The point Must teach Windows crowd overlooks is for any child more than two or thee years for graduation is that they will enter a world in which the OS will be different. The replacement for XP is slated for late 2004, and we know that Linux will have gone though many changes
in that time. So we cannot teach a perfect fit to the future business
environment. This leaves teaching the basics and how to learn new
ways and ideas on your own. Which is a better idea anyway, because
the world will change.
The second point here is that the school got more for less money.
The few business that have switched to all Linux are reporting the
same thing happening, Largo Fl, reports the same result. How long
do you think Windows can hold out as "the only OS" when this information moves out to
businesses. I find that most business owners today do not know about
Linux at all or the cost savings it poses for business. I usually
find this switch very easy to sell once this information is digested
by the owner/manager of a business.
One more point - diversity is coming to the computer market. One only
need to look at the auto industry to understand what is to come to
pass in the computer field. At one time most cars were Model T Fords.
Why are we not driving just one model of Ford today. Diversity
wins in a capitalist free market every time, and so it will with OS's.
There was an article recently about how the Japanese handled the copying of copy righted material in their "comic book" markets. The firms
allowed it to go on. Why, all the activity was good for sales of the authors own works. It seems that allowing copy right infringement
gets more people interested in the books in general and therefore gains more sales in the end.
This was a truly bad year for the American
recording industry sales were way down. They got their wish - end of Napster - what is
that old saying about being careful what you wish for. The fact is
that we rarely if ever see all the consequences of our actions.
What are some of the outcomes of this ruling for Disney. Many I do
not know. Now Diseny will have to defend more product over more time,
Will Disney be able to handle this load that holds them to the past
and innovate fast enough to keep with the new competitors? Will the
copyright laws become so bloated and vile that the American people
will just start ignoring them?
If there are too many laws trying to do too much the effect is that
soon for all practical purposes the laws become impossible to enforce.
This is already happening in the US - our courts are becoming more
and more over loaded. What good is a copyright law that takes 10 to
20 years to enforce, we are getting there.
This whole thread is showing why the open source community is growing, and yes will eventually replace the commercial software for most business
applications. While commercial programs are building bigger much over featured programs, with all kinds of "anti-theft devices that make them a real pain to use" and are adding more means to separate us from our money weather or not we are wanting to upgrade or not, the open source software system is quietly and quickly improving its software, to the point that it is quite usable and getting better much faster than commercial software. In 1999 I was unable to make the switch
to Linux because I could not find the drivers and usable programs now in the end to 2002 I am about shut down my last Windows system for the last time and now find no problem in that.
Consider that Microsoft is soon to release a new version of MS Office that apparently will not work under W95/98 & ME that has some changes that according to rumors will make its files a problem for the present version of MS Office. Can you say forced upgrade of Windows as well as new versions of MS office. Some more Windows users will switch
over this and will after the first period of readjustment will say, Hey, this is easy and it works. They will tell their friends and the
next time some commercial software giant decides to f**k over their users in favor of the short term bottom line more will switch, and so on.
Add to this the fact some end user computers are selling Linux boxes, and they are selling them. The message to all box manufactures is that you no longer must have Windows to sell your machine. by next Christmas more companies will be offering more Linux boxes that will be running a much improved OS, which will be competing against the
same XP. Sure XP will still have the loins share of the market but its share will have slipped ever so slightly. The next year the process will continue until Many manufactures are willing to go sans-windows.
And you think that IDC will bite the hand that feeds it?
Not only wanting to please the man (the one paying the bills) will affect the out come, you can bet that Bill & friends carefully chose a firm that could be trusted to get the "right results" in the first place. Now let me be really clear here if IBM or Red Hat were to directly fund such a study I would be just as unwilling to accept the out come
as well and,yes, those studies would find linux much more cost effective to use.
In reality this study is just FUD, why would I want to waste time following it up, or arguing specifics because you still have a serious flaw at the outset that renders this study questionable at best.
We often tend to forget that profit is not only in cash. There are many reasons that humans do things and in reality while cash is a big driver, it is not the only one. I do not use the cheapest local phone company but one that gives better service. I work with firms that have used Pick systems, the number one reason given by those who ran the Pick systems were that they were simple to use and got
the job done faster. Many programers, myself included, work for the fun of it, and yes as often as possible I do try to get someone to pay me to have fun.
Fact is that Open code movement is very free market oriented. Various ideas and codes compete for acceptance. Those that win most often are the ones to survive to be the basis of new works. Some make programs for the fun or challenge of it, some do it for prestige, some do it as repayment of free code received, and some like Red Hat get payed cash to deal in open code. There are many reasons and many solutions driving this market place. It is not driven from the top down or is anyone kept in it or barred from it by any force other than that of
their own will. It is not the least bit communistic at all, it is the very essence of market capitalism.
Copyrighted proprietary code is an affront to capitalism by its very nature. It is based on secrecy, government force applied and threatened.
