Linux-Advocacy Digest #504, Volume #33 Wed, 11 Apr 01 10:13:04 EDT
Contents:
Re: Has Linux anything to offer ? (Karel Jansens)
Re: Has Linux anything to offer ? (Karel Jansens)
Re: Has Linux anything to offer ? (Karel Jansens)
Re: another example of why Linux is brain dead. (Karel Jansens)
Re: Basement Boy: Aka Aaron Koookis (WesTralia)
Re: Need your recommendation for a full-featured text editor
([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Re: Basement Boy: Aka Aaron Koookis (WesTralia)
Re: Undeniable proof that Aaron R. Kulkis is a hypocrite, and a (WesTralia)
make config ("ja")
Re: Has Linux anything to offer ? (Neil Cerutti)
Re: Blame it all on Microsoft ("MH")
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Karel Jansens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Has Linux anything to offer ?
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 14:20:08 +0000
"roger$@a" wrote:
>
> In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Rex says...
>
> > If you are a student who
> >would like to learn the principles of UNIX, if you are the secretary
> >of a non-profit and want
> >to put up a web-site, or if you just want to chat and e-mail, Linux
> >has some
> >really great tools to do this.
> >
>
> The problem is that on Linux, there is no consistant and coherant way
> with how applications work. One can't cut/paste from one app to
> another like on windows. Application quality in general are less of
> those that exist on widnows.
>
Those are all ridiculous and incorrect statements. Linux has _many_
consistent and coherent ways which applications operate in. One can
cut/copy/paste actually more easily in linux than in Windows. The
quality of applications in linux is higher than in Windows (Windows
applications usually come with more eye-candy, but IMO that is a
hindrance, rather than an asset to productivity).
> Let take some examples:
>
Yes, let's.
> 1. Using IE 6.0 beta, If I am on a web page, and do 'save', IE is
> smart enough not only to save the HTML page itself, but also to
> create a subdirectory with all the gif files on that page. This means
> when one views the locally saved HTML page later on, it comes up with
> all the images intact on it. There is nothing like this on Linux.
>
Does IE do this always? If so, this is a pretty useless, and even
counter-productive feature. Whenever I want to save something from the
web, it's generally not the layout and the glitz of the page I'm
interested in, but the information. I don't want to save some text and
end up with a multi-megabyte sized directory of useless GIFs.
> 2. On windows, I can drag an image from my Visio document to my word
> document and have it show up there. There is nothing like this on linux.
>
Well duh. Aren't both Visio and Word sold by the same company? Aren't
both products usually offered as part of a bundle? I can do the same
thing in StarOffice, in Applix Office, pretty much all around KDE and
Gnome, and I can even do it between terminal windows and 'regular' X
apps.
You Windows people are an easily pleased bunch, if you ask me.
> 3. On Windows, when one starts a CD writes, the writes software
> automatically scans scsi and ide devices and locates the CD-W device.
> On linux, one must compile the kernel and do other hacks to get this
> to work.
>
I don't do CD writing personally, but experience from Windows using
people shows that, while the Windows _setup_ of a CD-writer might _look_
easier (after all, most Windows users get their box pre-installed; most
of them wouldn't know what hammer to hit it with if they had to install
their writer themselves), the biggest advantage of writing CDs under
Windows is that one is guaranteed never to be short of coasters. Windows
simply cannot maintain the stability needed for a successful burn, other
than by sheer luck.
> 4. On linux, each distro has it own way interface and methods of how
> to configure and update the system. On widnows there is one way.
>
On linux, one can choose the interface and methods one likes best. On
Windows, when the one way turns out to be the wrong way, one is up the
proverbial creek.
> 5. On linux, it is still very hard to get a system working using
> anti-aliased fonts, without more user hacks and configurations. On
> windows, it comes build in and the user has to do nothing more.
>
On linux, to get a system working with anti-aliased fonts, one installs
a distribution with a 2.4 kernel and Xfree 4.x.
OTOH, if one were to _prefer_ a system without anti-aliasing (for
whatever reason that might be necessary), how exactly would one go about
that on Windows?
> 6. Printing on Linux is broke. On widnows, setting up a printer requires
> no hacks as on linux. It just works.
