[Sussex] Improvement vs watching Microsoft- was: Improving on UNIX

[dominic.clay at btopenworld.com]

> > It is this sort of thing that might actualy make a difference 
> > in the end.
> 
> Actually.. the thing is it's about improving UNIX as a desktop OS.  If it
> was just a question of building a better UNIX then we'd all of swapped over
> to Plan9 years ago (damn.. slipped it in.. must try harder, must try
> harder).
>
Can I put Plan9 on my iPaq? :) 

>  Most of us who work in IT would like to work in
> a world where good software is used everywhere - it would make our lives
> more pleasant.
>

Accepted.
 
> As you said  - improvement is the best weapon we have.  Is Linux innovative?
> I wonder.  I argued that adopting some of the innovation that BeOS had in
> the early/mid 1990's would make LINUX the most advanced platform currently
> available.  

Yep,  Sounds interesting.  (Note to myself: Learn a bit about BeOS)

> What am I saying here?  Well, yes, we do need to innovate, to provide better
> systems, but in terms of getting this thing on peoples desks it _is_ more
> important to look at Microsoft and see how we can do the same thing without
> all the compromises to out freedom, and we need to watch them and their
> tactics and respond accordingly.

Is this innovation?   Surely if you accept that Unices on the desktop is not comming in the very near future, the Unices develpoment community should be thinking of _inovation_ not playing 'request and response' games with MS?

Dominic