ZDNet: Leave everything to me... not! Should OS vendors limit your choices? | Linux Today

ZDNet: Leave everything to me… not! Should OS vendors limit your choices?

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Apr 18, 2001

“…Hmm. So far we’ve had to deal with choices between SCSI and
IDE, serial and parallel and USB, ISA and PCI and AGP, and the
industry hasn’t fallen over as a result. Sophisticated users have
been able to make their own informed choices; those who don’t care
about the innards leave the choices to retailers or
integrators.”

This represents a major culture clash between Microsoft and
Linux worldviews. To those craving simple solutions, Linux offers
too much choice. Microsoft, on the other hand, places unnecessary
(and arbitrary) limitations on choice, especially for those capable
of making informed decisions.

“All things equal, would you prefer too much choice or too
little? Do you want a choice on Election Day? Would you prefer that
your carmaker dictate what brand of gasoline you use?”


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Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

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