The first is that of a frightened old woman. She wrings her hands about the lack of Linux apps and consumer end support. She hears the words of respected men like Metcalf pronoucing the futility of the Penguin. At night, she pulls her sheets over her head.
The second is that of a middle woman who has reached a crossroad. Although she has come so far on the more traveled road lined with Windows, she is tempted by a new path which, while going in to the same general place, is darker and unfamiliar. Would it be wise of her to abandon her life-long companion? What is she missing by not going down that Other Path? These things weigh heavily on her mind.
The last is that of a small girl, careless and confident that her chores will get done somehow. Although she knows that the butter won't churn itself, she believes others will finish the task for her. So she sits by, idly eating the fruit of other's labor and admires her own good taste in the productive company she keeps.
Beware of this woman. One night, you may wake up in a cold sweat, gasping for air and your heart pounding. Athwart your chest, you'll find her sitting, staring. She'll ask:
DSL is great (so far) even through Bell Atlantic. The setup was pretty staight forward, just setting up two NIC's with IP and routing info provided by BA. Pretty consistent throughput too, though it's not near the 640kbs maximum.
Hey, at least I can't browse my neighbor's computer.:-P
Plainly, Microsoft wouldn't know innovation if the company was biten by it in a sensitive area. Microsoft is hoping to continue its business plan of the eighties. This, not linux, will finally do them in. The DOJ case is merely an interesting event, but certainly an empty one.
Customers are Microsoft's real problem. There's a SUBSTANTIAL negative buzz about the company (remember the South Park movie?) which will be its death eventually.
As the world moves to web applications, the choice of OS become less critical while the browser assumes a "desktop" like aspect. Which browser runs on more OS's? Can Microsoft take its deeply embedded browser and port it to other OS's? No.
Remember, Microsoft sells a platform. As the platform because the web, Redmond's importance will be trivialized. Soon (five years), "windows programming" will be a marginalized skill, much like VMS programming was five years ago.
So I say, let Microsoft embed IE into the W2K kernel. They are doing themselves in.
Sounds too incredible to believe? Just watch, code, and wait.
There's crime and dishonesty on the Net? Has the president been notified? It's almost like the net created a virtual community, almost like a city. We all know that cities don't have ethics problems, so why does the net? It must be those evil hackers!
This sort of moralistic handwringging is a bit much for me. I posit that there are far more well behaved netizens than not. Bad business practices are not limited to the software industry. The net is a mirror of ourselves and if we don't like what we see maybe it's time to turn the computer off for a bit.
Very nice piece. Finally a Suck article I didn't need a dictionary for.:-D
I think this article's main point, that market forces will chance Linux is quite true. The GPL license will allow crusaders to continue, like Debian. Red Hat and Caldera will certainly become more micro-soft, but that probably won't affect the hard core community that much.
Of course the click and drool crowd will be pandered to. Corel's upcoming Linux distro is trying to be an NT workstation killer. Hell, even the login screen has a place for an NT domain.
Linux is surging forward and has yet to encounter a real setback, benchmarks not withstanding. When that fatal flaw is found it could tax and fracture the community. I'm somewhat skeptical that even a Redmond-like behemoth Red Hat could cause quite the same damage the Bill's company has in these past ten years. I suppose we'll have to wait a bit.
For the record, competition is good. KDE/Gnome fed off each other. Linux/NT do the same. For all those that think that competing OSS projects are a waste of programmers' time, remember that the ones that didn't come down from the trees no longer have descendents to mourn them.:)
Microsoft is worth the gross national product of Spain. Is Linux a threat? Technologically, yes. Economically? Not yet. Not for a while.
Mr. Ballmer's comments are aimed squarely at the DOJ. Unfortunately, this ploy will probably work to some degree.
OSS is the sand which will eventually erode the mountain that is microsoft to nothing. Redmond can do little but look majestic during this blast of a thousand programers.
Yeah, yea. Don't you see? It is the the first step. Sure they are Paying--that is what it all about. Sure, so NT becomes...
Perl is perl. The source is open. If MS wants to make "Visual Perl", they can. If *you* want to make Visual Perl, you can.
