[Tfug] Linux is NOT Windows

[Claude Rubinson]

On Tue, Dec 19, 2006 at 11:20:09PM -0700, Angus Scott-Fleming wrote:
> Interesting take on this ... paragraphs are from near the end of the
> article:

I largely agree with this which is one of the reasons that I always
ask new adopters "Why do you want to convert to *nix?"  I think it's a
question that we don't ask enough.

But, I also recognize that many don't agree.  Everyone's latest
darling, Ubuntu, has Microsoft's marketshare as their first bug.  As
long as I'm free to run my choice of operating system and apps, I
couldn't care less about anybody's marketshare.

I've never been able to decide whether the convergence of Unix and the
FOSS movement was a good thing or not.  I love that Miguel wants to
popularize Free Software; I hate that he's trying to do it by
mimicking Microsoft's designs and world-view.  Obviously, there's a
great affiliation between Unix and the FOSS development practices:
both empower developers.  And while you'll have to pry bash out of my
cold dead hands and I'm happy as a penguin stuffed on herring that, as
a result of this affiliation, much of the best software in the world
is being designed for Unix, as a believer in free software, I am happy
to see how much my colleagues (who, bless their souls, just don't know
any better than to use proprietary software) enjoy FireFox and, slowly
but increasingly, OpenOffice.

C.