--- "W. Wayne Liauh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Richard M. Stallman wrote: > > >*BSD and Linux don't belong in the same list, > because *BSD are > >operating systems. Linux, however, is just a > kernel. If you're > >thinking of the operating system in which Linux is > used, then what > >you've said is an understatement. That system is > not just cooperating > >with our work, it basically *is* our work. It is a > variant of the GNU > >system. See > http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html for more > >explanation. > > St. Ignutcious was pissed b/c, he is absolutely > correct, the entire Linux thing, especially in the > early days, is strictly a GNU system with a Linux > kernel. Personally, I think it is very gracious of > RMS to even allow Linux to be called > GNU/Linux--though still very few people are doing > that. > > One of the things I don't like about the way this > forum is set up is that you can't edit what you > posted. Running the risk of antagonizing Sun's > engineers (again), I want to remind them a very > important fact regarding today's Linux. > > To most end-users, you can replace the kernel (the > only thing Linux) from a Linux system with, say, > FreeBSD, and no one would notice any difference (it > may actually run a little bit smoother. Of course > this is an oversimplification, but basically with a > well-configured FreeBSD system, most end-users won't > notice the difference.) Ditto for many other > components. However, there is one component that, > if you take it away, the entire Linux "movement", > especially in the desktop area, will be set back a > good many years (even stopped). This component is > OpenOffice.org. The last time I heard, Sun has been > shouldering more than 90% of the development > burdens. > > Microsoft generates more profits from Microsoft > Office than from everything else combined. > OpenOffice.org has matured to such a state that its > "status" in the so-called open source world is > indeed tantamount to how Microsoft Office stands in > the Microsoft world. Novell (SUSE) tried to do away > with OpenOffice.org, but in the 08/18/05 release of > OpenSUSE 10.0 beta 2, it was quietly put back. Well, you're right about OpenOffice in the sense that it is what makes Linux viable as a corporate and educational desktop. Although, we do have KDE's KOffice which has a strong following as well. As for Linux, Linux isn't a bad kernel for embedded projects and for what it does today for various big projects. Apple could have very well had their OS on x86 or AMD64 platforms years ago. Sun already had their OS on x86 systems before Apple - a lot could have been done from that point. Well, this is a Linux thread... Linux is just a kernel and allows a means to an end. It is not just the kernel, but the promotion of the kernel and what is being done on Linux. There are various magazines and books about software development on Linux. Many developers have migrated to Linux (at their own peril - sometimes) because it costed money back then to license an OS for your commercial work. I hope this GPL/CDDL thing doesn't kill off a nice idea like OpenSolaris before it really gets out the gate. I hope we can end this "I hate Linux" mindset since Linux help launch the open source movement and got GNU tools/source code to many people. Now that we have more commercial-grade UNIX kernels an enterprise-class OS we can take what we learn from Linux software development and improve them on OpenSolaris. Or for some people more priveleged, you just get tossed into professional grade software development and learn to swim with the sharks. Sometimes, you have to learn how to maintain a 'starter home' before you try to maintain a luxury vacation home. Have fun!, Ken Mays @ Earthlink, inc. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ opensolaris-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED]
