DISCLAIMER: I intend to rile up some emotions with this post. If all you want to read on this list are questions and answers about obscure sendmail config file options, start ignoring this thread now.
On Tue, Mar 25, 2003 at 07:56:22PM -0700, Stuart Jansen wrote: > On Tue, 2003-03-25 at 19:51, Michael Halcrow wrote: > *Some stuff about encouraging OOS/FS at BYU. > > I fully support you. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. > My one question: is this more appropriate for the UUG or another club? > It seems more like balancing Devhood that supporting the users of *nix. Thanks, Stuart. I appreciate your support. But I'm starting to lose my patience with this whole ``But this is the *UNIX* Users Group!!'' I feel like, at this point, it is a pointless and counter-productive argument. It's like this whole list is in collective denial. Everyone, look around yourselves for a second here... WE ARE ALL USING *LINUX*, DAMMIT! Okay, so Jon is using BSD (which everyone knows is dying anyway ;-), and there are a couple of Mac OS X guys around (and I'm sure that the few I missed will be quick to let us all know), and we would never exclude them from the list just for changing the name (unless they want to feel excluded), but the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of this list is comprised of Linux users. It is Linux that is drawing new members to this list. All the CS majors are exposed to Linux in the labs. The CAEDM and SPICE guys are installing Debian Linux machines in the labs, and they are making HP-UX look like Linux with Gnome and what not. Many on this list are Free Software and Open Source software advocates. The demographics of this list tips heavily on the side of Linux. And I feel that keeping ``Linux'' out of our name is causing us real harm in terms of investigators to the club. People are seeing ``Linux'' on the cover of BusinessWeek Magazine, not ``Unix.'' That is why a name change is overdue. ``Unix'' is esoteric. It is a bunch of old guys with beards hacking away on mainframe terminals. ``Linux'' is now mainstream. Open Source is a much more familiar term than HP-UX. We hold Linux Install Fests. We give out and promote Linux and Open Source software. We have used Tux as our web site mascott. I do not remember the last time I read a technical question on this list by someone who wanted to know the answer for use on HP-UX, AIX, Solaris, etc. The people posting questions are all using Linux. Nearly all the screenshots on our web site are of Linux window managers. When was the last time we covered something at a group meeting that didn't work on Linux? In fact, how often have we even *talked* about operating systems other than Linux at a group meeting? Face it: This is the BYU Linux Users Group. It's time our name reflect our activities and what our members are actually using. The argument to maintain ``Unix'' in the name of the group is purely idealogical. It just feels good to maintain some air of tradition. But I am not talking about what the list started out as. I am talking now about what the list has *become*. And I am also looking ahead to see what the list will be. Some say that ``Linux'' is just a flash in the pan, and that ``Unix'' is more entrenched and universal, and so we should keep ``Linux'' out of our name. Frankly, while I appreciate all that ``Unix'' has done for GNU and Linux, the time is past for paying lip service to the phenomenon. I feel that ``Unix'' is now a stagnant dinosaur, and it is becoming largely irrelevant in light of the Open Source movement and Linux. Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, and all other proprietary Unices are giving way to Linux. They will *never* ... I repeat, *NEVER* be able to compete on the same level as Linux (they will have some niche markets, but they will remain niche, and become even more niche as time passes), because Linux is Open Source. IBM executives have labeled Linux as the ``natural successor'' to AIX and are pumping a BILLION dollars into Linux development. Analysts have been pointing out how Sun is facing serious competition from Linux, and it is losing server market share to Linux just as fast as Windows NT is losing market share to Linux. Even if one of the proprietary Unices were to open its source, it would not gain significant market share because attributes of that system design would simply be incorporated into the Linux kernel. While we can appreciate the history and culture, the old ``Unix'' as we used to know it is quickly becoming irrelevant in today's technology trends. It's time we shed Unix from our name, and shed along with it the image of a stagnant group of esoteric Unix geebers. We are the BYU Linux Users Group. Mike
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