Comments on: Torvalds: A Solaris skeptic

The Linux leader calls the rival open-source operating system from Sun Microsystems a "joke."

[David Mohring]

Want to bet that Sun will GPL the OpenSolaris Kernel

CNET News.com November 4, 2004 Open-source details hold up Solaris release.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5438336-2.html
[i]Schwartz said Sun hasn't ruled out releasing Solaris under the General Public License (GPL), the license that governs Linux. That would mean that elements of Solaris could theoretically be adopted in Linux, or vice-versa, though integration of core features could prove technologically difficult.[/i]

Why? In comparison to Linux, the range and quality of hardware drivers available to Solaris is pitiful. If Sun manages to get out from under the The SCO Group's claims on the old AT&T code base, by getting permission from Novell ( who do still appear to own the copyright ) and does manage to GPL the Solaris kernel then Sun would be free to port any and all GPL'ed drivers and Linux kernel code to Solaris.

Only the adoption of the GPL license, along with the Linux exception for user level code, will allow the inclusion of Linux kernel code in the Open Solaris kernel.

You cannot insert the GPL'ed source into any LPL, BSD, X11, MIT or SISSL product, without the GPL'ed code authors permission, without violating the terms of the GPL license.

[Johnny Mnemonic]

I don't think so

First of all, the driver models are incompatible.
You can't just plug in a Linux driver into Solaris.
Second, Sun recently applied their new license to
the OSS for inclusion. They recently updated it after
some criticism.

As a side note, Solaris is an excellent operating
system and may still survive. There is always room
for good technology in my book.

Conspiracy Theory?

<conspiracy>
I don't suppose this is an elaborate way for Linux developers to be lead to look at Solaris code and have some Linux developer put Sun's code into Linux and then have a whole other SCO vs IBM type of legal battle is it?
</conspiracy>

The bigger picture

Hello David,

I think one should see the whole story in a
bigger picture. What Sun Microsystems Inc. has
done is just outrageous and unbelievable. Not
only are they planning to nuke its own ace
technology, the SUN Ultra Sparc processor, but
they have made some very sly moves towards
Microsoft which amongst other things concern the
business and legal properties of StarOffice.
StarOffice is used by many Linux users today
under the name OpenOffice.org. Not only are
these legal documents concerning
StarOffice/OpenOffice rather distressing for the
current users of OpenOffice.org but seem to be a
payoff fee and garantee for SUN Microsystems not
to be sued by Microsoft for this Office software
technology in the future.

If one observes what has happened and is
happening right now at the 'new' HP.com , you
see that also the Alpha 64bit technology there
is being killed of, including it 64 UNIX version
Tru64. After the Microsoft "deal" SUN
Microsystems seems to have found enough
confidence to start banking completely on the
AMD64/Solaris Gig.

What I conclude from this, is that Intel seems
to be a garanteed winner on any possible outcome
scenario of this all.

The hardware goal : One Company, One Brand , One
processor Type : x86-whatever seems to be
finally achieved. The software goal : One
Company, One Brand, One Operating System is
still out in the cold though. We today can thank
Linux for preventing this to happen. Sun now
plays the Solaris x86-any card, which still is a
unresolved event for me. I tried Solaris 7 and 8
on Intel , a dual Xeon box, and it seemed to
work ok. I never allowed it to stay on my disk,
because i could not do the things with it i
needed.. Linux as a UNIX alike Workstation has
always been better.

GPL Licensing... I must disagree with you. If
you see the grand picture, Microsoft wants its
monopoly at least on the Desktop/Workstation
market. An OpenSourced GPL-ed Solaris would
simply not fit in that picture. We'll see what
happens

How can you even take this seriously?

"Solaris/x86 is a joke, last I heard."

Last I heard? I respect Linus for what he started but how can you even take his comments seriously with regard to Solaris x86 when he makes a statement like that? Has he even used the latest version of Solaris x86 or is he being fed "information" by the Linux community? Linus, if you want to dismiss the technology, at least check it out for your self before commenting.

