Linux To Be First OS To Support USB 3.0 296
An anonymous reader writes with an excerpt from Neowin.net "Sarah Sharp, a self-styled 'geekess' and Linux developer at Intel's Open Source Technology Center who has recently been working on the Linux USB subsystem, announced on her blog that support of USB 3.0 will soon be integrated into the Linux kernel. This makes Linux the first operating system to support the standard. If you can't wait and have the expertise necessary, she includes instructions on how to get USB 3.0 support in Linux now." Here's Sharp's post.
Any USB 3.0 hardware? (Score:4, Insightful)
Poor naming (Score:4, Insightful)
The official USB 3 logo has the phrase "superspeed" on it, and the icon has a matching "SS"
Who keeps on doing this!! Being a relative term, you'll be up to ludicrous speed by USB 5.
Ditto for fast ethernet.
Re:The word 'Geek' is gender neutral (Score:2, Insightful)
It means almost nothing (Score:3, Insightful)
I may have to preface this with the fact that I am a hard core Linux user. I run Mac OS on the wife's machines. I have a WindowsXP VM. That's about it for me personally. I use Linux exclusively and favorably. But what I have to say is the objective truth the way I see it... objectively.
It means nothing to Windows pushers and nothing to Mac pushers. It only means something when they have something that Linux doesn't support. Then they can point their fingers and say "Linux doesn't support my hardware [again]!"
Linux isn't entitled to bragging rights of any kind. Sure we have snazzy 3D OpenGL desktops with cubes and spheres. Sure we have the ability to many things "unencumbered" by DRM or other schemes while at the same time can play all media (so far). There are lots of games natively written for Linux though not the ones someone wants to play usually... (No WoW and no chance in hell of an OpenGL version of XWing vs. Tie Fighter....)
The point is what Linux has is completely unimportant to others... even when they DON'T have it. What is important is what Linux doesn't have.
Still, I'll chalk this little bullet point up in Linux's favor... but at the same time, none of it matters until really useful USB 3.0 devices are available and at that time there WILL be Windows drivers and support and there WILL be Mac OS X support. "Sure, you had it first... but what could you do with it?"
(I'll still get modded troll)
For that matter (Score:4, Insightful)
There may already be Windows drivers, Microsoft may have simply not released them since, lacking final hardware, that isn't a real useful thing to do. However internally there could well be a driver prepped and ready to go.
Re:The word 'Geek' is gender neutral (Score:4, Insightful)
Why exactly? Although not productive anymore, the -ess morpheme is used in English words like actress to indicate a female noun.
Why does her choice of neologism mean she's a "sub geek?"
Is this really a nice thing for USB3? (Score:3, Insightful)
As you mention MS, something comes to my mind... There is nothing stopping MS from _never_ releasing drivers and such "Linux gets support first" gestures could either be a kick to them or could guarantee USB3 becoming a failure just because MS didn't include drivers.
While Apple is certainly more nice company than MS, Apple is the one who always loves "We had it here first" type of things and all (excluding hopeless fanatics) must thank Apple for helping USB to really take off, with first iMac.
So, they are taking the chance to make SJobs telling how amazingly fast, unbeliavable thing USB 3 is. If I was a company working on USB3 like, multimedia focused technology, I wouldn't make Apple mad too.
Especially while there is certainly incoming FW3200 technology, significantly more modern than USB (thanks to its roots) and it half belongs to Apple. They can say "We are waiving our patent price for implementing it and here are its specs including comically low CPU usage". Firewire 1600/3200 is _really_ 1600 and 3200 mbit, no overhead etc. issues and you can CHAIN them without losing bandwidth. Think about netbooks having to have 3-4 USB inputs in such small space. A single FW1600 can handle all with amazing speed. What stops firewire? Of course, the high price of implementation. Apple can actually erase half or more of the price instantly with a single memo.
There are some great technologies failed just because they weren't supported on Windows natively. Just look how that FAT16/32 dinosaur lives on while there are dozens of better filesystems out there.
Re:Any USB 3.0 hardware? (Score:4, Insightful)
Devices, I would be more concerned about finding a hardware adaptor to install into your computer first. The devices come after you have something you can plug them into.
The worst part about this naming scheme (Score:2, Insightful)
This naming scheme invites shady marketing. You know we're going to see USB3.0 mice. They'll be USB3.0 alright, just implementing the low-speed part of the spec. It doesn't matter in case of mice, but users will not expect USB3.0 external hard disks to just implement "hi-speed", yet we will see this kind of up-labeling again: "USB3.0 Hi-Speed."
