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Re: MOO vs. LPMUD, Pueblo, etc

>>>>> "Rob" == Rob Turknett <rturknett@mail.utexas.edu> writes:

    >> I was in the local bookstore last Friday night, and I was
    >> really suprised to see an entire shelf devoted to Linux.  Not
    >> just a shelf really, but an entire floor to ceiling bookcase, 6
    >> feet high and 4 feet wide, with nothing but Linux books on it!
    >> I think Linux is going to be a *VERY* serious contender for the
    >> desktop and home market in the near future, because it *IS*
    >> Unix, and it runs on the hardware people already own, or can
    >> easily obtain, and the software is free: you can download it
    >> off the net, or you can buy a book a CD-ROM for $30.00 or so.
    >> And you can *LEGALLY* give it to friends, etc.  If you are a
    >> corporate user, one copy gives you all the software for 200 PCs
    >> in your company.  Microsoft is going to have a real problem
    >> with that in the near future...

    Rob> That's a nice fantasy, but let's face it, Linux is for geeks
    Rob> like us who have the patience to figure things out -- not for
    Rob> the mass market.  Technically, Linux is a great network OS,
    Rob> but being technically good has very little to do with how
    Rob> popular it is among anyone besides ourselves.  People using
    Rob> Macs are not willing to step ten years back in the
    Rob> development of user interface and deal with command lines and
    Rob> X-Windows. More importantly, there is no marketing machine
    Rob> pushing Linux down the throats of companies and home
    Rob> users. No CEO has ever even heard of Linux. Linux is and will
    Rob> remain the choice of techies, or "early-adopters," as they
    Rob> are called in the computer biz.

Actually, the mass market doesn't even have the patience to figure out
DOS, so what's the difference?  They still call in geeks like us when
the want to set up a machine or learn how to do something.  Either
that or they just take the machine the way the dealer sold it to them
and ask the dealer when they have a problem -- the blind leading the
blind.  I see no reason why this gives Microsoft any advantage over
Linux.  The real truth is that the mass market still doesn't know
about Linux, but I suspect that they will before too much longer.
Remember, the internet was for geeks, even after Mosiac, until
Netscape came along.  Geeks like us were busy using ftp and archie and
telnet on dumb VT-100 terminals long before any GUI stuff was around.
The right packaging will make Linux attractive to the masses too: a
good start is to have dealers that will sell you a Linux box set up
and ready to go on the net, and those same dealers willing to hand
hold just like they do new DOS/W95 users today.

    Rob> I probably shouldn't have written this...I hope it doesn't
    Rob> spark a pointless debate. I would hate for this thread to
    Rob> turn into an OS argument, so let us exercise some restraint
    Rob> (or move this to another list).

    Rob> Rob


Sorry for the comeback, but I see the MOO as a valuable tool on the
net, not just a toy or a game.  I see Linux as the ideal way for a
small corporation to put a moo up on the net, along with a web server,
ftp server, etc.

-- 
-----------  "...  And the men went up and viewed Ai."  [Jos 7:2]  -----------
Robert Jay Brown III  rj@eli.wariat.org  http://eli.wariat.org  1 847 705-0370
Elijah Laboratories Inc;  759 Independence Drive;  Suite 5;  Palatine IL 60074
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