On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:40:27 -0400 Matthew Saltzman <mjs@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > I'm sorry, I assumed you were being deliberately provocative. I > couldn't think of any other rationale for your remarks. You have either not read, or have failed to understand my previous remarks. > Were you > seriously suggesting that because I happen to have hardware that needs > drivers that are only available in proprietary form, or that I happen to > need Maple or Matlab or other commercial software with no OSS > equivalent, or that my employer uses Exchange, that I have no business > using Linux? I suggest that when you are doing things like interfacing with Microsoft Exchange and other things like that, your life will be much easier if you stick with a Microsoft software stack. If you wish to move to a Free Software stack, your life will be much simpler if you move to Free Software for those things rather than trying to ram the "old way of doing things" into a completely new system. Of course, it's up to you if you want to do things the hard way or the easy way; you are welcome to use proprietary software on any platform you wish. It becomes difficult to sympathize with people who are not prepared to help themselves, though. "I want to to X." In order to do X, you require Y and Z. "But I don't want to get Y. Just make it work with Z and make it look exactly the same as it did before. I don't want to have to learn anything new, ever". If that's the situation, then you don't want Free Software. You want another box containing exactly what you have on your desk right now. "But it doesn't work very well." See the contradiction? -- MELVILLE THEATRE ~ Melville Sask ~ http://www.melvilletheatre.com
