From: Steve Pelikan <>
>
> Walt is correct that most of the nasty programs out there are
> windows-based. Using a Mac is one way to avoid them, but there are other=
> alternatives (Linux and other UNIXes, BeOS, etc.) many of which are
> available at no cost and run on the intel hardware that windows runs on.
>
> And they really are worth considering; since there's a long tradition of=
> using unix in academic and engineering settings, there is lots of good
> (and free) DSP software available for these OS's.
>
> I'm not trying to start a "my OS is superior" debate at all, just to
> follow up on and strongly agree with Walt's important observation that
> there are a number of ways you can avoid problems by avoiding windows.
Neither am I, but more to point out that one OS is virtually the entire
problem. And it's leaking out onto the rest of us. It eats my time even
though I don't use it. There are alternatives.
While unix is used in academic and engineering a lot, most of that
software is, shall we say, raw and unpolished. If you have a degree or
two in the field and plenty of time to play with your computer, it's
fine, but I'm a biologist and find it tough going as I cover at least a
dozen academic fields without degrees in them. And I used to make my
living as a programmer and math/statistical analyst. Most often I trip
over the stuff in GIS software. You'd think software devoted to maps
could cough up a map or two. Only with lots of pain. I go back hopeful
from time to time to find even more programs, mostly not talking to each
other, what went before, or anyone else. Free is not a advantage when
it's chaos. We need software not written by someone isolated in a ivory
tower somewhere.
In any case, there is no mac OS. That died with OS 9.2. Now there is a
candy coating on the nasty stuff of unix that they try and pass off as a
mac OS. Slows me down a lot. I can run anything I have to, but strongly
prefer a OS that stays out of my way so I can do things they never
thought of doing.
Walt
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