Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Linux and winning

Author:Dave Winer
Posted:3/5/1999; 6:27:46 PM
Topic:scriptingNews outline for 3/5/99
Msg #:3698 (In response to 3663)
Prev/Next:3697 / 3699

I'd like my operating system choice to be independent of my application supplier's OS choice.

This is a very interesting message, Eric.

You know the last time this surfaced was with Java and WORA. I had a relatively long talk with Bill Gates about this. I think I represented your point of view well.

At the time we hadn't shipped Frontier/Win, so I couldn't talk to him as a platform vendor, but now I can. I think my message would be a little different.

Some of the users I value the most are almost clamoring for us to get to Linux. So, Bill, as my platform vendor, can you help me get there?

I don't care about the OS. I like to work in Frontier, not in C. I would have been happy to stay on the Mac forever, but the platform vendor made it so unattractive that we had to move. The last thing I want to think about is another port, esp to a platform that has such an unproven UI. People who ask for a faceless Frontier are ignoring something important. Frontier has a lot of "face".

Further, all the discussion about outlining here today is so synergistic. We are going to be exposing more of Frontier as a writing environment. We have to get 6.0 finalized, I need a break, and then we come back and rewrite the rules about who Frontier is useful to. I think the outliners have already met the scripters. When Phil and Matt got together with Bernie, that was just the beginning. Today has been an incredible beginning exploration of the power that's at the intersection of these two compatible but very different ways of looking at the world. Outliners want customization. Scripters have learned how to outline. Guess what happens next? More partnerships like the ones that are budding here and now.

Back to Linux. Somewhere in all this confusion is a solution. There's no way I'm ever going to recommend to Bernie that he use Linux. It'll be a lot of years before Linux is that user-friendly, and by then Bernie and I will be old men smoking cigars and ogling the girls on the boardwalk at Miami Beach.

A while ago I offered to work with people on Linux to define a runtime environment that would be friendly to Frontier-managed websites. I still think this is the best way to go. I'd also like to work with Microsoft to get Windows really working well with Linux. I'd rather not learn a new OS, or port all that C code to run on another OS.

Anyway, there's no conclusion to this now, I just wanted to share some of my thoughts. Thanks for the good vibes, everyone. I'm quite pleased with the way this DG is going.

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