| From: | Aaron Ruscetta |
| Date: | 7 Aug 2000 at 14:21:58 |
| Subject: | Re: AMIOPEN: To Windoze or Not to Windoze |
On Sat, 5 Aug 2000, Daniel Robbins wrote:
> On Sat, Aug 05, 2000 at 08:52:14AM -0700, Gary Peake wrote:
> >
> > Something that has been missed in the posts here is this very fact.
> > The new Amiga OE is host ignorant. Write once, run many means JUST
> > THAT!
> I totally agree with you. I imagine the vast majority of list readers
> agree with you.
Cool. I'm in the majority, too then! I certainly agree (and have never
forgotten) that the *goal* is host independence. That has never been
questioned in any of my posts. Unfortunately, a windoze based SDK
release at this time will not be anywhere near that goal, and is in
point of performance and OS dependence, about as far as you can get
from it at the present level of Tao/Amiga OE development.
> -- I think that everyone is starting to delete these
> "No Windows SDK" messages. These messages are totally insane and
> misguided, and they normally involve some kind of "blanket" judgement
> labelling all Windows users as idiots, which I consider
> "techno-bigotry". Some people unable or unwilling to grasp the fact
> that Windows should be supported -- they're stuck in the 80's-style
> Amiga vs. Mac vs. Windows debates.
As obviated by the above, the bigotry goes both ways. Apparently the
magnitude of the issues on these SDK support threads brings out some
long standing and passionate points of view. A few of the comments on
both sides have, unfortunately, devolved into some irrelevant,
globally derogatory generaliziations. Just as being a windoze user
does not make someone an idiot, resisting windoze proliferation by NOT
using it does not make someone an unreasoning fanatic. I hope we can
all avoid having the passions become a censor of discussion.
My own intention is always to avoid personal or overly generalized
condemnations, and I apologize if my style or use of favored
nick-names for MicroShaft and their products sometimes obscures that
fact.
Once one gets past the conditioned response to anyone who would
question "the numbers", they will find that techno-bigotry is
neither inherent to or responsible for the primary arguments opposing
a windows based Amiga SDK release at this time:
-- It is a matter of simple logic to contend that supporting windoze
to achieve OS alternatives is a self contradictory proposition. Even
simpler logic establishes the founding proof that Using windoze =
Supporting windoze = Diminishing alternatives.
-- It is extremely reasonable to question the value of soliciting
windoze based developers when, despite the vast weight of the monopoly
numbers, the overwhelming majority of alternative, innovative,
altruistic and open source contributions to computing are directly
atributable to Unix, Linux, Amiga and other non-windoze communities
(including little things like the internet and the world wide web).
-- It is quite sensible to wonder at the wisdom of promoting and
demonstrating the New Amiga on windoze systems prematurely, while its
performance is still so severely inhibited by, and dependent upon, the
windoze environment. First impressions are always the most lasting and
publicized impressions; if the introduction to the windoze arena is
weak at any level, then the future views, acceptance and
marketability of of the Amiga OE could be damaged.
-- It is totally valid to challenge Amiga OE market assumptions for
the windoze world based on industry history and other evidence of
indistinct market boundaries and related patterns of user migration.
-- It is very fair to ask just how much easier to use and/or more
accessable a windoze SDK would actually be compared to the current
Linux offerings. All things considered, there would seem to be a
fairly equal potential for complications with SDK installation and
operation when running on top of any environment.
> Windows *is* stable if you happen to be running Windows NT
> Workstation 4.0 with Service Pack 6a. I've never had it crash, and
> I've been using SP6 since it came out. Of course, Win95 and Win98
> are flaky, and 2000 still has quirks. Linux has quirks too.
Contentions have never been that Linux is some "perfect world", but
for simple reliablity, the long term track record shows it to be
demonstrably superior to any M$-OS offering that has been around for
any length of time. At present, it seems quite fair to claim that for
SDK performance and reliablity, running on Linux will remain the most
effective development and demonstration environment for Tao/Amiga, at
least until the stand-alone SDK and OE are completed. Issues of
installation convenience and accessability are where the question
marks still reside.
> The anti-Windows SDK argument does not make sense at all.
> It's totally misguided.
> And I happen to be someone who is very involved in
> the Linux community -- having my own Linux distribution and being a
> regular columnist for the IBM developerWorks Linux Zone.
> Let the bigotry end!
I totally agree that the techno-bigotry should be avoided. We might
make a good start by re-examining the implications of the first two
sentences of the paragraph above.
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