I'm a retired software engineer thoroughly enjoying learning the linux command line and system internals, using Ubuntu 14.04 as a vehicle.
It all reminds me of using UNIX back in the day, I'm really a bit of a dinosaur.
I'm really looking forward to using the forum to learn about linux and it's benefits as an OS to challenge the despicable Microsoft...

Cheers all.

Welcome to the forums, microsofthater.

Welcome aboard.

Hello and Welcome

Hi microsofthater,

So, Linux is a challenger to the despicable Microsoft ? Good news, Linux has already won ! We just need continuing developer efforts to write drivers, kernels and fun apps to keep winning the race. I'm looking forward to Android apps all the time, as that will eventually lead to an all-Linux smartphone some day. Welcome to LQ, and see you around.

Grapster

I hope Windows 10 is a flop and that it finishes off Windows forever. Folks might then vote with their feet and migrate to linux, or God forbid OS X.

I'm afraid that's not true. 'Market share' tells a very different story. GNU/Linux is strong on servers, but on the desktop and corporate workstations it's still pretty much a non-entity.

Android has about as much in common with GNU/Linux as the TiVo, kindle, cisco routers, TomTom, etc, etc... getting more "apps" for Android won't make a jot of difference to someone running GNU/Linux. Android is a locked down partially proprietary embedded OS. The drivers used on those platforms are mostly proprietary so there is little chance of Linux users benefiting. OpenBSD, FreeBSD and NetBSD or parts of those are often used in a similar way (embedded), but their users don't aspire to a "BSD smartphone" or delude themselves into thinking such a device exists - or that it ever can.

Microsoft have survived against the odds and will probably continue to do so. You should probably bear in mind that without MS, 'open' (read: unlocked) platforms might not have come about or might not have done so in the form they're in today - the market could have easily gone in the other direction.

MS sold it's OS (MSDOS) separately to install on the end user's IBM PC compatible - prior to this it was pretty much "buy the computer and get the OS preinstalled and like it" - a la Apple, IBM, Commodore, etc - where the computer and OS come from the same vendor. Microsoft and now google have moved back towards this kind of policy via deals with their OEMs - and Apple of course have been doing it all along and still do it.

Without MS and x86 hardware, open source software like the Linux kernel, GNU project and 386BSD might not have come about at all.

An interesting perspective, might Microsoft and Windows not have evolved without the influence of UNIX?