From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Mar 16 12:44:32 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 352C6106566C for ; Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:44:32 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-questions@herveybayaustralia.com.au) Received: from mail.unitedinsong.com.au (mail.unitedinsong.com.au [150.101.178.33]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A18398FC1E for ; Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:44:31 +0000 (UTC) Received: from laptop1.herveybayaustralia.com.au (laptop1.herveybayaustralia.com.au [192.168.0.186]) by mail.unitedinsong.com.au (Postfix) with ESMTP id 30D205C35 for ; Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:52:13 +1000 (EST) Message-ID: <4D80B0AF.50602@herveybayaustralia.com.au> Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:44:31 +1000 From: Da Rock User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; FreeBSD amd64; en-US; rv:1.9.1.16) Gecko/20110204 Thunderbird/3.0.11 ThunderBrowse/3.3.4 MIME-Version: 1.0 To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org References: <20110307162153.0463fa73@atmarama.net> <20110307170014.GB65289@guilt.hydra> <4D7FE8E1.90600@herveybayaustralia.com.au> <20110315203753.55f1ec3b@scorpio> <4D8058C5.7070502@infracaninophile.co.uk> <20110316073045.5b0f876b@scorpio> In-Reply-To: <20110316073045.5b0f876b@scorpio> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Re: HAL must die! X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:44:32 -0000 On 03/16/11 21:30, Jerry wrote: > On Wed, 16 Mar 2011 06:29:25 +0000 > Matthew Seaman articulated: > > >> On 16/03/2011 00:37, Jerry wrote: >> >>> Microsoft has approximately 90% of the desktop market share with >>> everyone else dividing up the remainder. If you are on a Microsoft >>> platform you use their products. The same applies to other platforms >>> and their utilities. >>> >> Microsoft may once have had 90% of the desktop market -- but is that >> still true? Macs seem to be everywhere nowadays. >> >> Also, how important is 'desktop' nowadays, compared to mobile browsers >> and the like? If the iPhone doesn't support Flash, then anyone with >> any sense is going to provide an HTML5 alternative. >> > There are numerous sites with purport to state the latest statistics > on OS usage, etc. This is just one that I have used before. I obviously > cannot verify its accuracy. As far as I can tell, it is an impartial > assessment. > > http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8 > > In an interesting side note, another article that I read recently and > am trying to locate at this moment states that 50% of users who > switched to MAC from Windows in the last 5 years are now seriously > considering dumping it and moving to a Windows 7 machine. Their biggest > complain was with the added complexity of doing routine tasks. A lack > of job specific software was also mentioned. Exactly what that entails > I have no idea. Apparently, keyboard users found Windows easier to use > and maneuver. I am a mouse person myself so I would not be able to > comment on that even if I used a MAC. > > In any case, the subject declaring "HAL must die" if no longer > relevant. It is all ready dead, except on FreeBSD. Even its author has > declared it so. The real question is how long are the developers of > the fragmented open-source community going to continue to display > testosterone poisoning by refusing to come together and develop one > common interface/API or whatever they want to declare it to be that > works on all the competing distros and thereby helps to unite the > open-source community? The sad part is even if that did happen, each > distro would then refuse to use it because it was not licensed according > to their own specifications. Yes indeed, you have to love standards, > there are so many of them. > I may be just talking shit here, but shouldn't there be some posix (or similar) specification for this? That would bypass the licensing requirements- right? Then the coding would be done by the licensor according to their own requirements, but the interface would be the same. Hell, by that reckoning even Winblow$ and Mac could get onboard if they chose too- not that anyone could see M$ coming to any open standards party where they don't think they could gain the upper hand :) Might diminish the pissing contest too...