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Paul Wheaton on MACs, Windoze and Linux
Paul Wheator, permaculture guy and cteater of both http://www.richsoil.com and http://www.permies.com recently released a podcast that has nothing to do with Permaculture. Most permies will probably have little interest but it was very interesting to me. It was about finding a new tool to use in his work. Not a shovel or tractor but a laptop computer.
If you want to hear the podcast, it is at http://www.richsoil.com/permaculture/244-podcast-024-returned-mac-got-pc... . While the podcast stands on its own, I have some observations and comments.
First, I learned that Paul is an ex-computer geek as I am. It sounds like our biggest disagreement is that he thinks Java is a good thing whereas I think Python is a good thing. It seems that we agree on why they are good (portability) but the podcast does't offer any clue why he prefers Java over Python. As for my preference of Python, I guess that can be the subject of another blog entry.
If you read my post here about the best laptop evern made, it is pretty clear that Paul and I are in agreement. While he didn't specify which specific model, it is an IBM ThinkPad and I am guessing there is a good chance it is a T23 or something close. In addition, his preference of the pointer stick (which he called the clit which makes a lot of sense) over a TouchPad fits my feelings exactly. Finally, the fact that he wants/needs a computer as a tool rather than something to futz with, is where I am at these days.
At this point, our positions diverge. I doubt it is because we would disagree on the facts but our experience and our usage are different. He ultimately picked a Windoze system without crapware on new hardware whereas I ended up with an older ThinkPad with Linux. Both of us have our solutions on order, not yet in hand.
His Linux experience is from a few years ago and he mentions such issues as you need to find a driver and compile things. While I have no recent Windoze experience (3.11 was the last version I had anything to do with) I regularly hear Windoze people talking about driver issues whereas decent Linux distributions just seem to have everything I need. I don't know how much of that is recent improvements and how much is specific hardware he has needed to work with.
In any case, the parallels are interesting. What we don't know is how much the different conclusions are based on experience and how much is a result of different needs.
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Got the T42
Opened the box at 11:30. Has it running Kubuntu Linux 11.04 at about noon. Works great.
The one surprise is that I planned to just turn the touchpad off and use the clit as Paul so aptly called it. Well, I am using both. Sometimes the touchpad seems easier, sometimes the clit. The big problem I have had with touchpads in the past was touching them when that wasn't the plan. I think I now understand.
The ASUS touchpad was level with the palm rest. The Toshiba touchpad was almost level with the palm rest. Both are small laptops. This sucker is normal size and the clit buttons (three, like there should be) are between the touchpad and keyboard. No accidental touching. Also, the buttons for the touchpad feel right rather than the kludge on the other systems.
I know this sounds funny so let me explain. When typing, the clit is in the right place so I use it. When I am just looking around or scrolling, the touchpad makes more sense. I have only been using this sucker for three hours and this distinction is pretty automatic. Probably it is aided by the fact that I have a mouse connected to the T23 in my office and I use the clit as described and the mouse for looking around/scrolling.
I know that I will sometimes miss the serial port of the T23 (I use it, for example, to configure some old Proxim radios) and I wish it had an SD card reader but, other than that, it is a great machine. About twice as fast as the T23 and physically thinner. I may have to buy a couple more before they vanish from the market as I don't see anyone out there making anything that I feel can replace it.