John Cooper wrote:
> john eayrs wrote:
>> I use both Windows and SUSE Linux and I can use both without to much
>> problem
>> because of the way SUSE has attempted to provide a distro which would be
>> easy for Windows Users to use.
>>
>> I first wrote computer programs in 1974 on automatic test equipment.
>> I have
>> written programs in DOS which required writing the means to run eight
>> different printers on. Each printer had different command codes. I
>> have
>> had also to write in the same programs the means to access CGA
>> screens, EGA
>> screens and VGA screens. Windows 3.1 changed this. The programs I have
>> written in Windows using the windows API has enabled me not to care
>> whether
>> an output display device is a printer or a monitor or a file. This
>> ease of
>> programming is not available to me in Linux. I have a database of many
>> lines of re-usable code.
>>
>> I tried Redhat linux in 1995 and found it (with my DOS background)
>> virtually
>> unusable. The usability of Linux for those of us who are not good at
>> remembering command lines is very difficult.
>>
> Is this a wind up :-) Just because you couldn't be bothered to learn
> the powerful commands you think DOS is better!
I imagine it's either a wind up or just Astroturf
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing) - "tried Red Hat linux back
in 1995", almost 12 years ago and now says it was (virtually) unusable.
What exactly is the point of such a comparison? On that basis you could
compare Windows for Workgroups with Windows XP and find the former
"Virtually Unusable". In fact, as I recall WFWG was pretty unusable much
of the time as it was so unstable.
>> I for one welcome collaboration between Novel and Microsoft because
>> in the
>> long term it will make the migration from Windows to Linux via SUSE a
>> lot
>> easier.
>>
> Please, stick with Windows, my blood pressure is rising reading this.
>>
>> I do a lot of things in Windows because I have the software to do it
>> without
>> much thinking.
> Yes, I'm getting the picture, M$ has many like you and will make sure
> your addiction is maintained. Shame as you will miss out on all the
> ultra powerful free languages available to FLOSS users.
>
>> There is a lot of things in Windows which would benefit Linux. For
>> example
>> I can do hard disk backups in 5 minutes. I can retrieve damaged
>> partitions
>> without much difficulty. I can retrieve files off partitions which
>> have had
>> the MBR damaged. I do not know how to do these sort of operations in
>> Linux
>> with anything like the same sort of ease. I watch Divx and Xvid
>> films on
>> Windows. When I tried this on Linux I had to give up.
>>
> Just because you can't be bothered to learn you are again missing out
> on the flexibility of FLOSS. You can only do what M$ lets you do. We
> can do everything available to Windows plus a million other things.
>> To install a program in Windows takes me no longer than 5 minutes. To
>> install into Linux can take me considerably longer.
>>
> Rubbish. Yum and apt takes minutes to install an application. You have
> thousands of applications that you can download for free.
>> I use Word Perfect as my word processor. It can do certain things
>> which is
>> not available in Open Office. This ensures that I do not use Open
>> Office as
>> my word processor. Unfortunately my copy of word perfect is for
>> windows.
Hmm. Word Perfect eh? Not MS Word? Can WP do things word cannot too?
>>
> Again, open your eyes instead of sticking with what you know.
> OpenOffice.org has everything you could possibly want and it is FREE!
> Thank you Sun Microsystems.
>> I make it a policy to do byte by byte checks on all DVD or CD's that
>> I burn.
>> One never knows if one has a good or bad writable media. This is
>> easy for
>> me to do in Windows. I have not been able to do this in Linux yet.
>>
> If you download an ISO, it will have a checksum available. RTFM.
K3B will checksum iso's/media for you. I'm sure others will also.
>> I have heard many stories how it has taken months to get a Linux machine
>> that the user is happy with. The windows desktop for many is usable
>> from
>> the start.
What definition of "start", and "happy" are we using here? Last time I
looked, installing windows did not install various essential tools such
as a WP, Spreadsheet or Presentation Manager (just for starters). Almost
*all* Linux distros will leave you with at last this after installation.
With Windows, you need to buy and install these as extras, which seems
to have been overlooked here. I doubt many users would be "happy"
without these. Don't tell me MS-Works comes free with most; this is a
teaser product as any fule kno.
>>
> What, after 16 reboots you mean? Knoppix is fully working in minutes
> from a CD. Fedora works as soons as you logon.
>> I know several people who are able to do things in Windows and would
>> find it
>> impossible to use Linux. Windows for better or worse brings
>> computing to
>> the masses and as a result has enabled cheap machines because of the
>> mass
>> production of computers.
Conversely I know people who, having been windows users, and with no
prior knowledge of Linux are happily using Ubuntu.
>>
> Linux is making PCs even cheaper. See One Laptop Per Child project
> based on Fedora and $100-ish.
>> Would it be more sensible to recognise that different operating
>> systems have
>> their strengths and weaknesses instead of comdemming things out of
>> hand out
>> of pure reflex. And to recognise that the thinking involved in using
>> Linux
>> effectively is very different to that for using Windows effectively.
>>
> No, we have used Windows and rejected it as poor quality software with
> limited features. Have you heard about not using MS software until
> after version 3?
Service pack 3 IMHO. But that is indeed a common corporate stance.
>
> I know this attitude is fairly common and is what M$ is aiming to
> maintain. GNU/Linux FLOSS is already changing that attitude and this
> is why M$ is buying in to SuSE to try and halt it.
The entire gist of the original rant is actually, in a weird kind of
way, valid. Now here's why:
The entire essence of Floss/FOSS is freedom, freedom of choice, freedom
to make changes, to explore and to contribute. With this structure comes
vast amounts of power, but accompanying this power is responsibility, as
in most things in life.
I conceed that FOSS software like Linux does generally require that for
most default installations, a certain level of understanding of basic
key concepts is in place. For those who are, or prefer to remain
ignorant of how things work under the covers, it's not always ideal.
Likewise for those who have no interest in testing, fiddling,
writing/contributing code and otherwise undertaking activities which
provide benefits to the community at large.
It all boils down to this: If you are interested in the basics of how
things work, have an open mind and are willing to learn, play and
experiment then FOSS can work well for you. If you don't care about
improving things, don't want to learn new things and are happy to follow
sheep-like along, clicking and pressing buttons like an automaton then
avoid it like the plague and go pay the man your money.
Also, if you find Windows is easy to use, I would counter it's also easy
for you to break, and hard to fix when it does. I spend proportionally
far more time fixing/dezombifying/disinfecting PC's for people who won't
move off windows than I do for those who take the plunge and go Linux.
Go figure.
--
---
Jack Knight
Chief Technical Officer
Open Source Migrations Ltd
