I think there are two areas we are overlooking in this M$--*NIX discussion/battle. Microsoft has provided a platform for all other folks out there to make money. It is the most unstable OS i have ever used in my life, not to mention the most vulnerable, but Macromedia knew they would make a killing running off M$ than they would off *NIX. *NIX is free... M$ is not. If i develop software for the free market, where do i make money (capitalism)?
M$ made their product easy to use from the onset... *NIX tends to be for the "geeks". Black screens, you need to know all these commands to get things working. Compared to click next, finish, restart, *NIX has a long way to go to prove that it is actually eons ahead of M$ in usability, stability, security, dependability and all... I always use *NIX as a benchmark for hardware that works and does not work. Faulty devices that seem to work in M$ with no reports of failure wont go that far in *NIX with out a dump of errors on screen. But who cares... M$ has made it possible for Eva in Djibouti to send email in outlook with out caring that the implementation of outlook actually breaks a lot of the specifications in RFC's. My 2 Obama cents :-) On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 1:34 PM, Wire James <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > > Was the pre-installed culture a problem or an innovation worth celebrating? > I honestly think it is a problem to those that don't fancy marketing. > Despite being a FLOSS guy, I do admire some of the marketing innovations M$ > brought into the Software industry. > > Wire > > > On Thu, 2008-11-06 at 12:57 +0300, Simon Vass wrote: > > Linux is attracting less than 20% on the desktop market is quite simple.Linux > is not easy to use. > I think it has more to do with aggressive marketing by Microsoft in making > sure all OEM's install Windows. Windows 3.x was a travesty in terms of easy > of use but it started the whole pre-installed culture which we are still > fighting today. > > Simon > Simon > Mugarura Cavin wrote:> The reason why> Linux is attracting less than 20% on > the desktop market is quite simple.> Linux is not easy to use. You dont need > a doctor (Western/African) to> tell you this. The different distro's have > tried to address this> concern. So simon - I did not state that Linpus is the > messiah, but i> suggested that it has a chance. There could be other's which > are even> simpler.>> can i stop here.>> On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 12:00 PM, > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:> >> Send LUG mailing list submissions to>> > [email protected]>>>> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, > visit>> http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug>> or, via email, send a > message with subject or body 'help' to>> [EMAIL PROTECTED]>>>> You can > reach the person managing the list at>> [EMAIL PROTECTED]>>>> When > replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific>> than "Re: > Contents of LUG digest...">>>>>> Today's Topics:>>>> 1. Re: Why You should > all Care. (Simon Vass)>>>>>> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------->>>> > Message: 1>> Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:58:10 +0300>> From: Simon Vass <[EMAIL > PROTECTED]>>> Subject: Re: [LUG] Why You should all Care.>> To: [EMAIL > PROTECTED], Linux Users Group Uganda <[email protected]>>> Message-ID: <[EMAIL > PROTECTED]>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed>>>> > and breath...... well said Jon. I think Joseph might have been playing>> > devil's advocate though. I was most interested in>>>> Obama's rise to the > highest seat, should be a lesson to cliques who>> >>> think Microsoft > will dominate forever,>>> i have i used several distro's of Linux, but right > now i might say>>> Linpus is the closest to wrestling Windoze>>> from the > lead.>>>>>>>>> >> Is there ways we can use this recent election to draw > experiences to>> promote Open Source? Yes I think that OSS can be spread much > faster>> through the grassroots, which seems to have played a huge part in > this>> election. We can encourage that changing to use OSS is not something > to>> fear but embrace. To quote the man "Yes we can!". We can continue to>> > define/develop how open source differs from closed and keep explaining>> how > the community works.>>>> IMHO I do not think any one distribution is going > to wrestle the lead>> from Microsoft, and in all honesty I think this is no > longer the battle.>> Focusing on the desktop has developed Linux a long way > but with more and>> more Applications being placed in the cloud I think this > is a) were the>> focus should be and b) were I think Linux actually leads. > What is>> interesting is that Microsoft are listening and have sped up the>> > development of Windows 7. This should be the communities focus, as this>> I > feel is a primary strength. The speed at which many can move over one>> > monolith company is amazing. I am always amazed at how withing hours of>> a > bug being filed in Linux fixes are posted, where as it take MS weeks.