Java was a closed source attempt to topple M$. It has failed so far. Perl doesn't have that limitation. Come on, you *cannot* ignore history.
Sendmail has been around since 1981. Microsoft could have simply repackaged it (in fact, there is a sendmail win32 port somewhere on the M$ site. I forget where). Instead, we have been inflicted with Exchange.
Open source is the M$ killer. It goes against every Mr. Gates believe about business and computers. If his company choose to finance Perl, there is no harm to Perl. VB, on the other hand, might take a (small) hit. Happy Perling.
NT appears a bit faster as a web server in a few tests. Linux is far more reliable. FreeBSD more so than Linux. These things are merely a snapshot of the current situation. Doesn't make Linux less attractive to me. Doesn't mean I'll be fdisking my penguins for NT. Just means for hardware I(nor my company) can afford, NT may handle more peak traffic.
Of course, Sparcs are *really* the beast for truly intense traffic.:)
Perhaps we should just admit that NT is, for the momment, a better high performance web/file server. It is no shame in giving Microsoft their due. Whether they can continue to be the front runner is the question. Apache/Linux is a fine combination for webservers on a T1, which describes most of the webservers out there.
The real question is, do you want to come in on the weekend to reboot NT?;)
You are absolutely correct about the right to one's opinion. Arguinng about them can lead to some profound wastes of time.
I would suggest that Linux is still growing, despite Mr. Thompson's obversation, which frankly sounded like sour grapes to me. Many have called Linux retro. They are partially correct. However, the implication that Windows is the future requires more scrutiny.
If the only factors that place that Redmond OS above Linux are market size and deep pockets, that doesn't capture all of the reasons software succeeds or fails. Those are excellent reasons for *companies* to prosper or not.
I find a can really do more *work* in linux than in win*. Considering that I spent the morning fighting with NT, Exchange and ArcServe simply to get backups working is truly depressing. In fact, I'm waiting for CA to call me back (maybe the techies will read this:).
If you can get NT to do what you want, easily and reliably, you have made the correct OS choice. The idea that Linux, with an installed user base that rivals the Macintosh, is a "wannbe" OS is laughable. The idea that NT will be the OS of the future is not set in stone, but it will certainly be around.
Freedom from choice is what you want. Freedom of choice is what you got.
It is a stunning comment that PC reboots have become so acceptable that Phoenix sees an opportunity to see ad space during POST. I have to think that the BIOS maker will LENGTHEN boot time to allow for more ADs. This is a truly hideous turn of events.
I assume the "30 year old" tech referred to is the command line. Certainly, the kernel code is *not* particularly archaic. The NT kernel, on the other hand, does seem to be fairly monolithic. Certain, the user has no opportunity to change it.
no distinction made between server/desktop market. Is this really fair? NT is *struggling* to be accepted as a serious "enterprise" OS. 23x6 availability indeed.
linux took nearly all of the 17.4% unix server OS market share last year according to this article
W2K (the OS with the millennium bug in the name) is non-existent. Window's superior technology is often difficult to see.
More intuitive GUI?
More consistent APIs?
Better tested and secure code?
Better bundled administration tools?
Better vendor support?
What makes Windows such a clearly "better" OS? Metacalfe gives no specifics.
This article sways neither ardent windows users nor dedicated linux users into the other's camp. Other OS's are ignore, like MacOS X, *BSD and BeOS. It is merely meant to draw luckless slashdotters to Infoworld's site.
It is my belief that Microsoft has already lost their hegemony. We are seeing the company in a bloated, red giant stage. Their death knell has chimed which is why Redmond has implemented "Vision Version 2.0".
Frankly, most flames aren't worth the paper they're printed on. While personal assaults never really win arguments, I'm constantly amazed by professional writers who get teary-eyed over email. The internet is a public place. You can say anything you want in public, but don't be surprised when get a response.
I'm still of the mind that the internet is really just a cleverly constructed Eliza program.
internet> Why do you feel the internet is a cleverly constructed Eliza program?
