tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post316728018977587275..comments2024-02-14T02:30:36.732-05:00Comments on The Blog of Helios: Why Linux...? You might be surprisedAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13978117986484281976noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post-63591156879239131132008-09-01T11:18:00.000-05:002008-09-01T11:18:00.000-05:00Helios,The argument about purchasing another produ...Helios,<BR/><BR/>The argument about purchasing another product in order for the original product to work is brilliant. I can't see any logical comeback for this and will use it often. Thank you for completing my argument armor.<BR/><BR/>Jason T.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post-57687151408647427002008-09-01T10:46:00.000-05:002008-09-01T10:46:00.000-05:00I think that advocating Linux based on virus and m...I think that advocating Linux based on virus and maleware count is vary wrong!<BR/><BR/>Let me tell you why pointing this out is exactly the reason to promote Linux. When you purchase a product, you are operating in good faith that said product is not going to require you to purchase another product in order for it to work. In purchasing Windows you have been forced to do precisely that. The bombardment of "warnings" that your virus software is about to expire in 90 days should be enough to anger anyone. If you are going to produce a product that allows for such intrusions, you should have the decency to provide free, adequate protection...not a gateway for some other company to screw you out of another year's worth of "protection". Besides, how much time in a year does the average windows user spend maintaining their computer for virus protection...?<BR/><BR/>@ Oliver. What a wonderful suggestion. It is a done thing.<BR/><BR/>hAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13978117986484281976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post-43193240108857045102008-09-01T01:20:00.000-05:002008-09-01T01:20:00.000-05:00Good article. I kindly suggest replacing the link ...Good article. I kindly suggest replacing the link to linux.org by one to www.getgnulinux.org . There are no ads on the latter and it's run with love by a non-profit organization.<BR/>Thanks,<BR/>Olivier.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post-19514116070991255112008-08-31T23:20:00.000-05:002008-08-31T23:20:00.000-05:00Anyone is free to access the source code and chang...<I> Anyone is free to access the source code and change or improve it.</I><BR/><BR/>this only matters to readers who'd like to program. 95% of human beings don't. See the <A HREF="http://digifreedom.net/node/57" REL="nofollow">Free SW manifesto for the rest of us</A>.<BR/><BR/><I>Remember, the software used at the child's school is probably what the child will need at home. Parents often have to purchase the same software for the home computer to insure compatibility.</I><BR/><BR/>This is wrong. Please don't confuse software with file formats. More exactly, what you write is true only if the software used at school only uses proprietary formats and the school forces the students to use that same formats. I'm not going to write a complete explanation in this micro comment window, so here's a partial example. If all the files exchanged between school and students' homes were plain text (not .doc or .docx) the students could perfectly use any Linux text editor at home. and any Windows text editor at school. And vice versa, of course.<BR/><BR/>Besides, there's another, much more serious issue here: in practice, most families end up running pirated software to make kids study, that is an <B>educator</B>, maybe paid with public money, de-facto educates youngsters to violate the law (this, BTW, is covered in a chapter of my book).<BR/><BR/>See the <A HREF="http://digifreedom.net/node/55" REL="nofollow">database of Digitally Free Schools</A> for schools that don't do it this way. Submissions are welcome<BR/><BR/>Apart from these notes, nice article!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post-25946027328413164692008-08-31T23:17:00.000-05:002008-08-31T23:17:00.000-05:00Great write-up, helios.Anonymous Linux fan:Malware...Great write-up, helios.<BR/><BR/>Anonymous Linux fan:<BR/><BR/>Malware safety is a great point not a bad one. There are differences beyond Linux having small desktop share. Linux is cleaner and better peer reviewed. Note that Linux has large share in server rooms and gets hit less. Also, Linux is more diverse, so hypothetical successful attacks are less likely to be able to spread as wide. Finally, according to your argument, Linux is still safe for the next 10 million users that respond to this offer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post-47418362707204692222008-08-31T18:07:00.000-05:002008-08-31T18:07:00.000-05:00@Linux fanboyEven if what you say is true the hole...@Linux fanboy<BR/>Even if what you say is true the holes, viruses, bugs etc are patched waaaaaayyy faster than in any other OS and that includes OS X. That is what make Linux totally more secure. No software is 100% bug or virus free. That is to say more hackers that hack the OS more secure it will become with age. The opposite trend is true with MS products and OS X. The fact that the last Linux virus was created in the 90's proves my point. It has gotten increasingly harder to write viruses for Linux.