Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 19:21:37 -0700 From: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> To: David Kelly <dkelly@hiwaay.net>, chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: This just in: Microsoft/Sears Merger Message-ID: <4.1.19981221190632.06ca4f10@mail.lariat.org> In-Reply-To: <199812220146.TAA06621@n4hhe.ampr.org> References: <Message from Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> <4.1.19981219173154.06b97f10@mail.lariat.org>
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At 07:46 PM 12/21/98 -0600, David Kelly wrote: >Brett Glass writes: >> Microsoft, Sears Plan Merger >> >> REDMOND, WA -- A giant of the software industry is planning a merger with a >> giant of retailing. > >Hey wait one second. I just noticed something in Brett's headers: > > X-mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.1 > >Has Microsoft bought Brett too? OTOH I'd pay for a FreeBSD version of >Eudora. Microsoft hasn't bought me at all. However, some of the machines we bought for the lab came with, and run, Windows. Intentionally. You see, while we use FreeBSD for our servers and mission-critical storage, we need to have all kinds of clients up and running here. Part of my job is helping the poor schlubs who must live with Microsoft Windows. So, I need machines on which to test Windows software. I also explain to folks how to get around misfeatures and bugs. In general, I tell people that they can use Windows on their clients if they must. But I also say NOT to use Windows NT on the server, where the really mission-critical stuff happens. Until they feel they can switch their workstations over, having the server for storage, backup, e-mail, Web service, etc. gives them SOME measure of reliability and recoverability. --Brett P.S. -- Don't hold your breath for a FreeBSD version of Eudora. Eudora uses Microsoft's Internet Explorer to display HTML messages, and attempts to force the installation of IE when it is installed. So, Qualcomm probably had to sell its soul to Microsoft to get access to the code. I managed to keep it from depositing IE on this particular machine, but the average user won't know to do that. Another thing you should know is that Qualcomm is engaged in a feud with Netscape in which both are acting silly. Netscape wouldn't provide Qualcomm with a hook that would let them make Eudora the system's default mailer, so Eudora "hooks" events destined for Navigator and grabs clicks on e-mail links. But Eudora can only do this while it's running. Therefore, if Eudora is NOT running, and you click on an e-mail link, you get Netscape's mailer instead. Your address book, prior messages, etc. aren't there, of course, which is a big pain. Worse still, sometimes the two programs get into a tussle over which one will handle an event, and one program or the other just hangs. It's a royal pain, and has caused quite a few users to drop one product or the other. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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