Posts by sT0rNG b4R3 duRiD 1125 publicly visible posts • joined 9 Jul 2009
This is a message to any Sony people who can make a difference:
_TLDR_: Please, please, please bring linux back in the newer models to come and please make the environment it is to run in a little better. Quite likely this will be profitable to you. Some ideas we have outlined below may work. Take a look.
We applaud your recently announced academic dev PS3 but have a few concerns...
*** 1. We would like better ongoing linux support in all new models. ***
We are glad you haven't written off the hypervisor allowing us to run linux on older models, but this new development about not supporting linux in newer models is worrying. Think of who buys PS3s. Quite a few are nerdy. Some of us didn't buy the PS3 to play games and that's a fact.
*** 2. Hypervisor ***
We know the hypervisor is needed to abstract the underlying PS3 hardware to allow linux to run without less drastic alteration. We also know it is there to prevent access to more of its internals. It would be nice to expose more of the multimedia ie graphics subsystem though. We realize you have issues about copy protection. Surely there can exist a happy balance.
If you sell it on a DVD as an add-on, most of us who were mad enough to install linux on it will likely BUY it if it allowed _better_ performance than the one that exists now. This may be a good way to recuperate costs of mantaining the OS hypervisor. Just sell it. We would buy it.
*** 3. RAM or lack thereof ***
We thank you for REALLY making us work at slimming down our linux installs, but seriously, these days, 256 gigs of RAM is a bit small don't you think? We grant you it was generous at the time of introduction but really, we need more today. Half a gig is not unreasonable, we think.
If cost is really such an important matter, we would suggest introducing a new model with some sort of optional expansion chassis. Something that would add on more RAM, perhaps. Maybe even allow more exposure to the internals, ie GFX, or perhaps add on another cell. We would buy it if it is priced fairly. This could be in addition, or perhaps instead of the academic dev PS3 recently announced.
*** What's in it for SONY ***
Maybe more people will buy PS3s and cells if you support it better. More nerds would buy PS3s for sure. And surely you haven't forgotten the academic boffins who have used PS3's in small pocket supercomputer clusters. We believe better linux support will result in MORE profit for you, Sony, NOT less. Your recent gesture (the academic dev PS3) is a welcome one, but we really would like a better PS3 for linux.
Also, better support for linux on PS3s indirectly advance the powerpc architecture, we believe. And we know you possibly have been contemplating a cell based PS4. You will encourage more developers, expand the market for PPC's... indirectly good will come back to you.
Also, think about the actual good you could be doing for the mainstream IT desktop ecosystem. We are dominated by x86... We believe we need a choice, an alternative. Powerpc's were once perhaps the only thing close to competing, but thanks to the way events have unfolded, powerpc's are now no longer :(
We don't think having just x86's on our desktops is a good thing. You have a chance to do something about this.
What do you stand to lose? What do you stand to gain? Do the right thing.
We have given you ideas on how this could be done. Please .. have a think.
I vote El Reg stop their (justified) Anti-Apple slant and focus all their efforts against this greater evil menace.
I believe Scientology is OVERTLY evil, unlikely M$ or apple, don't you know.
So please, lots of us read this site. Do the right thing. Start some sort of petition to free the guy or something, he doesn't deserve punishment. Maybe a symbolic smack on the wrist,true, just for the act of DDOSing, but on the other hand, he WARRANTS A FRICKIN' MEDAL. Not a year in the slammer.
QUOTE : The problem is that the operating system is full of internal dependencies, and as Russinovich admitted: "We don't really understand those dependencies".
At least they're honest about this. To be fair, they have kept the API reasonably stable. Simple win2k stuff still runs.
Thumbs up for MinWin. Reorganize, it's high time. Please do leave us detailed err details...
Whatever you do when you finally reorganize, just don't break win32. I have kind of grown used to it. Well ok if you must, give us a better C api. Some of us just don't like that C#, managed C++ shite.
Well F@@# that...
Pointers are a bitch, no matter how good one is, one will inevitably stumble, but honestly, this is not a solution. In fact, this is possibly going to make things more of a bitch to debug.
And, who are they covering anyways, THEIR sloppy coding or ours?
I'm just saying... If they are actively encouraging people to use things like C# which have auto GC, then whose fault is it when invalid pointers are accessed?
I wonder if they are saying their foundation is that shaky :) LOL
What I look for in a laptop and netbook are not specs touted by vendor alone.
There is the issue of build quality, previous history of the model and maker (ideally researched), ergonomics - keyboard, screen.
Never an early adopter be, but of course this is just a general rule. The converse is of course, don't jump in too late on a good thing.
I bought my mac laptop only after a lot of research and contemplation, haven't regretted it.