<BR/><BR/>Awesome article. I am doing a school project on OSS using 100% Linux (Slackware 12.1). I will refer to this article in my project if you don't mind. Once the project is complete I will make our group project publicly available under GPL. It is going to be functionally very similar to Matlab (any engineers out there know what I am talking about) but we are limited in resources, in that our team is comprised of mostly software engineering majors and mathematics majors so the tool is not use able by Electrical/Mechanical engineers and to others that may find use in Matlab. However once this software is publicly made available I am sure the FOSS community will pitch in.<BR/>Cheers. Once again great article.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post-70419391956815000152008-08-31T16:43:00.000-05:002008-08-31T16:43:00.000-05:00(Linux fanboy here, no reason for a war) I think t...(Linux fanboy here, no reason for a war) I think that advocating Linux based on virus and maleware count is vary wrong! The only reason for this is low market share of Linux and undesirability in the eyes of virus writers.<BR/><BR/>There are enough reasons to advocate Linux with out this oneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post-90931254164388311762008-08-31T15:08:00.000-05:002008-08-31T15:08:00.000-05:00Minor Correction. It's GNU GPL. GNU General Public...Minor Correction. It's GNU GPL. GNU General Public License. Not GNU Public License.<BR/><BR/>http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html<BR/><BR/>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_LicenseAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post-23581431612532722272008-08-31T14:36:00.000-05:002008-08-31T14:36:00.000-05:00Thanks for another great posting I can use when ad...Thanks for another great posting I can use when advocating GNU/Linux to people who have never known anything except the Redmond way.<BR/><BR/>As usual, full of facts and sources. Kinda like our chosen software. Coincidence or intentional, hum? Some "professional" journalists could learn a thing or two from this example.<BR/><BR/>Thanks<BR/>AmenditmanAmenditmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12345522537672251667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post-89225218901965240302008-08-31T05:49:00.000-05:002008-08-31T05:49:00.000-05:00I'm not sure what license the Firefox binary is re...I'm not sure what license the Firefox binary is released under but you can obtain the source under the MPL, GPL, or LGPL.<BR/><BR/>Nice article.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post-54918639963369448342008-08-31T00:13:00.000-05:002008-08-31T00:13:00.000-05:00helios, Thank you for an even, honest and level-he...helios, <BR/><BR/>Thank you for an even, honest and level-headed article. Given your reputation for blood, bone and sinew, I was reading this fully expecting a Microsoft flogging. Instead, you've given us a perfect and reasoned resource to point to when presenting the Linux Argument. Thanks.<BR/><BR/>Matt KelsoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post-23367747746885648132008-08-31T00:09:00.000-05:002008-08-31T00:09:00.000-05:00LOL...I beat you to it. Davey Posted the draft as...LOL...<BR/><BR/>I beat you to it. Davey Posted the draft as opposed to the final...the appropriate beatings have been administered.<BR/><BR/>No...I appreciate the corrections...should have been caught prior.<BR/><BR/>hAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13978117986484281976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post-46197592252048155712008-08-30T23:59:00.000-05:002008-08-30T23:59:00.000-05:00"The graphics software maker, Xara, has committed ..."The graphics software maker, Xara, has committed to developing their software to Linux...and it to will be without cost."<BR/><BR/>I feel like such a killjoy today, but Xara's graphics program is going nowhere, because they do not want to play by the rules free software developers have long been accustomed to.<BR/><BR/>Besides these two points, excellent article.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post-66281297938186705342008-08-30T23:47:00.000-05:002008-08-30T23:47:00.000-05:00Good Eye! Thank you. Corrected and adjusted. fi...Good Eye! Thank you. Corrected and adjusted. firing for effect...<BR/><BR/>hAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13978117986484281976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post-12658377508509211822008-08-30T23:39:00.000-05:002008-08-30T23:39:00.000-05:00"The Mozilla Organization authored and released Fi..."The Mozilla Organization authored and released Firefox, and released it under the GPL"<BR/><BR/>Don't you mean the MPL?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33801994.post-29627869426863481022008-08-30T22:35:00.000-05:002008-08-30T22:35:00.000-05:00I haven't finished reading your post yet (looks go...I haven't finished reading your post yet (looks good though) but the link to "Made The Switch" is missing AFAICT.kozmcraehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03477116396443886503noreply@blogger.com