Dude, you’re getting Ubuntu

It’s not official, but sources tell Desktoplinux.com that when Dell begins offering PCs pre-equipped with Linux, the distribution that will go on those boxes will be … Ubuntu:

Analysis — Officially, Dell Inc. hasn’t said a word yet about which Linux it will be preloading on its desktops and laptops. Several sources within Dell, however, have told DesktopLinux.com that Dell’s desktop Linux pick is going to be Ubuntu.

While unable to confirm this through official Dell channels, we have heard the same story now from several internal Dell sources. They tell us that the Austin, Texas, computer giant will be preinstalling the newly released Ubuntu 7.04. These systems will be released in late May 2007.

That means Red Hat (RHEL/Fedora) and Novell (SLED/openSUSE) will NOT be the “winners” of the Dell-puts-Linux-on-the-desktop-for-you sweepstakes. Part of the reason has to be the ability of Canonical to support Ubuntu for those willing to pay, and the vast Ubuntu fan base offering support through the forums for the rest.

Another question: Will Dell’s probable embrace of Ubuntu change its Linux offerings in the server market? Currently Dell offers servers with Red Hat Enterprise Linux in a “non-factory install” — and for a pricey $1,900 for a three-year subscription, and SUSE Enterprise Linux for much, much less (depending on the length of your “subscription, either 3 or 1 years, you get a $101 to $500 discount from the base cost with Windows Server 2003) — or with no OS for a $799 discount from the Windows-equipped product. Will they throw Ubuntu on your server AND give you an $800 break?

Regarding the desktop, I think Dell made the right choice. Ubuntu continues to be white-hot in its popularity, and new releases continue to stream out every six months. The majority of people who answered Dell’s recent inquiry about what they wanted on THEIR next Dell asked for Linux — and specifically Ubuntu, so Dell is betting wisely.

And with Dell focusing at least some of its PC offerings on being compatible with Ubuntu, it can only mean good things as far as other hardware vendors doing the right thing and supporting Linux on their products.

What remains to be seen is whether there will be a discount for buying a desktop system with Ubuntu as opposed to Windows (be it Vista or XP). Microsoft can’t be very happy about this, but with Dell being probably their biggest customer (or at least right up there with Compaq/HP), Redmond’s leverage isn’t what it would be with a smaller vendor.

And for Dell’s customers, the lure of a discount — and all of the free software in Ubuntu — will be enough to entice them to try Linux. It’s a gamble for Dell, but with Vista’s current problems, the odds are in the hardware giant’s favor. It’s also a win for Ubuntu, which has already experienced phemonenal growth and can probably handle the much-higher stakes that the Dell deal will bring.

Again, the loser is Microsoft. Preinstalled Linux (and non-installed Windows) hits them where they live. And if Dell and Ubuntu make it clear that Open Office can sub for MS Office, it can’t be good for Microsoft.

Firefox vs. IceWeasel

There’s been some noise on the Web about the Debian Linux distribution changing the name of Firefox to IceWeasel in order to not run afoul of copyright. Debian goes ever further: Besides Firefox becoming IceWeasel, the Thunderbird mail client is IceDove, and Mozilla’s great SeaMonkey Web suite (a direct descendant of Netscape Communicator) is IceMonkey.

As far as I know, there’s nothing new here (and Desktoplinux.com covered it last year). I remember booting up Knoppix 5.1.1 months ago and seeing Iceweasel — and not knowing (or caring) why the name was changed. At least it looked, smelled and ran like Firefox.

And IceWeasel, as a name, is a little more edgy, don’t you think? But in the Oct. 9. 2006, editorial also linked to above, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols elaborates on why renaming Firefox as IceWeasel is a bad idea for Debian in particular and Linux in general.

And in case you were wondering, the images above are the logos for the respective programs. Get it? Fire … Ice … Fox … Weasel …

Coming up: A Windows 2000 install — and all the ugly bits that go with it

For comparison’s sake — and because I’m a masochist — I set up my test box (that same converted thin client I’ve been shoving new distros on for the past month) to run Windows 2000.

Details forthcoming.

All roads lead to Debian

If most of the Linux distributions derive from either Slackware or Debian, why not just go to the source? Slackware looks way too hard to figure out, but Debian, which just released version 4.0, offers a net-install ISO — and I’ve always wanted to install a distro over the Internet — so I burned the CD this morning and am currently installing a Debian system over the Internet.

