Slashdot Mirror


Dvorak on How Microsoft Can Kill Linux

gewg_ writes "John C. Dvorak thinks he knows the way Redmond can kill Linux. Basing his premise on the relative dearth of device drivers available for Linux (compared to what is available for Windows), he sees an opportunity for the Borg to embrace and extinguish." From the article: "The immediate usefulness of Linux running under Windows is obvious. You can use all the Windows drivers for all the peripherals that don't run under Linux. Drivers have always been an issue with Linux as PC users have gotten spoiled with Windows driver support. Today's user wants to grab just about anything and not worry about installing it and making it work."

7 of 842 comments (clear)

  1. -1 Troll by Golias · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Does anybody still take a word that says seriously anymore? All he ever does is troll for ad hits by saying something which will piss off one fringe group of computer geeks or another.

    Honestly. Why ever link to that joker?

    --

    Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

  2. I disagree completely with Dvorak by bigtallmofo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    John Dvorak has been in the computer industry about as long as Univac, but I really disagree with him on his points in TFA.

    The first thing I disagree with is his assertion of how useful Linux would be when running under Windows. Is anyone crying for this?

    His second assertion that Microsoft could create a flavor of Linux with their driver-base that people would adopt is just as loony. Beyond its quality nature, isn't one of the reasons people switch to Linux to get rid of Microsoft and their business practices and high prices?

    --
    I'm a big tall mofo.
    1. Re:I disagree completely with Dvorak by krgallagher · · Score: 5, Insightful
      "His second assertion that Microsoft could create a flavor of Linux with their driver-base that people would adopt is just as loony. Beyond its quality nature, isn't one of the reasons people switch to Linux to get rid of Microsoft and their business practices and high prices?"

      The thing I don't get is that he acts like Microsoft owns the drivers. The hardware manufacturers own the drivers. If Linux becomes the dominant OS, hardware manufacturers will write drivers that run directly in Linux. Why would they continue to write drivers that run in HAL when it is just a piece of cruft attached to the real OS?

      --

      Insert Generic Sig Here:

  3. Re:Boring day? by Golias · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No, Jon Katz was sinserely wrong. He watched Buffy reruns and thought he understood modern teens, read Kevin Mitnick interviews in 2600 and thought he understood hacker culture, read Slashdot comments and thought they were a representative sample of American geeks. I think he was genuinely surprised at how detested some of his rambling became around here.

    Dvorak, on the other hand, knows better. He knows that if he calls the iBook 300 "girly" or says that Linux-on-Windows will put Red Hat, Debian, and Gentoo out of business, people will rush to the web site to read his rubbish, and then comment on it it forums, link to it on blogs and slash sites, and go to great lengths to alert the world about how wrong he is... all of which gets his site hits, and makes his publisher very happy with him. He's laughing all the way to the bank, because his goal is not to be seen as insightful, but simply to be seen.

    --

    Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

  4. Jesus, What a MORON! by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I have read J.D. for 20 years. I have enjoyed him for his "devil's advocate" stance. But, man! What an IDIOT!

    He doesn't know the first thing about what he's saying!

    Linux as a task under Windows exists!

    Linux as a task under Linux exists.

    In either instance, the "guest" OS doesn't get a "magic ride" on the hosts's drivers.

    He takes an out-of-context comment, and combines it with half-knowlege of the subject and a dollop of wishful thinking.

    Whoops! I think I just defined "Visionary"!

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
    1. Re:Jesus, What a MORON! by Pedrito · · Score: 5, Insightful

      He doesn't know the first thing about what he's saying!

      # Linux as a task under Windows exists!

      # Linux as a task under Linux exists.

      # In either instance, the "guest" OS doesn't get a "magic ride" on the hosts's drivers.


      I suspect you didn't actually READ beyond the first paragraph of the article (either that, or you just didn't understand it) nor did any of the people that modded you up.

      His comment about running Linux as a task was not his topic, it was simply pointing out an existing project. What he IS talking about is replacing the Linux driver interface with a Windows compatible driver interface that basically allows Linux to use MS drivers. I can't really comment on the feasibility of this, but this is a far cry from running Linux as a task.

  5. Re:WHAT!? by dcarey · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Look,

    This is the SAME GUY who went through tirade after temper-tantrum-touting-tirade about how he was eviling being targeted as an Apple hater meanwhile spewing out vitriolic fodder on how Apple will die (all within the confines of an OBJECTIVE viewpoint, of course ;). This as far back as 1998. You see where Apple is today.

    Dvorak's not a credible source. Case closed.

    --

    -- (Score:i , Imaginary)