[K12OSN] Interesting conversation from a list in Maine

Wed Mar 7 21:03:44 UTC 2007

Thought some of you might like to follow along....this is from the ACTEM
list (Association of Computer Technology Educators of Maine)....discussion
started in response to the articles about the DOT and FAA ditching Vista
possibly in favor of Linux.....read on......

I have to agree....and not because I'm a Linux zealot, but because I'm a
realist and also a businessman.  The fact that Vista isn't flying off the
shelves is a large indication that we've reached a crossroads.  This may
be the point at where other OS's begin to encroach on MS's marketshare. 
It may be a slow process, but it could be the beginning of a long
backslide.  I've talked to many MS engineers and developers....even they
admit that the code is silly, bloated, and poorly written.  Granted, there
are many cool things about Windows, but in the end, the quality of the
code may be their undoing.  More eyes are able to watch Linux and even Mac
code and thus keep it clean and less buggy.  Linux is on the verge of a
breakthrough.  There are many features that will be arriving in new
distributions this year.  For example:  the Aero features in Vista....are
already part of Linux and will become more mainstream and included by
default in many distributions.  Ubuntu and Fedora will probably release
"authentication server" distros that will integrate with AD as well as
Samba/LDAP making it a cinch to drop in a linux server either in place of
or alongside a Windows server...and it will have the GUI interface we've
all come to love.  Nowadays many Linux installations are easier than
Windows....just answer a few questions in the beginning and voila!  Ubuntu
will release version 7.04 (Fiesty Fawn) in April which will have many of
these features, or will have laid the groundwork for most of them for the
following release (7.10  no codename yet) in October.  Windows comes out
with a new release once every 2 - 8 years.....many Linux distros do so
every 6 months!  I suspect that Fedora and Novell/SUSE also have some
tricks up their sleeves for this year.  Apple also has Leopard waiting in
the wings....it promises to be pretty cool.  Apple has been coming on
strong and slowly chipping away....Leopard could make up some folks minds
about whether to buy a new PC with Vista or a new Mac with Leopard.  I
also suspect that new iPods and iPhones may also help drive some of those
decisions given the timing.  MS was embarrassed by the constant set-backs
in cooming out with Vista.  (It was supposed to be here a couple years
ago)  Vista is lacking many of the features (namely the WinFS filesystem)
that MS promised.  Unfortunately, I don't think MS can afford this "weak"
showing.  I'm not saying MS will go away, but I think you'll find that MS
may become just another player in the market after a few years as the
alternatives gain marketshare.  This could indeed be the beginning of the
end.  I used to be one of the first to run out and upgrade when MS came
out with a new OS....I haven't even loaded Vista (and I have a copy!) or
Office 2007 (I have that too!)....I just don't see the feature set or the
cool new toys that would make me want to do so.  On the other hand....I
can't wait for Leopard....and will install Fiesty Fawn probably before
it's properly released.  Yes....I agree, Ed....this will be very
interesting to watch.

Ed writes:
>I have to say that I believe this is the beginning of the end of the
>Microsoft era.  Being a $ and cents kind of person from private industry,
>you have to look at alternatives,,especially with Microsoft non education
>pricing,,,when you get education pricing the gap narrows (in my opinion).
> I think you'll see a lot more of this in private industry where profit
>is the goal and spending more on expense items (IT related) costs just
>does not contribute to the  goal!!    This may seem contrary to some of
>my previous posts  in that you could have concluded that I'm
>anti-linux,,,this is not the case,,I just not or haven't been strongly
>anti-microsoft.  This will be very interesting to see how it all plays
>out.
>
>
>Subject: Re: [ACTEMlist] First the DOT and now the FAA!
>
>
>"ACTEM:Assoc. of Computer Technology Educators of Maine"             
><ACTEMLIST at LISTS.MAINE.EDU> writes:
>>Two interesting articles about the DOT and FAA and Vista/Linux/Google
>Apps
>>
>>http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197700789
>>
>>http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197800480
>>
>>David N. Trask
>>Technology Teacher/Director
>>Vassalboro Community School
>>dtrask at vcsvikings.org
>>(207)923-3100
>

David N. Trask
Technology Teacher/Director
Vassalboro Community School
dtrask at vcsvikings.org
(207)923-3100