644: Surgery
| Surgery |
 Title text: Damn. Not only did he not install it, he sutured a 'Vista-Ready' sticker onto my arm. |
Explanation
Linux is an open source kernel for an operating system. Linux is notorious for it's less-than-perfect support for hardware, although support for most hardware is eventually patched into the official kernel release. In this comic, Cueball is under the impression that support for a USB port can be patched into his brain in a similar fashion to how hardware support can be added to the Linux kernel.
The "Vista-Ready" sticker in the title text is a reference to a common habit of computer manufacturers to place stickers on new computers to indicate what hardware and software the computer runs. The "Vista-Ready" sticker is especially insulting to the patient, as it is already established that he uses Linux - an alternative operating system to Windows.
Transcript
- [A surgeon is standing over a patient on a gurney.]
- Patient: While you're doing the surgery, can you also implant this in my arm?
- Surgeon: A USB port?
- Patient: Just wire it up to some nerves.
- Surgeon: ...This won't let your brain control USB devices, you know.
- Patient: Sure -- I just want the hardware.
- Patient: The rest is software; I'm sure there will be a project to patch together support eventually.
- Surgeon: Ah -- you're a Linux user, I see.
- Patient: Yeah, how'd you know?
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Anyone who wants to see more about this kind of implant technology would be advised to have a look at the works of Kevin Warwick of Reading University in the UK (There must be others as well). β141.101.98.228 (talk) 10:59, 18 December 2013 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
this would be so awesome Caliban (talk) 09:38, 17 December 2024 (UTC) Add comment
