[Am-info] Bill Gates show loses its lustre

[Erick Andrews]

On Mon, 18 Nov 2002 18:38:45 -0600, Roy Bixler wrote:

>On Mon, Nov 18, 2002 at 10:03:54AM -0500, John J. Urbaniak wrote:
>> And Linux is NOT the answer.  Replacing Windows with Linux would
>> just transfer the stagnation to a different platform.
>
>Linux is a kernel, not an operating system.  There are many different
>Linux distributions and many different Linux-based operating systems
>serving different markets.  Comparing Linux to Windows is
>fundamentally an apples to oranges comparison (or, if you wish, a
>kiwis to bananas comparison.)

Well.  Yes, Roy, but I think you're talking more to the letter that the
spirit here.

Linux, with all its variants (Red Hat, SUSE, Mandrake, et al), is still 
the *NIX "experience", OS-similar, reincarnate.  I might even argue 
that the new "Jaguar" for Macs grows into this category.  Windows is
still an Ugli-fruit compared to a lot of these Bananas, with maybe adding
an Apple...for good measure.  The issue is greater than Linux; or should be.

>
>Even if you modified your statement to say (arbitrarily picking a
>particular Linux distribution here) "Replacing Windows with Red Hat
>Linux would just transfer the stagnation to a different platform", I'm
>still not entirely sure I would agree.  As long as Red Hat stays open
>source, I don't see how they could pull the same market manipulation
>tricks that Microsoft pulls.

They could.  And I think that that was John's point.  I may be wrong,
but I read his statement as "a different platform".  I'd like to see more fruit.  
Different baskets.  Not just Linux.

My point here is that moving *everything* from Windows to a *NIX-type
OS is not much diversity.  And BTW, a lot of "open source" is not limited
to just 2 -3 platforms.

I would argue that the popular Linux "distributions" are in part,
proprietary, even though they may be substantially Open Source.

>
>> Heterogeneity and diversity in Operating Systems and Applications are the answers.
>
>With that, I agree wholeheartedly.

Do you know how many OS's are in use today, past and present?
I'll say there are a LOT.  Open Source works on many more *platforms*
than Windows, even if Windows they do.

-- 
Erick Andrews