Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2002 18:21:23 -0600 From: Mike Meyer <mwm-dated-1018311683.931895@mired.org> To: "Randall Hamilton" <nitedog@silly.pikachu.org> Cc: "Anthony Atkielski" <anthony@atkielski.com>, <chat@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: Anti-Unix Site Runs Unix Message-ID: <15531.40067.230080.806545@guru.mired.org> In-Reply-To: <007601c1db6c$9daac550$0301a8c0@NITEDOG> References: <20020402113404.A52321@lpt.ens.fr> <3CA9854E.A4D86CC4@mindspring.com> <20020402123254.H49279@lpt.ens.fr> <009301c1da83$9fa73170$0a00000a@atkielski.com> <15530.6987.977637.574551@guru.mired.org> <012601c1dadb$104d5100$0a00000a@atkielski.com> <15531.2846.277278.29276@guru.mired.org> <005e01c1db44$e10d2a40$0a00000a@atkielski.com> <15531.27851.19169.720598@guru.mired.org> <001301c1db55$7c883950$0301a8c0@NITEDOG> <009201c1db5e$41b1baa0$0a00000a@atkielski.com> <15531.33743.830853.456500@guru.mired.org> <000f01c1db68$0bbad580$0301a8c0@NITEDOG> <15531.37605.851236.651200@guru.mired.org> <004901c1db69$9a1cc3f0$0301a8c0@NITEDOG> <15531.38785.141595.336871@guru.mired.org> <007601c1db6c$9daac550$0301a8c0@NITEDOG>
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In <007601c1db6c$9daac550$0301a8c0@NITEDOG>, Randall Hamilton <nitedog@silly.pikachu.org> typed: > > In <004901c1db69$9a1cc3f0$0301a8c0@NITEDOG>, Randall Hamilton > <nitedog@silly.pikachu.org> typed: > > No, I'm not forgetting it, but as the man said, "there are advantages > > that outweigh that." All the hardware I need to work works. Sure, I > > may have to buy from a more limited set than you do, but the small set > > I use is includes everything I need, which is all that matters. > again...when i see an OS that can support my hardware..play my games..do my > work and other multimedia needs..I will use that as a desktop. > and yes..desktops are generally end user machines...or as you put it 'home > machines' No, "end user" and "home machines" are two radically different types of machines. I spent most of my adult life supporting end user machines, but playing games was never part of the story. For that matter, audio and video weren't, either. > > Yes, it does. What you're calling a desktop I'd call a home > > machine. What you're calling workstation I'd call a server with a GUI > > interface. You've dropped the entire class of machines between those > > two ends, which includes all the machines that businesses put on their > > employees desktops so they can get work done. They aren't geared to a > > specific task, but are available for all the tasks that employee does > > does. They generally don't need audio or video, and games clearly have > > no place on them. > thats...basiclly what i just said. if i am an accountant, all i need is a > workstation with the billing software. if i am a dataentry person, all i > need is a workstation with the database-drivin data entry program. they need > nothing else..just.. I think you don't really grasp what a business machine does. The only accountant who just needs "billing software" probably doens't even need that. Those who actually use computers probably expect to be able to do word processing above and beyond what a spreadsheet has, and will need all the ancillary software that goes with that - spelling and grammer checking, thesaurus, and so on. They may well do email to/from clients about various issues. In most of the places I've worked, email was either the #1 or #2 most important application. There's a good chance that one or more of the journals in their field is now online, and the IRS publishes documents via the web, so they need a web browser and the application to print those forms. Oh yes, they'll want a printer. If they're dealing with typeset documents, they may want a scanner and some OCR software. That's to be contrasted with what I thought you meant by workstation, which would be something like one part of an order entry system. If that's not what you meant, but you meant a general-purpose computer used by someone dong work, then the difference is that you play games on a desktop, but not on a workstation. Which makes my PS2 a better desktop machine than Windows, but not as good a workstation :-). <mike -- Mike Meyer <mwm@mired.org> http://www.mired.org/home/mwm/ Independent WWW/Perforce/FreeBSD/Unix consultant, email for more information. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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