From: "Robert Comer" 

> It's not (just) that. The main one is simple economics & the power of the
> market.

Agreed, but here is where Microsoft can combat things too, Microsoft really
should be chopping prices right now, and if they did, they'd still keep
dominant just because of market momentum...  (getting rid of the activation
crud would help too, they got to be where they are by allowing
copying.....)

> Just as people started using their PC'es more and more even though they
also
> had a terminal on their desk.

That's why I see Linux moving in more and more, quicker and quicker.

- Bob Comer


"Adam Flinton"  wrote in message
news:3e494017{at}w3.nls.net...
>
> "Robert Comer"  wrote in message
> news:3e4914cd{at}w3.nls.net...
> > > Which makes OS somewhat irrelevant.
> >
> > Still have a problem with apps though. (availability)
> >
>
> Depends on the apps. I think so many apps are now server based where the
OS
> is irrelevant to the user. E.g this newsgroup - lots of newsreader choices
> on lots of OS'es operating against a server process where both the exact
app
> & the OS it's running on is irrelevant.
>
> > > But which also means investing huge effort in competing with MS in
their
> > > current space may be futile, 'Unix' has a niche in the server end but
I
> > > think pursuing if for general purpose desktops on PCs is a hobby.
> >
> > Other than as a reaction against Microsoft, I tend to agree, but the
> > reaction is quite strong and getting stronger -- they have made a lot of
> > enemies.
> >
>
> It's not (just) that. The main one is simple economics & the power of the
> market. If linux gets good enough on the desktop (as it is on the server)
> then the extra 50 USD for the OS  doesn't sound like much but maybe enough
> (in conjunction with free apps like moz & OpenOffice (also a dollar
saving))
> to tip the preloading balance. Large scale advantages (in market terms)
can
> be tipped by fairly small things once "all things are just about
equal".
> I.e. once excel was "good enough" vs 123 & Word was
"good enough" vs
> WordPerfect then the fact that you got both (& more) in a
"suite" for a
cost
> saving vs buying 123 & Wordperfect individually then...
>
>
> > Also, for me anyway, I'm booting more and more into Linux, sometimes
> because
> > of cost (I can get more for my money in Linux) and sometimes because
> Windows
> > doesn't do some of the things I've gotten used to doing. (Linux is VERY
> > useful for TCP/IP - LAN/internet diagnostics/testing/setup.)
> >
>
> Just as people started using their PC'es more and more even though they
also
> had a terminal on their desk.
>
> > > And X is a terrible base for a user interface. Hobbling oneself to
> > > emulations of the tty design error and X-Windows will always make
'Unix'
> > > ugly.
> >
> > I agree that X programming is nasty to say the least, I absolutely hate
> it,
> > but as a user only using others stuff, it's pretty much the same -- I
have
> > no problem with it and don't think it's any "uglier"
than the Windows
UI.
> >
> > > You shouldn't care what OS you are running. We're not there yet. But I
> > don't
> > > see a Unix base as the solution we'll all be using in 10 years time.
> >
> > You might end up being very surprised.  What I hope is that someone
> actually
> > comes up with something better, but I don't really see that happening
> right
> > now.  I see myself easily switching to something else in that time
frame,
> > and probably a heck of a lot sooner than that. (<5 years)  Microsoft can
> do
> > something about that but I don't see them adapting right now...
> >
>
> I reckon most of the new ideas wrt GUI'es on linux will come from the
small
> end of the market (i.e. the PDA/Devices) as there the weight of X is
> unsupportable.
>
> Adam
>
>

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