Nick Waterman wrote: > I thought this was way off-topic, so was going to reply off-list, then I > realised... > > Quality, stability, efficiency, ability to understand how it works, [...] > support, small, that's why I like Linux, and that's why I like Elecraft. > > Big expensive mass-manufactured black-boxes that work THEIR way, poor [...] > expensive add-ons, expensive upgrade path, large, that's why I don't > like YaeComWood or Microsoft.
I also forgot: YaeComWood/Microsoft: If anything goes too wrong, "reinstall from scratch" seems to be the standard accepted solution, and for some reason people seem to think that's acceptable. You stand no hope of fixing any internal issues yourself. Elecraft/Linux: Reinstalling from scratch is almost never considered an acceptable solution to a problem, though admittedly some odd people find it fun to start again from scratch just for fun, not because of any problem. Chances are, even if you can't fix it yourself, you can get someone else to. Also, any extra hacks you want to make, even if you can't work out how to do them yourself, someone else has probably published a "howto" on the net. If you DO make a decent fix to the internals yourself, you can contribute it back to the community, and your fix might even make it into the next version. YaeComWood/Microsoft: Designed by big faceless corporations. You stand almost zero chance of talking to someone who can make a difference. Elecraft/Linux: Designed by human beings. Cool human beings. Dudes who actually chat on the mailing-lists and frequently actually reply personally to your questions. YaeComWood/Microsoft: You probably first saw the latest product in a big expensive glossy advert, surrounded by marketing hype, wooly on technical details. Elecraft/Linux: You probably first saw the latest product online, or in a technical article in a magazine. The article probably said how great it was, and how it's easy to outperform something that cost well over twice as much. YaeComWood/Microsoft: Mass-produced identically. You buy pre-built, no other option. Elecraft/Linux: You can build it yourself if you want, from scratch, from a scary number of separate parts. It's quite technical, but quite fun. There are clear step-by-step instructions you can follow. You probably wouldn't recommend it to a total beginner. It'll give you a great sense of achievement using something you built yourself. Alternatively, you can pay someone else to build it for you, and they don't usually charge a fortune. -- "Nosey" Nick Waterman, G7RZQ, K2 #5209. use Std::Disclaimer; [EMAIL PROTECTED] God may be subtle, but He isn't plain mean. -- Albert Einstein _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