>
Printing on linux works flawlessly. One installs the printers at setup
and they will work everywhere. The printing system in linux also
guarantees one a prefect page previewer (Ghostview). What previewer on
Windows can sport the same guarantee? Why, it's nowhere to be seen.
> 7. On Linux, there are many different desktop environments, each work
> differently. Applications written for one, might not work as expected
> on another. On windows, there is one way to do it, making developer life
> much simpler and users are familiar with how GUI applications are expected
> to behave.
>
Linux offers the user the choice to configure her/his system to look and
behave the way (s)he wants it, and not the way the manufacturer
dictates. Applications written for one desktop environment will work as
expected on any other environment, provided the correct libraries for
the application are installed (and to anticipate the standard retort:
this is exactly the same thing as Windows applications that require
certain DLLs to be present, with the difference that in linux library
conflicts are impossible, due to the better design of the operating
system).
And since there is only one way to do things in Windows, this must be
the reason why developers bend over backwards to invent new skins and
user interfaces for their applications. A typical running Windows
computer is a designer nightmare in conflicting user interfaces,
compared to a typical linux computer (but fair's fair: the reason for
that could also be that linux users are generally more interested in
productivity than in looks).
> >PERL, Python, PHP, and other scripting languages, combined with KDE
> >and GNOME components have made it very easy to obtain programs that
> >can be packaged quite creatively.
>
> PERL, python, PHP all exist on windows.
>
They were ported to Windows to alleviate the pain and the anguish of
starving Windows developers.
>
> >
> >> Are CD-R and CD-RW easier to configure and use with Linux?
> >
>
> >This depends or your system. Linux sports multiple "toasters", and
> >the set-up for the read-write is a bit more involved. On the other
> >hand, the EZ-CD Creator
> >used on most Windows CD-ROM burners costs over $100 retail.
> >
>
> CD writer devices come with a FREE cdwrites software packages
> with it in the box, (for windows of course).
>
They are not free; the customer pays for them. Do you believe something
is free because it is not billed separately? I can typically buy a
white-box CDROM for 20 to 40% less than a branded one, the difference is
the shiny packaging and the Windows disks. Of course, a Windows user has
no option but to go for the expensive branded boxes, because her/his
operating system of choice has very little but the basic support built
in, relying on manufacturers to develop drivers for new products.
> >> Is the support for Display Cards, DVD, Sound Cards, Large Hard Drives and
> >> Printers better?
>
> >
> >For the products that advertise Linux compatibility, the support is
> >usually
> >quite good.
>
> There is no commerical DVD player for linux. What is there is
> mostly hacks that does not support half of what a commercial
> DVD players on widnows support.
>
What do you base that statement on?
>
> >
> >Some people like it because they like having the power and stability
> >of a UNIX system.
>
> win2k is VERY stable. The stability claim is getting too old now.
> need to find a new one.
>
Windows has no credibility left in the stability department. Every new
release has been labeled as absolutely stable, followed by the admission
that the previous version was not stable. Windows is stable because
Microsoft's marketing department claims it is so; linux is stable
because it is.
>
> In summary:
> -----------
> The Linux KERNEL is good. No one can argue about that. But to have
> an OS for the end user has nothing to do with the KERNEL. The
> main problem with Linux as and end user, is that there is no overall
> guiding strategy and design to drive it. Each linux group decide to make
> something as they please, a new Linux flavour is out each month. We now
> have 75 Linux distro and counting. No standard way to do anything. From
> application installation to printer setup to configuring the network.
>
> It is like being in the kitchen with 20 cooks making one big dinner. Each
> want to do the dinner their own way.
>
> Unless this is fundemantly chaned, linux will never compete with windows
> on the desktop. windows still claims 90% of the desktop. The reason is
> simple. It is simple to use and consistant in the way it works.
>
> Making something simple and easy to use is something the Linux advocates
> find very hard to understand. Users do not want 20 different ways to do
> the same thing. Users want the OS to hide the complixity of the machine
> from them. Users want an OS that is easy to configure and manage and use.
>
> So far, windows is winning in this area, if it were not, it would not
> have 90% market share. (of course, you will blame this on MS marketing,
> right?)
In summary:
___________
Linux offers the user an absolute choice on every possible level;
Windows offers the user no choice at all.
Linux applications are plentiful and very capable at their task; Windows
applications are plentiful and very glitzy.
