Re: [PLUG] Dell and Linux

[Paul <gyoza@comcast.net>]

Art Clemons wrote:

> Paul:
> >If M$, Apple, and Linux were all free and open source, I bet the
> >desktop market would still go to M$ or Apple.  I still see technical
> >people using Linux on servers, workstations, and embedded devices.  And
> >the few of us running it as a desktop when we're allowed by family.
>
> I don't think MS would quite have quite the same market share if its 
> OS were open source.  Consider how MS finessed the world of word 
> processors and spreadsheets by producing an OS that worked properly 
> neither with WordPerfect or WordStar, nor with Lotus 123 and Quattro.  
> Open source would have allowed all of the above said programs to 
> better integrate their programs and also get rid of lots of nagging 
> errors because the programmers often had to write their software based 
> on what MS made public or released under a non-disclosure agreement.
>
> As for families, taking a few days to fix most windows desktop flaws 
> usually makes a Linux desktop look quite usable after a while.  
> Besides until XP, it was quite difficult to keep any commonly 
> available form of Windows running for long periods of time if more 
> than one individual used the computer.
I should adjust my statement to say, at this point, with the existence 
of WinXP and good OSS programs available for Window$, I think M$ could 
hold it's desktop market share.

Like the GNU approach, I am replacing closed/non-free programs with 
free/open source programs under a proprietary kernel.  Eventually the 
kernel itself will be replaced.  Right now I use a combination of Linux 
and Windows, both  with OSS, so I'm like 75% converted.  However, I 
don't represent the market.
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