The way things are?

From: Tarsi <tarsi_at_binhost.com>
Date: Tue May 7 00:19:42 2002

On Monday 06 May 2002 22:47, you wrote:
> I know things would be better if people would just listen to me ... I know
> things would be better if only ... but that that's not the way things are.
> Things could and should be different, but they aren't. That's where I
> live. You see things from where things should be, while I see things, or
> try to, from where they are.

Very true. It's two different perspectives into how the computing world is.
I take issue with people that have your stance, Dick, for the following
reasons:

Couldn't it be termed 'lazy' or 'apathetic' to say, "Well! That's the way
the world is. I guess I'll just have to put up with the shit and go about my
business." instead of saying, "You know what? The world is this way, but it
doesn't HAVE to be this way. I know I can change it, even if it's only a
small part."

It would seem to me that the latter attitude is what brought us innovation,
expansion, revolution, and any other process that changed the status quo and
made it better or, at least, different. I see the current *nix movement,
which entails both saged *nix people saying, "Hey, we've been using great
stuff for years...surely someone else can use it, too?" and the newbie *nix
users saying, "You know what? It's not as painful as I thought it would be,
and it's almost everything I've ever wanted in a system" as the proponents
and the drive behind some change in the industry.

You know what? I don't know as though *nix will become the dominant force.
And honestly, I really don't care. Sure, it'd be nice, but what I really
want to see is companies like M$ and such taking a good, long look at HOW we
do computing and WHY we do computing, and if those can be changed, enhanced,
or even bettered. If the movement towards *nix environments is what it takes
to put that push on software and hardware companies to say, "You know what?
Maybe the users DO know what they're talking about, and maybe there IS a
different way to do things" as well as saying, "We oopsed and there are some
older methodologies that really *worked*, surely we can bring those forward
into today's computing world."

*nix, especially Linux, is becoming exactly that. A combination of old,
stalwart, respected ideas in computing (security, daemons, stability,
extendibility) and the new-fangled ideas (Intuitive GUIs, multimedia,
real-time computing). The pressure is on. If you don't believe me, ask M$
if they consider Linux a threat. Sure they do. I just hope that this makes
them look at their software on how to entice users using innovation instead
of the typical marketing wool-pulling they have tended to do in the past.

Whether we end up a Windows-centric or Linux-centric computing community
doesn't matter. What does matter is that the industry continues to move
forward with REAL solutions, not vapor or marketingware, that improves my and
your computing experience.

I just refuse to sit back on my ass and let the world whiz by without making
a stand in my own little corner. Because I'm a computer professional and I
care about the industry, this is a battle I'm going to fight.

Tarsi
210
Received on Tue May 07 2002 - 00:19:42 BST