What they meant here was that unlike AT&T, they didn't screw up and allow a penalty clause in the agreement if the merger didn't go through.

T-Mobile made out pretty well in that one.

AIUI, they take the source installer and pass it options to install silently and to not include the optional junk.

And why I recommend ninite.com to all the family members etc. I support. Even official installers direct from the source tend to include this junk these days.

I'm confused, is this a troll? ASUS has stated quite publicly that THIS is a 3.x device which will be upgraded to 4.0.

Yeah, it would be good to get it from a supplier who has actually heard of Linux. So System 76, or maybe Emperor Linux or The Linux Laptop or Linux-Certified or ZaReason etc.

Have you even used it?

LibreOffice has had pivot tables since day one, they call the feature DataPilot. And you can do a polynomial regression with the LINEST function. And the import/export gets better with every release.

Because Android isn't GPL licensed, only the kernel is.

For the record, the kernel is available at android.git.kernel.org

Satellite should be your LAST choice for gaming, especially FPS games, because of the high latencies.

IDSL has very low latency, a speed of 144 kbit/s, and long enough range that almost any residence with copper phone wires can get the service. Unlike ISDN, IDSL is usually sold at a flat monthly rate and is an always-on connection. You can get IDSL service from ISPs such as speakeasy.net -- prepare for sticker shock, however, as it's rather more expensive than Cable or DSL.

3G cellular service, if it's available in your area, can offer surprisingly good speeds (several hundred kbit/s, even exceeding 1 Mbit/s on HSDPA with good coverage), but with worse latency than Cable/DSL (still preferable to satellite, however). Your choices are EVDO (Verizon and Sprint) and HSDPA (Cingular) service; if you don't have coverage for one you might have it for the other. You'll need a PC Card slot; if you have a desktop PC you can probably get an adapter card from your favorite PC parts supplier. Kyocera's KR1 router has a built in card slot, but will only work with EVDO (not HSDPA). You can expect this service to be less expensive than IDSL, but still more (probably at least twice as much) than Cable/DSL.