If you build it... [LWN.net]

If you build it...

Posted Jun 7, 2005 3:02 UTC (Tue) by mark (guest, #1921)
In reply to: If you build it... by leonbrooks
Parent article: Yellow Dog Linux sticks with PowerPC

For once quite wrong Leon you are I think.

The transition to x86 will be painful, but - with unaffected products (iPod) providing 50% of their
revenue for the next year or so*, loads of cash in the bank, great market recognition, and
amazing penetration of Tiger, now is the best possible time for Apple to be able weather the
pain of this transition. With recent growth 4x the industry average, it's hard to see this as Apple
being it's own worst enemy. I'd say it's pretty shrewd.

This is definitely not a pointless change. x86 is now faster, thermally cooler, and has a better
outlook. IBM has failed repeatedly to deliver on it's promises - there is not now or ever going to
be a G5 Powerbook, the 3GHz PowerMac is over a year late... Apple's hardware product line is
faltering just when it needs to blossom.

So if you're going to announce a huge change like this - and for long-time Apple users this is
absolutely monumental - why would you launch with AMD? Nobody has said that AMD won't be
involved, but they certainly don't have the market recognition that Intel has. Today's
announcement was just that - an announcement - it's designed to make a big splash, and it has.

And finally, I for one won't be running any of my customer's businesses on an XBox 360.

Cheers
Mark

* I don't imagine anyone expects the iPod to dominate forever. Even if Apple maintains 76%
overall market share of MP3 players, there will be pressure on margins.

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The older XboXes have been quite reliable...

Posted Jun 7, 2005 7:16 UTC (Tue) by leonbrooks (guest, #1494) [Link]

...what with only two constantly-moving parts (a big fan and the hard drive). Pending confirmation of enough resources, I'd expect the XboX-360 to be similar. Linux on PPC is still unusual enough to help it dodge the majority of security bullets, as well.

However, with laptops occasionally retailing for less than AUD$800 (which of course includes a screen, touchpad, keyboard, and built-in brownout protection), the value-for-money proposition is looking less and less attractive. Even as a server, a laptop has the added attraction of being self-contained (mine fits easily into a 1RU gap, as would one of the cheap Acers being retailed) and low-power.

The older XboXes have been quite reliable...

Posted Jun 9, 2005 14:40 UTC (Thu) by mchristensen (guest, #4955) [Link]

But the MBTF for laptop hard drives is not good, especially when they are run constantly, which makes them less than ideal for most server configurations.

However, if you keep up-to date backups and can handle regular (say anual) bare metal restores this this may not be a problem for you.