Linux installation is very straightforward but does not pretend to make
choices the user should make for her/himself; Windows installation is
very straightforward.
Linux is a very stable platform that is easy to manage even at desktop
level; Windows appears easy to manage.
Linux is actively developed by the same people who use it; Windows gets
a new release ever so often.
Windows is preloaded an just about every PC you try to buy; linux isn't.
--
Regards,
Karel Jansens
==============================================================
"You're the weakest link. Goodb-No, wait! Stop! Noaaarrghh!!!"
==============================================================
------------------------------
From: Karel Jansens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Has Linux anything to offer ?
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 14:24:06 +0000
GreyCloud wrote:
>
> "roger$@a" wrote:
> >
> >
> > There is no commerical DVD player for linux. What is there is
> > mostly hacks that does not support half of what a commercial
> > DVD players on widnows support.
> >
>
> I would refute the DVD argument. Things change over time. I believe
> that the current version of Suse and RedHat now have DVD built in.
>
I forgot that in my reply: SuSE has been offering a DVD-installation
medium since version 6.4 (IIRC). It would be a pretty silly thing to do
if their distribution did not come with DVD support.
--
Regards,
Karel Jansens
==============================================================
"You're the weakest link. Goodb-No, wait! Stop! Noaaarrghh!!!"
==============================================================
------------------------------
From: Karel Jansens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Has Linux anything to offer ?
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 14:27:33 +0000
"roger#@!" wrote:
>
> In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Rex says...
>
> >
> >Linux on the other hand starts about 300 processes because it
> >functions as
> >both a client and a server.
>
> Yet, there is not consistant way to manage these services on linux.
> On widows, one can use the services console to stop and start services.
> On linux, there is not a standard and easy way to do this.
>
Sofar, you've managed to misspell Windows as "Widnows" and "Widows"; is
there some freudian background process running here?
>
> >
> >People also like having a single desktop that can give them a
> >consistent
> >working environment whether it's a stand-alone system or a multitiered
> >cluster.
> >
>
> I see. Is this why Linux has 10 desktops to choose from each works
> and configured differently?
>
You really, _really_ don't get it, do you? This newsgroup must be real
torture for you, what with all these peopel going on about stuff you
have absolutely no clue about.
--
Regards,
Karel Jansens
==============================================================
"You're the weakest link. Goodb-No, wait! Stop! Noaaarrghh!!!"
==============================================================
------------------------------
From: Karel Jansens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: another example of why Linux is brain dead.
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 14:45:07 +0000
Karel Jansens wrote:
>
> GreyCloud wrote:
> >
> > Karel Jansens wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > We really, _really_ need a linux anthem. This posts positively begs to
> > > be concluded with it.
> > >
> > > Thanks.
> > >
>
> > Maybe the Tux logo can be changed to show Tux with an outstreched wing
> > (?).
> > Saying "Let us help you make the transition to Linux". Or something to
> > that effect.
> >
>
> To avoid confusion: I was not being sarcastic, I really think Pip's post
> is a fine example of good advocacy.
>
> And IMHO the mere idea of linux clashes violently with any outstretched
> appendages (well... _most_ outstretched appendages).
>
> "Alle Menschen werden Brueder", would be a good linux anthem, if it
> hadn't been snatched already.
>
> That, or the Birdie Song.
>
Weird coincidence time: Wasn't there this 80's arcade video game, with
the penguins pushing the ice cubes ("Pengo" or something it was called
IIRC), that played the "Brueder" theme? You know, where all the cute
little penguins did the disco if you completed a level?
Talking to yourself again, I see. How predictable.
Shut up!!
--
Regards,
Karel Jansens
==============================================================
"You're the weakest link. Goodb-No, wait! Stop! Noaaarrghh!!!"
==============================================================
------------------------------
From: WesTralia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: Basement Boy: Aka Aaron Koookis
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 08:47:28 -0500
Did I hear a WinLuser say something?
"Aaron R. Kulkis" wrote:
>
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Crossposted-To:
comp.editors,comp.lang.java.help,comp.lang.java.programmer,comp.lang.java.softwaretools,comp.os.linux.development.system,alt.comp.shareware.programmer
Subject: Re: Need your recommendation for a full-featured text editor
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 13:54:19 GMT
On Tue, 10 Apr 2001 18:14:53, Dave Martel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote: WEEKDAY
#On Tue, 10 Apr 2001 10:58:12 -0700, "Dan Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
#wrote:
#
#Multiedit is $129 but I don't believe they make a linux version. The
#version number hasn't been changed for quite some time, leading me to
#wonder if they're continuing to improve it.
