Why many distributions are a good thing

Why many distributions are a good thing

Post by Sam Trenholm » Fri, 20 Jun 1997 04:00:00



There seems to be some discussion about whether it is a good thing or a
bad thing that Linux is available in a number of distributions,
including RedHat, Slackware, Caldera, Debian, Craftworks, and many
others.  The point being argued was that Linux will not gain commercial
support if it has diversity in commercial applications.

I have to disagree with this assessment.  There are a number of
commercial offerings for Linux/intel, including WordPerfect, Applix,
StarOffice, WABI, Netscape, Quake, Wingz, NExS, Mathematica, and many
others.  A list can be obtained here for those who are not aware of the
wonderful selection of software available for Linux:

        http://www.redhat.com/linux-info/linux-app-list/linapps.html

Having a number of distributions to choose from makes it far easier to
get a Linux system that will run with the computer one has.  For
example, I was very lucky and recently got a 486/66 laptop with only 8
megs of ram for only $300.  RedHat 4.1 refused to install on the systems
(it would croak on large rpms), but Slackware 3.2 quickly and easily
installed on this system.  Despite the fact that Slackware has a number
of rough edges (no bc by default, lpr is broken, etc.), it is a very
nice distribution to place on older computers with limited ram or hard
disk resources.  Slackware is the distro I would place on the "386sx/16
with 4 megs of ram and 20 megs of hard disk space" I hear people talk
about.

In terms of commercial support, it would appear that Ray Noorda and
Caldera (http://www.caldera.com) are very successful at getting
compaines to port their product to Linux.  If there is one group who can
convince Adobe in to porting Photoshop to Linux, it would be the people
at Caldera.  [Yes, the gimp (http://www.xcf.berkeley.edu/~gimp) is
groovy, but a port of Photoshop would make Linux more accessible to
those from a Mac or Windows background.]

Here's to the future of Linux!

- Sam

[1] Is someone SYN-bombing www.xcf.berkeley.edu?  I can't open up the
web page to verify the gimp URL, and netstat is showing SYN_SENT.

 
 
 

Why many distributions are a good thing

Post by Kenneth R. Kinde » Fri, 20 Jun 1997 04:00:00


In this message, the header has a bad email address, to prevent more

you want to send me a message.

I agree. For the future, few computer users would argue that having
multiple non-compatable OS's is healthy. Windows, and even more so Mac
users think that everyone should conform to a their platform. But the
problem is showing, with that kind of thinking -- Microsoft AND Apple
have too much control, which is anything but healthy for the industry.
UNIX offers a solution to this, by being so open. There are tons of
Unix's, and they are fairly compatable, but not enough.

Linux on the other hand doesn't render anyone control, but still has
compatability from distribution to distribution. A GNUware program like
Linux is much much healthier for the industry to both have no
centralized power, AND compatability.

The arguement made much by Mac and Windows users that their OS is
"better" and that their company is wonderful is destructive.


> There seems to be some discussion about whether it is a good thing or a
> bad thing that Linux is available in a number of distributions,
> including RedHat, Slackware, Caldera, Debian, Craftworks, and many
> others.  The point being argued was that Linux will not gain commercial
> support if it has diversity in commercial applications.

> I have to disagree with this assessment.  There are a number of
> commercial offerings for Linux/intel, including WordPerfect, Applix,
> StarOffice, WABI, Netscape, Quake, Wingz, NExS, Mathematica, and many
> others.  A list can be obtained here for those who are not aware of the
> wonderful selection of software available for Linux:

>         http://www.redhat.com/linux-info/linux-app-list/linapps.html

> Having a number of distributions to choose from makes it far easier to
> get a Linux system that will run with the computer one has.  For
> example, I was very lucky and recently got a 486/66 laptop with only 8
> megs of ram for only $300.  RedHat 4.1 refused to install on the systems
> (it would croak on large rpms), but Slackware 3.2 quickly and easily
> installed on this system.  Despite the fact that Slackware has a number
> of rough edges (no bc by default, lpr is broken, etc.), it is a very
> nice distribution to place on older computers with limited ram or hard
> disk resources.  Slackware is the distro I would place on the "386sx/16
> with 4 megs of ram and 20 megs of hard disk space" I hear people talk
> about.

> In terms of commercial support, it would appear that Ray Noorda and
> Caldera (http://www.caldera.com) are very successful at getting
> compaines to port their product to Linux.  If there is one group who can
> convince Adobe in to porting Photoshop to Linux, it would be the people
> at Caldera.  [Yes, the gimp (http://www.xcf.berkeley.edu/~gimp) is
> groovy, but a port of Photoshop would make Linux more accessible to
> those from a Mac or Windows background.]

> Here's to the future of Linux!

> - Sam

> [1] Is someone SYN-bombing www.xcf.berkeley.edu?  I can't open up the
> web page to verify the gimp URL, and netstat is showing SYN_SENT.


