Windows, Linux, The Debate: which is best?

[Bry]

>
> Message: 8 Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 09:08:05 +0200 From: "Billy 
> Verreynne \(JW\)" <VerreyB at telkom.co.za> Subject: RE: Windows, Linux, 
> The Debate: which is best? To: "Ubuntu Help and User Discussions" 
> <ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com> Message-ID: 
> <445F36B0271AE1419CEE0B9589044B4321B346 at TYGRRA01-XCS00.telkom.co.za> 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Cybe R. Wizard wrote:
>> > I'd like to quote a post from 2004 by Kelsey Bjarnason on
>>     
> alt.os.linux.
>   
>> > When someone said Linux was always in the future:
>>     
> <snipped>
>
> So what? Since when does 'the truth' make a difference in world of
> sellers and buyers? Seriously.
>
> You cannot attack the Windows Desktop Market with a "my o/s is better
> than yours". Marketing 101.
>
> End-users does not give a damn about the so-called technical
> superiority of Linux over Windows (which is arguable anyway). They are
> driven by different needs and requirements.
>
> For Linux to make in-roads into the home user desktop market requires
> not technical superiority, but some common marketing savvy. Or even
> better, a grokking the basic principles of warfare as per von
> Clausewitz. Never attack a bigger enemy in entrenched positions with a
> frontal attack. Outflank them. Wage guerilla warfare against them.
>
> But proclaiming that your shiny gun is technically superior than that
> of the enemy when outgunned a million to one is just plain stupid.
> Battles and wars are not won that way. Nor marketing share.
>
>
> --
> Billy
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>   
I would like to point out that being the "best" does not necessarily 
mean much of anything.

Myself and many other users/former users (including most of the world's 
banks ) of OS/2 can testify to this.

Last month OS/2 was discontinued by IBM. It is alive now only as an 
"OEM" (their words ..not mine :-)  ) distribution called eCS by a 
relatively small company called Serenity.

OS/2 indeed brought a number of  innovations to computer use and is in 
some aspects what the "non dos" versions (NT) of windows borrowed from.

I still consider OS/2 (eCS) superior to windows... Even though we are 
gradually migrating at my business to Linux I still have OS/2 in it's 
eCS form on my personal desktop. From it I can run all the legacy apps 
we have used through the years, run some ported Linux apps  (GIMP 
Imagemagick etc) as I have installed XFree86 on it and run a number of 
win32 apps via ODIN which one might say is OS/2's version of wine.

Migrating to linux is somewhat of a necessity as despite the OS being 
kept alive by serenity systems, there just isn't the developer numbers 
to keep up porting and patching things now that IBM has turned toward 
Linux. ( the amount of developers working on ODIN for example can be 
counted on one hand at the moment). I have my doubts on the longevity of 
eCS as an alternative.

We DO have a couple of windows workstations ,(specifically for Corel and 
Serif Graphics suites...they don't run on crossover OR wine) but I 
haven't trusted our data to windows computers (all the work archived on 
eCS or Linux) for about 8 years and I'm not about to start. In Many ways 
I think OS/2 was FAR superior to windows and in some aspects is still 
superior to Linux. However  OS/2 lost the marketing wars years ago and 
at this point IBM won't sell it directly and has suspended all development.

Marketing decisions have always been more influential than technical 
superiority in computing.
Motorola's 6809 and 68000 chips vs Intel's at the beginning,  (remeber 
the coco on OS-9 , the Amiga etc

for that matter the 8086 vs 8088 in the original pcs

Linux MAY be superior in some ways....to windows  but that doesn't 
necessarily mean much to most people.

Most people don't CARE about the structure of the operating system any 
more than they do about the internal design of their toaster or 
microwave, or cell phone. They care that they can use it ...and don't 
have to study things to make it work.

They also don't care about open source vs proprietary code.
Computers to most are an appliance. Yes there is an awareness of "other" 
operating systems to some extent, but that is to them the same as buying 
aftermarket high performance parts for their car or something similiar. 
they don't have to install special stuff in their TV Toaster or 
Dishwasher. To them the Over the counter windows computer is ENOUGH 
trouble without having to bother to change things around. Most never 
even install a new Operating system. When the one they buy quits working 
either from component failure or operating system failure, they trash it 
and get a new one.

Linux is a good deal. More and more businesses and governments are 
looking at it . IBM is supporting it, Novell and DELL also to COMMERCIAL 
customers. Walmart is experimenting with Linux computers retail as are a 
few others but they are the exception to the rule.

I Don't think we're going to see Linux suddenly become popular. we'll 
see a gradual shift toward Linux FIRST from those using proprietary Unix 
and OS/2 (yes OS/2 died years ago...on the consumer desktop, but NOT in 
business. ). I think SUN sees this hence open solaris.

I don't think by the time the majority heads to open source Linux or GNU 
or or Open Solaris will exist. I think as hardware evolves it will force 
may aspects of Personal Computers to be more standardized.

But that's just a wag.

FWIW We moved to Ubuntu from SuSE for migration for two reasons:

1. a SINGLE basic CD installation...and get the accessories you want later.
Our first SuSe Installation had me pulling out 100 odd games. Commodore 
64 emulators and a really serious amount of  junk apps( like Krpm) 
"earth" etc etc for weeks.

2. Novell bought SuSe....I remember taking that red box of Novell 
Networking and  pitching it from three stories to a dumpster. ...And 
then installing Lantastic..(now also extinct) It was a traumatic 
experience paying what I did for those headaches :-)

Bryann