From: "Adam Flinton" 

Nope. The average user can sign up to something like a "Windows
update" in just the same way. Some dists will prefer to go latest
& greatest & some will go for stability (i.e. security patches
only).

e.g the Corp version of Red Hat works with 18 month release cycles.

The point is choice. With Windows whether you don't want any upgrades for 2
years or every 6 months you have no choice in the matter. With Linux per se
you can look at say Debian if you want stability vs say Mandrake if you
want latest & greatest. What is more if the dist decides on an 18 month
release cycle they still gain all the advantages of the other distribs
releasing & building code etc.

Adam



"David N. Barnett"  wrote in message
news:gs4gsu0rf0lla0h30f703l9blha6g960ko{at}4ax.com...
> On Tue, 5 Nov 2002 15:53:12 -0000, "Adam Flinton"
>  wrote in message :
>
> | Distrib A does well on this but poorly on this so...all the other
distribs
> | nick the good bits & work on the poor bits etc.etc. & then release so
that
> | their distrib B does well on this but poorly on this so.....all the
other
> | distribs nick the good bits & work on the poor bits etc.etc. & then
release
> | so that their distrib C does well on this but poorly on this so.....all
the
> | other distribs nick the good bits & work on the poor bits etc.etc. &
then
> | release so that their distrib D does well on this but poorly on this
> | so.....all the other distribs nick the good bits & work on the poor bits
> | etc.etc. & then release so that their distrib E does well on this but
poorly
> | on this so.....all the other distribs nick the good bits & work on the
poor
> | bits etc.etc. & then release so that their distrib F does well on this
but
> | poorly on this so.....all the other distribs nick the good bits & work
on
> | the poor bits etc.etc. & then release so that their distrib G does well
on
> | this but poorly on this so.....all the other distribs nick the good bits
&
> | work on the poor bits etc.etc. & then release so that their distrib H
does
> | well on this but poorly on this so.....all the other distribs nick the
good
> | bits & work on the poor bits etc.etc. & then release so that their
distrib I
> | does well on this but poorly on this so.....all the other distribs nick
the
> | good bits & work on the poor bits etc.etc. & then release so
that their
> | distrib A does well on this but poorly on this so.....
>
> This is what will continue to scare the average punter away from Linux
> and toward the known-quantity monopoly OS.
>
> --dnb
>

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