Online article: "Microsoft funds African PCs amid open source debate"

[Joao Inacio]

On 10/6/05, Eric Dunbar <eric.dunbar at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 10/6/05, Michael Shigorin <mike at osdn.org.ua> wrote:
> > On Wed, Oct 05, 2005 at 10:57:50PM -0400, Eric Dunbar wrote:
> > > Windows 95 runs quite comfortably on a P I/166 64 MB RAM 1 GB
> > > HD with IE 5.5 and Office 97
> >
> > I was running Linux 2.2, XFree86 3.3.6 and KDE 1.1.2 on K6/166
> > with 32Mb back in '99 or so in the university just fine (things
> > were worse with SO5.2 but still bearable IIRC).  And people were
> > complaining that KDE1.0b was way more lean than actual KDE1.0,
> > they were running that beta with 16M RAM!
>
> <GI-NORMOUS SNIP>
>
> > > I'm not try to advocate that Win 95 is _better_ than Linux.
> > > Merely point out that propaganda is different from reality.
> >
> > Especially yours.
> >
> > PS: Eric, I don't intend to hurt your feelings but *please* go
> > and get your facts straight -- or don't forget to add common tags
> > like "IMHO" or "X-Ears: Red" to highly taste-dependent messages.
>
> I found it rather amusing to read your post, and, must admit that it
> is very tempting to reply point-for-point, but will limit myself to a
> brief response.
>
> FYI
> (a) I am no fan of any variant of Windows. Never have and am not currently;
> (b) To me, a computer is a *tool*, espeically if it runs useful software;
> (c) I really want to see "free" (both beer AND OR speech) software
> evolve to the point where it is a 100% usable alternative;
>
> To address your post: I hate to break it to you but the world is not
> black or white.
>
> Propaganda and dogmatic approaches may win debates, and, may even win
> arguments, but it doesn't make them anymore right. Repeating, ad
> nauseum, that Linux is _better_ than Windows or failing to acknowledge
> the power of a particular Windows combo makes you no better than the
> Microsoft spin-doctors.
>
> For example, DOS and Windows 3.1 were far inferior operating systems
> compared to what Apple offered in the contemporary Mac operating
> systems (especially when you compared DOS 5.x to Mac System 6 in
> 1990), yet, through good _marketing_ and strategic decisions Microsoft
> became the operating system "of choice". It didn't rise to the top
> because it was good (people on DOS were much less productive than
> their contemporaries on Mac), but because Gates et al. were good
> salesmen and made good strategic business decisions.
>
> You must wake up and smell the coffee -- propaganda may keep the
> "faithful" going but it turns off realists. One whiff of propaganda
> and a realist's BS-meter will fly off the scale and they'll dismiss
> your "cause" (which is unfortunately what Linux is to some... they're
> blinded by their cause).
>
> To finish off on a positive note... I'm extremely impressed by Linux
> and how far it's come since I first started dabbling with it 3 years
> ago (and using it 1 year ago). I am also confident that it will become
> much better in the coming years, probably even improving to the point
> where I could recommend it to someone who uses computers as a _tool_
> and not as entertainment (which most of us on here do... for many of
> us (most?) the Linux computer is the end, not the means and that's why
> we're drawn to Linux... we're happy fiddling with things to get them
> going and don't mind a little sweat... unfortunately, Linux does not
> readily become a tool without sweat (which is what closed source
> pacakges offer... a tool out of the box, no configuration required)).
>
> Eroc/
>
> --
> sounder mailing list
> sounder at lists.ubuntu.com
> http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/sounder
>

Err... have you tried breezy?

well i won't say much except it's *extremely* usable...

i still have some gripes and moans once in a while, but i manage to do
most of what i do in windows almost as easily, and some things are
even easyer and/or faster; i even managed to get webpages in firefox
to render 99.9% as they do on windows :)

not to mention all the power i have controling linux (i can 'fiddle' a
bit in windows, but it doesnt compare) to suit my needs if i want to.

things i miss:
 - windows games
 - speedy boot, more responsive ui (not system)
 - some apps?
 - windows games

i am sure that configuring a linux system is still not for everyone,
but *using* linux is just a matter of... getting used to?


Just my 0.02 eur

--
João Inácio
jcinacio at gmail.com