The only thing Linux is an alternative to is other, more legitimate forms of UNIX.
So Microsoft will continue to prosper as thousands of hard-working Unix hackers are handed pink slips, just to make room for some cobbled-together, communist Unix clone with a cute mascot.
Thank you so gaoddamn much for that post. I generally try not to whack it until I get home from work, but this is a special occasion! Suck it Linux weenies! *BSD 0wns!
As an MCSE with 5+ years of NT / Solaris / Linux Sysadmin experience, I have had the pleasure of watching NT mature from a half-baked Unix-wannabe to the scalable, robust platform it is today. A similar maturation process has taken place on the desktop; the abandonment of legacy cruft and the adoption of the WinNT codebase across the board is an excellent move whose time has come. Call me a troll if that resolves your inner conflicts;) but I truly believe that admin and consumer alike will benefit from a more stable Windows.
I've been running Windows XP on my home PC for the last couple of weeks. The experience has been a mixed bag, but with a few caveats my overall impression is favorable.
First the negatives:
I had some problems with non-certified drivers for My AHA 2920 SCSI card and CD burner, but those were fixed with help from folks at the microsoft.public.windowsxp.help-and-support newsgroup. (PS: Thx guys, you ROCK!)
Albert Einstein is quoted as having remarked that "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler". In this regard, Microsoft has perhaps erred on the side of simplicity, as is their wont. The average, non-technical user will take this for granted, as most people are not interested in tweaking their systems beyond changing their home page. Geeks will be frustrated by a GUI which is as nearly as opaque as anything designed by Apple.
Now on to some positives:
The GUI is clean, intuitive, stable, and visually intense without being overbearing; what at first looks cartoony and flimsy quickly grows comfortable - unlike previous versions, this looks like it was designed by, and for, humans. I have worked with Linux in the server room and admire its performance there, and I'm rooting for tux on the desktop (let's hear it for the underdog!), but I must make decisions based on my subjective experience, as the success or failure of an OS ultimately rests on the experience of the end-user. I find KDE and Gnome both to be kludgey and incomplete, they have never really "drawn me in" the way the Windows XP environment has. KDE has wrecked my fonts one too many times for comfort. M$FT spends ridiculously large amounts of money on Interface, and it shows!
So far I've focused on the GUI. I'd like to make a few comments regarding the underlying OS. First, if you're looking for a mature Journaled Filesystem, you need look no further than NTFS in its present iteration. I have abused the hell out of a Windows XP box set up at work for just that purpose. One remarkable example: I hit the power switch in the middle of a serious disk write, and after a quick check, the system was back up and running with nary a hiccup. Contrast that with the notoriously buggy ReiserFS, and you can see where the dream has fallen short of reality. Microsoft's innovative Encrypted File System is another area where the competition pales.
While the Open Source model works great for smaller, task-specific projects, there is simply no substitute for a single-vendor codebase when it comes to integrating the OS and the GUI. Until the Linux evangelists face this unpleasant fact, Linux on the desktop will remain the province of hobbyists and the technical elite.
Let's face it: Win XP is not perfect, and not for everybody, but in many ways outshines anything M$FT or its competitors have come up with to date. Throw 64-bit support into the mix - assuming it works;) and you've got a real class-act. What's your opinion?
There's an interesting survey, as reported in this Yahoo news story, which elucidates the online shopping habits of the general public and goes a long way towards explaining why Amazon was forced to morph into the colossus it is today simply to remain competitive....
Is it me, or does any sort of combined Linux effort seem doomed to die on the rocks of licensing issues?
I think you are a little narrow in your perspective; the plain truth is that any business effort which involves Open Source in any capacity is doomed to a lonely, painful demise.
I don't know about you, but I dropped Verizon as my long distance carrier a while ago for bad service -- and now this! Well at least they have not embraced Open Source, so their wiretapping efforts will be secure.
Why is it easier to upgrade an entire *BSD system, kernel recompile and all, than it is to get fonts to render correctly across the board on a Luinx workstation?
God, you are so right. The putrifying corpse of Open Source is clogging the once-healthy byways of good old Capitalistic Free Enterprise Democracy. Stinkin' leftists.
