GNU/Linux Advocacy

[Eric Dunbar]

On 20/02/07, Amichai Rotman <amichai at iglu.org.il> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> Just wanted to share something with ya'all:
>
> It seems since Micro$oft came out with they're new Vista with the outrageous
> minimum requirements, I am getting more and more inquires / questions and
> requests for information on making the switch to the better option:
> GNU/Linux.
>
> Of course I gladly answer and give out the CDs kindly provided by Canonical.
>
> So, finally, is there a reason to *thank* Mr. Bill Gates?....
>
> :-)

Perhaps so, but I find that Ubuntu GNOME is no much less of a memory
hog (on the low-end machines) than Windows XP, and, compared to the
earlier stable versions of Windows (NT 4 SP 6, 2K) it actually
requires more resources to run well. Of course, if you're willing to
go with a crippled GUI you can manage with fewer computing resources,
but, then you're also sacrificing desktop functionality.

And... of course, people complained about the outrageous requirements
of Windows XP when it first came out ;-).

I don't think this is going to make or break Ubuntu take-up. Frankly,
I think Microsoft is starting to get the open source/Linux "threat"
and are starting to respond appropriately (in terms of retaining
market share). Most people don't really care about "controlling" their
software -- they want stuff that does what they need and want and
costs as little as possible.

I use Linux primarily because it is a great tool and it's free ($). I
like that it's free (as in speech) but, if Windows Server 2003 could
meet my needs for the right price with the right free use/installation
guarantees (that I could be guaranteed that my server(s) would work,
even if I upgraded to a new OS/computer and that I could configure and
setup multiple servers (all at the right price ;-) I might be using it
instead.

That said, my working knowledge is of Linux and not Windows so I'd be
very unlikely to make the switch (unless Microsoft were to come out
with their own Linux-based server OS ;-).

Eric.