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The War Is Over, and Linux Has Won

Posted by Zonk on Fri Nov 10, 2006 08:14 PM
from the victory dept.
xtaski writes "Dana Blankenhorn bluntly states a reality that many have known: 'The war is over and Linux won'. With Oracle and Microsoft putting Linux in the spotlight and positioning themselves to grow with Linux. 'A new report shows that 83% of companies expect to support new workloads on Linux against 23% for Windows. ... Over two-thirds of the respondents said they will increase their use of Linux in the next year, and almost no one said the opposite.'"
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  • Pearl Harbor (Score:5, Insightful)

    The battle is over and Linux has won it. The desktop is the major war.

    At best, Linux has won an opening skirmish. For most people, the internet is what runs on their desktop ( or laptop ). They have no more concern about the particulars of the server that their router connects to than they do about the particulars of the powerplant that their power cord connects to. They neither know nor care about server software

    At worst, it is like the Japanese general ( admiral? ) who is alleged to have said after Pearl Harbor: "I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant." MS is obviously taking Linux seriously now, but most people still don't know what it is. Expect MS to engage in serious Linux FUD.


    Anyway, congratulations to all the Linux coders.
    • Re: (Score:5, Informative)

      At worst, it is like the Japanese general ( admiral? ) who is alleged to have said after Pearl Harbor: "I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant."

      Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto [wikipedia.org]. He spent a significant amount of time in the US before the Japanese attacked. He felt that the pre-emptive strike was a mistake, and that it would only buy them about 6 months reprieve before the American war machine was fully geared up and ready. Thus his "I fear I have awakened a sleeping giant" comment.

      He was right. Six months later, the U.S. turned the tide at the Battle of Miday. The Japanese Navy was nowhere near as resilient as the U.S. Navy, and their losses hurt them deeply. Combined with the incredible number of carriers the U.S. began to manufacture, the six month turning point was a deadly one for Japan.
      [ Parent ]
      • Re: "Sleeping giant" (Score:5, Informative)

        by Deadstick (535032) on Friday November 10 2006, @08:57PM (#16801646)
        [ Parent ]
      • Re: by Darthmalt (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @09:36PM
        • Re: by cp.tar (Score:3) Friday November 10 2006, @10:14PM
          • You're insane. by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Friday November 10 2006, @11:05PM
          • Re: (Score:4, Insightful)

            by gripen40k (957933) on Friday November 10 2006, @11:25PM (#16802560)
            I have to agree with you on those two points. But there is another issue for a small sub-section of the general populous, people like me. I have spent countless hours tuning and playing with my system just to get it the way I like. I know windows 'cause that's what I learned on, and so switching to Linux would just be a waste of time. The things I could do on Linux I can now do on windows, with little or no problems at all. Anything that Linux is offering windows can already do, with Linux's added benefit of being free. Now with Vista looming over the horizon, the people like me are stuck in a bind. Linux is great and all, but is it really necessary to learn from the beginning? Unfortunately, that issue combined with the zero ability to play games (and wine in no-way counts) makes the decision easy for me. The only computer I own that has the slightest possibility of becoming a Linux box is my media server, which doesn't need windows. My laptop is a tablet and support/features for tablets running Linux isn't what I would want it to be right now. Oh well, I guess the media server is a start...
            [ Parent ]
            • Re: (Score:5, Interesting)

              by eno2001 (527078) on Saturday November 11 2006, @01:38AM (#16803158)
              (http://www.kickthebobo.com/erotech/index.html | Last Journal: Friday October 26, @11:51AM)
              Your assessment is farily realistic. Being an ex-Windows user who moved to Linux in 97, I have to say the only reasons I moved were the things that I could do in Linux that you can't do in Windows. There are a ton of things like that. But, it's pretty much an even split. For all those things, I'm sure you can find things that Windows can do that Linux can't. The only thing is the reason Linux can't do them is typically artifical restrictions and not really technical limitations of Linux. Which is an important point to clear up and keep at the forefront. Many people who complain about Linux "sucking" tend to do so because if they tried it, they typically ran into a restriction that was imposed artifically by a hardware vendor or some sort of copy protection mechanism. The "problems" in Linux are not due to design issues of technical failures at all. The fact that I can't join Vongo, for example, has nothing to do with Linux distros not being capable of handling streaming video over broadband. It has to do with the fact that Vongo decided to base their service around Windows Media Player with DRM. A completely artifical restrction made in the name of business.

              The fact that I can't play games like Max Payne unless I want to shell out for Cedega (which does work quite well for the games it supports officially) has nothing to do with Linux "not being up to par with Windows" where games are concerned. It has to do with the copy protection that the publisher chose which it is a crime to reverse engineer. Once again, an artificial restriction made for business reasons. I had a laptop from work at one point that I had to install Windows drivers in an NDIS Wrapper to get WiFi support for Linux with. Again, not a limitation of Linux at all, and quite a clevelr solution, I might add... The problem was that for business reasons, Broadcom had decided that they didn't want to release any specs for their WiFi chip. Seeing a theme here?

              In my case, Linux won enough for me to ditch EVERY Windows box I owned and run only Linux. If I need access to something in Windows (which is typically due to DRM issues), then I use virtualization. It's also been a lot cheaper for me since I can now have EVERY piece of software I want and I don't have to worry about licensing it for each machine I've got. The NLE video suite Cinelerra, is a perfect example. I *could* buy multiple copies of Premiere for the six machines I have here at home to do video editing. Or... I could just install as many copies of Cinelerra as I want on all 18 of my systems and use it's clustering features to have a nice little free renderfarm. But, my needs are a bit more advanced than most Windows users which is why I still think that having Windows around for the normal user is just fine. And, no that's not an elitist statement. I'm just saying that there aren't many people who have 18 systems at home, like to do video work and need/want a render farm.

              I won't really go into what Linux offers over Windows unless pressed, because most of us here know the truth about what Linux can do that Windows can't. :)
              [ Parent ]
              • Re: by gripen40k (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @02:39AM
              • Re: (Score:4, Interesting)

                by TheNetAvenger (624455) on Saturday November 11 2006, @03:37AM (#16803562)
                Being an ex-Windows user who moved to Linux in 97, I have to say the only reasons I moved were the things that I could do in Linux that you can't do in Windows. There are a ton of things like that. But, it's pretty much an even split. For all those things, I'm sure you can find things that Windows can do that Linux can't.

