Oh I forgot one thing. My libdrm intel is version 2.4.24-2 (fetched from 'unstable') xserver-xorg-video-intel is version 2:2.14.902-1. So if you use 'testing' where the really crappy intel drivers are right now, try to download newer ones from 'unstable'.

The only thing that troubles me is Intel's video driver. They just can't or won't write decent drivers for Linux, so performance takes a hit.

Intel drivers used to work great just few years back. IIRC it was a major rewrite of Xorg and introducing KMS that has caused the regression and the need for rewriting much of the driver code. (anyone who knows better please correct me). I think worst of that is already behind and the drivers are improving even for my old i915 chip. Some font or other rendering artifacts still appear now and then, but the performance seems to have improved lately (it was really pathetic few months ago, even glxgears was stuttering)

Debian has been running so well on my 6 year old Thinkpad X41 that I haven't even considered buying a new laptop. I'll probably use it as long as the hardware lasts, be it another 4 or 6 years. After upgrading to SSD and aligning the partitions correctly to erase byte size it boots up to desktop (Fluxbox) in 7 seconds and basically everything that doesn't require heavy calculation from the CPU happens instantly. In practice it's much faster in all CPU non-heavy actions than any Windows laptop I've ever used (I know SSD has most to do with this). It's also ecological to buy stuff that lasts and not replace computers every another year.

I've been repairing windows laptops lately (mostly Windows 7, some Vista) and my feeling is that almost without exception they are laggier and slower than what I'm used to. Even if these things have quadrupled amount of RAM compared to my old laptop, it really doesn't show in any meaningful way. Windows Vista and 7 seem to use atleast one gigabyte of RAM in order to just keep running as there is so much useless bloat loaded at any given time. Also many of these Windows 7 laptops seem to have audio issues on high CPU load. Even after fresh install audio will stutter when the machine is under heavy load (Ie. calculating primes).

So why would I make a jump from provenly trouble free Linux on this laptop to Windows 7? Would it not be slow to run Windows 7 on 6 year old laptop with 1.5GB of RAM? Would the SSD be as fast using windows filesystems? Would the suspend and hibernate actions work correctly and as fast as they do in Linux (suspends in one second, resumes in one)? Why would I use Windows 7 as I even don't know how to use it's user interface (how to move and resize windows without grabbing window borders with mouse?). How about most of CLI tools that make my life easier? Would I be able to use most of my favorite software on windows? (On Cygwin maybe, but why the trouble?)

.Wrong. As the other dude pointed out, it's a LOT older than that. And it's spelled "Iraq" I don't know about Irak's WMD, but Iraq's WMD were quite real. Then stop surrendering, Frenchy.

And this is why rest of the world sees US as arrogant, self important smugs. Only arabs' israeli bashing comes close when you talk about people insulting foreigners on the internets. Grow up.

My big issue with this thing is that keyboards are seperate from PCs for a very good reason. If I spill cola on my keyboard (we've all done it), I really dont want to have to buy a new PC to replace the damaged A key or even strip down and repair the keyboard. What I want to do is buy a new $25 peripheral.

I haven't quite grasped why cheap keyboards are so popular nowadays. Afterall it - together with the screen - is the interface you most interact with and something you actually notice. It's sad to see people invest shitloads of money into computers with highest possible specs and then using it with the cheapest crap keyboard and screen available. Things have got to the point that it's very hard or even impossible to find a good quality keyboard without ordering it from the other side of the globe and paying an arm and a leg for it.

It wasn't always like this. Consider IBM Model M, which was probably the most numerous keyboard in the 80s. Liquid spills are rarely a problem. Just take it to the shower or put it into a washing machine, let it dry before plugging in and it will most likely work just fine. Also it's better to type on than 95% of todays keyboards. Mine was made in 1987 (soon 25 years old), I got it for free (school was throwing old keyboards to the dumpster) and after all these years it's still as good as new. Aside from being a joy to type on they are basically indestructible. At most you might have to change new springs (or swap them around) after 10 years of use if you are picky about even input force.

click-click-click

And while idiots hate to admit it, much of the middle east owes a thank you to GWB. I think the only real surprise here is it happened everywhere else but Iran.

Thanks for all the dead relatives, violence and instability? If people really want to get rid of a dictator they will do it themselves, thank you very much. (See Egypt and Tunisia) All that international community needs to do is to end dealing with these dictators and give revolting population some moral support. Democracy comes from the people, not from the barrel of a gun. Military invasion and occupation is the worst you can do.

Almost any dictator is better than hundreds of thousands of dead people (mostly civilians) and chaos continuing to this day that resulted from the US invasion.

If the lens can't resolve sharp image even for 5MP, then 15MP won't help anything. With a better lens (which also has to be physically larger) higher sensor resolution will start to matter, but then we are talking about SLRs, not smart phones.

All this talk about megapixels is mainly just marketing for clueless people.

Underclocking doesn't necessarily improve the battery life. The idea is that faster the processor can get thru the task on hand the sooner it can go back to idling, which is good for battery life. I.E. In case of N900 moderate overclocking actually increases the battery life as the processor will spend more time idling. For systems with fixed clock speed you might be right though, but you will have hard time finding modern tablets with CPUs that aren't capable of frequency scaling.

("km/h" is preferred, "kph" is confusing.)

Not only that but kph is plain wrong as it doesn't tell the unit at all. Kilo means thousand. Thousand of what?

Abbreviation for kilometre (1000m) is km. So correct abbreviations for kilometres per hour are km/h or kmph.

I think they just used a stock photo of UFO to illustrate the article. It's not supposed to be any more real than the Bill Gates with Borg apparatus picture that the Slashdot uses ever so often.

The real one should probably look something like this: http://www.isna.ir/ISNA/PicView.aspx?Pic=Pic-1736235-1&Lang=E

Let's just review :...

Please get back under the bridge and shut up.

Is Assange finished with his "I hate America and want to bring down their evil, corrupt regime" business for the time being, then? Because I approve of this sort of leak; it does a lot more good in the world than the dubious Afghanistan-related stuff.

I guess it's Americans like you who haven't been bothered to read WikiLeaks before US related leaks came into spotlight. Maybe it's new to you, but majority of leaks have been about things other than US of A and their dealings with other nations. Also whoever exposes thruth about your government's wrongdoings does not necessarily hate America, in fact he might care of you and do you a favor by doing so.

Would you rather stay in the dark and unknowingly support torture, selling children for Afghan cops' sex slaves (google for "DynCorp" and "Bacha Bazi") and whatever other disgusting stuff your tax money has been spent in? Is that just dubious Afghanistan related stuff that you have no interest in aware of? Well... some people say that ignorance is a bliss.

the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is claiming that merely linking to copyrighted material is a crime.

Google is in trouble. Unless the law is different for those who have wealth and power. ;)

It's been working pretty doggone well for me on my desktop (variously dwm, e17, and awesome on different machines over the past 7 years), but then I don't see the need to engage in a dick-waving contest about marketshare -- it's not like, even if the year-of-Linux-on-the-desktop never comes, it will lose its utility for us who do use it.

I wish I had some mod points to mod this very important comment up. Too many people today are treating Linux as some sort of popularity contest.

People coding open source should continue to fork and create whatever they need or want. One of the main advantages of Linux used to be that there was no need to make compromises due to market. Having everyone and his mum to do the same thing kills the innovation and limits the choice. If our niche is gone many of us could as well be using Windows.