I used to attend betanews fairly frequently about a year ago and quite liked the site. I used Windows exclusively at the tiume and didn't like Linux because, then, it lacked the level of user firendliness I would have expected. Back a year later, the new efront layout is much better, but the quality of some of the posts -eg, `Some Links for Our Linux Friends' is amazingly poor.

Posting `Some Links for Our Linux Friends' is rather pathetic. Yes, of course there are unreasonable people in the Linux community. Why label them all like that, and be unreasonable yourself? It's really rather childish. This is a discussion forum, not a soapbox, so why not say that in your opinion, you don't think Linux has the user friendliness you think other operating systems have [you needn't compare it to Windows - MacOS is generally the most highly regarded in this respect]. And be specific. What specifically about Linux do you not like? If you try Linux and have serious concerns, there's people around who will actually address them. If you flame, even in a reactive manner, you will be ignored.

Telling people you think one has to spend the majority of their time in a command-line would indicate that you haven't perhaps been paying attention to the more recent Linux distributions. I used StarOffice, Acrobat Reader, Linzip, GIMP, Quake, Heretic II, and pretty much everything else one wopuld expect and I can assure you I haven't touched a command line for months now.

Keep in mind Linux development is extremely fast paced. Ease of use and user friendliness come in leaps and bounds. Announcing loudly to the world that your tried Redhat 5.2 and now know Linux will never make it on the desktop is like saying you looked at Windows 2.0 and think Windows will never do the same.

Linux has its issues. But your opnions are way out of date. Give somebody completely new to computers, with a standard IBM or Dell desktop machine, a copy of Windows 2000 and a copy of Redhat 6.2. See what's easier for them to install. One requires three reboots, and spends a large chunk of it's time in 50-character commandline mode. The other boots straight to an excellent looking GUI and installs in around ten mouse clicks, and has a big picture of a RedHat in the background.

Sure, complain about Linux. Complain that your GeForce doesn't have any drivers, or that you'd like mozilla to have more autocomplete functions, or that the games come out too late, etc. They're all legitimate concerns. Use it and form your own opinions, not Microsofts. Many of the claims at the MS Myths site are simply factually incorrect [eg, that ordianary users can't have Administrative privilieges under Linux]. This is plain wrong and quite obviously so. By referencing it, and not bothering to check the facts, you harm both the Windows and Linux communities and knock about fifty IQ points off the general level of Betanews discussion.

Mike MacCana
MCSE, NT and Linux Systems Administrator

http://www.microsoft.com...ec/compares/NtLinux.asp

http://www.microsoft.com...ews/msnw/LinuxMyths.asp

http://www.microsoft.com...news/msnw/nt4vLinux.asp

http://www.microsoft.com...ews/msnw/nt4vLinux2.asp

http://www.microsoft.com...mwarv/NTtakesCharge.asp

http://www.microsoft.com...ews/mwarv/linuxresp.asp

"You Can't Handle The Truth !!!"

A Linux nut needs to write some useless crap here ...
Followed by a Windows nut ...
etc ...

Linux nuts have had their rant long enough...How long was betanews without a real OS war among website viewers? It only started recently with Linux Lemmings visitng and posting totally off topic comments on various articles about MS products and non-MS.

This OS debate never started with a Windows user starting any kind of crap against any OS even in the wake of emerging Linux from hack hobby to more standard hobby(let alone in the presense of MacOS and Unix). But for some reason, starting at about the beginning of this year...Linux maniacs have came here just to make baseless comments and insults. As would anyone notice, MS/Windows fans kept quiet about it until it just got out of hand.

I for one love what Compdoc is doing, if only to reflect the baselessness of the Linux movement with their own tactics and mentality, ironically though, arguing for MS/Windows has more merit and foundation than Linux in its current incarnation. In all its truthfullness, Linux is nothing more than Dosshell, and I'll repeat that until another 10 years when Linux development reaches the stage that builds it into anything comparable to Windows2K, and by then of course WindowsX will be available. If any of you are old enough to have worked with DOS and all that monochrome text goodness, with the advent of Dosshell along with Windows for Workgroups, then Dosshell afforded computer users with an extremely stable and workable environment. Not as pretty as Workgroups but nonetheless fully functional and modifiable. To this day, you can still do with Dosshell what you can do with Linux and in essence, doing it with DOS.

as I'm sleepy as heck

hehe

"Linux nuts have had their rant long enough...How long was betanews without a real OS war among website viewers? It only started recently with Linux Lemmings visitng and posting totally off topic comments on various articles about MS products and non-MS."