                I do hope that you have at least worked with Windows since 97 or use it from time to time. Windows from 1997 Win95/Win98 is quite different from the NT based model of XP and Vista.

                There are very few things you can do on Linux that you cannot do on a Windows system based on the NT architecture of today. From running in a GUI off mode to even not utilizing the Win32 subsystem and just using the BSD subsystem to write, compile and work with *nix based applications.

                Your statement about capabilities is VERY true when comparing a *nix OS to the DOS model Windows of the 90s, but it fails when trying to make the same assertion about the NT and modern based Windows versions.

                I don't want to pick on your post, but your comments would be like me saying I stopped using Mac at System 8.x and then defining my statements based on the limitations of the System 8 OS. And as most people know, the difference between a Mac running System 8 or 9 and a Mac running OSX is quite different, as OSX has very few architectural limitations. The same is true of modern Windows, there are very few architectural limitations.

                I won't really go into what Linux offers over Windows unless pressed, because most of us here know the truth about what Linux can do that Windows can't. :)

                In 1997 you could make a very long list of applicaitons and concepts in use on Linux that just were NOT possible on Win95/98, yet today there are almost no applications or concepts in use on Linux that are either available or in use on Windows.

                So I will ask, give us even one example of something that Linux is capable of that Windows is not capable of doing.

                I will even be kind enough to go first with a very basic example of something Windows can do that Linux cannot do at the core architectural level. Windows is based on the NT architecture, which is a hybrid kernel concept that allows it to host OS subsystems. This is also why the NT architecture has been called a client/server kernel concept. What this gives NT that Linux cannot do is the ability to natively run multiple OS subsystems concurrently that also can communicate with each other at the kernel level.

                Win32 is an example of one subsystem in use on Windows and runs independantly of other subsystems like the *nix subsystem, OS/2, Win16, and Win64 subsystems to name a few examples. The subsystem OS architecture concept is not virtualization nor emulation, as each subsystem are true OSes acting independently with their own subsystem level kernels that sit on top of the NT architecture.

                It is even rumored that MS has worked on a non BSD based *nix subsystem for Windows that is Linux based and would be able to run anything Linux could run with no virtualization or emulation and it would also have the ability to talk to the other subsystems, like the Win32 subsystem.

                Ok, your turn...
                [ Parent ]
              • Re: by WraithM (Score:1) Sunday November 12 2006, @10:27AM
              • Re: by timmarhy (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @03:46AM
              • Re: by Anonymous Coward (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @04:25AM
              • Re: by arevos (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @04:56AM
              • Re: by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @05:26AM
              • What Linux can do and Windows cannot (Score:5, Insightful)

                by mangu (126918) on Saturday November 11 2006, @06:16AM (#16804112)
                So I will ask, give us even one example of something that Linux is capable of that Windows is not capable of doing.


                I suppose you mean at a desktop computer, because otherwise one could go endlessly about all the embedded uses of Linux. Considering applications, I would say both systems are pretty much equivalent these days, I can't think of any application in either Linux or Windows that doesn't have an equivalent in the other system. Wait, I mean other than viruses, of course, that seems to be a category of "applications" where Linux is still very much behind...


                The biggest advantage of Linux over Windows for me is ease of use, and that seems to be an intrinsic advantage, because Windows, as its name implies, is predominantly GUI oriented. A graphic interface is better for some jobs, a text interface is better for others, just like a spoon is better for eating soup and a fork is better for steak.


                Try to automate any task in Windows, it's a real PITA. Programmers often end doing things through kludges like Excel macros for the lack of a good text-based interface. For instance, let's say you were sent a project that has dozens of directories with thousands of files in it. Let's say you want to rename all *.jpeg files to *.jpg. How would you do that in Windows? In VMS that would be a piece of cake, in a Unix system it's more complicated, for i in *.jpeg; do mv $i `echo $i | sed s/jpeg$/jpg/ - ` ; done or something like that would do it, but the easiest way to do it in Windows that I can think of would be a VB program.


                Ironically, ease of installation, which is often cited by XP users as an advantage of Windows over Linux, seems to be one of the areas where Linux shines. I have created a standard system configuration script with twenty or so functions, one for each type of application. There are functions for DVD playing, scientific applications, office applications, graphics, development, electronic circuits design, etc. When I install a Linux system, I install the basic system and run my script, after uncommenting the function calls for the types of applications I want in that computer. Then it's just a matter of waiting until apt-get does its job. No need to insert CDs, no need to click anywhere, no need to run setup.exe, no need to mix and match all the *.DLL files each application expects.


                I think both Linux and Windows have made progress in the last ten years, and one should always consider that. It's stupid to compare Kubuntu with Windows95, or XP with Yggdrasil Linux. But IMHO Linux has evolved much more, both because Windows was more mature ten years ago and because Linux has some intrinsic advantages. I think being an open and free system is an advantage in that people make it evolve towards what the users prefer, rather than what marketing decides. Another advantage is that Unix has an excellent basic conception. Windows evolved over DOS, a system whose basic conception was to make it run in the available hardware of 1981. The emphasis on GUI solutions, the lack of a good scripting system language, and the need to maintain compatibility with the DOS roots are limitations that make Windows inferior to Linux.

