Re: XGS/32 v1.4b Released!

[stevementzer@earthlink.net (Steven W. Mentzer)]

>
>Perhaps you want to check out some of the new releases. 

I did. I have redhat 6.1 running on several machines (laptops, servers and 
desktops) with StarOffice5.1, using either the KDE or Gnome shell.

>There is a lot
>of applications all over the net too. The problem, and I agree with you
>on this, the programs require a bit of technical intelligence on the user's
>part. This is a definite departure from Windows which is designed to
>be used by the masses. I have never approved of this idea. IMHO, all
>computer users need some technical knowledge of the computer and
>software they are using.


Not gonna happen. I agree with you but 90% of the rest of the world doesn't. 
And good intentions rarely make a difference. :)

>
>If you give Linux and X a good desktop manager such as KDE (which
>includes a lot of easily used apps) you have an excellent system which
>can be easily learned. 

The GUI difference  between KDE/Gnome and windows, while aestetically similar 
is somewhat different in terms of keyboard shortcuts and mouse functions. To 
get it to work just like windows requires a substantial amount of work, and may 
not work for all applications. This is a real problem...


>As for another argument you made in another
>message, there are several IDE's for programmers. Code Warrior comes
>to mind. The programming methodology used in Linux or any *nix
>system brings with it a lot of power for the programmer.
>

I have been programming for a number of platforms for many, many years. The 
bottom line is that I dont *want* to learn an entirely new framework for 
developing applications.

Sure, I can take 6 months out and all the intricacies of pearl, java, whatever. 
But why throw away my years of knowledge on a new platform? Why take a step 
back. Codewarrior is neat, but frankly, MSVisualStudio is 100 times better. 

You may not like MS, but they make programming easy.

Like I said before. I have a wife and kids. I like to go home on time. Linux 
development is still too cumbersome...

Make a VB equivalent for Linux, with a robust object model (such as COM/DCOM) 
and the masses of Windows developers (where a LOT of talent lies) will come 
over in droves.

Businesses aren't going to adopt new platforms if everything they trained for 
and developed over the last *x* number of years needs to be thrown away.

Until then..... 

smentzer@pacbell.net



>Phoenyx
>
>