[aclug-L] Re: Why Linux will win and Micro$oft will lose

[Lars von dem Ast <mrprenzl@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Friday 09 November 2001 11:21 pm, you wrote:
> Linux will win and Micro$oft will lose. So
> sit back and watch it happen.
>
> That's right, Linux will be on every desktop

There was an article slamming the Linux desktop in a recent issue of Wired, 
written by some ex-RH type. His arguments were logical enough, saying 
basically, Linux should concentrate on the server where they have a good 
chance of leading, and forget the desktop.

I think he's wrong simply because you can't tell the thousands of 
KDE-Gnome-Enlightenment-etc. people to just go away. In 1998 Caldera had the 
arguably easiest home-user Linux distro with the snazziest desktop, but today 
it looks like a complete dinosaur compared to my newly installed RH7.2. And 
it just keeps getting better. Nobody can "fire" this or that "department" of 
Linux, hence, all of the parts that make up Linux chug along, regardless of 
any wonk's opinionating. We laugh at wonks and suits. I can see why MS might 
think of Linux/GNU/OS as a threat simply because he is powerless to make it 
go away--barring EXTREME abridgements of freedom. (See SSSCA discussion on 
slashdot:
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/26/126230&mode=thread)

An article in the latest Utne Reader talks about the "death of the Nerds" and 
how the Downturn means the end to "geek control" of IT and how the "suits" 
are back. Interestingly, the author said Gates/MS were sort of like "nerd 
martyrs" because other big corps can do huge mergers and other outrageous 
things and the government just plays kissing cousins with them (AOL-Time 
Warner; Exxon Valdez fine reduction, etc.), while they went after nerd Gates. 
Slightly (totally) bogus, but the computer world is a much more critical 
place, tolerant of far less outrageousness than the general business world. 

I'm still wondering how the free/open source model can be translated to other 
aspects of commerce where corporations just as outrageous as MS dominate. I 
don't feel very good about taking advantage of Chinese or Mexican slaves just 
so I can have "lots of stuff real cheap" (Walmart, Dillons etc). Right here 
in Kansas farmers are doing everything possible to maximize efficiency and 
then getting screwed on prices. Only huge farming operations can win at the 
low prices game, i.e., more corporate/monopolistic crap. Our whole free 
market system is based on a relentless, mindless, anti-human pursuit of 
efficiency and convenience (joined at the hip with "maximize revenue, 
minimize costs"). With Linux, we're still being illogical/irrational on the 
efficiency-convenience issue vis-a-vis the desktop. Maybe we need to consider 
other "irrational responses" too.

-- 
Lb:Lars von dem Ast
"Soma addicts should not handle flags."
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