--- Phil Waring <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > In my life have many mistakes been made. One of > them perhaps was > requesting to be on your general mailing list. > Newbie might have been > more appropriate, and safer. However, here we are, > me (sic) writing and > You (plural) reading.
Show me someone who doesn't make mistakes and I'll show you someone who is pretty damn boring. > Where you all are is not known to me. The quest for > linux has lost a > little of its erstwhile luster. Surely microsoft > products might include > improvements found by linux programmers. Perhaps > that could be proven. > Perhaps not. > > Linux the operating system has been expensive to me, > in time, if not in > effort. Nothing worthwhile is easy. I've been seriously using Linux since 1998 and I still have lots to learn. Linux is _not_ for people who are not willing to learn. It is a free operating system developed for _free_ by computer professionals, programmers and various technical people around the world, to share with anyone who is willing to learn how to use it. If you want an easy to use operating system, you have plenty of choices. Er, two choices. Um. You have Microsoft. > Still, there are features (scads of > features) of Win 98 that > this user does not know about, forget turning such > features on or off. > Books about both linux and m$ operating systems are > outdated by the time > they are printed. That's why I buy my tech books used so they are cheaper or I use O'Reilly Safari (http://safari.oreilly.com/), or I just Google around for what I need. > Therefore, unless we as users try > to help one another, > we might have no help at all. What exactly are you asking for? I find this list to be very helpful. Granted, there is some socializing going on, but that helps to define it also as a community. I've always felt that there were not enough questions being asked on this list to take advantage of the massive amount of collective knowledge available here. > Please, do not confuse this writing with a crying > out or a plea for help; > rather a statement of apparent fact. What fact? I'm confused as to the point of your message. Can you state clearly what you mean or want? > Surely some or > all will disagree. > That is okay. Honest criticism is good. > > Neither has this writer any axe to grind. Sometimes > indignation did > arise against m$ or Mr. Gates, but not now. If i > can help him, i shall. That is your perogative. But I doubt you will find many Microsoft supporters here. I use Microsoft operating systems and software because my clients do. And IMO, my clients use Microsoft because Microsoft's marketing efforts are better than their software engineering efforts. The competition from Linux concerning software stability, security and quality has already caused Microsoft to improve its own products. Everybody benefits from competition in the marketplace. > Perhaps the reader would prefer will to shall in > that sentence. What > does such nit picking accomplish? To point out that it costs at least $100 (http://www.google.com/froogle?q=windows+xp&btnG=Search+Froogle) to purchase a license to use somebody else's bits I don't have any rights to (http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:jIyh_0_YnHsJ:www.cyber.com.au/cyber/about/comparing_the_gpl_to_eula.pdf+microsoft+eula&hl=en&ie=UTF-8) on my own personal computer hardware. With Linux, the only barriers are my personal limitations. If it breaks, I get to keep both halves. > pale face went home > > still hear What exactly do you want, Phil? I get the idea that you think Linux and the Linux community should be serving you and your needs. That is not what this is about. Linux, the Linux community and free and open source software is about _participation_. You get out of it what you put into it. If you want to only be served, the solution is simple: buy Microsoft. Microsoft fills that niche really well (http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=MSFT&t=my). The choice is yours. John Hebert __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business $15K Web Design Giveaway http://promotions.yahoo.com/design_giveaway/
