Re: Pros, Priests and Zealots: The Three Faces of Linux
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Posted by Robincc on 2003-12-17 04:00:26
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In reply to Rob Enderle
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Rob, Come on, if you take such a public forum over such an important issue you are going to get a strong reaction, and it really isnīt an issue of "donīt read what I like if you donīt like it" as you say because I believe, as do many, that the Microsoft OS monopoly has damaged the industry, but equally damaged the community, so if you promote propaganda for MS, you are basically acting anti-community.
Any selfish businessman who puts profits before the act of causing damage to a community is the same. "Damage"! Yes, thatīso right, MS caused billions of human hours to wasted planet-wide due to stupid bugs, documentation errors, system crashes, hangs, etc. Think of the cost of that over 10-15 years! And you are supporting their corporate approach to business!?
That may sound strong, but basically, having been developing uP systems since 1980, BIOSī, etc., and also fixing a number of bugs in MSīsoftware before they could (even with them asking me to help them after taking some $285 off me to even talk about the bug!), I know far too well how badly MS has behaved, how poor their products are, and how critically important competition such as Linux is to make a commercial organisation get in line and start supporting developers and customers with proper consideration.
Where have you been all these years not to know how bad MSīOSī have been, or how many upgrade scams they ran? In one of the many MS books and articles, a top MS employee wrote that it was "quite amazing Windows 98 ever worked considering the bugs in the interfaces, never mind the errors in documentation making development a nightmare".
Strange that a comment like that leaked throī without MS stopping it, but like the story MS had on their own web site last year, itīs a big company, and the chiefīs canīt control every word written even in their own firm.
This particular story from last year was one about the head of Windows QA being called for jury service, the judge interviewed those called, and when this man told the judge he was responsible for the Windows Quality programme, he said, "well, you had better get straight back to work, dismissed!" - Now MS must have thought this reflected how important Windows is to the WORLD, and it is, but it more reflected the publicly known poor quality of the OS, and that was the key point.
As to MS donating to charity, thatīs seen as a publicity stunt, maybe it makes Bill sleep better at night. As to giving free software to schools, thatīs just a good marketing strategy.
From all of this Iīm presuming you are not an OS software engineer, and do not have experience of MS from the start, in which case, you wouldnīt really be qualified to make the statements you make.
Finally, I am not biased or a boy scout, even the commercial Linux organisations will take advantage of customers if they can, and its a monopoly that allows abuses, like the one MS is already loosing fast.
Mark my words, MS will be a poor shadow of itself within 5 to 10 years time.
Also, an OS is just that, an operating system, that supports the software that performs the tasks needed. It shouldnīt be such a big deal at the end of 2003; what a sad level of technology we have! Weīre still trying to develop a good OS?! What happened to really smart apps, AI, etc? Not exactly "Space Odyssey 2001" is it!
Take my suggestion, research more, ask developers such as myself how MS coerced money out of us against support for their bugs and poor documentation, how they held back vital OS information... and if you continue to blatantly support a "criminal organistaion" such as MS, they were actually prosecuted for running a monopoly no?, then I wouldnīt want your future.
Your life, play it as you will, but accept the consequences and donīt moan about the reaction.
Merry Christmas!
Rob
PS Hitch HikersīGuide to the Universe - EARTH>>Interesting and diverse cultures, still a primitive planet with inhabitants struggling to understand themselves.... donīt buy a computer there! :)
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