Baslinux mailing list

[Lee Forrest <lforrestster AT gmail.com>]

I just want to set the record straight. Sindi keeps dissing this
computer, posting information about it that is utterly false
according to my experience.

It has a 1000Mhz Celeron CPU, 128M SDRAM, a 20G hdd, a floppy
drive, parellel port, modem, sound, ethernet, lots of USB ports,
17" monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, and a CDRW. It is a
"low-profile" box.

For debian and windoze, it has 1M video RAM.

When I ran XP, I watched movies all the time. When I took up
linux, I quit doing videos and sound.

I received the computer on November 17, 2001. Until I had
to replace the power supply a few weeks ago, it performed
flawlessly. No troubles. Great images, great sound (when I used
it). Still does.

The latest Debian at the time installed and worked without a 
problem. Still does.

(I _chose_ to use a hardware modem. The builtin (winmodem) worked
just fine, and the driver for linux was available and free. I
knew someone who used it on the very same box, who ran the same
debian that I did. The latest stable version.)

$1000. For 61 months (and counting) of flawless performance.

$16.39 a month and falling.

That's a good deal. I'd happily pay it again.

Any rational person would choose this computer over every single
computer Sindi owns. All of them together.

And even if her time is only worth the minimum wage, she spends a
lot more than that a month on labor costs. Plus the cash she puts
out. Which probably of itself averages out to more than 16.39/mo.

On the other hand, I don't know anywhere near as much about hardware
as she does.

And recycling old computers _is_ good for the enviroment.

But that's not my path, and I can learn about hardware _and_ have
a decent computer.

And it _is_ a decent computer. 

Telling everyone that it is a piece of junk is just plain _wrong_. 

The computers Sindi has are all, literally, pieces of junk. They've
been discarded. You can't judge the quality of a model of computer
from specimens that people have discarded. 

People often throw away perfectly good computers because they've
purchased a more 'powerful' one. The Latest Model. Selling them
isn't worth the bother and once they've decided to discard it,
they don't take care of it. One good thump can render a computer
useless. Or damage critical components in subtle ways. Exposure
to moisture can do a job on them.

For every one she finds in the garbage, I'll bet there are
hundreds like mine, still performing wonderfully after more than
five years of almost daily use. 

(When I'm away for any length of time, I have a cron job connect
to the internet for a few minutes once an hour. If I login
[telnet] the timeout is cancelled. A bash script runs instead of
a shell, offering a Restricted Shell to the the person who logs
in. If they create a file [with a name from a list that only I
have, a different name for each hour] within 10 seconds, the shell
becomes a regular login shell. If they don't, the Restricted Shell
is killed and the connection to the internet is broken. Only one
command can be run in the Restricted Shell: touch <filename>.)

Gateway makes good stuff. So good that they don't even have to
advertise. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another computer from them.

I wouldn't mind having one of Sindi's boxes. Depends on how much
she'd pay me to take it.

:-))

Lee

-- 
BasicLinux: Small is Beautiful
http://www.basiclinux.com.ru