And it’s going very, very well, thank you. I didn’t know what to expect, but the installer is very much like that of Ubuntu’s alternate-install discs (not that I’ve gotten any of those to work, because I haven’t — my successful Xubuntu install came from the 6.10 live CD, upgraded to 7.04 over the Internet).

Debian, billed as “the universal operating system,” is currently installing 656 packages over the Internet, and after that I’ll see what the mother of many, if not most, Linux distributions is all about.

Update (12:27 p.m.): The install went without a hitch, and I’m now booting into Debian’s GNOME desktop.

Update (12:42 p.m.): I’m posting this update from Debian with the GNOME Web Browser 2.14.3 (also known as Epiphany). All seems to be working fine — I’ve got full functionality in Movable Type. There’s no Flash, of course, and it isn’t as easy to implement as in Xubuntu. But for now, I’ll leave Flash on the side of the road. I’m not that big of a YouTube fan.

My immediate first impression: This looks so nice and works so nice — it’s got GIMP, Open Office and the Iceweasel (aka Firefox) browser, GAIM and more. And what isn’t available as a Debian package?

Incidentally, during the install, I was given the option of making my /home file in a separate partition. I chose that option, since it might give me a way to reinstall this or another operating system in the main partition without disturbing the data in the /home partition. It might not work, but it’s worth a try.

Again, this install was just as easy as Ubuntu’s alternate install, and while having the advantage of actually working for me, I also appreciate that as an Internet-based install, I didn’t have to download a giant ISO file (the Debian net install ISO is 162, 716 KB) and as a bonus got the latest in all packages.

I was able to choose a “desktop” install, but nowhere was I asked about which window manager I wanted. GNOME is the default in this kind of network install. And I must say, it’s looking good and working well on this 1 GHz Maxspeed Maxterm thin client with 256 MB of RAM and a 14.4 GB IDE disk drive and 32x TDK CD-RW drive connected to the single IDE header on the mini-ITX motherboard.

This bears repeating, with emphasis: Installing Debian is no harder than Ubuntu. All my drives were automatically detected, just like Ubuntu. I’m beginning to wonder, just how much of Ubuntu is already there in Debian? It looks like a lot more than I thought.

Update (1:23 p.m.): I click on the GIMP. I’m surprised (and actually happy) to learn it’s not really there yet. An install window opens, in which I’m instructed to pick the amount of “tile memory” and the location of swap space for what won’t fit in tile memory. I accept the defauts, although I ‘m a bit nervous about the 128 MB I’m devoting to tile memory. But it’s nice to know that at least for some apps, those I’m not using are not taking up space on the drive. Oh, and the GIMP loads in 20 seconds — about a third of the time it took on Xubuntu 7.04. It’s something I could sure get used to. Update of this update: On second launch, GIMP takes 30 seconds to load (I must’ve needed to do some swapping with Open Office already up on another desktop.)

Obvious revelation: I discover something that most savvy Linux users probably already know. To navigate among the four available desktops in most environments, ctrl-alt-right arrow (or left arrow) sends you from one desktop to the other without need for the mouse. Brilliant. Four distinct desktops accesible via mouse or keyboard? I consider it a Linux killer app and wonder why Windows and OS X haven’t stolen the idea.

So far, GNOME in Debian 4.0 is no slower — AT ALL — then Xfce in Xubuntu 7.04. I still get the same “tiling” of windows when I drag them slightly off the desktop, but switching from app to app, window to window and desktop to desktop is as fast — if not faster — than it is on Xubuntu. And I’ll have to do that GIMP time test again with Xubuntu, because that would be a real difference between the two systems.

With Debian doing so well on this 1 GHz box with an anemic 133 MHz front-side bus and 256 MB of RAM, I can only imagine at this point how much better it could run on a more “modern” desktop, say something with a 3 GHz or dual-core processor, 1066 MHz FSB and 1 GB of RAM. It’s got to be great.

The next test: configuring a network printer. I went to Applications-System Tools-Printers, and just like in Ubuntu, a bunch of the printers on the network were detected automatically. I easily select one and successfully print with it. But … I try to add my “favorite” printer (i.e. the closest one to my desk) … and while the instructions are clear — and there are more of them than with Xubuntu — I am unable to make it happen. I go through all the steps, and at the end, after I click “Apply,” nothing is added, nor are there any messages telling me what went wrong. So I am able to print, just not exactly where I want. I was able in Xubuntu, after consulting the Xubuntu Users Guide, to get printing going through CUPS via the browser, and I imagine I could do the same here — and I just might. But I will give the Foomatic GUI another chance (or five) before I go that route. Update: I also try the utility under Desktop-Administration-Printing. While different, it still doesn’t work. But since I can print somewhere, I’m good for now.

