How much impact has Linux made - so far! - on the 'guy on the no.2 bus'?

Someone already mentioned (on another thread - and I do apologise, I can't remember who said it, if you remind me of course I'll credit you) that they heard a salesman on QVC UK Shopping Channel mention that the hardware they were attempting to sell was Linux compatible. Likewise, I've noticed since Christmas that at least two Linux-oriented magazines are now available not only in WH Smith (the largest UK newsagent chain) but actually on supermarket shelves: I bought my February issue of Linux Format mag from Safeway!

Then there's the Sharp Zaurus PDA, which uses an embedded Linux OS rather than Palm OS or Windows CE (tho' I have to report that the biggest local dealers, PC World and Currys/Dixons, don't have this device on the shelves....it seems that they can't be bothered to train their Win and PalmOS oriented staff to demo it properly and the various generalist computer mags which all have Linux sections these days and the PC Format/Linux Format stable which recently produced a special edition, complete with Mandrake 9.0 Download Edition CDs, aimed at the general market, and the increasing amount of shelf space devoted to Linux distros even at PC World (at last count, three SuSE versions, two Red Hat and three Mandrake) and so on and so forth.

I guess it'll be a while before we see a dumbed-down 'Linux Advisor' along the lines of PC Advisor and Internet Advisor magazines; and I doubt either For Him Magazine or Cosmo will be giving Linux-oriented computer advice any time soon; but it does seem to me that there's a great deal more Linux-awareness 'out there' than there was even six months ago.

Anyone got any more interesting 'sightings'?

JD

not a sighting so much as a feeling of sadness stemming from my selfishness and want for linux to stay the mysterious unknown to the masses it is now.


'the back forty was sold to make up for hard times,
and sold by a half acre lot over night.
the houses went up and the trees got cut down,
there went the finest deer hunting around.
and everyones locking thier doors,
cause the country is not country no more'

The Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 Linux-based PDA can be purchased for just under $200...

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS4241298322.html

Well, to be honest, I'm in favor of a 'dumbed down Linux Adviser' magazine. It would get more newbies involved and I think we would see more Windows users giving Linux a try. That would be a GoodThing.

My work uses linux on all the computers!

That's not saying a whole lot, since they're all text based just so we can look up parts, but they're all running Red Hat 7.2

I'm by no means opposed to such a development. I'm not at all too proud to admit that there have been times, in the past three months, that I could have done with such a publication myself . Would have kissed someone's feet for it in fact. Even now, it's not all *that* wonderful fun being a technically challenged newb whose main reasons for abandoning Windows are 'ideological'.

Others are clearly horrified; but if you are, what do you really want? There's no way that Linux is going to take over the world, or that M$ is - if not going to die altogether - then face some very serious competition, if Jack and Jill Bloke can't use your favoured OS because it's simply too opaque, and they have no technical knowledge and no interest in acquiring any.

Remember: *it may not be because they're dumb*. They may be perfectly bright, but far too busy or simply want to have an M$ free life without committing to a crash course in IT. Or perhaps they simply have other interests! They *can* use this stuff, no problem, given some guidance; but just lead a bit more leading by the hand than the man pages or howtos provide (I KNOW I'm not the only newb to end up asking apparently stupid questions on here not because I haven't RTFM but because I can't bleeding well *understand* TFM )

But otoh...Yes, it's out there. I guess I notice more now, having committed to Linux in whatever form, than I did; in the UK, even a straight down the line mainstream publication like Personal Computer World ('May 2003' edition...duhh, it's still March where I am!) has a cute little penguin at the top right hand corner of its front cover, and a comparison of several Linux distros inside, run as a mainstream article rather than in a 'ghetto' specialist section.