                [ Parent ]
              • Re: by jacksonj04 (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:55AM
              • Linux vs. windows by jbolden (Score:3) Saturday November 11 2006, @07:15AM
              • Re: by andyfrommk (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @07:55AM
              • Re: by CastrTroy (Score:3) Saturday November 11 2006, @08:16AM
              • mmv (was Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot) by orcrist (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @09:12AM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by GvG (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @09:39AM
              • Re: by Dan Ost (Score:3) Saturday November 11 2006, @09:56AM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by planetmn (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @10:24AM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by PsychoSlashDot (Score:3) Saturday November 11 2006, @10:25AM
              • Re: by eno2001 (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @10:32AM
              • firefox by Tinidril (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @10:46AM
              • Re: by rjstanford (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @10:51AM
              • Re: by adamruck (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @10:59AM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by gsslay (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @11:12AM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by apoc.famine (Score:3) Saturday November 11 2006, @11:19AM
              • Re: by Gigiya (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @12:02PM
              • Re:Not on winders.... by cayenne8 (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @12:12PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by matthew.coulson (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @12:21PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by lurker-11 (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @12:27PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by dfuhry (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @12:55PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by Blakey Rat (Score:3) Saturday November 11 2006, @12:57PM
              • Haha... shot yourself in the foot. by Almahtar (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @01:18PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by Technician (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @02:02PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by trewornan (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @02:40PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by gnud (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @02:52PM
              • Re: by arevos (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @02:54PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by mjtaylor24601 (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @02:57PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by mjtaylor24601 (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @03:06PM
              • Re: by rjstanford (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @03:18PM
              • Re: by Johnny Mnemonic (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @03:18PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by Johnny Mnemonic (Score:3) Saturday November 11 2006, @03:27PM
              • Re: by arevos (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @03:50PM
              • Re: by ciggieposeur (Score:3) Saturday November 11 2006, @04:02PM
              • Re: (Score:4, Insightful)

                by Procyon101 (61366) on Saturday November 11 2006, @05:01PM (#16808260)
                (Last Journal: Tuesday February 25 2003, @08:33PM)
                The main thing Windows can't do is have nice integration with open source software (the most common kind).

                To get ANY work done on Windows I have to first, spend $1000 or more upgrading the box (Visual Studio, MS Office, Antivirus, etc). Now, since most everything on the planet is written for a autoconf toolchain, I need cygwin... but at that point I'm being about as silly as installing a linux box just to run MS Office under wine... I should have installed Linux in the first place, so let's forgo that step.

                OK, so what do we not have... SSH. Sucks to be me. Sure, I can TS... assuming of course I bought the upgraded licensed version of windows that can actually do that. I can run a webserver... assuming I bought the upgrades. I can run a SQL server... assuming I bought the upgraded OS capable of doing such. I can run apache/mysql, true... but the integration of those apps on the windows platform is abysmal... they were written for Linux and if I'm going to go to the trouble of installing and using them, well, same argument as cygwin.

                Sure. on both platforms I can install out of the box and check email. I can do that on a palm pilot.. that's not an honest comparison. Windows *can* do anything Linux can do... by emulating Linux and doing a piss poor job of it. The reverse is rarely the case except with video games or the occasional specialty application which dwarfs the cost of the OS anyway and you are best off running a dedicated workstation running windows for said app.
                [ Parent ]
              • Re: by Procyon101 (Score:3) Saturday November 11 2006, @05:06PM
              • Re: by Procyon101 (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @05:14PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by Procyon101 (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @05:19PM
              • Re: by gripen40k (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @05:41PM
              • Re: by gripen40k (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:18PM
              • Re: by gripen40k (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:29PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by Lord Crc (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:37PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by Plug (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:41PM
              • Re: by mabinogi (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:41PM
              • Re: by eno2001 (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:47PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by Blakey Rat (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:48PM
              • Re: by jacksonj04 (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:57PM
              • Re: (Score:5, Informative)

                by Procyon101 (61366) on Saturday November 11 2006, @07:01PM (#16809348)
                (Last Journal: Tuesday February 25 2003, @08:33PM)
                No, the needs aren't typical, they are dev needs. The typical user's needs are email+web browser+picture viewing+cd recording... things that can be done on windows or linux with the same ease (or, save for the cd recording, a palm pilot or alot of cell phones). The only people who care about what OS they are using either have a pet app they can't do without (photoshop or maya, or autocad for instance) and it doesn't matter if that app is BeOS only.. they'd use it. The other group is computer professionals, and the situation there is tilted highly in Linux favor.

                $1000 is not an exaggeration... in fact it's probably low. While I can get Open Source or 3rd party dev tools, I'm still going to need visual studio for compiling/debugging if I am doing any serious MS-centric coding. I need the header files, I need the linked libraries, all that stuff. I could conceivably set it up with msys.. but that's a big hack. The VS lite version, like most "lite" versions of anything, is not going to cut it for productivity. I believe the going price for a decent VS package is close to a grand by itself, but I haven't personally purchased one recently. The next thing is office, although open office is pretty compelling here and integrates just fine. The big issue with open office, is although it can read most anything MS office spits out, the reverse is not true, so other users who shelled out hundred of dollars cannot read my stuff unless I cross save to MS formats, and then I lose formatting and such as the support for that is pretty fuzzy. So add in a couple other apps I might want and $1000 bucks or so is pretty conservative for a computer professional's standard workstation. A system admin's workstation can probably do it for half that, as they don't do the dev-tools thing.

                So then.. having shelled out the dough, we step back and look what we have. SSH is the primary deficiency I see. The reason you don't know what it is is windows has no equivelent, but trust me, for administration purposes, it is *the* killer app and probably the most commonly used application used by a unix professional outside of the command line. What it is: "Secure Shell". It's simply an app that is #1 strongly encrypted and #2 gives you a command prompt on a foreign machine. Most any unix box will have it turned on, and most headless routers, switches, etc also have a port. The MS equivelent is Terminal Services, which gives you a full view of the desktop on the remote system. It's handy for some things, but most of the time I don't WANT the desktop of the other sytem... I just want a command line. I want to reboot the machine or look at a file or set a reg key and loading that full desktop is WAY overkill not to mention slow... prohibitively on low bandwidth lines. It's also ram hungry and takes alot of proc power. Many times I have not been able to reboot a misbehaving windows server through TS because transferring that whole desktop over TCP is just too big of a job for a machine caught in a tight loop or OOM... but a machine has to be *REALLY* hosed for SSH not to get through.

                But that's enough about SSH ;) I agree with a sentiment in another thread... Windows: It can do anything Linux can do, except it's expensive! I would throw in slow, difficult to repair when something goes wrong, hardware hungry (ram and CPU requirements are rediculous).

