bobstaff asks: "I work for a company producing a highly technical product for export of which a Linux network is a significant part. Usually we build the Linux computers from components using some of the higher end options available (Dual 1Ghz Pentium III, SCSI disk,CD-RW,tape, 512Mb Ram, High End Video card, etc...). Occasionally we have a customer, however, who insists on having a brand name computer (eg. Compaq, HP, etc..) with support in whichever country they are from, regardless of the extra cost and decreased performance. In the past this has always caused problems, from Linux incompatible components to having to fight to get the pre-installed Windows distribution overwritten with Linux. What experiences do Slashdot readers have with buying brand name computers with international support and running Linux on them? Also can anyone recommend companies with international support producing Linux computers?"

gary.flake asks: "My group at NECI is in need of a machine that can address 64GB of ram in a single process. This means we need 64-bit addressing. We'd prefer to go with a Linux solution because all of our development is under Linux. We've spec'ed out some reasonable machines (Dell can do 32GB, and Compaq can do 64GB) but they seem to be lacking in that they can only be loaded up with 4 x 800Mhz Itaniums. We would really like to have more processing power (2 Ghz x 4 would be a dream). Does anyone know of any monster Itanium machines that will meet our needs? (Please, no Alphas). Finding such a beast is harder than you'd think."

kilaasi writes "Some hard-core game-developers from Finland is making super-optimized games for the iPaq and similar devices, tweaking and tuning every bit of piece there is. These are old Commodore and Amiga-programmers that know the virtues of small-is-beautifull."

Peter Dyck writes: "This summer Compaq divested itself of the Alpha technology. The Alpha tech was purchased by Intel who most likely will bury it after grafting its best aspects to their own 64 bit IA-64 system. However, the non-exclusive terms of the deal allowed Samsung to continue producing and developing the best 64-bit processor architecture there is today. Now, as a happy owner of a four years old DEC AlphaPC164 I was delighted to see this announcement by Samsung Electronics. In short, the upcoming UP1500 motherboard will house a 64 bit 800+ MHz Alpha 21264B CPU, 4 GB DDR memory, 10/100 Mps LAN, USB and yes, it will run Linux."

Unhappy Camper asks: "I had a Presario 1800 laptop go bad. A couple of months out of the 1 yr warranty. The local Compaq approved repair shop blames a bad power connection at system board. Their proposed solution: $1500 replacement system board. I could replace the laptop for less. What are my options to recover data off of the functional hard drive? The computer works, but it doesn't get a charge from the battery or a wall outlet. Does anyone know of a $200 rig to allow me to connect it to a desktop IDE controller/USB slot/whatever?"

onyxcide writes: "Envision is running a quick article on a new national grid of computing resources called TeraGrid. Half a petabyte of disk storage, 40-gigabyte-per-second national optical backbone, and 13 teraflops of computing power will make up this monster. It will allow "lavish amounts of online data to be continually available for instantaneous analysis, data mining, and knowlege synthesis." There's another article in the same magazine here: Transforming Research with High-Performance Grid Computing" LighthouseJ adds some details: "C|Net's news.com has a story about a new Compaq supercomputer named Terascale. It uses 3,000 Alpha EV68 processors distributed over 750 servers using networking systems from Quadrics. They say it can perform as fast as 10,000 desktop PC's combined in one second. The massive computer will make it's official debut on Monday at the Supercomputing Center in Pittsburgh PA."

Keith Russell writes: "Looks like Sen. Hollings' uphill climb just got a little bit steeper. The Computer Systems Policy Project, a trade group which includes IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Compaq, Dell, and Motorola, has officially stated their opposition to the SSSCA, calling it "an unwarranted intrusion by the government." The ZDNet article also indicates that Big Media isn't quite behind it themselves. Disney's support is well-documented, and Fox seems to like it, but AOL Time Warner and the MPAA, while keen to the idea, don't like this bill in particular." Read the entire article - not supporting this proposal "in its current form" is not very strong opposition.

alen asks: "The recent IIS security incidents got me thinking. Code Red and Nimda hit servers that weren't patched by their sys admins. If you get infected, you patch your server and end of story. But what if you're running Windows 2000 Datacenter Server? It's a customized solution that you can't change. All your service packs are customized by your vendor. What happens if you have a web or database server that needs to be patched immediately? Are you left out in the cold running unsecure software that you can't patch while you wait in line for your vendor to issue you a service pack or hotfix?" In a situation like this, the whole ball-o-wax resides with the vendor. If you have a good vendor who actually cares about customer satisfaction, these hotfixes will be available quickly. Would anyone out there actually recommend Datacenter for corporate environments?

magarity asks: "Compared to the primarily NVidia vs ATi desktop video market, there seem to be plenty of video chip choices for laptop makers with no clear market leader in installations. It seems no "mobile" variant or original video chip stands out. As a fan of NVidia graphics chips for desktops, I went looking to buy a laptop with the mobile variant of the Geforce2 chip, cleverly named the 'GeForce2go'. To my suprise, these are few and far between and only found two Dells and four Toshibas. HP, Compaq, and IBM laptops use a wide variety of other chips including manufacturers I'd never heard of until now. Does someone have a real-world report on whether the GeForce2go sucks batteries or just plain sucks? And since no one seems to be, who in your opinion should be the leader of the pack for mobile video?"

