[Info-vax] Unix on A DEC Vax?

[MG]

On 19-jan-2013 16:56, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
> 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!!

When was the last time you saw a piece of, say, Adobe software for
Linux?


> I doubt anyone here evert hought VMS was tsargeted for or even
> reasonbly considerable for a desktop.

Many say the same about Linux, like it or not.


> Just because the frontend says WindowsXP doesn't mean the backend
> is.

Many back-ends are Windows, too, nowadays.  (Also, I didn't say "XP";
in fact, where did I say "XP"?!)


>> 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.

I use Windows 7, mostly for the software library: the available,
quality, 'industry standard' software.  Things like "the GIMP" are
no substitute for Photoshop (for instance) and simply not going to
cut it, sorry!


> Funny, I have no problem with it.  I can watch YouTube, which is very
> graphic, with no problems at all.

Do you have to resort to using "gnash" or something like it, or did
you actually manage to install a (knock-off) Flash/AIR plug-in of
some sort?  (On what kind of hardware, if I may ask?)


> 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.  :-)

Some people want a bit more than 6~8 year-old outdated graphics on
old PowerPC systems, from what I hear...  I don't see Linux being
anything of a competitor to Windows, even while some industry
bigs wouldn't mind switching to Linux (especially since Windows
8, think of Gabe Newell).  But, it just isn't happening.


> Back to this desktop thing.  Linux does Desktop just fine.

Is that so?  The supposedly 'strong' Linux desktop distributions
(most which I hate, but that's besides the point), like "Ubuntu",
are horrid and whilst supposedly on the cutting edge for hardware
support, barely usable still.  Especially for laptop/notebook
usage, Linux power management is still extremely poor!


> What di you think is missing?  The Office suite is even MS
> compatable. :-)

Sorry, I don't understand what you're trying to say here.


> That is more a marketing problem.  Is the Windows world any
> different?

No, the Windows world is quite different.  I hate Windows, but
for all its faults, it can provide decent software and drivers
are good overall.  As much as I dislike and not prefer Windows,
the Windows 95/98 days are over and for purely desktop/work-
station-oriented usage, it works well and for games it's the
cutting edge de facto standard.


> XP, Windows7, now Windows8.  Which one is the right one?

I personally use 7, but I don't truly 'prefer' any Windows.  I
actually prefer IRIX, for a desktop experience and my hardware
is recent enough to still handle uncompressed high-resolution
graphics and digitized video in real-time.  But, there are many
things I can't run under IRIX anymore and thus am forced to use
Windows.  (No, I don't consider OS X a viable alternative and I
don't plan to spend twice or even more for plain Intel hardware,
just because it has Apple logos all over the place with a glossy/
brushed aluminum finish.)


> I am typing this on a Vista box and still have at least one laptop
> running Vista.

Gee, why aren't you running Linux on it... could it perhaps have to
do with the fact that power management, firmware, etc. isn't
available?


> And yet, OS x is nothing but BSD packaged by a third party who

Yes, but, /so what/?  How many people are aware of that?  Not many,
especially not the average user.


> 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.  :-)

Only because it's cheap, just like outsourcing; it's essentially the
same 'dynamic', really.

You berate people for thinking VMS was/is in no trouble, but you're
doing the same with regard to Linux and BSD.

Linux is hardly used on desktops and it certainly is nowhere near as
proliferated as Windows and OS X are.  Most people run Windows or OS
X.  Especially people who rely on their computers for graphics or
otherwise graphically-oriented software.

  - MG