Update (2:15 p.m.): At the top left of the GNOME screen, there are menus for Applications, Places and Desktop. The division of labor among the menus is a nice touch. There are tons of configuration utilities. I guess I’m talking more about GNOME than Debian at this point, but GNOME, in this implementation, is the face of Debian in this desktop distribution, and again, it’s done well.

Update (3:02 p.m.):Open Office Writer. It takes 1 minute, 3 seconds to launch. That’s one of the reasons I’m not so happy with Open Office. I know it’s doing all the things that MS Office can do, and that takes a lot of code, but all I need to do is create Word-compatible files (AbiWord can do that) with “typographical” or “smart” quotes (AbiWord can’t do that). Still, for what I’m doing these days, I can really leave typographical quotes on the roadside, so maybe I’ll try to install AbiWord just to have something that launches quickly and doesn’t hog so many resources.

Update of this update: On second launch, Open Office loads in 30 seconds. That I can live with.

Even so, I’ve pretty much been using text editors to write blog entries and the like, and when it comes to the Daily News, things for publication go through a translation program that takes care of the typographical quotes, so I don’t really need to be so anal about this … but I did have an editor (ther person, not the application) in the past who never got the punctuation right — quote marks, em dashes — unless I had it just so in Word, and even then he’d screw it up. I guess it all depends on your situation. Most editors of non-computer publications like to see things in Word format … though some are OK with pure text files. And creating and sending text files is just so quick and easy, I hope more publications move in that direction.

And speaking about text editors: I like gedit, the GNOME text editor. It looks a lot like Mousepad in Xfce, except that it’s got a nice toolbar and actually does the word-counting feature I need.

On a related point, I installed Scribus (open-source publishing program) in Xubuntu. I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, but I will if I ever hook up the hard drive with Xubuntu on it … or maybe I’ll just download it here in Debian.

Update (3:25 p.m.): Once the screen-saver takes over, why do I have to enter my password to bring the computer back to life?

Update (4:30 p.m.): I think I fixed the screen-saver problem. All I did was uncheck a box. That was easy.

Update: (4:45 p.m.): I’m using the GNOME music player, Rhythmbox and listening to one of the included Internet radio stations, this one called Groove Salad. And the audio is perfect. I couldn’t get audio this good from Puppy Linux. And the sound chip on the motherboard was detected and set up during the install and required no tweaking (OK, I lowered the volume a bit). Impressive. I switch to the Secret Agent “lounge” channel, which is more to my liking.

To sum up: I’ve run quite a few distros over the past three months, and with many being based on Debian, I’ve been led to believe that there’s something difficult about Debian, something that needed fixing for the “general Linux public,” whatever that is. So far, there’s no truth to that. Debian 4.0 is as ready for the desktop as any other distro out there — and by any other, I include Ubuntu and Mepis. Both of those are great, but Debian is running so well and is so easy to use, I wonder what the fuss over the others is all about.

Debian 4.0 is a great product, and if there was a lot of hype, I’d encourage you to believe it. As it is, with little hype (and a lot of negative news about the gap between releases and other developer squabbling), this is a very fine distribution that every Linux user should try. It sets a standard that others should live up to.

Final words: Xubuntu Feisty would not turn my system all the way off. Drives would spin down, but the power light remained on. No such problems in Debian 4.0.

Getting Xubuntu Feisty to bend to my will

I made some progress — and some discoveries — today with my Xubuntu 7.04 Feisty installation on the Maxspeed Maxterm thin client.

First of all, can we all agree that the GIMP, in its heaviness, doesn’t really fit in with the Xubuntu philosophy of lighter apps for a lighter window manager?

And with this heaviness in mind, today I installed my first Debian package — mtPaint, which despite having greater capabilities than GNU Paint while being as quick to load, is not available as a Ubuntu package, either in Universe, Multiverse, or any other ‘verse. I found it and downloaded it from the Web, then clicked on it to install. I couldn’t figure out how to add it to the Applications menu, but I was able with Xfce to create a desktop shortcut.

Incidentally, I did try out GNU Paint, which is a Ubuntu-approved application, and quite nice for what it does, except that it can’t resize images, which is the main thing I need an image-editing program to do.