We, the OSS community, need to offer cash rewards for evidence of cluefulness in telcos. So far, this seems to be as an elusive beast as Bigfoot or Nessy. Why are telcos so damned lame? You'd think that they would understand the shifting nature of phone service from voice to data and EMBRACE THE FUTURE. Instead, they still seemed to think data service = T1 prices. It's really sad and depressing. How many people can setup networks for their home? Apparently enough to panic BellSouth.
This article was basically complimentary toward's/. and Mr. Malta in particular. I also agree with the author's assessment that/. is a shadow of the media's future. It would reflect better on this site if Mr. Malta didn't belittle such pieces in the name of modesty. Perhaps labeling such articles neutrally like "Here's something about Slashdot" would be more palatable than calling "[a] piece apparently designed to stroke my ego".
People like to praise what they find enjoyable. They should not be punished for doing so.
Although I didn't have a rough time at all in high school, I think I can appreciate some of the problems that occur to "oddballs". High school nor society is ready to handle "special cases". Our country isn't very long on tolerance. It was founded by puritans after all...
It is far easier to run a school like a prison than to maintain a place of independent thought. Even teachers are kept on a leash. It is also easier to fault "deviant" lifestyles, like Goths, Geeks or Gamers, than to admit the utter failure of our school systems to engender social skills in our children. Is it possible that parents need to do this themselves? Please, mom and dad are already working two full time jobs.
In a fiercely capitalistic culture in which "greed is good", one's status increases by the number of people walked on. The outcasts deserved to be abused because they make the rest of us feel uncomfortable, right?
I saw VP Gore talking about how we need to reduce the amount of violence we expose our children to. He didn't mention NATO's "relief efforts" in Kosovo as one of those harmful influences. Clearly, real violence isn't as harmful to children as Doom.
What these Colorado kids lost wasn't their minds. It was hope. It's a shame what happened in Littleton. It's worse that our country won't learn squat from it.
Is it me or does anyone else see some parallels to the movie _Heathers_?
On the whole, this article had some great FUD. I'd give a three bull rating on a scale of zero to five bulls.
If Microsoft survives its antitrust case with the ability to continue to market its Windows operating system intact while holding on to the Windows source code, even Linux supporters acknowledge they cannot compete with Windows.
FUD. Linux was not developed to kill windows. Yet, it will. Side-effects are great sometimes.
I'm very weary of right wing conservitive marketing gurus whose mantra is "economic incentive drives software quality". This article is a reiteration of this demonstrably untrue assertion. IBM? Microsoft? Apple? Have these wealthy companies produced superior quality software(at least, consistently)? Do the customers benefit from having someone to direct their complaints to? I think not. If you have been on tech support calls with commercial vendors, I think you'll agree that a single entity responsible for bug fixes doesn't get problems solved.
Another assertion this article makes is that OSS companies will become victims of pirating(please explain how you steal free software). RedHat doesn't seem to be too concerned about Cheapbytes and frankly they shouldn't be.
His support for cyber-anarchism would deprive companies of their property rights and deprive consumers of standard, quality software.
Software is not a commodity. Let's all say it together.
Software is not a commodity.
There. I feel better, don't you?
Service and the ability to adapt and extend software *is* a commodity. Pay for that. The day large vendors fully appreciate this will be the day they devote more time to software stability rather then finding new ways to bag pirates.
This is a the new FUD frontier. Considering that the *world* is doing OSS QA, the assertion that that there are no formal QA people working on OSS project is not valid. Have you looked at bugtraq recently? L0pht? What exactly do think these folks are doing?
Grr. 1997 was the pinnacle of Microsoft's power. Their time is over. They really are no longer the problem.
Issues concerning Linux's stability in comparision with other OSS OS's are much more salient for this community to consider.
Slashdot Mirror
For the love of God, someone with moderation points and a sense of humor moderate this piece up.
Fab.
Linux has an enemy and she wears three faces.
The first is that of a frightened old woman. She wrings her hands about the lack of Linux apps and consumer end support. She hears the words of respected men like Metcalf pronoucing the futility of the Penguin. At night, she pulls her sheets over her head.
