SEUL: Two for one deal!

[William T Wilson <fluffy@benatar.dunadan.com>]

This is long, so now it's part one.

On Mon, 5 Jan 1998, Paul Anderson wrote:

> Hate to be the devil's advocate here, but...  Fact is, one of the beauties

:)  Look what you get for being devil's advocate.  ;)  Want to join the
SEUL team... and keep the dreamers in check?  :)

<asbestos>

> of Linux is use what works for you, and if what works for you hasn't been
> done yet, do it.  Paper and pencil work better for you than computer?
> Sure, go ahead.  Vi and printer work for ya?  More power to ya...

Unfortunately, it's been proven that computers ARE better than pencil and
paper.  And, unfortunately(?), it's been proven that Windows and Office
are better than vi and VT100.  When I started using computers in 1980,
something like 1% of households owned one.  Now, something like 50% of
households own one.  Every business that I can think of uses them for
something.

Linux derives its support from the grass roots.  Unfortunately, grass
roots support only goes so far.  When you're on the bottom of the market
share heap, you've got problems.  There's no Office for Linux.
There's no Quicken for Linux.  There's no games for Linux.  And you don't
see CompUSA flooded with "LinuxModems" and "LinuxPrinters".  More and more
modern hardware comes with NDA's, so Linux can't even begin to use it.

Too much of this and Linux, which in terms of pure quality is easily the
best OS available today, becomes irrelevant - not because of lack of
support from users, but because of marketing droids and profit margins.  I
don't want to see it.  Even the people who support Linux since day one,
who use it in the face of adversity, can't do it if all they can use is
antiquated hardware and alpha-quality software.

If Linux obtains an even 5% market share - a real market share, not people
who have it on their hard drive but boot Windows whenever they want to do
something productive - Then all these problems disappear.  Companies start
writing their own Linux drivers.  What a deal. 

> Allowing MORE newbies is a Bad Thing(tm), they already outnumber us
> hackers more than 10:1 thanks to MS.  Has anyone here seen what newbies

Hm.  It's been said that computers and Internet are the new frontier.

Let's think about the last frontier... the wild west.  In the beginning,
there were trappers, prospectors, and the occasional smuggler, gambler, or
brothel.  Not too different from today's internet.  Most of them died
young, lived fast, and had a tough existence... but they loved it.  Sound
familiar?  But who made the fortunes?  The railroad tycoons that hauled
millions of people west after the pioneers made it habitable and the
loggers and oil drillers that pushed out the trappers and prospectors. 
Now there are no more prospectors, and California is full of homeless
people and illegal immigrants.  There are no more trappers, and Colorado
is full of ski resorts and tourists. 

...

During the 19th century, Japan and the West first came into contact. 
Japan had a unique culture- based on honor, self sufficiency, a code of
ethics, and a firm belief in their own superiority.  They then met the
West...  overbearing, equipped with fantastic resources, and their own
firm belief in their own superiority.

Did Japan stubbornly maintain that their way was the only way, and that
everything must be done the way it had been for hundreds of years?  They
did not!  They adopted the west's technology, their economics, even part
of their politics and culture.  They took the best of Western civilization
and blended it with their own.  Regardless of what you think of their
motives, in 80 years they created a country that despite its tiny size was
capable of challenging, though not defeating, the United States for
influence over all of asia!  Today they are the second largest economy in
the world.

...

Myself, I'd rather be Japan.

> made it absolutely useless.  You have to read the manual before you use
> the dishwasher, WHY should computers be any different?  BTW, it has been

Because Windows has already made manuals irrelevant... and they have one
hell of a head start.  They call Bill Gates the 'smartest man in america'.
I have news for them... Linus lives here now.

> suggested on the SEUL list that Linux's standardized directory structure
> could be classed among arcania that should be discarded, it was also
> suggested that such a move would be easy<ROFL>  TTYL!

well, now, let's take over from Windows.  Not turn into them.  :)