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Re: [News] New Guide to GNU/Linux Sub-notebooks

DFS wrote:

> Ian Hilliard wrote:
> 
>> I've just come back from another business trip, where all that I had
>> was an MSI Wind U100 with Ubuntu 8.04 loaded.
> 
> I bet it's never randomly locked up or frozen on you...

No never!!!

It is as stable as a rock and that despite connecting up to numerous
different networks, some with direct exposure to the Internet (i.e.
unfiltered public IP).

> 
> 
>> Apart from the things like e-mail, telephoning, etc.. the machine
>> spent a lot of time hooked up to projectors in meetings. Here
>> programs like freemind and planner came to the fore. I also produced
>> a number of presentations which were as smooth as silk on the little
>> machine.
> 
> Gnome planner vs MS Project... hmmm...let me think.

Gnome planner is more than enough to work out a project plan and costs a LOT
less, i.e. nothing. The resulting project plan can then be exported as HTML
so that it can be put onto a corporate Intranet.

> 
> 
>> After just about every meeting I had people coming up and asking
>> about the great little laptop. They realized that the desktop was a
>> little different, but when they saw the familiar Windows application
>> running, they were convinced that it was Windows after all.
> 
> You should have shown them a terminal and some arcane commands and
> explained this is what's in store for them if they purchase a Linux
> version of a 'netbook'.

Why would they want a terminal any more than Windows? But, I guess that you
also don't really understand Windows and as such never use the command line
applications. As such, you are strongly limiting yourself.


> 
> 
>>When
>> asked, I would explain that Linux kept the machine secure and
>> Crossover Office let me run the Windows applications that they had
>> seen.
> 
> The top selling point for Linux crapware: you might be able to run some
> Windows apps.

The top selling point for Linux is that it is secure. There is no need for a
corporate network to protect it. There is a lot of free software that comes
with Linux and if necessary those Windows applications that you need can
also run.

> 
> 
> 
>> The only weakness with this little laptop is the screen resolution. A
>> 12" screen with 1280x800 would make it just about perfect. This would
>> preclude the use of Windows XP,
> 
> huh?
> 

It looks like you failed that piece of your Troll Training course. It is not
permitted to put XP onto a computer with a screen larger than 10.2" and it
is not permitted to be a touch screen. The alternative is that you install
XP as an upgrade on Vista Pro. The resultant cost increase would make a
netbook inviable.

> 
>> but the use of Crossover office
>> should fill the gap. I think that these mini-laptops running Linux
>> are destined to be a popular business traveller's accessory.
> 
> Not if they're available with Windows.

Windows was designed to form an incestual unit within a corporate network.
The security is to be provided by firewalls and routers on the edge of the
network. It is very dangerous to permit Windows boxes to roam the world
using unprotected networks and then permit these boxes back inside the
network. It happens all the time and it is the most common cause of
infections within corporate networks. It is for this reason that a number
of companies are giving their mobile staff Macbooks. The use of a Linux
netbooks would be a much cheaper alternative.

Ian

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