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Re: [LUG] (Another rant) [Fwd: Microsoft shuts down Windows 98]

 

Theo Zourzouvillys wrote:

Snippety snip...

> incedentialy, the same microsoft bashing attitude that a few of you appear to 
> have is also causing linux users to be labelled as zealot, which i'd probably 
> say some of you are.  especially with unfounded statements like:

What Theo says here is tremendously important.

I'm a professional software developer and I'm pretty agnostic when it
comes to software platform. I get the impression here that vanishingly
few posters have experienced much in the way of serious software
development in either Win32 or *[xX], and certainly not in both. The
Win32 software architecture is a thing of beauty, .NET is amazingly well
thought out, and programming threads under Linux after doing the same
thing under Windows (from NT onwards) is a real pain.

But Linux (and the rest of the Open Source software armoury) is a Good
Thing. Absolutely no argument. I have err... 23 machines and all but 3
of them 5 of them run CentOS (HPUX, AIX and 3 x Win32).

But I try not to proselytise.

I'm doing some work for a local government department at the moment,
helping them (amongst other things) to set up an in-house development
capability.

I've demonstrated to them that if, when each capital project comes in,
they at least ask themselves "can we do this sensibly with free
software?" then they'd probably save a considerable amount of money (>
£300,000 last year, for instance).

It has been an uphill struggle precisely because the experience they
have so far of Open Source proponents is that they appear to care so
much about the supposed evil presented by Microsoft (without which there
would be no PC industry - why does Apple never get any stick for
proprietary hardware fer chrissakes ?) that they never look at the
pragmatic ramifications of software acquisition.

jd

-- 
John Daragon                                       argv[0] limited
Lambs Lawn Cottage,   Staple Fitzpaine,   Taunton,   TA3 5SL,   UK
v +44 (0) 1460 234068  f +44 (0) 1460 234069 m +44 (0) 7836 576127

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