#
ME 9 was announced for this month.
Too bad they restricted themselves to MicroTrash.
We used the DOS version until it became Windows only.
--
Remove -zamboni to reply
All the above is hearsay and the opinion of no one in particular
------------------------------
From: WesTralia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: Basement Boy: Aka Aaron Koookis
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 08:48:47 -0500
"Aaron R. Kulkis" wrote:
>
> Brent R wrote:
> >
> > "Aaron R. Kulkis" wrote:
> > <snip>
> >
> > > I don't care if people know my name...it's the name of the OS, and
> > > the software that I'm using that I want obscured.
> >
> > So as a "UNIX administrator" you're running an insecure system right?
> >
> > Or you're lying.
>
> What I will tell you is that I'm *NOT* running Windows, and I'm *NOT*
> running Netscape.
>
> hope that helps.
>
Did I hear a WinLuser say something?
--
------------------------------
From: WesTralia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: Undeniable proof that Aaron R. Kulkis is a hypocrite, and a
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 08:57:18 -0500
"Aaron R. Kulkis" wrote:
>
> Chad Everett wrote:
> >
> > L14: Clue for the clueless: I was expecting that from you so here ya go:
> >
> > .global myadd
> > myadd:
> > retl
> > add %o0,%o1,%o0
> >
> > Do you REALLY think that's more elegant and efficient than?:
> >
> > int myadd( int i, int j)
> > {
> > return i+j;
> > }
> >
> > If your answer is yes, see L14:
>
> using a full-blown function call for an integer addition
> makes for a completely useless example.
>
Moron! Do you know what an example is? And what pray tell
is a "full-blown" function? How does that compare to a
half-blown function, moron!
OUTED! LOL!
--
------------------------------
From: "ja" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: make config
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 21:57:25 +0800
my system redhat7.0
kernel 2.2.16
I extract pcmcia-cs-3.1.15 at /usr/src/linux
make config
why can I input "/usr/src/linux" as my linux source directory?
configuration failed appear~
why?????????
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Neil Cerutti)
Subject: Re: Has Linux anything to offer ?
Date: 11 Apr 2001 13:58:25 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
roger$@a posted:
>In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Rex says...
>Let take some examples:
>
>1. Using IE 6.0 beta, If I am on a web page, and do 'save', IE
>is smart enough not only to save the HTML page itself, but also
>to create a subdirectory with all the gif files on that page.
>This means when one views the locally saved HTML page later on,
>it comes up with all the images intact on it. There is nothing
>like this on Linux.
On the other hand, my friendly neighborhood Linux distribution
comes with wget.
>2. On windows, I can drag an image from my Visio document to my
>word document and have it show up there. There is nothing like
>this on linux.
On the other hand, Linux comes with LyX. There are easier and
more efficient means of embedding an image in a document than
draggin and dropping it.
>3. On Windows, when one starts a CD writes, the writes software
>automatically scans scsi and ide devices and locates the CD-W
>device. On linux, one must compile the kernel and do other hacks
>to get this to work.
You can burn CDs with free Windows tools?
>4. On linux, each distro has it own way interface and methods of
>how to configure and update the system. On widows there is one
>way.
There's a different "way interface" and "methods of how to
configure" for each distribution of Widnows. If you stick with
the same Linux distribution you won't be confused.
>5. On linux, it is still very hard to get a system working using
>anti-aliased fonts, without more user hacks and configurations.
>On windows, it comes build in and the user has to do nothing
>more.
Windows might have had better fonts once, but it doesn't any more.
>6. Printing on Linux is broke. On widnows, setting up a printer
>requires no hacks as on linux. It just works.
That's like, your opinion, man.
>7. On Linux, there are many different desktop environments, each
>work differently. Applications written for one, might not work
>as expected on another. On windows, there is one way to do it,
>making developer life much simpler and users are familiar with
>how GUI applications are expected to behave.
