Linux vs. Windows: Fight to the Death

Here we go again. More headlines: MORE WINDOWS WEB SERVERS THAN LINUX, HAHA! More sensationalism, more absence of facts, more junk reporting, more wailing and gnashing of teeth and indignant rebuttals from the FOSS crowd. THERE ARE NOT NEITHER GAINS BY WINDUHS, AND HERE IS LONGWINDED EXPLANATION WHY. Then all the analysts chiming in, WINDOWS WINNING! NO, FIREFOX IS GAINING! NO, IT'S NOT! Until I just want to slap them all into silence.

Incidentally, FLOSS is stupid. It's FOSS, Free and Open Source Software. This is computing, not dentistry. And if you want people to take you seriously, for god's sake learn to spell, where to put apostrophes, and the difference between "loose" and "lose."

I suggest that everyone take a deep breath, relax, and get a grip on the important issue, which is a very simple one. Yes, Microsoft software sucks. Yes, it is true that removing all Windows PCs from the Internet will instantly eliminate 95% of spam and malware. It's buggy, inefficient and insecure, and no amount of propaganda, fake studies, or fakier analysts will change that. Microsoft's business tactics set all-time records for corruption and bullying. Their new Live OneCare is the ultimate in both cynicism and contempt for customers, because the schmucks will pay up, and continue to pay and pay and pay for the privilege of using one of the most defective consumer products on Earth.

But none of those are the important simple issue. The most important issue is this:

Choice.

That's all. I shouldn't have to care what computing platform other people elect to use, what type of hardware they buy, or what software applications they think are teh hawt. I shouldn't have to care about converting users to Linux, or taking market share away from Windows.

But I have to, because all those things affect me personally. Ballmergates have devoted their lives and incredible resources to taking away my choices. Because of their corrupt tactics, I cannot walk into a computer store and have a wide range of pre-installed computers running different operating systems to choose from. I have to shop very carefully to find Linux-supported hardware because the Borg work very hard to maintain a lock on hardware. If it weren't for tireless volunteer coders and reverse-engineering, there wouldn't be much left for us.

Because of Ballmergate's complete lack of concern for security, the public Internet is a cesspool. No, they didn't write and release all that malware. They just made it incredibly easy for any maladjusted dweeb with a smidgen of coding skills to do it. Amazing, isn't it, when they don't even have access to the Windows source code.

And if that weren't enough, now Microsoft is leading the DRM charge, which threatens both our consumer rights like nothing before, and our civil rights, and that's no hyperbole. (Please see DRM - Is It Worth Going To Jail For? and Microsoft Research DRM talk.

I didn't pick a fight with Microsoft. No FOSS advocate did. The giants of FOSS- Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds, Maddog Hall, Alan Cox, Michael Tieman, Patrick Volkerding, Debra and Ian Murdock, and all the many others that I apologize for leaving out, created this great fertile ecosystem that gave computing back to the do-it-yourselfers. Microsoft could have left us alone. They could have even joined the party. But they won't. They want to kill FOSS dead.

So the next time someone crabs at you for dissing poor old defenseless Microsoft, and I shall go to my grave wondering at these losers who defend giant corporations for no good reason, just remember two things: they started it, and all we want are choices.