 
 
 

Why many distributions are a good thing

Post by Kenneth R. Kinde » Fri, 20 Jun 1997 04:00:00


I agree. For the future, few computer users would argue that having
multiple non-compatable OS's is healthy. Windows, and even more so Mac
users think that everyone should conform to a their platform. But the
problem is showing, with that kind of thinking -- Microsoft AND Apple
have too much control, which is anything but healthy for the industry.
UNIX offers a solution to this, by being so open. There are tons of
Unix's, and they are fairly compatable, but not enough.

Linux on the other hand doesn't render anyone control, but still has
compatability from distribution to distribution. A GNUware program like
Linux is much much healthier for the industry to both have no
centralized power, AND compatability.

The arguement made much by Mac and Windows users that their OS is
"better" and that their company is wonderful is destructive.


> There seems to be some discussion about whether it is a good thing or a
> bad thing that Linux is available in a number of distributions,
> including RedHat, Slackware, Caldera, Debian, Craftworks, and many
> others.  The point being argued was that Linux will not gain commercial
> support if it has diversity in commercial applications.

> I have to disagree with this assessment.  There are a number of
> commercial offerings for Linux/intel, including WordPerfect, Applix,
> StarOffice, WABI, Netscape, Quake, Wingz, NExS, Mathematica, and many
> others.  A list can be obtained here for those who are not aware of the
> wonderful selection of software available for Linux:

>         http://www.redhat.com/linux-info/linux-app-list/linapps.html

> Having a number of distributions to choose from makes it far easier to
> get a Linux system that will run with the computer one has.  For
> example, I was very lucky and recently got a 486/66 laptop with only 8
> megs of ram for only $300.  RedHat 4.1 refused to install on the systems
> (it would croak on large rpms), but Slackware 3.2 quickly and easily
> installed on this system.  Despite the fact that Slackware has a number
> of rough edges (no bc by default, lpr is broken, etc.), it is a very
> nice distribution to place on older computers with limited ram or hard
> disk resources.  Slackware is the distro I would place on the "386sx/16
> with 4 megs of ram and 20 megs of hard disk space" I hear people talk
> about.

> In terms of commercial support, it would appear that Ray Noorda and
> Caldera (http://www.caldera.com) are very successful at getting
> compaines to port their product to Linux.  If there is one group who can
> convince Adobe in to porting Photoshop to Linux, it would be the people
> at Caldera.  [Yes, the gimp (http://www.xcf.berkeley.edu/~gimp) is
> groovy, but a port of Photoshop would make Linux more accessible to
> those from a Mac or Windows background.]

> Here's to the future of Linux!

> - Sam

> [1] Is someone SYN-bombing www.xcf.berkeley.edu?  I can't open up the
> web page to verify the gimp URL, and netstat is showing SYN_SENT.

 
 
 

Why many distributions are a good thing

Post by Michael Warn » Sat, 21 Jun 1997 04:00:00




Quote:>The arguement made much by Mac and Windows users that their OS is
>"better" and that their company is wonderful is destructive.

That's called "advertising" - it's something businesses do for their
products. Look carefully next time you watch TV or go for a drive and you
might see some.

The message "our computers/OSes/apps are great, they're all you need" isn't
dissimilar from "drinking our beer will get you laid" and "cleaning your
teeth with this will give you perfect white teeth" etc etc.

 
 
 

Why many distributions are a good thing

Post by Brian Kno » Tue, 24 Jun 1997 04:00:00



> On Thu, 19 Jun 1997 21:55:57 -0600, "Kenneth R. Kinder"


> >The arguement made much by Mac and Windows users that their OS is
> >"better" and that their company is wonderful is destructive.

> That's called "advertising" - it's something businesses do for their
> products. Look carefully next time you watch TV or go for a drive and
> you
> might see some.

> The message "our computers/OSes/apps are great, they're all you need"
> isn't
> dissimilar from "drinking our beer will get you laid" and "cleaning
> your
> teeth with this will give you perfect white teeth" etc etc.

Maybe we need to start a "using linux will get you laid, AND give you
perfect white teeth" campaign. <grin>.

I'll go ahead and apologize for this post in now; I'm in a goofy mood.

Brian

 
 
 

Why many distributions are a good thing

Post by zo.. » Sat, 28 Jun 1997 04:00:00


    Feature-stealing?  Yes!
    Compatibility?  Yes!
    Interoperability?  Yes!
    Competition?  Yes!
    Monopoly?  No!

        -- excerpt from the song of the frimbles

Zooko

 
 
 

1. This clone thing...am I stupid, or am I right?


says...

I admire your passion, Chris..

The only issues which have kept myself from looking seriously at Linux
would be:

* It's Unix and the learning curve to start getting productive strikes me
as probably very steep

* It doesn't support plug-and-play.  If your hardware doesn't have Linux
drivers, it don't play..

* Not nearly the amount of developers out there doing stuff for Linux as
there are for Wintel.  Can I get MS Office for Linux?  Can I get
Photoshop for Linux?  Can I get QuarkXpress for Linux? etc.. a big turn
off for me.

--
Reuben King
Email: "reuben at texas dot net" (in plain english to foil spam-bots.
grrr!)

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