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Groups > comp.os.linux.misc > #1681

Re: Good Linux to start with

From Aragorn <stryder@telenet.be.invalid>
Newsgroups comp.os.linux.misc
Subject Re: Good Linux to start with
Followup-To comp.os.linux.misc
Date 2011-07-07 23:41 +0200
Organization A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID <iv5976$eda$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References (1 earlier) <4e12f06c$1@news.x-privat.org> <iv0f45$hbs$1@dont-email.me> <iv1g6j$9gj$4@news.albasani.net> <iv24ud$o59$1@dont-email.me> <slrnj1c6hm.crb.hjp-usenet2@hrunkner.hjp.at>

Followups directed to: comp.os.linux.misc

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On Thursday 07 July 2011 22:42 in comp.os.linux.misc, Peter J. Holzer 
enlightened humanity with the following words...:

> Aragorn <stryder@telenet.be.invalid> schrieb:
>
>> I'm not talking of the Windows platform not technically working.
>> I am talking of the single user paradigm not working in the
>> multiuser, networked ecosystem of today.
> 
> Frankly, while the Unix multiuser paradigm was ok for the
> non-networked multi-user systems of the 70s and early 80s, it isn't
> well suited for networked systems.

Why is that?  On non-networked systems back in the days, terminal 
consoles were usually connected via slow serial connections.  A thin 
client or terminal emulator connected via today's network technology has 
a much faster connection to the main system.

Don't forget that the internet is /built/ on UNIX.  But like the man 
said...:

    PROGRESS, n.:

	"The way the internet has evolved from smart people sitting
	at dumb terminals towards dumb people sitting at smart
	terminals."

There is truth in that.  The clients have gotten "thicker" - they're PCs 
now, instead of just terminal consoles.  And the people have gotten 
dumber, because they are using those PCs - which are genuine computers 
in and of themselves - as appliances.

For a netbook, a tablet or a smartphone, I can understand.  If you can 
carry it with you, fine.  But for a multifunctional workstation computer 
such as an x86 machine, I don't agree with it.  The prevalence of 
malware in the (still Microsoft Windows-dominated) x86 market proves 
that.

> Unfortunately I don't see anything better.

The single-user paradigm certainly isn't.  That only works on a 
standalone machine, without any connection to any network whatsoever.  
And even on account of the portable devices I spoke of higher up there 
is something to be said against a single-user paradigm, because they too 
are connected to "a" network.  Be it the internet, or some WLAN.  And 
there already /is/ malware circulating for those devices just as well.

Only yesterday or the day before, I read an article on Google News with 
regard to a British tabloid who had hacked into the either the cellphone 
or the cellphone account of a murdered British teenage girl.  The girl 
was missing, and by deleting her voicemail messages, the tabloid could 
keep the illusion up that the girl was erasing her voicemail messages, 
so that they could tap more messages as they came in and override the 
storage limitations of the voicemail account.  But the girl was dead.  
She had been missing since early in the year and her body was only 
discovered in September, due to the actions of this tabloid.  Likewise, 
the tabloid's crackers had also already broken into either the 
cellphones or the cellphone accounts of various other people.

Similarly - and to return to the x86 platform - Microsoft Windows still 
uses a volume-oriented approach to storage, which dates back to CP/M and 
the days that personal computers did not have hard disks, and had to use 
multiple floppy disks as storage.  

All of this underscores what I wrote higher up, because these days, the 
graphical filemanager applications that ship with the likes of KDE et al 
are now volume-oriented.  You don't have to navigate the directory 
hierarchy anymore.  Just click on the partition icon.  And these days, 
"/bin/mount" and "/bin/umount" are installed SUID out of the box, so 
even an unprivileged user now has the ability to mount or unmount hard 
disk partitions, and the filemanager takes you straight to the volume.

I see all of this as a confirmation of my theory that the influx of 
Windows usage is spilling over to GNU/Linux development, even though the 
latter has always been technically superior, _because_ it is a UNIX-
family operating system, which Microsoft Windows is not, never has been, 
and never will be.  

There /is/ a clear "Windows-ization" going on of the desktop-oriented 
GNU/Linux distributions, and that's because a lot of people who are 
developing software for GNU/Linux now are coming from the Windows 
paradigm (which is more or less the same as that of Apple), and have 
embraced GNU/Linux because of the wrong reasons, i.e. it doesn't have 
viruses and it's more stable, and it doesn't cost any money, and the 
code is free to study.

I'm not saying that the idea behind Free & Open Source is bad - on the 
contrary, I strongly support it - but it's the attitude of today's 
developers that's bad, because they've had their logic polluted and 
tainted by the Microsoft (and Apple) paradigm.

