At 15:26 11/21/2001 -0600, Curtis Rey wrote:
Regardless if this is a "cheap" publicity stunt or not. I am very much in favor of this proposal for one over ridding reason. It has been my observation that the common end user prefers to use what they learned on and doesn't want to hassle with a 2nd learning curve. Once they learn "whatever" system that was introduced to them they stay with that system - for better or worse. Hence, this is why M$ gain so much market, but also way Apple users are so devout.
Yes, there is that. I use AutoCad (Lite), and I will continue to do so for as long as I need drafting software. Why learn something else? It's too bad they haven't ported it to Linux. If it was no good, that would be different. /snip/
The only advantage M$ "really" has over Linux is that 90% of the games made for computers are M$ based - and of course any redblooded child will find this attractive.
/snip/ Unfortunately, there is a lot of specialized software out there that does not exist on Linux. Some of it exists on other versions of Unix, but the price is ridiculous. Some of it is just not there. AutoCad is the first example. For instance, there is no GUI version of any kind of SPICE, that I'm aware of, whether free or at a reasonable price, or even at ANY price. There is a very nice freebie (limited size circuits) for Windows. I wish I could think of the name, but it's on my machine at work. I don't believe there's a version of Agilent EESof RF and microwave simulation/ analysis/synthesis software for Linux, even tho it exists on other Unix platforms--or at least on one, I think it's Sun. This is a very expensive program, but if Linux was the only thing I had at work, I couldn't use it. And I DO use it, and I NEED it. There are perhaps one or two other programs that do much the same thing, but I don't believe they're available for Linux either. Our mechanical designers use something called Pro-E. I would be surprised to find a version of that for Linux. It's a 3-d drafting tool, with provision for BOM's, material specs, etc. There is quite simple software out there that a lot of Linux-likers would use if they could figure out how to make it work right--I'm thinking of FONTS. When Linux automatically looks on a Windows drive, and uses it for the fonts, and they work right in all the W/P programs, and on-screen, then we will have one more leg up, but just a leg. The other, technical programs have to come along. I'm certain that there are all sorts of programs for the machine-design industry, for architecture, for chemistry and biochemistry, all written and compiled for Windows. It's not a question of how much they cost, industry can pay that bill, and will; it's a question of whether they exist at all, or ever will. Finally, why am I using Windows to write this? Because there's a SuSE-induced glitch in k-mail that seems to prevent them from recieving this message. --doug, wa2say I'll leave the rest:
Tim Butler passed this on today to another list, but I thought others may have not see it. News & site follows:
"Red Hat, Inc. today proposed an alternative to the settlement announced today of the class-action lawsuit against Microsoft. Red Hat offered to provide open-source software to every school district in the United States free of charge, encouraging Microsoft to redirect the money it would have spent on software into purchasing more hardware for
the 14,000 poorest school districts. Under the Red Hat proposal, by removing Microsoft's higher-priced software from the settlement equation, Microsoft could provide the school districts with many more computers -- greatly extending the benefits Microsoft seeks to provide school districts with their proposed settlement."
http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS2419968593.html
Hang on folks, if RedHat succeds with this, Linux will make a giant step forward! If this proposal is accepted, Microsoft would end up buying 1 million PC's for poor schools with RedHat donating unlimited upgrades of RedHat Linux to use on them. The other major distributions (SuSE & Mandrake) would do well to follow Redhat's lead on this one! Now let's see if Billy boy really is concerned about the children's technological needs!