31 Dec
1997
31 Dec
'97
5:12 p.m.
First, I don't consider word processing to be a
meaningful test of an
OS'susefulness. Word processing is probably the most wasteful >way ever
invented to use personal computers. Sure it's easy but I >can word process
just as quickly and easily on my old Mac SE as I >can on a new 95 box.
It IS NOT a test of usefulness, but still, it's one of the reasons that has
made PC computing popular. Besides, there ARE WORD PROCESSORS AVAIBLE FOR
LINUX! Just because billg won't make a word processor for a x86 OS that
isn't his doesn't mean that the OS isn't useful.
Second, there are applications...I believe WordPerfect
is available for
Linux as well as many other WSIWYG programs. I don't use them on my
Linux box because I prefer to have it do useful things.
Yep. Visit their site, and
you can download a trial. Also, you can
download a beta for the Java version.
Third, I think you need to pick up a copy of Linux
Journal as it has
listings for commercial software etc.
Where can I get one of those?
Fourth, let's not underestimate the value of what
you call 'TCP/IP Stack'
operations. We're not talking about a replacement for Trumpet Winsock
here...we're talking about being able to do EVERYTHING that thousands of
dollars worth of commercial software can do, do it better and
FASTER...for FREE. The financial value of that alone is incalculable
when you realize how much of the Internet simply would not have been
implemented had it not been for Linux (and other free unix-based OSs).
It IS an
advanced system. That's what happens when you get 500 expert
programmers together working cooperatively as their hobby.
> That was the end of my last try at Linux, a few
months ago. I have a
Slackware
> Linux CD with Kernels up to 1.3.12. I now have T-1
access, though, so if
you
> can suggest a system which COULD BE A VIABLE
REPLACEMENT FOR MacOS OR
WINDOWS,
Try OS/2 Warp. But there arn't too many commercial apps. I guess that it's
most useful to preven hacking, as no one owns a copy. ;-)
Linux isn't a replacement for MacOS or Windows...it
goes FAR BEYOND the
capabilities of either. Certainly you can use it for word processing,
using the WordPerfect etc mentioned above, but Linux boxes are serious
business machines that can represent thousands of dollars in revenues to
a business that uses it.
Exactly. PC's also became popular because they could
do ANYTHING. But my
uses and yours probably are different. I use word processing, (I can type
faster than I handwrite), but I also use e-mail, the 'Net, my browser, 3D
software, and many other things.
It's like saying a Cray could never be useful
because you can't run
Microsoft Word on >it. I don't think it's
reasonable to make Word the
be-all end-all basis for judging a >machine.
Exactly. It's one example of a word processor. It's not a standard, just
another popular app. If you're going to measue word processing, just look
at what the avaible editors CAN DO.
Keep in mind that there's a trade-off between
flexibility and
ease-of-use. Linux will never be as easy to install as Windows 95. It
isn't intended for that purpose. It's far too powerful and flexible for
that and assumes that the user wants to go beyond mere word processing.
No, it
won't. But that doesn't mean that it can't get easy. (Or just not
hard) Linux will be here for awhile, and so we've got to live withit.