What follows is a copy of a letter I sent to the Editor in Chief of "Windows NT
Systems, which they've been sending me at work for awhile. Normally I send it
out with the recycling, unread, but today I did look at it. Maybe I was just in
a bad mood, but his ignorant biased "editorial" really irritated me. I'm also
tired of writers like him, who regurgitate the "party line" from Redmond as if
it were fact, instead of what it is....fiction.
Fred
______________________________
Nicholas Baran
Editor in Chief
Windows NT Systems
Dear Mr. Baran,
I normally "pitch" "Windows NT Systems" when it arrives because we've
been planning on throwing NT "out on it's ear," as is being done in so
many other places. However, for some unknown reason, I didn't today
when I received the May issue. After reading your Editorial and having
a good laugh, I decided that a response was indeed needed, even though
you more than likely won't publish it.
You take the position that just because Oracle and IBM have ported some
of their applications to Linux, that it's simply a recompile and
therefore shouldn't mean much to the market place at all. As the Editor
in Chief of a magazine, no matter how small the circulation, you must be
aware that these are only 2 fish in a large pond who have ported their
wares to Linux as well, and that is significant.
You claim that, "Your choices of graphical user interfaces are the Unix
command shell or X-Windows, a primitive windowing system designed more
than 15 years ago." First, your ignorance of X-Windows is showing. "X"
can be customized by the user to be a very attractive, fast, and
functional GUI. Second, there are window managers that load onto "X,"
like KDE that ships with the SuSE Linux distribution, that make any
flavor of 'DOZE look like what you describe for "X!" Further, all of
this can be loaded on an "old" '386 that will more than likely
out-perform 'DOZE on a '486. KDE in design is so far ahead of anything
MickySoft has come up with that even you'd have to "take notice!"
Another bogus claim you make is, "Systems administrators are users too,
and tools like Microsoft Management Console are of great benefit. The
fact is that the Windows interface has improved greatly and makes
X-Window a poor substitute." I'm a Systems Admin., my friend, and like
a great deal of other Sys. Admins. from one end of the Country to the
other, we've dumped NT "like a bad habit," and not just because it's
"butt ugly!" Namely, NT is not stable, not even by the stretch of your
imagination. "X" is much, much, more functional than NT....period!
Further, a user can have a number of "X" terminals up and running at the
same time, with windowed apps. running in each one, all in a fraction of
the RAM NT would require, and with performance Bill Gates can only dream
of! Here again, I prefer KDE, but you wouldn't know about that because
you didn't "do your home work" very well.
You also said, "The only major office productivity application available
on Linux is WordPerfect, which won't get you very far in today's
business world." Again, you didn't "do you homework," or you're being a
MickySoft apologist. StarOffice puts Office-97 to shame. The Applix
office suite is also a fine performer, and the entire Corel Suite will
be available before years end....what's your problem?
You're concerned about Linux being used as an application server.
Really? Most Sys. Admins today have enough brains to know that the most
efficient use of software for workstations is loaded locally, not from a
server. If that's the way you think people should work, then the only
real performance option is to run Linux apps. from X-Terminals. Don't
even suggest that NT is capable of serving this function for 'DOZE
applications. To do so would prove much more than just ignorance.
The only accurate information in your "editorial," is that Linux is more
difficult to install than NT, but not my much. I fully expect that
installation will become much easier before the end of the year, based
on the development being done at SuSE.
The SuSE distribution of Linux has replaced NT here in my dept. at
Cornell. It is STABLE, FASTER, easier to install, easier to manage, and
cost us MUCH less than NT. I will soon replace 'DOZE on some of the
workstations as well with SuSE, using the KDE window manager as the GUI.
In the future, I'd recommend that you at least do a credible job when
reviewing an OS. To have a bias is normal, but to have an agenda is not
only obvious, but discredits any valid comments you may make.
Sincerely,
Fred A. Miller
______________
Disclaimer: Opinions are strictly my own, and may or may not be those of
my employer.
--
----/ / _ Fred A. Miller
---/ / (_)__ __ ____ __ Systems Administrator
--/ /__/ / _ \/ // /\ \/ / Cornell Univ. Press Services
-/____/_/_//_/\_,_/ /_/\_\ [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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