Increasing Integration Trends (was: RE: [PLUG] New Linux PVR)

[Petcher, Danielx J]

robinsoq [mailto:robinsoq at mail.opusnet.com] wrote:

> There was
> a time in the 386 era when nothing was integrated and you had real
control
> over hardware, will we ever see those days again?  Less integration
may
> have meant more cost but how much does it cost to throw out a whole
entire
> motherboard let alone potentially the processor too?

[Daniel Petcher]
No, we will never see those days in the computer industry again. The
trend toward more and more integration continues. From vacuum tubes to
solid state discrete logic to integrated circuit chips continuing to
Programmable Logic Arrays and the utter disappearance of peripheral
cards (your present complaint), systems indeed are getting more
integrated. Each manufacturer wants ALL of the money involved in the
making of your computer. Each manufacturer wants to be unfettered by
other manufacturers' design compromises.

Returning to the matters I snipped-out from your complaint, Intel *IS*
working to support Linux in numerous areas. I sit about 50 feet away
from a bunch of guys who spend the whole day testing Intel network
software against most of the major distributions of Linux as well as
xBSD, UnixWare, and Solaris. Micro$oft doesn't own the whole industry
and they are not the only OS vendor that gets support from hardware
manufacturers, Intel or otherwise.

I don't speak for Intel. They don't speak for me. I'm just working a
contract to try and find bugs in their network cards and software before
you see them in the real world.