                Now, don't get me wrong... I'm not anti-ms. I have in the past and will likely again worked FOR microsoft. I have been developing software for the MS platform for going on 15 years. There are niches that Windows fills well. To spout off that Linux has no advantages over Windows though is blatently false. Windows really falls short in the areas of price, speed, development resources, and most server uses. Linux falls short in laptop usage and *WAY* short on ease of configuration and set up.
                [ Parent ]
              • Re: by cheesybagel (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @07:44PM
              • Re: by ciggieposeur (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @09:22PM
              • Windows has definitely improved since 3.1 by jshackney (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @09:22PM
              • Re: CUA (Common User Access) by Douglas Goodall (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @09:57PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by kaidadragonfly (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @10:04PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by gbulmash (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @10:06PM
              • Re: by CodeMasterPhilzar (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @10:32PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by jibjibjib (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @11:20PM
              • Re: Linux can do that Windows can't? by kiatoa (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @11:25PM
              • Re: by jibjibjib (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @11:37PM
              • Re: Linux can do that Windows can't? by TheNetAvenger (Score:2) Sunday November 12 2006, @01:42AM
              • Re: by TheNetAvenger (Score:2) Sunday November 12 2006, @01:58AM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by fatphil (Score:1) Sunday November 12 2006, @05:45AM
              • Re: by DrSkwid (Score:2) Sunday November 12 2006, @06:26AM
              • Re: by arevos (Score:2) Sunday November 12 2006, @06:44AM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by stang (Score:2) Sunday November 12 2006, @12:20PM
              • Re: by gripen40k (Score:1) Sunday November 12 2006, @01:01PM
              • Re: by eno2001 (Score:2) Sunday November 12 2006, @02:59PM
              • Re: by eno2001 (Score:2) Sunday November 12 2006, @03:06PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by Og Mack (Score:1) Sunday November 12 2006, @04:01PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by Og Mack (Score:1) Sunday November 12 2006, @04:08PM
              • Re: by DrSkwid (Score:1) Sunday November 12 2006, @04:41PM
              • Re: by cp.tar (Score:2) Sunday November 12 2006, @06:01PM
              • Re: by gripen40k (Score:1) Sunday November 12 2006, @07:03PM
              • Re: by gripen40k (Score:1) Sunday November 12 2006, @07:25PM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by richlv (Score:2) Monday November 13 2006, @02:58AM
              • Re: by LardBrattish (Score:2) Monday November 13 2006, @03:26AM
              • Re: by DrSkwid (Score:2) Monday November 13 2006, @04:22AM
              • Re: by Duds (Score:2) Monday November 13 2006, @06:14AM
              • Linux vs Windows by illtud (Score:2) Monday November 13 2006, @07:24AM
              • Re: by Marlimox (Score:1) Monday November 13 2006, @10:59AM
              • Re: by gripen40k (Score:1) Monday November 13 2006, @01:35PM
              • Re: by flydpnkrtn (Score:1) Tuesday November 14 2006, @11:45AM
              • Re: by TheNetAvenger (Score:2) Tuesday November 14 2006, @01:28PM
              • Re: by TheNetAvenger (Score:2) Tuesday November 14 2006, @01:48PM
              • Re: by WraithM (Score:1) Tuesday November 14 2006, @09:43PM
              • Re: by AliasTheRoot (Score:2) Wednesday November 15 2006, @02:57AM
              • Re: by arevos (Score:2) Wednesday November 15 2006, @06:29AM
              • Re:What Linux can do and Windows cannot by TheNetAvenger (Score:2) Wednesday November 15 2006, @04:06PM
              • Re: by TheNetAvenger (Score:2) Wednesday November 15 2006, @04:22PM
              • Re: by TheNetAvenger (Score:2) Wednesday November 15 2006, @04:36PM
              • Re: by arevos (Score:2) Thursday November 16 2006, @04:20AM
              • Re: by eno2001 (Score:2) Friday November 17 2006, @11:05AM
              • 13 replies beneath your current threshold.
            • Re: by unapersson (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @01:49PM
          • Re: Ease of install? by geobeck (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @12:06AM
          • Re: by shmlco (Score:3) Saturday November 11 2006, @03:24AM
            • Re: by cyber-vandal (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @04:06AM
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          • Re: by justinchudgar (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @02:40AM
            • Re: by Xabraxas (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @08:50PM
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        • Re: by optikSmoke (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @03:53AM
        • Taking a silly analogy to extremes... by plopez (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @03:36PM
      • Re:Yamamoto by v1 (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @10:52PM
        • Re:Yamamoto by AKAImBatman (Score:3) Saturday November 11 2006, @12:22AM
          • Re:Yamamoto by nu-gundam (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @08:23AM
        • Re:Yamamoto by shmlco (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @04:04AM
      • Re: by sillybilly (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @03:48AM
      • Re: by tokul (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @08:38AM
      • Re: [utterly OT] The British Made them Do It by gilgongo (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @09:15AM
      • Re: by scott_karana (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:11PM
      • 3 replies beneath your current threshold.
    • by flyingfsck (986395) on Friday November 10 2006, @08:27PM (#16801380)
      and there, Linux hasn't so much won, as it is simply accepted as a fait accompli. The networks run by government departments are enormous beasts, with tens/hundreds of thousands of desktop PCs running Windows XP and thousands of servers running Irix, Solaris, OpenBSD, Linux and Windows 2003 server. The interesting thing is that all new server installations are either Linux or Windows 2003, other versions of UNIX have pretty much fizzled out and Linux (specifically Red Hat and Novell) is used for critical servers, firewalls and data-diodes, while Windows is mainly used for Active Directory and Exchange, protected behind an army of penguins.
      [ Parent ]
    • by khasim (1285) <brandioch.conner@gmail.com> on Friday November 10 2006, @08:28PM (#16801394)
      First off, "war" is a stupid metaphor for OS marketshare.

      Secondly, there are multiple market segments.
      #1. The server segment. Linux looks to have this market locked up.

      #2. The corporate/government desktop market. Pay attention to how Munich progresses. This is the next big market for Linux.

      #3. The home (non-gamer) market. This isn't going to happen until you can buy Linux pre-loaded from the major OEM's. And that's not going to happen until Linux has the marketshare with the corporations/governments.

