RE: some statistics on using bz2 for packages
> > You can get a good Pioneer (supporting 3.5gig and 4.2gig) for approx
> > $5,400 and I've only seen prices going up and up from there (another
> > pioneer at $16,000, and a complete hardware/software package at a high
> > of $72,000)
>
> i presume that's for the burners. ouch. way too expensive for mere
> mortals.
Yeah its a bit insane currently .. but then again just about everything new
that comes out, is at an inflated price .. I can imagine them coming down to
the couple hundred dollar range as soon as dvd's become more popular than
cd's ..
> how much are the readers? reasonable (i.e. under $400-$600) or still
> overpriced?
Readers are more reasonable (and if your not interested in video that much,
you can even skimp on the mpeg decoder, and just not get one .. most video
cards coming out now-a-days have dvd support in them .. )
Doing a quick check, I found an internal IDE dvd drive, 1x at $54 (OEM white
boxed creative labs dvd drive).. and even cheap decoders as low as $15..
Figure the prices just go up and up with the type you get (ie, retail drive
.. 2x or so .. higher end decoder .. ) You can probably get a reasonable
drive for about $100 or so ...
> > I'm not sure how much of the population currently have DVD drives ..
>
> so it's still at least a year or two away before they're common i guess.
Yeah, I'd say a few months to a year or so .. but who knows, with this years
holiday season, maybe DVD drives will be a popular gift ;-)
> 386 boxes are still commonly used for routers....although 486s are dirt
> cheap these days (can get them for nothing, or for $10-$20 at a computer
> market).
>
> lots of people have an old 386 or 486 box gathering dust which they
> might want to trial linux on.
True ..
> 386s are still quite common in the countries which we rich westerners
> exploit mercilessly to support our lifestyle of conspicuous consumption
> and waste. i think that a completely free linux dist like debian is
> ideal for these countries.
Nice wording ;-)
Actually, we run an internet contest (ThinkQuest, www.thinkquest.org, if
anyone cares ;-), in which students from around the world design web pages
for awards and such .. because its an internation contest, we have to make
sure our main webpage designs and technologies are sufficient for most of
the population (I think we had word of one contestant using a 386, out on an
island where ppp internet access costs a good couple months income per month
.. I know thats common in many areas, though) .. However, we had a dilemna
to work out .. at what point do we 'increase' the requirements of some of
the areas of our site .. I know its a good thing to keep stuff aimed toward
the lowest end possible, but how long can you do that? I've seen on some
mirrors that Debian 1.3(?) is still available.. Its good to say 'Debian 2.2
runs perfectly on anything from a 386/25 to a PIII Xeon/550', but at what
point does that start to become an impedence? This is an issue we're still
debating over at the office (with things in general) .. I know right now,
the 'issue' is just with the gzip vs. bzip, which may not be much of an
issue... bzip uses a certain amount of memory, but does it require a certain
amount? ie, if one has a 386 for 4meg of memory, will bzip run? If so, but
just slower... then wouldn't that be reasonable? I can see issues if it
will just not run ..
I'm not sure if we rich westerners can really be to blame however .. Its all
about the partnerships between intel and M$ .. We have an ongoing joke at
the office, that with each new cpu/windows release, M$ just adds delay
routines to make it appear you need the newer cpu ;) (either that, or intel
scratches another number on their cpu's, and windows detects 'which' cpu its
supposed to be, and sets delays accordingly)
> there's a local project here in Melbourne called computerbank, which
> scavenges/begs for old 386 & 486 boxes. they then install linux (debian,
> actually) on them and give them to non-profits, NGOs, charities, etc
> (and also sometimes to students, pensioners, and the unemployed). i
> think their URL is www.computerbank.org.au. there are related projects
> in other States in australia, and probably all around the world.
Ahh, sounds interesting .. I'll have to take a look ..
> FWIW, my 2nd last 486 box (actually and AMD 586-133) got replaced by
> a celeron a few months ago. my last 486 is scheduled to be turned off
> and have everything it is doing (mostly mail for a couple of domains
> belonging to a friend) moved onto the celeron. the celeron will do the
> job better and i'll save a bit on the electricity bills.
:)
-Terry
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