Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Fri, 30 Nov 2001 22:33:46 +0100
From:      "Anthony Atkielski" <anthony@freebie.atkielski.com>
To:        <smorton@acm.org>, <questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject:   Re: Feeding the Troll (Was: freebsd as a desktop ?)
Message-ID:  <002e01c179e6$b1933c60$0a00000a@atkielski.com>
References:  <001701c17985$89206f20$1401a8c0@tedm.placo.com> <03ea01c17986$b9dd6f40$0a00000a@atkielski.com> <3C07AAC7.4010700@verizon.net>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Simon writes:

> On what planet does nobody assert that Windows
> is a better server host?

There may be such feelings in Redmond, but I haven't seen that suggested on this
list.

> let's face it, timesharing is a non-issue.

Is it?  In what way?  Timesharing of a large system is pretty useful; for
constrained applications in a business environment in particular, timesharing
may be more economical than having a separate PC on every desk, although it's
very much out of fashion right now (except in very expensive, brain-dead hybrids
like Windows Terminal Server).

> You seem to be investing a lot of energy in
> debating the mouse that is squeaking about
> FreeBSD being better than Windows on the
> desktop ...

That's where I see the irrational statements being made.

> ... all the while ignoring the 800 pound-gorilla
> with the big stick that has been devoting the
> majority of its abundant resources over the past
> ten years in trying to make Windows the dominant,
> or better still, the only operating system
> for server applications.  And, some might even say,
> succeeding.

Unless Microsoft makes some key changes in its strategy, I don't see it winning
in the server market.  Microsoft has had a desktop mentality for a very long
time, and this is very evident in its behavior and strategies, and until and
unless someone who has seen some other type of computer besides a PC starts
making some of the decisions, the server market is likely to remain pretty safe
from Microsoft competition.  There's a limit to how far you can get with
marketing and hype alone.

> And yet, by you, "Microsoft is right, for the
> most part" in divining their customer's needs and
> providing the right product.

On the desktop, that's true.  But MS is still clueless in many areas of server
environments.  The company has a very poor grasp of the real priorities in
server operation and administration--which are very different from those of a
desktop user.


To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message




Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?002e01c179e6$b1933c60$0a00000a>