      #4. Finally, the gamer market. This depends almost entirely upon the support of the hardware OEM's and game ISV's. If the newest video card doesn't come with Linux drivers, the gamers will buy the video card and run the OS that does have drivers. Look for this market to be the very, very last one that Linux will gain marketshare in.

      Don't worry about whether Linux is taking over the gamer machines yet. Focus on getting Linux into corporation/government desktops. That will get the OEM's to start pre-loading it which will set the stage for the home user migration.
      [ Parent ]
    • Re: by laffer1 (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @08:29PM
    • let me sum it up... by lick mi ballz (Score:1) Friday November 10 2006, @08:33PM
    • Re:Pearl Harbor by caspper69 (Score:3) Friday November 10 2006, @09:03PM
    • Re: Pearl by From A Far Away Land (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @09:04PM
    • Re: Pearl Harbor (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Ant P. (974313) <anthony.parsons@manx.net> on Friday November 10 2006, @09:19PM (#16801782)
      Here's a more relevant quote to this "war" everyone else thinks they're fighting:
      "We're not out to destroy Microsoft, that's just a nice side-effect." - Linus
      [ Parent ]
      • Re: by cp.tar (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @10:54PM
    • Re:Linux FUD by bigpicture (Score:1) Friday November 10 2006, @10:03PM
    • More Like Africa than Pearl Harbour Pearl Harbor by darkonc (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @11:07PM
    • Re: by Merusdraconis (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @12:18AM
    • Re: Pearl Harbor by Chandon Seldon (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @02:52AM
    • Yay by mnmn (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @03:15AM
    • Re: Perl Harbour Pearl Harbor by zuse (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @04:02AM
    • Re: by 16K Ram Pack (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @05:16AM
    • People by tuxish (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:04AM
    • Re: Pearl Harbor by donscarletti (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @07:31AM
    • Re: Pearl Harbor by carl0ski (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @11:49PM
    • Re:Pearl Harbor by gunny01 (Score:1) Sunday November 12 2006, @06:30AM
    • Re: by hitmark (Score:2) Sunday November 12 2006, @10:32AM
    • 9 replies beneath your current threshold.
  • Slashdot missed the memo (Score:4, Insightful)

    by AVee (557523) <slashdot@[ ]e.org ['ave' in gap]> on Friday November 10 2006, @08:19PM (#16801286)
    (http://dev/null/)
    At least, judging from the general response here to the Novell-MS deal, so people are more at war then ever before.
    But than again, it's becoming an old song: 'Haven't they heard we've won the war, what do they keep on fighting for?'
  • The real question is (Score:5, Funny)

    by Drooling Iguana (61479) on Friday November 10 2006, @08:19PM (#16801288)
    Has this been confirmed by Netcraft?
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • Free software has won. by delirium of disorder (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @08:21PM
    • Re:Free software has won. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by AstrumPreliator (708436) on Friday November 10 2006, @09:45PM (#16801952)
      Most people don't care if it's free or proprietary; they just want it to work regardless of their knowledge of software. The masses don't care about the philosophical ramifications of open vs. proprietary software and frankly I think the FOSS community puts too much emphasis on it, even above usability in some cases.

      And as far as who prefers which operating system I think you're also mistaken. I'm stuck hacking away at a bash prompt for a very large chunk of my day five days a week trying to deploy servers while maintaining other servers. I do not prefer Linux for home use as it doesn't offer me anything more than Windows or Mac OSX (except maybe security in the case of Windows). I personally have a Windows machine for gaming and a Powerbook laptop for just general dicking around.

      In either case I think you've grossly over generalized a lot of people.
      [ Parent ]
    • Re:Free software has won. by moogs (Score:1) Friday November 10 2006, @10:31PM
    • Re:Free software has won. Not really by A.K.A_Magnet (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @09:15PM
      • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • Organic Foods? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by lymond01 (314120) on Friday November 10 2006, @08:24PM (#16801342)
    Isn't that a bit like supermarkets saying we're going to sell more organic food? Not necessarily going to decrease the sale of regular food, but we're not going to decrease the amount of organic food.

    I'm happy there are more linux servers. And once it becomes a viable desktop solution for a normal user, it'll be a boon for its security. As it is now, it's not a flexible, easy to manage, easy to use desktop OS. But keep trying!
  • Just like Vietnam. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Trespass (225077) on Friday November 10 2006, @08:25PM (#16801354)
    Declare victory then get the hell out.
  • deja vu (Score:5, Funny)

    by blackcoot (124938) on Friday November 10 2006, @08:25PM (#16801362)
    why do i keep on having recurring visions of a flight deck with a "mission accomplished banner" blowing in the background...

    *ducks*
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • by McNihil (612243) on Friday November 10 2006, @08:26PM (#16801364)
    "A new IBM-sponsored study on Linux sent m..."

    Hahahaha.... thank you IBM for fudding the Microsoft way. Down Microsoft DOWN! I have a boat load of nails for your new coffin.
  • Triumphalism? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Luscious868 (679143) on Friday November 10 2006, @08:28PM (#16801388)
    Don't take a page from the George W. Bush's play book and declare victory before the war even really begins. The OS war is just getting started and Linux still has a long way to go before it can be declared the outright winner.
  • Eih... (Score:3, Funny)

    by kitsunewarlock (971818) on Friday November 10 2006, @08:29PM (#16801406)
    (Last Journal: Tuesday February 20 2007, @01:51PM)
    If it'll stop the OS wars, I'll accept anything. Imagine if other products were debated as often as Operating Systems.

    Architect: "Loser. My printer is so much better than yours, because it is a plotter and can print HUGE banners!"
    Writer: "Loser. Well my printer was cheaper, and the ink is much cheaper!"
    Graphic Designer: "Sellout! My printer can print on photo-quality paper and at a higher resolution!"

    Although the jokes the wars create are quite funny.
  • More crap (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Turn-X Alphonse (789240) on Friday November 10 2006, @08:37PM (#16801468)
    (Last Journal: Sunday September 19 2004, @10:03PM)
    Linus has won nothing because there is nothing to win. Linux won't kill Windows in the next decade and vice versa. No one is winning but rather both sides are in a pissing contest they refuse to admit is worthless.
  • Server side vs. Client side (Score:3, Insightful)

    by gweihir (88907) on Friday November 10 2006, @08:37PM (#16801472)
    The war has been won on the server side a long time ago. MS was allways a joke there.

