Thanks for the bevy of letters and emails to Online over the past week, they bring brightness and lucidity to our flimsy excuses for existence. Actually, things are rather perky at the moment: the Online Dungeon has been transported to a different floor of Guardian Towers, and now we're feeling bright and breezy - and feeling rather nauseous from the smell of new carpet.
Anyway, enough of that. We'll be running our letters page tomorrow as usual, but - as is now the routine on Wednesday - we like to take a look through of some of this week's comments, and respond where necessary. If you see anything on the site that you want to get off your chest, email us at online.feedback@theguardian.com or leave a comment below.
Linux love
A surprising amount of feedback came in from those looking at Linux, who were interested in our coverage of the Knoppix 4.0. Most of it seemed to reflect a little on the difficulty of actually getting a live Linux disc to work properly...
"Is there any chance you can make the Knoppix disc available to readers?" asked Ian Deveny. "I have been trying to get hold of it but am having no luck. Downloading 4GB of DVD takes a long time even when it doesn't keep breaking."
Simon G Best wondered something along similar lines. "I read your article about the Knoppix 4.0 DVD and would like to make a suggestion," he told us. "How about including a live CD/DVD with your newspaper? It needn't be Knoppix, as there are plenty of other live systems out there.
Update: Reader Michael Sheldon has got in touch with a suggestion: "You might want to point your readers towards shipit.ubuntulinux.org, where people can make a request for an Ubuntu Linux LiveCD and Install CD to be shipped to them at no cost (even for shipping). People are encouraged to a order a few and distribute them to friends and colleagues."
Gardening leave
Max Crowe, on the other hand, wrote to complain about switching to 3G. He's not happy that mobile providers try to hold you inside their network.
"I bought a new 3G phone because I was attracted by the cheap contract and then because of the Wap facilities. There are a great deal of applications that can be downloaded for the phone, including streaming radio, independent email and chat facilities. And then, of course, sites such as the BBC provide many services designed for mobile devices."
So far so good.
"The problem is that 3, my service provider, will not let you out of their "walled garden" of services. Is this not going to put people off upgrading to 3G? 3 does not make this clear when you sign up. It is a shame that so much has been developed for these phones, but then we are not allowed to use them."
A very good point - and one I touched on a while back in this piece, which put across the idea that (a) networks are greedy; (b) the walled garden will eventually break down as people gain access to internet sites outside the perimeter (c) this change will shaft them if they're not careful.
Any other business
Ben Hammersley's exploration of "personal offshoring" angered Sheelagh Caygill, who wrote in to complain. "I was disappointed with Ben Hammersley's piece, and the conclusion that 'the majority of these offshoring deals are successful'. He fails fully to take into account the social and economic impact of these decisions in the UK. For those who are made redundant or bankrupt, the deals are not successful. Nor does he address the issues of financial exploitation of workers around the globe who are willing to work at a fraction of the cost of European workers. Yes, UK prices are sometimes too high, but paying people a fraction of what we earn is not a solution."
Offshoring is, of course, a murky issue. But the piece was never intended to be an exploration of the rights and wrongs of the system... perhaps that's something we can look at more deeply in the future. Do other readers feel the same?
And finally, Niall O' Sioradain has a question about a piece of kit we mentioned in last week's What's New gadget roundup. "Why would anyone pay £400 for a 4GB Buffalo Technology USB mini storage key when you can get a 60GB iPod for £100 less, use it as a USB or FireWire external hard drive and — if you fancied — have plenty of space to store a few songs as well?"
Fair question. I asked Ashley Norris, gadget guru, why the Buffalo 4GB was so pricey."Unlike an iPod," he points out, "a 4gb key attaches to your key ring and is tiny".
So there's your answer, Niall: wee device, big price.
If you want to give us your thoughts about anything you see on the site, email us at online.feedback@theguardian.com or leave a comment below.
