New Microsoft Knowledgebase article - OVER??

[Matthew Keller]

Steve Cody wrote:
> 
> To EVERYONE who has been whining about this issue all day on this same
> thread:
> 
> As you can see by the response below, it takes serious replies, and serious
> emails to the right people to make things happen.  A bunch of complaining,
> whining, OS bashing doesn't do anything but boost your ego.  There has
> always been one thing you could tell about Linux lovers...  About 90% of
> them are fanatics, and the remaining 10% get things accomplished.  How many
> RAVING Microsoft fanatics are there out there?  I myself, use Linux, and
> Windows NT on my networks.  They both have their appropriate uses.  It's
> time to come to reality and see that software CAN co-exist.  WHAT DO YOU
> THINK THE PURPOSE OF SAMBA IS ANYWAY?!

	You enjoy being flamed, don't you? Normally I stay out of such rubish,
but you hit a nerve.

	First of all, "fanatics" can be found anywhere. There *are* raving MS
fanatics. I have a client that runs, NT/98, with MS SQL server for
database, Exchange for email serving, Outlook for and email client, Word
for word processing, Excel for spreadsheets, etc, etc. etc. NOT because
it is the best solution, but because he believes in Bill Gates and
Microsoft as a copmany. I have colleagues who won't touch a computer
unless it has an Apple logo on it. "Fanatics" are everywhere. There are
a lot of "new school" IT professionals that swear by NT/Microsoft...
They wear ties, use Internet Explorer, have AOL as an ISP, and believe
that UNIX is for geeks and geriatrics. I call them 'zealots', you call
them 'fanatics'... Same thing. 

	I think accusing 90% of the Linux community of "not getting things
accomplished" is not only off-base, but shows inexperience with Linux
users on your part. The fact is that Linux is an increasingly viable
alternative to high-priced OS's such as NT, Solaris, etc. Sure, some
people go overboard, but it is their right. The vast majority of the
hundreds of Linux users I come in contact with every day are very
level-headed, stable people. 
	I'm not naive enough to think that everyone feels how I do: That a
healthy mix of Solaris, Linux and NT is the optimal solution for
mid-to-large scale networks. For some clients I recommend an NT-based
server solution, for some I recommend Solaris, some I recommend Linux-
It depends on the situation. Truth be known I WISH that NT had the
stability/versatility of Linux, or that Linux had the ease-of-management
of NT. It's getting there- Both of them. Linux is getting more
management-friendly and NT is getting "more UNIX-like".
	
	As for your rhetorical quip about the "purpose" of Samba- It is an
alternative to NT for serving files, printers, and applications to
Windows clients. Windows on the desktop is not going away anytime soon-
Nor do I necessarilly think it should. Some
businesses/non-profits/educational institutions can't afford the
thousands of dollars it costs to license NT. Some can't even "afford"
Linux, but at least it is an option. Linux users KNOW that "they both
have their appropriate uses" - There are somethings that NT simply does
better (at this point). The spirit of Samba and OSS is to provide
ALTERNATIVES to proprietary, non-extensible software.

	I shudder to think of the day when the only server side option is a
Microsoft product. Competition spurns evolution and development. If
Linux never was "born", would M$ have ANYONE to compete with on the
server side? Ok, Sun is a competitor, and Novell is still hanging on. My
point is that the "fanatics" or "zealots" of the Linux community HAVE
made a difference, and HAVE gotten things done. They have pushed other
companies to refocus, and start innovating.

	I agree that this thread is better served on an advocacy list than on
this list- And I'll also admit that your message is the only one I've
even read (since the first in the thread) because you changed the
subject (slightly). I can see a zeal-war a mile away, and the opener to
this thread was begging for it. Zealots have their place in society, and
in the OSS community. I think it is healthier to ignore the thread and
glean the quality information from this list, then to brand 90% of the
Linux community as "fanatics" and unproductive.

	My humblest of apologies to all whose mailbox this email has cluttered.
	
-- 

          - Matthew Keller -
       Lead Programmer/Analyst
  Distributed Computing and Telemedia
State University of New York at Potsdam

Web: http://mattwork.potsdam.edu/
PGP: http://mattwork.potsdam.edu/crypto/