NT & Linux

[pbreton at cs.umb.edu (Peter Breton)]

> >I suppose that Microsoft considers Unix to be the main competitor to NT, and a
> >free Unix is hard to beat on price.  

Only half-true. NT's competition is with Unix as an application server, 
and Netware as a file and print server. (Yes, we know that people use 
Unix to do those things also, but commercially Netware rules this domain, 
followed by NT).

I myself don't see NT and Linux as direct competitors, in that they 
usually do not occupy the same ecological niche. Linux is the premiere 
"hacker's OS" in a world where freeware rules, NT 4 will be the 
commercial OS of choice, for at least small-to-medium LANs, and probably 
enterprise-level soon as well. Many people who run Linux would never run NT 
because it is commercial, and many people who run NT would never consider 
Linux because it is free.

> Until there are Linux equivalents to Word & Excel, Win 3.11 suits me 
> fine for the few tasks that Linux can't handle very nicely!

Not if you want to use 32-bit versions of Word and Excel.....

				Peter

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Peter Breton  pbreton at cs.umb.edu          PGP key by finger
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Shave the whales!