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the very subject line, "listen up dude", portrays a level of incompetence in using the written language even before the article itself gets posted.
"It's only for people who know how to use it" is a double edged sword. Yes, it does help to know certain things if one wishes to be a user of UNIX like OS'es (and all those wishing to reach POSIX compliance). These still are not "alternative" OS'es, however. UNIX was here long before Microsoft ever had a say in things. The BSD's were out at approximately the same time MS and IBM teamed together. This puts UNIX and UNIX like OS'es as the predecessor of the "other" OS'es. They have been worked on for thirty years and thus are more robust and more powerful than say Microsoft Windows (any flavor). Linux will run on 60 different architecture types. It has for years. If I have a Solaris machine, an Intel machine, a PowerPC, and a Sparc, I can use the same source code for most linux apps and run those apps on the different machines. This is not the case with Windows.
The double edge of the sword is that, while suggestive that one should know certain things about UNIX like OS'es, it is not necessary to do so, making the statement ultimately false. Nearly anyone can USE Linux. My initial foray into linux was three years ago when I installed Slackware 2.x ...it was very time consuming to get installed. AFTER it was installed and running, though, I never had the first minutes trouble out of it. Unfortunately, Win95 zapped that drive and, when I bought a new one, I did not jump back into Linux. I decided it best, given my gaming desire, to stick with Windows. A year ago, however, I felt the urge to install linux once again. I went with RedHat 7.1 and, in time, went as far as putting Mandrake 8.1 on my K6 II-500 laptop. Neither machine has had any problems since. Granted, my desktop 1800+ XP has to dual boot so that I can play Red Faction, but aside from the minor issue that Red Faction and DirectX games pose, I do not have a need to run Windows at all. My 11 year old brother asks to get online and I can say sure. He has no problem at all clicking on the mozilla icon on the desktop and surfing the net. If he wants to listen to mp3's, he clicks on XMMS and loads whatever MP3 he wants. In the event he wants to watch a DivX, he clicks on Xine and loads what he wants to watch. He even makes the comment that, if I am running windows, he will wait until I a boot up linux so that the DivX playback will be smoother. It is not NECESSARY to know anything about UNIX to USE a UNIX like OS, merely to get it installed. And, if Linux were to come bundled on machines like some of the "other" OS'es do, that would not be an issue.
As for world domination, that is absurd. The majority of computer users "on the world" shouldn't be trusted to do much more with a computer than turn it on, play a game or two, and browse the net. Many should not even be allowed to go online. Linux users realize that most users are incompetent and should be using a *relatively* fool proof OS, but most are also incompetent enough to not know that there were computers before Microsoft Windows.
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