Employment linux admin/programmer wanted

[Alex Beamish]

On 12/8/06, Dave Germiquet <davegermiquet-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>
> When I was 16 I worked on OS/2 for a friend, i loved it cuz i could
> multi-task far better then windows 3.1 and (DesqView) if anyone ever
> remembers that.. I was trying to run 2 bbs's at the same time I think during
> that time and do some other cool nifty mail stuff.
>
> I REALLY dont get how microsoft BEAT out OS/2.... considering it was so
> much better than windows 3.1.... IBM had far more advance yet windows won.


It's complicated.

First of all, OS/2 was a joint project between IBM and Microsoft, and they
decided that they wouldn't support Windows as an upgrade path -- all
applications would have to be re-written for the Presentation Manager.

No upgrade path? Strike one.

Then, because the adoption of a new operating system is a chicken and egg
thing -- you need applications for the new OS -- Microsoft had to come up
with PM applications, writing for a brand new platform. Customers weren't
really thrilled about upgrading their OS *and* their applications at the
same time.

Strike two.

Then Microsoft figured out how to get Windows running in protected mode, and
decided that, instead of dropping Windows, they'd just release a new version
and leave OS/2 to twist in the wind. IBM could write their own applications
if they were so smart.

Strike three.

But the ball game wasn't over yet -- IBM recovered and managed to hack
together a Win-OS/2 layer that actually ran Windows programs surprisingly
well. They also started funding application development, and there was quite
a groundswell of support from various developers tired with Microsoft. OS/2
was beginning to pick up momentum when the Microsoft marketing juggernaut
arrived and started making announcements about Chicago, also known as
Windows 95.

IBM was not able to capitalize on the small window of opportunity they had
before the Windows 95 announcements -- companies that might have considered
OS/2 recoiled when they heard that Microsoft was coming out with a
replacement for Windows 3.1 that ran in protected mode -- no more crashes!

Well, would you believe .. fewer crashes?

In hindsight, it seems it was a brave choice to cut Windows off from an
upgrade path -- the whole thing was a huge hack back when it balanced on top
of DOS, and was only marginally better in Windows 95. A more sensible choice
would have been to do some kind of Windows emulation, but freeze development
on that, and move developers towards PM.

And that's a key reason as to why GNU/Linux has been such a success -- the
GNU utilities were developed to run on any platform, but lacked an operating
system. And Linux was just a kernel. But put the two together, and you have
both an operating system *and* the applications. With everything open
source, and the Internet to everyone to work together, the possibilities are
endless.

-- 
Alex Beamish
Toronto, Ontario
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