[ltp] Xandros

joshua timberman linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
Tue, 4 Jan 2005 08:51:42 -0700


On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 06:10:15 -0500, SOTL <sotl155360@earthlink.net> wrote:

> A Thinkpad is assembled by IBM. 

Not necessarily.  Particularly now that the PC and Laptop business has
been sold, but even prior.  Not all IBM machines were manufactured in
IBM facilities. This has been stated on this list before, I believe. 
(maybe that was the general thinkpad list though)

> IBM chooses the hardware. Many times IBM
> decides to change hardware in the middle of a production run and as a results
> 2 apparent similar Thinkpads have different hardware in them.

Sure.  Thats why IBM has the MachineType_SerialNumber_ModelNumber tag
on every single system.  This information is invaluable to get support
about your specific system.

If your system does not have such a label, report it to IBM
immediately.  And see my other response for more details.

> the issue. IBM does all this without telling us what hardware they are
> utilizing. Oh! Sometines we get the information but many times not. This
> makes the concept of build a system, hardware wise, irrelevant to the
> discussion.

As I demonstrated in my other post, it is actually simple to find
information about the hardware from IBM's own site.  It may not be
simple to someone who doesn't use search engines on a daily basis, but
that is a fault of the end user not learning enough about how to use
their computer and how to find information quickly on the internet.

> On the other hand is you are talking of non teckies building a software system
> like Gentoo or such one must recognize that that is way beyond the technical
> capabilities of even the most advanced non teckie much less the average
> computer user.

Wow, I would never ever recommend a nontechnical user try Gentoo. 
Anyone who thinks that's a good idea is either mental, or is helping
that person set up their system and will provide ongoing support.

-- 
prepare for down count.. 5.. 4.. 3.. 1.. off blast!