10 Jun
2009
10 Jun
'09
2:16 p.m.
On Wed, 10 Jun 2009, Brian Wheeler wrote:
As one of the Penguin Crowd, I agree. The local linux
user's group
seems to be filled with people more interested in flashy gui stuff than
understanding how the system works.
Asking any kind of technical question of them usually meets with
silence. I guess if I asked about configuring compiz or upping my FPS
I'd get a lot of answers.
I haven't considered myself to be part of the "Linux Community" for a very
long time. I've been involved with Linux since January of '92, and I'm
typing this on a Linux box. Having said that I've been disgusted with the
attitude of the community since some time in the '98 timeframe. Don't even
get me started on RMS, as I view him and his Cult as being a large part of
the problem. The level of fanaticism and hatred of commercial software
really turns me off.
Something else that irritates me is that Linux programmers seem to be just
as bad about writing non-portable code as Windows programmers. This is the
main reason I continue to use Linux at home at all. I'd much rather simply
go with Mac OS X (which is now my primary UNIX platform at home), and I'd
just as soon use OpenBSD, Solaris, or even IRIX. OTOH, I'd rather run Linux
than AIX or HP-UX, but that's just a question of preferences. :-)
At the same time a *LOT* of good has come out of the Linux community, and a
lot of really awesome pieces of software. The same can even be said about
Microsoft. While I hate Microsoft, I have to admit they have some really
nice developers tools. I for one really like the C# work that has been done
both by Microsoft and the Mono teams.
An interesting way of looking at this would be to voice my key dislikes for
the various OS's I currently use.
Windows - It is a mess, and it is Microsoft
Mac OS X - It is a resource hog, and I question the efficiency of the
microkernal, especially based on tests against Linux.
Linux - The community (I have some performance complaints, but am not
sure how accurate they still are)
OpenBSD - Theo de Raadt doing things that harm the project
OpenVMS - The Corporation(s) owning it trying to kill it and starving it
for resources. I fear that HP has decided to kill it off, in a slow and
painful manner.
Solaris - I'm concerned about its continued viability, as such I'm less
likely to use it in the future.
Other OS's
Amiga OS - Not practical, I'm not sure if you can even get V4.x, or the
hardware to run it on at this time. I'm stuck at V3.9 due to my best
machine being an Amiga 3000. Lack of user base.
OpenBeOS - Not sure if that's the right name, but I really need to check out
the current state. Lack of user base.
AROS - I continue to keep an eye on this. Lack of user base.
IRIX - I wish it wasn't a dead end, as it is really an amazing OS and it
ran on amazing hardware.
TOPS-20 - Again I wish it wasn't a dead end.
Zane