Solaris on x86

The problem is that Solaris wasn't designed to run on x86. So even now that it has been made to run on an x86 platform its more of a novelty than anything else. I personally don't know anyone using Solaris in an x86 environment in production, I'd imagine the numbers are extremely small. Just my 2 cents.

Indeed

I run Linux, but reading such an interview would me almost dump it immediately.

I can't switch to BSD alas because of vmware :(

[mbridges]

Re: taking it seriously

Yes, it seems that Linus can be blunt. There's a reason why he said that the less he has to do with customers the better !

Many readers in this thread are really latching onto just a few words. I read this as him feeling that Solaris x86 will have many more driver/hardware compatibility issues than Linux -which is really saying something. In another more politically correct article I've read it (driver/hardware compatibility in Solaris 10 x86) being described as "limited". The choice of the word "joke" is a bit unfortunate, but then he's no diplomat.

Yes Solaris x86 is a joke!

I tried Solaris x86 and you simply need to
change half of your hardware to get it to work!
On the other hand, my Ultra 5 runs Linux faster
than Solaris for Sparc so I don't really care
whether they open or close Solaris 10.. It's too
late.

-Imed

Move over Larry

Whew! I used to think it was hard to listen to (or read comments from) Larry Ellison. Make room for for Linus on the "ego train".

[tharcod]

Just a comment

First on GPL, briefly. To uses FSF terminology, you have copy right (I own the code, nobody else can touch it), copy left (you touch the code, then you follow my rules) and copy back (you touch the code, then you give me a copy).

Copy back ensures Sun receives changes made to Sun's code, while copy left does not. Copy left does not ensure anyone actually receives the changes -- you aren't, as it's commonly held, required to distribute changes with GPL until someone actually asks for the changes.

GPL tends to cause fragmentation, unfortunately. Sometimes these fragments get absorbed back into the core product, but most of the time they turn into bickering groups that fight with each other and waste a lot of time arguing about whose fragment is better than whose.

Linus talks about Sun's device support as "a joke," but I wonder, when the kernel developers introduce a breaking change, as was done between 2.6.8 and 2.6.9, how many of those device drivers get tested to show that they still work? Is there anyone on the kernel team that still has an ArcNet technology network to test the drivers, I wonder? And if they do, do they still use that network in an environment where it gets heavy testing?

The Solaris model is rather than bundle an insane number of drivers with the kernel, to allow users or companies with a stake in the driver working to maintain the driver. For example, the kernel doesn't have drivers for a Prism wireless card. This could be taken as a weakness, but if you search on Internet, there is, in fact, a Prism driver. It's simply written by someone with a stake in having a working prism driver.

Does Solaris support a lot of obscure hardware? No. But saying "we have a bunch of device drivers that have had code changes between 2.4 and 2.6 but that nobody involved in making those code changes actually has devices to test on" seems, to me, to be a bit off base.

It's like Microsoft claiming Windows XP is a stable and secure operating system, it's all a matter of perspective.

In my opinion, it's not about the volume of drivers you support, or the variety of hardware you support, but how well you run on what you do support. :)

Just a comment on your comment.

"GPL tends to cause fragmentation, unfortunately."

Saying that GPL tends to cause fragmentation is like saying that Driver Licenses tend to get people into car accidents. GPL is just a license, and it does not dictate how your project is organized and conducted. For example, Linux development model changes but the license stays the same.

On practice, though, we have seen that Linux kernel is the only OS kernel that so far avoided fragmentation. Proprietary UNIXen were/are highly fragmented, MS-Windows are quite fragmented too, despite the fact that MS does not give any rights to anyone whatsoever(OK, OK, Compaq comes to mind but that WAS a fragmentation.)

"Linus talks about Sun's device support as "a joke," but I wonder, when the kernel developers introduce a breaking change, as was done between 2.6.8 and 2.6.9, how many of those device drivers get tested to show that they still work?"