(The Superspeed logo does not have SS in it - that would have been a major marketing faux-pas.)
CPU usage? (Score:2, Insightful)
That's simply not true. The USB 3.0 spec. is mostly concerned with the phy. & bus. The xHCI spec covers the HCD. The software-level device interfaces have not changed, or have changed very little.
So does that mean CPU usage will be 100% when I copy files to a hard drive?
Historically this is the main reason why I always went with FireWire for external enclosures--USB killed CPU on heavy duty workloads. (Of course I haven't used external USB in a while, so my information may now be out of date.)
And I know we generally have CPU cycles to spare, but it just grates on my engineering "sensitivities" and comes off as an inelegant design. Things may have improved over the years, but early problems have made USB a stigma in my mind for anything more than keyboards and mice.
Re:Is this really a nice thing for USB3? (Score:3, Insightful)
and we all know, users really install third party drivers that didn't come with their computer.
If you speak with a browser vendor like Firefox, Opera, you may get surprised about how a huge part of population doesn't install their better application just because it didn't come with computer.
Basically, how many people installed "Intel chipset drivers" (a very small download) to their XP which will make their PC perform way better and compatible?
Re:The word 'Geek' is gender neutral (Score:2, Insightful)
No, it's a nonsense word.
Like Doctoress or Plumberess.
It is forced into the vocabulary by women who, for some reason, feel equal means making up new words. I blame Hollywood for being to afraid to correct it.
Re:Even worse than you can imagine (Score:4, Insightful)
It was definitely Satan that was behind 667 MHz. Without a doubt. Or rounding 666.67 MHz up to 667 looked nicer. One or the other. But probably Satan. Also, I think you are probably the kid in class who ate too much paste.
Re:Could someone post a link? (Score:2, Insightful)
I don't know why, but over there they breed a certain type of hot chick with strong math aptitude. Probably a result of some sort of early genetic experiment before the fall of the USSR.
Clearly the Bene Gesserit of the USSR
Re:The word 'Geek' is gender neutral (Score:4, Insightful)
WHy do you need to indicate a female noun?
For me it boils down to this:
It is an un-need divide in a culture. Instead of being a group of geeks, we end up creating geeks and geekess's. Which seems to lead to an US v THEM aspect in everything it touches.
True gender equality doesn't need this artificial line.
Also, I look at history:
Princess were inferior to prince, Goddess inferior to God.
I don't think we need that any more.
Re:You should be running Linux in 1990s (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The word 'Geek' is gender neutral (Score:1, Insightful)
Can this guy be modded flamebait?
Re:Wasn't it also the first for USB too? (Score:2, Insightful)
Yeah yeah yeah Apple had USB in the 1930s because they are just so awesome. Don't you get tired of defending a company you probably have 0 shares in and is...just a company. Maybe if you Apple guys kept things on technical merit and not what's "cool at starbucks" then maybe people would take you seriously.
Re:Another win for OSS community (Score:3, Insightful)
Mrs LizardKing once said that she'd attempted sex when she had the painters in,
As in, not with you? Try using the personal pronoun "I" before you experiment with sex. Disclaimer: my girlfriends and I were younger than menopause when we experimented with period sex. If you can't properly lubricate then just spit on it.
As if you were just saying, "Half-digested period blood-chunks are brown". Yes, nerds, they are. If you can't handle it then go to Digg and beat your dicks for eternity while the real men turn their women into jelly using their mud tires.
Re:Could someone post a link? (Score:1, Insightful)
What about the bi overlap? And people often aren't as segregated as made out to be in these areas.
Re:The word 'Geek' is gender neutral (Score:3, Insightful)
Please explain to me why this is sexist?
Because prudes had trouble distinguishing in the past between an Actress and a Prostitute? Because casting directors used to be sexist? Should we use the male term for all female professions, or is this one special?
I think it's time everyone got with the times and dropped all this 'Actor' bullshit for female actresses. It's absurd and carries baggage from the past that we simply shouldn't care about.
The real sexism is assuming that we can't use a word because if the listener is a misogynistic sexist they might think the actress is actually a lady of ill repute.
Re:The word 'Geek' is gender neutral (Score:2, Insightful)
Of course, if I was really a nerd, I would check my sentences for typos...
Re:Any USB 3.0 hardware? (Score:5, Insightful)
Nice to hear that, but are there any USB 3.0 devices to plug ?
Mod me troll if you want, but the majority of the devices won't come until Windows has USB 3.0 support.