Re: and yet another zdnet "article" re: Lnx

[Adam Williams <awilliam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>> And another....
>> http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2774791,00.html
>"Too many Linuxes. The desktop customer doesn't want
> to worry about different--sometimes very different
>--versions of the same OS."

The desktop is not the OS.  And really there are only two "desktop
enviroments": KDE and GNOME.

>"The Linux community needs to learn to speak the
> language of the common user."

So Linux should replace the GDM login with one that says "Please enter
your username here.  You will then be asked for your password.  Since
you probably forgot both just press the buttom that says 'Override' like
you've seen in all those Hollywood movies, then this system will give
you a nice desktop with a tool bar on the bottom, icons on the desktop,
and all the things your familiar with.  Then when you don't know what to
do call the local geek on the phone,  interrupting all the productive
work he/she is doing, and say that 'There is nothing on my screen'."

Sorry, couldn't resist. 

>"Getting the Linux community to rally around a
> single "preferred" Linux distribution"

They have it's called "RedHat".

>"The "free" software model turns customers off ... communism ..."
>Who?  Businesses or home users?  And, if anything, Microsoft is like
>communism because there is only "one" choice.

This OSS=Communism thing is getting very tired.  Didn't these people
take Philosophy 101.  OSS and Communism are apples and oranges,
comparing Linux to Communism/Democracy/Christianity/Fascism/whatever is
just flame bait.

>"Customers need to see important software developers announcing
>Linux versions of their products.  It doesn't really matter how much
>free software exists;"
>He actually may be right here.  This is an enigma.  You can have a
>better OSS product, and I can think of several, but some people want
>a shrink wrapped box.  Go figure!
> 
>"The more lines-of-business apps--the sorts of things that run vet
>clinics, law offices, and small retail shops"
>Actually, there are a _crapload_ of OSS applications for these
>markets, and I run many of them!  Most of the time, they are
>_superior_ -- and "enterprise strength" (because they use a SQL
>backend, etc...).  People just don't know about them and cannot find
>them on their retail shelf.  Again, the same problem with the
>previous.

Maybe an index of these is in order.  Because they can be difficult to
find.  Freshmeat is nice,  but imposing.
 
>"Improving Linux's support for multimedia is critical. Linux must do
>all the important things Windows does."
>Linux comes, "out of the box," with 10x as much capabilities for
>multimedia than Windows.  Unfortunately, there is a lot of
>Windows-only technologies that cannot be directly installed with the
>distro for obvious legal reasons.
>"Customers, especially corporate customers, are sheep."
>Agreed.

No, sheep (trust me, I know) will find a way through 8ft electrified
woven wire to get to the greener pasture.  Thus, sheep are smarter, or
maybe it's just that they clearly know what they want.

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Ximian GNOME, Evolution, LTSP, and RedHat Linux + LVM & XFS
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