As an aside, I have noticed most people who own macs around me IRL are usually quite err.. vocal about their choice of laptop/OS and usually quite illterate. You know the types (read fanboi).
I hate them. They REALLY make me ashamed to be seen with a mac, which is a shame, as Apple lappies by and large on the whole aren't half bad.
I wonder if it is because Apple doesn't actually manufacture them :)
If someone went and capped all these #$#$@ lawyers involved in this case, could, for the sake of example, Glock also be prosecuted for murder, since they knowingly made a device that would etc etc... ?
I mean, what's a glock for but shooting another person? It's not like you hunt frickin bears with it.
Someone should put all these copyright lawyers in a boat, take it out to sea, and sink it, with extreme prejudice.
I'd have to test one out... notebooks / laptops more than any other type of computer, to me, are like shoes... you have to be happy with the build quality, keyboard, screen, angle etc.. it's not just about specs, of which this appears to have in quite adequate amounts for a desktop replacement.
And I like the external optical drive bit. I've oft heard of discs getting stuck in slot loading laptops (fortunately that ain't never happened to me yet, but maybe it's because I rarely use the optical drive anyways, so yeah, external don't bother me one bit).
Of course, I admit I have not tried said camera but, honestly, I like an SLR or a super tiny subcompact if I don't want to carry one and accept the quality loss.
This thing is like an iMac, all the disadvantages of a SLR and a subcompact and dubiously no advantages of either, imho.
Yes. I hate iMacs. Compromise computer.
1. Get more ram so you don't have to swap.
2. Get rid of the winchester. 30+G SSD's aren't too pricey now. Indilinx are usually good. Intels are (were?) costly. Do a bit of research. I think Anandtech has a couple of good write ups, if I remember correctly. Once you've tried an SSD, you'll never want a winchester again.
3. If you must run windows, consider turning off the swap file and un-needed services.
4. Ditto with linux.
5. Linux is better, you don't even need to start a gui by default.
6. Use a less burdensome window manager if you use linux. Some like flux, I like xfce.
7. If you're a windows head and want to make a safe-ish tread into linux, try Xandros Presto. It ain't half bad, boots really quite fast, coexisting quite peacefully with windows on the HD, and quite easy to get rid off. You have access to your windows drive from it, so don't trash it.
*** I haven't tried the reviewed PC set up, but I've seen xandros boot up in/around 10 secs on an SSD by _default_ ***
Caveat Emptor: Xandros Presto is NOT freeware but it is free to try. You make up your own mind if it's good enough to keep. IMHO by default it's not a good enough distro for heavy work but you can hack it quite a bit and it's not quite unfamiliar territory as it appears to be quite a cut-up Debian 5.
8. Mac OS X? Hmm... Dunno.
Apple's DRM on the iphone _just_ needs to go.
Whatever you say about it, the iphone and ipod touch to my mind as far as I'm concerned is a computer and like any other computer you should have the freedom to run whatever you want on it, not be restricted to what Apple tells you and allows.
Would you stand for that on your mac? On your PC?
I for one will NOT buy an iphone because of this.
Make no mistake, I like cool stuff, but this kind of bollocks is just way too much.
But it sure as hell beats vista :P But let's bash Apple's UI for a bit shall we?
Points I dislike about the mac UI
1. 1 button mouse
2. Menubar... why is it you can only have it at the top eh?
3. 1 button mouse
4. Did I say 1 button mouse?
5. 1 button mouse.
6. Apple recurrently sticking to a 1 button mouse laptop design.
7. Yes I said 1 button mouse.
8. Where the F$@@# are the pageup and pagedown keys?
Truth be told, this is being typed on a mac.
Where do you think this visually impaired gamer's case lies?
To add another comment, just because something is legislated or law, doesn't make it appropriate, fair or right. Sometimes laws are put in to protect the weak, sometimes they are forced in by the big guns, but all are subject to misintepretation and misapplication.
This is clearly the beginnings of such a situation.
Not even going down the slippery slope I can imagine the likes of violin makers being sued for not making violins unaccessable to people who are digitally or brachially challenged.
Is playing the violin fun to do? yes. Is it a recreational activity? yes. Can people with disabilities play them? Yes, that would depend on nature of disability of course. Should you expect ALL people with disabilities to be able to play a violin?
Replace all the above with a video game.
One could argue the case for suing violin makers like so has more merit based on a value judgement that playing the violin is probably a better activity than pwning noobs on WoW.
Wow, a cheap intel eh? How does this compare to the indilinx? They were about the cheapest bang for buck drives around last month when I last got an SSD.
Might have done better to compare an indilinx with this new intel, price and performance wise, and of course the winchester.
