RE: Back to Windows??
Just some Minor Points
apologies in advance if they have all ready been spoke.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Christopher Wolf [mailto:debianlists@thewolfden.org]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2001 9:58 AM
> To: Adam C Powell IV
> Cc: Debian Laptop
> Subject: Re: Back to Windows??
Clip
>
> Yes. Debian is one of the better companies. Obviously, or I wouldn't be
> running Debian releases. But when we wave a purchase contract in Sun's
> face, they're at our door today, fixing the problem, because if
> they're not
> we'll go to someone else. There is no-one at Debian or "Linux"
> who will do
> that. If we can't use the new hardware, who cares how much the OS
> cost. And a company such as Sun will not spend all their time pointing
> finger at others when their product is about to be lost. I don't
> care if a
> well-known manufacturer is stretching the truth about their Linux
> compatability; who's there to stop them under a free software situation?
Debian is not a "company" it is a non profit organization to facilitate the
groups Charter look at debian.org for more details.
If you want service, support, and/or custom development like what you
receive from Sun look at VAlinux.
>
>
> >Of course, this slows down the incorporation of new features (like how
> >GNOME 1.2
> >didn't get into potato). But contrary to your statement, this
> means the focus
> >is on quality and NOT feature creep. We can ONLY do this
> because the software
> >is free, as in speech, so we can fix our own bugs and add our
> own usability
> >features (see below).
>
>
> The fact is, GNOME 1.2 will get in eventually. While the _focus_ may be
> quality, the product _will_ get all the features added to it. If
> you leave
> out all the neat features forever, people will go to other
> releases eventually.
>
>
> >I understand your frustration with some projects, but to make
> such a blanket
> >statement on a Debian list is demeaning to the hundreds of volunteer
> >maintainers
> >and hundreds (thousands?) of other volunteer testers who work
> very hard to
> >bring
> >together the highest-quality distribution possible. If you have
> a specific
> >complaint, make it, and file a bug report. But don't just dump
> on quality
> >when
> >you can't get anything like what we have in the proprietary world.
>
>
> Just because I said it on a Debian list doesn't mean I was speaking
> specifically of Debian, especially since I wasn't. If I say here I can
> look up and see blue sky will you correct me that your ceilings are beige?
>
> And hiding behind a "proprietary" hardware shield won't actually solve
> anything. This however, is also not Debian's problem.
>
>
> >Usability is another matter. Volunteers will generally make things more
> >usable
> >for themselves. So we have the best package management system
> anywhere in the
> >industry (dpkg/apt), with unrivaled ease of configuration (debconf), and
> >centralized application menu management which puts its menus in
> all of the
> >window managers and desktop environments (menu), and documentation
> >registration
> >which links all docs from /usr/share/doc/HTML/index.html (doc-base), and
> >indexes
> >it as well (dhelp/glimpse). One or two of these usability features are
> >available elsewhere (like Windows' documentation system and single Start
> >menu),
> >but the combination is unique to Debian.
>
>
> Bravo. Thank you very much for going farther than anyone else with these
> new, very useful, and additional features.
>
>
> >However, drivers are a problem when vendors refuse to release
> specs (so file a
> >bug report and mailbomb the vendor), and since people only have
> to install it
> >once, the time they're willing to put into the installation process is
> >relatively small. So the usability of those parts of the
> distribution lag the
> >rest by quite a bit. The new installer doesn't look like it
> will be ready in
> >time for woody, so this condition will persist for at least
> another year. But
> >the installation problem is easy to solve: get an old Corel CD
> and upgrade to
> >potato over the net (took me about 15 hours over a 56K modem, but it all
> >worked), or get a Progeny beta, or go to http://www.odslinux.com/ and
> >custom-configure your own easy-install CD, or get hardware with Debian
> >pre-installed- which solves the driver problem too!
>
>
> ...solve the driver problem only until you need a new piece of
> hardware. I
> may have missed it, but I don't believe you're implying that
> hardware never
> changes in a system.
>
>
> > > Either that or the primary author graduates or
> > > finally gets a date.
>
> Whoops. Typo there. date should have been mate, as in, "something to
> significantly occupy their time other than code". And for those of you
> watching for it, don't think for a moment that I would have used a
> masculine pronoun there.
But in open source development other if interested can pickup the project at
a later time and move forward with it if there is a demand. How much code
has be lost or recreated in the proprietary model because the company
folded, won't sell or doesn't care about the old project any more (insert
your favorite vapor ware)?
>
>
> >I graduated nine years ago and have been happily married for the
> last four,
> >thank you very much.
>
>
> Congratulations, I believe you've beat the divorce odds.
>
>
> >There have been helpful constructive criticisms in this thread,
> but yours was
> >not one of them.
>
>
> I'm a middle of the road user. I can hack the kernel and believe
> Linux can
> make a difference, but I also have better things to do. Until you get me
> using Linux on all my computers, you won't get all the rest of the world;
> you certainly won't get most of the people I know, who are in my
> family or
> who I work with in the software world -- they simply have better
> things to
> do with their time and most will spend $50 to make all the Linux
> issues go
> away with Windows, as much as many of them dislike it. Accept it
> or ignore
> it, but its there.
>
> Remember, customer satisfaction is determined by the customer. You can
> tell me I'm wrong as much as you want.
>
> -W
>
>
> --
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Shad Yoakum
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