Very true. Some, and I repeat, SOME Linux users go way over the top. Abusing Windows users isn't the way to advance your OS. Obviously Windows is good otherwise 95% of PC users wouldn't be using it :)

"This OS debate never started with a Windows user starting any kind of crap against any OS even in the wake of emerging Linux from hack hobby to more standard hobby(let alone in the presense of MacOS and Unix). But for some reason, starting at about the beginning of this year...Linux maniacs have came here just to make baseless comments and insults. As would anyone notice, MS/Windows fans kept quiet about it until it just got out of hand."

I used to come here when it was just BetaNews.com without the forums. When the new look came, I didn't like it, and left. About a month ago, I came here again and the fromt page was improved (it actually worked and showed the files AND articles). All I could see were Windows users basing Linux users, and vice versa.

"I for one love what Compdoc is doing, if only to reflect the baselessness of the Linux movement with their own tactics and mentality, ironically though, arguing for MS/Windows has more merit and foundation than Linux in its current incarnation."

It's funny. Entertainment value.

"In all its truthfullness, Linux is nothing more than Dosshell, and I'll repeat that until another 10 years when Linux development reaches the stage that builds it into anything comparable to Windows2K, and by then of course WindowsX will be available."

I disagree slightly here. Linux is fine as a simple server. Mail, News, and WWW work well for a reasonable load. A lot of ISP's use Linux for these sorts of services.

Where Linux is unsuitable for, IMO, is desktop use and heavy server use. Linux doesn't have anything like DCOM or CORBA. Java support is patchy at best, and there is no serious fault-tolerance. YET. These things will come, eventually.

Desktop use is also a Linux weak point. KDE and GNOME are OK, but are slow, use heaps of RAM and are still buggy and in development. You cannot expect everybody to drop down to a BASH prompt to do something, can you? Like a DOS prompt in Windows. Sure, for some things it's better and faster than the GUI, but not everything.

Until somebody comes up with an office suite that can compete strongly with Office 2000, AND addresses these shortcomings, Linux just ain't going to work on most people's desktops.

"If any of you are old enough to have worked with DOS and all that monochrome text goodness, with the advent of Dosshell along with Windows for Workgroups, then Dosshell afforded computer users with an extremely stable and workable environment. Not as pretty as Workgroups but nonetheless fully functional and modifiable. To this day, you can still do with Dosshell what you can do with Linux and in essence, doing it with DOS."

I remember DOSSHELL. I never actually had Windows 3.1 on my machine, waste of space IMO. DOSSHELL does everything W3.1 did. With less RAM. And less diskspace, which meant more for games :)

perhaps Linux users should broach Sun on the prospect of porting Star Office to Linux, if that isn't already under development. I'm sure it is but not sure...

Hasn't Corel already ported a Linux Wordperfect? Or is it not any good? These office suites are a bit of ungrazed pasture for me as I use publication software from Adobe and Macromedia.

hehe, that's pretty funny. You guys aren't very good at trollin'.

"perhaps Linux users should broach Sun on the prospect of porting Star Office to Linux, if that isn't already under development. I'm sure it is but not sure..."

I think it is. But StarOffice isn't quite up to Office standards. A lot of it is still in German.

"Hasn't Corel already ported a Linux Wordperfect?"

Just WordPerfect. And it uses Wine, which is basically a port of the Windows API's to Linux.

But there is nothing like OLE and COM. I can't embed bits and pieces in different documents. That makes the point of an Office suite pretty pointless, doesn't it?

"Or is it not any good? These office suites are a bit of ungrazed pasture for me as I use publication software from Adobe and Macromedia."

Adobe are porting InDesign to Linux.

since it's in the back burner now, but...we don't really partake in trolling. We talk about stuff per usual and will sometimes indulge in a bout of trolling.

it's better to comment intellectually than troll, but sometimes trolling as for those that troll first.