Eric Maino

System.Brain.CoreDump();

One day people will understand...

Sitting down to read Slashdot I ran across this post, that talks about an article authored by Chris Spencer. Chris's article titled, Linux Opinion: An Open Letter to a Digital World, is an interesting read, extremely once sided and obviously he doesn't understand business.

Chris attempts to claims many things and tries to back himself up using facts and reports that based on useless comparisons. For instance this in this excerpt:

You see, the Windows platform is not just insecure - it's patently, blatantly, and unashamedly insecure by design and for all the lip service to security it's really not going to get better, ever. To make matters worse, it's more expensive and gives you fewer necessary applications right out of the box than Linux. Everyone, even Microsoft, knows this - they are just too afraid to say it. The tide is coming in. Nothing on this planet can stop it.

Chris claims that Windows is more expensive and gives you fewer necessary applications out of the box then Linux. First, for those of you that are not up on the Open Source gig, Linux is a kernel and thus this fact is incorrect. There are distributions out there that run the Linux kernel that may out of the box provide more applications then Windows, but which of these applications are necessary? I don't know. I can think of things for the specialized user, but not the overall user.

Since I have to get going and can't rant about the other obvious mistakes in this article, I will leave you with this last comment. The day that Linux begins to own a great percentage of the market you will see that it is just as vulnerable if not more vulnerable then Windows. Companies will start packaging spyware and malware with applications that Linux users need/want, companies will begin to charge for their products, support and updates, and we will see that we have just stepped back a few years in the technology spectrum.

I am not a Linux distro or Microsoft advocate, I want to see the right technology used in the right place and at the right time. At this time I think that generally Windows is the better choice then any specific Linux distribution.

Posted: Dec 19 2004, 04:01 PM by emaino | with 6 comment(s)

Comments

Sahil Malik said:

Slashdot = tent of anti Microsoft sisterhood eunuchs !!

'nuff said !!
# December 19, 2004 5:23 PM

chris (not the one from the article, the one from said:

dam dood, you've fallen in deep since your days of rockin' SAS code. you make a beautifully crafted rant, yet it has no backing. trying to tout Microsoft as a superior option because "someday" people will treat linux like microsoft is foolish. how can you compare an open, community driven code base to a closed proprietary system? as long as linux stays open source the days of companies "packaging spyware and malware with applications that Linux users need/want" won't come because the second somebody tried that the community would shut them down. i won't argue that we're heading to a market where linux (and all open source for that matter) solutions will come with some cost associated, because everybody needs (and deserves) to make a living. but i'd much rather buy a car and be able to change the oil myself then get one with the hood welded shut and a co-pilot who tells me when, where and how to drive it.

p.s. sahil, you shouldn't fear those who disagree with you. steel sharpens steel my friend. unless you're wielding a ruber chicken you have nothing to fear...
# December 21, 2004 1:09 AM

Eric Maino said:

I understand that I didn't back up all my comments and rants and usually would have, but due to the shortened ammount of time I didn't.

Yes while Linux stays open source you may see a lower ammount of spyware and malware packaged into products that people are running, but there will come a time when the software developers that have great products cave into the capitalist society therefore not releasing the necessary products under an Open Source liscense.

I was just peeved based upon the profesional article written that didn't have much backing... Plus I wasn't the original once comparing apples to a peach cobbler, for that you can thank the researches at Stanford.
# December 21, 2004 1:19 AM

daryllmc said:

The fact is that Chris didn't craft a good argument. He tossed out LOTS of data. But all of it to support the Linux story, not to write a balanced, compelling argument. I didn't finish reading it and think to myself, "wow, he made a lot of great points"...I finished thinking, "that's it?". I won't point out the factual inaccuracies and incomplete points--that's Chris's job as the author. IMO, he just comes across as an unintelligent, ranting Microsoft bigot.
# December 21, 2004 1:50 PM

chris (from stats, again) said:

ah, see that statement assumes that every developer thinks like an M$ developer and is prone to being a slave to capitalistic greed. this however is not the case. the very heart of the open source movement is to fight the greed of capitalism. or at least the bulk of it.

as for tossing out data i think the masters in redmont are every bit as guilty, so lets not be so quick to call shenanigans on others for crimes we ourselves are so guilty of commiting.
# December 21, 2004 9:49 PM

Eric Maino said:

Not everyone is a slave a capitalist greed, but everyone has to pay bills at some point in time and if those that are investing their entire life into the success of free software eventually they will snap. At this point in time the will either get out of the, well I would call it a business, but since you (Chris) don't think OSS people understand that I guess I will call it, torture.

Yes, as for tossing out data EVERYONE has been guilty of that, it appears to get a little better here and there, but I just wish I could one day see an equal comparison of technologies.
# December 21, 2004 9:57 PM
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