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Explaining The Windows/UNIX Cultural Divide

giampy writes "Joel Spolsky writes a review-like article on the last book of Eric S. Raymond (The Art of Unix Programming). His views on the cultural differences among Windows and Unix programmers are well explained. Overall, an interesting read." Also on the topic of Windows, badriram writes "Microsoft is reorganizing the windows team, it seems the are separating the OS core development. Seems like things heading in the right direction in creating a more secure OS, and making it more business oriented. Read the article here."

6 of 673 comments (clear)

  1. fp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    unix blox goax

  2. Automatic Trolls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Where are all the automated 'First Post' Trolls?

  3. How to tell if you are a linux fanatic. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    AKA a nazi fanatic loser.

    1. You rejuvenate and dance when you hear a windows flaw exposed, but you conveniently ignore the thousands of security flaws exposed in linux.

    2. You yell loudly TROLL! at any person's post or at any person you see posting facts that you do not want to hear about your oh so cool linux.

    3. You know it's a classic case of penis envy, you don't have all the support, software and hardware available for linux and you have to let that anger out somewhere, but you don't have the brains to admit it.

    4. You hate windows, hate Microsoft, but race to emulate windows, have programs to run office from within linux, and spend a $300 on a Windows emulator, only Windows fools.

    5. You cannot admit that you don't have professional usage of Linux outside server markets.

    6. You cannot admit that most of the joe user out there when told that there is linux will respond, what is that?

    7. You cannot admit that there is no professional printing capabilities in linux.

    8. You cannot admit that you are a masochist (otherwise why would someone spend hours playing with scripts,
    and recompiling programs that are available for Windows?)

    9. You cannot admit that there is no professional desktop publishing done on Linux.

    10. You cannot admit that no one in their right mind would do professional video editing in Linux.

    11. You cannot admit that linux sucks when it comes for gaming/home entertainment or education.

    12. You have problems in understanding Windows, and you will blame your own incompetence on Microsoft.

    13. You have problems in pointing a clicking, but have no problems in wading through cryptic scripts written by lunatics.

    14. Nothing will get past that shit that fills your head, you will not admit to any facts.

    15. You can't admit that naming of linux components, packages, and others are weird and fits profiles of troubled teenagers. gentoo, lgx, rpm ....

    16. You feel angered because you were left out by microsoft's Media technologies, they support Mac, Sun sparc, but not linux.

    17. You feel inferior deep inside but unable to admit it, you don't have a database as easy and powerful as Access.

    18. You cannot tell that not a single office package outside Microsoft's is worth looking at or bothering with.

    19. You don't know that your CD recorder software sucks.

    20. You don't have DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW support in your pathetic OS.

    21. While the rest of the world moves on, you're stuck in a stone age technology that needs third party software to boot into GUI.

    22. You act out of prejudice, you kill file domains and users of specific news readers while you ignore the bullshit that your fellow linux losers post.

    23. You don't know commercial support in Linux is almost non existent.

    24. You miss the fact that companies are leaving linux because of the chaos, and the cheap linux losers who are unwilling to pay and support hard work, Corel, gaming companies,...etc.

    25. You are unaware that linux has no terminal services (there is a lame one that no one uses), and commercial support for it is not happening.

    26. You are unaware that setting up servers on Windows takes couple of minutes while on linux, good luck playing with configuration scripts.

    27. You cannot admit that support for USB on linux is laughable at best.

    28. You think that Linux is better because slashdot told you so.

    29. You spend countless hours flaming people because they post their opinions about your oh so cool linux and your attitude, instead of researching things for yourself and understanding fact in order not to look this stupid.

    30. You think that anyone who uses linux has a clue.

    31. You think that linux cannot crash.

    32. You think that everyone is interested in your conspiracy theories about Microsoft (or should i say M$ in order for you, teenagers to understand?), and how they destroyed linux, ...etc.

    33. You keep ignoring the fact that thousands of linux servers get hacked every year, but it takes one Windows server hacked to get you and your fellow linux idiots to dance and celebrate.

  4. Re:oh, no! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    truly a Nazi icon.

  5. Re:Separation by GlassUser · · Score: 0, Troll

    So you're basically saying that *ix is better because it does less. You're dumping your angst and blame on the wrong culprit.

  6. Re:The real reason behind "silence is golden" by spitzak · · Score: 0, Troll

    Boy you really don't get it, do you.

    I used both Unix and VMS on 9600 baud video terminals (so no wasted paper, and very little wasted time, in fact I think the Unix machine printed slower because it went through a network and a VMS front end which did not like the character-based Unix interface much). I can tell you that the terseness of Unix was an incredible relief compared to VMS. I could see what I did, it was not buried in tons of boilerplate, and I could easily run other commands that would tell me that information (like "how many files") if I wanted to know it. This (and the simplified filenames where '/' and '\0' are the only reserved characters) was so amazingly liberating and stunning that I was sold.

    In fact part of the reason there is Unix fanatics is that absolutley amazing relief we had when we first encountered it. Part of the livid hatred of Microsoft is that they did not copy Unix, instead reverting to filenames and a command style and CRLF pairs that we knew were obsoleted in 1970, and then having the unmitigated gall to claim they were "innovative". In fact if Microsoft had just made Windows Unix-compatable (and not even do a good job, Xenix would have been good enough) I really doubt anybody would have heard of Linux, and Microsoft would run every single programmable device in the world.

    In fact Microsoft blew it totally, but they refuse to admit this and thus refuse to allow their programmers to do what is necessary (copy as much of Unix as possible, while keeping their own advantages). Instead they keep reinventing things, ignoring standards, and pissing people off endlessly.

    Wake up, Microsoft. You could wipe Linux and everybody off the face of the planet in less than a year, if you would just make Windows Unix-compatable. This means put forward slashes in the filenames, get rid of CRLF (only read needs to use the binary flag), make readdir() work to show all the disks, and a few other really trivial things. And provide a modern shell and tools right now (the code is all available for free from GNU). The problem is you have to swallow your enormous ego and admit that there is nothing wrong with being compatable with the good ideas that came out before you.