APPLEVISION Monitor

From: Ryan Underwood <nemesis-lists_at_icequake.net>
Date: Tue May 7 02:23:13 2002

> The UNIX mindset is different: "It doesn't work? Hmm - lets find
> out why. And fix it/make somebody fix it." - smells of good old
> engineering.

Precisely. Windows was designed to be a consumer operating system. UNIX
was designed to be a techie's operating system. Case closed. Argument over.

This is why UNIX vs Windows arguments hardly make sense,
and get old. If you consider yourself a consumer, feel free to indulge
yourself in the prettiness and dumbness of Windows, and not feel ashamed for
it. Or, discover that a Linux distribution designed for end-user friendliness
suits your needs too, and use that instead. Either way, why does it matter
which is better designed or more powerful? As a consumer/user, you are
concerned only with what you can use the operating system for. Why get in
shouting matches over who does what better? It's irrelevant.

If you're a techie, well, you're likely not using Windows anyway, having long
discovered that its limitations and inconsistencies do not suit your manner
of productivity. If you notice other techies being hampered by Windows, you
probably introduce alternative systems to them, because you feel that it can
improve their productivity.

In other words, use what works best for you, and that you feel comfortable using.
That's the pragmatic-modern view.

However, this is ignoring the obvious problem with Microsoft and
pure monopolistic capitalism, destroying innovation and limiting choice.
Microsoft is proving that the idealistic concept of a "free market" really
is bogus in some ways.

HOWEVER:

It is quite possible to decrease MS's market share and force them to play
fair like everyone else. To do so, the goal is to _reduce the market share of
Windows machines_. Very simple. Whether you're a MS fan or not, this is
the only solution that makes sense in the long run. (A monopoly is good for
nobody in the long run, not even its supporters.)

Whether the machines run some flavor of UNIX or any other operating system
is a moot issue -- it just so happens that most of the alternative operating
systems that exist today are UNIX-based. If you'd rather use FoobarOS or
CP/M, go for it.

As a user or a developer of an alternative system: If you care about the
system, work to improve it, and attract others to your platform by virtue of
its capabilities. Perpetuating endless arguments is a waste of effort --
instead of arguing in circular fashion (Nuh-uh! Yuh-huh! Nuh-uh! ....),
demonstrate in a practical manner how your platform is superior, and only
when asked or otherwise appropriate. Be open, but don't shove it down people's
throats.

You'd be surprised how many people listen to reason, even when they themselves
are not necessarily reasonable folk. A carefully constructed, relevant
argument goes a long way towards promoting one's beliefs.

I love 'nix as much as the next guy; but I also am quite fond of reason,
ethics, and integrity. That's why I won't play dirty to beat MS into
submission, even though _they_ reached their current position by playing dirty.

A goal I'd much rather achieve is beating them at their own game, by simply
being _better_ at it. Result? A better MS, better alternatives, and a fair
market. Competition sorts out the market, but there has to be competition
first. Free (as in beer) software is a great start to dislodge the 20-year
Wintel monopoly. It gives people a glaringly obvious reason to move to a
platform that is (in the opinions of its developers) better supported, more
consistent, and has an open, flat development model, where every user and
developer are equally powerful in driving its future. The initial shock
of moving out of the grasp of MS may suck sometimes, but once gotten over,
few go back.

An idealistic wet dream? Probably. But I won't stop trying.
I'll continue working to give people reasons _why_ they should use my platform,
and hope that others do the same.

(WARNING: 2am grogginess may be present in post)

-- 
Ryan Underwood, <nemesis at icequake.net>, icq=10317253
Received on Tue May 07 2002 - 02:23:13 BST

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