[Info-vax] Unix on A DEC Vax?

[Bill Gunshannon]

In article <50fa9a7b$0$6073$e4fe514c at dreader36.news.xs4all.nl>,
	MG <marcogbNO at SPAMxs4all.nl> writes:
> On 19-jan-2013 1:07, Howard S Shubs wrote:
>> The only operating system which seems to have a serious future
>> is Linux.
> 
> Mostly for "LAMP" web servers, but hardly on 'the desktop' and
> (especially there) Linux is still extremely marginal.  

Huh??  I am playing with three different "Desktop Linux" distributions
now that install easier than Windows and have all the functionality 
offered by a full-fledged (read after you buy a lot of extras) Windows
right out of the box!!

>                                                        This was
> also exactly the area which VMS supposedly underestimated.

I doubt anyone here evert hought VMS was tsargeted for or even
reasonbly considerable for a desktop.  None of the orignal development
was in that direction.  And by the time the "Desktop" became important
VMS was already to deeply ingrained with Server concepts.

>                                                             The
> worrisome part is, that many 'mission-critical' things are on
> Windows systems; for instance, I've seen TV news imagery from
> navy vessels here, with Windows logos on the background (of the
> 'desktop', I presume)...

Just because the frontend says WindowsXP doesn't mean the backend is.
Many hospitals have Windows on the desktop and Mumps (yes, that Mumps)
in the backend. (Look up Vista and I don't mean the one from Microsoft.)

> 
> I've, over time and from optimistically to somewhat reluctantly,
> been using Linux for over ten to fifteen years (with breaks in-
> between) and the desktop has been consistently poor, in my own
> experience.  

In what way?  Don't get me wrong, I am no Linux fanboy.  I think it
is the poorer of equivalent OSes.  But, like DEC missed the PC
reolution completely, the better choice in the Unix (or Unix-like)
World is also missing the boat.  But if your primary desktop experience
is, like most people, Windows, I would really like to hear what it is
that you think current Linux Desktop software can't do.

>             Many drivers, especially for graphics hardware, is
> still surprisingly poor.  (If price hadn't been an issue, SGI
> would've still been alive and those IFFFS suites would be still
> happily running on IRIX, instead of Linux.)

Funny, I have no problem with it.  I can watch YouTube, which is very
graphic, with no problems at all.  Of course. if you are talking about
gaming, all bets are off.  But then, if I want to game I use a game
machine, not a PC running linux or Windows.  :-)

> 
> Most of the complaints that applied to VMS, in terms of so-called
> 'usability' (like to be running it as a 'desktop' system), also
> to varying degrees apply to Linux.  

Back to this desktop thing.  Linux does Desktop just fine.  What di
you think is missing?  The Office suite is even MS compatable. :-)

>                                    Unlike VMS, Linux is scattered
> all over the place and there's no single point of 'quality control'
> and many people (who aren't too streetwise) don't have an idea
> which distribution would suit them best.  

That is more a marketing problem.  Is the Windows world any different?
XP, Windows7, now Windows8.  Which one is the right one?  Oh, by the
way, I am typing this on a Vista box and still have at least one laptop
running Vista.

>                                           Some also perceive the
> 'free' and 'open' character of Linux, BSD and others as being a
> bit too /laissez-faire/.  In the end, they will often simply fall
> back to using Windows and OS X...

And yet, OS x is nothing but BSD packaged by a third party who, by the way,
have no real control over the direction the lower levels go.  They either
stand still or risk having all their third party offerings obsoleted over-
night.

If nothing else, the current state of Linux (or BSD) is an excellent
business opportunity but like most, it will be ignored because we
all know noone can compete with MS.  :-)

bill

-- 
Bill Gunshannon          |  de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n.  Three wolves
billg999 at cs.scranton.edu |  and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
University of Scranton   |
Scranton, Pennsylvania   |         #include <std.disclaimer.h>