Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Sun, 19 May 2002 00:57:08 +0200
From:      Brad Knowles <brad.knowles@skynet.be>
To:        Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com>, Brad Knowles <brad.knowles@skynet.be>
Cc:        Giorgos Keramidas <keramida@ceid.upatras.gr>, Miguel Mendez <flynn@energyhq.homeip.net>, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: The road ahead?
Message-ID:  <p0511171bb90c8693adb1@[10.9.8.215]>
In-Reply-To: <3CE5B62B.2B26239B@mindspring.com>
References:  <20020516004909.A9808@daemon.tisys.org>	 <20020516151801.A47974@energyhq.homeip.net>	 <20020516172853.A7750@daemon.tisys.org>	 <3CE40759.7C584101@mindspring.com>	 <20020516220616.A51305@energyhq.homeip.net>	 <3CE43D08.1FDBF0A3@mindspring.com>	 <20020517163624.GB9697@hades.hell.gr>	 <3CE58F73.1A7F50AF@mindspring.com> <p05111717b90b4c01f392@[10.9.8.215]> <3CE5B62B.2B26239B@mindspring.com>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
At 7:02 PM -0700 2002/05/17, Terry Lambert wrote:

>>          Naw, you want something that just automatically works, and
>>  doesn't require any buttons.
>
>  You always require a button to turn the thing on.

	No, you don't.  Just plug it in, and it works.  That's the ideal.

>                                                     There's really
>  no choice.  Overloading the same button to turn it off is just
>  convenience -- you'd need a button to turn things off, even if you
>  used the availability of electricity to turn the thing on, since
>  even if engagement is automatic, you need to explicitly disengage.

	Again, I disagree.  If you want to turn it off, you can use the 
software.  If the software doesn't work, you can unplug it.

>  My favorite example is the Western European road-side-assistance
>  kiosks: One big yellow button that meant "fullfill your purpose".

	I've only seen those in the Netherlands, and even then only in 
some parts.  And that's only because the device is already plugged in 
and ready to go.

>  Celestix.
>
>  http://www.zdnet.com/supercenter/stories/review/0,12070,478772,00.html
>
>  The thing runs Linux, by default.

	The device itself seems fine to me, but I want something that 
natively runs BSD.  If I was to seriously look at buying a Celestix, 
then I might as well buy a Qube instead.

>  But as I said before: I think they missed the boat with the
>  design, since they are just copying the InterJet (IMO), and
>  the InterJet missed the boat, too.

	For other people, the interface may not be ideal.  But for me, it 
would be good.  My problem is that I want to buy a device like this, 
but that runs FreeBSD.

	I don't want to buy a machine and then try to retro-fit FreeBSD 
onto it, because it is likely that they have included some 
proprietary hardware (e.g., an LCD display) that is not supported by 
FreeBSD, and I may not be able to get it to work at all.

	If I'm going to be forced to go the retro-fit route anyway, then 
I might as well buy a Qube.

-- 
Brad Knowles, <brad.knowles@skynet.be>

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
     -Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania.

To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message




Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?p0511171bb90c8693adb1>