But the result is that I have, indeed, installed a Debian package in Xubuntu, and it couldn’t have been easier. I’ll look into getting mtPaint into the Graphics menu under Applications — how hard can it be? But another thing I did learn is that while the GIMP is torturously slow to load, and probably is quite a memory hog on this 256 MB box, once you have it loaded, it’s not any slower or faster at actually processing images. I didn’t detect any speed boost using mtPaint … except for the fact that it loads in about 3 seconds … as opposed to the GIMP’s 60 or so seconds.

The other thing I did was add Wine and Internet Explorer 6 in my quest to do work on Dailynews.com in Linux. Wine is about as mysterious to me as it gets, but I did go into the Ubuntu Multiverse (or whatever ‘verse it is) and install Wine from the Synaptic Package Manager. As an aside, it’s interesting that besides Synaptic, there’s the Add/Remove Programs utility, and I almost prefer it to Synaptic at this early stage.

Back to Wine: I installed Wine from Synaptic and then used IES4Linux to get Internet Explorer into the Wine world. I did this successfully once before with Xubuntu when running it as a live CD, so I knew that this worked. I had IE6 on my desktop, and it actually worked. And while I was able to use the Daily News Web-publishing software (which is browser-based and requires IE), that system is so buggy that I really couldn’t run it under Wine due to repeated crashes. The problem is more ours than Wine’s, but it’s disappointing nonetheless. I tried to install some other publishing software under Wine by moving entire directories from my Windows box to the Xubuntu box, but nothing would run. I’ll have to delve further into Wine to see exactly what I need to do. It may be a lost cause, but I’m not expecting much. Still, I’m not above giving Codeweavers a try.

That said, it was only with the IES4Linux package that I got Internet Explorer at all. I wish I didn’t have to use it at all, because sticking with Linux-specific browsers and not dealing with Wine at all is a whole lot easier than the alternative.

And what about the 256 MB memory ceiling of this thin client? Some commenters said that it’s not an enviable position, to be with this little memory. All I can say at this point is that while there’s been quite a bit of use of the swap partition on the hard drive, the system hasn’t gone down once, even with all the stress I’m putting on it.

Wrestling with Xubuntu Feisty

I spent the day upgrading my new Xubuntu 6.10 (Edgy) installation to Xubuntu 7.04 (Feisty), and since Xubuntu is derived from Ubuntu, far and away the most popular Linux distribution for the desktop, I expected — and still expect — a lot more from it.

During my nearly month-long Thin Puppy Torture Test (chronicled extensively in this blog), I managed to get quite a bit of work done with my Maxspeed Maxterm thin client (1 GHz VIA processor, 256 MB RAM, no disk drives at all), most of it related to producing this and other Daily News blogs. From extensive Web surfing to light photo editing, heavy writing and use of Movable Type for Web publishing, Puppy Linux 2.14 performed admirably, even if, along the way, I lost the ability to mount external drives and couldn’t really deal with large audio files due to the lack of available memory. But for the basics, Puppy did the job, day in and day out.

With Xubuntu, I hooked up a 14.4 GB hard drive and a 32x CD-RW drive. And by the time I installed Xubuntu, I expected to get even more real work done. This time I seek to up the ante, doing work for Dailynews.com, which entails working with larger photo files (downloaded from services such as GettyImages.com and WireImage.com, although the latter offers a choice of smaller images to begin with).

And eventually, it means, installing some version of Wine (allowing use of Windows programs without the Windows OS installed), with Internet Explorer 6 running, because the Daily News Web publishing system requires IE. (And for the love of God, WHY??)

As far as text editors go, I can use just about anything. Even the anemic Mousepad editor that comes with Xubuntu would be OK, even though I prefer Geany, and even EditPad for Windows. And since Xubuntu’s word processor, AbiWord is so light on resources and quick-loading, that could really serve as a text editor for my purposes.

And when it came to image editing, Xubuntu offers the GIMP, which though part of the GNOME office suite (featuring the loosely tied-together AbiWord, Gnumeric for spreadsheets and the GIMP), is a true resource hog, taking a full minute to load in Xubuntu on my 1 GHz box. For my purposes at least, I’m very familiar with the GIMP, as I’ve been using the Windows version for at least a year (and never having used Photoshop, had nothing to “unlearn”). So already the GIMP is a mismatch for Xubuntu, if indeed one is running it on “low-spec” hardware. I missed mtPaint from Puppy (which I just might install for Xubuntu, if I can figure it out), but I didn’t miss the paint program that comes with Damn Small Linux, which doesn’t do nearly what I need.

