This is the reply that I got from Chris H. ----- Original Message ----- From: Chris Hofstader <ChrisH@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: 'Igor Gueths' <igueths at attbi.com> Sent: Thursday, May 02, 2002 5:32 PM Subject: RE: I swear to tell the truth > Hi, > > My testimony was purely to the points that I did not want to see multiple > versions of Windows kicking around. To make JAWS and our other products, we > need to remain narrowly focused on testing on a single version of the OS. > > I agree entirely that an increasingly large number of companies are using > Linux. The vast majority of our new users are people getting a job for the > first time. People with limited skills and education do not get jobs as > sysadmins or working in a server farm. Many of our users work in call > centers with Windows based data entry screens. Others in more professional > environments lean toward jobs in health care, law and a vast array of > non-technical positions where their companies have standardized on Windows. > Sadly, guidance counselors in many parts of the US have steered blind people > away from the technical professions as engineering skills aren't valued too > highly by special education programs. > > No where in my testimony do I make any claims on the quality or > standardization of Linux or other open source projects. I do state that > there are many good accessibility aids for the Linux OS but that they depend > upon the work of volunteers. Microsoft has a large team of paid full time > staffers working exclusively on AT projects. I wish the people who make > money on Linux distributions would commit a reasonable level of resources to > the cause. > > I don't need to be convinced of the value of open source projects or of the > Linux OS. I just don't want Microsoft's products to be made open source. I > understand how the dynamics of the Windows world works. An open source > Internet Explorer would not be published with the GNU General Public License > but, rather, it would permit distribution of modified executables without > requiring the source code to be shared. Thus, many variants of IE would > turn up with a variety of levels of accessibility built in. > > I was simply addressing reality. Most blind people don't have jobs (75% or > so) this is the problem we need to solve today. My own background has seen > me as a strong advocate of Project GNU and as a co-founder of the LPF. I > still stand behind those efforts as well as I do my testimony. > > Thanks for writing, > cdh > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Igor Gueths [mailto:igueths at attbi.com] > Sent: Thursday, May 02, 2002 5:01 PM > To: ChrisH at freedomscientific.com > Cc: speakup at braille.uwo.ca > Subject: I swear to tell the truth > > > Hi Chris. As you can probably see, I am from the Speakup list. I am an > active user of the Linux operating system, however I still rely on Win for > some things, but am increasingly switching to Linux. Following the posting > of your testimony to this mailing list, one person commented on the fact > that Win98 especially, is unstable, therefore it will reduce output from a > company because of crashes and/or rebooting. This is why I use Linux. It is > a much more stable environment. I would also like to comment on your > statement about Win being the most used OS in most companies. I believe that > this highly depends on what job you take. For example, a lot of companies > are now using Linux especially in their server architecture. So if you got a > job there, you could very well find yourself working at a Debian Gnu Linux > 2.2 or later system, Slackware, or Redhat. I also feel that it is necessary > to comment on bugs in programs. Most Windows programs that I have used have > a lot of bugs in them. As a result, they usually crash, giving some invalid > page fault in some module, usually within the application. If you report the > problem to the vendor of the product, I have found that the response is that > "We are currently looking into this problem." > > They don't attempt to put fixes up for the bugs, and as a result you > have to wait for the next upgrade. Then you possibly have to pay full price > for the upgrade, and this can get rather annoying after a while. In my > opinion, this is a case of developers making money off of software bugs, and > purposefully coding buggy, untested software so it can get to market > quicker. This is where Linux andthe OSDN become superior. > > You report a bug, and a patch for the program can come back to you > within hours, not days. The developers have the code in front of them, a > well as the end user. In other words, if the end user has knolige in C/C++, > and the program happens to be written in either of these two languages, the > user can very well modify the software to fit his/her needs, and also fixing > the bug (s). > > I also believe that your statement about open source programs being of > different versions because different developers are working on them is > wrong. This is where Cvs comes in. I'm not sure if you are familiar with > this, it is a system which manages and tracks all versions of your programs. > Once a developer which is working on the program submits his modified > sourcecode with the new changelog, then it is there for other developers to > download and work on and then recommit the code with their changes. In this > way, there is no mistake about version information and features. > > A lot of people from this list have been putting their two-sense in > regarding your testimony. I just felt that I should sum up the opinions and > include mine in as well. > > Regards, Igor and Speakup Mailing List
