Giant Linux Boost From Washington Post

You've seen Penguin Computing's "Tux stomps Microsoft HQ" ad, right? It's the one with the caption, "Good evening, Mr. Gates, I'll be your server today!" This morning, when I opened up my copy of the Washington Post, that ad, in full color, dominated the entire front page of the business section. Below it was a story headlined, Microsoft's Next Trials - Windows Case Could Open Doors for the Upstart Linux Operating System. This may be the most unabashed piece of journalistic Linux advocacy ever published in a major daily newspaper. The print edition, but apparently not the Post's Web site, also contained a sidebar story about how the article's author installed Corel Linux on his home desktop computer -- and found it fairly easy to do. Indeed, he says, the hardest part of his personal Linux foray was parting with the high-end Linux-loaded Latitude laptop Dell loaned him to test. "It will pain me to give it back," he said.

Comments

hmmmm

[1%warren]

How many people have just had a guts-full of anti M$ BS? IMHO that Pengiun ad just makes us look lame....
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Re:hmmmm

[JoeWalsh]

How many people have just had a guts-full of anti M$ BS?

I for one am not tired of the anti-Microsoft sentiment I see in this community.

First, this is the world that Microsoft created. They set the tone of the software industry very early on. Specifically, I'm thinking of that enraged letter Gates sent to the Altair community about the pirating of his BASIC interpreter. The letter was extremely unprofessional, whiny, and combative. It set the tone for the industry, and he and his company have kept it up ever since. Dirty tricks, lies, and outright illegal behavior are the rule of the day with Microsoft, as shown quite clearly in the antitrust trial. Being anti-Microsoft, to me, means being against that sort of corporate behavior. So I'm not tired of people being anti-Microsoft.

But that's not the only reason I'm not tired of it. The other reason is that Microsoft has made my life much harder than it would otherwise be. If they hadn't used illegal practices to dominate the industry, my life would be much better. Because in that case, either better products from other companies would be the standard, or Microsoft itself would themselves have produced products actually worthy of the industry leader. Either way, my life as a computer professional would be much better. Instead, they chose to use illegal practices to make their inferior products the standard. Again, this is a very valid reason to be anti-Microsoft.

So, while I sometimes abhor the tactics used by some members of the community, my feelings parallel theirs. And I can't really blame the most ardent Microsoft haters, given Microsoft's criminality, immorality, and general disrespect for its customers.

Being anti-Microsoft is simply the right thing to do.

-Joe

Re:linux supporters want it both ways

[Kaufmann]

I personally am not a "Linux supporter", but I'm in shock nonetheless.

Tell me, what's your secret? How is it possible to fit so much stereotyping in just one single message?

Have you just gone through previous Slashdot discussions, picked up anything that any given "Linux supporter" ever said, and taken that as representative of the thoughts, desires and beliefs of the entire "Linux supporter" community? It sure seems like it.

You might as well finish off by claiming that all Windows users are MS-loving zombies, or that all Mac users are braindead graphic designers.

If this is the kind of stuff you post to Slashdot on a regular basis, then it's a tribute to the idiocy of the moderation system that you've managed to get the +1 score bonus.

Re:Gotta point this out...

[Surak]

Until Linux gets some applications that are clearly superior to the ones in Windows, it will never get any significant penetration. People need a really good reason to switch, and there just isn't one when it comes to Linux -- but there are a whole slew of negatives.

Isn't it obvious? Linux' killer application, right now, is development tools. The development tools, right now today, are clearly superior to anything offered on any other platform. Why do you think Linux has been able to attract so many software development geeks?

<soapbox mode: on>
Remember, Windows didn't always have superior applications to other alternatives. When Windows 3.0 was first introduced, the superior applications were on the DOS and Macintosh platforms (which is why Windows 3.0 beat out OS/2; better DOS compatibility). The fact that M$ developed what were then superior development tools to what was on DOS or Macintosh is exactly what M$ claims is the reason for the flocking of developers to its platform, and thus, ultimately the development of large numbers of applications, and the eventual superiority of those applications.

(While this claim is not entirely true, there is some element of truth to it.)

