I felt a little sorry for the poor guy, so I sent him an e-mail to try to clarify a few things. The text of the message follows:
Dear Mr. Taylor,
It has recently come to my attention through a widely publicized news story that you were involved in a slight misunderstanding related the nature of web servers and their operation.
Now, I understand from having read the archived copies of your e-mail conversation with the CentOS staff that you are a very knowledgeable and experienced man in the fields of computers and engineering. However, I do think that it would be worth reviewing a few basic facts in light of the recent, rather embarrassing, confusion.
CentOS is a Linux operating system. Much like the Microsoft Windows operating systems you may be familiar with, it is a platform on which you can run a variety of desktop and server software. Apache, a popular web server package, is one of these. When Apache is first installed, it displays a basic web page with some simple instructions regarding the process of configuring it, much like the one that you saw recently. This had nothing to do with either Apache or CentOS, but was simply an oversight on the part of your hosting provider.
I do hope that this has helped to clarify any remaining questions you may have had about this issue. I wish you the best, and hope that this unfortunate conflict will not have to result in your resignation.
On the contrary, Bill gates did envy someone else: Steve Jobs! It's pretty well documented that MS was bent on cloning the look-and-feel of Apple computers back in the early days of Windows. Apple was the best and flashiest home system at the time, so it's no real surprise that they wanted to recreate the elements that made it such a success.
In the same way, I think it's not all that surprising (or necessarily wrong) that many Linux distros are emulating some of the better features of Windows. That doesn't mean that there's no innovation or creativity involved, only that they're building on familiar and widely accepted concepts.
If it aint broke, don't fix it. If it is, then by all means do so. Take the good, replace the bad.
I work in a small library as a clerk/computer tech, and I'm currently trying to some copies of The OpenCD into our collection. I still have to run it by our director, but hopefully we'll have a good collection of Open Source software available by the end of summer.
A lot of our patrons are students who come in to type up reports. If I had to guess, most of them probably have computers at home, but might not have any good word processing software. OpenOffice would probably work just as well for them as MS Office, and we would be saving them a lot of money.
If their are any other librarians out there who have been successful lending Open Source software, I'd love to hear about it. Drop me an e-mail at: advancina@manhattan.lib.il.us
Thanks:)
Slashdot Mirror
I felt a little sorry for the poor guy, so I sent him an e-mail to try to clarify a few things. The text of the message follows:
Dear Mr. Taylor,
It has recently come to my attention through a widely publicized news story that you were involved in a slight misunderstanding related the nature of web servers and their operation.
Now, I understand from having read the archived copies of your e-mail conversation with the CentOS staff that you are a very knowledgeable and experienced man in the fields of computers and engineering. However, I do think that it would be worth reviewing a few basic facts in light of the recent, rather embarrassing, confusion.
CentOS is a Linux operating system. Much like the Microsoft Windows operating systems you may be familiar with, it is a platform on which you can run a variety of desktop and server software. Apache, a popular web server package, is one of these. When Apache is first installed, it displays a basic web page with some simple instructions regarding the process of configuring it, much like the one that you saw recently. This had nothing to do with either Apache or CentOS, but was simply an oversight on the part of your hosting provider.
I do hope that this has helped to clarify any remaining questions you may have had about this issue. I wish you the best, and hope that this unfortunate conflict will not have to result in your resignation.
Sincerely,
A Concerned Linux User
On the contrary, Bill gates did envy someone else: Steve Jobs! It's pretty well documented that MS was bent on cloning the look-and-feel of Apple computers back in the early days of Windows. Apple was the best and flashiest home system at the time, so it's no real surprise that they wanted to recreate the elements that made it such a success. In the same way, I think it's not all that surprising (or necessarily wrong) that many Linux distros are emulating some of the better features of Windows. That doesn't mean that there's no innovation or creativity involved, only that they're building on familiar and widely accepted concepts. If it aint broke, don't fix it. If it is, then by all means do so. Take the good, replace the bad.
I work in a small library as a clerk/computer tech, and I'm currently trying to some copies of The OpenCD into our collection. I still have to run it by our director, but hopefully we'll have a good collection of Open Source software available by the end of summer. A lot of our patrons are students who come in to type up reports. If I had to guess, most of them probably have computers at home, but might not have any good word processing software. OpenOffice would probably work just as well for them as MS Office, and we would be saving them a lot of money. If their are any other librarians out there who have been successful lending Open Source software, I'd love to hear about it. Drop me an e-mail at: advancina@manhattan.lib.il.us Thanks :)