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Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.development.system,comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.os.linux.advocacy Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.cs.su.oz.au!inferno.mpx.com.au!goliath.apana.org.au!news.syd.connect.com.au!news.mel.connect.com.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!paladin.american.edu!gatech!newsfeed.internetmci.com!in2.uu.net!mail2news.alias.net!myriad!mylinuxbox!suck!netcom.com!tporczyk From: tporczyk@netcom.com (Tony Porczyk) Subject: Re: Historic Opportunity facing Free Unix (was Re: The Lai/Baker paper, benchmarks, and the world of free UNIX) Message-ID: <tporczykDptpAL.8uG@netcom.com> Organization: ITRC References: <4ki055$60l@Radon.Stanford.EDU> <jdd.829261293@cdf.toronto.edu> <tporczykDpqKHL.7vG@netcom.com> <DpsKyx.1Jo@catzen.gun.de> Date: Sat, 13 Apr 1996 23:01:33 GMT Lines: 32 Sender: tporczyk@netcom17.netcom.com Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.development.system:21246 comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc:558 comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc:3151 comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc:2952 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:17207 comp.os.linux.advocacy:45124 scot@catzen.gun.de (Scot W. Stevenson) writes: > tporczyk@netcom.com writes: >> Actually, Windows NT workstation is only $295. > (Laugh) Yeah, which is just about $295 over my budget...remember, there > are a bunch of students over here, too... Yes, but remember we were talking about commercial desktop - that's where the money is. $295 for the OS is peanuts if it doesn't involve significant (read: transition from Windows to UNIX) retraining. As I said originally, the only thing that can sell UNIX to desktops (besides specialized uses) is applications - common productivity applications, priced *reasonably*. Superiority or inferiority of OS is irrelevant. Example from my own desktop: I use Linux and FreeBSD at home, SunOS at work, but when I sit down to write courseware (part of my job), I plug in hard drive with Windows and MS Office. Why? Try to find a package for UNIX that contains easily mergeable Word Processing, Presentation and Spreadsheet that a common mortal can afford. Show me *one*. And let's not talk about TeX. If I told the rest of the team that I will submit my work in TeX, they would die laughing. No one has the time to play with that kind of stuff anymore. t. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tony Porczyk * tporczyk@netcom.com * San Jose, California GIT/ED d++$(!d) s++:++ a? C++++ USLB++++$ P+ E--- W(--) N++ !k w-- M- V? b- PS+++@ PE++ O X-- Y++@ PGP-- t+@ 5++ R* D---- e* V-- h* y** r+++(*)+++(*)>? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------