Slashdot Mirror
So Microsoft will continue to prosper as thousands of hard-working Unix hackers are handed pink slips, just to make room for some cobbled-together, communist Unix clone with a cute mascot.
Like yeah, maaaan....Viva la revolution!
Yeah, glad that Disney had the guts to ditch that awful Microsoft Irix!
Idiot.
Expect the Magic Kingdom to be delisted within 8 months.
HTH
You need to work on your spelling, my Communist friend.
Here's to working for a living, competing in a pure capitalist arena, and bathing at least once a day.
I've been running Windows XP on my home PC for the last couple of weeks. The experience has been a mixed bag, but with a few caveats my overall impression is favorable.
First the negatives:
I had some problems with non-certified drivers for My AHA 2920 SCSI card and CD burner, but those were fixed with help from folks at the microsoft.public.windowsxp.help-and-support newsgroup. (PS: Thx guys, you ROCK!)
Albert Einstein is quoted as having remarked that "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler". In this regard, Microsoft has perhaps erred on the side of simplicity, as is their wont. The average, non-technical user will take this for granted, as most people are not interested in tweaking their systems beyond changing their home page. Geeks will be frustrated by a GUI which is as nearly as opaque as anything designed by Apple.
Now on to some positives:
The GUI is clean, intuitive, stable, and visually intense without being overbearing; what at first looks cartoony and flimsy quickly grows comfortable - unlike previous versions, this looks like it was designed by, and for, humans. I have worked with Linux in the server room and admire its performance there, and I'm rooting for tux on the desktop (let's hear it for the underdog!), but I must make decisions based on my subjective experience, as the success or failure of an OS ultimately rests on the experience of the end-user. I find KDE and Gnome both to be kludgey and incomplete, they have never really "drawn me in" the way the Windows XP environment has. KDE has wrecked my fonts one too many times for comfort. M$FT spends ridiculously large amounts of money on Interface, and it shows!
So far I've focused on the GUI. I'd like to make a few comments regarding the underlying OS. First, if you're looking for a mature Journaled Filesystem, you need look no further than NTFS in its present iteration. I have abused the hell out of a Windows XP box set up at work for just that purpose. One remarkable example: I hit the power switch in the middle of a serious disk write, and after a quick check, the system was back up and running with nary a hiccup. Contrast that with the notoriously buggy ReiserFS, and you can see where the dream has fallen short of reality. Microsoft's innovative Encrypted File System is another area where the competition pales.
While the Open Source model works great for smaller, task-specific projects, there is simply no substitute for a single-vendor codebase when it comes to integrating the OS and the GUI. Until the Linux evangelists face this unpleasant fact, Linux on the desktop will remain the province of hobbyists and the technical elite.
Let's face it: Win XP is not perfect, and not for everybody, but in many ways outshines anything M$FT or its competitors have come up with to date. Throw 64-bit support into the mix - assuming it works ;) and you've got a real class-act. What's your opinion?
Good to see he's still giving 'em heck!
I think you are a little narrow in your perspective; the plain truth is that any business effort
which involves Open Source in any capacity is doomed to a lonely, painful demise.
IMHO.
yhbt
yhl
hand
\^/ 0 0 + ! !
I don't know about you, but I dropped Verizon as my long distance carrier a while ago for bad service -- and now this! Well at least they have not embraced Open Source, so their wiretapping efforts will be secure.
I predict IBM will be completely out of business within 5 years if it continues to embrace Linux.
Thanks for listening.
Why is it easier to upgrade an entire *BSD system, kernel recompile and all, than it is to get fonts to render correctly across the board on a Luinx workstation?
TIA
God, you are so right. The putrifying corpse of Open Source is clogging the once-healthy byways of good old Capitalistic Free Enterprise Democracy. Stinkin' leftists.
How do you feel about Nazi IBM and Germany using Lunix as a front for their Global Domination plans?
Thanks.
LOL
1. The Star Wars mythos
2. The post-September 11th cultural landscape
3. Creeping globalism
in the hi-tech sector?
I'm shocked....