lysie writes The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, with Compaq and the NSF, has installed the Terascale Computing System. Worldwide, it's second in power only to ASCI White at Livermore. However, it's the most powerful system in the world for unclassified research--6 teraflops per second. 3,000 Compaq Alpha EV68 microprocessors, in 750 four-processor AlphaServer systems running Tru64 UNIX."

rotifer writes: "Compaq is recalling 1.4 million power adapters as fire hazards. I have one of these sitting on my living room floor right now. Compaq says in their FAQ on the subject "Compaq urges customers to discontinue use of the recalled AC adapter and to order a replacement adapter immediately." and that "We expect customers to receive their adapters within 5-10 days". Which means, of course, 5-10 days of not being able to use the computer. Has anyone had one of these things blow up on them? How dangerous is it to keep using it while waiting for the replacement part?" Only you can prevent notebook fires.

Technology is the momma of the modern workplace, its creator, from the Industrial Revolution to the blessedly short-lived dot.com era. It has re-shaped work, making it cleaner, more mobile and flexible, safer -- but much less secure. Jobs now change as often as the market fluctuates, as mergers and takeovers shift the landscape, as the market bumps up and down, as marketing tracks our desires and dislikes, needs and whims. Technology makes it possible for companies to shift jobs all over the world, and redefine themselves in weeks and months. Qwest tossed 4,000 workers two weeks ago. The very idea of job security seems a casualty of the tech-driven global economy, with its continuous down-sizing, changing ownership and management goals, lateral strategies and evolving needs. Now we add terrorist attacks and a recession. The new corporate work ethic is change -- measured, defined and executed by corporate hierarchies. Do they owe anything to the people they dump?

David Steele writes "Ever wondered what you could do to prolong the life of your notebook? Or upgrade it to meet today's standards? Or maybe you want to turn your mid-range notebook into a high-end model? Hardware Analysis has an article up that takes a a closer look at the available options."

wbav writes "According to this article on cnn HP has anounced that they are releasing two new models. At 6 ounces it sports a 203 mhz processor and 32 or 64 megs of ram depending on the model. It comes with Pocket PC 2002, and support for VPNs. Very nice." I do wonder what will happen to the Jornada, given the HP purchase of Compaq - my understanding is that the iPaq has kicked far more butt then the Jornada.

elliotj writes "This Business Week editorial is arguing that the HP purchase of Compaq could mean big things for Linux as the resulting monolith is forced to rationalize their multitude of operating systems. The most sensible solution may well be for them to abandon HPUX, Tru64 et al and embrace Linux as the one-and-only *nix OS. Interesting thing about the article is that it comes from Business Week...not exactly a traditional penguin cheerleader." Ah, but soon, thanks to Yet Another Corporate Merger, we'll have another defunt company icon in the topics field.

elemur writes: "For your linux loving friends with everything, why not get a TuxScreen? This phone is based on the Compaq Linux distribution, normally used on the iPaq. When is the last time you needed to upgrade the packages or distribution on your phone?" A phone with a 640x480 touchscreen and a lot more smarts than "redial" would be an upgrade to most people anyhow -- being able to play games even more.

MaxVlast was the first to report: "The New York Times is reporting that HP is buying Compaq to form the second-largest computer company (after IBM). Wow."

thk writes "Sistina, the main developer of the Global File System, has changed its license from GPL to SPL (Sistina Public License). SPL is basically a free-for-non-profit-use license. Interestingly, the change came just after beta testing, leaving some users a bit miffed. The GFS is an important component of some GPL clustering projects, such as Compaq's SSIC project. The Sistina press release is here."

Well, we've gotten a massive number of submissions with the haps at LWCE. I've distilled some of the good ones below: Chanc_Grokon wrote to us with the press release from Ximian about the monthly charges for Red Carpet, their installer. He also raises the "Why not just use apt-get?" point. A number of people wrote pointing out LinuxLookup.com's Day 1 coverage and Day 2 coverage. Of particular interest to Daeslin was Larry Lessig's attack on overly strong intellectual property laws. A number of people, Krismon included, have voiced some disappointment at the excitement of the show - not being there, I make no judgments. Sun has unveiled more details about StarOffice 6. Compaq's CTO also made comments about Linux improving in the enterprise. jrbw sent in Linus' thoughts (dismissive) of .Net/Hailstorm. And KDE has won the "Best Open Source Project" award. Newsforge has also got a round-up and coverage piece. More news as it happens.

Russ Nelson writes "If you weren't lucky enough to be at OSCon to see Jim Gettys' unobtainium, or my Linux iPAQ playing MP3's off Chris DiBona's gigabyte Microdrive (I downloaded madplay from the Familiar unstable feed with my 802.11 card, removed that, and inserted Chris's microdrive and it all Just Worked®), then at least you can test drive a Linux iPAQ via Compaq's Test Drive program. They have a webcam pointing at the screen." Having seen the device in real life - this thing rocks. Compaq: Please bring it into production, say, next week? *grin*