I think this counts as a Linux spot! (btw: they marked Mandrake down for bugginess - I have to agree alas, wouldn't it be nice to be able to play audio CDs?) - Debian and Gentoo for difficulty of installation, Lindows for sheer uselessness (ducks and runs...they said it not me...which doesn't necessarily mean I disagree ) and Xandros for expense (!), and gave the ed's recommendations to Red Hat 8.0, SuSE 8.1 and Lycoris Desktop LX. Tho' they were chiefly concerned with out of the box, desktop usefulness, so I can see where they're coming from.

But doesn't it seem that those who yearn for the old days of exclusivity may just ... have to live with it? It's *happening*, and whatever you reallly wish for, it can't happen, 'out there', without involving Jill and Jack Bloke, *and* their kids, and, if necessary, offering a 'Linux Advisor' for those who need it.

IMO, all IMO, of course



JD

PS I think this may count as a Linux Spot as well: today I spent with a friend on his narrowboat on the English midland canals. (He has a Sony Vaio which dual boots to Mandrake 9.0, CDs provided by myself - yeah, it's only audio which Mandy can't hack but only when he travels a while to allow the inverter to do its stuff). And part way through the afternoon - and remember this was one random March afternoon, during which we saw random other boats - we passed by another boat which had a very definite stuffed Tux, and a window sticker saying 'Don't Fear the Penguins', on display....

It's out there. Believe it.

I work in a Datacenter, I would say 90% of the servers run linux, 5% BSD (wich is great also) and 5% windows ..

The 5% Windows servers have to count for over 75% of all my headaches

Walmart now has machines with linux installed. I have been seeing a growing number of articles in magazines like TIME about in linux.Linux is getting more popular every day

Computer that the Resort that I stayed at in the yucatan appeared to have a linux setup for the internet kiosk available to guests(fee based of course)

I was at a computer store a few weeks ago buying some hardware, when I actually saw and heard a guy about 40-50 years of age asking a sales rep whether a DVD burner was compatible with Linux. The guy was not sure, but he got someone else and he said it was. The kicker... this 40+ man was a regular consumer, not a techie at all!

I had to meet him, and it turns out that he bought XP and read the EULA (thats a first), and returned it promptly to get Mandrake 9. I thought "Cool. I guess not everyone is a dumb drone"

& one should really mention the fact that Yahoo offer no less than 4 different versions of Yahoo Messenger for LInux - deadrat rpm, mandy rpm, .deb and a plain ol' tar.gz.

Complete with installation instructions for each - my version certainly worked like a charm.

But then the whole site now runs on Linux based servers so I should think so too

J

Oh and I s'pose everyone knows (it's been discussed elsewhere at length) that Unreal Tournament 2003 has a LInux installer hidden away on the 3rd CD...not that this is a real Linux Spot, because it's completely undocumented, not even mentioned on the box!

But it is a genuine out-of-the-box game for Linux, no downloading or compiling involved, just a command-line install script; moderately unusual. Hopefully more companies will follow...but equally hopefully they'll actually mention it in their documentation...

j.

This is probably most uncool, resurrecting a year old thread....MY OWN year old thread what's more...but I can't resist.

It's also a confession about my TV habits but never mind

Tonight QVC UK had one of their hi tech SoHo hours and right in the middle of it the sales-guy said that the device he was trying to sell was not only compatible with assorted Windoze and MacOs iterations but with any Linux using Kernel 2.4.* ....

I know they simply want to shift more units; but personally I think it's great that this shopping channel which mostly seems to be aimed at little old ladies in Grantham (or wherever) finds it not only necessary, but commercially sensible, to mention linux compatibiltity!

Anyone else got any recent Linux Spots? The more unlikely the better

jd

Why not just get hold of Linux Format Magazine?

I have been buying since issue 1 (49 months ago - 50 months ago PC Pro featured a version of Mdk and said that LXF would be starting) it has tutorials on all sorts of things - PHP, CSS, Blender GIMP, etc - and is suitable for anyone from total noob upwards.

They also list (and have a map of) LUGs around the UK and world.

get ready for a linux invasion:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...c_cmp/17300167

too bad it's lindows, though.