The difference between Sun model and Linux model, that
First, you do not have to upgrade from 2.6.8 to 2.6.9, this not like upgrading from Solaris 9 to Solaris 10, in respect that if you do not do it, you will be left behind. 2.6.8 branch will be supported for a long time, at least as long as there is a serious demand for such support.

Second, being the sole legal maintainer of the code base, SUN can and will single-handedly decide whether continue or terminate certain branches, and the shenanigans with Solarii on Intel tell us that it is not just a hypothetical possibility. Again, it is not a case with Linux, for as long as there are people willing to maintain a branch it will be maintained.

"when the kernel developers introduce a breaking change, as was done between 2.6.8 and 2.6.9, how many of those device drivers get tested to show that they still work?"
"The Solaris model is rather than bundle an insane number of drivers with the kernel, to allow users or companies with a stake in the driver working to maintain the driver."

Sorry, I did not get the point of your remarks. Now, you saying that if SUN introduces breaking changes, 'it allows users or companies with a stake in the driver working to maintain the driver.' but if a similar change is made by Linux kernel maintainers, then somehow this is their responsibility to do the regression test, even though they do not force anyone in any way, and will never do, to 'upgrade' from 2.6.8 to 2.6.9. At least, it is not fair. It was the Linux development model all along to motivate people 'with a stake' to contribute and they are welcome to contribute in any branch of their choosing, not only in one, which Sun feels like the only worthwhile to contributing to.

[OkieUnix]

Past yes / Future No

Your statement is more correct about Solaris drivers in the past. There are far more use of Solaris drivers than ever before. Why? Sun has taken a very serious step in supporting Solaris for both their sparc and x86 systems. While you don't have to buy Sun servers to run Solaris or even their AMD versions that Sun is shipping now.

I'm not saying Solaris has everything but that has changed in so many ways it isn't funny any more.

I run Solaris on almost every system I have at home except for 2 systems. Once Sun meets my criteria for those I will have Solaris running on them as well.

I can't stand windblows at all. I can't stand Linux much either especially now after seeing Linus statement on this article. Geez, As professional as he is and much I might respect him as to what Linux has done in terms of opensource. He still needs to do what everyone else does. At least look and see why and what is going on with Solaris x86.

So far Solaris made stride to be linux compatible without having to run lxrun. Linux still is a joke in this area as they are not compatible to anything else in the market.

There still so many developers on the linux side of the house that has a lot learn from running Solaris x86 in their envirnoment.

So Solaris is here even with x86 will soon roll right over Linux. The penguin will have a long swim back home.

[TheMidnightCoder]

Why pick on XP?

Most people find XP very stable. In fact, I've had to reinstall Linux several times. A developer I've been working with on a joint venture project has had to reinstall at least three times in the last month.
I don't love Microsoft, nor do I hate them. I don't care what platform I working on as long as I'm getting paid for it. In fact, I think Scott McNealy is the biggest arse I've ever seen. He can't make a paragraph without bashing MS. Oh, now he doesn?t since they've partnered ($). I do like Sun. They make nice hardware. This industry could do with a lot less religious zealots.

Another inflated ego

Great.
just what the world needs, another over-inflated ego and zelot who can't even be botherd to take the time to do an insightfull review of Solaris 10 before rendering an opinion. I am sorry,if you want me to believe you Linus, try being the trained engineer your *supposed* to be and do a product analysis first. Rather that rely on hear say.

Then you can speak with some authority, rather than with self-admitted banter you picked up on from the rumor mill.

ugh.. zelots! Grow up.

[Not Bugged]

You missed the point.

In your zeal to criticize Torvalds, you missed his point. He doesn't really care about Solaris x86 just like he doesn't really care about Windows XP or Mac OS X. His job is not to do product reviews or analysis, it is to work on the Linux kernel. You may think he is being arrogant, but it sounds to me like he is just being a realist.

