* Andrew Gormanly said:
> > I have just uploaded a short rationale document to the fud-counter site.
> > Please take a look at it (http://fud-counter.nl.linux.org/rationale.html)
> > and throw at me all comments, flames, critics, everything. Thanks!
> >
> > marek
> >
>
> Excellent! A few tiny suggestions for improvements (?) though...
Sure :)))))))))))))!!!!
[snip]
All the stupid mistakes, typos and unweighted sentences corrected,
suggestions taken and applied ;)). This time I ispell'ed the text, so there
are no grammar~ errors (I hope).
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Grendel
> > Last modified: Fri Oct 8 15:40:34 CEST 1999
> http://fud-counter.nl.linux.org/rationale.html
>
> In general, a good start (and better than anything I've had time to do
> yet....)
> Just my tuppence worth. Flame away, one and all :-)
:))
I have uploaded it to fud-counter.nl.linux.org, but for some reason the
version online hasn't been updated yet. Therefore I attach the new version
to this mail.
marek
Title: Rationale for fud-counter
Ever since the computer appeared in our lives there has been competition on both the software and the hardware markets in that field. Initially, only few people in the world had the knowledge and opportunities to work with computers, write software for them, improve them. After several years the market grew big and spread into many areas of our life. The software business started to be reasonably profitable for many people, and as such became yet another racing track of our times.
As we all know, often the methods used in business are very remote from the rules of fair play. Many people would deny it, but it's the reality - people compete, and they don't always play fair. The struggle gets more and more heated as the financial stakes become higher. This site is a place where we will, among others, counter one of the marketing techniques used in the industry called FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt). More about the purpose of this site below.
Linux started as a home-made project of a student that wanted his PC to run something decent. After a few years a group of developers from all around the world created an OS kernel that turned out to be a very powerful, robust, reliable and modern software. With time passing by, more and more people learned about Linux, gave it a try and started to use it on a day-by-day basis.
Being based on Unix systems, Linux at first shared their traditional text mode, command-line interface with no bells and whistles of the Windows®; GUI (Graphical User Interface). Unix systems were traditionally targeted at a more experienced, professional user audience. However, as Linux started to make it onto home PC systems, users and developers started to make it more friendly and suited for desktop applications, while at the same time not sacrificing Linux's power as either a server or a multi-user system. As a system that may be used on both desktop and as an networked server, Linux had to be reliable, secure, comfortable and easily approachable by both newcomers and professionals used to the traditional Unix systems. It took a couple of years, but right now Linux fulfills all of these requirements while still adding features in each and every of the abovementioned fields. It has to be noted that what we call Linux is not an operating system - it's a part thereof called the kernel. Only an added set of utilities and applications converts the whole set into an Operating System. Various aspects of an OS are the user interface (either textual or graphical), development components, office and desktop applications, multimedia software and, yes, games. All those kinds of software became to appear on our Linux machines, every day getting better, more sophisticated and feature rich. The software on the Linux platform comes, in major part, from the GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation.
The very nature of the Linux model of development (Open Source) requires that many people work on its new features while at the same time testing the system and allowing many people around the world to test it as well. The only drawback of such testing model is its "unofficial" nature. In the business world the point of view of a man in the crowd doesn't really matter. What matters is the official lab tests, TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) calculations etc. This is something the Linux (and Open Source in general) community didn't provide since we felt there's no need to confirm something we are all sure of.
With the growth of Linux popularity came various comments, points of view coming from companies, officials, authorities all over the world. Unfortunately not all of them were accurate and describing the actual state of Linux. Moreover, much of the information about the weaknesses (and/or bugs) of the Linux kernel or operating systems based on Linux were either outdated, misleading or just plain wrong from the ground up - not backed up by the real facts and proofs. Although they would easily be countered by the Linux community, there was no "official" proof that these problems don't exist, while the opposite side presented figures proving their point and taken from the official sources widely accepted as the authorities in this field. Sadly, many of the figures were misinterpreted or interpreted from the inappropriate point of view.
As the attacks mentioned above started to happen more and more often, the Linux community felt that there is a need to counter them by providing truthful facts to prove the FUD spread by the publications is nothing but a FUD.
We plan, and hope, to make this site a source of valuable information for professionals, journalists, developers, users and people who don't know what Linux is about. You won't find here any FUD at all - only firm proofs countering the myths and half-truths, explanations on features, case-studies, testimonials and interviews with individuals that have hard-life experience with Linux and that trust their money and welfare in this excellent product of the GNU Generation.