On Thursday 30 May 2002 09:27 am, shane wrote:
> the problem with your statement, is the difference between user and
> developer is why windows is 90% useless fluff. that difference
> encourages creating dancing paper clips rather than functions that
> people want. yes, many members could be more understanding, but
> some users could realize that statements like "why doesn't this
> just work? linux is crap cause i can't install this brand new
> alpha software that i was already warned doesn't work with my video
> card!" will not get a lot of (positive) responce. ;)
Harware is becoming more'n more a stumbling block to wean users
off Windoze and to any other alernatives. Yes, a lot of the latest
and greatest high end hardware has poor to no Linux support. M$
enforces this situation thru licensing agreements, and just plain
illegal arm twisting and bullying of the vendors.
OTOH, low end hardware is also becoming a much greater problem as
more'n and more win-hardware is used in ready made (Dell, Gateway,
Compact, etc) systems that all come with Winblows pre-installed.
This junk also has poor to no Linux support also because it can't be
supported, and most people buy these kinds of systems.
For these hardware reasons alone, most existing Windoze users
are fixin to stay put and pay any price M$ extorts from 'em. Still I
think for financial reasons and security, there's some hope, and I
still believe more, even a lot of M$ users will jump ship no matter
how difficult M$ tries to make doin so feasible. I believe that's
already begun, tho it's gonna take years. As it happens tho, M$ is
gonna havt'a to use even greater extortions like it's current SA
licenses to support their corporate bloat, and hopefully that'll
eventually get the ball rollin faster as more M$'rs bail out.
Then there's the younguns comin up. Mostly the current college
crowd and a lot already use Linux, or at least are aware of it, or
somethin other than Winblows. As M$'s existing user base dies off,
there's gonna be a lower an lower percentage of new M$ users. This
is also gonna cause M$ into more drastic, user alienating tactics.
This'll provide the incentive for hardware vendors to worry less
about M$ wrath, and more about supporting non-M$ users. Microsoft is
a slowly sinkin ship (take a look at MSFT stock prices over the last
coupl'a years), Linux stock will do better.
--
Tom Brinkman Corpus Christi, Texas
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft?
Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
