you need to be more selective about hardware purchases . that is key. its been a while since I brought non Intel chipset laptops and since then I've only every had "everything just works" experiences.

it s been a while since I used AMD or ATI for that matter. I'd still go for Nvidia for GPU if I were putting a desktop together.

its been a long time since I had the complaint about stuff not working since I was more careful!

in fact when I use other OS such as windows or OSX it always amazes me that you need to install driver disks to have new hardware work that seems arcane tho me!

This is the real problem. With the exception of a couple of films most are made in post production or made with disregard for how scenes should be shot and edited together. Anything not filmed in 3d just suffers greatly. Cameron took the time and care to learn how best to use and make 3D mind blowing. Of course the script and direction are of paramount importance too. But until film makers "get" the techniques 3D will be mediocre. I don't see how even holograms or a better technology could possibly change the plain facts that a good film needs a good director, script and art direction.

Not eating Honey is probably detrimental to he decline of the Bee population so Vegans might have a moral dilemma on their hands.

There is 1 potential difference with the Linux scenario that does not exist for OSX and that is that they plan on creating a Linux based console / "SteamBox" -- if that happens its success will depend on getting support from other publishers. Its a big IF - and a dramatic one should the console be the success that Valve want. (assuming games purchased for the "SteamBox" would be compatible with Linux desktop machines of course).

Back when i first heard about enlightenment - late 90's early 00's it was totally the best looking Window Manager / UI around.
I've just checked out some screenshots from e17 and I can help but think it looks really dated. Enlightenment used to stand out from the crowd
but now it seems to lag behind in this department.

What will you be doing to ensure that the new Enlightenment will once again showcase how slick and awesome a Desktop UI can look?

N.

It just a piece of Ginger Root scaled at different sizes!

N

Unless you are playing high end 3D games make sure you buy a laptop with an all Intel chipset. IMHO do that and everything just works (tm).

I think that Stallman is forgetting that the open source / free software community has an awful lot to thank companies like canonical for investing time and development resources into making Linux so much more accessible to people. Not wanting to start a debate about unity or other recent changes in the direction of Ubuntu. I have nothing but respect for Canonical and Mark Shuttleworth for driving Linux on the desktop forward and contributing to the rich Linux ecosystem we have today.

I would also like to mention that - if i recall correctly it is made clear to the user during the installation process about the Amazon feature and that it can easily be turned off. Its not like they are doing it by stealth or anything unlike the other example cited in the OP.

As a long time Linux user (as my primary OS) I worked my way through various distributions. learning much about the core OS from things like Gentoo. A few years ago I settled on Ubuntu as a distro that Looks nice , is usable and just works (TM) I dont feel the need to tweak these days!. I feel spoiled by what Linux is today - everything just works out of the box (which is more than i can say for this new Mac Mini on my desk).

I guess my point is that if every one in the community was as anal as Stallman I doubt we would be in such a great place as we are now - as far as Linux goes.

I Yawned just by reading the title of this post. (Its not that im not interested in the subject matter - just reading the word Yawn did it!) am i alone ?

I thought there was a native version of Nero for linux ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero_Linux
I do find K3B to pretty much be the daddy when it comes to burning under linux though so i cant comment on how up to date the native version of Nero is.

Since everybody predicted it was going to be a flop - clearly its worse than anyone could possibly have imagined!

I can imagine having to wear gloves in Skyrim where it snowing a lot of the time!

You say this - but I have the following issues with this

1) whats the point in developing Open Source software for use in education if the framework/operating system on which it runs is not also open source.
2) taxpayers money - open source seems like a great way to save money and avoid costly licence / subscriptions - but if
        apps are tied to a Windows licence - thats hardly the optimal situation
3) what apps are required to devlop the software and are they free and open source or will they be tied to closed source API's that will tie them to a specific platform?
4) Is it appropriate for a charity to tie students or schools into a specific environment that could benefit a non-charity organisation in the future , kind of like a drug dealer where the first hit is free but once you are hooked you are stuck in an endless, expensive cycle thats hard to break ?

N...

But unfortuntately they would not sell more than one per customer - Unless you purchased one from both RS and Farnell.
I'd even bought a rack mount case to house the cluster :(

N...

"even more secure than Apple's iOS"

Wow ... thats the benchmark is it ?