[techtalk] Extreme Tech article
Michelle Murrain
michelle at murrain.net
Wed Jun 13 13:25:49 EST 2001
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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