    On the desktop, the best Product is MAC OS X, with both Windows and Linux running distant second. For some reason desktop customers do not seem to care about usability too much. But what the hell, OS X is pretty close to Linux anyways, with regard to what software runns.

    But if Linux is the server OS of the future, it means it will stay and grow. Desktop OSes can be changed pretty fast. Server OSes cannot. MS allways wanted to dominate the server market. Guess they just never managed to create a good enough product. Or have long enough product lifetimes.

    My personal reason for running Linux and not OS X is that I wanted a workstation OS (read Unix-like OS) longe before OS X came along. Windows? Well, most games only run on Windows. Any other reason to use it? I don't see any. It is not even cheaper or easier to use if you know what you are doing...
  • As Gandh once said... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2006, @08:38PM (#16801480)
    "First they ignore you..."

    1991-96

    "...then they laugh at you..."

    1997-2000

    "...then they attack you..."

    2001-06

    "...then you win."

    2007?

    (all years are approximate)
    • Re:Wow (Score:5, Funny)

      by Dunbal (464142) on Friday November 10 2006, @09:15PM (#16801770)
      Did you really just compare Gandhi's fight for freedom from British rule in India to the OS "wars"?

            You can compare anything to anything. That's the beauty of C style type casting, really!
      [ Parent ]
      • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
    • Re:Wow by Krishnoid (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @12:01AM
    • Re:Wow by Dadoo (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @02:02AM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • Of course by the Gray Mouser (Score:1) Friday November 10 2006, @08:39PM
  • Linux has lost by h4ck7h3p14n37 (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @08:45PM
  • Not yet it isn't! by WolfMansDad (Score:1) Friday November 10 2006, @08:46PM
    • Um... by AlexDV (Score:1) Friday November 10 2006, @09:30PM
    • Re:Not yet it isn't! by flyingfsck (Score:1) Friday November 10 2006, @10:30PM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • The "war" is far from over (Score:3, Insightful)

    by linguae (763922) on Friday November 10 2006, @08:46PM (#16801558)

    Linux may win a war versus Microsoft on the server, but that is not where Microsoft is most powerful. Microsoft is still the 800 pound king gorilla of the desktop, and Linux still has a way to go before it unseats Microsoft. Heck, OS X has been out for over five years. Many users who have used both OS X and Windows claim that OS X is superior, and many have switched. However, OS X has barely pinched Microsoft, and Microsoft still enjoys 93% or so marketshare on the desktop (5% goes to Mac, and the rest of that is Linux, BSD, and other OSes).

    The reason why Windows still hasn't been unseated is that too many people have software that is Windows-only. Businesses still rely on in-house Windows programs that were created by some programmer many years ago who is long gone, and cannot afford porting it to another operating system. Sometimes you'll see a business run an old Windows 3.1 or even DOS application since there is no replacement, and since it is good enough for them to not worry about porting it or creating a clone of it. Engineers aren't dropping AutoCAD anytime soon, and AutoCAD is Windows only. Engineers, being well known for their pragmatism, stick to Windows. Graphics artists on both the PC and the Macintosh who rely on Photoshop, Quark Express, and Dreamweaver are not going to move to Ubuntu and use the GIMP, Scribus, and nvu (yes, those open source products are good, but their commercial competitors are very good and are worth the $$$ that you pay for them; they end up saving you $$$ with their features and ease of use). And developers who want some food on their table better know something about Win32, .NET, and other Windows technologies. In most non-CS fields, you cannot avoid Windows in the professional world, and Windows has became a fact of life in many careers.

    So, what is the open source community going to do about this? A great operating system with all of the bells and whistles isn't enough for most people. Once again, OS X is considered the best operating system by many people, but some applications haven't been ported yet (or won't be ported), which doesn't leave OS X as an option for those people. The open source community needs to start polishing up their offerings and get started on some new stuff (an AutoCAD replacement will get engineers off of Windows, for example). GIMP can use some improvement. OpenOffice should be more modular and faster. Dia needs to start looking like OmniGraffle or Visio. There needs to be some sort of OSS equivalent to Visual Basic (what I mean by that is ease of developing GUI applications). I recommend the same with other Linux applications.

    Remember, the key to operating system adoption is applications. Look at MS-DOS, for example (back in its heyday). It was hard to use (compared to the Apple Macintosh at the time), very rudimentary (compared to other OSes in the 80s like Unix, NeXTSTEP, and VMS), and can only run one application at a time. But it ran Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect, and it ran all of the other applications that business users wanted. Home users wanted the computers that business users had, so they got that too. Ditto for Windows 3.1. NeXTSTEP knocks the socks off of Windows 3.1. But who had the applications?

    Your OS can be the easiest to use OS in the world. It can have microkernels with the best scheduling and load-balancing algorithms that exist. It can utilize all of the systems research published in the ACM and IEEE journals within the past two years. It can be so secure that it would be the envy of Homeland Security and would make Symantec and McAffe angry (they can't sell protection for it). It can even have a mass advertising campaign with beautiful angelic models praising the product. But if it cannot run the applications that they want, then it is just a waste of hard drive space and time as far as they are concerned.

  • Linux Won The War? by TechForensics (Score:1) Friday November 10 2006, @08:49PM
  • "almost no one said the opposite" by 0xG (Score:1) Friday November 10 2006, @08:52PM
  • It will be over when "Aunt Tilly" uses Linux by schwaang (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @08:56PM
    • Re:It will be over when "Aunt Tilly" uses Linux by TheUni (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @09:16PM
    • Re:It will be over when "Aunt Tilly" uses Linux by killjoe (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @09:45PM
    • Re:It will be over when "Aunt Tilly" uses Linux by The Monster (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @09:59PM
    • Does "Aunt Tilly" make a difference? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by SanityInAnarchy (655584) <ninja@slaphack.com> on Friday November 10 2006, @10:02PM (#16802062)
      (Last Journal: Tuesday October 30, @10:59AM)
      I really don't think so.

