[Web4lib] blogging about whether linux is ready for the desktop

[R. Wood]

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Allegedly, on Thu, Oct 11, 2007 at 02:24:17PM -0400, Phil Shapiro stated:
> hi web4lib colleagues,
> 
> for those who might be interested, i'm blogging on PCWorld.com about
> whether linux is ready for the desktop. we've had a largely positive
> experience with linux here at the takoma park maryland library.
> 
> my blog posting is at
> 
> http://tinyurl.com/3c8ajt
> 
> phil shapiro, public geek
> takoma park maryland library

Thanks for the 'voice of sanity' expressed in your blog comments Phil.

As someone who currently has 4 GNU/Linux PC's at home (proudly running
Debian :-), and has not run a home Windows box for at least 5 years now,
it is absurd to see these occasional but regular 'Is Linux Ready for the
Desktop' articles.  Hullo?  We've been doing it for years, we like our
virus-free and spyware-free PC's, we enjoy 'free and open source
software', and yes our desktops work just fine thank you very much.
Even our wives, children, and <gasp> parents seem to be able to use
GNU/Linux on the desktop productively!

To me the PCWorld.com article by Michael Gartenberg is simultaneously
laughable and infuriating.  The bottom line is that if you absolutely
*must* have *100%* compatibility with everything micro$oft, then just
run 2000 or XP under linux in a virtual machine environment such as
Virtualbox or VMware if you really need it (you will most likely
discover you don't :-)   If you are a gamer, and can't run your stuff on
Linux, then run a dedicated Windows box for that purpose, or get a
Playstation/Wii/whatever.  No problemo  :-)

One last point about the author:  I saw this link mentioned in one of
the article comments, and it looks like the author used to, and possibly
still does, work for micro$oft:
  http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/15/microsoft-hires-michael-gartenberg-as-new-evangelist
Not exactly the most unbiased source of information, if true...

Thanks again,
Raymond
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