Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (720 mails)

[hettar@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Steven Udell)]

Your awesome Zentara,

Exactly :) Yep not much to say, but Zentara said it all.

zentara wrote:
> 
> Steven T. Hatton wrote:
> >
> > Zentra,
> >
> > You say that people tend to migrate over to Linux based applications.  I have
> > noticed that Mathematica and WordPerfect are available for Linux.  I don't
> > know how well they are selling.  I'm expect that it is a bit of a social
> > deviance to use software that you actually buy in the Linux community.
> 
> If you look hard enough, you can get free apps for linux to do most
> things. Also much of the software you describe, is available to non-
> commercial users for free.
> 
> > the other hand, if Linux were to become as easy to use as 95/NT for the
> > uninitiated, and Linux were capable of running software that people already
> > have invested money in, there would likely be a mass migration from M$ OSs to
> > Linux.
> >
> Well Linux is getting there. Look at KDE. It's not quite perfected, but
> getting there fast. And as far as command line use goes, linux is way
> easier to do things. The biggest drawback to windows is the lack of a 32
> bit
> command line and language.
> I thought OS2 was way better than win95, just for having REXX.
> It still is a great single user system.
> Windows NT is really a waste unless you use the NTFS filesystem.
> I played with NT4 for awhile, and it isn't any easier than
> linux. In fact it is harder, because everything is hidden
> from you in dlls.
> 
> The biggest drawback to win95-NT is the price.
> To set up winNT with Linux functionality and security,
> costs about $1000 !!! The NT Server license, plus Visual Basic,
> plus Visual C++, is way out of the reach of average people.
> Whereas SuSe is $50, Perl is free, and it has it's own compiler.
> 
> Plus the source code is open to look at. I have a big distrust
> of corporate motives. I wouldn't want to trust the entire planets
> computer network to a profit seeking organization, who hides their
> code.
> 
> Linux should be what is taught in schools, it is affordable
> to all students.
> 
> > As far as running standard Win32 software on intel platforms goes, there is
> > no need for emulating the CPU as is done with a Sparc.  All that needs to be
> > done is to emulate the Win32 API.  I am not a stellar programmer, so that
> > "all" could be a lot more than I am making it sound like.  The main reason
> > that I bring this up is not to dismiss the programming effort required, but
> > to observe that the intel based Win32 programs should perform at least as
> > well under Linux as under M$ OSs.
> >
> >
> Well you should look at the comp.emulators.wine ( I think that's right)
> newsgroup. They discuss the nuts and bolts of it.
> You are right. These guys see light at the end of the tunnel,
> so they are working hard. BUT.... there are so many little
> incompatibilities that pop up, principally due to Microsoft's
> habit of just patching up old code to make it work. That makes it
> very hard for "intelligent, methodical, programmers" to make
> a consistent emulation scheme.
> They just patch things up as they come.
> 
> All in all, when it comes down to really getting daily computer
> work done, there is nothing better than the command line, with
> pipes and re-direction; and a powerful language like PERL.
> 
> So we are talking about 2 different types of users.
> 
> The web-surfers, and chat-room lovers, and people who want
> to print an occaisional T-shirt up on their ink-jet printer;
> comprise one group. They are always complaining about about system
> crashes, and lockups, and are willing to spend alot of money
> to "buy their way into computer functionality". Microsoft
> can make a bundle off of this group. This group would
> love to get win32's going on linux. It would make it
> easier to get the new "linux status-symbol" going for them.
> This isn't a huge market really.
> 
> Then there are the real business computer professionals. These
> people need to connect, manage databases, print reports, make
> backups, and have systems which don't crash, and are understandable
> to configure to their special needs. Command line unix or linux
> is the best choice.
> 
> I think the real shame in all of this is the lost educational
> opportunity we are missing with young kids in school. They could
> start learning Perl and unix command line stuff in 6th grade.
> You could use old 386's.
> Not with windows....gotta have Pentium II MMX's, etc., etc., etc.
> So the school boards can't afford it, and the kids can't afford it
> at home either.
> 
> Get me drunk, and talking about this stuff.... I'll talk your
> ears off. :-)
> 
> Gotta stop.
> 
> zentara
> 
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-- 
Steven Udell             Wayfarers
hettar@xxxxxxxxxxxx      for truth love
sudell@xxxxxxxxxxxx      and courage
  <A HREF="http://www.teleport.com/~hettar";><A HREF="http://www.teleport.com/~hettar</A">http://www.teleport.com/~hettar</A</A>>
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