Hewlet Packard and Linux

[Shaun Oliver]

I've been following this thread for a while. and haven't decided to say
something until now.
I'm of the oppinion that linux as an operating system accessable to the
blind, is streets ahead of it's comercial counterparts.
I say this because as a user of both operating systems, I can see the place
for both of them. I find that windows in a normal office environment is a
very powerful tool indeed. However, if I could have the power of linux and
the ease of use of windows all rolled into one, I'd be a very happy camper.
I mean I'd like the nice frilly bits of microsoft word and excell and all
that but right at the moment, I haven't seen gpl console versions of either.
Linux is a great workhorse especially if you want to run it as a server box
or as a firewall, but I want the durrability of linux with the ease of use
of windows but I guess for now I'll just have to learn how to use linux to
it's full potential.
Don't get me wrong here, I'm not complaining, just stating how I feel on the
whole issue.
Shaun..



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----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles Hallenbeck" <chuckh at mhonline.net>
To: <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Saturday, August 25, 2001 10:59 PM
Subject: Re: Hewlet Packard and Linux


> Charlie and all -
>
> Your remarks about DOS are interesting - I was a DOS fan too and actually
> never moved to Windows, except to support my Arkenstone Open Book Unbound
> software. My machine is presently a dual boot machine so I can se Linux to
> get work done or else at boot time select DOS (I use the Caldera
> OpenDOS) to use my scanner software and one or two other legacy apps.
>
> If you remember when DOS was introduced in the early 80s, version 1.X was
> a lot like CP/M; as it was revised to 2.X and then 3.X, it gradually
> became a lot more like Unix than CP/M, with a hierarchical file system,
> batch files, and then later versions even had online help.
>
> Now that should tell you something: namely, that Unix was a mature
> standard for text consoles even in the early 80s when DOS was being forged
> in Redmond. Linux of course is an Open Source and contemporary
> implementation of Unix, and is therefore a decade ahead of the game
> compared to DOS.
>
> Linux is also a fundamentally dual personality system, with its GUI being
> a robust add-on to the underlying text based console system.
>
> Linux was created as Open Source on the internet and is maintained and
> developed there. It is a fundamental mistake to think of it in the same
> market terms as the other major OS. Of course there is no market for Linux
> accessibility solutions. But there are users and there is need, and that
> need is being met by and large without benefit of market concepts.
>
> How do people make a living in the Open Source world? By selling services,
> not products. Products in the Open Source world are organic things. They
> take root, they grow, they live or die on their merits, and they both give
> to and take from their users. There would be no Speakup if it were
> conceived on a marketing model of accessibility solutions,  trust me on
> that one.
>
> So - don't worry about Linux, it is in there for the long haul.
>
> I was recently tempted to spring for a preinstalled Linux system when I
> last upgraded, but opted for the "rolling my own" solution. I am convinced
> that if I had plunked down for a package deal I would have ended up
> overhauling it anyway.
>
> Will Linux ever be a mass market product suitable for the people who check
> their email once a week and want their machine to do what they want, and
> not what they say? Probably not. There may always be a niche for a
> Windows-type OS with its closely guarded secrets and predatory practices,
> with all the insides protected from meddling users and all the decision
> details already made for them.
>
> Best regards - and welcome to the list!
>
> Chuck
>
>
> Visit me at http://www.mhonline.net/~chuckh
> The Moon is Waxing Crescent (46% of Full)
>
>
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>