Micro$oft Biz'droid Lusers (was: OT email response format)

From: Richard Erlacher <edick_at_idcomm.com>
Date: Sun Apr 21 23:46:58 2002

The only computer I presently own that cost more than $100 is a notebook. A
dozen or more of them have run at the POP without interruption since 1994
(except for that one time when the power outage outlasted the UPS) and there's
NEVER been a service problem. The majority of them came from surplus and the
low-end at that.

more below ...

Dick

----- Original Message -----
From: <pat_at_cart-server.purdueriots.com>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2002 8:22 PM
Subject: Re: Micro$oft Biz'droid Lusers (was: OT email response format)


> I was trying not to get drawn into this flamewar, but I just couldn't
> stand still listening to this.
>
> On Sun, 21 Apr 2002, Richard Erlacher wrote:
>
> > No, I wouldn't pay that much, but I wouldn't pay out more than, say $25
for
> > all the UNIX boxes on the planet either, and that only if they were
already
>
> Hmm. I would pay $25 for any Unix box faster than a 85MHz Sun
> SparcStation 5. Maybe it's just me.
>
> > broken down into their varous scrap types, e.g. steel, aluminum, plastics,
> > etc. I've yet to see even one piece of software that would be of serious
use
> > to me that runs under UNIX. I know that I could force myself to use
Netscape,
>
> Netscape sucks. Look at Mozilla (http://www.mozilla.org) or Konqueror if
> you want something that's not a resource hog.
>
> I'll enumerate some 'useful apps'...
>
> OpenOffice http://www.openoffice.org (Great office suite)
> XMMS http://www.xmms.org (like WinAMP)
> GAIM http://gaim.sourceforge.net (cross-service IM client)
>
Those are "nice" but not necessary. I'm happy with the M$ stuff that Bill
sent me years back. I'm apparently not on "the list" any longer and haven't
gotten a free copy of XP or any of the OFFICE software after the 2000 release.
Of course, I do buy it whenever I see the CD's at the thrift store. Windows
typically costs $2 there. Office 2K cost $5, last time I saw it. Typically,
a nice ~200 MHz Pentium box with a little (32MB) of RAM and <10GB HDD and a
small (15") monitor, plus the usual keyboard and mouse, costs around $75. If
it's not running, often because it hasn't got either the RAM or a HDD, it goes
for $10, though it may go for as much as $20 if the split the parts up.
>
> if you want to see more useful apps, check out freshmeat.net. You can use
> that to find a *ton* of OSS or other apps that run on *nix.
>
> Debian is really cool - http://www.debian.org, especially with it's 'apt'
> package tool.
>
> > but I really don't want to.
>
> This is the same stupid attitude that a few IT higher-ups have in Purdue's
> School of Education that is preventing anything other than Mac or Windows
> servers/workstations from being used/supported. [ Of course, they'll
> support Mac OS X, which is basically BSD. Go figure. ]
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Doc" <doc_at_mdrconsult.com>
> >
> > I doubt anyone willing to make the inane comments you've made so far could
> > provide any sort of support.
>
> Huh? Hmm I guess you're complaining that Doc isn't a part of the M$ cult.
>
I'm really not complaining at all. It was he who cast the first stone. I
just made the observation that thinking of UNIX as appropriate for the era is
totally off-base and the market has surely vindicated that view. UNIX may be
fine for some things, but not for personal computing.
>
> > > Really high-end PC hardware isn't much better than midrange, but
> > > low-end hardware is a verifiable black hole. To wit, it is guaranteed
> > > to suck.
> > >
> > Low-end would cost on the order of $150.
> >
> > You'd starve on our service work.
>
> Show me a new computer that will last one month past its warranty period
> that costs $150. Packard Bell is great for delivering DOA machines, and
> is known for delivering cheap machines. Show me a *nix vendor that sells
> ANYWHERE as bad quality machines as major PC vendors like PB. I'm pretty
> sure you can't do it. I've looked for a cheap vendor for Linux Intel/AMD
> machines and haven't found one.
>
PB has been history for about 4 years, haven't they? Compaq is essentially
gone, and HP's next ...
>
I buy complete machines for under $100 and put them to work for people at
least twice a month. It's not my business, but I don't like to see people
spend good money on overpriced hardware. At least half a dozen of my friends
now have those surplus eTower 633's that were being hawked to the list by some
spammer about 8 months back, and I got the setup CD from my stepdaughter and
set them up for them. The things actually came with the setup materials, but
the automated install wasn't there. That was $279 for a Cerleron 633 with
128MB RAM, a DVD, a 65K modem, 2 USB ports, FDD, a 15GB HDD, keyboard, mouse,
etc. I snagged a half-dozen 15" HP Pavillion monitors at a thrift store for
$5 each, paying $2.50 each because it was "senior-discount-day" and I am,
after all, over 55. That same day, I bought an HP Pavillion with 32 MB RAM, a
2GB HDD, etc. and a monitor for $40. It was priced at $80, but ... It even
had the speakers and cables, etc, not that I like that sort of thing. I
prefer my computers be silent.

One local surplus vendor had 33 HP workstations. We told him all we wanted
was the power supplies, so he sold 'em to us for $5 each. He kept the
monitors (fixed-frequency SONY GDM1950's) We took out the PSU's, the mass
storage, and the RAM, and pitched the rest. My partner sold the RAM at some
ridiculous price and sent me a fat check. I decided I didn't want the PSU's
and gave them to a friend. I'm beginning to wonder whether it's worth feeding
power to those 2 and 3 GB hdd's though.

Workstations are overrate, if you ask me, though they may have had their day.
Hardware dedicated to UNIX concepts is just no longer what's wanted. Say what
you like about the PC culture, it's what hits the mark for most users.

Yes, they whine, but they are able to do things not even the most
sophisticated computer scientists could do when I was in college, yet they
don't even know how to read well enough to figure out what a message of more
than a line or two means.
Received on Sun Apr 21 2002 - 23:46:58 BST

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