Re: For those in need of some amusement.....

[cjgidman@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

 ---- you wrote: 
<snipping a lot of stuff that Bob seemed to agreed with...>

> >Sorry.  Flame me if you must, but for me, I'm find that Microsoft 
> >products are much nicer to deal with than Linux.

> No need; you're entitled to your point of view, which is probably based on 
> your experience with these things. I'd like to know exactly what you do 
> mean by this, since "nicer to deal with" is kinda vague.
> 
> I've found that a lot of this boils down to GUI behavior, and I feel that it's
> a matter of taste in any case, some of which is acquired. There are a lot of 
> GUI's I don't like, and one of them happens to be Win32. The point is that
> in the UNIX environment, I have a good deal of choice, and can pick the GUI
> that suits me, and invest a little time in getting it to behave in a way that
> enhances my productivity. To a very great extent, that can't be done with the 
> Win32 OS'es, not without paying some fairly stiff penalties.
> 

Since both you and Adam wanted a little clarification, I thought I'd respond to this.  It is hard to define, but It seems to me that if I want a quick payoff with little effort on my part, Windows is the way to go.  I know my way around Windows really well and generally find that I can be very productive in it.  Other MS products also provide a quick ramp time and rapidly bring me to a point of being productive.

On the down side, the reason why I started with Linux, their products require immense system resources and cost a fair bit of money.  However, with hardware prices dropping like a rock, and most hardware "coming with" much software, where's the payoff (for the home user)?

> As for other aspects of "nicer", I'll assume you have not had a Win32 system
> crash on you, or had a system at home on which you relied for your livlihood?

Of course I have had a Win32 system crash on me.  Who hasn't?  But, it's no big deal, I just reboot.  I lose, what, 3 minutes?  And, since, as you pointed out, I don't rely on the system at home for my livelihood, I don't have a problem with this.

My Workstation at work is a WINNT system, as you know.  We've discussed this before.  I leave it on most of the time and don't have a problem.  But when I do have a problem, it is usually caused by a non-Microsoft piece of software.  Whatever the reasons for this, it's still a fact.


> How long do you keep your Microsoft OS running at a time? You may not experi-
> ence the sort of stability problems others have if you are up for only a few 
> hours at a time. Or you may be luckier than most. My personal experience with 
> Windows NT has not been great, and frankly I think it's a pity that it's only
> typical.


> 
> >I haven't had my Linux box on for over two weeks.  And, you know what?  I 
> >don't miss it.
> Depends on what you want to do. Served up any web pages lately? Had a machine 
> on for weeks? Wanted to fix up your Linux box so it worked? Maybe Linux is 
> not for you, I can't say. I also don't know what your goals are, or what you
> want to do, so I can't pass on any of that (no one else can either, another
> reason flaming is so inappropriate).

Okay here's where I get really bitter.  I looked into Microsoft products initially to start hosting a web site.  The cost was prohibitive, and the ramp time was high as well.  In fact, at the time, I don't think the tools were available to do what I wanted.

Now, OVER 2 YEARS LATER, the tools are available, the hardware is cheaper, And, I'll bet the ramp time is shorter than two years.

> However, some of us do have goals that would be much more difficult, expensive,
> or downright impossible if the "Free UNIX" systems didn't exist. 

I'm not sure I agree with this, any more.


> I don't like 
> to see those systems smeared with a bunch of half-truths, and since I believe
> in a free market, I'd like to see something like choice restored.
> 

Nobody likes to see good things smeared with half-truths.  Yet, this is precisely what the Linux community does to Microsoft and Bill Gates.

In this semi-free market economy, I think the product that requires the least amount of effort to provide the biggest payback will eventually win out.


Oh, and BTW, I couldn't untar the rpm on my decoder ring because it required a 13 meg download from the internet.  I read all the FAQs on comp.linux.decoder.ring and visited http://www.linuxpenguin.org/decoder_ring/docs.html.  I didn't understand the 312 page man page and accidentally ran it through the shredder.  So, I have no idea what Bruce called me.

:)

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