Comments on: Stop Copying a Failiure and Do Something New http://www.linuxloop.com/news/2008/03/17/stop-copying-a-failiure-and-do-something-new/ Keeping you in the loop with up-to-date Linux news. Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:38:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: G David Lewis http://www.linuxloop.com/news/2008/03/17/stop-copying-a-failiure-and-do-something-new/#comment-3141 G David Lewis Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:16:16 +0000 http://www.linuxloop.com/news/2008/03/17/stop-copying-a-failiure-and-do-something-new/#comment-3141 It's not always that simple. There are many factors that contribute to why a particular implementation of a concept doesn't launch, and not all of them are related to it being a "bad idea" per se, just a bad presentation of it. Mutable Factors such as social conscience and awareness can make or break what would otherwise be a magnificent idea at any other time. What this means that reintroduction of the exact same idea that may have bombed 2 years ago could take off like a rocket right now. It wasn't necessarily a bad idea, it was just a bad time for it. Low cost PC systems running Linux have been around for years now, but have never really caught on until recently. I can't imagine how anyone could see a brand new computer with respectable components, low cost, and running a stable/free/secure platform could ever be a "bad idea"; however social awareness is just awakening to the fact that there are other options than MS or Apple in the desktop computing market. It’s not always that simple. There are many factors that contribute to why a particular implementation of a concept doesn’t launch, and not all of them are related to it being a “bad idea” per se, just a bad presentation of it. Mutable Factors such as social conscience and awareness can make or break what would otherwise be a magnificent idea at any other time. What this means that reintroduction of the exact same idea that may have bombed 2 years ago could take off like a rocket right now. It wasn’t necessarily a bad idea, it was just a bad time for it.

Low cost PC systems running Linux have been around for years now, but have never really caught on until recently. I can’t imagine how anyone could see a brand new computer with respectable components, low cost, and running a stable/free/secure platform could ever be a “bad idea”; however social awareness is just awakening to the fact that there are other options than MS or Apple in the desktop computing market.

]]> By: Robert Pogson http://www.linuxloop.com/news/2008/03/17/stop-copying-a-failiure-and-do-something-new/#comment-3129 Robert Pogson Tue, 18 Mar 2008 02:05:05 +0000 http://www.linuxloop.com/news/2008/03/17/stop-copying-a-failiure-and-do-something-new/#comment-3129 Creative ideas are hard to come by. They worked for the eee because the small unit was highly portable, colourful, inexpensive and a good size for smaller people, places where more mainstream products could not go, including that other OS. I noticed recently that even with many OEMs making available GNU/Linux machines, they never put them in head-to-head competition with that other OS. That could be because M$ forbids it, which I think is illegal, or it could be that the sellers figure the better known product would continue to dominate and they could make more money/sales by separating the machines. I think the former is more likely. I wonder whether GNU/Linux can turn the table, excluding that other OS is similar ways. Whoever is in the market first wins. RAM under a gB will keep that other OS out once XP is killed. I run thin clients in 256MB (45 MB used) all day using an X connection to the mother ship. Perhaps the new desktops should have a second NIC and a private subnet for connecting the thin clients. Perhaps we can make a move in multi-user homes and businesses. Thin client is growing rapidly but still is derided by the one licence per disk folks. The eee reminded me of a thin client when I saw it. All it would take are a bit of configuration to get it to connect/login to the mothership when on the home network. It could be scripted to make the connection automatically. Cool. Sell a decently powerful machine that could run the whole group and some $100 boxes on the backs of monitors, or an eee-like machine for the clients. Make it plug and play for the non-geek market. Geeks would still like it because they could use the power when they needed it and still have a tiny thing in front. That other OS cannot go there because of the per-seat charges. Creative ideas are hard to come by. They worked for the eee because the small unit was highly portable, colourful, inexpensive and a good size for smaller people, places where more mainstream products could not go, including that other OS. I noticed recently that even with many OEMs making available GNU/Linux machines, they never put them in head-to-head competition with that other OS. That could be because M$ forbids it, which I think is illegal, or it could be that the sellers figure the better known product would continue to dominate and they could make more money/sales by separating the machines. I think the former is more likely.

I wonder whether GNU/Linux can turn the table, excluding that other OS is similar ways. Whoever is in the market first wins. RAM under a gB will keep that other OS out once XP is killed. I run thin clients in 256MB (45 MB used) all day using an X connection to the mother ship. Perhaps the new desktops should have a second NIC and a private subnet for connecting the thin clients. Perhaps we can make a move in multi-user homes and businesses. Thin client is growing rapidly but still is derided by the one licence per disk folks. The eee reminded me of a thin client when I saw it. All it would take are a bit of configuration to get it to connect/login to the mothership when on the home network. It could be scripted to make the connection automatically. Cool. Sell a decently powerful machine that could run the whole group and some $100 boxes on the backs of monitors, or an eee-like machine for the clients. Make it plug and play for the non-geek market. Geeks would still like it because they could use the power when they needed it and still have a tiny thing in front. That other OS cannot go there because of the per-seat charges.

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