Linux in Movies? 210
chicagoan asks: "Last weekend I, like many other people across the US, saw Scary Movie 3. During the movie an actress gets on the web to help her in her quest. Looking closer I noticed that the Desktop environment she was using was GNOME and the Web Browser was Mozilla's Firebird. Where have you spotted actor's using Linux in movies or on TV shows?"
Matrix (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Matrix (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Matrix (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Matrix (Score:2)
Re:Matrix (Score:2, Interesting)
Yes, but I seem to remember Neo was using a Microsoft Natural keyboard :-)
OK, big deal. So am I, and my machines haven't run Windows for 6 years.
Re:Matrix (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Matrix (Score:2, Interesting)
--Tim
Re:Matrix (Score:2)
BTW, she could have been using NMap on either Windows or Cygwin on Windows, with the console set to green. Personally, I think that it was probably a LEGALLY free (either variety) *nix.
Re:Matrix (Score:2)
Antitrust (Score:4, Interesting)
Claire Forlanni, and Rachel Leigh Cook..
What a great movie.
Poor Teddy.. he just wanted to Open Source his code...is that such a crime!?!
Re:Antitrust (Score:2)
Re:Antitrust (Score:2)
most people remember hackers the movie with Miss Jolie, well if you look very closely at some of the "hacking" screens you can see the terminal is unix based, not indicative of linux per say, but at least it's not windows
I also many years ago planned to start a website dedicated to finding technical things in movies, like what OS was used for visual etc etc not limited to computers but anything technical. unfortunately life happened.
bain
Re:Antitrust (Score:3, Funny)
Also, what are you doing posting to
Re:Antitrust (Score:2)
Then again, you DO have a point. But, the point I was trying to make was that if they used Telnet/SSH apps on Windows, they'd still have a Windows license.
Re:Antitrust (Score:2)
Re:Antitrust (Score:5, Funny)
Thanks - I never weeped for my generation before 10am prior to reading that. Congrats.
Re:Antitrust (Score:2, Funny)
And thank you: I hadn't wept for mine until reading that.
Re:Antitrust (Score:3, Insightful)
--trb
Re:Antitrust (Score:2)
Willard (Score:2)
I took some screenshots to put on my website but haven't had the time yet.
You're not going to like this reference (Score:5, Funny)
(Note: I couldn't tell you what OS the 'winner' was using.)
Re:You're not going to like this reference (Score:2)
Re:You're not going to like this reference (Score:2)
Re:You're not going to like this reference (Score:2)
In the "It happens all the time" sense, you're right, it's totally stupid. In the "it could potentially play out that way, and you could run into problems sort of like that" sense then it's somewhat plausible. When it gets to dealing with near real-time interaction (such as getting down to the last 30 seconds of an auction), the broadband guy is going to have a cl
Re:You're not going to like this reference (Score:2)
And when the guy that lost refreshed his screen why did all the graphics load again? Those should have been in the local cache.
Re:You're not going to like this reference (Score:2)
Personally, it annoys me that someone
GUI proof? (Score:4, Insightful)
AFAIK, the movies which people are claiming to be featuring Linux don't show off any proof (a uname would be helpful) that it's actually Linux, and now *BSD, IRIX, Solaris or even UNIXWare...
Re:GUI proof? (Score:2)
That said, KDE is most easily setup on a i386/Linux box (Solaris now ships with GNOME), so it's likely that the props/set-des
Chappelle's Show (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Chappelle's Show (Score:2)
Re:Chappelle's Show (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Chappelle's Show (Score:2)
*I think that's the one, anyway... been a while since I played with the classic Mac OS...
Re:Chappelle's Show (Score:2)
That was such a funny vignette,I'm laughing just thinking about it.
Julia Roberts (Score:2)
Re:Julia Roberts (Score:2)
Reason? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Reason? (Score:2)
Not to mention that you get the added bonus of being able to customize the appearance of the GUI to suit the needs of the movie.
I could just see a fairly seri
Re:Reason? (Score:2)
Re:Reason? (Score:2)
No doubt every film has some geek somewhere who is responsible for setting up computer shots. It's easier to customize a Linux screen, perhaps easier than using a powerpoint slide, especially when it comes to having the screen do something. Then with powerpoint there's the extra work of fitting it back into the movie.
