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On Sat, Oct 20, 2012, at 08:58 PM, luke.leighton wrote:
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much as i hate to say this, many of the questions you're asking aren't entirely appropriate for the target audience here: basic linux sysadmin analysis for example.</div>
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I apologize. It was not my intention to ask basic questions, including basic linux sysadmin questions. If there were a MIPS forum, I would have posted my thread there. I appreciate the patience and advice and will follow through.<br />
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I chose the Yeeloong because MIPS does not have hardware assisted virtualization and because linux is preinstalled. I had not planned to upgrade the OS. I wrongly assumed Yeeloong would be fully functional out of the box and that the box being open hardware could be fully and easily opened.<br />
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Today, an employee at my local hardware store tried to unscrew the screws with their allen wrenches. He stated the screws were not hex screws. They are star screws. The hardware store's smallest star screwdriver was too large. I will ask larger hardware stores if they sell small star screwdrivers. Star screws are rarely used in the United States which could explain why the three people, including a computer repair shop, who tried to unscrew my Yeeloong failed to recognize the screws as star screws. Or are they really star screws? Perhaps an unique screw from China with no available screwdriver in the USA? Open hardware should not require very hard to find screwdrivers.<br />
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One of the very few articles on Yeeloong instructed to press function key and F5 to turn on wifi. This worked. Lemote should have either had the wifi turned on my default or provide written instructions. anheng.com<br />
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Connected to the internet, Synaptic Package Manager could not uninstall ssh, rsync, samba, remote desktop, etc. Nor could Synaptic Package Manager add any packages. Error message: cannot connect to server. So this is what anheng.com meant by the OS being too old.<br />
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Lemote discontinued support of its preinstalled OS by discontinuing its server. Lemote lacks honesty as it continues to sell Yeeloong and Fuloong.<br />
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Though Synaptic Package Manager does not require root access, the terminal does. The terminal won't chmod -x /etc/init.d/ssh nor fdisk to format my flashdrive to ext2 which is required for installation of a new OS. Unfortunately, no gparted preinstalled. I cannot get root access. I think my computer has been rooted.<br />
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I am still alarmed that my files could be rsynced via a ssh OpenBSD server. Yes, most linux distributions have ssh and remote desktop preinstalled. Yet, they do not have them preconfigured and ready to act.<br />
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I would love to give the feedback that I took your advice and installed a new OS. I can't. I am capable to researching which distributions have new releases, find the tutorial and find the download page. Following the tutorial, no. MIPS is far more complicated than ARM. See Debian Wheezy's tutorial at http://wiki.debian.org/DebianYeeloong/HowTo/Install including Roman's tutorial at http://romanrm.ru/en/loongson/debian.<br />
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GNewSense initially was based on Ubuntu. GNewSense switched to being based on Debian because Debian supports MIPS. GNewSense tutorial on installing their September 2012 release is just as complicated and perhaps more so. See http://www.gnewsense.org/Projects/GNewSenseToMIPS<br />
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I did not expect that MIPS requires knowing command line. Up to now, I have been getting along with graphical packages installed on my netbooks and graphical packages in live CDs.<br />
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I posted an ad in computer gigs in craigslist.org for help upgrading debian on Yeeloong. Only two replies.<br />
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In the last several years, I have tried to hire computer security experts and rarely finding that, even just plain geeks who know linux to help me. I have posted numerous ads in computer gigs on craigslist.org in the large cities I have lived this year: New York City, Washington, DC, Baltimore and New Brunswick, New Jersey. While I would not expect much of a response from towns, I did expect a good response from large cities. Instead, the responses were few and approximately one third of the responses were from other states. Yes, I hired several out of town respondents. That did not work. I would go into details but this is lengthy as it is. Linux is not popular in the United States.<br />
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Derek recommended IRC which is one more thing for me to learn how to use.<br />
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I will speak for the American masses. This is in reference to earlier threads on the "masses." Americans prefer status toys: large SUVs (previously large trucks), ipads, etc. Regardless of their impact on the environment. The cost savings that a EOMA would bring is trivial.<br />
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The EO needs different marketing. Advertise that the upgrade of the cpu includes an upgrade of the OS. For example, I would have preferred to pay the manufacturer $100 more for the Yeelong if it had an upgraded OS with a functional server capable of working with Synaptic Package Manager than to try to find a competent debian geek and pay him unknown amount of hours to teach me how to upgrade.<br />
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Though linux is less complicated to install on ARM than MIPS, it is still complicated. Americans do not want to think, hack and tinker. They want to have fun. They want everything working out of the box.<br />
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Would an simultaneous upgrade of cpu and OS satify Americans. No. Too much competition. Americans are ignorant of the advantages of linux and ignorant of the privacy invasions by Google, Apple and Microsoft. Except for a few Americans, mostly baby boomers, who remember privacy being an priviledge granted by our constitution. They respect privacy and are willing to pay more for it. Americans who read prisonplanet.com and infowars.com. If articles on how to have real privacy by buying a laptop or tablet with EOMA and linux were linked to these websites. there would be an interest.<br />
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A niche market that Lemote failed in. Yet, the EOMA may have a chance if it has a processor that is truly open hardware and Americans willing to promote it. <br />
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I will honor Luke's wishes and refrain from posting. Feel free to email me.</div>
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