-chan. Eeep..... @___@;

http://practical-tech.com/operating-system/surprise-desktop-linux-move-xandros-buys-linspire/
http://www.osnews.com/comments/19942

Ah Lin-chan and Free-chan we knew thee well...even the XP dopplegangers are being knocked off T__T

Uh oh... What would that mean for Lin-chan and Free-chan in the OS-tan storyline?

OMG I thought this was gonna be about BSD toasters XD

Same here ^^;

[C-Chan]

Oh hell's bells....they're packaging XP with Vista?! That's like being forced to buy a slab of roadkill when all you want in the fine cut of steak [worse metaphor ever\]

Worse than being "happy as a pig in a poke"?

Cause believe me,.. being inside a poke ain't fun.  I know.  @@;

I always assumed Photoshop was developed for Mac and ported to Windows, actually...

That is correct- Photoshop was originally made for the Mac!

Photoshop 1.0 was released in 1990 and was Mac only until version 2.5 which introduced support for Windows, IRIX and Solaris.

Sorry, I stand corrected on Photoshop.  ^^
Or rather,... well at least initially.  I imagine the Mac version took a back seat in the late 90's until perhaps only recently.

Uh oh... What would that mean for Lin-chan and Free-chan in the OS-tan storyline?

Xandros-tan came and,... SHRUNK THEM AND SWALLOWED THEM WHOLE!!  MWAHAHAHA!!!  >v<

Nah but seriously, it's more likely that Lin-chan and Free-chan would be servants/maids to Xandros-tan going forward.  Not that it's much of a mansion they'd be working in anyway,... I mean it's basically one small-fry company buying off another one.  The fact that Xandros does make some money from the EeePC hasn't necessarily translated into booming market success, in part because neither Xandros nor Linspire have put much effort into developing better products.  It's gotten worse since after the M$ patent protection racket -- it's almost as if they just expected users to come flocking to their "patent havens", good user experience be damned.

It's a mess for sure,... but if anyone deserves the bad publicity, it's those two.  I feel sorry for poor Free-chan, though -- she just had to be dragged into this.  -__-

In other news, just in case anyone has ever wanted to see a Trend Micro cameo, here it is,... not exactly in the best light for him, but a good light for us possibly.  ^^

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080702120816358

[Bella]

Hey guess what...

I introduced Linux to another heathen Windows 98 machine!

Remember that relative's computer I mentioned, rotting in the corner of the basement? I asked my grandfather if I could try working on it a bit; he agreed. Well, I had hardly been at the house for an afternoon when I decided to try fixing it up. It was in several pieces--I had to scavenge up a mouse and keyboard to connect to it, as its current mouse and keyboard were broken.

Upon booting up, I found that I needed a password to login. The password had been lost and forgotten--I guessed the password, and voila! I logged in. After getting it up and running, I found Windows 98 "Plus Edition" to be running rather laggy.

I get the genius idea to try running Puppy Linux on it. After all, it had been quite a funky adventure trying to get my own Win 98 computer to run Linux, so this seemed like a fun challenge. What do I find but...oh no, the CDR tray won't open! Not wanting to admit defeat, I found a few pieces of stiff wire, and stuck them in the manual open hole on the CDR drive; it gave me a fight, but I finally got it opened and popped in the CDR with Puppy Linux on it. I rebooted, found the BIOS settings (unlike my 98 comp., it had full BIOS settings), set drive D: as the primary boot drive, and...ta da! it booted into Puppy!

Why did it take weeks to get my computer to run a live CD, yet minutes for this machine...? O__o

I showed Puppy to my grandfather, and explained how the live CD worked and about Linux--complete with a brief history of it and its heritage, going back to Unix and Multics and CTSS (OSes with a nearly 50-year history gain some respect). He was pretty impressed, I think.

So this is my second Windows 98/Linux introduction. If I get three more 98 machines running Linux, do I become some sort of Ace...? XD

In other news...a friend of mine revealed a shocking realization to me today...that has is unhappy with *gasp* Windows Vista, and he wishes he had XP back! OMG! Stop the presses! Hey, admittance is the first step to getting help, right...?