On 08-Feb-99 Jerry Lynn Kreps wrote:
>
> (Ted Harding) wrote:
>
>> The alternative, as Alex says and as has been forcefully said in other
>> places, is "UNIX Wars" all over again. This is what marginalised UNIX
>> for many major software ISVs; the ones that stayed in were mainly
>> those that
>
> Linux has avoided the "Unix Wars" by ignoring those that would rekindle
> the flames. Personally, I like the independence the Linux allows. Can
> you imagine if the Qt toolkit was declared the standard and Xwindows
> programs written without it were shunned? Confine yourself to KDE for
> the next 10-15 years? Why? Let freedom ring, let inovation flourish.
> There will be enought "standardization" by virtue of the number of
> packages sold, but each should allow some place in their distro for
> wiggle room so improvements can burst out.
> Jerry
This is also a point of view for which I have strong sympathy.
If the only issue were "what would the community of Linux users, breathing
the free air, like", I think the answer would be along Jerry's lines.
But the current flowering of interest in Linux in the "real software"
world (quotation marks deliberate ... ) -- while, at present, the Open
Source software for similar purposes continues to lag (and, in the case
of Windows compatibility which many of us genuinely need to achieve,
continues to be almost lacking except in commercial packages) -- points
to a need for a *standard* Linux that any ISV can debelop for and know
what the target is.
As I pointed out earlier: compare FreeBSD. FreeBSD is what is on the
FreeBSD ftp site. There are not 15 versions of it out there, incompatible
at a basic level. If you develop for FreeBSD you *know* what it's going
to be running on (to within shifts between versions, but that doesn't seem
to throw up many problems).
Agreed this is a dilemma.
Best wishes,
Ted.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 09-Feb-99 Time: 01:16:11
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