[ Thanks to Kelly
McNeill for this link. ]
“While spending time between classes perusing through the latest
news issuing forth from COMDEX, I was perplexed at seeing nearly
every major paper, website, and tech news organization in existence
extol the phenomenon of Linux Ascendant.”
“I mean, even the stoic and staid Forbes Magazine was happily
gushing about how Linux is an actual business tool….You know
you’ve done well when you can get a pack of sour old investment
brokers to smile. Heck, I’ve even checked informally, and
discovered that the Right and Honorable Mr. Torvalds got more press
at COMDEX than Bill Gates did. Talk about stealing someone’s
thunder…especially right before a major Windows OS
release….”
“However…wasn’t this the same conglomeration of press and
opinion that had relegated Linux to the ream of hobbyists and
hackers, not even a month ago? I mean, many of these same
folks were accused by the more fervent among us of “buying the
Microsoft FUD” among other things. Not so much as a week ago, the
mainstream press was agreeing with, and happily reproducing, Judge
Thomas’ assertion that Linux was a fringe OS, and would probably be
nothing more. The Mindcraft and PCWeek fiascoes only piled insult
to injury, and the Gartner Group’s wee study only made it look more
dismal. Let’s face it – we’ve seen so much tepid (and sometimes
negative) press for so long, that this sudden romance by the
mainstream press seems as if The Fairy Godmother just arrived and
gave our little penguin a new tux for the ball.”