🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <3vtu65$hs5@galaxy.ucr.edu>, jjs@taipei.ucr.edu (Joe Sloan) writes:
|> In article <3vtq0g$re9@oddball.sjc.MENTORG.COM>,
|> Eric Williams @ PCB x5577 <ewill@hpewill.sje.mentorg.com> wrote:
|> 
|> (Concerning Linux)
|> 
|> >
|> >And it comes with a full development kit, complete with
|> >FREE g++ compiler, FREE windowing system (X),
|> >FREE documentation development system (TeX et al),
|> >and FREE games (linuxxdoom, tetris, xpilot)!
|> 
|> ...
|> 
|> >For a mere toy, it's pretty powerful, and you can't
|> >beat the price.

I should have put "toy" in quotes.  Certainly it may be a
toy to some, but all should know that the difference between
a man and the boys is the size of his toys. :-)

And allow me to make a minor correction -- xpilot is not yet
available on Slackware and I would be surprised if it
is on any other distribution.  Oops, I'm guilty of hype!

Not like anyone else -- say a certain Redmond, WA
company -- doesn't do similar things -- do they?

|> 
|> I don't think you can beat the price at any price...

Well, if I were to play devil's advocate (and stupid
uninformed person as well :-) ), I could say that
a "free" unix might be less productive than the
stuff Microsoft is selling.

Unfortunately, that's not true. I can produce mind-
numingly beautiful math equations using TeX in less time
than it would take to fight with Frame to do it.
Both are capable, though, but one's a lot cheaper.

|> 
|> I could have my employer buy win95 or nt with no problem,
|> but *why*? linux is superior, regardless of price.

Depends on where you want to go today. :-) ;-) :-)

I agree, though, Linux is the next best thing to
the PC itself in making power available to the masses,
specifically, multitasking, 32-bit flat address space,
networking capabilities, graphical capabilities (with X,
admittedly), and sound capabilities.  It's a heck of
a lot better than DOS and easier to work with than
Windows, if one's a developer.

It also has a smaller footprint than NT.

|> 
|> I don't use it just because it's economical, I use it because it
|> is powerful and effective. (although the economic issue does make it
|> more accessible than say, BSDI or Solaris...)
|> 
|> --
|> It's sad to see people buying wholesale into some Microsoft-generated
|> hype about ancient ideas emerging as 'New Technology'.
|> 

The real problem may not be with Microsoft, the real problem
may be with our educational system that doesn't tell people
about the wonderful new things (before Microsoft "steals"
them :-) ).

-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------
eric_williams@mentorg.com
My views!