Hear Hear! You got it in one. I got lots of the same feelings about the old CP/M os (Ya, I know - times change) as I do now for Linux... When I wrote docs for other geeks I could assume a high level of ability. People were making plotters, graphics systems, and all kinds of nifty-cools toys. Being a hacker was a good thing; we all knew the secret handshake. (Do not feel bad if nobody showed it to you - this is how it works: A wave to a screen with the declaration - hey, check this out. The other half of the conversation is - Cool, how did you get it to do that? The best part is you knew they would be able follow the explanation. And suggest improvements.) Before the suit type folks were all concerned about how well computer would fit in their business. Then things changed. Docs had to be written for Homer Simpson to follow. If he could be bothered to read them. All the cool things people at meetings were doing sort-of got replaced by clueless newbies doing DBase biz apps. Then the PC came out and everything went *way* downhill. I quit going to meetings. The Linux universe seems to have picked up the folks I used to know. There is a general appreciation for cool things. Its OK to be excited about shiny toys with funny little knobs. Somehow I suspect the average biz droid would ask: how does a skinnable desktop add anything to the bottom line? Won't that just add support costs for no ROI? Baaa, let them have XP. It's the punishment they so richly deserve. There was the question raised: "Why are so many people so concerned about Linux being accepted by the corporate world?" Most of us make a living doing this stuff and we would prefer to work with the best tools. The XP droids get confused by something they can't understand; they are afraid their heads will explode if they put any new information in. (I see this a real risk for these folks) I don't know that this will happen until the Micro$oft greed things kills the goose that lays the golden egg. I see the first real crack in the armor as the Apple os X thing. This will grow the critical mass of *nix converts. Some of the talented MAC users may contribute to the Linux world. Then again, maybe not. But I can hope. Mark Browne ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Bresnahan" <mbresnah at visi.com> To: <tclug-list at mn-linux.org> Sent: Friday, November 09, 2001 4:55 PM Subject: RE: [TCLUG] A bit off... topic, that is Why are so many people so concerned about Linux being accepted by the corporate world? Linux is cool because of the very fact that it is not accepted by the corporate world. It's highly configurable, the source code is available, it's free... it's, it's geek heaven! To become accepted by the corporate world some or all of these things would have to change, no? It would have to become more like Microsoft Windows and in so doing it would cease to be cool. I say, forget about evangelizing Linux to the corporate world and leave it where it belongs and is loved. Am I insane? Mike > -----Original Message----- > From: tclug-list-admin at mn-linux.org > [mailto:tclug-list-admin at mn-linux.org]On Behalf Of mbutler2 at mmm.com > Sent: Friday, November 09, 2001 11:32 AM > To: tclug-list at mn-linux.org > Subject: [TCLUG] A bit off... topic, that is > > > > Hi all- > > > My curiousity was aroused by a mail I got from a friend, and I wanted > to know: what is the future for Linux? > > > This has been asked before, and answered many ways, so one more time, > for me, get out your crystal balls (or brass), find your > Kreskin's crystal, > throw the Magic 8-ball out, and roll it around, or just look deeply into > the toilet, and tell me what you see. I want it all, aliens comingdown to > take over and give everyone the perfect OS, to Linus Torvalds > being elected > supreme ruler of the earth, to "linux will die out in 2 years, it's a fad, > just like rap and heavy metal." > So I'm curious, and I've some time to look at responses, > before I have > more real work to do, so let's see them..... > > > Just to get started, the mail I recieved was of the mind that Linux ( > and other free OSes) will roll over the proprietary OSes in the next 5 or > so years and that computing will change for the better. > My response was that I see many OSes, and all have their place, or > niche, we may see some market settling and some of the players might > disappear, but because of business drivers, and other motivations in the > corporate sector, linux will see a significant entrance into the corporate > data center, but it will not replace everything you see now. > I'm paraphrasing, but it got me wondering..... > > > > Thanks for your time and efforts, > > > > mbutler > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Twin Cities Linux Users Group Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. > Paul, Minnesota > http://www.mn-linux.org > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > https://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list _______________________________________________ Twin Cities Linux Users Group Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org https://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list