On Thu, Feb 05, 2004 at 08:50:06PM -0600, Phil Waring wrote: > Who, if any of you, rely on linux as a desktop machine?
Not only do I rely on linux as a desktop machine but I also have 30 people at work who are using linux desktops served from a single server as their work environment. Using KDE, StarOffice (which isn't free but is very cheap), mozilla, etc., I'm able to provide my company with a very workable, "windows-ish" solution for 10% of the cost of a MS Windows network. When I need to update software, I update a single machine and everyone immediately is running the new version. And we've yet to have any issues related to virii or out-dated anti-virus software. >It has been > represented to me that some hardware, i.e. certain modems and printers, > only run on Microsoft windows. While I accept the statement on its face, > I wonder why. Are the codes to make appropriate drivers impossible to It is true that there are win-modems which only work with windows but fortunately there are still alternatives that work great with linux. I recommend buying hardware from small, local shops that understand that not everyone runs windows. > write using unix or linux, or has a means to write an appropriate code > just not yet been discovered, or what? Further, with respect to the > truth, do any of you think that we have reached close to the potential of > existing hardware in the world with software currently available, given > all the nonsense and superstition that even I suspect? And, that in > mind, would it be impossible to rewrite linux afresh with better code and > tell detractors like the SCO group to get a new idea? Piracy has existed > in many forms for a long time. Lies have existed for a long time, also. > I believe that the best things in life are free. SCO is just throwing out a last frantic effort to save their company. Some legal eagle suggested to them that they could sue IBM on a very weak IP claim and get a bunch of funding from MS to do it. I also firmly believe that they thought IBM would just buy them out and their shareholders would go home happy (and if they really had any case, IBM probably would as it would be a cheaper solution than a drawn out case and penalties should SCO win). > How about China and its purchases of linux packages? What might China do > with such? And it seems that few are afraid. Perhaps minimal fear is > good, but Iraq did not scare me. I did appeal to a linux users group for > help. Do you think that I should have asked IBM? IBM is into Linux for the server and services market. They appear to have little to no interest in Linux on the desktop. Novell is the one heading strongly into the Linux desktop market. -- Bryce T. Pier [EMAIL PROTECTED]
