[ILUG] OT: PCI TV tuner card for 50 bills

[David Giles]

On Thu, 2004-02-26 at 08:11, Niall O Broin wrote:
> On Thursday 26 February 2004, paul at clubi.ie (Paul Jakma) wrote:
> 
> >If a whole bunch of people come along and collectively piss in the
> >pool, then, yes, they are, collectively, wankers.
> 
> Hmm - biology isn't my strong suit but aren't the two above mentioned
> acivities mutually exclusive (at least contemporaneously) 
> 
> 
For 50% of the population anyway :-)


-----RANT-----

On the whole gamer/framerate/hardware/drivers/onanism vs micturition:  

Linux Users promote adoption of Gnu/Linux with some success.
After a while enough interest from users results in manufacturers making
available closed source drivers, some pioneering ones go open source.
Results in larger uptake of Gnu/Linux.
Original Linux Users complain attracting wrong type of new user who
doesn't know difference between free as in beer and free as in soul(<MU
HA HA HA HA>).
New user either doesn't stay around to find out the history and goes
back to Windows.  Wonders briefly why Linux Users seem to want to attact
new users but then complain they are the wrong sort when they arrive.
Else says, forget the begrudgers and hangs in (playing UT and emailing
on their winmodems).  Eventually even might say 'hey these people have
some valid points, shame they can't communicate it very well.

(I'll be honest here and admit I'd swap my soul for a donut)

My thinking is that the larger the linux user base becomes the more
manufactures will take notice.  Hardware vendors might think twice
before shipping a winmodem in a laptop as it will result in more support
requests from its customers (even/especially if they make some kludge
available)  etc.  If there experience with releasing closed source
drivers is positive they may be more likely to consider going open
source.  I'm sure nvidia are shipping more cards as a result than ATI. 
Maybe soon ATI will realise that if they ship an open source one they
will get the lead.  I reckon now they have thought about open source,
were before the linux userbase was so small they didn't think at all
about them. 

I'm using nvidia drivers for me to play Unreal (never mind 150fps, just
to get it playable) and for my 3 year old to play tuxracer.

Just the other day I got a my work laptop AC'97 AMR winmodem working so
I can email from Debian rather than XP when I'm not home.  Sure I
'should' have researched it better and got one with a real modem.  Maybe
I should invest in a pcmcia modem or plug it into an external serial
one.  But to _me_ that's pointless and not necessary.  I do respect it
if somebody else makes that decision.  Maybe there are those who would
see this as selling out and wish I would go back to windows/paper and
stamps, but I won't.  Good luck to them if they filter me out of their
inbox, that's their perogative.

-----RANT OVER----

------RAVING----
(Apologies in advance!)To fit this in to the swimming pool analogy:  

In the beginning a visionary built a swimming pool.  He said 'If we
build it they will come' and they came (/sorrrry).  At first there were
a few lane swimmers and It Was Good.  Then came more and they saw the
Lane Swimmers and saw that It Was Good and they too swam in lane.

Many years passed.  Eventually word spread far and wide of this great
swimming pool. Many more came, but this time there were so many they
didn't notice the lane swimmers and started swimming left to right in
the shallow end.  The lane swimmers were horrified and tried to drive
them off when they wouldn't swim in line.  More arrived and they started
dive bombing.  Pretty soon the analogy imploded. 


In the end you can either accept that there is room for all beliefs and
try to change people's attitudes by reasoned persuasion or you can put a
big sign on the door 'Lane swimmers only.  Kids and pool pissers find
another pond'.  Or just maybe you can use the numbers to your advantage
to get a bigger pool.

Just my humble opinion.

Dave