Tyler wrote: > They're all there, its just that Mandrake has practically eliminated the > need for the CLI tools.
Oh swell... like filling your car floor to ceiling with cotton candy, then trying to drive down the street. > Now, we all know, regardless of how much we hate M$, that > the thing does work... to a degree. This is enough for the average user and > won't change for some time, or until something easier and cheaper and 100% > compatible comes along. > I'm sorry, Tyler, but I just can't bring myself to join the "our aim is to out-windows Microsoft" camp. IMHO anybody with enough money, time and a frontal lobotomy can produce a Windows OS clone. We shouldn't compromise on the values that make Linux *better* (and different). I don't want to sound elitist and it's true we do still have a ways to go in terms of useability, but if we have to make Linux look and act exactly like Windows, then maybe there are some users we just don't need to attract. </sunday evening rant> > The Mac was there, but it succumbed to poor management, a 'hippy' > mentality, and an accomplice factor that causes them to lump in with MS > instead of compete. The MAC suffered because they insisted on a completely proprietary model in an increasingly generic market model. They were clobbered by the dominance of the PC clone model and all the explosive cross-development that brought with it. > Next comes Psion/Symbian. I know, this doesn't make much sense, but its a > reality. EPOC32 and the Symbian OS (which are really quite similar) is very > compatible with Windows and MS file formats, is extremely scalable (from > phone to desktop), and handles Java and TCP/IP with native aplomb. Psion's > inability to properly market handheld devices to the consumer and keep a > steady flow of new, evolutionary devices coming did, however, clearly > indicate that it will take longer to get to the desktop. Psion did a pretty good business in Europe, especially with their handhelds devices... they were years ahead of the current PDA market. However, they became stagnant and are starting to lose share in a market they should have dominated. They easily could have been Palm, but for "old boy" parochialism and an inability to think globally and reach beyond regional markets. You're a PDA guy - you should know that. > > Last, and certainly not least, is Linux. Even Red Hat, the self-appointed > champion of the Open Source and Linux movements, has been unable to achieve > the ease of use and GUI integration of Mandrake. There are few distros that > come close to matching what Mandrake has been able to offer the desktop > user. Combine Mandrake's Control Center, Mandrake Update (skip the kernel > upgrade unless you've retained the stock kernel in your install, though), > and Ximian's Red Carpet and you have a powerful GUI-based technology > currency system in place. > Mandrake's primary money market is Europe, where the Linux desktop is gaining far greater acceptance than on this side of the pond. Here, in North America, the Linux market is primarily in the server room and that is where RedHat is putting most of its development resources. Ipso Facto: Engineering goes where the bucks are - where that is depends upon your target market. YMMV -- burns _______________________________________________ Linux-users mailing list - http://linux.nf/mailman/listinfo/linux-users Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Archives,and Digests are located at the above URL.