Long story short, I did work on about five photos for Dailynews.com, but the times required to save them in the GIMP really had me thinking about whether or not Xubuntu on this platform could handle this level of work. But I had to stop myself. I don’t recall working with original images this big in Puppy 2.14. I mostly took images already sized for the Web and then made them even smaller. Even the GIMP in Xubuntu could make relatively quick work of that. And as far as general Web work with Firefox in Xubuntu, it went smoothly. I was even able to add the Flash plug-in for Firefox without working up a geekish sweat (translation: no command line needed, no Synaptic Package Manager, just clicking in the bar on Firefox to get the needed plug-in — it was positively Windows-like).

When I write my full-length review of Xubuntu, I’ll recount my odyssey of getting network printing working. Yes, it did take me most of the day, and yes, I’m surprised at how unintuitive Xubuntu’s printer-configuration utility actually is (I gave up and used the CUPS interface), and I’m shocked that I got printing working much, much easier in both Puppy and DSL (and MepisLite … and Slax and Knoppix and even standard Ubuntu Dapper). But that’s another battle to recount on another day.

Suffice it to say that my first full day with Xubuntu Feisty was maybe a bit less bumpy than expected, especially given the high expectations I have for something that’s billed as a speedier version of the hottest desktop Linux distribution on the planet — however dubious such a distinction may be.

But in my search for answers on whether or not Xubuntu and its Xfce desktop interface is truly ready for real work (or at least for what it is that I do to put out Web pages and newspapers), I’m going to have to compare it to Zenwalk 4.4.1, which features the same interface but is built upon Slackware, as opposed to Ubuntu/Xubuntu’s base of Debian. And I’ll have to do a traditional hard-drive install of Puppy to see how it performs in that kind of traditional install (and whether that kind of setup allows me to deal with the kinds of large files that I do, in fact, have to process during the course of my day).

And last … and only least if you think of it that way … I will do a standard Windows 2000 install on the 1 GHz thin client (because I’ve got a 2000 disc and not one with XP on it) … load it up with the requisite open-source apps (Open Office, AbiWord, the GIMP, Avast antivirus, Firefox, even SeaMonkey) to have a truly well-played field on the same hardware before drawing any definite conclusions in the battle for OS supremacy on my low-spec desktop. And honestly, as I work on this entry at home on an iBook G4 1 GHz/384MB laptop with OS X 10.3.9, and seeing how well it runs, I can’t leave Apple and its BSD-derived operating system out of the equation.

Ubufied

Ubufied is a nice Ubuntu-focused blog that I’d love to see updated more often.

Doing my Xubuntu upgrade

Going from Edgy to Feisty via network is a long process … but all is going smoothly as my upgrades are being installed.

My Edgy but not Feisty day

After trying — and failing — to install about 10 distros yesterday on my Maxspeed Maxterm thin client, with a CD-RW drive and hard drive connected but sitting on the outside of the thin client box, I slid my Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty alternate-install disc into the drive and hoped for the best. Keep reading for an account of my day in the Edgy-Feisty trenches.

Since I’d previously installed Damn Small Linux 3.3 on a different hard drive, I tried to install it again on the drive I had connected at the time, an 80 GB Seagate ATA. But even DSL wouldn’t boot from the drive, so I reached into my stack of IBM-labeled 14.4 GB hard drives and tried Feisty again. I did a command-line system install, and that went without a hitch. But since I’m not going to be doing everything with vi (I did that in college, thank you), I immediately began to reinstall Feisty in full.

The first time, it hung up somewhere in the middle — my disc light was pegged on, but none of the drives were doing anything, so I had to reboot. Now it looks like the install is going to happen. I didn’t time it, but it hasn’t been quick. I’m currently on the “Select and install software,” which just failed. But I have the option to try again.

We’ll see how it goes.

Update (2:45 p.m.): The installer just won’t go past “Select and install software.” After a couple of failures, I skipped ahead and installed GRUB, then went back. Why, WHY isn’t this part working? (I previously checked CD integrity, and it’s fine). As I’ve written before, this is no typical hardware installation, being a hacked thin client, but I’d still like things to work.

Update (2:55 p.m.): Since it looks like the “Select and install software” step is just completing when I get the error message, and since I already skipped ahead and installed GRUB, I decide to skip ahead again and “Finish the installation.” That goes fine, and the CD drawer opens. I move the CD and reboot … AND get a command-line system again. No GUI.