I don't understand you. Sure, if you only buy Microsoft apps you
might see a lot of interface similarity. But compare Outlook and
Lotus Notes Client someday. There's nothing in Windows to prevent
release of a monstrously bad interface like Lotus Notes.
>>PERL, Python, PHP, and other scripting languages, combined with KDE
>>and GNOME components have made it very easy to obtain programs that
>>can be packaged quite creatively.
>
>PERL, python, PHP all exist on windows.
Distributing a Python/Perl app is a pain in the ass unless you
force your users to install Python. In Linux, that's most likely
a simple matter. In Windows, I can't build an executable of a
Python app on WinNT that will work on my coworkers Win98 machine.
>>> Are CD-R and CD-RW easier to configure and use with Linux?
>
>There is no commerical DVD player for linux. What is there is
>mostly hacks that does not support half of what a commercial
>DVD players on widnows support.
Wow. Windows sounds like a good DVD player all right. I hear it's
good for games, too.
>>Some people like it because they like having the power and
>>stability of a UNIX system.
>
>win2k is VERY stable. The stability claim is getting too old
>now. need to find a new one.
You wish. What percentage of Windows users are actually
benefitting from this fantastic new technology called win2k by
the way? Was it bug-fix release?
>In summary:
>-----------
>The Linux KERNEL is good. No one can argue about that. But to have
>an OS for the end user has nothing to do with the KERNEL.
Sure, a nice GUI can try and mediate the experience enough to
hide the fact that a hard-working, bit-reading hunk of code makes
your computer run stuff.
>The main problem with Linux as and end user, is that there is no
>overall guiding strategy and design to drive it. Each linux
>group decide to make something as they please, a new Linux
>flavour is out each month. We now have 75 Linux distro and
>counting. No standard way to do anything. From application
>installation to printer setup to configuring the network.
>
>It is like being in the kitchen with 20 cooks making one big
>dinner. Each want to do the dinner their own way.
>From the Linux kitchen you can order any meal you want, and it
costs very little. There waiters are sometimes slow, you have to
wash your own dishes, but the food is excellent and very
nutritious. For several years you were forced to buy a side-dish
cooked by the Microsoft kitchen even if you were only going to
throw it away.
>From the Microsoft kitchen you can order any meal you want, and
the waiter is handsome and solicitous (and receives a huge
gratuity). But no matter what you order and no matter how much
you spend you get the same thing you had last time and you're
likely to be hungry again in an hour and a half. And even if you
aren't, there are bouncers there that force you to eat again,
anyway.
--
Neil Cerutti <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*** Your mule was judged "best built" at the colony fair. You
won $250. ***
------------------------------
From: "MH" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.theory,comp.arch,comp.object
Subject: Re: Blame it all on Microsoft
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 09:58:01 -0400
"unicat" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> (The following are the editorial opinions of the author, no more, no
> less)
>
> It was good to see the DOW go back above 10000 yesterday, but there
> are lingering doubts about whether the bear market is over.
>
> Which has many people asking, what happened to the optimism of the 90's?
Saturation and the laws of diminishing returns.
> Where is that spirit of unbridled optimism that fueled so many years of
> steady growth.
It has been replaced with skepticism and malaise.
> The author would like to advance a pet theory. It's all Microsoft's
> fault.
Interersting concept, albiet all too common.
> For the past decade, there has been a bubble of investment spending,
> which
> has produced high profits and further investment, all based upon a
> single phenomenon:
> Moore's Law. The principle that says that computers will go twice as
> fast every 18 months.
I believe simple greed would suffice as a more accurate and plausible
explanation of the phenomenon you allude to.
[history lesson snipped]
> And every year or so a new type of microprocessor would be released with
> even more
> power. And not coincidentally, a new version of the Windows OS would be
> released,
> which added features at the expense of using more CPU resources. So
> everyone had
> to spend a bunch of new capital on upgrades, which started the virtuous
> cycle all over again.
Define 'everyone'. Many organizations have not upgraded beyond windows 95 or
98.
> But now the cycle seems to be breaking, and the blame, for this author,
> rests squarely on
> Microsoft. They seem to have hit the wall, to have run out of ideas.
Solely?