When "userfriendliness" takes precedence over common sense and a time-
proven and well-established logic, then we're headed for disaster.  
Microsoft Windows is the "living" proof of that.  So I say let UNIX 
_stay_ UNIX.  Pretty please.

-- 
Aragorn
(registered GNU/Linux user #223157)

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Thread

Good Linux to start with Halberstam Reader <joe.snod@yahoo.com> - 2011-07-03 18:40 -0700
  Re: Good Linux to start with John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2011-07-03 20:53 -0500
  Re: Good Linux to start with bosco <boscopelone@yahoo.com> - 2011-07-03 21:16 -0600
    Re: Good Linux to start with bruce.sinclair@NOSPAMORELSEagresearch.NOTco.NOTnz (Bruce Sinclair) - 2011-07-04 04:07 +0000
  Re: Good Linux to start with Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> - 2011-07-04 03:28 +0000
    Re: Good Linux to start with Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2011-07-04 12:04 -0400
      Re: Good Linux to start with Aragorn <stryder@telenet.be.invalid> - 2011-07-04 23:07 +0200
  Re: Good Linux to start with David Brown <david@westcontrol.removethisbit.com> - 2011-07-04 10:15 +0200
  Re: Good Linux to start with Bob Henson <rh547477@gmail.com> - 2011-07-04 10:00 +0100
  Re: Good Linux to start with Torsten Mueller <dev-null@shared-files.de> - 2011-07-04 11:10 +0200
    Re: Good Linux to start with Balwinder S Dheeman <bsd.SANSPAM@anu.homelinux.net> - 2011-07-04 16:11 +0530
  Re: Good Linux to start with Richard Kimber <richardkimber@btinternet.com> - 2011-07-04 06:59 -0500
    Re: Good Linux to start with The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-04 13:35 +0100
      Re: Good Linux to start with David Brown <david@westcontrol.removethisbit.com> - 2011-07-04 15:25 +0200
    Re: Good Linux to start with Mark <i@dontgetlotsofspamanymore.invalid> - 2011-07-05 11:41 +0100
  Re: Good Linux to start with jmclnx@SPAMisBADgmail.com (Jack McCue) - 2011-07-04 12:50 +0000
  Re: Good Linux to start with Keith Keller <kkeller-usenet@wombat.san-francisco.ca.us> - 2011-07-04 07:47 -0700
  Re: Good Linux to start with ray <ray@zianet.com> - 2011-07-04 14:50 +0000
  Re: Good Linux to start with Stefan Patric <not@this.address.com> - 2011-07-04 17:23 +0000
    Re: Good Linux to start with Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2011-07-05 07:39 +0200
      Re: Good Linux to start with JohnT <john@example.com> - 2011-07-05 07:52 +0000
        Re: Good Linux to start with Robert Riches <spamtrap42@jacob21819.net> - 2011-07-05 15:51 +0000
        Re: Good Linux to start with Aragorn <stryder@telenet.be.invalid> - 2011-07-06 03:46 +0200
          Re: Good Linux to start with "Peter J. Holzer" <hjp-usenet2@hjp.at> - 2011-07-07 22:35 +0200
            Re: Good Linux to start with Aragorn <stryder@telenet.be.invalid> - 2011-07-07 23:06 +0200
              Re: Good Linux to start with "Peter J. Holzer" <hjp-usenet2@hjp.at> - 2011-07-08 13:44 +0200
                Re: Good Linux to start with Hans Georg Schaathun <hg@schaathun.net> - 2011-07-13 08:58 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Mark <i@dontgetlotsofspamanymore.invalid> - 2011-07-13 09:41 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Richard Kettlewell <rjk@greenend.org.uk> - 2011-07-13 10:07 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Hans Georg Schaathun <hg@schaathun.net> - 2011-07-13 12:46 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Richard Kettlewell <rjk@greenend.org.uk> - 2011-07-13 13:47 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Hans Georg Schaathun <hg@schaathun.net> - 2011-07-13 14:20 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Richard Kettlewell <rjk@greenend.org.uk> - 2011-07-13 15:26 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2011-07-13 07:37 -0500
                Re: Good Linux to start with Hans Georg Schaathun <hg@schaathun.net> - 2011-07-13 14:16 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-13 14:35 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Hans Georg Schaathun <hg@schaathun.net> - 2011-07-13 15:13 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Richard Kettlewell <rjk@greenend.org.uk> - 2011-07-13 16:36 +0100
            Re: Good Linux to start with Mark <i@dontgetlotsofspamanymore.invalid> - 2011-07-08 08:53 +0100
              Re: Good Linux to start with "Peter J. Holzer" <hjp-usenet2@hjp.at> - 2011-07-08 14:09 +0200
  Re: Good Linux to start with Anton Meyninger <anton.meyninger@gmail.com> - 2011-07-05 13:07 +0200
    Re: Good Linux to start with Aragorn <stryder@telenet.be.invalid> - 2011-07-06 03:52 +0200