>>>> > This I feel is one of the OSS double edged swords, that you can "skin>> the > cat" any one of infinite (exaggeration) ways and as such it become a>> myriad > of options and choices, and no sooner do you make your choice and>> a new one > is presented. I seem to spend my entire life reading and>> learning about new > applications and methods, which I love, but recognize>> this is not for > everyone, and a very big part of my job is to filter>> this for my > clients.>>>> So how to we retain the complexity and diversity of OSS, but at > the same>> time allow people (including me) to make simple decisions as to > which>> OS/Email App/etc they would like to use, and would do the best for > them.>>>> Personally I feel very buoyed about the elections in the U.S. and>> > especially by the reaction of the world to it. I too come from a diverse>> > background and have a diverse heritage. Anything that allow>> > people/countries to move beyond the politics of me to us and our I think>> > can only be a good thing. I especially was blown away at how>> > Youtube/Twitter played a part in this election. Whilst the realism that>> for > the majority of Africans is that this is still a world away, slowly>> one > person at a time this is changing and with it the way we must view>> the > world as a collection of individual countries and or distributions.>>>> > Simon>>>>>>>> J.Gosier wrote:>> >>> I can't believe this was said from a > native African.>>>>>> Here is the one reason why everyone in the world should > care that>>> Obama is th president Elect of the United States. Since World > War II>>> the U.S. has been the most powerful, influential nation on the>>> > planet. For better or for worse, the economy exploded rapidly, the>>> state > of Europe today was 100% affected by what happened then and>>> Africa has > been on the receiving end of shovels full of money from>>> both the U.S., > Europe, the U.N. and the World Bank. Because of other>>> nations meddling, > there's been a chess game at work when it comes to>>> Africa's developing > countries. One leader is aided in wresting power>>> from someone else more > corrupt because other nations around the globe>>> have vested interests in > having someone 'friendly' to their ideals.>>> That more than anything has > been the story of Africa since colonialism.>>>>>> This has lead to the deaths > of millions to the rise of a number of>>> 'bad idea to begin with' leaders > all over the continent. As much as>>> America claims it doesn't play this > game, it does. It's helped define>>> borders (ex. Liberia) and end wars. > It's helped fight famine and slow>>> the spread of AIDS.>>>>>> So whomever > controls the most powerful and influential nation in the>>> world, becomes by > default the most powerful person in the world. That>>> person can be an > stubborn, intolerant, childish, ignorant,>>> unprecedented moron like Georgia > W. Bush or it can be a progressive,>>> inspirational, open-minded person like > Barack Obama.>>>>>> When the U.S. bombed Somalia looking for Al-Quaeda in > 2006-7 you're>>> telling me it 'didn't matter' who was in charge to make > that>>> decision? When we started an endless war in Iraq for reasons that>>> > were blatant lies to the American public, it 'didn't matter' who was>>> in > charge? When our country put pressure on all our 'allies' to>>> mirror our > decisions in all this, it 'didn't matter' who was in>>> charge? When the > American economy tanked because of poor regulation>>> and oversight from our > government, it 'didn't matter' that this>>> rippled around the world > (arguably) sending the world economy into>>> recession? And ultimately, when > George Bush and John McCain tell the>>> American public 'Nothing is wrong, > everything is fine. We must stay>>> the course.' it doesn't matter? Despite > the fact that most of the>>> world disagreed with how we were making > decisions. It absolutely>>> matters. In fact it matters so much, it matters > more than it>>> *should*, for the sake of 'world-democracy'.>>>>>> Even if > you don't agree with the policies, the ideals and culture of>>> America, one > thing is for sure: we're all connected. My interest in>>> what's going on in > America right now is every bit as deep as my>>> concern for what will happen > to the ANC in South Africa and the>>> situation in Congo. One thing affects > another and, especially in>>> Africa, history shows us that when one area > falls into a chaos, it has>>> a way of negatively affecting the countries > around it.>>>>>> People around the world often complain about how dumb, > ignorant and>>> aggressive American people can be. I'd argue that, while one > man>>> can't possibly change 300 million people, he can lead in a way that>>> > inspires more to be like him. He can simply serve as a positive>>> > example.