wispygalaxy <wispygalaxy@xxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> Mark Kent wrote:
>
>> Linux is in use, and has been for years, in all manner of areas, here
>> are some examples:
>>
>> 1. Tomtom sat navigation devices
>> 2. Motorola smartphones
>> 3. LiMo smartphones
>> 4. Google Android smartphones
>> 5. Nokia N770/N800/N810 web tablets
>> 6. Netbooks generally (Asus eee, AA1, dell, etc. etc.)
>> 7. Bubba excito home servers
>> 8. Linksys WRT54GL wireless access points/routers/ADSL modems
>> 9. Sony PS3/PS2 (options)
>> 10. Several types of Sony TV
>> 11. Triple-dragon satellite receiver(s)
>> 12. D-link ADSL modems
>> 13. Google search etc. clusters
>> 14. Alcatel telco servers
>> 15. Nortel SIP servers
>> 16. Several film graphical rendering farms
>> 17. Over 80 of the top 100 supercomputers on the planet
>> 18. Chumby consumer device
>> 19. Openmoko smartphone
>> 20. Archos media players (various)
>>
>> ... and so on. There are many examples of miniature machines, such
>> as plug-top sized servers, and fascinating projects such as the gnu
>> radio project.
>
> I saw the Tomtom GPS device in WalMart this past weekend. Actually, I saw
> three different models. It looked cool and was a better deal than the
> other devices displayed.
The latter versions available in the EU can take off-air traffic updates
from suitably equiped VHF Band II FM broadcast stations. In the UK,
classic-FM sends these transmissions, in France, the autoroute stations
send it. I don't know if this is available in the US and Canada, as
I've only ever used an older model there (which works very well, btw,
and takes all the stress out of driving on the wrong side of the road
:-).
You can also play MP3s on latter versions, too.
>
> I hope that Linux will continue to have success on gadgets and other
> electronics. 7 and Terry Porter had some interesting posts on Linux and
> electronics. Linux is *not* only for servers! :)
7 is a strange character, but often entertaining. Terry is a top chap,
with shiploads of experience in practical linux installations of all
kinds.
>
>> Linux has more or less completely dominated the internet, and is making
>> huge inroads into new areas, such as Asterisk and OpenSER into the
>> telephony space, various router projects, and many more. Apache's own
>> success is, in many respects, even more visible, as it is absolutely the
>> dominant web server, in spite of numerous efforts by MS to fudge the
>> statistics by buying into "parked" domains, ie., getting "counts" for
>> sites which didn't, in reality, exist.
>
> I'm impressed with Apache's growth over the past 10 years. Google uses
> Linux widely, and millions and millions of people use its services. It's a
> great design.
The big advantage for Google has been that, by using Linux on standard
COTS hardware, they've avoided paying licensing fees to proprietary
software houses whilst building their business, which means that they have
a superior business model to those who build their services on Windows.
This reduced cost benefits everyone, including their customers. Note,
though, that google's *real* customers are the advertisers - it is
from them that they get revenue; the users are the key to the revenue,
but the door is the advertisers.
>
> Was MS really that desperate to use non-existant websites? That's why it's
> important to check the sources used in a study, etc.: not all of them may
> be real.
Indeed so, and this is quite true. It was something of a scandal at the
time, but has never stopped Netcraft reporting parked domains as if they
were real. The practice continues to this day.
>
>> The best selling processor architecture on the planet is the ARM
>> architecture, which has sold billions, mostly into mobile devices of one
>> kind or another. As mobility is becoming critical for most people, ARM
>> devices look like being the x86 of the noughties and the teens, and
>> linux appears to be the windows of the noughties and the teens.
>
> I want to carry around my devices since I use them all over the place (my
> room, school, vacation). I'm reluctant to get a desktop computer since
> it's so large and immobile.
Indeed so, and why would you? There is virtually nothing that cannot be
done on a portable device these days. You will find a lot of fairly
conservative types who are terrified of having to give up their
desktops, but over time, things will change.
>
>> This is great news for the next generation, as the previous ones were
>> unlucky enough to be launched into the world of work just as the
>> Microsoft machine was coming to the fore, building its global monopoly,
>> and stagnating technical development. That stagnation has come to and
>> end, and we're once again seeing amazing designs and ideas appearing,
>> most of which probably will be unsuccessful, but many will be wildly so.
>>
>> It seems unlikely that these new inventions will be based on Windows
>> Vista or its progeny.
>
> I hope that I come across Linux and other OSS when I start my career. So
> far, things are looking good. I had to use Windows at home while growing
> up, but I now use Debian with ease. My 16-year-old sister took a peek at
> my laptop screen recently and made no comment while I was using Iceweasel
> and KDE. I bet she thought it was Windows with a theme!
>
I think that you are getting yourself into a good career position. If
you have the time, you should probably look at several different
distributions - it's all good experience.
I'm posting this from an Acer AA1 which runs Linpus, a Red Hat derivative,
although most of the machinery here runs debian variants of some kind,
the Nokia tablets are maemo (debian-based), and the triple-dragon receiver
is its own beast, but linux-based.
If you haven't done so, you might want to look at building a mythtv box.
It's adictive! And you can put clients onto almost anything (including
an Acer AA1). It seems like it will not be long before televisions have
become distributed devices, ie., myth backend with tuner, recording and
live capabilities, and myth front-end wherever you want it.
--
| mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
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| Open platforms prevent vendor lock-in. Own your Own services! |
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