Re: Was the release of Debian 2.0 put on Linux Announce?
On Mon, 3 Aug 1998, George R wrote:
> I'm neither a sysadmin nor a kernel programmer, I'm not even a unix
> user, I'm just a guy that wanted something stable that was still
> progressing (deciding to leaving OS/2 took a long time). Funny thing,
> when I decided to switch my home OS silly me took a few hours and read
> about various OSs.
Missing the point again as all seem to be in this discussion. I think I
have seen maybe one post that "got" the point.
Debian can be a really great technical OS but if I can not install a
particular commercial application and the vendor says "We do not support
Debian because they are non-standard" then debian goes out the door if
the project depends on the application.
I will try to go back to the original point by saying that with some sort
of a standard base, and if Debian were to take part in it, I could rest
assured that the application WILL run on Debian. If Debian ignores the
standard and other sign onto it, Debian dies. End of story.
Also, I have read comments here today from people that have no idea what
free software is. They think it means non-commercial. They think it means
free in the financial sense. All it means is that you get the source code
when you get the binaries and you are free to modify and distribute the
source.
I am really ashamed at some of the comments I see here from people. I
started out by saying that Debian should have a clearer policy for
determining versions and then noted that the LSB (if you don't know what
it is, search Freshmeat) would take care of the concerns I had and then I
get this load of attitude about screw the users, the Central Committee
will decide what is best for you (the second time I have use those words
on this list in the last year).
People have to understand that it is the commercial applications that will
make Linux. Is Mozilla free ... yes. Is Netscape COmmunicator? No. Mozilla
is like a reference standard implementation. Netscape might be BASED on
Mozilla but you will not see the source code for Navigator-4.5.
I am willing to pay for good software that works, I am not willing to pay
for software that sucks and I am not willing to put up with crappy
software just because it is free. I use Debian because it is the best
distribution of Linux and it provides me with what I need right now.
The one main thing that debian has going for it is dselect and apt. The
second thing is the integration and testing. These are good. Even with
these things, if commercial applications can not be integrated easilly, it
is a curiosity. More so in a couple of years than now. Things like Corel
Office and other products are coming down the pike that will push debian
into the workplace and possibly prevent people from having Debian at home
because of software support issues if the basic standards are not met.
That is the point that I create a slightly modified subset of Debian that
does conform to the standard and sell the sucker for $100 a pop to
businesses needing a better Linux than Red Hat.
George Bonser
Microsoft! Which end of the stick do you want today?
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