Which is why M$ will rule the world for some time to come. Tried Linux, various distros on different computers and on each one parts of the hardware has not been recognised etc. However it is cheap and lots of help is available so I remain a newbie/convert/user Regards Stan
On Friday 28 November 2003 08:32, adam@thebowery.co.uk wrote:
I am not necessarily a GNUWinII fan, just I advocate handing it out to people who don't want to install Linux (because quite frankly installing Linux and getting it to work with all of your hardware can be a pain,
and I
don't think its an option to say to interested people "hey, yeah Linux
is
really cool. oh btw you need to buy a new graphics card and a supported webcam because that one is no good and you then need to apply these
patches
that you can find on the internet to get that digital camera working"
most
people will look at you and say "but it works in windows now and if
Linux
is "better" why won't it work?"
Adam
I think we get onto dangerous ground claiming that Linux is "better than" Windows - or vice versa. One isn't better than the other; they're each better at some things. Windows excels at game play and driving new
hardware
(try finding a DVD copier for Linux) but requires you to restart the
machine
regularly and pay for pretty well everything you use. Linux is good for "always on" use, makes an undisputedly better server and IMHO is
preferable
for code development as it's more predictable and easier to organize. But
I
need a Windows box next to it for a variety of things, including
deployment
testing and even for some websites that assume IE.
Things are improving fast and in many areas the gap is closing, but Linux
on
the desktop hasn't got anywhere near the critical mass needed to attract commercial software writers to port their products and make the system a viable alternative to Windows for the average Joe.
So let's avoid "better" unless we really enjoy pointless arguments. The
Mac
has survived (so far) on being "different". Use that as a base and avoid
the
mistakes they made. Softly softly catchee monkey.
-- GT
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