[ILUG-BOM] Why do we hate Windows?

[S. Krishnan]

--- Nikhil Joshi <nikhiljoshy at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I have seen many Linux users (Linux users in general
> and not just linuxers) 
> referring to Windows or it's apps in rather
> demeaning way e.g. 
> window$,win....,M$ Win.., windoze, etc. Why are we
> so 
> intolerant ? I mean we have been using this OS since
> it's arrival .

Good question.

Most
> of us (I am not sure but I guess) have dual boot
> system .  I am not 
> professing the use of Windows but I think it is
> imperative for us to 
> understand that Windows is here to stay ,at least in
> the desktop 
> environment .

So? That does not mean we have to like it any better,

> 
> Also I think Windows is affordable for most users (
> OEM stuff ) .So I think
> the argument that Windows costs a fortune is not
> true. In Linux too we have
> commercial distributions ( Suse,Corel, Red Hat
> Deluxe Workstation,etc..)  
> whose costs are comparable to that of Windows 95 or
> 98 . 

Bull.  You can buy one boxed set of say, SuSe Linux,
and install it on all of your computers as well as
your neighbor's, without breaking the law.  (Caveat:
this may not hold good for any proprietary software
that the distro has, but then, such packages are never
a core part of the product, since they are generally
demos or time-limited trials).  This is not possible
with any flavour of MS Windows, which is licenced on a
per PC basis.  Unless you negotiate special terms with
M$ for a site licence or something similar, and pay
through the nose for it, you're (legally) restricted
to using your copy of Windows on just *one* PC.  Thus,
I would suggest that it is inviduous to even think of
comparing the costs of Linux and Windows.

The second point here is that GNU/ Linux systems are
in any case not comparable to Win9x products.  They
are incredibly more stable, secure and featureful.  If
at all you seek to make a (quite odious) comparison,
look at Microsoft Windows NT/ 2000, which *claims* to
be reliable, stable, secure, etc.  The base price for
a Win NT 5-user server licence is Rs. 33000+.  Add
around Rs. 1200 for every additional user, and for say
a small establishment woth 15 users, you're looking at
a base OS licence cost of Rs. 45000+.  And mind you,
this does not include anything additional to the base
OS.  You have to pay for a C compiler, you have to pay
for a mail server, you have to pay for a RDBMS system,
etc., etc.  Addition of these things could double the
price of your putative Windows system, at a minimum. 
And you get industrial-strength products in all thee
categories, and many more, when you install Linux. 
And just think of Linux's incredible stability,
performance, uptime, reliability and scalability,
especially after the release of the 2.4 kernel.  Did
you know that Windows NT servers have to be rebooted
regularly to keep them working consistently?  Whereas
Linux boxes just soldier on for years without needing
reboots.  Guess who's got the better bargain?

> 
> So the question is why do we hate Windows so much ?
> Are we jealous of
> it's success or is it just unwritten rule for Linux
> users to snub it ?
> 

I program on Windows for a living, and so am fairly
well acquainted with it, its quirks and foibles.  One
thing I have learned over the years (and I have been
using MS products since 1986), is that Microsoft hit
the nadir of product quality with the release of Win
9x and NT.  

Working with MS is a frustrating experience,
especially for systems programmers.  Did you know that
they charge for just about everything a systems
programmer needs in terms of information to program
for all the flavours of Windows?  And not only do MS
charge for some information, they actually hide other
information that is critical to understanding the
system, and they sometimes actively obfuscate it in
their attempt to preserve their dirty little secrets
(this last phrase, incidentally is not mine, but was
coined by Matt Pietrek in "Windows 95 Systems
Programming Secrets" - and Matt is one of the foremost
authorities on Windows programming - he is in a senior
technical position with Numega). In the final
analysis, therefore, every one of Microsoft's actions
is geared towards maximizing revenue and getting
products to market, ready or not.  This has impacted
their quality control efforts, with the results that
are before us to see, experience and tear our hair
out.  

Add to this their efforts to keep programming
information secret, their attempts to break existing
standards, their "embrace and extend" philosophy,
their unwarranted and groundless attacks on free
software, their long lag time to fix bugs, and their
extreme arrogance in dealing with the public, and you
have the perfect combination for the creation of a
wave of revulsion towards them.  I hope this answers
your question.

Regards,

Krishnan


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