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Forbes on Linux
mvdwege writes "It appears that Forbes is doing a Linux Special. Lots of nice articles showing off the state of the art in Linux development today. It's nice to see Linux get some good mainstream press without hype or FUD. A very objective treatment that might definitely make some people think."
IMHO, it was at first unusual for Linux to be given credit in the "real" OS stakes: I remember the first time I saw Linux in the UK, on a Computer Shopper cover CD. I can't remember what the distribution was, but it was incredibly flaky.
However, what Linux has proved, more than anything else, is not that Linux is a viable OS, but, far more importantly, that Open Source developments are a viable option for companies these days.
It will be interesting to see if, ultimately, businesses do perform a complete about-turn on their strategies and, rather than going for licensed software, with maintence contracts etc., have maintenance in-house for software which, for the most part, has a bug patch written for it before the user finds the bug.
Like car accidents, most hardware problems are due to driver error.
This is definately a first and really a great achievement... and the goal now is to sustain linux rather that develop!
My Aurora : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91ZsGwJYyg
FB : https://www.facebook.com/TanveersPhotography
It means in the next issue they will have:
The Cult of Microsoft (7 of 9).
Actually reading through the articles (Shock!) gives a very positive image of Linux and the various Linux projects overall. Galeon, Gaim, even Pine, have all got nice, positive reviews. KDE take a bit of a kicking, but then its a review, and someone has be the winner!
Some hackers out there might want to take note of the sorts of things the Forbes reviewers found important; things like a clear user interface that doesn't shove big, glossy, eye-candy in your face, basically. They all rate intuitive, uncluttered user interfaces as a priority.
Oh, and before anyone starts flaming about "Point and drool" or some other nonsense along those lines; remember that they liked Pine.
Syllable : It's an Operating System
Forbes gets their info from /.? I quote:
"(Full disclosure: VA Software owns OSDN, whose Slashdot Web site provides tech news to Forbes.com.)"
In the next issue, "Exploring hostile takeovers and hot grits"...
Tales from behind the Lagom Curtain
I work in a company that does not have anything to do with OS's etc and many sections were using proprietry software.. but in current scenario, though we are till pretty comfortable, managers are looking at linux farms for computing needs and servers, and 3 years from now this would have been unthinkable.
Another misconception is that business houses run away from open source. This is not entierly true. Of course most of staff in such companies breaths on proprietry office solutions, and this will remain the case for a long time to come.
but look at the brighter side.. server share is growing and growing. And if you want to check what is forbes running on here it is... and yes its apache :-)
My Aurora : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91ZsGwJYyg
FB : https://www.facebook.com/TanveersPhotography
Don't be so paranoid!
This series is very good. It takes away part of the fears that executives have of Linux. Especially the article on the retailer going Linux.
The readers will get mixed feeling from this article though: "These programmers are weird, they can't make money from this. But it is free software and it seems to work."
I'm not sure reading about Linux is healthy for executives.
DNA is the ultimate spaghetti code.
The Forbes target audience will be very interested in anything that can cut costs for companies.
"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them." -- George H. W. Bush
According to Linux legend, a revered teacher and researcher told Linus Torvalds that he "would not get a high grade" for his creation.
:) coming to Europe with Richard Stallman and Rick Rashid. :)
The "revered teacher and researcher" in question is Professor Andy Tanenbaum.
His book "Computer Network" is a bible in networking for many people. Yes, what he thought about Linux is proven wrong but we still respect him.
Btw, my favourite quote of the above conversation is:
"As an aside, for those folks who don't read news headers, Linus is in Finland and I am in The Netherlands. Are we reaching a situation where another critical industry, free software, that had been totally dominated by the U.S. is being taken over by the foreign competition? Will we soon see President Bush coming to Europe with Richard Stallman and Rick Rashid in tow, demanding that Europe import more American free software?"
It has already proven that there's an free OS(a software) that has not been totally dominated by U.S., we yet to see Bush(well, if not old Bush.
Microsoft is helping me make the decision to look for alternatives, Roberts says.
I have no actual proof of the following statement, but is it possible that people view MS differently than pre law suit? Has a significant percentage of the population taken the view that Microsoft is a poster boy of Corporate America gone agro against consumers?
Is Forbes owned by someone who doesn't like Bill Gates, for instance? Or who has shares in Red Hat?...It is so uncommon to come across truly unbiased factual information in the US press these days I find it hard to believe that there isn't something behind this.
You are in shock; It will pass.
Even if the articles do have an agenda, it doesnt matter as long as they are factual, and even if they were not factual, its par for the course with much journalism today.
When ideas are at war, lies are as the sharpest of swords.
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The word "never" should never be used in a technology news article. Well, maybe if they're referring to OS/2... ;)
It's hard to believe the author of this article has been a technology news writer for at least a decade. "Linux will never be..." "Linux will never gain..." She doesn't mean never. I think she means in the short term (5 yrs maybe), which seems like an eternity in the tech industry. But to say something, especially something new, will never take over a market or will never be used for critical systems is simply rediculous. By this author's writing, some execs, if they're smart enough to read that far into the articles, will think Linux has mostly run its course and found its place in the industry since it'll "never" get beyond certain levels. By her logic, if she wrote an article about Microsoft back in 1985, she'd have said "Windows will never be a serious player in the server market."
This author's writing is incredibly irresponsible.
Developers: We can use your help.
hehe....as he fumes about GNU being mentioned in a Linux article only because of Galeon. :-)
http://www.forbes.com/2002/07/17/0717tentech.html