🚀 go-pugleaf

hello, am forwarding the following commentary from ed trumbo of the Greater
Detriot OS/2 UG, the GDOUG  magazine can be found in the latest
hobbes.nmsu.edu /incoming directory:

-----
  Now you too can be a computer industry journalist! 

  Have you ever wanted to live a life of fame, free goodies, glamour and
intrigue?  Do 
  you wonder if you have what it takes to join the ranks of the technical
elite?  Do you 
  have the typing ability, the sense of "political correctness" or the vivid
imagination 
  to put the appropriate spin on any story?  If you answered 'yes' to any of
these, then 
  take this simple multiple-choice test to see if you're really qualified to
write for 
  today's computer media! 

  1. In a recent presentation to financial analysts, IBM Chairman Lou Gerstner
  announced that: 

          a. OS/2 Warp is being removed from the market. 

          b. OS/2 as a product line is dead. 

          c. IBM will once again emphasize OS/2's capabilities as an
enterprise-class, 
             corporate client and server operating system, and deemphasize the
home 
             consumer market. 

          d. IBM will leave the computer industry entirely, to avoid further
annoying 
             Microsoft. 
      

  2. The August 14, 1995 cover of Information Week, based on the above story
and 
  depicting the "funeral" of an OS/2 box, was: 

          a. An appropriate and clever graphical depiction of the facts of the
             announcement. 

          b. Perhaps an overstated interpretation of the facts, mixed with
wishful 
             thinking. 

          c. An utterly false, grotesque and lurid example of yellow
journalism at its 
             worst, offensive to all intelligent readers regardless of
software 
             preferences. 

          d. A waste of space better devoted to more shots of Windows 95
and/or Bill 
             Gates. 
      

  3. OS/2 continues to win an exhaustive list of "readers choice", editorial
and 
  technical awards from the press and industry.  This means: 

          a. They're lying. 

          b. Nothing, pre-loaded market share means everything. 

          c. Many qualified individuals in technically rigorous environments
consider 
             OS/2 to be the best product of its kind, year after year. 

          d. Our readers, editors and technicians are idiots. 
      

  4. When writing an article about IBM products, you should: 

          a. Spend half the article dwelling on Microsoft's competing
products, available 
             or not. 

          b. Only print negative comments from ex-customers when it's a cover
story.  
             Print the favorable quotes in a separate article much deeper in
the "advert" 
             sections of the issue. 

          c. Write with a clear understanding of the facts and use the
standards applied 
             to other products. 

          d. Be brief so you'll have room for the 18th "preview" article on
Windows 95. 
      

  5. When writing about the OS/2 market, you should describe it as: 

          a. A small cadre of former Amiga-loving fringe kooks. 

          b. People who will switch to Windows 95 like the rest of us. 

          c. Enterprise administrators, corporate developers and personal
power-users. 

          d. Deluded anarchists who refuse to accept Microsoft's "benevolent 
             dictatorship". 
      

  6. You test a beta version of OS/2 4.0 and find it reasonably stable for a
beta and 
  offering several convenient and interesting new features.  Pick an
appropriate headline 
  for your article: 

          a. "OS/2 beta addresses shortcomings, adds problems" 

          b. "OS/2 4.0 lacks Win32xyz support" 

          c. "OS/2 4.0 stable, effective client/server platform" 

          d. "Gates accuses IBM of stealing Windows 99 ideas" 
      
      
      Test scores 

  If you answered A or B to more than three questions, you're well qualified
to join the 
  ranks of computer industry journalists everywhere, whether it's print,
television or 
  radio.  You have an excellent grasp of the currently fashionable agendas and
political 
  correctness required. 

  If you answered D to more than three questions, you can just bypass the
media 
  entirely and be hired as a Microsoft marketer or PR flak.  After all, why
just report 
  the news when you can invent news about what you're planning to do? 

  If you answered C to more than three questions, I'm afraid you're too much
of a free 
  thinker for the computer media.  Consider a career as a weathercaster, where
truth 
  and accuracy are more valued, not to mention more common. 

 
  or, Why The PC Industry Hates OS/2 

  I have a confession to make.  I am an OS/2 bigot.  I can also tell you from 
  experience that OS/2 bigots are made, not born.  It was never my intention
to become 
  the type of rabid software zealot that industry pundits love to cluck about
in their 
  columns, but out of necessity I am quickly becoming one. 

  As anyone who runs OS/2 already knows, we are constantly being asked to
justify our 
  politically incorrect position.  This confuses me for several reasons.  For
example, I 
  never thought of myself as having a 'position', I have software.  Second, I
wonder 
  why people who run DOS and Windows for Workgroups on Pentium 120's are not 
  constantly asked to justify their rather bizarre implementation.  We're all
too familiar 
  with the Microsoft Zombies for Windows, who when confronted with the obvious
and 
  massive superiority of practically everything else on the market will keep
falling back 
  on shrill cries of "We're Number One!". 