[unknown unknown]

Reply

"Great. just what the world needs, another over-inflated ego and zelot who can't even be botherd to take the time to do an insightfull review of Solaris 10 before rendering an opinion."

He didn't say Solaris 10 was joke, he said Solaris on an X86 based platform is a joke. Solaris on x86 has never been very good. I think he was basing his opinion on that and the fact he does really care what Sun does.


"I am sorry,if you want me to believe you Linus, try being the trained engineer your *supposed* to be and do a product analysis first. Rather that rely on hear say."

It's an interview and they ask his opinion not an objective analysis. I never got the impression that he wanted every go on his opinion. I don't think ever tried to prevent anyone from drawing their own conclusions about Sun.


"Then you can speak with some authority, rather than with self-admitted banter you picked up on from the rumor mill."

Solaris only made up a very small part of interview meaning it's hardly worth the time required to download, install, and setup Solaris just so he can say he tried it.

Linus and his ego...

You obviously haven't had any dealings with Linus Torvalds. He is in fact REALLY down-to-Earth guy. He makes fun of himself, and he admits when he's wrong. He doesn't think that the world revolves around him. He really is different from (for example) Larry Ellison, Steve Ballmer or Jonathan Schwartz.

Yes, he said that Solaris on x86 is a joke. And for all intents and purposes, it is. It might be getting better now that Sun has jumped the Opteron-bandwagon. But for a long time, Solaris on x86 was the bastard child of the real Solaris.

Linus? Who cares?

Everyone should find the truth himself/herself. Not just listen to someone else. :-)

Everyone acts shocked.

Everyone who is acting shocked has not followed Linus too closely. He has always had a big ego, he says it in the article. And as other people have mentioned he is not against Microsoft or any other vendor of software. His main goal is to make Linux the best OS he can. Linus is a highly respected software engineer that bases all decisions on technical merit. He has built a completely voluntary following that if he goes off the deep end he can and will be marginalized and Linux will continue on. You want to talk about spreading FUD without evalutating the facts look at Microsoft and other closed source vendors.

Kevin

[David Arbogast]

Who's missing out?

I'd be willing to bet that Sun, HP, Microsoft, IBM, and plenty of others have examined some Linux source code in order to determine the technological differences and to *learn* wherever possible. I pray that open-source developers will do the same, rather than closing themselves off from the rest of the OS community like Linus is doing. Lets not forget, Linus had to learn UNIX before he could recreate it as Linux. Now that he has Linux, he just doesn't care about any other operating system technology?!? Kinda sad, really. Most of the IT guys I know have an interest in multiple approaches.

Of course, as Linus inferred, his goal is to react to the demands of users, not to design, plan, and anticipate user need. So basically, users who are familiar with features of other OS's will want a similar feature in Linux, and then Linux will take note, and hopefully some open source developers will clone that feature for Linux. Of course... this approach leaves Linux one step behind, but probably cuts down on the number of unused features in the finished product. Too bad most users learn new ways of doing things only when new tools are presented to them.

[David Arbogast]

Title Improvement

Rather than:
"Torvalds: a Solaris skeptic"

How about:
"Torvalds: a Linux Isolationist"

Better yet

Arbogast: unofficial MS mouthpiece

or

Arbogast: clueless wannabe computer professional

If that is the case....

...then why does he say this:

"But more importantly, if I'm wrong, that's OK. People who know Solaris better than I do will tell me and other people about the great things they offer. To try to figure it out on my own would be a waste of time."

He's open to suggestions, but he wont be wasting his time by trying to find some cool stuff by looking through the Solaris-codebase. If there is something interesting there, people will tell him. But he wont do it himself.

Kind of funny comments

Really funny comments from ppl here. Let me make out few points here:

1. Linus is not a marketing guy, who should think strategically 100 times before saying anything in public. He just says what he feels. Being an open source guy, he cann't of course loose his freedom to speak.

