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Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2001 11:25:52 +1000 (EST)
From: Paul Gearon <pag at PISoftware.com>
To: <general at lists.humbug.org.au>
Subject: Re: [H-GEN] The Gates Retirement Fund
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[ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and ]
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I've been staying out of this one, but I can't bite my tongue any more
after this comment...
On Thu, 4 Oct 2001, Frank Brand wrote:
> Ben pretty well covered it and deep down we all know it. Its really
> the apps that kills Linux on the desktop...apps and proprietory file
> formats. Although with formats MS is not the only one doing
> it...Adobe, Sun, IBM , Corel, Word Perfect, Lotus...they all do it!
> It's good business sense to lock your customers in.
As a matter of fact, I DON'T KNOW IT. Yes, some of the things you say are
issues for some people, but don't go painting all of us with the same
brush. What I do know is that MS is NOT the B all and end all. Linux has
come a long way lately, as has Mac OSX.
At home I run Linux as my fileserver and firewall. This obviously works
because it's so good at it. On my notebook I run Linux. That's it. I've
been keeping WinME "just in case" even though Jason assured me I wouldn't
need it, and you know what? He was right. I haven't booted to Windows
since the first week I got the notebook.
I edit Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents in Staroffice, with no issues
at all. I haven't even had complaints from the people I've sent edited
documents to. It's also extremely easy to use. I went straight to
Staroffice from MS Office, and was productive immediately. It's a very
easy to use, powerful system.
Every other productivity tool I ever need to use is available to me
through "apt". The closest I get on Windows is with google and tucows
(and they are a lot more painful).
I also play games on my machines. Contrary to what Sandra said, I HAVE
bought Q3 for Linux, and it's great! A few years ago I bought Civ3:CTP
from Myers of all places. :-) Loki have made several wonderful games,
and I'm all for supporting them. Yes, deliveries take a little while, but
given the distributors markups, the prices are actually pretty good (even
with a AUD=0.49USD exchange rate and delivery charges). There are even a
few enjoyable GPL games around (armagetron for example).
My wife uses OSX (on a really, really ugly lime green iBook, but she likes
it that way. Go figure) and she doesn't miss Windows at all. This is
someone who REALLY wants her computers to be easy, and even she can handle
a Unix-based OS. (One hole in my argument is that she uses MS Office, but
at least it's not on Windows. BTW, Michael was right. OpenOffice is
being actively developed for OSX, but it's not yet ready).
Last but not least, my entire office works on Linux. Sure, we're mostly
programmers, but even the admin staff use Linux (we have one exception in
a ~20 person comapny, but there are specific reasons here which aren't
actually related to this discussion, so I won't go into it).
So with the exception of the first couple of days of owning my laptop, I
haven't run Windows in ages, and I don't see why I would want to. I live
and work with people who like computers to be simple, easy to use, and
interoperable, and they don't use Windows either. On the few occasions
when I *have* run windows I've found it annoying and difficult to use (and
I used to program ActiveX/COM/DCOM for a living, so I know the system
pretty well).
So why do I know it "deep down" that an office simply must be running
Windows? Sure, it does make sense for some, but your basically saying
that it makes no sense for *anyone's* desktop, and I take umbrage at that.
(No, I don't want to attack you personally Frank, but I disagree with your
point very strongly)
Regards,
Paul Gearon
Software Engineer Telephone: +61 7 3876 2188
Plugged In Software Fax: +61 7 3876 4899
http://www.PIsoftware.com PGP Key available via finger
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum
immane mittam.
(Translation from latin: "I have a catapult. Give me all the money,
or I will fling an enormous rock at your head.")
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