Phil Mattison wrote:

>>From what you have written, I get the clear feeling that these are your
>positions:
>  
>
>>1. Linux kernel & shell are a-ok, no problems.
>>2. X based desktop environments (kde/gnome/etc) too slow, buggy, crappy.
>>3. Free alternatives to commercial products are not good.
>>4. Commercial motivation = good products.
>>    
>>
>
>Close, but I would say:
>
>1. Linux kernel & shell are a-ok, no problems.
>2. X based desktop environments (kde/gnome/etc) [tend to be] too slow,
>buggy, crappy.
>3. Free alternatives to commercial products tend to be slow, buggy, crappy.
>4. Commercial motivation does not necessarily result in good products, but
>of necessity tends to place more emphasis on identifying and meeting the
>needs of a specific market. Open source projects seem often to be done by
>hobbyists who then want the satisfaction of seeing other people benefit from
>their work. There is nothing wrong with that but it does not foster the same
>level of discipline you find in most commercial projects. The GPL can be
>both a blessing and a curse.
>
>Does that mean I never use free software? Certainly not. Far be it from me
>to make "perfect" the enemy of "good enough." But neither will I fool myself
>into believing that GPL is good and commercial software is evil, even if I
>do think it is usually overpriced.
>
>I guess the reason for my initial comments were that I was thinking about
>the recent experience of a friend of my son's who was interested in Linux. I
>recommended Mandrake 9.2 because I found the installation to be quite
>painless. He had trouble downloading the ISO images and making a CD set that
>would install, and so went out and spent $100 on a shrink-wrapped distro, I
>think it was SUSE. He couldn't get that to install either. I recommended
>going to one of the install-fests but I don't think he wanted to wait that
>long. After this experience he probably is now an avowed critic of Linux.
>
>To those who wish to make Linux into a religious crusade I would say the
>reward isn't necessarily worth the effort. If you were offering eternal life
>that might be another matter. But to go around spitting on people who don't
>happen to support your agenda makes me wonder if you wear a towel on your
>head.
>
>--Phil M.
>
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>  
>
>But to go around spitting on people who don't
>happen to support your agenda makes me wonder if you wear a towel on your
>head.
>
Well, the towel would help clean up the spit... of course, some folks 
would not think that's what you were driving at, and would instead take 
the above to be a racist slur against people of arabic or middle-eastern 
descent. That would be unfortunate, as racist remarks tend to brand the 
utterer as both ignorant and mean-spirited.

-- 


Lee Einer
Dos Manos Jewelry
http://www.dosmanosjewelry.com



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