[KLUG Members] I almost snorted coffee out my nostrils...

[copycon]

On Fri, 2003-11-14 at 17:50, Robert G. Brown wrote:
> On Fri, 14 Nov 2003 09:23:31 -0500, Adam Tauno Williams <adam@morrison-ind.com> wrote:
<snip>
> Someone ought to reply to Forbes' editors about this, with hard research...
> any takers?
> 
> 							Regards,
> 							---> RGB <---


I have and if you are interested here is my reply

	From: 	Mathew Enders <mathew.enders@prodigy.net>
To: 	ldicarlo@forbes.net
Cc: 	letters@forbes.net
Subject: 	RE: Your propaganda piece
Date: 	17 Nov 2003 09:18:01 -0500	
Ms. DiCarlo 
        It is evident from the comments you make in your article (Why
You Won't
Be Getting A Linux PC) that:  
1)You have never run Linux for any period of time.  
2)That you allow your local MS rep to write your material. 
 
Quote 
Microsoft split the project to focus on Windows, and IBM continued to
develop OS/2 alone. For the next five years, IBM fought a losing battle
that consumed the company, and OS/2 proponents (a very vocal, technical
crowd) were never short on conspiracy theories about Microsoft's covert
efforts to wipe out the operating system. Now, the same appears to be
happening with Linux PCs.  
 
Reply 
To compare Linux with what happened with OS/2 is apples and oranges. 
Microsoft has never been involved with Linux as they were with OS/2. 
When MS left the OS/2 project it was to develop their own new OS
(Windows NT) which they created with a significant amount of code
"borrowed" from the OS/2 project.  The entire purpose of NT was to
squash OS/2 and ensure that MS captured those customers.
 
Quote 
Since IBM dropped development of OS/2 in the mid-1990s, Microsoft has
only gotten more entrenched in desktop computing. Windows and Office
account for more than 60% of Microsoft sales,  
<EDIT> 
That's not to say that there will never be alternatives, but the
alternatives must offer something more compelling than "we're not
Microsoft."   
"We're not dismissing Linux PCs out of hand, but the integration
[Microsoft] provides around the desktop is already there," says Bridget
O'Connor, senior vice president of technology at Lehman Brothers (nyse:
LEH - news  - people ). "The Office suite all works together. That's a
whole set of engineering staff I don't have to have on Lehman's
payroll."  
 
Reply 
There are current alternatives that that work very well right out of the
box.  For purchase there is Star Office whose interoperability with MS
Office is outstanding.  To Open Source's Open Office whose MS Office
Interoperability is OK for the basic home user.  To use the inflammatory
statement "we're not Microsoft." just goes on to demonstrate your lack
of understanding and research. 
 
Quote 
There is also a lack of mainstream applications for Linux PCs, and
that's not going to change anytime soon. Sure, there are open-source
software suites like StarOffice and OpenOffice, but beyond that it's
slim pickings.   
It's clunky or impossible to run Linux versions of the most popular
applications: Intuit's  (nasdaq: INTU - news  - people ) Quicken,
QuickBooks and TurboTax finance software; Symantec's  (nasdaq: SYMC -
news  - people ) Norton AntiVirus; and Adobe Photoshop from Adobe
Systems (nasdaq: ADBE - news  - people ). There exists a
community-supported Linux version of RealPlayer by Real Networks
(nasdaq: RNWK - news  - people ), but the company has nothing to do with
the product; according to its Web site, Real Networks "does not
guarantee functionality, maintenance, upgrades, fixes or sustainability
for any purpose."   
 
Not exactly a ringing endorsement but it's understandable 
 
Reply 
First Star Office is not Open Source it is a commercial endeavor by Sun.
   
1)Quicken, QuickBooks and TurboTax finance softwar = Viper and smartACCT
        from eData and GNUCash from the Open Source community and OSAS  
        from Open Systens inc. 
2)Norton AntiVirus = anti virus software is not really a necessity with
        Linux however if you want  it there are packages available     
Sophos from
Sophos and Kaspersky has 2 offerings. 
3)Photoshop = Gimp from the Open Source community and Artstream from
        Mediascape 
4)As to your remark about the Linux version of RealPlayer no software
        manufacture guarantees that their software will work refer to  
        any EULA 

Quote 
To be sure, computer users have been tempted to smash their Windows PCs
to bits. After all, freeze-ups, shutdowns and fatal errors are still an
all-too-frequent part of the everyday computing experience. And because
Microsoft tends to take a kitchen-sink approach to software development,
most users pay for features they will never use or don't even know
exist. But, for most, it's better than the Linux alternative.   
 
Mainstream computer users (those uncomfortable opening, programming or
reconfiguring a computer) would not be satisfied with Linux PCs. Large
and medium-sized corporate customers are probably not a good fit
either.   
 
"I leverage vendors where they are good," says Lehman's O'Connor. "It's
too hard to deal with all the issues of putting [Linux PCs] together
yourself. That is not our business."   
 
That leaves technically savvy individuals and Microsoft haters to make a
market for Linux PCs.  
 
Reply 
I am a Linux user and I just sell windows and doors for a living.  I am
not a computer expert by any means.  The information I obtained for my
replies above was accomplished with very cursory Google searches done as
I wrote this reply 
 
If this is passed on to anyone else I would appreciate my e-mail address
by held in confidence. 
 
Thank you, 
Mathew Enders