From: jonathan at nuclearelephant.com (Jonathan A. Zdziarski)
Subject: CyberInsecurity: The cost of Monopoly

> Cool thanks! I decided to add a link to the site just before I posted so it
> would give the anti-MS folks something to attack. I am glad I could be of
> assistance to you. 

You're _assuming_ I am Anti-MS.  I may be Anti-MS-Politics but am not
bent against the operating system.  I certainly understand why many hot
dog stands run Windows, and think it's a dandy OS for desktops and
pocketpc's.  It is crap for servers, and is getting closer to becoming
inferior for the desktop as well thanks to the efforts of the open
source community.  

> Nope, no BIAS against *N*X users unless they are so close minded to think
> that *N*X is the only thing that will work for something or that everything
> else is crap without at least sniffing their own fingers. I've used UNIX,
> I've used/use Linux (run it in VMWARE sessions actually), I've used other
> OS's as well. 

LOL vmware - now there's a great finger sniffing way to evaluate another
operating system.  You cannot possibly know anything about another
operating system unless you have run it on your personal machine (as the
primary operating system) for at least a month.  Judging by your
bentness towards Windows, I would surmise you haven't given a serious
look to another operating system since windows for workgroups.

> My biggest gripe against UNIX users and Linux (want to be UNIX) users are
> those that feel this is religion and need to be try and convert people.

Isn't Microsoft doing the same thing?  How else would a corporation come
to such an idiotic conclusion that it was cheaper to run Microsoft
Windows on an enterprise than to run Linux.

> My current manager is actually a UNIX guy. Had been for years and years.
> When he became my manager he knew nothing about Windows and was pretty close
> minded like you.

I am very different from your manager in that I have used Windows for
many years, all the way up from 3.0.  I have more than ten years of UNIX
experience as well.  My laptop came with a free copy of Windows XP,
which I used considerably the first few months I owned the laptop prior
to installing Linux on it.  I have also managed and worked with IT
departments for large corporations ranging from hundreds to thousands of
end-users - a majority of which ran Windows.  I am well aware of what
Windows is both capable of and fails miserably at, and I give both a
fair shake when deciding what we're going to deploy.  I have deployed
Windows print and file servers in the past, and have unfortunately also
made the mistake of deploying it for web services and other mission
critical services (a mistake I am not likely to make again).  As a
desktop OS, I realize that a majority of sales people and other non-tech
departments are completely oblivious to anything that requires thought,
which is why I would still deploy Windows on many laptops.  I would make
an effort, however, to migrate towards a standardization on Linux or OSX
desktops - even if it did require a bit of basic education.

> If my focus was Linux or Unix or AS/400 or whatever else I would be
> recognized in those communities just as well. An MVP rating actually is
> worth something in terms of sorting the wheat from chaff and when talking
> bill rates because it isn't something you can buy, you actually have to
> prove some sort of level of knowledge to get it. Also note there was no
> aspiration nor goal to become an MVP. I did what I normally do and was
> recognized for it. 

Aren't you the special one =) I bet you get invited to all of Bill's
Christmas parties.

> Anway, once you get one, you can rip on it. Until then you are a wannabe
> bitch who is whining because there is something you can't attain.

So THIS is what gets you those MVP recognitions.  Pardon if I don't
sound ecstatic about your little "Bob the Builder" button.  Apparently a
piece of paper is worth nothing to you, but an icon apparently makes
everyone who disagrees with you a 'wannabe bitch'.  Truth is, no I can't
attain a Microsoft MVP sticker because it would be a step down for me. 
The companies I've helped build in the past regard me in a much higher
respect than someone who deserves a little icon on their web page, which
is why they've lined both my wallet and my expense account instead of
feeding me a BS line about an "icon of appreciation".  I suppose you
brag about your Microsoft-embossed pencil set too?  Seriously, get over
it.  It says about as much about Microsoft's respect for you as a
discount card at your favorite grocery store.

>  Oh and I
> know I know... You don't want it. That's fine. You don't see me bitching
> about not being a recognized Linux person and I don't even want that either.

I've got no desire for any type of formal recognition; I've fired many
individuals off my team who had all the "certifications" and other types
of recognition who were unable to do the job.  It seems we agree at
least on this much.  I find informal recognition to be much more
valuable.

> These people exist in more places than the Microsoft arena. 

Sure, but most wannabe UNIX users don't make it past the initial
interview.  Microsoft GUI experts are a dime a dozen.

> However if you have program that says it runs on Windows XP, it runs on
> Windows XP. You don't have to figure out which company produced your version
> of Windows XP and then figure out what specific tweaks are needed or even
> recompile to make it work. 

Recompiling of any packaged applications is done by the distributor of
that particular flavor of *nix.  There's no need to recompile an
application if you're switching between redhat and debian, though, and
in most cases you don't need a particular version of Linux to any
typical applications like you do with "XP" (although there are some
exceptions).  The only real necessity for recompiling is switching
between architectures (something Microsoft Windows doesn't currently
support).  I know you'll argue .NET is supposed to fix all of that, but
if you look at Microsoft's strategic moves to drop any processors they
don't feel like supporting, it leaves .NET as pretty baron.  A good
recent example of this would be the ditching of MIPS and SH3 platforms
leaving only...you guessed it...Intel on the PocketPC platform.


