On Sat, 2004-01-10 at 14:20, Richard L. Proctor wrote:
> On Friday 09 January 2004 4:39 am, Vaughn Treude wrote:
> 
> > So far I've avoided going to XP on principle, but I admit that the windows
> > XP registration scheme is, so far, mostly just a hassle, but it's still a
> > hassle, which makes Linux look better.  Having installed both Windows and
> > Linux on many occasions, I consider them to be about of equal difficulty,
> > with each having their own strengths and weaknesses.  The reason Windows
> > "seems" easier is because most people get it preinstalled, and rather than
> > upgrading, a lot of folks just buy a new computer.
> 
> Boy I sure would like to know how figure linux is just as easy to install as 
> XP.  Especially since you have to go fetch and install your own NVIDIA 
> drivers which XP does automatically.
----
You seem to want to ignore the obvious. Microsoft Windows is a closed
source proprietary product. Microsoft is in charge of the user
interface, the applications and drivers bundled therein and if Microsoft
chooses to bundle proprietary drivers to which they have never seen the
source code, that is their choice. It's not a big leap of faith for a
user of a Microsoft Windows system to accept closed source binary code
being installed on their computer - that comprises the entire code base
of the system anyway so why should another closed source, proprietary
package matter?

I KNOW that Red hat and Debian include ALL source code with their
product and as such, refuse to distribute nVidia drivers because they
nVidia refuses to make the source code available for inspection and
inclusion. This philosophy doesn't begin nor end with the nVidia
drivers. This philosophy comprises other extremely popular items such as
java, flash, acrobat reader and much much more. My understanding is that
of the other Linux distributions don't adhere to this philosophy and
consequently include and install binaries to which they have never seen
nor can offer the source.

It would seem that since you recommend that people use Windows XP and by
the post above that you are not concerned with the purposes of
intellectual property, licensing and the nature of the restrictions
imposed by the software and hardware vendors either on Windows or on
Linux. That is your perogative but it almost begs the question as to why
you bother with Linux at all?

Craig