I agree with you on this one Eric. As a strict USER of the OS, I don't have the time or care to fiddle around with archaic programming languages just to get my printer or my scanner or even my external disk drive working. The old adage that Linux will undercut the common OS has been going around a couple of years now. Speaking to the people at work, who are your every day, run of the mill computer user, about 99.9% of them have never heard of Linux. They wouldn't care. Linux has been around and it's been growing but the mass market has really never embraced it because it is TOO techie for the majority of home users. Yes for businesses, Linux/Unix rules the server side of things. It's the most stable platform out there. It's usually free or cheap to buy.
I purchased YDL about 2 years ago and I discovered that yes it's easy to install but once it's up, what then? Also it only gave you the base system. You then had to install Xwindows. I had heard of StarOffice and other programs but then discovered that YDL, yes it was Linux, but a different version of Linux. So I could d/l the source for StarOffice but then I had to re-compile the whole thing just to make it work. Mind you I haven't touched YDL since then and I've embraced OS X. OS X works, it's easy, stable (UNIX!!!), and has tonnes more useful software available to it than Linux (GIMP is good but I prefer Photoshop7 and Freehand). Also at my place of employment we have a deal with Micro$oft and we can get legit programs at dirt cheap prices (ie. OFFICE X for $1.50 CDN!!!). Yup that ain't no typo. The way Linux is available today or the way it's being handled/marketed/upgraded, I can't see it overtaking the major OSes unless as Eric mentioned, one of the major players takes over like Apple did for BSD. As for Linux extending the life of obsolete platforms, I don't see too many people saying Hey! I just bought a used computer!. Most consumers fall into the trap of the "latest & greatest" con. Most of my colleagues have gone out and bought a P4 or AMD based computer running at 2+GHZ and when you ask them what they use it for they say "Oh for word processing, reading my e-mail, surfing the web." Their kids may get some use out of it by being able to the play the latest games (for now). The reason they buy the latest & greatest is because they don't want their system to be TOO obsolete in the near future. They want to make sure the peripherals they buy work with their system. They want to make sure that the software they get is compatible as well. Plus, they see the ads for P4 systems and anything lower is perceived to be old. And old in the world of computers harkens memories of C-64s and Apple //e's and PET computers and 5 1/4" floppies and tape drives (like audio tapes) and monochrome screens and ... on 7/18/02 11:12 AM, Eric D. at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> 7. Apple will face financial problems late this year >> or next > <snip> >> 11. the turn-around doesn't come (partially because >> Linux will undercut the proprietary OSs, and also >> extend the life of so-called obsolete platforms) > > > As for point #11, Linux undercutting the proprietary OSes -- I really don't > think that Linux is ready to do that for at least another 5-10 years, > UNLESS, and that's a BIG unless, someone like Apple steps up to the plate to > make an easy to use, and idiot proof Linux (like Apple did with NetBSD). > > Linux is great as a server OS, it's good as a desktop OS for people who know > how it functions (a tiny fraction), but for people like me who know a lot > about using computers, but little about programming them it's not a good > match. I tried YellowDog 2.1 & found it interesting but lacking (the boot > loader was the coolest thing about it... I wish it came separate from the > OS) -- I have 2.3 sitting on a CD-RW right now waiting for a few days of > free time to play with). > > I'd say Linux is a desktop OS for <5% of the computing population out there > -- the other 95% are better off with Windows 98 or 2000 (not XP because of > all the anti-piracy "features") or Mac OS 9 or OS X. > > The problem with Linux is that it is not idiot proof for long -- it installs > fine, but requires a lot of support (& knowledge) to keep it running. At $0 > vs. $129 it may be a steal, but there's a lot of fiddling involved in > getting it to work and *keeping* it working. > > Let's say your time is valued at $20/hour *on average* (a reasonable > estimate). If you spend 6 hours fiddling on Linux you'd already have paid > for OS X once. I spent a *lot* more than 6 hours trying to get > YellowDogLinux installed and running (& my B&W is totally stock Apple > equipment) "sort of" (no AppleTalk, no NFS access, no network printer access > -- *just* FTP and HTTP access to the web). [of course, installing Linux was > entertainment to me so I guess that kind of calculation isn't applicable] > > The first install of YellowDog Linux (YDL) was quite easy & quick -- it was > "running" in about the same time it takes to install & get OS X up and > running. But, getting YDL to run properly took forever (didn't happen). With > YDL there was no such thing as automatically finding AppleTalk printers, no > easy way of accessing AppleTalk file servers, no easy way to change screen > resolutions (I had to play with XConfigurator & associated prefs files for > three days to get 1152*870 working properly... and that was with help from > the YDL mailing list (where you get shot down if you come to them with what > they perceive to be an easy question)). > > ...also, if I were able to recover all the time I waste procrastinating in > e-mail I'd be a time-rich man. > > Take care & don't waste your time in e-mail today, Eric. > -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 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