First of all, I guess that I don't have to tell you that Linux is only the kernel. You know that.:-) As Linus says, if a function can be done in user-space, it will never be implemented in kernel-space. As I see it, the result of this is a very stable kernel. How about the kernels that Microsoft develops?
But is Linux perfect? Nope. There is much I don't like with Linux, but NT is not an option - it has too many bells and whistles that use CPU without giving me anything back. But that's not the worst...
What I rely dislike in the world of windows, is the strong locking of the data files. I mean, take a look at Word. Who owns the format your data is saved in? The users? No, they use the data formats to lock us users into an upgrade spiral that only the developers will earn on. And I'm not talking about Microsoft alone here - there are a lot of thieves in this temple. If a company can develop a good word processor that uses for example pure XML or SGML, and I can use it to exchange documents with the rest of the world, I would gladly change my operating system. I believe that proprietary data formats will be a bigger problem to us than Y2K is. Think about all users that has archived all documents in Word, and then suddenly must read data that is four or five (sw) generations old?
In Norway no governmental organization are allowed to use proprietary binary formats to archive data. Until they can prove that they have a working solution that takes care of the visual integrity of a document, without being locked to a given program (that can be outdated years before the document), they have to use paper archives in addition to computer based archives. Personally I don't believe that we will see a solution to this in the next five years. Of course, we have the standards, but nowadays most people are more engaged in the user interface than they are in the data they produce.
What I see in the Linux community is a lot of people caring about the format we use to save our data in. This gives me a stronger belief in Linux than in other operating systems.
There is one interesting point here, are they going to use QT in the version for Windows too? If so, it shows other companies that using QT will ease porting to Linux -- which might bring even more comersial product to us...:-)
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First of all, I guess that I don't have to tell you that Linux is only the kernel. You know that. :-) As Linus says, if a function can be done in user-space, it will never be implemented in kernel-space. As I see it, the result of this is a very stable kernel. How about the kernels that Microsoft develops?
But is Linux perfect? Nope. There is much I don't like with Linux, but NT is not an option - it has too many bells and whistles that use CPU without giving me anything back. But that's not the worst...
What I rely dislike in the world of windows, is the strong locking of the data files. I mean, take a look at Word. Who owns the format your data is saved in? The users? No, they use the data formats to lock us users into an upgrade spiral that only the developers will earn on. And I'm not talking about Microsoft alone here - there are a lot of thieves in this temple. If a company can develop a good word processor that uses for example pure XML or SGML, and I can use it to exchange documents with the rest of the world, I would gladly change my operating system. I believe that proprietary data formats will be a bigger problem to us than Y2K is. Think about all users that has archived all documents in Word, and then suddenly must read data that is four or five (sw) generations old?
In Norway no governmental organization are allowed to use proprietary binary formats to archive data. Until they can prove that they have a working solution that takes care of the visual integrity of a document, without being locked to a given program (that can be outdated years before the document), they have to use paper archives in addition to computer based archives. Personally I don't believe that we will see a solution to this in the next five years. Of course, we have the standards, but nowadays most people are more engaged in the user interface than they are in the data they produce.
What I see in the Linux community is a lot of people caring about the format we use to save our data in. This gives me a stronger belief in Linux than in other operating systems.
There is one interesting point here, are they going to use QT in the version for Windows too? If so, it shows other companies that using QT will ease porting to Linux -- which might bring even more comersial product to us... :-)
has been, is, and will be. :-)
...at least as long at it stays as good as it is today.
What about making a stat-page counting the different clients, OS, and top domains?
There is a lot of talk about the Hardware RAID controller, and the drivers for it.
What about setting a $$ limit on the HW and let both "sides" choose the best HW for it's platform?
I think this says a lot about todays users...