Author: Robert Pawlak
Date: 18:42:59 10/11/99
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On October 11, 1999 at 13:51:25, Dann Corbit wrote: >Here's a gag... Try this search: >http://www.google.com/search?q=more+evil+than+satan > This was a hoot... I wonder how you stumbled across it ;-). >Now, as far as Microsoft is concerned, they get a lot of bad press (much of it >deserved). But they are not about to go away. And Linux *should* clobber them >for use as WWW servers and things of that sort (but that does not mean it will >happen). As far as end-user applications they are light years behind Microsoft. For things like Mathematica, Macsyma and Matlab (science, math apps) all have linux versions. This is what I care about. Plus there is all the free development stuff available for Linux. As far as office suites goes, Star Office is really quite good. If you buy one of easy to install distros, it will be installed automagically, along with WordPerfect. Plus you get all the internet stuff you need. In reality, this is really all John Q. Public needs. However, the problem is that linux is still not easy enough to install and use. > There are bazillions of applications that solve people's real business problems Most people don't need bazillions of apps. I think a decent WP, browser, e-mail and presentation SW is all 99% of business users need. Linux has this already. Now as far as the people that read this board is concerned, the problem is that there are not bazillions of chess programs for Linux. So there is an opportunity there. Would you rather be a big fish in a small pond, or a little fish swimming with Chessbase? Now don't get me totally wrong. I'm not telling Leonid to go write for Linux. But, I think that covering his bases with cross-platform tools might be to his advantage. >that have real-live technical support that goes along with them. Thinking that >somehow Linux will overcome this is pure fairy-land. > Yes, but if ease of use were everything, then we would all have macs. Additionally, even though total cost of ownership for a mac is much less than that for a PC, people still go with PCs in overwhelming numbers. There are a whole bunch of reasons for this, but I am spining off on a tangent.... >Frequently, computer-geek types (like us -- let's admit it) don't see why people >can't just use Linux, after all -- it's so easy. But it is not really that way >for a lot of people. > I totally agree. I help out some of the older people in my development with computer problems, and they certainly would not make good linux users. >Besides which, if you plan to sell it, Linux users have been known to create >wire fighting over a single penny. >;-) Yes, this is a problem. People like to use the heritage of the OS as an excuse for being a tightwad. There is an interesting survey on my homepage right now that deals with this topic (as it relates to chess SW). http://members.aol.com/rjpawlak/ch_widow.html Bob P.
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