Linux Dealt a rest BLOW by Apple !!!!!!! 2440

On Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:31:52 -0700, John C. Randolph

Though IÊprobably am guilty of feeding trolls, I wonder at such a statement. I, at least, have been using linux on my desktop (and on my laptop, and now palmtop) since 1991. Just barely started?

But as far as "better than windows", IMNSHO it has been there since 1991; back when MS had no idea that anyone would want to bother with the internet for anything beyond e-mail, and that from a server. Certainly now, when installation is within the capabilities of 12-year-olds, there is no reason why anyone need bother with MS.

So, why do they? There are a number of reasons. Certainly the games that only run on it are one reason, and the attempt at horizontal integration by MS --- a raft of programs that only run on their OS, and which everyone is encouraged to use by sweetheart deals to companies, is another. But the biggest is the bullpoo that MS spreads about using it versus using linux. I had a great hbuttle this afternoon, trying to explain to a retired colleague (who actually was quite computer literate in his day) how to ftp from a windows box. The things they hide from the user. But his fear was the command line. MS trains users to fear giving commands. Total bullpoo.

"Fear will keep the local systems in line, fear of this battle station."

Never fear, though, once the new version comes out there will be rafts of converts. Since rumor has it that it won't run without at least a gig of ram, anyone with modest software will face a dilemma of either buying a new machine or finding a new OS. Apple's OS still won't run on all machines, even though it runs on their x86 machines. Linux will be the only viable choice.

--

David L. Johnson

o A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems. `-(, -- Paul Erdos ()()