I've been following this thread for a while. and haven't decided to say something until now. I'm of the oppinion that linux as an operating system accessable to the blind, is streets ahead of it's comercial counterparts. I say this because as a user of both operating systems, I can see the place for both of them. I find that windows in a normal office environment is a very powerful tool indeed. However, if I could have the power of linux and the ease of use of windows all rolled into one, I'd be a very happy camper. I mean I'd like the nice frilly bits of microsoft word and excell and all that but right at the moment, I haven't seen gpl console versions of either. Linux is a great workhorse especially if you want to run it as a server box or as a firewall, but I want the durrability of linux with the ease of use of windows but I guess for now I'll just have to learn how to use linux to it's full potential. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not complaining, just stating how I feel on the whole issue. Shaun.. ------------------------------------ Make Unlimited phone calls from your PC to ANY phone in the World! http://www.eboom.com/free/ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles Hallenbeck" <chuckh@xxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <speakup at braille.uwo.ca> Sent: Saturday, August 25, 2001 10:59 PM Subject: Re: Hewlet Packard and Linux > Charlie and all - > > Your remarks about DOS are interesting - I was a DOS fan too and actually > never moved to Windows, except to support my Arkenstone Open Book Unbound > software. My machine is presently a dual boot machine so I can se Linux to > get work done or else at boot time select DOS (I use the Caldera > OpenDOS) to use my scanner software and one or two other legacy apps. > > If you remember when DOS was introduced in the early 80s, version 1.X was > a lot like CP/M; as it was revised to 2.X and then 3.X, it gradually > became a lot more like Unix than CP/M, with a hierarchical file system, > batch files, and then later versions even had online help. > > Now that should tell you something: namely, that Unix was a mature > standard for text consoles even in the early 80s when DOS was being forged > in Redmond. Linux of course is an Open Source and contemporary > implementation of Unix, and is therefore a decade ahead of the game > compared to DOS. > > Linux is also a fundamentally dual personality system, with its GUI being > a robust add-on to the underlying text based console system. > > Linux was created as Open Source on the internet and is maintained and > developed there. It is a fundamental mistake to think of it in the same > market terms as the other major OS. Of course there is no market for Linux > accessibility solutions. But there are users and there is need, and that > need is being met by and large without benefit of market concepts. > > How do people make a living in the Open Source world? By selling services, > not products. Products in the Open Source world are organic things. They > take root, they grow, they live or die on their merits, and they both give > to and take from their users. There would be no Speakup if it were > conceived on a marketing model of accessibility solutions, trust me on > that one. > > So - don't worry about Linux, it is in there for the long haul. > > I was recently tempted to spring for a preinstalled Linux system when I > last upgraded, but opted for the "rolling my own" solution. I am convinced > that if I had plunked down for a package deal I would have ended up > overhauling it anyway. > > Will Linux ever be a mass market product suitable for the people who check > their email once a week and want their machine to do what they want, and > not what they say? Probably not. There may always be a niche for a > Windows-type OS with its closely guarded secrets and predatory practices, > with all the insides protected from meddling users and all the decision > details already made for them. > > Best regards - and welcome to the list! > > Chuck > > > Visit me at http://www.mhonline.net/~chuckh > The Moon is Waxing Crescent (46% of Full) > > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > >
