Fair enough and well-stated. What I had written
earlier was mostly tongue in cheek, but I agree with
you that Apple could have been just as bad as
Microsoft, especially if the controlled hardware. I
also choose Linux, in fact, the reason why I bought
the 8500 was I knew it would be a fast Linux box for
the $. The PowerPC chip is interesting and I didn't
know much about it, so this is a cheap way to learn
about it and Darwin as well.
John Hebert
--- Tim Fournet <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> When it comes to the lesser of the two evils of
> Microsoft and Apple, I
> choose Linux. Too many evils in the world have
> occurred when someone
> [some country] chooses to align itself with the
> underdog of a power
> struggle, just because they don't seem quite as bad
> as the big power. It
> has happened in world politics, and it has happened
> in the tech industry
> (Microsoft vs. IBM, as Dustin pointed out). I could
> go through your list
> of Microsoft evils and point out areas where Apple
> has acted similarly,
> but I think the big point is that: if Apple had the
> position to, it
> would behave as bad, or worse than Microsoft has.
> Only, in that world,
> They'd have a stranglehold not only on software, but
> hardware.
>
> My motivations are free code, not killing Microsoft.
> If Microsoft
> decided tomorrow that they're going to GPL every
> piece of code, every
> standard they've come up with, then I'll be the
> first to go out and buy
> a Microsoft T-shirt. But any company that makes a
> business out of
> squashing open source isn't going to receive my
> active support.
>
> -Tim
>
> PS. I guess that's a little heavy on the ranting.
> Apple does make
> interesting hardware, and their OS technically has
> some interesting
> ideas in it. I'll probably even load OS X on that
> iMac that's collecting
> dust in the corner of my office one day, just to
> poke around in it out
> of curiosity. I just have no interest in supporting
> Apple's long-term
> survival, considering their current philosophies.
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, 2001-10-25 at 23:28, John Hebert wrote:
> > --- Dustin Puryear <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > So, essentially you are saying it's acceptable
> to
> > > choose the lesser of two
> > > evils? Not that I think Apple is evil, but I
> think
> > > this makes for a good
> > > point.
> >
> > Sure, especially when you weigh the relative
> "evils"
> > that are Apple and Micro$oft:
> >
> > Apple:
> > - sued some developers for creating an
> "Aqua"-based
> > theme for Xfree86 in violation of Apple's
> copyright.
> >
> > Micro$oft:
> > - Jim Allchin, VP of Operating Systems, claims:
> "The
> > GPL is un-American."
> > - Proposes that Linux and other open source based
> > operating systems are inherently less secure
> because
> > hackers can look at the source code.
> > - "Embraces and extends" Kerberos on Win2K so that
> it
> > is incompatible with Kerberos implementations on
> other
> > operating systems.
> > - Microsoft Tech Support
> > - The DMCA
> > - The BSOD
> > - Bill Gates gives diabolism workshops in Hell to
> > Satan and the major heirarchy of demons. Wins the
> > coveted "Really Mean Guy" medal.
> > - Steve Ballmer's ego.
> > - Bill Gates whiney voice.
> > - "Micro$oft Bob"
> > - etc, etc, etc.
> >
> > Ok, maybe M$ Bob wasn't that bad, and sure, I'm
> > leaving out stuff that Apple and Steve Jobs
> pulled,
> > but Wozinak makes up for a hell of a lot of
> mistakes
> > on Apple's part. I mean the guy is like a geek
> saint
> > or something. Not like that wackass nutcase RMS
> ("St.
> > IGNUtius" my aft deck). He spooks me. He looks too
> > much like Rasputin. Whereas Woz looks like a big
> fuzzy
> > Barney the Dinosaur, except skin colored. And
> hairier.
> >
> > Um.... what was your question?
> >
> > John
> >
> > ps: Seriously, ABM ("Anything But Microsoft").
> > Microsoft is a monopoly. It was decided and then
> > upheld in court. Having one corporation's closed
> > operating system on the majority of computers on
> the
> > planet is not a recipe for innovation. It is a
> recipe
> > for fewer choices.
> >
> > Let me present a metaphor: Let's say operating
> systems
> > are like political parties. When you have a couple
> of
> > parties, you sometimes have to choose the lesser
> of
> > two evils. When you have three or more parties
> with
> > fairly equal numbers of members, you have many
> choices
> > that can suit the individual's political ideas and
> > tastes. When you have just one party in power,
> what is
> > that called?
> >
> > Who the hell is Allchin to call open source
> > un-American?
> >
> > Americans have been sharing their ideas and work
> for a
> > long time before Micro$oft came along. Can you
> imagine
> > the Quakers copyrighting their beautifully crafted
> > chairs? No, the idea is ludricous, because they
> didn't
> > _need_ to protect their chairs. Anybody was
> welcome to
> > copy their design. But if you didn't have the
> skills
> > or attention to detail that the Quakers had, you
> ended
> > up with a chair that just didn't last. The Quakers
> > competed, literally, on the strength of the
> product.
> >
> > Ok, now I'm done ranting for the night.
> >
> > John
> >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > > Behalf Of John Hebert
> > > > Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 6:10 PM
> > > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > > Subject: Re: [brluglist] Any
> LinuxPPC/OSX/BSD/Mac
> > > geeks out there?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > In light of what M$ has done/said towards the
> Open
> > > > Source community, I can forgive Apple for
> wanting
> > > to
> > > > sue ppl for Aqua-based themes. I'm not happy
> about
> > > it,
> > > > but I see M$ as being a much bigger threat to
> open
> > > > source.
> > > >
> > > > John Hebert
> > > >
> > > > --- Tim Fournet <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > > > > I'm hoping to generate more interest in
> Mac
> > > OSX in
> > > > > the
> > > > > > BRLUG, since it is UNIX at its core. The
> move
> > > by
> > > > > Apple
> > > > > > to an open source based kernel was one of
> the
> > > > > biggest
> > > > > > events in the last few years to support
> the
> > > open
> > > > > > source movement. I am very surprised that
>
=== message truncated ===
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