COMP: Operating Systems (was Re: Re[2]: Free-Market Economics)

Mark Grant (mark@unicorn.com)
Sun, 13 Jul 1997 11:58:19 +0000


On Sat, 12 Jul 1997, James Rogers wrote:

> Unix is irreplaceable as a server and network OS, and makes a pretty good
> research and development environment, but I seriously doubt its place as a
> user OS for numerous reasons (sorry Linux people!). The learning curve is
> far too steep, and the interface is unintuitive and complex.

As one of the most vociferous Linux people around here I'd agree with
pretty much everything you said; at this point in time I'd certainly tell
new computer buyers to go for Windows rather than Linux, but my main
concerns are with configuration and compatibility. Software similar to the
Control Panel on MacOS and Windows would solve most of the configuration
issues and Wine is starting to get somewhere on the compatibility front.

Mark

P.S. Microsoft's new distributed operating system that someone mentioned
sounds remarkably like 'Plan 9'... and I think Helios was doing something
similar on transputers a decade ago.

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