Update (3:15 p.m.): I had the Live-CD ISO of Ubuntu 6.10, but I had never burned a CD of it. I decide to do so. By mistake, I burn Xubuntu 6.10 (now I’ve got two), so I load that as a live CD.

Update (3:50 p.m.): The Xubuntu install from live CD is proceeding swimmingly. If this install sticks, I’m going to keep it for awhile. I don’t know how the traffic is now on the mirrors for the Ubuntu 7.04 live CD, but I just might wait until the Xubuntu Feisty upgrade is ready … if this install sticks, that is.

Update (4:10 p.m.): The Xubuntu 6.10 install is almost done. It’s currently REMOVING stuff — language packages, GNOME utilities … but I’m 97 percent done with the install.

Update (4:12 p.m.): The install finishes, the CD drawer opens, the screen goes blank. I hit return a couple of times and the system proceeds to reboot.

Update (4:20 p.m.): I open Firefox, and it says “Welcome to Xubuntu 6.06.” I’ve got Xubuntu, but did I burn the wrong version? Also, the graphical installer never asked me for my networking settings, so I’ll have to do those manually. Only I would burn the wrong CD … But I do have a legitimate ‘Buntu installed on the hard drive connected to my thin client. … Should I call it Thin Xubuntu, or Thinbuntu? Maxbuntu?

Update (5:05 p.m.): I check my other Xubuntu 6.10 CD … it seems that they never changed the “welcome” page in Firefox, and even 6.10 says 6.06. One thing’s for sure — Xubuntu isn’t as snappy as Puppy Linux and Damn Small Linux. And when I try to shut down the system, the monitor goes blank, but the box stays on. I have to push and hold the power button to get the box to power down all the way. (I didn’t have to do that with Puppy or DSL.)

Update (5:10 p.m.): In the Xubuntu menu, I go to System–Update Manager, which tells me that “New distribution release ‘7.04’ is available.” I click the Upgrade button. I get this message: “Authentication failed.” Is it the traffic on the Internet, or a flaw in the process? I check for other software updates, and there are 90, totalling 139.2 MB. I start it. As an aside, I miss being able to bring up a menu anywhere on the desktop with a right-click, like I can in the Fluxbox and JWM window managers.

Update (5:55 p.m.): The updates download and install fine. Another try at the 7.04 upgrade. It fails for the same reason. But I do have Xubuntu installed on the thin client. And I’m about 80 percent sure it’s 6.10. Time to turn the box off and go home. I’ll live to fight another day on Monday.

Update (10:05 p.m.): I neglected to mention that the DesktopBSD install CD will NOT boot on the thin client. Just won’t do it. I’d love to get a BSD on there — will I have to build up from FreeBSD? I’m not completely opposed, but I hoped to get my feet wet with DesktopBSD. And as far as Xubuntu goes, the text editor is not as good as Geany. It’s a bit basic, and doesn’t have word count. But the word processor with Xubuntu is AbiWord, which is quick enough to launch that I serves as a nice text editor for my purpose, which is writing blog entries and not programming. And yes, I can use vi to hack at config files in the shell.

One of my projects should be digging through my boxes of crap in the shed and seeing if my copy of “Unix for Luddites” is there. I’d love to scan it in and have it available to all, in all its 1980s glory. That photocopied book by UC Santa Cruz’s Scott Brookie got me going on Unix during college to write my papers. We used vi to write, nroff to format, and the printouts on a laser printer (in the ’80s, for shit’s sake) could be collected at the computer center on the far-flung campus, which had dumb terminals to access the system at every one of its eight colleges, as well as at the campus library.

Windows XP at Target

Where did I see a boxed version of Windows XP? At Target. Of course they have just about every version of Vista (which you have to ask for from behind the counter, lest you tuck the smallish package somewhere on your person and leave without paying). But XP is right there — the upgrade, not a full version — for you to purchase while you still can.

By the way, Vista goes from $199 up to $200-something. I just can’t see ANYBODY going for that. If you buy a new PC and Vista is already on it, that’s one thing. But paying an additional $100 to $200 to upgrade from XP? Who is doing that?

Also at Target:

A Microsoft package that includes Works and the 2002 version of Word, among other things. I think it was $99.

A competing “Office” suite from a company I’d never heard of for $20 (never mind that Open Office is free)

Nero for $99. (WHAT are they smoking?)