4 ms·

I'm guessing in the ensuing 14 years this offering did not continue. I wouldn't know; I'm part of the generation that swore off buying software or computers at

I'm guessing in the ensuing 14 years this offering did not continue. I wouldn't know; I'm part of the generation that swore off buying software or computers at Wal-Mart when they were selling Duke Nukem 3D with the parental control option permanently turned on.

AdmiralAsshat 9y ago
It did continue. They're called Chromebooks now. Granted it perverted the entire idea of Linux by limiting the user's freedom to run anything but a data-harvesting web-browser, but, semantics.
- Apocryphon 9y ago
  FreeBSD (as the other thread points out) brought us macOS and Linux brought us Chrome OS. Do FOSS folks lament this dramatic irony a lot?
  - liveoneggs 9y ago
    BSD people certainly do not.
  - TallGuyShort 9y ago
    I will admit to passive-aggressively refusing to help people fix their Macs and iPads, telling them that Apple makes a point of being closed and proprietary, and that if they want free tech support from me they should ask me for a software recommendation I'm willing and able to stand behind first. But... I don't really care if my contributions to open-source get used in a closed-source product. I just won't buy it because you intentionally neutered my ability to fix it myself. And I'm going to raise that point if your potential customers ask me what I think of it. But I don't feel any bitterness over it that I don't also feel for stuff that's entirely proprietary to begin with.
  - bachmeier 9y ago
    It's trivial to run Linux on a Chromebook, so I don't see much of a problem.
  - tomc1985 9y ago
    > Do FOSS folks lament this dramatic irony a lot? Not so dramatic as linux and FOSS have brought us so much more. FreeBSD too.
Animats 9y ago
There was a huge effort by Microsoft to squelch Linux on the desktop. The greatest threat came when Asus introduced a Linux subnotebook, the EeePC 2G Surf, which not only ran Linux, but could not run Windows. At the time, Microsoft was pushing Vista and killing off XP. But Vista needed more hardware than subnotebooks of the time offered. This led PC makers to offer Linux-only systems. Microsoft's strategy to move people to Vista was threatened. Microsoft's response was to extend the life of XP as an OEM-installable OS, but only on "little" machines. There was a maximum allowed screen size, CPU speed, and disk size for an OEM XP install on a subnotebook. Then Microsoft pushed hard for vendors and retailers to put "Dell/Asus/HP/etc recommends Microsoft Windows" on their web sites, and deemphasize Linux. This was enforced by terms in the OEM licensing arrangement for manufacturers and the retail kickback arrangement for retailers.

AdmiralAsshat 9y ago

It did continue. They're called Chromebooks now. Granted it perverted the entire idea of Linux by limiting the user's freedom to run anything but a data-harvesting web-browser, but, semantics.

Apocryphon 9y ago
FreeBSD (as the other thread points out) brought us macOS and Linux brought us Chrome OS. Do FOSS folks lament this dramatic irony a lot?
- liveoneggs 9y ago
  BSD people certainly do not.
- TallGuyShort 9y ago
  I will admit to passive-aggressively refusing to help people fix their Macs and iPads, telling them that Apple makes a point of being closed and proprietary, and that if they want free tech support from me they should ask me for a software recommendation I'm willing and able to stand behind first. But... I don't really care if my contributions to open-source get used in a closed-source product. I just won't buy it because you intentionally neutered my ability to fix it myself. And I'm going to raise that point if your potential customers ask me what I think of it. But I don't feel any bitterness over it that I don't also feel for stuff that's entirely proprietary to begin with.
- bachmeier 9y ago
  It's trivial to run Linux on a Chromebook, so I don't see much of a problem.
- tomc1985 9y ago
  > Do FOSS folks lament this dramatic irony a lot? Not so dramatic as linux and FOSS have brought us so much more. FreeBSD too.

Animats 9y ago

There was a huge effort by Microsoft to squelch Linux on the desktop. The greatest threat came when Asus introduced a Linux subnotebook, the EeePC 2G Surf, which not only ran Linux, but could not run Windows. At the time, Microsoft was pushing Vista and killing off XP. But Vista needed more hardware than subnotebooks of the time offered. This led PC makers to offer Linux-only systems. Microsoft's strategy to move people to Vista was threatened. Microsoft's response was to extend the life of XP as an OEM-installable OS, but only on "little" machines. There was a maximum allowed screen size, CPU speed, and disk size for an OEM XP install on a subnotebook. Then Microsoft pushed hard for vendors and retailers to put "Dell/Asus/HP/etc recommends Microsoft Windows" on their web sites, and deemphasize Linux. This was enforced by terms in the OEM licensing arrangement for manufacturers and the retail kickback arrangement for retailers.