      Aunt Tilly is an interesting statistic, nothing more. Look at what she does -- she browses the web, uses wireless. Apparently she needs to edit sudoers for some bullshit reason -- but I think it's bullshit for you to even bring it up; an ordinary Linux user does NOT have to do anything with sudoers, and in fact, I've touched the file maybe once, and I do far more with my box than Aunt Tilly ever will.

      But regardless, look at what she doesn't do.

      She doesn't spend between $50 and $500 a month on new games.

      She doesn't make decisions about what new software a multi-million-dollar company is buying and deploying on hundreds of desktops.

      She doesn't develop software... period, not to mention software that is so intricately bound to some quirk in the Windows API that she causes headaches for Microsoft itself when they try to fix their OS.

      She, as so many people have made so perfectly clear, doesn't care what OS she runs, so long as it works. Thus, if Linux were taking over in a big way, she might buy an Ubuntu machine and not even know it. She certainly wouldn't be having these "Aunt Tilly" issues you so colourfully describe if Linux came preloaded on her computer and already set for her wireless card.

      If "Earth from Space" doesn't work on her computer, and Linux has sufficient marketshare, she'll complain to the Smithsonian, not to her OS. The Smithsonian would be forced to use actual web standards, not made-up proprietary ones.

      She doesn't impact, in any real way, the success or failure of Linux, other than perhaps word-of-mouth, and whether she tolerates websites going down or her credit card information being stolen.

      The people who would need to use Linux are: gamers, business executives, IT people, and software developers, not necessarily in that order. These people are the only people who will actually make a conscious decision one way or the other, and they're certainly in a way to make other key people sweat.

      For instance, let's say a large company suddenly decides to go pure-Linux, but they've been buying from Dell. They switch to someone else. As one company after another does this, Dell will either be forced to start selling computers without an OS (and at an actual, legitimate discount from the Windows ones), or even start preloading Linux, or they'll lose business and someone else will fill the gap. With enough companies doing this, it becomes viable for an OEM to decide it's cheaper to support their few home users by preloading Linux and supporting that than to deal with Microsoft. Home users will be faced with a choice -- actually spend $250+ on an OS, or switch. My feeling is, Aunt Tilly, given the choice, won't want to spend $250 on something she doesn't care about anyway. Many of them may even notice how nicely their work computers run, and will take Linux home with them.

      Another scenario: Gamers, who have long built their own systems or ordered ludicrously expensive ones from the likes of Alienware, discover Linux -- cheaper for the custom-built, and available in a shiny case from a game-specific OEM, already pre-configured and tuned (so none of your "ndiswrapper" complaints). They start running so many games under Cedega that game developers decide it's cheaper to support Linux directly, with cross-platform games, than to keep dealing with the nightmare that is Cedega and actual Windows support. Eventually, games no longer run under Windows, and gamers either dual-boot or switch completely. Anyone who cares about that demographic starts developing Linux versions at least, if not exclusively, for all their major apps, so eventually, non-gamers start to switch, going to their gamer friends for technical help.

      Finally: Software developers discover Linux. Be it some killer language or some killer tool, or simply the fact that Linux provides none of the hassle of Windows, and really isn't lacking anything -- even today -- that a software developer would want for his job, they start to switch. They start
      [ Parent ]
    • Re:It will be over when "Aunt Tilly" uses Linux by Just Some Guy (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @10:07PM
    • Re:It will be over when "Aunt Tilly" uses Linux by presidentbeef (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @12:41AM
    • Re:It will be over when "Aunt Tilly" uses Linux by Dadoo (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @02:20AM
    • Re:It will be over when "Aunt Tilly" uses Linux by 16K Ram Pack (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:05AM
    • Re:It will be over when "Aunt Tilly" uses Linux by schwaang (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @11:25PM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • Yipee! (Score:4, Funny)

    by gemada (974357) on Friday November 10 2006, @08:59PM (#16801656)
    So when is the liquidation sale in Redmond?
    • Re:Yipee! by 16K Ram Pack (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:08AM
    • Re:Yipee! by kbox (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:55AM
  • like we didn't already know that... by disturbedite (Score:1) Friday November 10 2006, @09:07PM
  • Perhaps they should take the hint by Dunbal (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @09:07PM
  • Red vs. Blue by Admiral Frosty (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @09:10PM
  • You stupid imature gits... by bobshawludemic (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @09:29PM
  • Nobody "won" anything. by Zorque (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @09:39PM
  • Obligatory (Score:4, Funny)

    by Kelz (611260) on Friday November 10 2006, @09:48PM (#16801968)
    MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
  • Linux FUD against Microsoft by Orion Blastar (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @10:04PM
  • Can I sniff some of that glue he's got? by davmoo (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @10:08PM
  • Lest we forget... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by fahrbot-bot (874524) on Friday November 10 2006, @10:13PM (#16802156)
    With Oracle and Microsoft putting Linux in the spotlight and positioning themselves to grow with Linux.

    ...three words: Embrace, extend and extinguish. [wikipedia.org]

    1. Embrace: Microsoft develops software substantially compatible with a competing product, or implementing a public standard.
    2. Extend: Microsoft adds and promotes features not supported by the competing product or part of the standard, creating interoperability problems for customers who try to remain neutral.
    3. Extinguish: Microsoft's extensions become a de facto standard because of their dominant market share, marginalizing competitors that do not or cannot support Microsoft's extensions and creating an obstacle to new would-be competitors.
  • The desktop war will be won by Heddahenrik (Score:1) Friday November 10 2006, @10:19PM
  • Yoda by Wiarumas (Score:1) Friday November 10 2006, @10:36PM
  • this can't be serious (Score:4, Insightful)

    by CDPatten (907182) on Friday November 10 2006, @10:36PM (#16802294)
    (http://www.pattensoap.com/)
    Last year Windows 2003 outpaced new sales of unix for the first time ever, while new linux market share was single digits. Windows 2003 is on pace to do it again this year too.

