Very Computer

I have recently removed Linux from my system. If we wanna talk about
hype, Linux
has a severe case of it just as any product people want to sell is
hyped. I tried
to use Gimp and Blender, and while they are good for what I paid for
them (ie zip)
they just didn't cut it compared to things like Max and Photoshop. Then
again, Max
doesn't cut it when compared to Maya, and Maya runs on Irix. I don't
have a downer
on Linux, Unix or Windows (or MacOS or BeOs or... :o), I believe
strongly in using
the platform and tools that suit the job you're doing. So if I wanted to
do some
low-poly character animation for a game, I'd use Max under NT. If I
wanted to do a
spot of NURBS-based character animation for output to film, I'll go to
Maya on one
of the SGI machines kicking about the place. For printed page layout,
Quark on an
Apple, and so on. If people want to use a specific OS in preference to
another one
and put up with substandard results because of their choice in OS, thats
their own
affair. Me, I'll do the best job I can with whatever tools I need.

To reach as large an audience as possible. Most of the people who
routinely use
2D or 3D art programs are not computer-people. They are architects,
animators, and
others who only use the computer as a medium of expression. They aren't
interested
in the marketing hype of either side, or the efficiency of the kernel,
or the number
of polygons per second they can render. Any part of the package they
use, or the OS
itself, which inhibits the expression of their creative vision is
something with which
they'll be concerned, but that's about all. Linux has many fine points,
but I don't
think that anyone out there would seriously try to tell me that
installing and setting
up a Linux system is as near-transparent as a Windows 98 or NT install,
would they?
For instance, until recently I had a Voodoo Banshee card. Not exactly
uncommon, but
I couldn't get X to run with it (there is now an X server available for
my card, but
at the time there was only a beta version, or trying to configure a
framebuffer device).
So for someone who isn't a Computer Science student as I am, or who
doesn't have 17 years
of computing experience, like an artist or architect, this isn't the
kind of situation
you are going to place yourself in. You'll just go to the less efficient
but more
applicable OS and use it. As I do...

--
Larry Docherty
--

If you guys must continue this thread can you please remove the
LightWave groups from future replies.

Thanks.
--
Sam J. Bowling
http://www.members.home.net/sbowling/