Bob,
Thanks for your perspective. Way back in the 80s, when M$ was still
doing their DOS thing and Windows was just beginning to emerge as its
replacement, I predicted that there would one day be three systems
that would dominate the computer world. I believed that Macintosh
would be on top of the mountain, that something that the DOS people
were contriving and a third whose origin I knew would happen, but
hadn't the slightest idea what it would be, would constitute this
triumvirate. Of course, the Mac people made some really bad marketing
decisions that allowed Gates to claw his way to the top of the heap.
My vision of things can still come to pass, baring some more bad
decisions, seeing as how the 800 lb. gorilla seems to be in the
process of shooting itself in the foot. With a few more countries
doing as Brazil has done, and Linux may eventually either challenge
or replace Windows. Since Apple has seen fit to make their hardware
Linux friendly, this whole thing can really happen - to my delight.
I just hope I live to see that come to pass. (smile)
Brazil has always been something of an enigma in the eyes of most of
us here in the States. It's probably one of the places I'd like to
visit one day, having lived in Colombia for a few many years ago.
Thanks for being part of this RevList. We appreciate your input.
Joe Wilkins
On Mar 3, 2007, at 11:19 AM, Bob Warren wrote:
Joe wrote:
Bob, I'm going to ask an apparently stupid question. Since I've been
a diehard Mac user since the Lisa, and it has always let me get so
much of my work done that I never even thought about looking at
anything else, will you please, as succinctly as possible, let
"us" know how this thing called Linux, in all of it's various
flavors? works. How can something as enormous as this potentially
is, be coordinated to the point that something truly useful
emerges? I find it pretty bewildering, and cannot see how it can
fit into my computing life. Keep in mind that I was over 50 when I
undertook the mastering of a new tool and didn't even know what a
"k" was at that point.
--------------------------------------------------------
Hi Joe!
No, that's not a stupid question, and even at the age of 62 I'm not
sure I know how to answer you adequately, but I'll try.
If I didn't live in Brazil where economic life is difficult, it is
possible that I would have bought myself a Macintosh and never
looked back. But because of the expense, the general public never
use Macs in Brazil, only PCs. What's more, Windows and accompanying
software are invariably pirated, not on account of the inherent
dishonesty of Brazilians, but because it has been the only way that
they could participate in computer usage: almost nobody in Brazil
has even 10% of the money required to use software legally.
Such pirating will probably come to an end with the protective
mechanisms of Windows Vista. (Personally, I think that this marks
the beginning of the end of Microsoft. Allowing a certain amount of
piracy was part of the secret of their success, related to the
essential characteristic of wide distribution and fame.) So in
countries that are not rich, the use of Linux - the only cheap
alternative - becomes not so much an option as a necessity. The
Linux operating system has now been adopted officially by the
Brazilian government.
Linux is what it is, and we need to deal with it. When faced with a
question that appears to be enormously complex, we often feel
intimidated. But there is sometimes a simple answer. What I tried
to point out in my post is that from a personal point of view we
don't need to solve the "Linux problem" at all, we just need to
back the apparent winner among the distros (Ubuntu) and to be happy
with that. That is, unless the situation changes and another leader
emerges later on.
I don't know how this thing called Linux, in all of its various
flavours, works. Nor do I want to know. I don't have the brains to
deal with the enormous variety and technical complexity presented
by around 300 different distributions of the Linux system. But I do
need to be practical in my programming, and catering for usage on
more than one platform or distribution at a time is a very
difficult thing to do. If it involves the usage of the
peculiarities of the computer's file system to any real degree, the
idea of "cross-distro" or "cross-platform" programming becomes
totally unviable.
If you live in the US and you are happy with your Macintosh, and
your programs have a satisfactory market, why the hell should you
start mucking about with Linux? I cannot think of any good reason,
except perhaps curiosity, and the fact that you can do it very
easily through the use of a Live CD or pendrive. Linux exists as a
direct response to the sins committed by Microsoft throughout the
world, and no other reason. The neutralizing effect of its
diversity is also a direct consequence of the behaviour of
Microsoft. The fact that it is not a single company and that it
belongs to everybody but nobody in particular is the only way that
it can defend itself against annihilation. It was the only answer,
and it is certainly a very good one.
Succinctly, something truly useful has emerged: Ubuntu.
Regards,
Bob
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