Solaris is dead, Windows Server almost dead. Systemd issues are mostly between old users' ears, people who like using hundreds of no-longer-supported programs to run their OS instead of a unified system which does it better.

We are being driven by software, which then drives the hardware, which then drives more software. Sanity would seem to say that a computer which works should continue to work, and continue to be supported. No, it's not a good business model if you're a gigantic company trying to steal all the money you can until someone else puts you out of business. Why aren't there any companies picking up old software and hardware service? The best I can see is Wary 5 Puppy, which goes back to the last kernel which could still address analog modems and freezes it there, and adds just enough of today's software to make an old computer feel like it can still keep up. A lot of us poor people just can't keep buying more and more, new and newer computers. I know it's not The American Way, but we should be more like Cuba sometimes, where 1950s American cars are maintained because they can't get new ones.

So is someone going to step up and fork Gnome 2.6.x to keep a good thing going (and supported)? It seems every time I find good software, they "improve" it. 90% (subjective) of the "improvements" take the product farther away from what I find "useful".

To quote the Rutles, this announcement has left me shocked and stunned. I was already saving up my money for a Pre3 and HP Touchpad, which would give them time to iron the bugs out. Instead of firing their marketing department for mishandling the rollout, they dumped the whole division and threw the destop computers after them. I'd say this level of mismanagement is epic, and am glad I don't own any HP stock -- in a few months, I can afford to buy it, and won't.

Considering a bicycle company came into - and went out of - business in the late 70s with The Original Plastic Bicycle Company, with no reason to go out of business (great product, made of foamed Lexan except for the chain and the hubs) other than the unwillingness of the public to buy said product, I don't see any rosier future for this one.

Hey, I know I have the long hair and beard thing, but you gotta stop confusing me for Jesus. HP does not carry the drivers on their website for machines the age of this one. I had to get them to dig through their hidden files to get the install disks. Thanks for assuming I'm stupid. I'll do the same for you some day.

Thank you for your kind and generous comment. A "Real" copy of Windows, which is not even a real operating system but a revenue stream, would not include the "Real" drivers for my "Real" hardware. Getting rid of bloatware is easy. I was suggesting that nobody yet has told me how to disable the nagware, which your comment does not address. Your comment is as helpful as [insert negative metaphor].

Give this guy irony points. My HP desktop has nannyware built into it that forces me to reinstall the operating system if I install anything that modifies the MBR (e..g, most distros of Linux, as dual boot). Nobody has yet shown me how to disable that, and several attempts have only caused me to, yup, reinstall the software. The only way around this is to install Linux outright, and throw my Windoze disks out.

I take it you don't find Ubuntu as easy as Windows? I find it much easier, not to mention finding support is much easier and faster. It doesn't have all the apps you want/need? WINE runs most Windows programs, and Crossover runs virtually all of them, plus GNU/Linux has replacement apps that, for the most part, run every bit as well or better than Windows apps, and for a lot less money (Crossover itself is $39.95, WINE is free, and most Linux apps are free).

I'd be happy to see this. I'm still using my old Handspring Visor, so I'm not fully aware of the benefits of WebOS over older PalmOS, but I love my Visor. The thing I love least about it is that the synch software is still only written for Windows 3 and 3.1... I'm about to try the Palm Synch in Ubuntu if I get brave enough...

Are you forgetting that the large percentage listed for Debian "influence" is mostly made up of Ubuntu users? Your statement seems to imply that Ubuntu is not Debian...

And yeah, Ubuntu left me behind when they went to Unity -- my laptop is too old to have a driver that allows it to run Unity. But I can still run older versions of UNR/UNE, or slightly older versions of GNOME, or just load Puppy (MacPup 5.11 preferred), and I'm still using Ubuntu AND Debian.

No, this is a taxpayer-funded project of DARPA (note archive.org -- host of the Wayback Machine, a project that we pay for so the government can spy on our websites). They're trying to limit how many of our dollars they spend? Or they're trying to monitor our book-reading patterns, more likely.

They have plenty of social. They don't know how to sell it. Might not be the best social, but it has its features. Check out Orkut.com for instance...

Every word is negative
Just like he's being paid
I think this troll's from Microsoft
Or just needs to get laid.

Burma Shave.

...that's how to do it...

Pardon the inaccuracy of my statement. I meant those who were "killed off" in "Serenity", such as Shepherd Book and Wash.