2. Solaris is good, but that doesn't mean that Linus should himself sit and check the code inside it. I mean, why is somebody supposed to do that. Is he doing service to somebody?

3. If there is something really good, then open source developers will come back to him with sugesstions and patches. Of course, he won't and he doesn't ignore them.

4. Solaris drivers support is really very bad (before flaming, let me make it clear that I am talking about users/developers, not corporates who have standard devices).

And about ego, everybody has it. You have to have it. If you don't, it's nobody's problem.

Thanks,
-Manu
http://manugarg.freezope.org

[OkieUnix]

To Linus

I think Linux is a much bigger joke. Your serious about any operating systems at all Linus you best get your britch up altogether. Cause Solaris has come extremely a long way and has always been better in terms of server environment than linux will ever be.

Linux still lack any real stable SMP capabilities. Solaris even with X86 has always had that capability there.

He simple too scared of facing the truth. Solaris x86 in my opinion kicks the living pants of Linux regardless of distro that is out there.

JDS on Solaris x86 is totally awesome. Maybe Linus should get off his BUTT and get real and look at what is there. BTW, Solaris x86 10 is capable of running Linxu apps NATIVELY without having to load linux binaries and libs. Don't see Linux trying to do that with their OS. :)

Phillip

SMP

been using SMP for a long time now, never had any problems with it.

[katamari]

HURRRRRRR

The only SMP characteristic Solaris (Sparc and x86) has as an advantage over Linux and BSD is fine-grained threading.

That's _it_.

Hardware-wise, sadly (as much as I dislike the bloke), Linus is correct -- Solaris lacks hardware support from, oh, pretty much every vendor on the face of the planet. Ditto with obscure hardware (but I couldn't care less about that; I really don't care if your Super Golden Dragon Flower Space Flyer 96-ZX HQ Blue soundcard works in Linux but not Solaris. I wish shoddy x86 hardware would disappear from the industry already...).

Admittedly, there are some pieces of hardware which still do Solaris-only, however the vendors who engineered the hardware are either going out of business, or have EOLd the hardware in question. Hmm. I wonder what that says for companies which can't develop drivers for non-Solaris operating systems (not just Linux, I'm referring to BSDs as well).

At work, we still use a RedHat-based PXE boot image to install Solaris 8/9 on thousands of servers in our racks -- problems stem from Sun's oh-so-delicious ATA code and not properly writing MBRs as well as initial filesystem tables. We have to use Linux to do this for us (as a bootstrap), solely to install Solaris.

Generally speaking, I'm quite saddened by the direction Sun has gone with their operating system since the SunOS days. The move to a purely SysV-based architecture was the biggest mistake Sun made -- I still find SunOS 4.x much more pleasant to deal with than I do Solaris.

Finally: getting anything to build/compile on Solaris is like pulling teeth. Ask ANY multi-OS SA around -- Solaris is the worst. Everyone now relies on a third-party software site to provide packages and binaries for common open-source utilities (mainly ANYTHING GNU-oriented). Hell, I'm still amazed Sun continues to *sell* Sun cc.

Bottom line: Torvalds and McNealy should go make love under a tree somewhere on a remote island. They're perfect for each other.

JDS for Solaris?

There is no such thing. What you call "JDS" is just an outdate gnome interface + star office.

Remember Sun's CDE? Why Sun end up using an open-source stack? Something to think about...

and by the way, gnome for Solaris is very limited compare with gnome on Linux. Do you know that?

[nrlz]

stay out of politics?

Didn't Linus say a while back that he wanted to stay out of political wars? I can't remember when but I it was in one of his emails on the Linux mailing list. He sounded a lot more mature back then.

These questions is not easy for Torvalds

For Torvalds, it's too hard to decide. Though the both are open source system, even the two are both some kind of UNIX, what everyone loves most is his/her own child, isn't it?

