billwg wrote:
> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> > (Linux on the Dashboard)
>
> I think it is very apropos that they select linux for this product. It
> has the quitntessential characteristic of not having any customers and
> so fits right in! LOL!!!
I agree, it's very apropos that they select Linux for this product.
There are so many Linux powered devices that have worked pretty close
to flawlessly for several years. D-Link, NetGear, and LinkSys routers,
for example. Fast, efficient, and almost invisible - until you blow
Windows into the trees and realize that you have forgotten or lost the
WEP key to the router. Then you have to "log in" and get to that
console for a few minutes using an ethernet connection.
And the SAN drive controllers are even more invisible.
And those TiVo boxes - only problem with them is that you fill the
thing up and you have to clean it out.
And HDTVs, really nice way to control a TV with lots of flexibility,
and still have an appliance that doesn't "crash" every few days or
every few weeks.
> It would take a sterotypical linux geek to tolerate that clunky looking
> thing in one's ride.
Yeah, like TomTom, most GPS navigation systems, and some of the other
digital displays now available. Not real cool if your driving down the
highway at 70 miles/hour in the middle of a rainstorme and you get the
"General Protection Fault - rebooting system now" message.
Or even better, the "Blue Screen of Death", just as you hit the redneck
speed trap.
Of course, when the officer sees the Blue screen, he might give you an
additional ticket for driving with abilities impaired.
That's why they don't use Windows to drive the dashboard.
I was rather shocked to see Windows console on the Xray machine. But
when I took a better look, the windows machine was connected to a UNIX
X11 display. I will admit that when the Windows interface crashed
while they had the camera pointed at my neck. I was just waiting for
the thing to fry my brain.
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