> > I wonder though - are these really the users we want to attract?
> > If they are happy to play with their world of proprietary software,
> > do they really add anything to the community?
>
> What is wrong with proprietary software? Do you see a problem with people
> running database servers on Linux with DB2, Oracle, or Sybase? howabout if
> a company runs linux and StarOffice?
Everything is wrong with it. But, that is not the point. My point
is that if you are happy with that world - you do not need linux. If
you were happy with the results of proprietary software, you probably
wouldn't be using linux. And, if you are not happy with that world,
what is the point of trying to bring the very things that drag down
that world into this one?
I would argue that Windows is bad software not because microsoft is
an unethical company (they are) and not because microsoft engineers
are somehow more incompetent than those of other companies (I do not
know that they are or are not) but because they have the wrong
development model.
I would argue that Linux is good software not because Linux is a
superhuman genius (he is quite bright though) and not because Linux
developers are somehow superior mentally to others. (though they
obviously have much better tastes :) No - it is because Linux is open,
Linux is free. That is it's strength. Why do we not use our
strengths to advance Linux instead of importing their weaknesses?
> last but definitely not least.. when you surf the web, do you use
> netscape? point, game, you can't argue with that.. 90-someodd percent of
> linux users use netscape, its closed source.. don't bring up mozilla
> because that's BS.. how many of us use mozilla? why is that? it sucks.
I agree. Mozilla has yet to produce - which is exactly why I argued
recently on this list that Eric Raymond was quite premature in his
recent speech when he called his open source revolution a success. I
hope the Mozilla project does end up producing, but it hasn't yet. I
downloaded M7 today. It still has a a LONG way to go.
> If you spent a day with RMS you would have to make sure to refer to
> Linux ALWAYS as GNU/Linux.. Because, and I'm serious, he will
> basically blow you off if you leave off the GNU.. [...] RMS has
> done great things but he is a self-absorbed, egotistical asshole..
I suspect you have never talked with him before. While he will not
back off on his beliefs, he will not blow you off. The only times I
have seen him blow off someone is when he is debating with someone and
that other person is not entering into an honest debate and is just
trying to be argumentative. Other times, he will acknowledge that a
debate is a lost cause. If the other person is obviously not going to
change his mind and has not said anything pursuasive to you, what is
the point of going round and round in circles? I think you are
operating on heresay rather than personal experience.
> his time has passed and he is taking credit for linux because Hurd
> never came around.. if I'm not mistaken its' development has,
> basically, stopped :)
Nope - still going. Now that I have an extra machine to play with,
I hope to check it out some time. Has anyone here played with it?
Any comments?
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