Re: [K12OSN] We're promoting k12LTSP (continued......)

[Bert Rolston <bert rolston clear net nz>]

Hi Brian,

>     So when DOS came out for the IBM, things looked great.  A great
> hardware manufacturer and this one thing, built from lessons of CP/M
> (and just another 'single user slice' of Unix that people can afford),
> development went great guns.

I hated DOS. The ATARI STe was a lot more user friendly!
 
>     Until Win95, no software maker controlled the hardware.  And when
> Bill and company could go to the vendors and say "Hey, if you want to be
> on our train to profits, you'll give us drivers for your hardware,
> without question." that's when it all began to turn sour.

Good marketing, where oh where is Ralph Nader now?
 
>     Since then it's all been about getting money from us, not solving
> problems.  Like....at all.  How many version of Word, Access, and Excel
> do they need to release without adding any new features?  It's all a
> scam.
> 
>     And one day, after Sun is gone (which will be a shame) and the
> desktops are close enough that it comes down to a choice of:
> 
>     A.  Install it once.  Use it.  Enjoy.  Repeat
> 
>     B.  Install, pay for licensing. Struggle with bugs, repeat. 
> 
>     OpenSource represent a chance for things to go back to the old
> nature of computing: all of us working to solve our own problems.
> 
>     And directly in relation to this issue at hand:
> 
>     If you learn Windows, you're stuck there.  Learning anything else is
> foreign.  If you learn Linux, you can learn anything else from there. 
> They're gonna GET Microsoft immersion once they get out.  

I cut my teeth on TOS & GEM. Plus a little bit of pascal programming at
university when the only user interface was a teletype!
 
>      The same goes for programming: In Linux, you tend to lean towards
> ANSI C and standard programming, not proprietary development
> environments.  And you'll learn HOW the things work...not how the tools
> mask it for ya.  You'll know what a stack is, and why you don't crash
> it...ya know?

Yup!

Cheers,
Bert