The second is that of a middle woman who has reached a crossroad. Although she has come so far on the more traveled road lined with Windows, she is tempted by a new path which, while going in to the same general place, is darker and unfamiliar. Would it be wise of her to abandon her life-long companion? What is she missing by not going down that Other Path? These things weigh heavily on her mind.
The last is that of a small girl, careless and confident that her chores will get done somehow. Although she knows that the butter won't churn itself, she believes others will finish the task for her. So she sits by, idly eating the fruit of other's labor and admires her own good taste in the productive company she keeps.
Beware of this woman. One night, you may wake up in a cold sweat, gasping for air and your heart pounding. Athwart your chest, you'll find her sitting, staring. She'll ask:
"Where do you want to go today?"
And your only answer will be a scream.
DSL is great (so far) even through Bell Atlantic.
:-P
The setup was pretty staight forward, just setting up two NIC's with IP and routing info provided by BA. Pretty consistent throughput too, though it's not near the 640kbs maximum.
Hey, at least I can't browse my neighbor's computer.
I'm not sure how the book examples access MySQL, but I use DBI. Scripts run on NT or unix without modification. Otherwise, DBI would be pointless.
Plainly, Microsoft wouldn't know innovation if the company was biten by it in a sensitive area. Microsoft is hoping to continue its business plan of the eighties. This, not linux, will finally do them in. The DOJ case is merely an interesting event, but certainly an empty one.
Customers are Microsoft's real problem. There's a SUBSTANTIAL negative buzz about the company (remember the South Park movie?) which will be its
death eventually.
As the world moves to web applications, the choice of OS become less critical while the browser assumes a "desktop" like aspect. Which browser runs on more OS's? Can Microsoft take its deeply embedded browser and port it to other OS's? No.
Remember, Microsoft sells a platform. As the platform because the web, Redmond's importance will be trivialized. Soon (five years), "windows programming" will be a marginalized skill, much like VMS programming was five years ago.
So I say, let Microsoft embed IE into the W2K kernel. They are doing themselves in.
Sounds too incredible to believe? Just watch, code, and wait.
Anyone besides me think Knuth looks Robert Fripp of Crimso?
:)
I'll go back to my sugar now.
Is that what you kids are calling it these days?
There's crime and dishonesty on the Net? Has the president been notified? It's almost like the net created a virtual community, almost like a city. We all know that cities don't have ethics problems, so why does the net? It must be those evil hackers!
This sort of moralistic handwringging is a bit much for me. I posit that there are far more well behaved netizens than not. Bad business practices are not limited to the software industry. The net is a mirror of ourselves and if we don't like what we see maybe it's time to turn the computer off for a bit.
Very nice piece. Finally a Suck article I didn't need a dictionary for. :-D
:)
I think this article's main point, that market forces will chance Linux is
quite true. The GPL license will allow crusaders to continue, like Debian. Red Hat and Caldera will certainly become more micro-soft, but that probably won't affect the hard core community that much.
Of course the click and drool crowd will be pandered to. Corel's
upcoming Linux distro is trying to be an NT workstation killer.
Hell, even the login screen has a place for an NT domain.
Linux is surging forward and has yet to encounter a real setback,
benchmarks not withstanding. When that fatal flaw is found it could tax and fracture the community.
I'm somewhat skeptical that even a Redmond-like behemoth Red Hat could cause
quite the same damage the Bill's company has in these past ten years. I suppose we'll have to wait a bit.
For the record, competition is good. KDE/Gnome fed off each other. Linux/NT do the same. For all those that think that competing OSS projects are
a waste of programmers' time, remember that the ones that didn't come down from the trees no longer have descendents to mourn them.
Microsoft is worth the gross national product of Spain. Is Linux a threat? Technologically, yes. Economically? Not yet. Not for a while.
Mr. Ballmer's comments are aimed squarely at the DOJ. Unfortunately, this ploy will probably work to some degree.
OSS is the sand which will eventually erode the mountain that is microsoft to nothing. Redmond can do little but look majestic during this blast of a thousand programers.
