Why most run Microsoft, not RedHat

[Rick Sewill]

On Wed, 2007-04-25 at 23:11 +0300, Dotan Cohen wrote:
> On 25 Apr 2007 19:51:58 +0200, Ingemar Nilsson <init at pdc.kth.se> wrote:
> > "Dotan Cohen" <dotancohen at gmail.com> writes:
> >
> > > That's exactly what it does. The MS versioning system is, er, lacking.
> > > Repairing XP brings it back to the install state.
> >
> > What about additional binaries and changed configuration files (and the
> > registry) that point to these (possibly incompatible) binaries? I only
> > trust the installer to bring Windows back to the install state, and only
> > after formatting the system partition.
> >
> 
> I don't know. I don't want to know. I no longer use those systems, and
> try my best not to repair other people's broken winboxen. For my low
> competency level, fixing a winbox today simply mean reinstalling the
> OS and then installing my box 'o tricks: AVG antivirus, AVG
> antispyware, Zonealarm free, OOo, Firefox, and VLC.
> 
> Maybe someone should port yum to windows :)
> 
> Dotan Cohen
> 
> http://what-is-what.com/what_is/bluetooth.html
> http://lyricslist.com/lyrics/artist_albums/94/buchcherry.html
> 

I have tried to avoid this thread as much as possible.

I am forced to use Windows for work.  I play Oblivion on Windows.
If work permitted, and Oblivion could be played on Linux,
I would not have any reason to boot up Windows.

My reasons for using Windows are as follows:
1) people at work use Windows so I must use Windows.
   I suspect this is a fact of life for many people.

2) Certain software works on Windows, but does not work or works
   poorly on Linux.  I am not saying anything good or bad about
   Windows or Linux.  It is just the way it is.  People write
   software for the "market leader" which happens to be Windows.
   I keep trying to run Oblivion, using wine, with little success.

Some people say "Windows just works better".  This is only half true.
The average consumer can just insert a disk, and expect it to work.
Some company spent the time to make hardware work with Windows.

Every Linux person has their own hardware horror stories.
My webcam does not work.  My MP3 does not work.  My ... does not work.
I actually have them working well enough, for me, on Linux.

I feel Windows "works better" only when a company makes it work better.
The webcam maker releases a Windows CD, as does the MP3 maker.

I bet making hardware work on Windows is just as hard, if not harder,
if a company did not do the hard work for the average consumer.

Look at Vista.  Companies have not made things "just work" yet.
The average consumer is complaining.  Not all his games work.

Things are not handed to us, on Linux.  We have to help ourselves.
We surf the net looking for hints.  We read mailing lists.
We cannot be the average consumer unless somebody does the hard work.

Can someone summarize lessons we (Fedora/Linux) can learn from Windows?
There is always something we can learn from a competing product.
I would prefer a summary.  The volume of this thread overwhelms me.
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