A wave of Linux computers

The Linux small computer wave is coming to the fore-Linux general technology-Linux technology and application information. The following is a detailed description. Author: Yuan Meng

We are on the eve of the global wave of pre-installed Linux computers, but we often don't know. At present, the remainder of the Computex computer exhibition in Taipei in May is being displayed. The second wave of Linux Desktop is called the small computer wave in the industry.

The so-called "small computer" refers to a moderate display size (8.9 ~ 10 inch), using solid state disks, wireless networking capabilities (Bluetooth and Wi-Fi), low-price UMPC (Ultra mobile) PC. This is the hardware package of Linux. The famous critic Steven J. Vaughan-Nicolas called the two (UMPC and Linux) "made for each other ". There is no doubt that Asus's "Easy PC" product family is a pioneer, while Dell's "DellE System" is a follow-up. According to foreign media, this summer, Dell will launch a "Atom processor enhanced" small computer, which is only 0.8 inch thick, but has a large display of 12.1 inch, 8 ~ 40 gb ssd, 1 ~ 2 GB of memory and advanced wireless networking capabilities, the price is around $300! Hey, this kind of computer is only $300. What about Dell? Money? This is because Dell "eye-catching knowledge Bao" uses Ubuntu 8.04, which completely saves the cost of pre-installed software. At the same time, Ubuntu is spread by shell, and the two are different in different regions. It is really "made for each other ".

We can imagine that the exquisite small computer with a price of 300 US dollars (note that it is a Dell brand) has come out. Once it becomes available, the pre-installation problem of Ubuntu will not be solved? In my opinion, it is easy to install and install every day. The majority of users should not have been suffering from installing an operating system. Ubuntu's self-starting USB flash drive should also be regarded as a small wave of this wave, making Ubuntu and the durable USB flash drive "made for each other" available in different regions for common prosperity. In the past, Microsoft used pre-installed Windows to shut down Linux. Now, it's Linux's turn to take the road and fix it. Vista, Which is fat and fat, can lose weight now, even if it is too late.

Some people may think that free software is free of money and there is no business opportunity. It depends on how you play the game. In the future, only free software may be left on the earth to flourish, and at that time, commercial software was struggling to breathe, and it was hard to survive.

(Note: I decided to invite several Windows veterans to help compile the Ubuntu user manual. Because Ubuntu experts often regard technology as their own (I have seen many such people), while Windows veterans do not regard Ubuntu as their own. In their view, ubuntu is simply a "pediatrics" and is easy to handle .)

Welcome to the new trend of flash memory software

In July 9, boxed Ubuntu was launched for sale in Best Buy and Amazon, pushing people's understanding to a deeper level and achieving a new leap? In October July 11, LinuxLoop published an editorial article requesting Canonical to directly organize production and sales of Ubuntu PC, just like apple. It is really important that people finally realize this.

Now, people are clearly aware that it is only limited to the ease of installation of the operating system, but it is always a perfect move to pre-install the operating system. Because, in fact, people generally do not want to install the operating system on their own, even if such an operating system is easy to install. For more than a decade, why is the market share of Linux always hovering around 1 ~ 2%? The root cause of this situation is Microsoft's pre-installed commercial software strategy, which seems to be locked.

As you know, in the recent period, Asus's so-called "Easy PC" computers have been selling very popular. The so-called "Eee Project" in the Ubuntu community has a better idea. I want to streamline Ubuntu and put it on an SD Card (Secure Digital Memory Card), and sell it together with my PC, with this SD card, you can switch between Windows and Linux. This step is more advanced than self-starting USB flash drives. Both of them are compressing application software into flash memory.

Since June this year, with the rise of small computers around the world, the self-starting USB flash drives and Ubuntu SD memory cards of Mandriva in France have all shown one point: installing system software into flash memory is no longer a dream. This completely frees users from having to install an operating system on their own, paving the way for the popularization of Linux in a large scale.

The so-called "Flash software" refers to the software stored in the Flash memory, which is no different from common software. The problem is how to put the system software into the self-starting USB flash drive and the SD memory card (with self-starting), which is a little difficult. However, this does not matter to the user. The manufacturer collects all the troubles of software installation and allows the software and hardware to be seamlessly configured and handed over to users for convenient use.

Today, the new wave of Flash software is moving towards us on a global scale, and we have no way back. PC Computer, pre-installed with a set of operating systems, users can unload, change to another operating system, and Flash Memory pre-installed with software, the user is not easy to uninstall and replace. SD memory card (capacity 1 ~ 4 GB), the cost is low, and it will be lower and lower. Handheld computers generally have SD card interface slots. It is difficult to imagine what a handheld computer is like when it is started through the SD card. Let us stride into the new trend of Flash software through the fog ahead.

Note: boxed SuSE Linux 10 is priced at $74/box; boxed Mandriva is $55/box; boxed Xandros is $87/box; boxed Ubuntu 8.04 is only $20/box, it also includes a fine instruction manual and 60-day free technical support.