[Gllug] Linux on Desktop

[Anthony Newman]

damion.yates at gmail.com wrote:
> My email was just a bit of a brain dump of pent up annoyance over many
> things an old timer (actually I'm only just 32) like me keeps seeing.

Well I'm so glad you shared it with us ;)

I don't particularly want to continue this plainly fruitless argument 
any longer than necessary, but I was struck by what a load of 
unmitigated nostalgic tripe you managed to come out with.


> This list, I'd hope would have some beginners, but mainly be full of
> the nerdiest geeks and Linux lovers around!  People who grew up coding
> in assembly, typically not even with mnemonics, just raw hex :)

Right. You seem to have a slightly skewed view of the demographic of 
this place, or for that matter any other LUG I've taken part in over the 
few years I've been involved. While I'm sure there are people who grew 
up programming their Sinclair Spectrum or Commodore 64 in hex, the days 
have long since passed when it would be considered more than a novelty, 
or for those who really really really have to do so. The wonder of Open 
Source has furnished us with a dazzling array of higher level 
alternatives which are more appropriate now we have an abundance of 
clock cycles and fewer spare minutes every day.


> I keep reading articles from people who say similar things that I see
> on the list, common themes show signs of a fondness of Linux but the
> underlying belief that it's on its way to catching up.  Typically seen
> connected with the dual-boot and only-at-home/only-on-the-server
> stance.

This was true 10 years ago, and it is still true now, the only 
difference being that the uptake of Open Source is now much greater than 
it was. I fail to see a problem; unless Linux is in a position as market 
leader, it will always be one step behind. I make no apology for turning 
that into a capitalist statement.


> On its way to catching up, drives me mad.  If it's behind now, then
> it's falled behind from being ahead and a bit of a history lesson
> could help change many people's opinion.
> 
> Take the Internet, tcp/ip, daemons listening on sockets, clients doing
> interesting things.  This was almost entirely Unix, chat systems, file
> sharing, even Web browsing was all Unix.

What is your point? I don't see many of the original manufacturers of 
motor cars still producing them 100 years after their inception. 
Inventing technology doesn't give you a right to it forever when 
alternatives grow up around the ground work which we can proudly say 
were related to commercial (non-free) UNIces which predate both Linux, 
other free UNIX derivatives and other current market-leading alternatives.


> I believe that the Apple vs Microsoft vs Commercial Unix vs Free Unix
> environment that we are in, is not just a market place where the best,
> cheapest or easiest system can win, but that it is a fight.
> One that is only really being fought and won by one side.
> 
> The fight has practically already been won, but I think very few
> people have spotted that.

I think you have failed to spot the relative penetration of Linux 
compared to the "good old days" you mentioned repeatedly. You might as 
well come out of your shell and say "Windows is shit" outright ;)


> Many, if not most Universities used Unix, often for the Desktop.
> Computer science students compiled code under it as that was free and
> generally the easiest way.  This has changed significantly for the
> worse and now Universities are churning out Windows "experts".

Would you prefer that the promised hordes of Labour Government 
instantiated graduates learned about something at University that would 
not result in employment at the end of their eye-wateringly 
debt-inducing time there? They program in *Java* now, you know :-O

The bottom line I'm approaching is that things get judged on their 
Quality, with a capital Q meaning "fitness for purpose". Linux is widely 
used, and more so than it used to be, so perhaps a little patience is in 
order.

Ant
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