On Wed, 5 Jan 2000 18:05:27 +0100, Thomas Michael Wanka wrote:
[...]
>wanted) so I HAVE the choice. What about the everyday user? Most 
>of the people I know simply could not handle Linux or a BSD, I have 
>to recommend to these people to use the preinstalled MS OS on 
>their machines, because for them it is the best choice! I cannot 
>request them to use an OS they need a technician for every little 
>change!

Hmm.  My mom runs NetBSD so she doesn't need a technician to keep
the thing going.  Considering her level of technical expertise (she
has me and/or my brother configure the VCR, answering machine, etc.),
any MS system would be a very poor choice due to the typical daily
support requirements.  Also, what little long distance tech support
is needed is rather easy to do with NetBSD.

>The open source movement will not benefit from frustrated end users.

True enough, but that should be true of any movement or business.  I
don't run anything but NetBSD (and some FreeBSD here and there) by
choice because I find everything else too frustrating, open source
and commercial.

>A good recommendation in this topic should sound like "The file 
>system implementation of linux may ristrict its use in critical 
>environment, and NetBSD is speedier on older less performant 
>systems ... "

Okay, but why should performance only be an issue on older hardware?

>I guess we need better recommendations than to convince people. 
>In the end it is their choice and they have to live with it and pay for it!

And pay, and pay, and pay.