The Torvalds' original intention is to develop a free desktop OS that can run on cheap x86 boxes as a replacement of MS Windows, "My target is Windows", he said, and hoped that Linux can always focus on the desktop area.

But things change so fast, as more and more companies involved in, Linux is eventually completely out of Torvarlds personal control.

The market is cruel, especial in desktop OS area, the giant Microsoft have never given his enemy any opportunity to breathe. As a pioneer, RedHat was impressed deeply, facing the bloody facts, it finally gave up the ambition in the desktop area at 2003, and turned to the server side, where was traditional realm of SUN. comparing to Microsoft, SUN is obvious a gentlemen, his warm attitude to his opponents has brought so many troubles to himeself.

[OkieUnix]

Desktop vs Servers

Your point is correct. Linus never saw beyond the desktop and Sun at one point never saw beyond the server where they started out at the desktop when they first started.

I'll give Linux credit to the desktop area and that is where they have always done well. But Solaris is server powerhouse that is well known for in the server market. But that is changing, Sun has taken Solaris x86 much further and has fully embraced it much more than ever. Now the desktop and server will have a coherency in environments that never existed in the same way.
Instead of having mix sever environments because of lack of features it once had is now changing because that will not be the case any more.

I will say this much if you love linux. Go for it. I'm certainly not going to stop you from making a fool headed decision in which you have to rely on various distros to make things work.

Don't do like so.

Read my Comment please.

Tough on solaris

Hmm, Linus fails to mention Solaris' uptake in the big-iron, number-crunching systems of the world. Linux is a bit away from competing in this arena.

"That's why I think the commercial desktop is important. But it's going to take years"

He's right on with this last comment though. I would say Linux is years away from mainstream corporate desktop and decades away from being pervasive in home use.

Paul Coletti
www.coletti.co.uk

XPerson

Rotten XP never crashes here. Failing W98 used to be the time to drag my arse off the net and get some sleep, but not XP. I've left the machine on for over a month and I'm sure it would go on and on. Point being, Linus, that your concern about user inertia keeping folks like myself running XP is well placed. XP SP2 on a 'chine maxed with RAM, Windows Update convenience, running all my old stuff going back to W95 would be tough to give up for anything less than a major problem. Maybe you should hope at some point the PRC will force my ilk to make the switch to Red Flag else fall under a tank and be squashed.

[David Arbogast]

Good points

You make good points. The instability of XP and WindowsServer is tremendously overstated by the Anti-MS crowd. I have servers that stay up over a year at a time. (on a secured network) I have workstations that go months on end without a reboot, and I have a media center PC that doesn't even have a kbd attached beacuse I've honestly never had to reboot it. The dang thing just works.

So... Like you've suggested... Being able to do all the same things with Linux is not an advantage. Unless Linux can someday offer benefits beyond Windows that are truely of interest to consumers, there is little reason to make the switch.

This is why it is discouraging to hear Linus suggest that he will not examine other systems, and that he will only take feedback from users. Obviously, users are learning from other systems, which means Linux is maintaining pace. Nobody is anticipating user need, researching new methods of accomplishing familiar tasks, or producing better tools. Linus' own comments suggest that the Linux effort is in place to clone and copy what already exists and works... and like you said... that provides very little incentive for users to migrate.

[Nirelan]

Not Scared?

He isn't worried because he is just going to steal code from it and blame it on the fact that thousands of people contribute to Linux. Linux has done nothing ,but copy better operating systems since the day it was made.

[TheMidnightCoder]

I'll second that....

and actually, what has the open source community invented? It seems to me that ALL popular open source software is a copy from some closed source company.
Oh well, once the corporations are done fighting each other (a bit anyway) they won't need open source anymore. Unfortunately there will always be some serious geeks that will work for free just to feel important.

Offended by ego? Get a life.

I'm amazed by the number of complaints here about Torvald's ego.

First, I think he is just being up-front and honest about his views - a refreshing rarity in any interview. I believe that he simply doesn't have the time to look at Solaris.

