On Tue, 2003-06-24 at 14:43, Beni Cherniavsky wrote: > Gilboa Davara wrote on 2003-06-24: > > > On Tue, 2003-06-24 at 14:40, Eli Billauer wrote: > > > Since the Linux for masses issue is up again, here's my little food for > > > thought: > > > > > > What's wrong with the situation as it is? > > > > > > What's wrong with Linux not being in every home? Why do we care if our > > > grandmother pays for her operating system? > > > > > > There are, of course, a few things that I would like to have changed. > > > For example: > > > > > > * M$ Word documents being a common way to distribute papers. But that's > > > wrong even in itself, since Word isn't even self-compatible across versions. > > > * Young computer fans not knowing about Linux, thus missing their > > > opportunity to get a good environment to learn from. > > > * Lack of drivers for some hardware. > > > > > > More, anyone? Can we be focused on the things we want changed, rather > > > than making other people miserable by convincing them to install an OS > > > that they can't handle? > > > > > Here's a couple. > > > > A. Development tools and workplaces: > > Low adaptation gives MS power to dictate *bad* (non)standards. MS-Word > > is not the real problem here; MFC, DirectX, Visual Basic, C#, etc are! > > As developers we are forced to use non standard closed tools and > > libraries that can be changed without notice by Microsoft. While for now > > most of us can avoid the problem, how much time do we have till we are > > forced to write MFC under C#? (Instead of C under Linux/posix?) > > You seem to forget the MS is not only targeting Linux... it is targeting > > the Open Source concept. > > > But open-source developers always choose their own tools. We had > djgpp, now cygwin / mingw, python, perl... If you are talking of > managers who know better than the developers, that's tough - but is > not specific to MS tools. I don't see the threat here, developers are > the last people to use bad tools.
Don't discount the SF (Stupidity and FUD [Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt]) factors. Seen anyone using OS/2 lately? BeOS? Both were vastly superior over anything MS. But lack of developer support killed them in the end. Granted, both were closed source (and at least in IBM's case, had uber-expensive development tools and SDKs), but neither lost due to being bad. Sticking the idea of Open Source and Linux in each and every developer's brain can have huge benefits in the long run. (Or the lack of my be devastating.) > > > B. Non standard shared Web-sites: > > At least half of the sites in Israel don't work right under Mozilla. > > (ynet, walla, etc) Why? cause they are using non-standard IE-only > > extensions. Christ, even the Linux forum in ynet cannot be read using > > Mozilla... I talked to the forum admin and nada... zilch. > > > That Haaretz site with the response uses visual hebrew, with > embarrassing line wrap. I presume it was made with windows tools ;-). > Yep, the web standards situation is really bad in Israel. > > > C. Windows only access to ISPs: > > Anyone who've were part of the cable modem tests will know what I mean. > > Some ISPs used l2tp instead of the "normal" pptp during the test. Small > > problem: there was no l2tp package back then. I talked to the ISP and > > there was no-one there that even knew what I the hell I was talking > > about! Luckily I found a l2tp source that I could adapt to my needs. > > Anyone here sees any sane ISP doing the same to Windows users? > > > True. Putting our money with the few ISPs that have linux clue should > change this sooner or later. One must wonder what the ISPs are using on their backbone... Somehow I can't see them using Windows 2K3 Server as the dial-up server... > > > And a personal one: > > D. Games!!! God dangit! I want to play HL2 under Linux! > > > Loki, Loki, where are you? Dead :-( At least Epic, Id and Activision take the time to port to Linux. Yippie! Gilboa ================================================================= To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command echo unsubscribe | mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
