[luau] MSWindows

[R. Scott Belford]

> The part about Microsoft that I detest is their abusive business
> practices that leaves the industry with little choice by destroying
> competition.  I want competition in the marketplace.  I hate Microsoft
> for this to such a degree, that I would NEVER take a job that uses
> primarily Microsoft, develops on Microsoft, or promotes the use of
> Microsoft technology no matter how much I am offered.  This may not seem
> like much to this list, but this is a radical concept in the Computer
> Science department and I was laughed at by an entire room of fellow
> students when I said it.

This is precisely why I have issues with Microsoft.  I support well-deserved 
success.  Microsoft deserves a few pats on the back.  Frankly, I don't have 
trouble with my win98, 2000, and XP installations.  I may demand less of 
these products than others, but, I keep them "up to date" with patches and 
when I must boot to them for school, etc., they perform for me.  

I believe in corporate responsibility.  It is not responsible to manipulate 
market and political forces in order to create and sustain an artificial 
advantage.  What is good for shareholders is not always good for 
stakeholders.  In my book one is not more important than the other.  Without 
rambling about specifics, it is this area that I fault the Redmond folks.   

Another thread I have followed as I sit around in the hospital is the 
learning curve required to adopt linux.   Some account for this adaptation 
rate by blaming the lack of good GUI tools.  This is what I have learned:  
there are a lot of great GUI administrative tools for linux.  There are not 
as many as I like, but that's because I have not written one.  That's the 
problem.

I used to fault "them" for linux being so tough.  Why didn't "they" make 
better tools.  Well, I have learned that I am both "them" and "they."  I am a 
user of Openly Sourced software, and as such am responsible for its success.  
I want better GUI tools for Linux, but I have not written them.  I have 
superior CLI tools for linux, but that's because the people who use 
Linux/Unix/*BSD the most wrote them already.

So, what will it take to get linux on my Mom's desktop and pose a threat to 
MS?  Not much, really.  We are dealing with economic and market forces here, 
not technology shortcomings.  Either kde or gnome are stable enough to send 
email, surf the web, and read all those attachments her friends send.  She 
needs as much help with a MS OS as she does a Linux OS.  In the beginning, it 
is all the same.

What will it take for the intermediates to adopt linux?  That was/is me not 
all that long ago.  I craved the GUI.  I felt dependant upon it.  The wiser 
among me said go forth, son, into the CLI and make yourself whole.  They were 
right, but I was afraid and felt powerless.  This frustrated my fragile 
excursions into rookie sysadmin 101.  Then I found Webmin.  It is platform 
independent.  It runs on my mac w/ OSX, it is on my debian, my redhat, and my 
freebsd box.  It is open sourced, so I can "cheat" and see the commands that 
the gui is actually issuing.  I also found humility and how to RTFM.  But, 
these things take time.  

Steve jobs saw the GUI at PARC and became enlightened.  Gary Kildall saw the 
GUI at PARC and made something of it.  Had he answered IBM's call, we would 
have no MS.  When he did not, a young entrepreneur took advantage of an 
excellent opportunity.  Now we have Microsoft.  The point is that Microsoft 
has had success not because of innovation superiority, but rather because of 
managerial and strategic successes that have become monopolistic.  This can 
be defeated.

As we gaze into the future corporate dance between Microsoft and its Openly 
Sourced adversaries, we see a battle of ideals that each of us can affect.  
If we have a problem with our Open Source software, it is our responsibility 
to report or fix it.  If we want a feature in our OS software, it is up to us 
to write it.  If we don't like a distribution, we can change it.  Here is 
where Democracy rules.  If the people want it, then so be it.  

Philoshophical debates keep us in the present.  Proactive solutions and 
innovations put Open Sourced software closer to the masses.  When it gets 
there because of the organizational structure of Open Source projects (the 
"bazaar") then we are one step closer to a better corporate America.  A place 
where capitalism is Democratized, not exploited.

scott

my $.02