  It's not hard to understand Microsoft's popularity with computer
consultants, 
  developers, salespeople and the like.  A market that has been force fed
anything that 
  billows forth from Redmond means a large (and paying) audience for their
services.  It 
  is slightly harder to understand why Microsoft is popular with the media,
unless it's 
  also based on greed and pride, a need not to admit that the industry and its
clients 
  are being repeatedly and perpetually fleeced. 

  Hardest of all to understand is the corresponding animosity towards OS/2.
The PC 
  industry (media, consultants and others) have more affection for most boot
sector 
  viruses than for the easiest, most powerful and compatible x86 based desktop
  operating system ever made. 

  I've decided that the strange attitude about OS/2 is based on two things: 

      It's From IBM, and 
      It's Good. 
      

  In the minds of those who run (or spout off about) our industry, those two
things 
  don't belong together.  Perhaps this comes from the early to mid 1980's,
when IBM's 
  software efforts for the PC platform were mostly embarassing. More likely it
comes 
  from resentment about IBM's early dominance of hardware design and
standards.  
  Whatever might be the root cause of all this antagonism, it's quite clear
that OS/2's 
  merits as a product and as a platform have nothing to do with it.  Even
OS/2's 
  harshest critics admit this. 

  It is OS/2's quality and undeniable superiority to everything else that
makes it such a 
  threat to those who are determined that no IBM software should be
acknowledged as a 
  success.  The 'hacker' mindset can't tolerate the thought of a product from
the 
  mainframe corporate Evil Empire known as IBM that could actually take over
the PC 
  industry on its own merits. 

  What to do about this?  Sadly, there might not be anything to be done for
someone so 
  far gone that they won't even consider OS/2.  People who don't have a
built-in 
  mental block should be more receptive to the value in OS/2. As I've said
before, it's 
  really up to satisfied OS/2 customers to spread the word, instead of sitting
back and 
  complaining about IBM and Microsoft. 

  Some have gone so far as to suggest that IBM sell off OS/2.  Read on... 

  - Ed Trumbo 

 
  or, What's Behind the 'Sell Off OS/2' Talk 

  For the past two years or so, there has been an increasing attitude among
certain PC 
  industry 'pundits' that IBM and OS/2 should separate.  Aside from the
transparent 
  wishful thinking of Microsoft Zombies for Windows who advocate the death of
OS/2, 
  there are those who advocate the sale or spinoff of OS/2 to another company,
no 
  longer involved with or controlled by IBM. They reason that IBM's poor
management, 
  poor marketing and poor reputation in the PC market has poisoned OS/2 and
that 
  OS/2's only chance lies with another company. 

  Don't fall for it!  This is just another way for evil-minded idiots to wish
OS/2 dead 
  without having to actually say it.  It is based on a long standing animosity
to all 
  things IBM on the part of the PC industry and its spokepersons. 

  It is obvious that in the hands of a microcomputer-centric company, OS/2
would have 
  died long ago.  Indeed, a PC-only company would not likely be capable of
having 
  created anything as sophisticated as OS/2 in the first place, and would not
be 
  capable of maintaining and enhancing such a platform. Remember the
cornerstone 
  engines of Extended Edition and Extended Services? How many companies have
the 
  ability to create and maintain a PC operating system, a communications and 
  connectivity engine and a client/server database manager, and do it all as
well as 
  IBM has with OS/2 from 1.3 through Warp Connect? 

  OS/2 seriously confuses pundits whose experience with computer technology
never 
  stretches past the boundaries explored by Computer Shopper magazine, but it
is not 
  lost for people who realize that the most powerful computers in the world
aren't 
  running DOS and Windows on Pentiums.  When the PC press (and I do mean 'PC'
in 
  both senses) feed the masses an endless stream of editorials saying things
like 
  'operating systems aren't important' or 'people don't buy operating
systems', it's no 
  wonder that OS/2's appeal remains hidden from too many customers.  Intel can
make 
  the front page of these 'journals' by announcing a slightly
clock-accellerated Pentium 
  before the previously announced chip is even shipping, yet 'operating
systems aren't 
  important'! Are you prepared to put your systems software into the hands of
anyone 
  but IBM in this industry? 

  OS/2 is IBM's systems platform for the x86 personal computers.  IBM's market
  extends well beyond the PC's into every type of hardware and software made
today.  
  A major part of OS/2's value is its support for connectivity to these
systems, not 
  merely as a dumb terminal but extending into common database engines,
applications 
  and development.  I might say that I question the motives of those who
recommend 
  that IBM 'sell off' OS/2, but in fact there's no question that their motives
are strictly 
  anti-IBM and anti-OS/2. 

  Certainly, IBM has a history of clumsiness in the PC arena.  They had, and
perhaps 
  earned, a reputation for ineffective software for PC's throughout most of
the 1980's.  
  Folks, it's 1996 now, OS/2 and its associated software are here now, so
don't help 
  the Microsoft Zombies for Windows fight 1986's battles the same way they run
  1986's software.  OS/2 belongs with IBM, now and forever. 

  - Ed Trumbo