Mark Harrison wrote: > Jim, > > You make a lot of good points. > > 1: Your list of extra applications that users want that I'd not come up > with is excellent, and I'd certainly want to include it. > > 2: Your observations about the "ongoing licencing cost of carrying on > with the copy of Windows you already have doesn't take into account > Anti-Virus and other subscriptions" is a DAMNED GOOD ONE, and gives me a > fantastically better answer to the "so what if it's free - I've already > got Windows" argument when talking about "as in pizza." > > BTW, I know that pizza isn't the traditional one here, but I don't drink > beer, and the phrase "free, as in red wine" just doesn't translate :-) > > > I want to further explain myself in a couple of areas, and disagree with > you on one :-) > > 1: The logic of the "linux is stable... most of the www and email > servers use it" was not intended to imply "These people use it, and they > have needs similar to yours..." Instead it was meant to imply "The kind > of people who REALLY care about their machines not crashing choose > Linux", and "because Linux is build to this level of reliability, then > it's certainly going to be reliable enough for your needs." > > > 2: The NTL problem is specific to some regions. NTL have grown not by > rolling out a standard system, but by buying up legacy local cable > companies. As a result of this, there is a mismash of odd "cable > broadband" solutions out there under the NTL brand. (This is why I wrote > "...in some areas.") In some areas, for example Clanfield (just north of > Porstmouth), a friend of mine had exactly this problem. The broadband > solution was two-box - a set-top-box that was provided, and a specific > USB network card, that came with Windows software that "registered" as a > one-off, the MAC address of the NTL card with a particular subscriber. > Looking back, I was trying to set up a router as well as a Linux box, > and in the end the only way we could get it to work was to firstly > register the MAC address in Windows, then go into the router's config > and use MAC address spoofing to make it look as if it was the USB thing > that NTL had supplied, then set up the linux box via the router. This is > why I said something that boiled down to that "you may need a local > expert to set this kind of thing up". Had it been a single PC running > Windows, it all worked out of the box. > > > 3: I want to disagree with you on one thing you pulled me up for. And > it's a "taken in context" disagreement rather than an absolute > disagreement... > > I wrote: > >>Ubuntu applies a set of defaults that mean that, even if a user > clicks on a virus by mistake, they won't make it infect the PC. > > You responded: > > Don't just single out Ubuntu for praise. All *nix's share these > attributes. > > Firstly: We're in the middle of a thread about Marketing on the > Ubuntu-UK mailing list :-) I make no apology for promoting Ubuntu > generally, but specially not on this particular list :-)
Apologies. I forgot that the thread was Ubuntu. > > Secondly: It is, alas, not true that all *nix's share these attributes. > There have been well-publicised examples of Linux distributions where > the ONLY user account created was root, and that all applications the > user ran ran as root. I agree it doesn't apply to Debian / Suse / Gentoo > / Fedora / [insert your favourite here], but the point behind this is > that the security model is only as secure as its set of default choices. > > I wanted to allude to the fact that in choosing Linux, the average user > is in fact choosing a specific distribution, and wanted to play up (as I > did again later about applications working together) Ubuntu as a good > choice :-) > > Regards, > > Mark > -- Simple effective migration to Open Source based computing Jim Kissel Open Source Migrations Limited w: http://www.osml.eu e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] p: +44(0) 8703 301044 m: +44(0) 7976 411 679 -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
