[ale] AOL sues Microsoft

[Geoffrey]

This is going to sound harsh, so be it....

Matt Shade wrote:

> Well...I could be called a Microsoft "apologist"....I use, and will continue
> to use, Microsoft products because they do for me what I need to do. I can't
> beat their Word for creating docs that are shareable with customers. I can't
> beat their PowerPoint for presentations I need to make. If I need a new
> scheduling program, then something made for windows is going to beat out
> anything I've seen for linux.
> It's not that I don't want linux to be the top dog, but for right now, it's
> not.


And won't be as long as people have that kind of attitude.  Sometimes 
you just have to do what's right, although it might be painful You're 
not doing what's right.

You're not the only one who could take the 'easy way out' and just use 
M$ products.  My company has been  moving that direction for a few years 
now.  I've been fighting it all the way.  I even changed 
assignments/organizations in order to better position myself to make a 
difference, be heard on this issue at the corporate level, and most of 
all, enable myself to continue to work on a non-Microsoft platform.

Yeah, there's been a lot of pain.  A lot of time I've spent trying to 
figure out how to make it work, when I could have just fallen back to 
the pre-install Windows that once had graced my corporate laptop.

Have I made a difference?  I don't know, but there is now a Linux vpn 
client for our corporate vpn and I'm running my vpn through a little box 
that is provided by the corporation and is a firewall/router that's 
running Linux.  I never thought I'd see the day, truly.

Don't get me wrong, I still have to fire up vmware/windows to view some 
word docs, because they aren't properly formatted by anything I've found 
on Linux.  But, I'm not going to just give in.  I am so much more 
productive now that I've got a real operating system to work with.  So 
the initial pain was worth it.

If you want to make a difference you've got to do something and not just 
follow the crowd.  Following the crowd, that's cowardice.  Some folks 
don't have a choice, so be it.  But, if/when you do, you've got to do 
the right thing.

> So I suppose I'm one of those that are keeping Microsoft on top and
> linux trying to catch up. But I'm not the only one. One of the reasons why I
> am on the MS side is the people who are writing software for Windows.


And why would that put you on M$'s side?

> I
> don't know what the numbers are for Win programmers as opposed to linux
> programmers, but I'd be willing to bet it's better than 4 to 1. Maybe even
> 10 to 1. I don't know.
> I'm not out to bash Linux. Hell, I've been a linux user/programmer/advocate
> for more than 8 years. I'm also not out to bash Microsoft.


I don't think I would call myself an advocate.

I will say this, there are very few people like yourself who have some 
knowledge of Linux and Windows, and continue to have a preference for 
windows.  Most Microsoft advocates know nothing but Microsoft, so 
they're making comments/decisions without knowing the full picture.


> 
> <flame suit>  # because most readers are anti-MS and pro-[anything anti-MS]


Understand though, this is not a prejudice.  the anti-MS folks on this 
list are well educated people who have made conscious decisions based on 
their research, knowledge and backgrounds.  Unlike the majority of 
Microsoft supporters, who have not made the effort to see what else is 
truly available.


-- 
Until later: Geoffrey		esoteric at 3times25.net

"...the system (Microsoft passport) carries significant risks to users that
are not made adequately clear in the technical documentation available."
- David P. Kormann and Aviel D. Rubin, AT&T Labs - Research
- http://www.avirubin.com/passport.html


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