Second, I think he is showing genuine modesty when he says that other people that know more about Solaris will tell him about it. That's basically saying, "I'm not an expert on everything, and I admit it."

Third, why does it matter whatsoever if he is egotistical or not? If Linus Torvalds or Bill Gates or deliver me a fantastic operating system, I couldn't care less about his ego. If you're so worried about someone else's ego, maybe you should work on your own. ;)

Missing the Point? Get a Brain.

The consistent thread here Mr Ego Lover, is that Linus has nothing intelligent to say. He’s comments lack intelligent insight. Just like yours.

[jamie.p.walsh]

Linux philosophy, again they just don't get it

The fundamental problem I find with Linux is they tend not to listen to what users want or would like in innovation. Instead they tend to have the mentality that we know what is best and what you end up with is a very narrow minded product. They are starting to turn the corner with marketing which also lends itself to be a more creative and cutting edge product.

As for Linus' attitude, what a complete ass. His arrogance and lack of artistic creativity is completely evident in everything he does.

Then change it

If you think that Linux is moving in the wrong direction, you are free to adjust it and sell your version.

[lsc]

A dose of Linux to cure my Support Headache

James Walsh, check out distrowatch.com and see how various people innovated and made Linux into What They Want. They are not all big companies; some of them are just one person. And some of them are very open to hearing what their potential customers want. It is not a community of Linus Torvalds. It is a community of people with vastly different outlooks and attitudes.

If you feel up to it, you can legally get Linux source code, change it to make it "better", and pass it out freely to anyone you wish. And you can make a bit of money by offering support services for your brand of Linux.

Try doing that with any other OS (MS, Apple, Sun, OS2) and you will find yourself dressed in a lawsuit.

It is true that, in the last few years, Windows runs nice and stable and doesn't crash or get viruses or anything for months at a time -- if it is kept off of the internet and not used above 30 percent capacity. Use it in any other way, and you multiply your risk of a problem many times.

I have had 2 fatal crashes (had to reinstall the OS completely) out of the 16 PCs this year at my Windows-only job. And that doesn't count the innumerable times we rebooted to clear a mystery glitch. I make a point of rebooting all of the PCs every week reduce system-freezes, printing problems, and other strange unexplained phenomenon. Our three biggest resource hogs are Adobe Acrobat, Internet Explorer and the Windows print manager; we aren't exactly straining our equipment.

I am very much a Linux newbie. I did a little Unix programming years ago, but most of my knowledge is with the lowest common denominator: Microsoft. It is ridiculous how often I have been called by friends and family and more to help with their XP PCs. Everything from virus-trojan-etc to corruption-by-update to you name it. Last winter it was MyDoom and Welchia. Summer brought us malicious popup adware. I am expecting the latest LoadImage exploit to cause more calls for help in the coming months. Thank you, China, for the advanced warning.

I am currently trying out BeatrIX (my third downloaded Linux distribution) on an old PC. So far, it looks good! Easy to install, easy to use, and appears to be extremely stable (time will tell.) When I am comfortable with one, I will start making more Linux users among the friends and family, hopefully sometime in 2005.

I am hoping to be good enough in a few years to stop depending on my Windows talents for a paycheck.

Words Needed

I asked my dad - lawyer, woodsman, horseman,
cowboy, athlete, poet, Latin linguist, agronomist
- long deceased I being 72: "Why do your legal
briefs have so many words?". The said: "It takes
many words to express exactly what you mean.".

That I've found quite true in adequately
describing "This is the forest primeval, the
murmuring pines and the hemlocks", a lovely
woman, a "grande pres", how to properly test the
Lunar Module and any manned vehicle, software,
all in which I've been involved. That is in the
language English. I believe fewer words are
required to do the same in French with twice the
verb tenses and more grammatical moods. I've no
opinion on the language Finish about which I know
nothing except it must be very effective for
software!