[sdiy] OT: Screw Linux.

[Metrophage]

--- Matt Simpson <mr.threv at gmail.com> wrote:

> I've heard Linux called
> "Fischer Price My First Unix"

Probably by big mega-companies like Sco and AT&T. When I was a kid,
UNIX packages cost thousands of dollarws, just for the operating
system. This was because "personal computers" were just catching on, as
distinct from "work stations", so UNIX was seen as something only
companies or universities would spend big $ to install for a whole
network. This is why BSD, Linux, and other compatable systems came
about. What computer science student wants to pay $5000 for an OS to
tinker with?

Also, the seeds of UNIX go back to the late 60's and a (purportedly)
troublesome OS called MULTICS. Two of the main developers of the
original UNIX (or UNICS) were Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie, who
also invented the programming language "C" specifically for coding the
new OS. It is easy for marketers to ignore that the rock-solid and
apparently infallable UNIX had to crawl before it could walk, just like
any project. It was years before UNIX became the leading big-bucks
business and government OS. Linux has come a very long way in a fairly
short period of time. IMO the only reason why it is considered a toy is
because it can be had for free, so people need to dis it somehow. In
practice, it is often the reverse, that people and groups switch away
from proprietary systems because an open-source OS can be trouble-shot
and tuned much better. A lot of the cost of proprietary UNIX systems is
for service, since the nuts and bolts of the system are ultra-secret
"black magic". And end-user can fix and customize a Linux or BSD system
with a bit of knowledge. A proprietary UNIX is more like a car which
you need to send back to the factory for repair if anything goes wrong
with it, this gets time consuming and expensive.

Excuse me, I must run to the garage and weld the hood of my car shut! 
>;]P  
CJ


		
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