From: "Thees Peereboom" 

Antti,

> Well Linux for sure won't be a factor unless Vista delays another 5 years
> (not too unlikely it seems ). Just look at the posts in .linuxhelp:
> almost without exception, for each and every question the answer contains
> command line and/or config files. That just doesn't fly. What flies is
> anything preinstalled in the most standard computers available from your
> local store, and I think MS is pretty strong there.

I'm not too sure about that anymore. Basically I would still say Windows
for the desktop and Linux/BSD for the servers. But now another factor is
moving in: WGA. Not just the annoying part of it but also it's intended
part: denying access to those that haven't paid for their copy. What would
be a logical route when Windows denies access to your Windows installation?
Paying for your copy or looking at another, but this time real, free
solution? I installed Ubuntu in a VM and it just couldn't be easier. For
those that email, browse and use a wordprocessor once in a while, there
will hardly be any difference with their current Windows installation.

What do you think will be the next move of all those millions users in
Asia, where you can buy a 'copy' of Windows for a few dollars, wrapped and
packed, when they find out that, as soon as they connect to the internet,
their copy becomes unusable? What will those big baskets outside
computerstores and supermarkets contain in the near future?

MSFT is in their right, of course, to protect their interests. But the
question is whether their chosen way will prove to be the right one and not
an enourmous boost for the use of Linux/BSD. If you borrow $1000 from the
bank and you can't repay, you have a problem. If you borrow 100 million
from the bank and you can't repay, the bank has a problem.

- Thees Peereboom

On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 06:25:02 +0200, Antti Kurenniemi
 wrote:

> "Geo"  wrote in message
news:44c8033b{at}w3.nls.net...
>>> Vista will sell like crazy, and the only thing it needs to really
>>> have ready and working is all the visual gimmicks. All the
>>> rest, MS has years to stitch that together.
>>
>> I think vista is actually going to hurt hardware sales because people
>> won't buy a new machine because they don't want to move to vista.
>
> Well I disagree with that, I think it'll drive HW sales because people
> love
> to get anything that's flashy and pointless, at any cost. Think Mac...
>
>
>> I think the DRM and copy protection are going to be the main
>> reason
>
> For knowledgeable people, sure, but Joe Average and his Aunt May won't
> know
> what it is anyway.
>
>
>> as most people don't know the difference between dos and
>> unix let alone how windows works.
>
> Well Linux for sure won't be a factor unless Vista delays another 5 years
> (not too unlikely it seems ). Just look at the posts in .linuxhelp:
> almost without exception, for each and every question the answer contains
> command line and/or config files. That just doesn't fly. What flies is
> anything preinstalled in the most standard computers available from your
> local store, and I think MS is pretty strong there.
>
> And it sucks. I wish people like whoever it was that came up with that
> idiotic shaking and wobbling windows in Linux thing, that we just saw the
> video of, would dig into the important stuff - how to make wifi just
> plain
> work, and how to make file & printer sharing just plain work, basic
> things
> like that. Then we'd have a game. But, still, after all the years of
> "Linux
> is finally ready for desktop", the clue is still somewhat missing and
> we're
> still fiddling with bash and etc and all that crap, and MS knows it damn
> well and is laughing as they go by.
>
>
> Antti Kurenniemi
>
>



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