Desktop Linux (fwd)

[Michael Costolo]

--- Derek Martin <invalid at pizzashack.org> wrote:
> Often, the existence of an alternative is inadequate.  Many people,
> believe it or not, live in MS-Office all day long.  If the documents
> their co-workers produce don't import 100% correctly into whatever
> alternative they use, then it's no alternative at all.

Agreed.

> That's a pretty narrow view of business computing.  Some people use
> computers for CAD design.  Some people use them for publishing.  Some
> people use them for art.  Some people use them for hardware
> development.  Some people use them for process automation.  Etc. etc.
> the list goes on and on.  The bottom line is, if you need some
> application NOW that already exists on Windows, but not on Linux,
> you're gonna pick Windows.  There are many such cases.

Well, we were really discussing computer use at home.  But I agree with you on this.
 I can remember a workplace on the West coast that was all Mac (back in the SE/30
days) but switched entirely to PCs because more vendors were going the way of the
PC, particularly with software packages we needed to upgrade.

> Nope, but if they can't look at the schedule that their manager has
> made for them in Outlook/Exchange, and their co-workers have trouble
> importing their documents properly into MS-Office apps, then it
> doesn't matter if they can do it another way.  If they can't work with
> the rest of their team, they're totally screwed.

The evils of the Microsoft way...
 
> > "The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by
> > those who have not got it" -George Bernard Shaw
> 
> I like that quote a lot; but sometimes, cynicism is only that.
 
There was a really good Hagar The Horrible comic strip a long time ago.  His
daughter asks Hagar why the world is full of old cynics.  "Because cynics live
longer," was his response.

-Mike-

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