OSNews

First, I found the article very good and fairly accurate when describing the different views of different Linux users. Well thought, IMHO.

About the long paragraphs... well, there are styles and styles. Mines are too short. It's not like the guy did a page-long phrase.

And he specifically said at the end that he finds Linux ready for the desktop. That's enough for me. I don't see how this can be interpreted to mean the opposite.

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"Microsoft deserves all the bile it gets, it's users don't."
>> All the "evil" Microsoft does has to be separated from the good they have done.

Oh, yeah? Then try to spank your pet dog everyday prior to giving it food... you'll discover that man's best friend is not stupid.

>> In my book, Microsoft is more responsible for making computers what they are than anyone else.

You're too young (this can be the only explanation). They didn't do this, pal. IBM did, by creating the original IBM-PC blueprint -- but then, this was already happening at full speed with Apple and/or CP/M-based computers.

Do you know what? CP/M is DOS. And it was created by a guy named Gary Kildall, already deceased -- this guy was a real genius (hint: look for his obituary, it's on the internet).

>> Microsoft put computers in every house by making an OS that people understood better than anyone else that was affordable.

Microsoft understood the power you get by being the first-to-market and the old "quick and dirty" production philosophy.

That idea of putting a computer on every house was Apple's, btw (ok, I concede someone may have thought this before them -- but even so, Microsoft came to be much later).

>> we could say they're evil, but I still want my mom, dad and sister to use it, because they know it and it's still getting better.

Maybe your family is very intelligent, but mine gets constant crashes from Windows ME. They live very far from me, so that I can't support them. In fact, I might travel the many hundreds of miles to their house and install Linux, and they would be much better off -- not to mention the possibility of separating a special partition for a remote administration Linux install.

>> they are a company, and they provide the best product for many. That's not evil, that's capitalism.
(please, don't anyone respond with all the monopoly and anti-competitive stuff, I know it already. I agree. Doesn't change what I've said though, in my opinion)

Ok, I will do as you requested.

Now, someone pointed that some hardware by MS is good (specifically the natural keyboard). I'd say it depends on how one uses the keyboard: in my case, as I'm not a trained typist, having the keys split in two areas is troublesome. So, basically I don't find it useful at all.

MS mice are good but too costly, and the two-button ones are too clumsy for Linux usage.

Finally, regarding "hatred for MS", some may hate them, and then some do not. I don't hate them, but I wan't their market share to drop to akin 5%, so that other OSes (and not only Linux, which I use) have their own space, too.

The way things are going, I suggest the owners of this site to register the "MSNews" domain -- or, alternatively, change the slogan to "Exploring the past of computing".