It is this very government connection that permits Microsoft to use its copyrights to build its monoply status, without government help there would be no Microsoft today. Even very small changes in Copyright law would spell the end of Microsoft as we know it today.
No, Bill did not clone or anything unix in "making" DOS. My first computer was an H89 Heath Kit. I had some contact with the Toy OS called HDos. PC Dos (first name for MS dos) was in almost every way Hdos made to work in 8088. Remember the 640k limit, Straight from Hdos 's 56k limit on 64k machines if I was not afraid of killing all of you off with boredom I could name more features (bugs, oddities and kludges) these two OS's had in common. I have always referred to MS Dos as the Toy OS because of this connection. At least Unix and Linux are not built from a toy OS.
Slashdot Mirror
The second point here is that the school got more for less money. The few business that have switched to all Linux are reporting the same thing happening, Largo Fl, reports the same result. How long do you think Windows can hold out as "the only OS" when this information moves out to businesses. I find that most business owners today do not know about Linux at all or the cost savings it poses for business. I usually find this switch very easy to sell once this information is digested by the owner/manager of a business.
One more point - diversity is coming to the computer market. One only need to look at the auto industry to understand what is to come to pass in the computer field. At one time most cars were Model T Fords. Why are we not driving just one model of Ford today. Diversity wins in a capitalist free market every time, and so it will with OS's.
This was a truly bad year for the American recording industry sales were way down. They got their wish - end of Napster - what is that old saying about being careful what you wish for. The fact is that we rarely if ever see all the consequences of our actions.
What are some of the outcomes of this ruling for Disney. Many I do not know. Now Diseny will have to defend more product over more time, Will Disney be able to handle this load that holds them to the past and innovate fast enough to keep with the new competitors? Will the copyright laws become so bloated and vile that the American people will just start ignoring them?
If there are too many laws trying to do too much the effect is that soon for all practical purposes the laws become impossible to enforce. This is already happening in the US - our courts are becoming more and more over loaded. What good is a copyright law that takes 10 to 20 years to enforce, we are getting there.
Consider that Microsoft is soon to release a new version of MS Office that apparently will not work under W95/98 & ME that has some changes that according to rumors will make its files a problem for the present version of MS Office. Can you say forced upgrade of Windows as well as new versions of MS office. Some more Windows users will switch over this and will after the first period of readjustment will say, Hey, this is easy and it works. They will tell their friends and the next time some commercial software giant decides to f**k over their users in favor of the short term bottom line more will switch, and so on.
Add to this the fact some end user computers are selling Linux boxes, and they are selling them. The message to all box manufactures is that you no longer must have Windows to sell your machine. by next Christmas more companies will be offering more Linux boxes that will be running a much improved OS, which will be competing against the same XP. Sure XP will still have the loins share of the market but its share will have slipped ever so slightly. The next year the process will continue until Many manufactures are willing to go sans-windows.
Not only wanting to please the man (the one paying the bills) will affect the out come, you can bet that Bill & friends carefully chose a firm that could be trusted to get the "right results" in the first place. Now let me be really clear here if IBM or Red Hat were to directly fund such a study I would be just as unwilling to accept the out come as well and ,yes, those studies would find linux much more cost effective to use.
In reality this study is just FUD, why would I want to waste time following it up, or arguing specifics because you still have a serious flaw at the outset that renders this study questionable at best.
We often tend to forget that profit is not only in cash. There are many reasons that humans do things and in reality while cash is a big driver, it is not the only one. I do not use the cheapest local phone company but one that gives better service. I work with firms that have used Pick systems, the number one reason given by those who ran the Pick systems were that they were simple to use and got the job done faster. Many programers, myself included, work for the fun of it, and yes as often as possible I do try to get someone to pay me to have fun. Fact is that Open code movement is very free market oriented. Various ideas and codes compete for acceptance. Those that win most often are the ones to survive to be the basis of new works. Some make programs for the fun or challenge of it, some do it for prestige, some do it as repayment of free code received, and some like Red Hat get payed cash to deal in open code. There are many reasons and many solutions driving this market place. It is not driven from the top down or is anyone kept in it or barred from it by any force other than that of their own will. It is not the least bit communistic at all, it is the very essence of market capitalism. Copyrighted proprietary code is an affront to capitalism by its very nature. It is based on secrecy, government force applied and threatened. It is this very government connection that permits Microsoft to use its copyrights to build its monoply status, without government help there would be no Microsoft today. Even very small changes in Copyright law would spell the end of Microsoft as we know it today.
No, Bill did not clone or anything unix in "making" DOS. My first computer was an H89 Heath Kit. I had some contact with the Toy OS called HDos. PC Dos (first name for MS dos) was in almost every way Hdos made to work in 8088. Remember the 640k limit, Straight from Hdos 's 56k limit on 64k machines if I was not afraid of killing all of you off with boredom I could name more features (bugs, oddities and kludges) these two OS's had in common. I have always referred to MS Dos as the Toy OS because of this connection. At least Unix and Linux are not built from a toy OS.