[H-GEN] Re: Unix vs NT (religious war :-)

[Frank Brand]

(Note reply-to: being general at humbug.org.au vs Frank Brand <fbrand at uq.net.au>)

On Tue, 03 Aug 1999, Anthony Towns wrote:
> >%_On Tue, Aug 03, 1999 at 04:09:39PM +1000, Frank Brand wrote:
> > On Tue, 03 Aug 1999, Martin Pool wrote:
> > > Perhaps what we need is not so much GUIs, but wizards.  Hear me out:

And I wrote

> > I think I have noted in previous discussions with Martin that, if Linux is to
> > become anything other than a fringe player, it might move in a direction that
> > the current Linux devotees may not particularly like.

 
> I doubt that's ever going to *really* happen --- it's generally the current
> Linux devotees that are the ones willing to put in the effort to do things.


I was not meaning that the Linux devotees would not actually do it but some
Linux people move in directions that others do not want to go...witness the
philosophical difference between Debian and Red Hat and the philosophical
differences between KDE and Red Hat over inclusion  of the original KDE.


> > I think the Linux community needs to come to some conclusion regarding the
> > Linux strategy.
> 
> There is no "Linux strategy". Mind you, it's always possible that
> individuals' respective strategies could use improving.
> 

You are too rigid in your thinking.  Of course there is a Linux Strategy. It is
set firstly by what Linus and his team do with the kernel - that is the basis.
However, I think the defacto Linux strategy is more influenced by the
distribution people - especially Red Hat. I would be totally amazed if Red Hat
did not have a strategy...you might not know what it is but it influences you
strongly. I doubt that Intel would get financially involved with a company that
did not have a pretty clear strategy and business plan

> Having one system for all men and all seasons isn't necessarily a Good
> Thing. Having multiple different systems all incompatible to some degree
> or another is a good robustness technique: if one's not good enough for
> what you want, there's still a chance another is; and if one has some
> horrible flaw, chances are the others don't.
> 

Yes its a bit of a compromise...having too many possibilities is inefficient
with many people reinventing the wheel (I always felt that Gnome and KDE
resources were possible a major waste of effort). Having just one is a problem
too...well you know thw example there.

--
Frank Brand
E-mail: fbrand at uq.net.au
Home Page: http://www.uq.net.au/~zzfbrand

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