      Re: Good Linux to start with The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-06 12:16 +0100
        Re: Good Linux to start with Aragorn <stryder@telenet.be.invalid> - 2011-07-06 19:10 +0200
          Re: Good Linux to start with The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-06 18:30 +0100
            Re: Good Linux to start with Aragorn <stryder@telenet.be.invalid> - 2011-07-07 01:57 +0200
              Re: Good Linux to start with Robert Riches <spamtrap42@jacob21819.net> - 2011-07-07 03:26 +0000
                Re: Good Linux to start with The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-07 05:48 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Balwinder S Dheeman <bsd.SANSPAM@anu.homelinux.net> - 2011-07-07 11:15 +0530
                Re: Good Linux to start with The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-07 07:14 +0100
              Re: Good Linux to start with The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-07 05:45 +0100
              Re: Good Linux to start with Richard Kettlewell <rjk@greenend.org.uk> - 2011-07-07 09:53 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Mark <i@dontgetlotsofspamanymore.invalid> - 2011-07-07 10:41 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Richard Kettlewell <rjk@greenend.org.uk> - 2011-07-07 11:32 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-07 13:49 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Mark <i@dontgetlotsofspamanymore.invalid> - 2011-07-07 15:01 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-07 15:16 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with "Peter J. Holzer" <hjp-usenet2@hjp.at> - 2011-07-07 23:04 +0200
                Re: Good Linux to start with Mark <i@dontgetlotsofspamanymore.invalid> - 2011-07-08 08:58 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with "Peter J. Holzer" <hjp-usenet2@hjp.at> - 2011-07-08 14:19 +0200
                Re: Good Linux to start with The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-08 13:44 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Mark <i@dontgetlotsofspamanymore.invalid> - 2011-07-11 09:39 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with blmblm@myrealbox.com <blmblm.myrealbox@gmail.com> - 2011-07-10 19:02 +0000
                Re: Good Linux to start with blmblm@myrealbox.com <blmblm.myrealbox@gmail.com> - 2011-07-10 19:01 +0000
            Re: Good Linux to start with Robert Riches <spamtrap42@jacob21819.net> - 2011-07-07 03:16 +0000
              Re: Good Linux to start with The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-07 05:47 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Robert Riches <spamtrap42@jacob21819.net> - 2011-07-07 05:00 +0000
          Re: Good Linux to start with "Peter J. Holzer" <hjp-usenet2@hjp.at> - 2011-07-07 22:42 +0200
            Re: Good Linux to start with Aragorn <stryder@telenet.be.invalid> - 2011-07-07 23:41 +0200
              Re: Good Linux to start with "Peter J. Holzer" <hjp-usenet2@hjp.at> - 2011-07-08 14:07 +0200
                Re: Good Linux to start with Aragorn <stryder@telenet.be.invalid> - 2011-07-09 02:05 +0200
                Re: Good Linux to start with "Peter J. Holzer" <hjp-usenet2@hjp.at> - 2011-07-09 21:10 +0200
                Re: Good Linux to start with Aragorn <stryder@telenet.be.invalid> - 2011-07-10 02:16 +0200
                Re: Good Linux to start with Richard Kettlewell <rjk@greenend.org.uk> - 2011-07-10 10:42 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Aragorn <stryder@telenet.be.invalid> - 2011-07-11 05:03 +0200
                Re: Good Linux to start with The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2011-07-11 08:23 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Mark <i@dontgetlotsofspamanymore.invalid> - 2011-07-11 09:52 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Richard Kettlewell <rjk@greenend.org.uk> - 2011-07-11 11:16 +0100
                Re: Good Linux to start with Robert Riches <spamtrap42@jacob21819.net> - 2011-07-10 03:49 +0000
                Re: Good Linux to start with "Peter J. Holzer" <hjp-usenet2@hjp.at> - 2011-07-11 13:56 +0200
                Re: Good Linux to start with blmblm@myrealbox.com <blmblm.myrealbox@gmail.com> - 2011-07-11 22:31 +0000
                Re: Good Linux to start with "Peter J. Holzer" <hjp-usenet2@hjp.at> - 2011-07-12 15:30 +0200
                Re: Good Linux to start with blmblm@myrealbox.com <blmblm.myrealbox@gmail.com> - 2011-07-12 22:28 +0000
  Re: Good Linux to start with Feranija <feranija@net...> - 2011-07-06 11:37 -0700
  Re: Good Linux to start with TJ <TJ@noneofyour.business> - 2011-07-18 09:35 -0400

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