XP and Vista question

[Joe Lewis Wilkins]

Bob,

Thanks for your perspective. Way back in the 80s, when M$ was still  
doing their DOS thing and Windows was just beginning to emerge as its  
replacement, I predicted that there would one day be three systems  
that would dominate the computer world. I believed that Macintosh  
would be on top of the mountain, that something that the DOS people  
were contriving and a third whose origin I knew would happen, but  
hadn't the slightest idea what it would be, would constitute this  
triumvirate. Of course, the Mac people made some really bad marketing  
decisions that allowed Gates to claw his way to the top of the heap.  
My vision of things can still come to pass, baring some more bad  
decisions, seeing as how the 800 lb. gorilla seems to be in the  
process of shooting itself in the foot. With a few more countries  
doing as Brazil has done, and Linux may eventually either challenge  
or replace Windows. Since Apple has seen fit to make their hardware  
Linux friendly, this whole thing can really happen - to my delight.

I just hope I live to see that come to pass. (smile)

Brazil has always been something of an enigma in the eyes of most of  
us here in the States. It's probably one of the places I'd like to  
visit one day, having lived in Colombia for a few many years ago.  
Thanks for being part of this RevList. We appreciate your input.

Joe Wilkins

On Mar 3, 2007, at 11:19 AM, Bob Warren wrote:

> Joe wrote:
>
>> Bob, I'm going to ask an apparently stupid question. Since I've been
> a diehard Mac user since the Lisa, and it has always let me get so   
> much of my work done that I never even thought about looking at   
> anything else, will you please, as succinctly as possible, let  
> "us"  know how this thing called Linux, in all of it's various  
> flavors?  works. How can something as enormous as this potentially  
> is, be  coordinated to the point that something truly useful  
> emerges? I find  it pretty bewildering, and cannot see how it can  
> fit into my  computing life. Keep in mind that I was over 50 when I  
> undertook the  mastering of a new tool and didn't even know what a  
> "k" was at that  point.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Joe!
>
> No, that's not a stupid question, and even at the age of 62 I'm not  
> sure I know how to answer you adequately, but I'll try.
>
> If I didn't live in Brazil where economic life is difficult, it is  
> possible that I would have bought myself a Macintosh and never  
> looked back. But because of the expense, the general public never  
> use Macs in Brazil, only PCs. What's more, Windows and accompanying  
> software are invariably pirated, not on account of the inherent  
> dishonesty of Brazilians, but because it has been the only way that  
> they could participate in computer usage: almost nobody in Brazil  
> has even 10% of the money required to use software legally.
>
> Such pirating will probably come to an end with the protective  
> mechanisms of Windows Vista. (Personally, I think that this marks  
> the beginning of the end of Microsoft. Allowing a certain amount of  
> piracy was part of the secret of their success, related to the  
> essential characteristic of wide distribution and fame.) So in  
> countries that are not rich, the use of Linux - the only cheap  
> alternative - becomes not so much an option as a necessity. The  
> Linux operating system has now been adopted officially by the  
> Brazilian government.
>
> Linux is what it is, and we need to deal with it. When faced with a  
> question that appears to be enormously complex, we often feel  
> intimidated. But there is sometimes a simple answer. What I tried  
> to point out in my post is that from a personal point of view we  
> don't need to solve the "Linux problem" at all, we just need to  
> back the apparent winner among the distros (Ubuntu) and to be happy  
> with that. That is, unless the situation changes and another leader  
> emerges later on.
>
> I don't know how this thing called Linux, in all of its various  
> flavours, works. Nor do I want to know. I don't have the brains to  
> deal with the enormous variety and technical complexity presented  
> by around 300 different distributions of the Linux system. But I do  
> need to be practical in my programming, and catering for usage on  
> more than one platform or distribution at a time is a very  
> difficult thing to do. If it involves the usage of the  
> peculiarities of the computer's file system to any real degree, the  
> idea of "cross-distro" or "cross-platform" programming becomes  
> totally unviable.
>
> If you live in the US and you are happy with your Macintosh, and  
> your programs have a satisfactory market, why the hell should you  
> start mucking about with Linux? I cannot think of any good reason,  
> except perhaps curiosity, and the fact that you can do it very  
> easily through the use of a Live CD or pendrive. Linux exists as a  
> direct response to the sins committed by Microsoft throughout the  
> world, and no other reason. The neutralizing effect of its  
> diversity is also a direct consequence of the behaviour of  
> Microsoft. The fact that it is not a single company and that it  
> belongs to everybody but nobody in particular is the only way that  
> it can defend itself against annihilation. It was the only answer,  
> and it is certainly a very good one.
>
> Succinctly, something truly useful has emerged: Ubuntu.
>
> Regards,
> Bob
>
>
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