Linux versus Windows
Dear Johnny,
Although I’m sure quite a lot of your readers won’t care about this, I’m still willing to fight the fight. I’d like your take on this particular subject.
Linux is free; Windows is not (unless you download a fake copy, crack it successfully and get to the point where you can fool its Windows Genuine Advantage crap).
The other night I came across a very vile Web site (www.promotinglinux.com/truth) and I haven’t even finished reading all the comments. But what I’d like to point out is that Linux is not only free; it also works!
Windows costs money and we are always recommended to upgrade and patch this and that, and so on and so on.
We have paid so much money for cheap and stable computers, but we get Blue Screens of Death so many times.
Having used several distributions of Linux, I’ve found them to be very stable. Moreover, I was quite surprised at what a Live CD can do (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/live_CD).
I had been under the impression, as I’m sure many Windows users are, that Linux would be tough.
Microsoft is great in many ways, but honestly, when your PC goes down and you feel all crappy, you can’t but feel hate toward Microsoft.
Apple users obviously feel safer, and that also proves my point: Apple and Linux use the same Unix code, while DOS has too many vulnerabilities to dominate the market.
If only Steve Jobs made his machines cheaper, I think we’d all jump on his bandwagon. I’d definitely pay NT$20,000 for a new Mac.
Linux is nice and it’s free. I actually want to donate to somebody, but I haven’t decided which distribution I like the most. So far I’ve tried Knoppix and Ubuntu and pclinuxos … I’m telling you, live CDs are wonderful, especially for recovery.
At times; my PC is all whacked out. I insert these ISO Linux distributions and my PC just fixes itself. Maybe it’s luck — or maybe it’s not Windows!
In the end, the above “truth” Web site makes me angry because it portrays Linux users as bandits, which we are not.
A satirical Web site, you say? No! A hate Web site!
HARRY ADAMOPOULOS
Taipei
Johnny replies: I’m not sure why my take on this subject would be of use to you or anyone else given that a caveman with no sense of sight or hearing, his fingers amputated and his tongue ripped out could enter this debate with more eloquence and background knowledge than I.
What I do have to offer is this: It’s not just individual PC users who get upset over Microsoft software and business practices, but also powerful antitrust agencies that end up delivering huge fines and recommending changes to the law that eventually bring Microsoft back to Earth.
What mystifies me is why all these technology debates get everyone carried away. Technology remains a medium, not the message, unless you are attempting to invent Skynet and destroy the world as we think we know it — or unless you’re a Chinese hacker with a budget from Beijing.
When I see people getting all hot and bothered about which iPhone model kicks ass and how this BlackBerry could be better if it magically linked to this feature from this freeware Web site, and so on, and so on, I look at my granddaughters struggling how to remember the Chinese characters for “Keep your priorities straight” and wonder what the hell we’ve gotten ourselves into.
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and