Re: Win32 port

[famrom idecnet com (Guillermo S. Romero / Familia Romero)]

>I must agree on this. As I see it new users shouldn't even have inetd
>installed and certainly not "bloatware" sendmail and other security
[...]
>Note: I'm running FreeBSD with gnome/sawfish for the moment and it's
working just fine. Almost...

Some latest Linux distros do what you say: no servers, no compilers, only
apps. User gets what he expects, and a bit more, but is never forced to use
them (telnet client, shell tools...). I think it is easier than in other OS,
cos you can install more things afterwards, without serious problems (have
your own FTP or compile Univ things).

The only problems I still see with Linux are:
- support, or to be exact that the shop where you buy a PC also know Linux,
not only Windows, so they fix problems (that is a local problem, and if they
are unable to fix Windows I do not expect them to fix an Unix-like). I know
that companies offer support, and you get some when buying a CD box.
- preinstallation (local too, some shops already do it).
- drivers for more hardware, and step by step that is changing (some
companies do not want to code them or provide the info, but others do).
- some apps do not exist, but some of the are fights over APIs, codecs,
intellectual property rights and "Linux? Bah, we do not port to that crap!"
(I doubt this will change in the near future, the only way is true open
standards that give lot of money, like TCP/IP, not closed systems that only
reduce the audience).

Conclusion: GNOME is trying to do its work right, provide a nice GUI with
lot of options. IMO GNOME is matching the expectations, and more (now even
includes an installer that could be used for more things). I recommend
everybody to try a distro with the workstation or equivalent install. What
is more, I think Apple is going this way with MacOS X: great system under
the nice surface, user "dives" until he needs or wants.

The lower level things are off topic. They could (should) be discussed, but
not here. Porting to Win32 is an option, and if the guy that proposed it
want to do it, great. But I doubt it worths the cost (time, money, etc).

GSR