The point is, folks, that we're there. We've arrived. Now its time for the developers in the open source community to stand up and write those superior apps. There are a lot of things going on this arena (KOffice, GNUOffice, etc.) and its going to take time before we stop playing catchup, but if, and only if, we are willing to stick with it, and continue the fight, these superior applications will come.

My belief is that the key area where Linux developers need to concentrate on, once we get the basic office apps out of the way, is in the area of Internet-enabled apps. This is where MS and everyone else is headed, this is where we need to head as well. But we have the key experience that no one else has: many open source developers were on the Net before there was an HTML or a World Wide Web. This is an area where we have a chance to shine. Furthermore, developments in mobile technologies and embedded devices are equally as important, and we have some key players in these areas already, with Transmeta and others doing stuff for mobile and embedded devices...

My point is that the future is not as bleak as many who are not forward-thinking might expect. We won't be chasing MS forever, and eventually, we will succeed in "total world domination, but in a good way."

<soapbox mode: off>

Confused posters want it both ways

[MostlyHarmless]

They fail to realize that two posters can have constrasting viewpoints; at the same time they blast "linux supporters" for having splits in the community

They think that because one person says something it is representative of the whole community; at the same time they just do not understand that it is possible for two people out of the thousands to see things a different way.

SATIRE=OFF

Seriously, some people think that MS _does_ need to be punished, while others think that free market forces will destroy it anyway.

Don't you get the fact that two people can have opposing viewpoints? By labeling a whole mass of unique people as "linux supporters", one overlooks the wide range of opinions contained therein. It is easy to mock a community by pointing out contradictions, ignoring the fact that there are always differences in the opinions of the community.
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Everything2

[Money__]

The tag line at the end of the article sums it all up very well. I quote:
" In other words, total world domination.
But in a good way."

This is exactly the atraction to Linux and open source in general. Companies competing to add features while making all the source available back to users to prevent lock in. Users can't loose.

Right now, you can get the same thing from ms, but everything they do is a "trade secret" protected by the never ending patent called DCMA (Digital Copyright Millenium Act). This locks in users to the ms way, like it or not.

This will be the second big shift in the computer industry in recent years. IBM lost share in the 80s and ms will loose share 2000 and beyond and the timing of Linux and open source couldn't have been better.
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Gotta point this out...

[Reality Master 101]

On the desktop, people use applications, not operating systems, to get work done.

Until Linux gets some applications that are clearly superior to the ones in Windows, it will never get any significant penetration. People need a really good reason to switch, and there just isn't one when it comes to Linux -- but there are a whole slew of negatives.

I mean, what's the "killer app" in Linux for the desktop? There are no end-user apps that I can get that are better under Windows. With Win2K, Linux doesn't even have the stability advantage anymore.

This is not to say that Linux won't see more penetration in the server arena. I personally like Unix better when it comes to server apps. But for the desktop, there simply isn't an overwhelming reason to switch.

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Other story mentioned in the article

[puppet10]

This is the story on installing Linux mentioned in the WP and Slashdot article.

http://www.washin gtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36124-2000Jun10.html

Re:Forgot One Thing

[David Ham]

"you can't tell me it is as easy as WinNT to setup"

that was once correct, but not any more. i have a "thing" with operating systems - they interest me very intensely, and so i try them out quite regularly. in the past few years, i've installed slackware 2.x, redhat 4.x, 5.x, 6.x, mandrake 5.2, 6.0, 7.0 and now 7.1, corel 1.1, windows nt server 4.0, windows 9x (probably 2-300 times), various versions of dos, freebsd, beos from 3.0 up to current... the beos installer was pretty simple, but i can *honestly* say that i have *never* seen a system better set up than the mandrake 7.1 system i installed a few days ago. it detected EVERYTHING it needed to and set them up accordingly. sound blaster live, crap onboard video, etc. win9x is relatively easy to set up, but this installer, quite honestly, put it to shame. you may prefer windows, and that's fine - to each his own. but please don't say things like this around easily influenced people and prospective linux users. it borders on propaganda...
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