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Adamant1988
February 5th, 2007, 12:48 AM
http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

I just stumbledupon this link, and I thought I would share. The article seems really well thought out, and I generally agree with all of the points.

reacocard
February 5th, 2007, 02:27 AM
Very interesting. The author makes a lot of good points.

l951b951
February 5th, 2007, 03:11 AM
That is one of the best written articles I've read about the comparisons of the OS's. Unfortunately, as a new user (former windows power user) i fall into many of his bad examples. Gives me a nice, coexisting perspective.

Mateo
February 5th, 2007, 04:29 AM
Think it's a bad article. Typical "every criticism of linux is unjustified, and windows is in no way better than linux, at anything".

seijuro
February 5th, 2007, 04:36 AM
A really great read, thanks for posting it.

meng
February 5th, 2007, 04:38 AM
mateo - you're entitled to not like the article, but you've definitely overinterpreted what it is saying.

Mateo
February 5th, 2007, 04:43 AM
Really, so he/she doesn't go through common dislikes about Linux and say that all of them are wrong? Which ones does he agree with?

steven8
February 5th, 2007, 04:43 AM
Every Windows user/motorbike driver is used to being in full control of his computer/vehicle at all times.

This going to change with Vista, eh?

reacocard
February 5th, 2007, 05:01 AM
This going to change with Vista, eh?

No, now every time you step on the brake or turn the wheel, you'll just be asked if you're sure you want to. Doesn't keep you from doing much, just adds another step. Good thing it can be turned off, otherwise the number of accidents would go way up. (and MS would be sued out of buisiness :biggrin:)

meng
February 5th, 2007, 05:10 AM
mateo - can you cite the part where the author states that everything on Linux is better than everything on Windows?

OldTimeTech
February 5th, 2007, 05:11 AM
I thought there would a lot of good examples of the differences and I liked the comment that "Window's Power User's have more problems", because as an ex-Windows Power User I can relate.

Dr. C
February 5th, 2007, 05:28 AM
While this article does make some good points, it was really more appropriate in the late 1990's than today. I do have some serious criticisms.

1)FLOSS developers do not benefit from the increased usage of FLOSS. Wrong! To take an example from the article. If I run a business teaching people how to use vi, then I stand to profit from the increased usage of vi. That is why FLOSS is a multi billion dollar business. Now what is bug #1 in Ubuntu again?
2)FLOSS users do not benefit from the increased usage. Wrong!. The most common issue with GNU / Linux in lack of support for hardware or software. Increase that user base from about 0.5% to say 15% and the support and compatibility will come. It is called the free market.
3)The article make no distinction between using GNU / Linux and administering GNU / Linux. Wrong! For Ubuntu users the distinction is do you need to enter a password? If you do you are administering your system as opposed to using your system. Using GNU / Linux is basically the same as using Microsoft Windows, and requires that same type of skills. The article does make a good point when it comes to administering GNU / Linux when compared to Microsoft Windows. There is a greater learning curve for administering GNU / Linux than Microsoft Windows, and it is then more efficient to administer GNU / Linux. What the author gets really wrong is that most Microsoft Windows users do not administer their own systems but rely on other experts to do this for them. So the conclusion at the end is wrong!

I say the author needs to recognize that this is the 21st century and stop trying to live in the 20th century.

the.dark.lord
February 5th, 2007, 08:32 AM
Think it's a bad article. Typical "every criticism of linux is unjustified, and windows is in no way better than linux, at anything".

Right. Right, you work for?

saulgoode
February 5th, 2007, 12:34 PM
1)FLOSS developers do not benefit from the increased usage of FLOSS. Wrong! To take an example from the article. If I run a business teaching people how to use vi, then I stand to profit from the increased usage of vi. That is why FLOSS is a multi billion dollar business. Now what is bug #1 in Ubuntu again?

Emphasis mine. Your example does not address the given statement. Running a business based on VI does not make you a developer. The article addressed this point directly when it discussed enterprise distributions.


2)FLOSS users do not benefit from the increased usage. Wrong!. The most common issue with GNU / Linux in lack of support for hardware or software. Increase that user base from about 0.5% to say 15% and the support and compatibility will come. It is called the free market.

The article never states there is no such benefit, it suggests that such benefits are "simply irrelevant". H/W & S/W support is most commonly presented as an "issue" hindering widespread usage of Linux -- in this sense, the argument is circular: i.e., we can't increase market share unless we increase market share.

Your speculation about boosting market share from 0.5% (most surveys I have seen place Linux at about 4-6% for the desktop) to 15% (Microsoft recently suggested that Linux holds 30% of the overall market) improving OEM support is just that, speculation; and to pursue it as a course of action requires that developers compromise the methods that they employed over the last two decades to produce the systems we now have. Feel free to ask that they make these compromises but don't be surprised (as the article's author suggests) if the response is along the lines of "do it yourself".

----

Your third complaint would seem merely semantic and one with which I disagree. If I am moving and renaming music files on my system then I am administering it; it does not matter whether or not I am 'root' and it does not matter whether I am using a GUI file manager or typing commands into a terminal (and it does not matter whether the year is 1997 or 2007).

Adamant1988
February 5th, 2007, 02:57 PM
I'm glad to see I found a gem for you guys ^_^.
It does seem a little old, but having read it, the messages are still entirely relevant (in my opinion).