Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 12:29:03 -0700 (PDT) From: Tim Gerchmez <fewtch@serv.net> To: Patrick Hyland <pbh@iafrica.com> Cc: freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: How important is "the OS?" Message-ID: <XFMail.980626122903.fewtch@serv.net> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.96.980625160328.3535B-100000@paradox.cpt.tech.iafrica.com>
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On 25-Jun-98 Patrick Hyland wrote: > Then they shouldnt be using FreeBSD, Linux or any other flavour of UNIX. > Nobody forces someone to use a particular operating system. If joe average > is happy with Windoze 95 and thinks thats all there is - then good for him. Good for him, not-so-good for Unix. The more people using Unix, the better off Unix is - more software written, more hardware drivers developed, more documentation written, more help available. > My point is FreeBSD [read Unix] is an intelligent operating system. It is > geared at an intelligent user. An intelligent user is a user with an enquiring > mind. I agree with your point. In fact, I'd take it further to state that "the average" Unix user is probably more intelligent than "the average" Win95 user, simply because they have to be to figure out how to install, configure and administer their system. The learning curve in the beginning with some flavors of Unix can be monstrously steep, and it takes intelligence and sticktuitiveness (I love that world) to learn it. BSD has a below-average learning curve as far as the unices go, IMO, but it still requires a lot of learning before you can do much of anything useful. > As I said, FreeBSD will never be aimed at your average user - but this is not > a bad thing. It's not a good thing, either. I want drivers for my damned sound card and SparQ drive, and I won't get them until the companies that make them feel enough people are using BSD to justify the manpower required to write a driver (or to justify releasing detailed proprietary information to an individual who wants to write one). > I think Unix is going to be around for a long time to come. The majority of > serious production servers on the Internet are unix based. There is tons of > documentation available about Unix for people interested in operating > systems. > This documentation will still be availble well into the future - as will be > Unix. Availability isn't the question - the real question is, will it still be actively developed and improved upon? The CP/M OS is still available too, and it has a small core of dedicated users who won't use anything else. This isn't where I'd like to see Unix end up. ---------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: Tim Gerchmez <fewtch@serv.net> Date: 26-Jun-98 Time: 12:18:52 This message was sent by XFMail under Fvwm2 and FREEBSD. My personal website is at http://www.serv.net/~fewtch/index.html Take a look if you have the time - something for everyone there. ---------------------------------------------------------------- To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message
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