Re:Reason? (Score:2)
Re:Reason? (Score:2)
"Quality" shows such as ER and Navy:NCIS both use XP on their sets - look at the monkeypox-like outbreak episode of ER, or ANY episode of NCIS.
jurassic park (Score:2, Informative)
Well more non windows... (Score:2)
Rus
Re:Well more non windows... (Score:2)
teh 1337 h4x0r
Re:Well more non windows... (Score:2)
Of course... (Score:2)
that's nothing... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:that's nothing... (Score:2)
Mexcian movie, Nicotina, used KDE (Score:3, Informative)
They even zoom in on a Russian guy working on his laptop and we discover that he is actually playing the KDE version of Tetris
ABC's Alias (TV Show) (Score:3, Informative)
Re:ABC's Alias (TV Show) (Score:2)
Yeah, that was funny. He was trying to de-fang some amazing AI virus that was about to take over the world, the only shots of the screen that we got to see showed us a standard configure script and a Makefile.
Re:ABC's Alias (TV Show) (Score:2)
Or maybe they did it on purpose... you never know.
And yes, I'm aware that I probably messed up the grammar in this post really bad (not to mention spelling mistakes - even though I used the preview button; twice).
I like playing... (Score:2)
I heard someone suggest that most of the "OS"es in movies are simply flash programs that are full screen, and will do the correct sequence of events, regar
Re:I like playing... (Score:2)
Macromedia Director, actually. I guess they might have moved to Flash these days, but yeah, computers in big-budget movies are just playing these scripts.
The computer in this movie was probably running windows and displaying a director or flash movie of GNOME.
-Isaac
Re:I like playing... (Score:2)
Not necessarily. Apple computers are the only machines distinctive enough to benefit from product placement. If you put a Dell laptop in a film, how are people going to tell at a distance that it's a Dell and not a Toshiba or Compaq? Whenever you can recognize a product in a film, it's often a paid advertisement.
As for OSes, I think the film makers just want to make an impression, so they show something glitz
Re:I like playing... (Score:2)
Someone already mentioned Italian job, where a Dell keeps getting whipped out, theres also Swordfish, where they break into the bank, and show a rack full of Dell servers, which are also distinctive things - once again because of the metallic badge.
In anime... (Score:3, Interesting)
...they feature all kinds of operating systems every now and then. Well, maybe not what you'd expect... :) They either go all to way to fantasy land and make up something like they did in Lain [animenfo.com] (which in turn inspired a real life OS interface -- LainOS [sourceforge.net]), or they humorously mimick real life OS -- think "Windaws XXXP" (seen on "Happy Lesson Advance" [animenfo.com]) or "Red Hot Linux" (seen on "Chobits" [animenfo.com]).
Not a TV show but a computer game (Score:2)
Swordfish (Score:2)
Re:Swordfish (Score:2)
You mean the 7 head terminal with all the SGI [sgi.com] logos [okino.com]? Pity you're not a gambling man. (Not that SGI doesn't use Linux, but most of their real, MIPS-based, computers still run Irix.)
Re:Swordfish (Score:2)
* Each monitor must have its own video card (i.e. 3 monitors would require 3 video cards). The exception being if you have special multi-monitor video cards.
* Anywhere from 2 - 9 monitors are supported.
http://www.digitalroom.net/techpub/multimon.htm
Not a Movie but... (Score:2)
Even says "linux" several times, which isn't surprising since it was developed for the PS2 originally. I wonder if it was kept for the XBOX version?
Re:Not a Movie but... (Score:2)
I still like this [georgyforgov.com] Linux appearance =)
Movies like to show 'fake' desktops... (Score:5, Informative)
That we recognize it is beside the point.
Anti-Trust (Score:3, Interesting)
Sphere the movie, and not just a peek (Score:2)
Re:Sphere the movie, and not just a peek (Score:2)
Dateline Commercial (Score:2, Informative)
It looked like RedHat but it was only shown for a few seconds.
"The Score" (Score:3, Informative)
Random examples of movie computing (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Random examples of movie computing (Score:2)
Aww...come on. Hackers was great! Forgetting for a second the Angelina Jolie factor (which might have made it watchable in and of itself), I actually liked the way they dealt with computers.
