[nycbug-talk] hand wringing

[mlists at bizintegrators.com]

On Sun, May 02, 2004 at 01:41:09PM -0400, michael wrote:
> Have I made the right choices?...
> or have I been tilting at windmills?...
> or am I just a rebel for a dying cause?...
> 
> I like choices in my world and I frequently exercise that choice.  My
> motivations for making certain choices are varied.  Sometimes I go with
> the great unwashed masses in the computing world and use the common
> apps in the common OS on the common hardware (Word, Windows, Intel).
> But that is rare and usually for a specific purpose (recruiters want my
> resume in that format).  I frequently choose alternatives.  I have been
> running Linux for years, BSD, and solaris on sparc (involuntarily).  My
> laptop is PowerPC (ibook) and next desktop may be AMD (shuttle). 
> 
> The point is:  I have moved away (but not detached) from the
> Windows/Intel platform.  While I do NOT rage against those machines, I
> like where I am.  I know I can always have fun with my 'fringe'
> technologies, and there will probably always be some level of need for
> my skillsets.  But lately I've been thinking about my future and the
> future of the marketplace.  Now, I'm not curled up in a fetal position
> in the corner calling out for mommy but, I AM taking pause.
> Unless... my subconscious is falling victim to the marketing machine.
> Should I be afraid of Longhorn-XAML-Avalon, or is that what they WANT
> me to be afraid of?   Will BSD ever break out like we hope?  Will apple
> really turn into a music media company?  Will linux ever capture the
> desktop?  Does any of this matter if the giant has locked up 90% of the
> market? 
> 
> So to ask the unaskable... what does the future hold?

We don't know, that is what makes life fun. :)

I had the same questions, thoughts and fears when I made a change from
MS to Linux in the early 90s. It was hard to decide not to have a dual
boot computer anymore, but to try only using Linux, no matter how hard
it was, and how long it took to just figure out how to configure X.
For some time, I had doubts, especially since a lot of friends didn't
want to bother with it, and played games all the time while I was
trying to figure out htf to use slip. To cut the nostalgia short, I'm
not at all sorry now. In the meantime I made another switch to BSDs in
late 1998, and never looked back. Right now, I know enough Windows to
get around, and I have friends who I can ask for help. I also know
Linux, or should I say, a couple of distros. But without BSD, I would
maybe have to change the field. I love it. Can't live without it.
I'm not worried if Linux will capture the desktops, if Apple will gain
more market share, or if BSD will grow bigger. What future will bring,
I don't know. What I do know is that I enjoy the process, not the end
result. I like using BSD right now, building things, creating
infrastructures. Once a job is done, it is not fun anymore. While it
is being done, it is fun. And in this process, we try to make things
better, giving back to the community.
Don't buy the marketing machine FUD. Take a look in the past 10 years,
Windows only got worse. It is far more complex, there is far too much
software that no one can understand. Have you ever tried using Visual
Studio .NET? And what about worms, viruses, and other junk. Everything
is more and more complex, and doesn't really work any better. Of
course, there are improvements, but at what price?
The only advice I can give you is to do what you feel is right for
you. Only than you will be happy. It is like buying a nice car,
putting some options on it, but then thinking hmmm I really want the
sunroof but it is in the group of options that is $1000 more. Nah I
spent enough already. And then for the next 5 years you will be
kicking yourself in the ass for not getting the damn sunroof.
Life is short, make a decision you won't be sorry about later..

Bruno

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