[techtalk] Extreme Tech article

[Michelle Murrain]

At 10:25 AM -0400 6/12/01, Martin.Caitlyn at epamail.epa.gov wrote:
>  > An interesting read on Extreme Tech talking about Linux and Win 2K and
>>  which is best for your needs.
>
>>
>http://www.extremetech.com/article/0,2299,s%253D1027%2526a%253D2166,00.asp
>
>  Well... I suppose it's interesting if you like a pro-Microsoft bias and an
>article that ignores mainly of the problems with running Windows and
>ignores.  For example, in the discussion of IIS vs.  Apache, no mention of
>security issues is  made at all, an area where IIS has major problems.
>Indeed, discussion of security are noticeably absent from the article.
>When discussing journaling file systems (briefly), only xfs is mentioned.
>IBM's JFS and Reiser FS are noticeably missing.  In addition, kernel bloat
>is mentioned as a serious problem with xfs, yet the fact that the system
>requirements of Linux 2.4.x *with* xfs are still tiny compared to Windows
>2000 Server is definitely not mentioned.  I can go on and on, but
>generally, this is only an interesting read if you like Microsoft FUD.
>
>I am not saying that Linux is the right answer for everyone.  It's not.  I
>am saying that this article won't help you make an informed choice.
>Rather, it seems designed to generate a specific choice.

Um, actually, I thought the article was not so badly biased. There 
were quite a number of things, as you point out, that were a bit 
skewed or missing. But the final conclusions, for the most part, made 
sense to me.  If you are on a budget,  pick linux, if you've already 
got a heavy investment in Windows, especially in custom apps, then a 
windows solution, sadly, makes some sense. And if you're in neither 
category - they said it's an even split.  We'd all say, pick linux, 
but I'd argue that we have a heavy anti-microsoft bias.

I think they are speaking from a place, where most people are, where 
the default decision is microsoft. That's the present reality of the 
world we live in, and I don't think it means that people have a 
microsoft bias if they speak from that perspective. Plus, I think 
that many people in the tech industry are so used to software being 
released by big software companies, that they just don't grok Linux 
and open source - but this article doesn't strike me as a big FUD job 
at all.

Michelle
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