No O/S as a right more than ever

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 02:24:56AM -0400, I. Khider wrote:
> Well looks like I am alone in the room here in thinking that the idea of
> pre-installing machines with Windows (or Mac for that matter, equally
> horrid) as a default option in our society is wrong. The fact that
> students have to resort to piracy to get software they need from Mac or
> Windows to develop their education and ideas is pretty toxic in my
> books. That an artist, 2/3d designer has to pirate software to develop
> their ideas--the list goes on. This list states I am taking an extreme
> pro-Linux stance when I am say we need 'choice' is unfair--I am looking
> for balance. I say, resort to civil means if one has to--to re-introduce
> balance and harmony. That opensource options are not being pursued
> because companies have successfuly marginalized them out of existence
> thanks to consumer complacency--especially in Canada. 

No actually you are not taking an extreme pro-linux stance.  You are
taking an extreme anti-proprietary software stance.  Those two are not
the same thing, contrary to what some fanatics would like you to think.

I like linux and company because they are better at what I want to do
and I prefer the philosophy as well.  Even if windows was to become free
and open source in every way, I would still prefer linux on my system.
I realize that some people need certaion software which simply does
not exist in the open source world and almost certainly never will,
and I don't mind that.

I happen to very much appreciate some of what microsoft has done.
They managed to get ibm to agree to let microsoft keep all the rights to
MS-DOS/PC-DOS and be allowed to sell it to anyone they wanted.  This meant
companies like compaq that reverse engineered the IBM PC BIOS could
start making 100% compatible but much cheaper computers and started the
whole open comodity computer market.  It is quite likely that without the
backing of someone like IBM, no platform would have become so dominant,
and without microsoft it would not have become open and a commodity since
either IBM would have owned it all and you would be paying IBM prices for
your computer and getting exactly what they thought a computer should be.
We only get to have amazingly fast computers at amazingly low prices,
because they have become a generic commodity, largely due to microsoft.

Perhaps life was more interesting when we had the apple II, atari XL,
atari ST, amiga, amstrad, archimedes, (did anyone not name things starting
with a back then?), but it sure cost a lot more for a lot lot less.
I remember 20 years ago wishing I could get one of those 20MB harddisks
that cost $4000 for my amiga.  Yeah right.  I just ordered a complete
laptop with 10000 times the disk space, for 1/4 the price of that
20MB disk.  Thanks for changing the computer world microsoft, too bad
your software is only good enough and not great.  Fortunately good enough
was enough to get us to this point.  Would linux have existed if Linus
hadn't been able to buy a generic 386 (I think his might even have been
an AMD) to write Linux on?

-- 
Len Sorensen
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