The main thing is that Gates is getting away with stuff. He ripped off Apple for Windows (and, therefore, Xerox PARC who came up with the whole GUI thing). He didn't write MS-DOS, the only OS he has ever had which was stable. He didn't even write Microsoft WORD -- that was bought from a consultant. But he's a Wily Coyote who is getting off with it. Why is he getting over on Linux and UNIX in general? (N.B. I'm running FreeBSD as I write this) The bottom line is that computers remain obscure and arcane. People are scared of them, of anything unfamiliar in general. So Gates is running a Herd Mentality operation. If it is big, it must be good. WE know this is not true, but with all UNIX flavors being as obscure as they are to operate, we are not the OS flavor that will stop the Microsoft Megalith.
It is also time to complain about something serious with all "major" OSes, Gates included. Any of them may roach your hard disk if you get a power hit. Really, people, this is not tolerable. I just lost FreeBSD yesterday because a contractor stopping by to do some work on an outside wall, finding he had to drill into it, flipped off the wrong circuit breaker and down went the power. UNIX is arcane enough that it's faster to reinstall (assuming that recovery is even possible) than it is to fix it all up.
If you had to put a new engine in your car every time it ran out of gas, cars would never have replaced horses. What puzzles me, all things considered, is how much of this people have put up with already.
Slashdot Mirror
The main thing is that Gates is getting away with stuff. He ripped off Apple for Windows (and, therefore, Xerox PARC who came up with the whole GUI thing). He didn't write MS-DOS, the only OS he has ever had which was stable. He didn't even write Microsoft WORD -- that was bought from a consultant. But he's a Wily Coyote who is getting off with it. Why is he getting over on Linux and UNIX in general? (N.B. I'm running FreeBSD as I write this) The bottom line is that computers remain obscure and arcane. People are scared of them, of anything unfamiliar in general. So Gates is running a Herd Mentality operation. If it is big, it must be good. WE know this is not true, but with all UNIX flavors being as obscure as they are to operate, we are not the OS flavor that will stop the Microsoft Megalith.
It is also time to complain about something serious with all "major" OSes, Gates included. Any of them may roach your hard disk if you get a power hit. Really, people, this is not tolerable. I just lost FreeBSD yesterday because a contractor stopping by to do some work on an outside wall, finding he had to drill into it, flipped off the wrong circuit breaker and down went the power. UNIX is arcane enough that it's faster to reinstall (assuming that recovery is even possible) than it is to fix it all up.
If you had to put a new engine in your car every time it ran out of gas, cars would never have replaced horses. What puzzles me, all things considered, is how much of this people have put up with already.