On Fri, Jun 7, 2013 at 11:25 PM, Jason Hsu <jhsu802701 at jasonhsu.com> wrote:

> It sounds great except for the inclusion of Ubuntu.  This is a
> double-whammy.  First, there is the user-unfriendly Unity interface.
>  Second, I'm not sure 1 GB of memory is enough for Ubuntu, as it's now as
> heavy as Windows 7 or Windows Vista.  Debian with 256 MB of memory (the
> Raspberry Pi setup) can smoke Ubuntu with 1 GB of memory.
>
> If this $99 supercomputer came with something lighter, it would be a sure
> winner.  Linux Mint Debian Edition, Snowlinux 4 Glacier, antiX Linux, and
> Puppy Linux prove that a polished user-friendly interface doesn't require
> the bloat of Ubuntu.
>

If someone is truly in need of a so-called "supercomputer" for parallel
processing, it's highly unlikely that they will stick with the default
*anything* software-wise, and they certainly wouldn't leave a GUI (of any
sort) running.

The Parellela folks chose ubuntu due to its familiarity and
least-common-denominator factor. I'm sure they fully expect the vast
majority of customers to use some other distro.

*Please* try to stay positive, Jason. The Ubuntu/Microsoft/Windows hate is
not only tiring, but also in many cases is completely inaccurate due to the
fact that your statements stem from ill-informed notions of the current
state of computing hardware and systems usage. As F/OSS-ophiles, I think we
all (myself included) went through a phase of enjoying to smear and
discredit anything other than our pet distro/operating system/whatever.
It's likely time for you to consider leaving that phase behind. I can tell
you - the most successful (monetarily and talent-wise) developers and
sysadmins I've worked with are able to look at a problem, look at project
requirements and potential solutions, and choose the best fit for the
project - if that means they fire up a Windows Server instance, then they
do that - if the requirements dictate something that FreeBSD is more
well-suited to, then they deploy a BSD box, and are able to manage all
systems equally well.

Anyway, I hope you get the message here - no one likes hearing from someone
that is incessantly negative. Trying to stay positive will not only make
you a happier person, but will also reflect better on the community of
technophiles as a whole.

-Erik
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