Suport here on the SuSE list is world calss , even the windows support on this non windows list is superb Constant help and VERY minimal flaming At 09:05 AM 5/24/2000 +0100, Kevin Jackson wrote:
Firstly I want to make it clear that I am a Linux advocate and want it to become an alternative to Windows. And it will, Linux is becoming a very usable OS for the general public. The support is unbelievable.
BUT...
Linux has its shortcomings. It still needs another year or so development before you can walk into EVERY PC store and be able to choose a Linux PC in very much the same way you have the choice of Windows and Macs.
Now, Windows in all its incarnations has its shortcomings aswell, but it is a mainstream product. It won't go away tomorrow. Windows NT is their best product yet - In my experience NT is very easy to install.
Just s few weeks ago 'they' forced me to install NT on my system at my (new) job. At home, I am using Linux exclusive for over 5 years.
It is hard to install NT... You get error messages which have nothing to do with the problem. If (when!) something goes wrong, you get no relevant information and your only hope is to reboot the damned thing again. I'm not trying to be funny. I really did not understand the messages the few times there were error-messages.
You don't understand because you say you've used Linux for the past 5 years. Now, imagine people coming from Windows and going to Linux. They are in the same boat. What does that say about Linux then? If you say NT isn't perfect - then Linux isn't neither.
In work I work with both Linux and NT. And they coexist great. I don't need to put NT down in order to make Linux look better. There is far too much ANTI MICROSOFT in ALL Linux chatrooms/mailing lists. But where would we be without it? I bet the vast majority of the people on this list started off with a DOS machine. Ok, you have MS DOS, PC DOS and DR DOS but the fact of the matter is that MS DOS one out. Ok, you say the marketing was brilliant... but MS took the PC market by storm. What was available at that time? Not very much. And I agree, if Linux came out then then we will all be using Linux machines now... but it didn't happen like that. Face it - the fact is it DID NOT happen like that. Get used to it. Linux has improved on areas of OSes that we've loved to "hate". So it is fair to say, this - Windows is on every desktop because people know how to use it - from whatever their background and technical expertise (or lack thereof). How it ended up on their PC is another matter and something which goes into marketing and not technicallity. They know how to use it because they have grown up with it. I'm surely not the only one on this list who grew up with DOS5/6.x/Windows3.x/Win9x/NT and am making a transition to Linux. Why am I making that transition? Not because I hate Microsoft. Not because I have to reboot Windows everytime I install something. But because I want to be able to do things I can't with Windows. In the same light, I still use Windows because there is a lot which I can't do with Linux. I can see Linux only getting better and better - it happens that way. When the Linux world gets an environment that ALL walks of life can use, because, lets face it - Linux is still at the moment on your PC because you are technically interested in it (or it is part of your job)and can see it as the way forward - then, and only then, we will see PC store's staff demonstrating this superior alternative. It isn't there yet. Desktop PCs need an interface that my Gran can use. If it doesn't pass this grade then it won't go mainstream. Gnome and KDE are striving in this area, but why don't we all use them - because it isn't even up to scratch for use more technically adept people, let alone the average Joe Bloggs.
The day Microsoft ends up in a museum I can stop writing emails like this. I'm fed up of the Microsoft v. Linux debate. I'm fed up of people saying "I get forced to use NT" or "I won't use it because it is Microsoft". Grow up. It is on your desktop because there are more people in the world than yourself. It won't happen overnight the change from MS to Linux. But whilst it is happening, get on with life and enjoy yourself. Hit that Start button as many times as you like and wonder why there is a shutdown command on it - but don't complain to Microsoft - just help develop Linux a lot further. Then let the devlopers of the Linux world get on with their work in producing the next big OS - because then we can all live happily ever after.
Kev Jackson
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