From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
Message-ID: <19b7084df7ed736af5c552dee8122c8c@proxima.alt.za>
To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu
Subject: Re: [9fans] UN to fund linux for the 3rd world
Date: Thu,  2 Sep 2004 13:21:39 +0200
From: lucio@proxima.alt.za
In-Reply-To: <20040902205241.307b99c7@garlic.apnic.net>
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> I don't do animations, and I avoid some forms of computed graphics (piecharts)
> so I admit there are limitations. It was not perfect. But the glitches were
> within the limits defined of sharing .ppt between Office/97 and Office/XP.

Well, I'm just going to disagree.  The _average_ user of PowerPoint
does not care that I may not be able to use the features he so dearly
loves.  You may well be able to produce a PowerPoint presentation and
OpenOffice will approximate PowerPoint as closely as damn, but it will
never suffice unless Microsoft feature-freezes their products.

You want Windows (and millions more than the numbers in the Linux
world do), you can't fish for Linux instead.

If y'all are curious, my answer is to add Remote Desktop to my
workstation and hide a Windows server in the computer room.  For my
most important client I did so on VXL Percios using NetBSD and a very
recent version of XFree86, but my dream is to do it in Plan 9.  Once
I've penetrated the marketplace's skin with Plan 9 thin clients, I can
place 9P2000 services wherever suitable.  It may be just a foible of
mine, but I'm also hoping to have Plan 9 provide Remote Desktop as a
service so that existing thin clients can access Plan 9 services
transparently.  Of course, it's not a popular route, but I have a
small installation to prove feasibility.  This NetBSD installation may
be able to fend off an impending Microsoft migration for the
foreseeable future.

++L