Consider this:
If you wanted to buy a desktop, you'd want it to be reasonably cheap, and reasonably capable, and reasonably expandable. (I'm thinking a core2 duo/quad/i5 box not a frickin' xeon).
With Apple, what do you have?
Mac Pro... or ...
Shitty iMacs... WTF ... I never could understand this... All the _DISADVANTAGES_ of a _LAPTOP_ and _DESKTOP_ combined into one 'sexy' package. Puh-leeez......
Mac Mini? Cute, yes. Cheaper, very portable, like a brick, can chuck it in a corner and use it as server. Ultimately slightly better than an imac, but still... not what I would consider a desktop.
Why do Apple have such a gap in their product line?
@BeefStirFry - if you are really looking at salving your conscience, just buy an OS X install. I believe you can find Apple stickers, stick it on your computer and there you are, heh. If you already are running a 'real' OSX I think you're feeling guilty for nothing :P
Most netbooks are not AMD64 (let's call it by its rightful name, intel did NOT invent this) compatible but I believe some of the 5xx ones are. Going 64 bit itself would make most atom netbooks incompatible. I doubt a such small version number change would mean a full switch to a 64 bit kernel.
BUT, they could effectively hobble all non-64 bit compatible machines by not providing any 32 bit userland essentials, with the next release. This will of course, be problematic for people with older Apple hardware.
Well, what do you reckon lads? They gonna check for atoms?
If they do I will only have more contempt for Apple. I own 2 macs, so I can tell you if anything I've paid for the right to call them evil bastards.
I don't nor do I recommend OSX for a netbook but nevertheless I understand some people want this, and I do not see any moral problem with people doing this. Apple so far have provided for this even kind of in an acquiescing manner with the 'apple label' clause.
If Apple do this, I can only say to those afflicted, seriously, you have the motivation enough to install OS X on 'non-standard' hardware, take a look at a linux. You obviously don't want windoze. Try linux.
You may have to do a bit more tinkering, but when you have it done, I can only tell you, IT'S SWEET. There is very little you really can't do and if you run into a brickwall, chances are someone else out there has already been there and done that and come up with a workaround. You'll learn a lot too.
Try it.
But quite conceivably, this Stell guy, and along with everyone else involved in the broadcast of this possibility, may have done the hackintosh community a favour.
Consider for a moment that a big corporation like Apple is likely somewhat schizoid.
1. We know already that they are somewhat acquiescing in the issue of individuals running 'hackintoshes' as described in their licensing terms ("Apple labelled computer").
2.I suspect that Apple could easily make OSX incredibly more difficult to run on more generic hardware, in fact I strongly believe they knew this from the word go, considered this and did not do it. (Ok this point is mere opinion and speculation, but I think it not inconceivable).
3. Having people run OS X on their netbooks may not necessarily be bad for Apple's business. Think about it, I daresay a good few people would already be Apple users. Keep these guys happy, and Apple may be more likely to retain their custom. It's also pretty good advertising/publicity. Word of mouth etc..
4. The recent psystar business among other things, has upset a few people inside and they are now perhaps slightly split on the current status quo . Rumblings of same may have been what Stell saw.
5. All the outcry following the expose by Stell has made these guys reconsider, possibly due to point (3) above.
Ultimately we have to wait and see.
My belief (and this is not founded on anything but conjecture) is that we may have just averted a catastrophe, and all players involved deserve a clap on their back. And that includes El Reg-o :P
A$1299? Too dear.
Na, mate, make it $1199, 4 gigs ram, 500 gig HD.
I got a better idea, sell the machine WITHOUT ram and WITHOUT a HD.
(What I really hate are 1 gig sodimms. You buy a laptop and invariably take them out and they sit there unused... I got a bout 4 of them... and nobody wants to buy 'em off you).
I expect it's a whole array of simple short-pipelined in-order cores. I wonder if they spared silicon for even SIMD. Did I hear someone say MIPS-like in a prior article?
BTW, lack of an FPU is a bother these days but surely not an absolute deterrent for some problems.
There is, of course, fixed point. Sounds like it's a 32-bitter. If it's a 64 bit even better. If you know the limits of your problem (which can be tricky, I guess) and your integer performance is 'good enough', it may be possible.
However, 'good enough' in this chip may be just good enough to load, store.. push data around.
Hmmm... Interesting nevertheless. Let's support this, if it works as it says on the tin, or just about.
As ever, anything to deny intel the monopoly. Might I suggest to our esteemed El Reg editors the inclusion of an Anti-Intel icon?
Stars Mel Gibson as a grumpy old git in a zimmer frame in a post-apocalyptic nursing home and Charlize Theron as his nurse, struggling to understand why he continuously spits out anti-semitic nonsense while driving his wheelchair under the influence.
Hm... I think I will give it a miss.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