> Yes sorry, I wrote that in a confusing way. Wasn't trying to say that the
> licensing was specifically bad for a hot dog vendor. It was the chaos. You
> get a small business and the owner is probably able to sit down and spin up
> a couple of windows machines and share data between them in relatively short
> order. With some of the other current geek POP OS's, this is not the case. 

You obviously don't have any _real_ experience with unix whatsoever. 
This can be done in a matter of minutes, even without all the pretty GUI
tools that are now provided.  Hell, in a few minutes you can set up a
RedHat Linux box to act as a Windows server so your Windows machines can
connect to it.

> I don't know what a Windows bigot makes. I do know what I make and I am not
> a Windows bigot as you probably don't know anyone who has done more
> INTELLIGENT bitching about MS and Windows in attempts to get things fixed
> with it. I won't state it here but you would probably be surprised and most
> likely it would really piss you off that some stupid Windows guy makes that
> much. 

LOL

> When I was working with HP the compensation for UNIX admins
> (AIX/HPUX/Solaris/IRIX/Other) was about 25% better than Windows Admins, I
> made more than the UNIX admins at that time. The job I took after that
> involved a considerable pay raise from there. 

You know, I haven't talked to anyone at HP lately whose first language
is English.  Apparently they moved all their operations to India.  It
probably had something to do with your enormous endowment I'm sure.

> I was working on and
> managing DEC equipment into the 90's. 

So DUNIX ~version 4.0 was probably the last non-Windows server OS you've
devoted a significant amount of time to?  

> I know of several DEC machines on the
> internet still right now.

Yeah that whole Internet thing's fixin' to take off.

>  Have been playing with LINUX for quite some time
> which is for the most part

Well if you're running it under VMware and not in any serious production
model, you haven't done anything more than "play" with Linux as you've
said.

>  Look at the change in MS from the mid-80's to now, *N*X doesn't
> come close to the change and growth.  

And how would you know?  You haven't spent any serious time in UNIX!!! 
The growth I've seen in UNIX in just the past 36 months has been far
more than I saw in Windows over two decades.

> Nope but I choose to work and help correct versus whine and bitch or say I'm
> taking my toys and going home. 

I guess that's where your MVP patch comes in handy

> I have an engineering system I wrote for a threadgrinding company in 1985
> that is still in production and has been running daily since then. The last
> update to the code was around 1987-90. It ran on a PC XT until just March of
> this year when the 10MB hard drive died. It had gone through no less than 20
> keyboards (machine shops are hard on equipment). They put the files on a
> brand new machine running Windows XP and the software fired right up and ran
> fine albiet much faster. They called me just to let me know that they
> switched it over. The issues are more in the vendors producing the software
> than specifically Windows or MS. Keep in mind that if Windows does a switch,
> it is a logical place where they can say, you need to buy a new version
> versus putting out an update or saying it will run fine. 

And what is the complexity of this program?  My hello world program
still works too =)

> I agree they have come a long way, but disagree on the idea that it is where
> it needs to be to knock MS off the top. 

I never said it would knock MS off the top - only unethical politics and
anti-competitive marketing can do that.  I said it was superior to
Windows as a desktop environment...and if you spend some time with
either of them like I have, you'll see.

> Sure. But you don't have to have religious ferver over it. I somehow
> visualize you sitting there typing away with a little bit of spittle coming
> out of the side of your mouth while you smash away at the keyboard. Probably
> inaccurate, but your tone and method of writing lends to that visualization.

Actually the only reason I'm wasting cycles on this thread is because I
have nothing better to do.  I could personally care less if you ever run
*NIX ... but thought you, based on your errant statements on this
thread, were the ideal candidate for a good ass-whoopin.

> My biggest worry of the day while my systems quietly work away around the
> clock and around the world is whether I will drive the Jeep with the top off
> or the truck to the RenFest.

Just make sure you stop by the office to push all the reset buttons
before Sunday.  I do sense your sixth-grade competitive banter though
about your salary.  Most people who have to resort to such elementary
sarcasm do it because they know they're full of crap.  Not that I really
care.

>  I get the feeling yours will be how you will
> knock someone who thinks MS does a decent job bcause running around saying
> Linux is the best doesn't seem to be helping it take over the world very
> well. 

Nah my biggest worry is whether or not I'll have enough RAM for your
next email...<sixth-grade competitive banter>and whether or not it's
time to close down the pool for the winter</sixth-grace competitive
banter>.

> BTW, another thought came to me while reading your note. Do you have tinfoil
> wallpaper? No really... 

I have several wallpapers active - were you referring to a particular
window, or the desktop?  You probably meant Desktop since that's the
only wallpaper you're familiar with =)

Jonathan

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