First off, there is a message up there somewhere just saying to
use the spell checker. Please, this is a heated arguement I know,
everyone here especially should have a strong opinion being mostly Linux
users, but off topic attacks really don't do anything. Don't hate someone
because don't agree with your views entirely. If everyone did that, the
world would be boring. I've seen many good debates turn into a series of
one liners directed to a single person or group of people that really
didn't have anything to do with the topic at hand.
Now, for the reply:
On Tue, 22 Dec 1998, Druppy wrote:
> well now lets be fair. while windows is a peace of crap, linux is lacking
> in many areas. Alot of the Wordprocessors are not *that* great... i
> havent tried the newest wp8 i have the pre release, but if its anything
> like wp7, im sticking with ms office. in the CAD area linux has absolutly
> nothing... well thats not true there is veriCAD and linuxCAD, however the
> only accepted format in the real world is AutoCAD by AutoDesk, who stoped
> supporting *nix on version 13 (they are now on 14) hopefully they will
> change thier minds on 15. but to say that windows has *no* merrits what
> so ever is a little too far to go.
Linux is actually not lacking in many areas, but specifically one
area. People don't see $ when they look to developing software for Linux.
There are a few exceptions of software in the $600+ range, even up into
the thousands. The fact that people have their emacs and vi and are used
to their preference (which are both open source and free), drives away the
market. It's a real shame. This means that the majority of big companies
making products for Linux are making free ones. They also see a market
that is not filled. If they see that there isn't money, they aren't going
there. For example, if Word Perfect were to only offer their program for
$59, they would probably not get into the tens of thousands of orders.
It's possible if they went into all the *nix variants and targetted
education, they might, but home Linux users are all that use word
processors. I know I wouldn't. I don't like they idea of software you
have to pay for when I run Linux. I really dislike when I download a
program and find no source either, but I have to live with it. That's
another thing I dislike when I'm working with windows. You might ask,
why do companies like Netscape put out free software then, they aren't
making money. They are making money. One way or another. They were just
the wise ones in the dueling browser wars (while lynx is still my favorite
I need to use netscape sometimes to do the silly java/forms stuff) and
made themselves a port for all those *nix machines that are running on T1
or T3 connections in educational facilities when people were browsing with
lynx. Netscape has jammed its foot in the door through education.
Students go to school, use the computers and use netscape. They go home
and what are they going to want to use? My mentality says, don't do stuff
like that, but at the same time I'm glad that they are only doing it to
compete with silly tactics by microsoft that include having their browser
built into the operating system, not removable, but you can avoid using
it. Speaking of bloated software, all browsers are (save lynx). So, the
moral is that big companies are big because they are out to make dollars.
This also means that they have dollars to spend on bloating their software
and making it look pretty. Sad the way it works.
Anyway, my point is that the major shortcoming of Linux is the
fact that large vendors don't want to risk losing money by making products
for it. This is not a problem with the operating system, it's a problem
with the general public and their doodie-in-a-pretty-box-will-sell
mentality.
Also, in fairness to the different platforms, when we take a look
at the size of an operating system, we really aren't saying much. Most of
that disk space is filled with little utilties and programs that aren't
required to run the program. If we are talking about size of the
operating system itself, we should be looking at the kernel no? The Linux
kernel is at least twice the size (in source) as the code for windows.
However, you also have to look at what the kernel is. The Linux kernel
supports a whole lot of hardware as well as the software. If we pull
apart windows, we would probably find a whole lot more code tied up in
drivers than Linux because all those little companies that make their
hardware are really making it so people will buy it. That means that they
are writing drivers for windows. Bloated none-the-less, but you can't use
program size to determine that. You can say that when you start a
program, go get coffee, and come back to find it finishing up, that you
are running bloated software. Unless it's something like a compiler or
rendering program that is doing its job while you're gone.
I would also just state, for the fun of it, that
pico/notepad/edlin/edit or whatever are mainly what I use to write papers.
It's all good to make your paper look all silly and hope that if the font
is pretty your paper will be better, but if a person is honestly reading
it, it doesn't matter. I would much rather get a complement on a paper,
than how nice it looked.
> On Tue, 22 Dec 1998, Peter Bailey wrote:
>
> bailey>
> bailey>
> bailey> On Tue, 22 Dec 1998, Simon Cousins wrote:
> bailey>
> bailey> > No more MS Windows, free at last, free at last, free at last!
> bailey> > Merry Christmas and a Happy (and for me, Microsoftless) New Year.
> bailey>
> bailey> Is a great feeling though isn't it? It's hard for me to go back to a
> bailey> windows system now. I don't understand why people put up with that crap.
> bailey> Whatever, I guess if you have the cash to market something, it doesn't
> bailey> matter what it is. Could be dog poop in a pretty box with two attractive
> bailey> models smiling on TV every five minutes and it would take hold in this
> bailey> society like Coke or Nike.
> bailey>
> bailey>
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