Instead of freebsd.com, why not...

[Anthony Atkielski]

Chad Leigh -- Shire.Net LLC writes:

> In that case, Windows is the least desirable, as it is not convenient.

There are a hundred million users out there who disagree.

> The amount of crap you have to put up with (viruses, malware, etc) 
> makes them totally inconvenient.

See above.

> Sure it does.  Apples new Pages.app "word processor" reads and writes
> Word .DOC files.  OpenOffice can too.  Maybe not 100%, but very close,
> and Microsoft does not guarantee 100% either from version to version.

Sometimes 99% isn't good enough.  And there are hundreds of formats to
be accommodated.

> In most cases, except for customized vertical market solutions, Mac OS
> X and probably in many cases also FreeBSD offers solutions that work 
> with native files.  On OS X, you often HAVE the native program, like 
> Photoshop, for example.

Like Photoshop, but not like many others.

> There are lots of options for people whose eyes are not closed.

There are few options for people who use computers for work, and not for
play.

Using computers is not a game for most of the population; it's not a
hobby or even a pleasant way to spend time. They just need computers to
do their work.  The fastest way to do that work is to install what
everyone else is using, do the work, and be done with it.  They don't
care what the geeks think.  They don't even care about viruses, spyware,
adware, or anything like that, as long as they can finish their reports
by the end of the day.  But if anything gets in the way of them
finishing their work, they get very, very upset.  Any deviation from the
mainstream is likely to do that, and so the safest route for them is
Windows.

> The link published in one of these threads about the Ernie Ball guitar
> string company was interesting.  Where there is a will there is a way.
> Where there is no will, you get stuck with M$

You don't understand.  Most people have no bone to pick with Microsoft.
They don't hate Microsoft.  In fact, they couldn't care less about
Microsoft.  To them, insisting on a non-Microsoft solution is about as
relevant and important as insisting on an Airbus aircraft for their
flights home on Thanksgiving.  They just do not care, nor should they
have to care.  The best solution for them is Windows.  It's simple,
fast, used by everyone, and allows them to return to important things in
their lives as quickly and easily as possible after using the PC.

The attitudes of IT departments that run servers are different, but the
effects are often the same.  In small IT departments with a shortage of
qualified personnel, Windows is often the easiest server solution.  In
larger departments with UNIX expertise, Solaris is very attractive
(for reasons I've previously explained).  After that comes Linux,
because of all the hype around the OS.  Only IT staffs that look very
carefully at their OS choices will be likely to install FreeBSD; it's a
great OS, but it has no name recognition, and it has no formal support
or vendor structure ... it just comes from "somewhere," and there's
nobody to turn to if it crashes.

-- 
Anthony