From: Michael S. Lorrey (mike@datamann.com)
Date: Thu Mar 09 2000 - 15:08:53 MST
Bryan Moss wrote:
> > Hey guys, look at this...
> >
> > [Corel Linux on cheap Intel boxes...]
>
> Do we really want the whole world using UNIX? I'll answer
> that question for you - no!
Whats the matter Bryan? Bummed that unix users won't be so 'leet anymore?
> But here's the trillion dollar
> question, what OS will we be running in the near future if
> not Windows? Mac OS? BeOS? OS/2 Warp? Anyone know of any
> promising non-UNIX open source projects?
I suggest you look at the Corel linux offering before you toss it out the
window. Its extremely easy to install, setup, and use, and comes with lots of
good stuff.
> It looks to me like Windows is almost ready to die and we
> don't have anything to take its place in the hearts and
> minds of Joe Average (as far as Joe's concerned has there
> been any innovation beyond the original Mac? Does Mac OS X
> have enough eye candy to fool Joe in to thinking computing
> has advanced, or will Joe have to continue to rely on id
> Software for that?). Every company that could be developing
> such an OS (I use OS here in the loose Microsoft sense, I'm
> a fan of bloat) is either on the Linux bandwagon or on the
> 'Internet Appliances' bandwagon; neither are going anywhere
> (I hope). I don't think the right OS will emerge from the
> Internet, not in a timely fashion, but I do believe its
> source should be open.
here's where I have to take exception, Bryan. Corel has already ported its
WordPerfect Office Suite to linux, and is close to unveiling the linux port of
Ventura Publisher. I've been using the win version of Ventura for several years
now, and its gotten to the point where it exceeds anything quark or adobe are
able to product for DTP software. Since the x generation of the Mac is going to
also be unix based, you will be seeing a Ventura port to Mac at that point.
Corel Draw is also on linux, and corel has a whole host of other software makers
porting to their linux brand (called COLOS) The corel linux graphical interface
is on par with any other GUI, and linux's network capabilities are surperior to
windows in all respects. Corel has really jumped onto linux full steam, as they
got sick of getting the shaft from microsoft on development information, which
repeatedly has caused initial releases of new versions of their software to be
quite buggy.
I predict that what you will be seeing five yars down the road are three
dominant consolidated PC/OS archituctures: Apple MacX, WinTerm/Webtv, and
COLOS/Intel. COLOS will be making inroads into Mac's publishing marketshare due
to wider acceptance of Ventura in the traditional DTP world (as opposed to the
corporate DTP world which has used Ventura all along), and it will sell well
among disgruntled PC users, while the WinTerm will expand into the iMac market
as well as into the webtv/home appliance market.
> I recently read an article in which a journalist claimed
> that because of the Web, it doesn't matter what OS you're
> using as long as it can run a browser. I've seen other
> journalists claim similar things. When people genuinely
> believe bastardised hypertext is the pinnacle of human
> achievement it's time to innovate, and fast!
Very true. In publishing, while Acrobat has helped considerably bridge the cross
platform needs between the graphic artist publishers and the book publishers,
there is no substitute for EPS files sometimes, especiallywhen you are dealing
with higher resolution color separations.
> Sometimes I wonder if the current dot-com madness, which
> places the emphasis not on technology but on some vague idea
> of a future business model, is simply due to a lull in
> software development due to our underestimating the
> complexity of voice interfaces and other exotica. Is there
> room for something new or should we wait until there's
> enough hardware to do more exotic forms of human-computer
> interaction, or perhaps even remove the human altogether?
The dot com html mania is merely the expansion of the medium into the lower
quality niches consumed by the masses, much as Gutenberg's press made the bible
easily accessible to the masses, it degraded the quality of the theological
debate in europe with high noise to signal ratios.
--
TANSTAAFL!!!
Michael S. Lorrey
Director, Grafton County Fish & Game Assoc.
http://www.lorrey.com/gcfga/
Member, Extropy Institute
http://www.extropy.org
Member, National Rifle Association
http://www.nra.org
"Live Free or Die, Death is not the Worst of Evils."
- General John Stark
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