[Gllug] The BBC and Microsoft.

[Chris Bell]

On Sun 28 Oct, Dan Kolb wrote:
> 
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> On Sunday 28 Oct 2001 11:00 am, Alain Williams wrote:
> > Great idea. I would be interested in putting some time to this, anyone else
> > ?
> 
> Go on, then. I'd be interested too.
> 
> I'm not sure what was meant by 'computer construction' - was it just what's 
> inside the computer, or how to build your own one ("and here's one we built 
> earlier, that actually works"). As for programming, don't forget the BBCs 
> were generally programmed in BASIC - does anyone remember if the programs 
> said anything about 6502 assembler programming? (come on, show your age ;-). 
> I don't think a general-viewing program trying to teach C would get many 
> viewers.
> 
> It's all about ratings, remember. A program full of technobabble and going 
> way over people's heads wouldn't get any ratings. Likewise something that 
> drags along too slowly (let's do a live televised install of RedHat) would 
> also cause people to turn their TV off.
> 
> > NB: I do not thing that it would be a good idea to have people involved who
> > are part of the ``slag off M$ brigade at every opportunity''. We need to be
> > seen as mature and resonsible. It doesn't mean that we can't say that M$ is
> > cr*p, we just need to do so in a polite and considered way.
> 
> I agree with the first two sentences. I'm not so sure about the last one - 
> you may be able to infer that Microsoft is crap, but just to mention it in 
> the form of "We don't have viruses. Windows has viruses because of crappy 
> programming" probably wouldn't go down too well.
> 
> Just random thoughts,
> 
> Dan

   I just thought that a short description and view of typical layouts, and
a mention of electrical safety, electrostatic precautions, adequate cooling,
careful assembly, and neat and tidy interconnections, would be appreciated
by those people who have not seen inside any computer, and have just treated
them as a magic black (or cream) box.
   There was a humorous description regarding taking off with Linux which
described the way one was handed a spanner, a DIY kit of seat components,
and a seat how-to; perhaps we should show that building a seat is not too
difficult, and demonstrate that the results are well worth the effort.
   We would need to explain something about choices to be made during the
installation, such as disc partitions, passwords and security, UID's and
GID's, networking, hostnames and addresses, and text only or x-windows, but
I think that the greatest impact would be made by showing a working system
with word processing, graphics, multimedia, file sharing over networks,
databases, etc, etc.
   We should show that it is not just a lot of hot air but a real, stable,
system, following international standards, and yet still capable of using
and accessing existing files and data. In fact all the reasons why we are
enthusiastic about Linux. We could also make the point that our universities
and colleges have been training students to use advanced software for more
years than other operating systems have been around.

-- 
Chris Bell


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