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360

use free software for mediadirect

360 points posted to Inspiron products, Linux, Operating Systems by hadrolepton 07/22/07

use free software for mediadirect.

it is not hard to modify a linux distribution to fit on a 2 GB partition, to boot blazingly fast, and still provide all the required functionality of a media center pc.

currently mediadirect is based on windows xp or something similar (inspiron 640m).

the current (re)installation method is complex and requires one to repartition the entire harddisk, losing all data on the way. the mediadirect software itself is buggy and will break if the main windows breaks, defeating the idea of having a seperate system.

as far as i can tell the current mediadirect is able to start so fast because it uses the hibernate function from windows. linux also knows hibernation, but i believe if configured properly linux can boot faster than windows waking up from hibernation.

linux can read from ntfs and from ext3 (and from many more filesystems). that means mediadirect can read the media files from a windows and/or from a linux partition.

the current mediadirect keeps all the implementation details away from the user, this does not need to change. the casual user will use mediadirect as before and will only notice a slightly different interface. the enthusiasts or hackers on the other hand can get his/her hands dirty and tweak the system to their liking.

using free software (free as in speech, usually also free as in beer) dell can save money on licenses. and as a bonus there will be a community which will develop, support, and maintain a free mediadirect.

summary:
* the casual user will hardly notice any difference
* the enthusiasts can do what they like most (tweak their system) :)
* dell gets a big sympathy bonus and saves some money

sexyladadon
09/04/07		 my system was configure and i lost my media direct am in nigeria and couldnt get the software to reinstall it please help me out i want it back
sexyladadon
09/04/07		 my system was configure and i lost my media direct am in nigeria and couldnt get the software to reinstall it please help me out i want it back
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