This is an old issue. Not totally without merit, but as companies like Red Hat come to depend on OSS code, I sure some amount of QA will be done.
Further, OSS has been around a long while. This sort of thing can happen, but it doesn't last too long.
Sounds like a case of old fashion FUD.
Perl is perl. The source is open. If MS wants to make "Visual Perl", they can. If *you* want to make Visual Perl, you can.
Java was a closed source attempt to topple M$. It has failed so far. Perl doesn't have that limitation. Come on, you *cannot* ignore history.
Sendmail has been around since 1981. Microsoft could have simply repackaged it (in fact, there is a sendmail win32 port somewhere on the M$ site. I forget where). Instead, we have been inflicted with Exchange.
Open source is the M$ killer. It goes against every Mr. Gates believe about business and computers. If his company choose to finance Perl, there is no harm to Perl. VB, on the other hand, might take a (small) hit. Happy Perling.
This was actually my point. ;)
:)
NT appears a bit faster as a web server in a few tests. Linux is far more reliable. FreeBSD more so than Linux. These things are merely a snapshot of the current situation. Doesn't make Linux less attractive to me. Doesn't mean I'll be fdisking my penguins for NT. Just means for hardware I(nor my company) can afford, NT may handle more peak traffic.
Of course, Sparcs are *really* the beast for truly
intense traffic.
Perhaps we should just admit that NT is, for the momment, a better high performance web/file server. It is no shame in giving Microsoft their due. Whether they can continue to be the front runner is the question. Apache/Linux is a fine combination for webservers on a T1, which describes most of the webservers out there.
;)
The real question is, do you want to come in on the weekend to reboot NT?
Coding is more productive than benchmark anyway.
You are absolutely correct about the right to one's opinion. Arguinng about them can lead to some profound wastes of time.
:).
I would suggest that Linux is still growing, despite Mr. Thompson's obversation, which frankly sounded like sour grapes to me. Many have called Linux retro. They are partially correct. However, the implication that Windows is the future requires more scrutiny.
If the only factors that place that Redmond OS above Linux are market size and deep pockets, that doesn't capture all of the reasons software succeeds or fails. Those are excellent reasons for *companies* to prosper or not.
I find a can really do more *work* in linux than in win*. Considering that I spent the morning fighting with NT, Exchange and ArcServe simply to get backups working is truly depressing. In fact, I'm waiting for CA to call me back (maybe the techies will read this
If you can get NT to do what you want, easily and reliably, you have made the correct OS choice. The idea that Linux, with an installed user base that rivals the Macintosh, is a "wannbe" OS is laughable. The idea that NT will be the OS of the future is not set in stone, but it will certainly be around.
Freedom from choice is what you want.
Freedom of choice is what you got.
It is a stunning comment that PC reboots have become so acceptable that Phoenix sees an opportunity to see ad space during POST. I have to think that the BIOS maker will LENGTHEN boot time to allow for more ADs. This is a truly hideous turn of events.
Wasn't there a free BIOS project?
Don't have time for composition [ sue me ): ]
- More intuitive GUI?
- More consistent APIs?
- Better tested and secure code?
- Better bundled administration tools?
- Better vendor support?
What makes Windows such a clearly "better" OS? Metacalfe gives no specifics.This article sways neither ardent windows users nor dedicated linux users into the other's camp. Other OS's are ignore, like MacOS X, *BSD and BeOS. It is merely meant to draw luckless slashdotters to Infoworld's site.
It is my belief that Microsoft has already lost their hegemony. We are seeing the company in a bloated, red giant stage. Their death knell has chimed which is why Redmond has implemented "Vision Version 2.0".
Frankly, most flames aren't worth the paper they're printed on. While personal assaults never
really win arguments, I'm constantly amazed by
professional writers who get teary-eyed over email. The internet is a public place. You can say anything you want in public, but don't be surprised when get a response.
I'm still of the mind that the internet is really just a cleverly constructed Eliza program.
internet> Why do you feel the internet is a cleverly constructed Eliza program?