> It has been three years since Windows 98 now, and Microsoft is working
> on their fourth attempt
> at a replacement OS (Windows SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000, and now Win
> XP), but
> most desktops are still running good old Win 98. Why? Because there are
> no features in the new
> OS's that are interesting enough to be worth the pain and expense of an
> upgrade.
I'll agree for the most part with this.
> When the internet began to take off there was an opportunity for
> Microsoft to become
> its champion. However instead MS appears to have seen the internet as a
> threat to its desktop
> based computing empire, and it attempted to smother the baby. First (as
> this author
> recalls) by promoting the MSN as a rival to the internet itself, and
> when that didn't work,
> by (according to Sun)poisoning standards like Java that could have been
> used to
> build robust e-commerce systems, leaving the world of internet commerce
> in disarray,
> and turning dot-coms into dot-bombs as cunsumers shied away from the
> resulting mess.
> In an attempt to close the barn door after the horse was out, MS has put
> forward their
> new dot-net initiative. It has been called mind-numbingly complex, and
> due to customer
> suspicion over Microsofts motives, it is seeing adoption rates about
> equal to the Ford Edsel.
Sun is nothing more than a MS wannabe. Java, as most know, is not all that
Sun purports it to be.
> In the view of the author, Microsoft overall seems to be transitioning
> in behavior, from an
> innovator that liberated users with cheap easy-to-use software, to a
> mainframe-style company,
> obsessed with controlling users and maximizing its revenue from each
> trivial product upgrade.
> As users balk at painful and expensive upgrades, MS is squeezing for
> more license fees from
> products already in use. One recent article seemed to indicate that MS
> had asked one firm to pay
> a license for every CLIENT system that accessed a web site built using
> windows NT.
MS still makes products that are easy to install and use, and they are
actually getting better at providing this benefit.
Obsessed with controlling users? I'll go along with that. They are, after
all, a monopoly company. Most monopoly companies behave in the same
predictable ways.
> Students of history will see that this sort of behavior will inevitably
> to the demise of Microsoft.
> But for the US economy, this will be a good thing.
Demise seems a bit strong to me.
> The Barbarians have already gathered at the gates. The Linux OS, which
> some claim is more
> powerful and robust than Windows, giving the scalability of large UNIX
> servers to cheap intel iron,
> is already growing faster than Windows 2000, and is reported by the Wall
> Street Journal to have claimed
> over a 30% market share in servers. Although Linux use on the desktop
> has been limited to under 10%
> by the inertia of users accustomed to MS Office, there has now been an
> end-around-run. The Openoffice
> organization ( http://www.openoffice.org ) has released an office suite
> with nearly the same look-and-feel
> as MS Office. It will process MS office document formats, and runs
> equally well under Windows and Linux,
> and is being given away for FREE in perpetuity.
Look and feel don't equate to the ability to usurp an extremely well
entrenched product.
> Not only that, but old-time arch-rivals of MS, like IBM, are beginning
> to lose their fear of defying
> Microsoft. It seems that it has suddenly dawned on them that Microsoft
> isn't all that talented, or
> tough, and given their relative sizes, it might just be time for IBM to
> give pipsqueak Microsoft a
> thrashing they have long deserved. The first blow is for IBM to spend
> over $1billion on Linux
> development this year.
Jury is out, IMO, on what impact IBM will have on MS's market share through
it's exploitation of Linux.
Some corporate piss may trickle from the commode down to Linux's end-user
base.
Funny, you would have me mistrust MS, (easy to do) but would have me trust
IBM?
> As Microsoft does a long slow fade into irrelevance, there will be a
> liitle pain for the current
> users of Windows, but it will be quickly replaced by enthusiasm. As the
> constipating plug of Windows
> is removed from corporate IS departments, a flush of new creativity will
> ensue as technical personnel
> suddenly feel free to explore more creative and innovative ways to build
> servers, networks and protocols.
> Which will result in another rush of capital spending, and we will begin
> anew the virtuous cycle
> of economic growth.
Until open source has a web browser that will compel users to switch from
the now dominant I.E., and software efficacious to educational uses is
produced, it will remain just a pleasant refuge for the more tech savvy from
MS's visions and frustrations, and the best server platform available. But
then I enjoy shell scripting, AWK, SED, and the the 'feeling' that using
open source products provide. Just don't expect me to cruise the web \
Usenet with NN || Mozilla || Konqueror || <insert inferior browser here>
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