Last night’s mutual cyber-binge after only two days away from the keyboard was the kicker: If we’re going anywhere for two weeks, we’ll want to bring a computer along.
And so tonight I finally ordered a dual-boot PowerBook from TerraSoft. We’re splitting the cost as a combined wedding and belated/early birthday present to each other.
Sometime this weekend, we’ll have a new computer in the house!
Sometime early last year I decided I’d like to get a PowerBook. Ideally, one dual-booting Mac OS and Linux. I spent several months saying “I don’t really need a laptop,” but I really started to like the idea after a while, and Katie started to like the idea too, and this January I went so far as to contact TerraSoft Solutions about pricing. TerraSoft maintains their own PPC Linux distribution, Yellow Dog Linux, and their stock in trade is selling Macs preconfigured to dual-boot Mac OS and Linux.
I decided not to buy one then for two reasons: We had the wedding coming up, and I figured Apple was likely to upgrade the line by summer.
Well, the wedding is next weekend, and Apple has just announced upgrades to the PowerBook line.
It may be time to start looking at PowerBooks again.
It seems Lindows has changed their name again.
I think I liked LinDash better. Even if it was obviously a temporary gimmick.
I finally get around to downloading Mandrake Linux 10 Community Edition, and they release the “Official” edition.
(Mandrake has moved to a release model where they release a download-only “community” version, refine it and fix bugs for a couple of months, and then release the “official” version to put on CDs and sell in boxes. Essentially, it’s recognizing the fact that new bugs are always found shortly after release of any software, because the average user and average beta tester are not the same, and a lot more people will install the “final” version of a product than will beta test it.)
Cliches aside, it appears that as a result of the trademark suit by Microsoft, Lindows is now going by the name Lin—s (LinDash) in parts of Europe.
Lindows — or Lin—s if you prefer — is a company that has been selling an ultra-user-friendly version of Linux. Criticized by many for lax security (they’ve chosen many of the same convenience vs. security trade-offs that have made Microsoft products so vulnerable) and for odd business practices [archive.org], they’ve nonetheless managed to get Linux into new places — like on cheap Internet-ready computers sold in Wal-mart, or pre-installed on Seagate hard drives. For all their baiting (face it, picking a name like Lindows is just asking for trouble, like opening a burger restaurant called McDowells), dumbing-down the software to the point of making it dangerous, and (in some people’s views) “tainting” the Linux philosophy with — gasp! — money — they’ve at least come up with new distribution models and gotten some form of Linux out there where “consumers” — the average Joe who just wants a computer and doesn’t care what the OS is, as long as it lets him use the web, email, and a word processor — can see it.
All that said, I’d never actually buy, use, or recommend their product. If I wanted a very-user-friendly Linux, I’d probably end up with Lycoris, or maybe Xandros.
For myself, I’m happy with Fedora Core — though I may take a serious look at the upcoming double-digit Mandrake release and the latest version of SuSE. I’ve tried out earlier versions (mostly of Mandrake), but I just kept coming back to Red Hat.