We, the OSS community, need to offer cash rewards for evidence of cluefulness in telcos. So far, this seems to be as an elusive beast as Bigfoot or
Nessy. Why are telcos so damned lame? You'd think that they would understand the shifting nature of phone service from voice to data and EMBRACE THE FUTURE. Instead, they still seemed to think data service = T1 prices. It's really sad and depressing. How many people can setup networks for their home? Apparently enough to panic BellSouth.
Ugh.
This article was basically complimentary toward's /. and Mr. Malta in particular. I also agree with the author's assessment that /. is a shadow of the media's future. It would reflect better on this site if Mr. Malta didn't belittle such pieces in the name of modesty. Perhaps labeling such articles neutrally like "Here's something about Slashdot" would be more palatable than calling "[a] piece apparently designed to stroke my ego".
People like to praise what they find enjoyable. They should not be punished for doing so.
Although I didn't have a rough time at all in high school, I think I can appreciate some of the problems that occur to "oddballs". High school nor society is ready to handle "special cases". Our country isn't very long on tolerance. It was founded by puritans after all...
It is far easier to run a school like a prison than to maintain a place of independent thought. Even teachers are kept on a leash. It is also easier to fault "deviant" lifestyles, like Goths, Geeks or Gamers, than to admit the utter failure of our school systems to engender social skills in our children. Is it possible that parents need to do this themselves? Please, mom and dad are already working two full time jobs.
In a fiercely capitalistic culture in which "greed is good", one's status increases by the number of people walked on. The outcasts deserved to be abused because they make the rest of us feel uncomfortable, right?
I saw VP Gore talking about how we need to reduce the amount of violence we expose our children to. He didn't mention NATO's "relief efforts" in Kosovo as one of those harmful influences. Clearly, real violence isn't as harmful to children as Doom.
What these Colorado kids lost wasn't their minds. It was hope. It's a shame what happened in Littleton. It's worse that our country won't learn squat from it.
Is it me or does anyone else see some parallels to the movie _Heathers_?
"What's your *damage*?"
It was very MST3K-ish. Frankly, I liked the PHB better in the parody as a sort of anti-hero.
Oh well.
On the whole, this article had some great FUD. I'd give a three bull rating on a scale of zero to five bulls.
If Microsoft survives its antitrust case with the ability to continue to market its Windows operating system intact while holding on to the Windows source code, even Linux supporters acknowledge they cannot compete with Windows.
FUD. Linux was not developed to kill windows. Yet, it will. Side-effects are great sometimes.
I'm very weary of right wing conservitive marketing gurus whose mantra is "economic incentive drives software quality". This article is a reiteration of this demonstrably untrue assertion. IBM? Microsoft? Apple? Have these wealthy companies produced superior quality software(at least, consistently)? Do the customers benefit from having someone to direct their complaints to? I think not. If you have been on tech support calls with commercial vendors, I think you'll agree that a single entity responsible for bug fixes doesn't get problems solved.
Another assertion this article makes is that OSS companies will become victims of pirating(please explain how you steal free software). RedHat doesn't seem to be too concerned about Cheapbytes and frankly they shouldn't be.
His support for cyber-anarchism would deprive companies of their property rights and deprive consumers of standard, quality software.
Software is not a commodity. Let's all say it together.
Software is not a commodity.
There. I feel better, don't you?
Service and the ability to adapt and extend software *is* a commodity. Pay for that. The day large vendors fully appreciate this will be the day they devote more time to software stability rather then finding new ways to bag pirates.
Sell the eggs. Let the goose go.
Of course it is. And the Martians are attacking as well. WE MUST ARM OURSELVES TO FEND OFF THOSE DAMNED DIRTY APES!
This is a the new FUD frontier. Considering that the *world* is doing OSS QA, the assertion that that there are no formal QA people working on OSS project is not valid. Have you looked at bugtraq recently? L0pht? What exactly do think these folks are doing?
Grr. 1997 was the pinnacle of Microsoft's power. Their time is over. They really are no longer the problem.
Issues concerning Linux's stability in comparision with other OSS OS's are much more salient for this community to consider.
Keep on keeping on.