--- Nikhil Joshi nikhiljoshy@yahoo.com wrote:
I have seen many Linux users (Linux users in general and not just linuxers) referring to Windows or it's apps in rather demeaning way e.g. window$,win....,M$ Win.., windoze, etc. Why are we so intolerant ? I mean we have been using this OS since it's arrival .
Good question.
Most
of us (I am not sure but I guess) have dual boot system . I am not professing the use of Windows but I think it is imperative for us to understand that Windows is here to stay ,at least in the desktop environment .
So? That does not mean we have to like it any better,
Also I think Windows is affordable for most users ( OEM stuff ) .So I think the argument that Windows costs a fortune is not true. In Linux too we have commercial distributions ( Suse,Corel, Red Hat Deluxe Workstation,etc..) whose costs are comparable to that of Windows 95 or 98 .
Bull. You can buy one boxed set of say, SuSe Linux, and install it on all of your computers as well as your neighbor's, without breaking the law. (Caveat: this may not hold good for any proprietary software that the distro has, but then, such packages are never a core part of the product, since they are generally demos or time-limited trials). This is not possible with any flavour of MS Windows, which is licenced on a per PC basis. Unless you negotiate special terms with M$ for a site licence or something similar, and pay through the nose for it, you're (legally) restricted to using your copy of Windows on just *one* PC. Thus, I would suggest that it is inviduous to even think of comparing the costs of Linux and Windows.
The second point here is that GNU/ Linux systems are in any case not comparable to Win9x products. They are incredibly more stable, secure and featureful. If at all you seek to make a (quite odious) comparison, look at Microsoft Windows NT/ 2000, which *claims* to be reliable, stable, secure, etc. The base price for a Win NT 5-user server licence is Rs. 33000+. Add around Rs. 1200 for every additional user, and for say a small establishment woth 15 users, you're looking at a base OS licence cost of Rs. 45000+. And mind you, this does not include anything additional to the base OS. You have to pay for a C compiler, you have to pay for a mail server, you have to pay for a RDBMS system, etc., etc. Addition of these things could double the price of your putative Windows system, at a minimum. And you get industrial-strength products in all thee categories, and many more, when you install Linux. And just think of Linux's incredible stability, performance, uptime, reliability and scalability, especially after the release of the 2.4 kernel. Did you know that Windows NT servers have to be rebooted regularly to keep them working consistently? Whereas Linux boxes just soldier on for years without needing reboots. Guess who's got the better bargain?
So the question is why do we hate Windows so much ? Are we jealous of it's success or is it just unwritten rule for Linux users to snub it ?
I program on Windows for a living, and so am fairly well acquainted with it, its quirks and foibles. One thing I have learned over the years (and I have been using MS products since 1986), is that Microsoft hit the nadir of product quality with the release of Win 9x and NT.
Working with MS is a frustrating experience, especially for systems programmers. Did you know that they charge for just about everything a systems programmer needs in terms of information to program for all the flavours of Windows? And not only do MS charge for some information, they actually hide other information that is critical to understanding the system, and they sometimes actively obfuscate it in their attempt to preserve their dirty little secrets (this last phrase, incidentally is not mine, but was coined by Matt Pietrek in "Windows 95 Systems Programming Secrets" - and Matt is one of the foremost authorities on Windows programming - he is in a senior technical position with Numega). In the final analysis, therefore, every one of Microsoft's actions is geared towards maximizing revenue and getting products to market, ready or not. This has impacted their quality control efforts, with the results that are before us to see, experience and tear our hair out.
Add to this their efforts to keep programming information secret, their attempts to break existing standards, their "embrace and extend" philosophy, their unwarranted and groundless attacks on free software, their long lag time to fix bugs, and their extreme arrogance in dealing with the public, and you have the perfect combination for the creation of a wave of revulsion towards them. I hope this answers your question.
Regards,
Krishnan
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