    MS is now just starting to dabble in Linux's foothold, affordable HPC computing. Lets be honest here, the lack of MS support is what gave linux the biggest door into the server market in the first place. Do you guys honestly think that Longhorn server is going to loose MS market share? Since Windows NT 3.51 MS has consistently put out server software that was significantly superior to the previous version, and MANY people are pretty happy with 2003.

    Or do any of you think they are going to start losing server share to Apple? I mean I won't even talk about how apple xserve share is hardly measureable in the server world...

    All that aside, here is my real question; Why is this an acceptable post? Regardless of your side, nobody really believes the "war" is over and "linux has won". Isn't this the definition of "trolling"? Why is ok to troll when its anti-ms? Its bad enough people troll in the a thread, but to start a new thread by trolling? What the he**?
  • Oh Come On!!! by hodet (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @10:39PM
  • Is it April??? by jbplou (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @10:51PM
  • No one's a true winner by WhitePanther5000 (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @11:31PM
  • The war is over, virtualization won (Score:4, Interesting)

    by BlueCoder (223005) on Friday November 10 2006, @11:34PM (#16802626)
    Microsoft can see the writing on the wall but evidently no one else can. Virtulalization, i.e. running more than one operating system at once has made war obsolete. Microsoft doesn't need to compete with linux. The day and age of running only one operating system is near over. You buy a windows licence and microsoft will give you virtualzation software and setup and install linux for you. The only time anyone needs to worry about patent litigation I think is when they get between MS and it's tax. Linux compatability is now a windows feature. Getting linux to work well with windows is desirable. Think about it, if they give you linux they can tell the EU regulators to go stick it. Let me repeat myself, so long as MS gets our money they are happy. MS is currently taking the advice of keeping it's enimies closer to heart. If you don't believe me your going to cry when you see the ads of MS including linux for free.
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • OSX by GregNorc (Score:1) Friday November 10 2006, @11:44PM
    • Re:OSX by dr_turgeon (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @12:35AM
    • Re:OSX by JoeCommodore (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @01:37AM
    • Re:OSX by vga_init (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @03:38AM
    • Re:OSX by Ash-Fox (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:14AM
    • Re:OSX by 16K Ram Pack (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:40AM
    • Re:OSX by TeknoHog (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @12:17PM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • Linux wins by towsonu2003 (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @12:05AM
  • war is over? by Mike_ya (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @12:45AM
  • WHO is winning? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by mlewan (747328) on Saturday November 11 2006, @12:48AM (#16802970)
    (http://ardentagnostic.blogspot.com/ | Last Journal: Wednesday February 25 2004, @01:36AM)
    This article cites one report which happens to show it goes one way. However, there is also statistics showing it going the other way. Check out MS market share at netcraft [netcraft.com]. The last year they gained about 10% and Apache lost about as much. IDC [idc.com] talk about a "solid growth" for Microsoft, which beat Unix with Linux far behind.

    None of these reports is faultless, and they measure different things from what the parent article measures. But there seems to be no crisis for Microsoft for the time being.

  • I'll be blunt too by ClosedSource (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @01:09AM
  • Errr... discrepancy? by TheSeer2 (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @01:48AM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • Mission Accomplished by Sux2BU (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @02:26AM
  • Well, it's finally arrived. by Jack9 (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @03:37AM
  • What "war"? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by pandrijeczko (588093) on Saturday November 11 2006, @04:25AM (#16803686)
    Intelligent people use the best tool to get a job done.

    Rather than wasting time and energy preaching, intelligent people devote their time to learning and trying out new tools to increase what they have in their toolkit.

    Juat accept that Windows is better for some things and Linux is better for others - then use the strengths of both to your advantage.

    There is no war.

    • Re:What "war"? by dbcad7 (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @08:02AM
    • Re:What "war"? by randallman (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @01:47PM
      • Re:What "war"? by randallman (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @01:54PM
    • Re:What "war"? by khallow (Score:3) Saturday November 11 2006, @02:00PM
  • duh! by john_uy (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:40AM
  • No MS has won again. by vrochette (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @07:54AM
  • actually there is one by thedarkknight (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @09:28AM
  • That is all because of Microsoft's Licensing by Klanglor (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @10:07AM
  • Virtual Appliances: Linux wins by Natales (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @02:14PM
  • so now ... by BenBoy (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @03:00PM
  • How do you figure? by Anachragnome (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @06:19PM
  • It was only a joke by Evil Pete (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @08:57PM
  • I've only this to add by Explodo (Score:1) Sunday November 12 2006, @03:33AM
  • Against who? by GWBasic (Score:2) Sunday November 12 2006, @06:00PM
  • novell,microsoft by theluter (Score:1) Sunday November 12 2006, @10:09PM
  • Survey Source: Disclosure Negates FUD by A.P. Bosch (Score:1) Tuesday November 14 2006, @07:42PM
  • Re:Don't forget... (Score:5, Funny)

    by MobileTatsu-NJG (946591) on Friday November 10 2006, @08:30PM (#16801416)
    "Don't forget to pay your $699 licensing fee you cock-smoking teabaggers."

    Man, you had me confused for a minute. I sat here for a minute wondering what the Playstation 3 had to do with this!
    [ Parent ]
  • Re:It's stories like this one... by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Friday November 10 2006, @08:39PM
  • Re:The truth isn't that FOSS has won... by realmolo (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @08:43PM
  • by Xyrus (755017) on Friday November 10 2006, @09:39PM (#16801914)
    (Last Journal: Sunday June 26 2005, @09:32AM)
    The truth is that Microsofts business model has failed and they know it.

    Yeah, I'd call any business with a market cap of 287 billion dollars a failure. Wish I could fail that way.
    [ Parent ]
  • Re:Beware by cp.tar (Score:2) Friday November 10 2006, @11:05PM
  • Re:Long Road by Kenyon (Score:1) Saturday November 11 2006, @12:32AM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • Re:OT: Did Vista... by morie (Score:2) Saturday November 11 2006, @09:53AM
  • Re:My experience with Linux by KayosIII (Score:2) Sunday November 12 2006, @10:40AM
  • Re:OT: Did Vista... by zaphod_es (Score:1) Sunday November 12 2006, @12:18PM
  • 35 replies beneath your current threshold.