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Wal-Mart Sells $199 Linux Computer
www.physorg.com ^ | 10/31/2007 | PETER SVENSSON

Posted on 11/05/2007 12:19:20 PM PST by Red Badger

click here to read article


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To: John123
I thought Linux was open source software and hence free... ?

If your time is worth zero, then it is free. Any operating system takes time to load and patch. It will take effort each week to keep up with patches. It will take effort on some periodic basis to do backups of valuable data. Nothing is free.

61 posted on 11/05/2007 6:57:42 PM PST by Myrddin
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To: KevinB
Epson printer!?...

I had an old epson printer up until about 6 years ago. When I had a big fight with my phone company, I canceled my phone and bought a cell phone. Then my homebuilt computers became useless because I only had dialup and no landline. I had three computers linked together with ethernet. So I packed everything up in boxes after it sat unused for awhile. Then one day I started unpacking all of it and couldn’t find my old printer. I don’t know what happened to it. I looked into upgrading the best homebuilt computer but gave up because it was too old and pointless(1 gig hard drive, etc). So I went and bought a laptop. I’ve still got the homebuilt computers though. Two of them are in pieces now. And I got about a dozen spare ribbons unopened for that old epson that I can’t find.

62 posted on 11/05/2007 7:02:31 PM PST by mamelukesabre
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To: Red Badger

Yeah, I probably bought that wame HD.

Wait, it was $400 for the upgrade from the basic HD. I still have that catalog somewhere.

Yeah, and I thought that HD woud last for years too.


63 posted on 11/05/2007 7:17:21 PM PST by Balding_Eagle (If America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years.)
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To: Myrddin

That’s a pretty epic story! O_O

Nice!


64 posted on 11/05/2007 9:10:28 PM PST by Constantine XIII (THE CAKE IS A LIE)
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To: Constantine XIII
I'll spare you the tales of the H-8 computer. It still runs as well. It was a great RTTY device on ham radio between 1980 and 1983. The CP/M C compiler from Software Toolworks literally slammed the read/write head off the carriage of the 8" drive.
65 posted on 11/05/2007 11:06:54 PM PST by Myrddin
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To: bert
Buy a three year old surplus dell for $50 and get linux somewhere for free.

I was given a carload of retired office PC's, nothing really great in the pile, and then I started downloading different distro CD's to see what was out there. I eventually got 11 different Linux distro's up and running on 5 or 6 different PC's. One PC has 7 different Linux partitions on it, others have 2 or 3, or maybe up to 5 distro's up and running. It depends a lot on the video hardware.

Some of the installations went flawlessly, like the typical Windows installation, and others were a major pain to get running right. Anyone who doesn't like to (or can't) fiddle around with stuff to make it work would be better off to buy a pre-configured PC.

66 posted on 11/05/2007 11:08:14 PM PST by Dumpster Baby ("Hope somebody finds me before the rats do .....")
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To: Red Badger

This is just like WalMart using slave labor to produce cheap products that prevent software developers from making a decent living.

The majority of linux developers don’t even get paid to do their work. And they work late at night and all kind of odd hours. Many have to hold down a day job to cover their expenses.

WalMart is exploiting the poor GPL and Linux developers I tell ya.

Boycott Walmart Support Microsoft they pay a living wage !!!

/end very very sarcastic parody


67 posted on 11/06/2007 5:46:47 AM PST by festus (Fred Thompson '08)
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To: Astronaut

Bill Gates is that you ?


68 posted on 11/06/2007 5:47:39 AM PST by festus (Fred Thompson '08)
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To: festus

[I’m glad you put that last line in there]

[Else, I wouldn’t have known!]

END...............


69 posted on 11/06/2007 5:53:59 AM PST by Red Badger ( We don't have science, but we do have consensus.......)
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To: papasmurf

“a 700 mhz P4 outperforms his dual core Vista box, and knowing that he doesn’t have to buy anti-virus and firewall software each year.”

Hope you’re running an external firewall if not you might as well say hi to the Russian porn industry.


70 posted on 11/06/2007 6:19:03 AM PST by driftdiver
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To: papasmurf

“Download and try the cd LIVE version, you’ll be surprised.”

Its hard to make money with a free product so while Linux is interesting I don’t see myself switch over full time. Perhaps when windows doesn’t have 99% of the desktop market I’ll look at it.


71 posted on 11/06/2007 6:21:31 AM PST by driftdiver
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To: MarineBrat
The PC comes with a dialup modem, but gOS doesn't support it.

No, it probably support ethernet instead, as a) dial-up is starting to phase out, and b) the article points out that the distribution is tailored around web-based applications that require good bandwidth. Dial-up won't cut it for what the distribution is tailored to do.

72 posted on 11/06/2007 6:25:40 AM PST by kevkrom (*** THIS SPACE FOR RENT ***)
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To: Astronaut

Bull. Modern Linux distros plus OpenOffice (particulary Ubuntu) are amazingly slick — everything works and they install faster than Microfraud Vista, XP, etc.


73 posted on 11/06/2007 6:28:49 AM PST by chilepepper (The map is not the territory -- Alfred Korzybski)
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To: driftdiver

Not very likely. While there are exploits in desktop Linux, they are no where near the number in Windoze.


74 posted on 11/06/2007 6:31:17 AM PST by twntaipan (To say someone is a liar and a Democrat is to be redundant.)
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To: twntaipan

“Not very likely. While there are exploits in desktop Linux, they are no where near the number in Windoze.”

Its a happy world you live in. Firewalls are a must, regardless of the OS.


75 posted on 11/06/2007 6:32:42 AM PST by driftdiver
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To: driftdiver

That goes without saying. :)


76 posted on 11/06/2007 6:37:13 AM PST by papasmurf (sudo apt - get install FRed Thompson)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Any Java OS’s out there yet?


77 posted on 11/06/2007 6:39:07 AM PST by jpsb
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To: Myrddin
If your time is worth zero, then it is free. Any operating system takes time to load and patch. It will take effort each week to keep up with patches. It will take effort on some periodic basis to do backups of valuable data. Nothing is free.

Indeed, but with the initial cost being $0, and the fact that you don't have to worry about viruses, trojans, or other assorted malware and the associated programs that you have pay for, install, configure and maintain, you'll end up way ahead with a Linux box.

 

78 posted on 11/06/2007 6:43:25 AM PST by zeugma (Ubuntu - Linux for human beings)
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To: festus
/end very very sarcastic parody

Looks like you're channeling our resident troll. 

79 posted on 11/06/2007 6:45:29 AM PST by zeugma (Ubuntu - Linux for human beings)
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To: driftdiver

I didn’t say you didn’t need a firewall. I said that Linux boxes don’t get owned the same way as Windows do—even without a firewall.

BTW, apt-get install guarddog at the command line or using Synaptic >> Search >> firewall does the trick. No cost, easy as pie.


80 posted on 11/06/2007 6:49:36 AM PST by twntaipan (To say someone is a liar and a Democrat is to be redundant.)
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