Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 01:11:32 +0100 (BST) From: William Palfreman <william@palfreman.com> To: chat@freebsd.org Cc: astanway@hotmail.com Subject: FreeBSD in General (fwd) Message-ID: <20030424004945.G632@ndhn.yna.cnyserzna.pbz>
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This guy has just posted this monologue to freebsd-questions... I laughed so hard it brought tears to my eyes! It is by far the funniest thing anyone has ever posted to that list since I've been following it. I particularly like the bit about windows emulator for "ALL" applications, including some proper piece of junk he uses. This man is straight out of an Ayn Rand novel, as one of the How to Be Wrong characters. When he started burbling on about "returning to ashes"... "Any engineer worth his or her salt". He's an accident waiting to happen. It must have taken him hours! What a man, what a signature. Enjoy: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Gerald H. Kruchten <ghklionheart@ameritech.net> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1 Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 14:53:07 -0500 Subject: FreeBSD in General Dear Sirs, First, a little about my background in UNIX and computers in general. Basically, I am highly qualified as pretty much of a complete idiot when it comes to Unix and not much better regarding the rest of the field. That pretty much covers my background. As for details, I am not computer illiterate, nor am I any where near to being an export on any operating system or computer. I get by. I presently run Windows NT 4.0 on one computer and Windows XP pro on the other. I make use of system commander as a boot loader on both computers because I have messed around with various different operating systems. At one point in time and when I only had one computer with a ton of hard drive space, I had the following operating systems loaded up and working on this computer at once: DOS 5.0, WindowsNT4.0, OS/2Warp 4, Mandrake's Linux 7.3, FreeBSD 4.2, and BeOS. Of all of them, I liked BeOS about the best and next after that was OS/2 as a close second choice because it was so fast. But one can no longer get the necessary drivers to get anything to operate correctly. I am not a programmer and I don't intend to be a programmer because it is too late in my life to try to teach this old dog a new career. I was able to get BSD going as well as the Mandrake-Linux. Mandrake's manuals left a lot to be desired and the operating system often hung. I prefer GUI because I am not a geek; never was and don't care to become one. A person's memory is made to be used for more important things than to remember UNIX commands. The prospect of sitting in a nursing home in my late years endlessly repeating and reciting useless UNIX commands while sitting in a wheel chair in a catatonic state sends shivers up and down my spine. That thought alone is repulsive. It is just that I am so frustrated with Microsoft's mode and method doing of business. I would probably feel different about it if I felt that they had the most reliable and efficient product, but we all know that this isn't so. They do have the easiest operating systems to use. Though I am not a programmer, I am convinced that Microsoft is more concerned about snooping into my business than they are in providing the fastest and most efficient software product available. I am looking for an operating system that will smoke MS in efficiency and productivity without being required to have a PHD, Master's or any other college degree to operate a computer system. BeOS and OS/2 Warp came closest to meeting my desired requirements, but neither of them are any longer being worked on or written for. Both OSes were truly fast and were multitasking. These days, Linux and FreeBSD seem to come closest to meet what I would like see in a computer operating system. But the three main vendors of Linux software, Red Hat, Mandrake, and SuSE all seem to be trying to follow the Microsoft business model of marketing. In the process, all of them, especially Mandrake, seem to be putting out crap versions just so one vendor can claim one-upsmanship over his competitor in having the latest version on the market. While this is transpiring, MS still having all the morals of a serial rapist, is working on its next big screw job. Most likely, a lot of us will be sucked in again. The only people of this industry that I'm not hearing a lot about is FreeBSD. I haven't seen a FreeBSD stable pack box at Comp USA in months, though they are still listed on your site as being a retailer. If your going to continue having them as a retailer, rather than putting out a FreeBSD v4.8 in a box, I think that you ought to get crackin' and get a relatively bugless or debugged version of 5.0 out there. The other thing that I am looking for is a GUI windows emulator that will operate "ALL" windows applications. I request that because I am presently forced to use a charting system that is programmed and designed only for the later versions of Windows. This is because companies that offer this kind of specialized software are usually very small and simply can't afford the capital costs that go with developing applications for multiple platforms. They develop applications for Windows because most of the businesses in the stock market industry still use MS operating software. It ends up being a vicious circle that leaves you guys, Linux and me out in the cold. I do like the simplicity with which one can usually operate a Microsoft OS. It's designed with the simpleton in mind. That's me. However, I personally also like some of the (I think the term used is platforms) GUI platforms that Linux uses, especially the use of multiple open windows. I never got far enough with my 4.2 BSD version to put any type of windows on it. I want to also say this about Linux. There is just something about the way that the Linux vendors are operating that goes against my grain. For pretty much that reason alone, I don't like them. Maybe it's like Microsoft and dejavu all over again. I can not say the same though for some of the people that use it. They say, "It rocks and that Linux has much better support than BSD." I can't say "yea" or "nay" to either claim. I just think and feel that you guys are probably the last good hope of having a "One size fits all, super speedy, super reliable operating system. I know that BSD is used under MAC X OS. But some questions: #1, Who can afford to buy a Mac computer at the prices that they want for them? #2; I know that Mac is used quite extensively in publishing businesses, but do you think that MAC is going to continue or be able to remain in business? I seriously doubt it because they can't seem to get past proprietary issues. That's the mode of thinking that got them into trouble in the first place. How many years has that been the case and how far have they moved off of dead center to resolve that issue? What I perceive as an answer to that question is, "Not very far." So, unless something really Earth shattering and great suddenly begins to happen, you are left as the last hope for the average Joe hope to obtain a simple, fast, and dynamite operating system that works with virtually every application ever made. I would suspect that by now, it is quite obvious from what I have written that I have little or no clue as to what is required when it comes to writing a software program and/or application. But I shouldn't need to have one. All that I, the everyday customer, should have to tell you is what I want. Once having done so, most any engineer/technician worth his/her salt, will readily be able to figure something out design it according to those specs. I just hope that it happens before I'm returned to ashes. I would like to be able to use and enjoy a universal operating system that will be able to handle anything that I load onto it and that I won't have to ready manuals for the next ten years just to power up and sign on. I don't think that I am wishing for too much here. After all, when one people of the industry told other people at seminars just a few years ago that the average household would have a computer and many of them two or more, the majority of people scoffed at that idea. I say, "Go for all the marbles." But don't go so slow that we can sit here and watch the snails race by or watch the paint peel. Thankyou for your time. Sincerely, Gerald Kruchten _______________________________________________ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"
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