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25 Years After DOS - Lessons for Linux?
E IS mC(Square) writes "Microsoft is planning to celebrate 25 years of DOS. An article at ReallyLinux discusses what lessons Linux can learn from the history of DOS. The article begins with 'What can the Linux world learn from Microsoft's past 25 years of unique experiences and domination?', and ends with 'Only question now is not if but when will Linux become the number one OS on earth?'" From the article: "First, we must admit openly once and for all that the 'best solution' is not always the 'most used solution.' There are few who would be foolish enough to argue that back in 1981 PC-DOS was the best solution. There were obviously a number of choices. PC-DOS was the least robust, the most temperamental, and arguably not very compatible with the IBM hardware and BIOS it was sold to work on. Yet, somewhat like the odd but obvious dominance of the VHS over BETA, this simple, cheap OS stole the show."
Jesus, you don't no shit do you?
I don't think Linux is the best OS or any of that shit. I do use it most days. But at least when I talk about Linux, its community and its developers, I have a slight fucking clue what the fuck I am saying.
You know fuck all, and it is abundantly obvious to everyone apart from the clueless newbie moderators who moderated you up.
Here's a beginning for your education: There is no organisation in the wide-world of linux software. Enjoy believing that there is some bunch of people that dictate the future of the whole platform. That's just not how things work. Sometimes this is detrimental to the 'platform', but that is just how it is.
Please educate yourself further, you'd benefit.
That's so not what happened it's not even funny. You probably don't know because you weren't there. Just like kids think their teachers live at school, someone who wasn't around in the early days of computers think Microsoft was always a huge multi-national corporation.
//gs, swapping out a dozen 3.5" floppies an hour. Then my parents got an IBM PS/1. They called me up and asked me to come over and help them set it up. I thought they were so stupid to get a "PC", I really didn't even want to go, I'd been telling them to get a Mac and they go out and by some stupid "PC"!
Microsoft and Apple started this game of global Monopoly pretty much at the same time. Apple bought Boardwalk, Park Place, Electric Company, and Water Works. They started building hotels and figured that was all they would ever need to amass their empire. Meanwhile Microsoft bought up all the low rent properties and waited for rent to start trickling in to build any houses.
In the early 90's Apple was way out in front in terms of product quality, but Microsoft had basically already won with the land grab. It was merely a matter of time. When Apple killed the ][ line they gave the electric company and water works to MS.
I remember very clearly the first "PC" I ever owned. I'd been lusting after a Mac for years and years, while putting along on my Apple
Man that thing was sweet! It's hard to imagine it now looking back, but that PS/1 had everything I'd ever dreamed of a computer having. I went from a Mac dreamboi to Windows user in 8.4 seconds, well, I bought my own PS/1 a week later.
For the next several years I upgraded every year. Every year I would seriously consider getting a Mac. Every year I would buy a PC because the price difference was very large while and the feature set was not.
Now I own a bunch of PCs and a couple Macs, I'm writing this on an iBook. I've got a few Linux/XP dual booting systems, but honestly Linux doesn't see much boot time anymore.
Linux could easily be number one. If Linux gave people what they get on Mac and Windows they would be number one. It would take the Linux community coming together to make one great product and throwing out the mindset of being proud that you are able to use Linux. Nobody brags about being able to use Windows or Mac OS, they just use it.