> >http://cnn.com/TECH/computing/9903/15/linuxsecret.idg/
> having been there (linuxworld) -- i agree with it even less.
> linux is "just software" ... right.
They are correct. Linux is just software. There is little new, save
the recent growth curve. And evolution.
I came of age on an IBM mainframe machine. We had CPS,
"Conversational Programming System". It was interactive, made Basic look
like some dumb grad student's project, and was fun. It was also shareware
from some of IBM's gurus, and like much of IBM's software, came with
source. A college chum finally tossed the boxes of source he had kept for
nearly 30 years. We often think that we but followed my thought to port
it to CP/M, we might have become what Microsoft is today. (He was
inheriting a successful business. Judgment call. Neither of us knows if
we would have succeeded.)
Then there was SHARE, Society to Help Alleviate Redundant Effort,
a kind of consortium which shared the development work for various pieces
of software across multiple corporations, and share what corporations
developed. Except their global network was the telephone system.
What did CNN miss?
* Linux stays up longer. Some folks brag they have kept theirs
up for a year or longer. Can't do that with Win*oops*.
* It has better support. bugs are fixed, and FAR more releases
come your way than with that erzats operating system.
* It has far more developers working on it, and the developers have
far more enthusiasm than MS's developers.
* There are more tools available. FAR more tools! Free!
(True, nothing is free in that you have to find it.)
* It is internet ready including
FULL SCALE web serving and gateway proxy capability.
But other than the WWW, Unix has always been network ready.
* It is designed to help USERS automate their tasks.
Sure, that means you need to hire smarter users.
But it means you get more done for less money.
And those smart users invent more things for your company.
Why do I like Linux? The last and the first items. To me, it is
just an operating system, one based on a design that has been around,
EVOLVING, for two or three times longer than Woodnose.
Sorry, Linux isn't new or remarkable.
Linux is just a better version of that nearly thirty year old thing
called UNIX. They predicted UNIX would take over 25 years ago. It's
accelerating. It is a velociraptor that just might win. Till something
better comes out. I wish that something would come sooner, and finally
kill off the dinosaurs UNIX and Linux. By then, Windows and Apple will be
long, long gone.
Don't get me wrong, I like Linux a LOT! Before I did similar things
on my $12,000 SGI Indy using a UNIX called IRIX; did things I could NOT do
under Woodnose without C and fancy libraries. In fact, I had two DOS
machines beside my Woodnose machine, as I didn't want to lose internet
access or my word processing whenever woodnose crashed. My IRIX machine
ran for a year and several months without crashing those first two years.
I've used several UNIX machines that have remained up over a year and a
half. Not that uncommon, UNIX just stays up. Till you have to add more
disk drives.
So what IS new?
* That level of performance doesn't cost $10,000 - $100,000+
* That level of support doesn't cost thousands per year
* NO SOFTWARE LICENSES REQUIRED!!!
(remember floating per/seat license servers?@#^%!)
* It is FAR more prevalent than expected!
* And perhaps, the average guy is beginning to see
the value of learning a few more commands.
Oh yes, one more thing. Microsoft no longer has an exclusive to
choke it by, as they did via SCO. (Court case: MS illegally forced
"compatibility code" into SCO, which sabotaged performance.)
So what will finally replace this old dinosaur called UNIX? A shrew.
Something small and fast, likely evolving near the Palm Pilot. But it
won't be woodnose. And the Palm Pilot can already run a striped down
version of Linux. Bet the old Newtons can too. Linux is a velociraptor.
It will only go extinct when the comet hits and kills off the food chain.
- [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----------------------------
-------- MS asks "Where do you want to go?" -------
------- Linux asks "What do you want to do?" ------
-- It is doers, not goers, who built this world! --
--------- Member: http://www.svlug.org/ -----------
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