On Sat, Oct 15, 2011 at 10:12 PM, Jason Hsu <jhsu802701 at jasonhsu.com> wrote:
> In contrast to the open source world, the world of Microsoft Windows, Office, and other products is just a Communist
> country governed by Microsoft.  Instead of smoke-belching Trabants, Microsoft puts out bloated, insecure, unstable,
> and uneconomical software and operating systems.  A few people at the top benefit at the expense of the people.

First off, well said, Yaron.

Now, Jason:

While I think we all enjoy partaking in a bit of Microsoft bashing
every now and again, it is statements like the above that do
absolutely no good to anyone. In fact, they oftentimes harm the F/OSS
community due to the elitism and arrogance portrayed.

As Yaron said, there are some times when Microsoft has the right
solution to a problem, just as there are some times when a F/OSS
solution is the right answer. I will concede that Microsoft's
operating systems are horribly bloated. That said, Windows 7 and its
server variant Server 2008 R2 are actually *very* stable and *very*
secure. As part of my day job, I maintain 30 or 40 Windows Server
systems, some of which are being used by thousands of people per day
and hundreds of people simultaneously in a campus LAN environment. I
have no more issues with those systems than I do with the 60 linux
servers I maintain. No offense Jason, but it sounds like you haven't
had much experience administrating Windows systems, at least not
recently anyway.

As is the case with any system, Windows, Linux, *BSD, or otherwise,
the system is only as secure as its administrator is competent and the
applications thereon are secure.

The best thing we can do for Linux and the rest of F/OSS is stay
positive and stay passionate about Linux. Recognize that Linux has a
lot of strengths, but it is not the be-all and end-all to computing
systems. Be willing and able to use and interact with other
technologies when necessary. If we start "going off the deep end" in
the other direction too far (dare I say RMS?), we will only succeed in
alienating others.

Regarding linux GUIs: what are those? Just gimme a shell and I'm more
than happy. :)

-Erik
P.S. I just uncovered an oldish (read: slow) MiniITX system I had
sitting around and I'll likely be kicking the Swift Linux tires on it
shortly. Typically I'm an Ubuntu guy, but I think performance would be
sub-par on this 5-year-old system.