Btw I always liked your username
Alucard Belmont said:
I'm not blaming you Martin, I'm just being sarcasm at how you promote open source in every opportunity.
Let me tell you something. I'm consumer oriented. Ie. I want what's best for me, as the consumer. So when I started out promoting Mozilla on this forum, that was because it was better to
use. Of course, one could make all these arguments out of principle just as well, but I tend to be more pragmatic than that.
And let us not forget there is one factor that will always put FOSS in a better position to compete: it's free. If it's free and it's just as good, why would anyone pay for something else?
Alucard Belmont said:
as one of the windows user, these are my arguments :
1. Most commercial application developer write windows specific application as top priority(much more Windows users). You could have similiar free alternative application in open source, but when you saved your works or file using that application, not many users will be able see your works.(same argument, much more Windows users).
I'm afraid this is a common view and I find that it's not entirely informed. Yes, when you are locked into the Windows world and all the applications you use only have Windows versions, clearly you will have interoperativity issues if you suddenly start using other applications. But this is a bit like thinking that Juve is the only big club in the world, that there are no alternatives. There are plenty of people out there who don't use any Windows software and don't have any problems with this, because all the applications they use are open source and the authors have made an effort to ensure they can read each other's files. And what I'm saying to you is not a vision, a dream, a fairytale. It's reality.
Alucard Belmont said:
2. When a new hardware is out in the market, Windows Driver for that hardware is a must. Linux drivers is complementary.(much more windows users) you have to wait months or years to have that hardware running in Linux.
Let's get one thing straight. If you're a gamer, you should stick to Windows. I play games once in a while, some of which are Windows-only and I keep a Windows partition around just in case. But if you're a run of the mill user, you don't need state of the art hardware. Nvidia have excellent linux support for their cards, ATI are behind, but you CAN get your card working if you try hard enough (because there are people in the linux community who own those cards and have already tried). Now, when it comes to thinks like SATA controllers, linux drivers are not behind Windows drivers, because this kind of hardware sells more in server space than desktop space, and the manufacturers tend to support linux.
It may sound like a cliche, but installing Ubuntu Dapper on a laptop, a desktop and my desktop at work, I didn't have one hardware issue.
Alucard Belmont said:
3. I've been using MS for years,I feel comfortable using that.I'm no more student who have lots of free time to spare.
I'm not pushing this on everyone. On this forum alone several people have tried Ubuntu on my recommendation and liked it. That doesn't mean everyone has to using linux. Use whatever you like best, I don't care. But at the same time you are cutting yourself off from the world of software where interoperativity is made easy, where I can put together a smilie set that works with gaim and kopete, but not a single commercial-made chat application.
Alucard Belmont said:
4. being a developer whom coworkers all using windows OS, you can't afford being different yourself. I don't have free time to switch OS just to test my application.
Let's get one thing straight. It's fine to talk about using another OS if you can. But if you don't have a choice, if your company uses Windows software, I'm afraid you're trapped. The only thing you can do, when the next opportunity comes, is to advocate FOSS for your next project if you want to use a FOSS application.
Alucard Belmont said:
5. I don't want to jump into "I'm using Linux, I'm cooler than you windows user" bandwagons.
Linux is a fashion statement and it's a political tool. It's also software. I appreciate the politics of it, because FOSS is a good idea. But I don't use it to tell people I'm cooler than you, because linux is more fashionable. That's a waste of time.
Alucard Belmont said:
btw, where is MS SQL vs DB2,Oracle,MySql in the FOSS? they forgot to put it there?
I don't like the way Microsoft force their software to users such as IE vs Netscape,Messenger vs ICQ, but these arguments are more than enough to keep me using Windows.
Obviously, Ms Sql doesn't run on linux, that shouldn't surprise you.
DB2 is an IBM product (IBM have invested a lot into linux) and it obviously runs on linux just fine.
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data/db2/linux/
Oracle is the ultimate database product and obviously it runs on linux, I even tried it myself once. See their product matrix:
http://www.oracle.com/database/product_editions.html
Mysql is indeed FOSS itself, I have built it from source countless times and MySQL AB supports it on the following OSes: RedHat Linux, SuSE Linux, Fedora Linux, Debian GNU/Linux, Ubuntu Linux, Mandrake Linux, MontaVista Linux, ALTLinux, Gentoo Linux, Slackware Linux, Turbo Linux, Yellowdog Linux, Microsoft Windows, Sun Microsystems Solaris, Apple MacOS X, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Hewlett Packard HP-UX, IBM AIX, Novell Netware, SCO OpenUnix, SGI Irix, QNX Software Systems Neutrino. That covers most common Linux & Unix systems, as well as Windows.
And then there is *the* FOSS RDBM: PostgreSQL.
Mysql and Postgresql you can use for free. The others you have to pay for, but if you run linux, you don't have to pay for any other software, that still cuts your costs. But even if for some strange reason you have to use MSSQL, it's
only a database server. You can access it from any applications, commercial or FOSS.