>>>>>> The excitement has nothing to do with the fact that he's black > and a>>> first generation African-American, in my opinion. That's just a>>> > footnote among all the reasons to be excited about Obama...and this is>>> > coming from a Black-American. I'd have been just as excited if his>>> > ancestry were Asian whatever else if his ideals and philosophies were>>> the > same. Hilary Clinton would have made an 'okay' leader but a few>>> things > curbed my interest in her a) how she (negatively) ran her>>> campaign and b) > the fact she supported the Iraq war. Again, it has>>> nothing to do with > race or gender, it's all about the mans mentality>>> and what he's > exemplified in his actions.>>>>>> Okay, enough ranting about my country for > now.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Jonathan D. Gosier>>> Appfrica International>>> > P.O. Box 1420 Kampala, Uganda>>> http://appfrica.net - African Technology and > Social Media Blog>>> http://appfrica.org - Incubator for East African > Entrepreneurs in Software>>>>>> Uganda +256.773806071>>> USA > +1.520.318.0828 ext 145>>> UK +44.2032398156>>> Skype > j.gosier>>> Twitter appfrica>>>>>>>>> joseph mpora wrote:>>> > >>>> I really don't see the cause for all the excitement. I can > understand>>>> why African-Americans are excited, it's the first time the US > has>>>> picked a president from a minority (can't remember the exact>>>> > percentage but its around 20%)>>>>>>>> For Africa, it probably bears not real > significance. Obama is>>>> American, his priority is America. I believe his > dad (the Kenyan)>>>> abandoned his family and Obama has only visited Kenya a > few times.>>>>>>>> Would we be this excited if it had been Hillary Clinton, > an election>>>> which would have been just as historic?>>>>>>>> PS: I was > routing for Obama, mostly because what he said made sense,>>>> not because he > is black (ahem, African-American)>>>>>>>> J>>>>>>>> On Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at > 12:31 AM, Dennis M S <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:>>>>>>>> >>>>> Need i > say more....history has been made ,now every down trodden>>>>> fellow can > dream....it can only b USA>>>>> > _______________________________________________>>>>> LUG mailing list>>>>> > [email protected]>>>>> http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug>>>>> %LUG is > generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/>>>>>>>>>> The above > comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if > any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way.>>>>> > --------------------------------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>> > _______________________________________________>>>> LUG mailing list>>>> > [email protected]>>>> http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug>>>> %LUG is > generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/>>>>>>>> The above > comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if > any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way.>>>> > --------------------------------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>> -->>> > This message has been scanned for viruses and>>> dangerous content by > *MailScanner* <http://www.mailscanner.info/>, and is>>> believed to be > clean.>>> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------>>>>>> > _______________________________________________>>> LUG mailing list>>> > [email protected]>>> http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug>>> %LUG is generously > hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/>>>>>> The above comments and data > are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's > Host is not responsible for them in any way.>>> > --------------------------------------->>>>>>>>> >> -->> Simon Vass>> > Technical Manager>> E-Tech Uganda Ltd>>>> http://www.etech.ug>> > skype:etechservicedesk>>>> Tel: +256-312260620>> Fax: +256-312260621>>>>>>>> > -->> This message has been scanned for viruses and>> dangerous content by > MailScanner, and is>> believed to be clean.>>>>>>>> > ------------------------------>>>> > _______________________________________________>> LUG mailing list>> > [email protected]>> http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug>>>>>> End of LUG > Digest, Vol 51, Issue 18>> ***********************************>>>> >>>> > > -- Simon VassTechnical ManagerE-Tech Uganda Ltd > http://www.etech.ugskype:etechservicedesk > Tel: +256-312260620Fax: +256-312260621 > > > > _______________________________________________ > LUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug > %LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ > > The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including > attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. > --------------------------------------- > > > -- Mike Of course, you might discount this possibility, but remember that one in a million chances happen 99% of the time. ------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________ LUG mailing list [email protected] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug %LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. ---------------------------------------
