7 Gifts For Linux/FOSS GeekS

[r_manic]

Hey Linux users, does this list impress you?

http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reports/6923/1/

 

[TegGhola]

Not a bit, no.

 

[audiovoodoo]

Seconded.

 

[Ijack]

Linux users aren't easily impressed - else they'd be running Windows or OS X.

 

[MrLinux]

Buy stuff???
Any true Linux Geek will usually make His/Her own far superior Toys!

 

[r_manic]

:lol: article fail then. What kind of toys, MrLinux?

 

[audiovoodoo]

Given that this forum has lead to confessions of building Arm based web enabled toasters are you sure you want to ask that question?

 

[r_manic]

Errr, I am?

 

[randomizer]

Well, you now know one toy. ARM-based, web-enabled toasters :lol:

 

[audiovoodoo]

Can anybody find the post? I'm fairly sure it was the B man about late 2008, custom debian build if I remember right. [/And you all thought I was taking the primate piddle!]

 

[kiren]

I'd say the only thing on the list I'm moderately interested in is the HDD dock...

though I didn't find the toaster mentioned on this site here is one : http://www.embeddedarm.com/software/arm-netbsd-toaster.php

 

[MU_Engineer]

Hey Linux users, does this list impress you?

http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reports/6923/1/

No:

1. $450 50-watt speakers with a bamboo case? That sounds more like a gift for an Apple fan rather than a Linux user. A Linux user would be much more likely to have a pieced-together speaker setup in a homemade case rather than an expensive, pretty, factory-made one.

2. A $100 sound card- no thanks. Doesn't just about every motherboard today except for some serve boards have integrated HD audio that works well enough for anybody but wood-speaker-knob audiophiles? If you have a server board, there are a bunch of USB audio devices that are a lot cheaper. And if you need RCA jacks, use your soldering iron to make a 3.5 mm-to-RCA adapter.

3. Hands-free flexible flashlight- maybe. At least it's moderately useful and not expensive.

4. Rechargeable batteries- maybe, if you run through a lot of batteries. But if you're running through a lot of flashlight batteries, isn't a $10 trouble light/hook-hanging work light on a 25-foot cord a much more powerful and better alternative?

5. Tux keyboard- pffft. A real Linux geek knows there's basically One Keyboard to Rule Them All, and its name is the IBM Model M. Getting a Linux geek one of the original non-Lexmark Model Ms from the 1980s would be guaranteed to put a smile on their face much quicker than a generic 104-key board with Ubuntu logos on the Windows flag keys.

6. The 5.25" drawer isn't that great of an idea either. A Linux geek would have a closet or rolly cart full of parts instead of a tiny drawer.

7. External SATA drive dock- this would be a great idea for a BSD fan as BSD has famously run on an ARM-powered toaster.

Here are some better ideas:

1. Mini-fridge stocked with cases of Mountain Dew to provide hydration during coding or Gentoo installation sessions.
2. A new 16 GB USB memory key for a Live USB setup.
3. Another hard drive- can't have too many.
4. A non-x86 server from eBay to play around with. Most Linux geeks I know secretly like to mess around with exotic hardware and anything non-x86 is exotic.
5. A Model M keyboard from the 1980s.
6. A new motherboard, CPU, and RAM. Chances are this will be several years newer than what they're running at the moment and it will be highly appreciated.
7. Another monitor. You also can't have too many of these.

 

[Ijack]

4. Here you go.

I've got a bunch of other hardware, but it's all little stuff, not servers. PPC Mac Mini, ARM LinkStation, that sort of thing. I love playing around with other processors.

 

[audiovoodoo]

Stop posting pr0n links will you!

 

[Ijack]

I'd have said erotica rather than pr0n.

 

[audiovoodoo]

Visible internals.. likely to corrupt the minds of minors.. Given the wording of the latest government legislation in this area it would be an obscene publication.