[GLLUG] Terminal Background

[Richard Houser]

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Clay Dowling wrote:
| It's definitely amusing, although I'm not a big fan of perpetuating the
| Linux vs. Windows mindset.  For almost everything that I do I can use
| either platform equally well, with a nod to Linux for being an easier
| platform for programming.  And Windows for being easier to distribute
| software for.

I disagree on Windows being an easier platform to distribute software
for.  It may currently have a larger market and be easier to extort
money from directly, but that's only because that business model doesn't
really exist to any substantial degree outside the commercial operating
systems (other systems tend to use support contracts, development for
hire, and donation models).  In the windows world, distribution itself
should be a lot more complicated in the windows world where you don't
have package management tools, install/uninstall programs act
inconsistently, and there aren't a few central places that users go to
get all their software.

I do agree on using the best tool for the job.  In your case, the OS
might be roughly on par, but for me, that isn't even close to true.
Windows is at least an order of magnitude more expensive in terms of
labor for 99% of what I do, the software and hardware costs to do the
equivalent tasks are quite frankly staggering, and the security risks
are high enough that I wouldn't be willing to keep my main desktop
connected directly to the Internet (even behind a firewall).



That said, I think that in beginner circles, the Linux vs. Microsoft
conflict is typically carried to enough of an extreme that it frightens
off potential converts.  Beginning users are rarely willing to plunge in
headfirst and the confrontational attitude makes them think that they
will need to leave their comfort zone completely.  Personally, I like
that background, but if we were to use it, I think we would need to
balance it out with something else stressing the compatibility or
interoperability features.
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