Fedora (Linux) is Destroying it self

Chris Adams cmadams at hiwaay.net
Fri May 15 00:14:32 UTC 2009


Once upon a time, Nathan Grennan <fedora-devel-list at cygnusx-1.org> said:
>   Desktop hardware and laptop hardware tend to be so different. Laptops 
> are generally a generation behind on motherboard chipsets and 
> processors.

Not really in recent years, as Intel, AMD, and the other associated
vendors have focused on power management across the board (with laptop
chips leading the way).

> They tend to have less variety of hardware when it comes to 
> network, video, and sound cards.

Again, not necessarily, at least for network and video.  They may be
different from desktop, but there is a wide variety.  A given line or
even brand of laptop may be more uniform, but there are a lot of
different makes and models.

> Keyboards on laptops are pretty much 
> always done the same way since they are built-in.

Laptops almost always have "special" keys that not all desktops have,
and on laptops they can be more important (suspend, volume control,
etc.).

> Mice on laptops are 
> almost always trackpads, since they are built-in.

Well, Thinkpads (and some others) have Trackpoint.  Also, lots of people
have a USB (or in my case Bluetooth) mouse.  Most desktop users only
have one pointing device.

> Other cards come out 
> different too, PCI/PCIe vs Cardbus/ExpressCard/USB.

Cardbus == PCI+hotswap
ExpressCard == PCIe+hotswap (+another USB connector)
USB is USB (not sure what you meant by listing it)

I'd have to say my laptop has a lot more "interesting" hardware than my
desktops.  Hot-swap card slots, built-in memory card reader (PCI
connected, not USB), hot swap drive bay, Bluetooth, wireless, multiple
pointer devices, special keyboard keys like volume control, etc.

Laptops also tend (at least as shipped) to have more limited resources
(less RAM, smaller and slower hard drives, slower CPUs, limited video,
etc.), so making a laptop run something with good response will almost
always improve responsiveness on desktops as well.

-- 
Chris Adams <cmadams at hiwaay.net>
Systems and Network Administrator - HiWAAY Internet Services
I don't speak for anybody but myself - that's enough trouble.




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