Re: Competition

[Daniel Carrera <dcarrera%gmail.com@localhost>]

On 08/26/2011 09:25 PM, Scrap Happy wrote:
> But, I use Windows for most of the "traditional desktop" applications
> simply because the tools that are available under *any* of the other
> (free or otherwise) OS's are just not of the same caliber. For
> example, in the past month, I've:
> - scanned hundreds of 35mm slides and made a DVD presentation
> from them (add menus, audio, effects, etc.)
> - scanned a service manual for an NS32xxx series ICE (B-size pages)
> - simulated a small power supply circuit
> - revised the design (schematic) of a network audio client
> - prepared a 3D rendering of an enclosure I want fabricated for
> review by the injection molder
>
> Next month, I'll:
> - layout the PCB for the audio client
> - prepare a newsletter for the print shop (incl editing photos)
> - ?

Ok, that's fair enough. I don't do *any* of those things. I didn't even 
understand some of those items.

This might be an odd question, but what do you use NetBSD for? It's not 
obvious to me what role it plays for someone whose job is to do the 
things you listed above.



> Wait until you have to do some 3D CAD work for a client. And *they*
> use some Windows-based CAD tool :>
>
> Or, the scanner you have isn't supported by SANE.
>
> Or, the DVD rendering tool doesn't take advantage of all of the
> cores in your processor so you wait 2 or 4 times longer to encode
> the video.

Well, I don't work on CAD, I don't make DVDs and the scanner I have at 
home works with SANE :-)



> > When I need an office program I run OpenOffice. For photo editing I use
> > GIMP. When I want to draw something I may use OO or Inkscape depending
> > on what I need. My plantearium program is Stellarium. My scientific work
> > is done in Fortran compiled with GCC.
>
> But, these are all "your" tools. You don't have to answer to an
> employer, client, customer, etc. You can chose to ride a SKATEBOARD
> around town -- so long as you don't ever have to pick up guests at
> the airport! ;-)

True. My supervisor mainly cares about the results. He doesn't care much 
what software I use to analyze my data or create my plots as long as it 
works (I use a Perl script to do the analysis and pipe the results to 
Gnuplot).



> Your demands might not be the same as mine -- or other folks. You
> might not have to interface to other staff that are already *using*
> those tools. Your time may have different value (to you) than mine
> does to me (or my client).

As it turns out, most of my friends seem to use Ubuntu, but that's just 
a coincidence. We don't need to "interface" via software. I present my 
results at the departmental meetings and for that we all use a white 
board and printed graphs.



> If it works for you, great! Hopefully you will always have that
> freedom. But, when you *don't*, you might find the change hard to
> swallow :-/ I frequently hear folks grumbling because, in effect,
> they don't have 'root' (e.g., at work, etc.).


Yeah... I like being root. My work computer belongs to me and that's 
nice. I do my simulations in a computer cluster which obviously doesn't 
belong to me, but that's just for running simulations.



> > I had always assumed that BSD users would feel similar. I had assumed
> > that everyone on this list *likes* running NetBSD or *BSD and naturally
> > would want to use it on their desktop rather than endure Windows.
>
> You're missing the point. It's not a case of "want".

Ok. Are you saying that you'd like to use NetBSD as your desktop but 
practical considerations force you to use Windows?



> If FOSS can do what you want, the way you want and in the timeframe
> you want, great! For many of us, though, that's not the case. And,
> doesn't look like it will be anytime soon. :-/

:-(

--
I'm not overweight, I'm undertall.