Slashdot Mirror
Linux Users Are Spoiled
Dozix007 writes "NewsForge carries an interesting
article
on how spoiled Linux users are. It sites examples such as the
availability of wide ranging software packages that Microsoft can't hope to provide.
Microsoft has to be careful about what kind of application software it
ships with Windows. Microsoft reps sometimes point to Linux
distributions and ask why they can get away with shipping stacks and
stacks of applications without getting in trouble. The answer to that
one, of course, is that the Linux distributions give you a choice. You
aren't locked into one particular application. Most Linux distributions
include several choices for most program classifications; even
single-CD distros usually include several Web browsers and email
clients."
Please, somebody spoil me. I just want to get a distro of Linux that works without haveing a fucking PHD in programming. I wish this were the case.
...10,000$ worth of software you could get on Linux, or the amount that you'd like to have on Windows? Yes, I would certainly like to have top-of-the-line commercial products that'd easily cost me 10k as well, but I certainøy wouldn't need anywhere near that to put together a comparable offering to Linux (never mind the fact that you can emulate Linux under Windows), plus you then have the choice of more specialized commercial products that are head and shoulders above Linux offerings.
Btw, notice how many whine about the price of Macs. Compare x86 + 10k$ worth of software with Mac + 10k$ (prehaps less due to Macs' shipped applications) worth of software. Suddenly you realize it's only expensive if you put the cost of software to 0$... People are just like you, except with less moral backbone.
Personally, I much prefer my current solution: Windows X server & two machines, one Win, one Linux. Best of both worlds on one unified desktop. Because I'm not ready to let Windows go, not yet.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
MS should have the right to ship their software any way they like. If you don't like that, don't buy MS software. "But, I'm *forced* to use MS software at work". No, you're not. If it means that much to you, quit your job and look for an employer that uses FOSS. The complete lack of respect for the rights of others on Slashdot is amazing to me, sometimes. According to /., MS has some kind of obligation to help out its competitors and provide customers with zillions of options. No, they don't. They can put out their product and package it in any way they want. If you don't like it, tough. Don't buy the package.
Microsoft isn't a monopoly and never has been, except in the sense that they have a few monopoly priviledges (patents, copyrights) that are granted by the State, and would not exist otherwise. However, all software companies have copyrights and patents, and FOSS developers have copyrights as well.
A monopoly does not occur when one firm has a huge market-share, or even 100% market-share. In the classical (and true) sense of the word -- before Statists started redefining it -- a monopoly only exists when the State creates artificial barriers to entry, making one firm the protected only provider of a service. The best example of a monopoly would be the State. See:
Monopoly and Competition (part a)
Monopoly and Competition (part b)
Monopoly and Competition (part c)
Monopoly and Competition (part d)
Monopoly and Competition (part e)
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