If they'd been 100% accurate about how computers worked, the movie just wouldn't have worked. Even geeks would've been bored watching someone just type commands into a CLI.
They could've done what other movies did and hire someone who kno
Re:Random examples of movie computing (Score:2)
I don't describe "Hackers" as awful because I have a problem with willing suspension of disbelief (I mean, I like "Law & Order" in spite of the silly IP addresses, just to give one counterexample). No, I describe "Hackers" as awful because it's a really stupid movie, not meant for anyone more mature than a seventh grade boy.
It's possible to make a good "hacker" movie. To name the two I can think of, "Sneakers" and "Pi" were both pretty good -- clever, well written & acted, thoroughly enjoyable movi
Re:Random examples of movie computing (Score:2)
Hmmm...not that it's the answer to any of life's important questions, but I liked it. I can definitely think of worse ways to spend a couple of hours.
"The Matrix" gets passed off as some kind of weighty philosophical tract, but to me it has more in common with junk like "Blade"
IMHO, the matrix is intro philosophy...the "gateway drug" if you will. It packages what is basical
Umm, about that Jurassic Park scene... (Score:2)
Two notes, in reverse order:
On-screen computer activity is, as a rule, never "live". One missed mouse click, one badly-timed BSOD, one random error message, a typo on a hidden xterm or remote prompt, and that's a serious shitload of money down the drain. (Think costs of film, lights, salaries...) It's always done in ad
Re:Sure seemed Fake (Score:2)
Re:Random examples of movie computing (Score:2)
I'll try and find some references to post here.....
TV Product Placement is Illegal (Score:2)
Actually, in the US product placement on television is prohibited under the FCC sponsorship identification requirements of 47 U.S.C. 317 and 508, and
Re:TV Product Placement is Illegal (Score:2)
Re:TV Product Placement is Illegal (Score:2)
Re:Random examples of movie computing (Score:2)
Re:Random examples of movie computing (Score:2)
Actually, I'm pretty sure about the IP as I quoted it. I've noticed that a couple of episodes have mentioned IP addresses now, and generally they have been a set of four numbers (always with at least one of them larger than 255), but this particular one jumped out at me because it was only two numbers, not four.
And I agree with you that this kind of IP address is deliberately fake, exactly like the 555 phone number prefix -- which, by the way, seems to be a legit prefix in some areas now, making decades
Not a Movie (Yet) But in the Book FLUKE (Score:2)
Office Space? (Score:2)
Wayne's World (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Wayne's World (Score:2)
If I remember correctly, it was the ubiquitous "Unix Network Programming" by the equally ubiquitous W. Richard Stevens (RIP). "Look it up in Stevens" is usually the correct answer whenever asked a question about TCP/IP or socket programming in general - if the person asking is smart enough to even understand the answer, it's almost certain they'll already own this
As for the reasons, think what movies are MADE on! (Score:2)
Paul B.
Hackers! (Score:2)
LK
24 -- season 3 (Score:2)
Bit late... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Windows in Movies ?? (Score:2)
That settles it. Bad guys use windows, and good guys don't.
Re:Windows in Movies ?? (Score:2)
Re:Windows in Movies ?? (Score:2)
It would seem to me that a lot of movie makers when told "I need a computer running in this scene" would grab a convienent computer, which has a 90% chance of running Windows, and put it in the scene. Rather than having a graphic designer paint a fake screen or ani
Re:Windows in Movies ?? (Score:2)
Re:Windows in Movies ?? (Score:2)
Not related to computers in movies, but this reminds me of the time a client had a cordless optical mouse that would NOT work with XP on her laptop, no matter what we did, and when we told her...
"What rubbish! It HAS to work with Windows XP or else they wouldn't be allowed
Re:Windows in Movies ?? (Score:2)
Ah, I see. So that explains why Gnome and KDE have appeared in all those films people mentioned (and they definitely appear more than Windows - the most common of all, though, are the hokey fake screens that flash "PASSW
Re:Disclosure (Score:2)
Re:Idependance Day (Score:2)
Re:Idependance Day (Score:2)
Re:It might be that.. (Score:2)
Hmm...
Or they could just walk into any office and pick up an computer off the desk with windows already installed and plunk it down on the set and not have to pay either the license fee or the cost of the computer
Maybe they might decide to put a particular OS on screen because
Re:Itialian Job (Score:2)