Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!sri-spam!ames!aurora!labrea!decwrl!decvax!bhjat!bhj
From: bhj@bhjat.UUCP (Burt Janz)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Flaming each other
Summary: Believe it or not, I agree
Message-ID: <175@bhjat.UUCP>
Date: 20 Jan 88 00:47:15 GMT
References: <16217@watmath.waterloo.edu> <166@bhjat.UUCP> <2468@cup.portal.com>
Organization: BHJ Associates, Nashua, NH
Lines: 58

In article <2468@cup.portal.com>, Isaac_K_Rabinovitch@cup.portal.com writes:
> bhj@bhjat.UUCP (Burt Janz) writes
> -> (lots of my ...comments... here)
> I'd like the think we could
> discuss our differences of opinions without going into tantrum mode.
> 
> Incidentally, I'm still fighting with myself as to whether to put a U*x on
> my AT clone.  So here's your chance to make a convert.
> 
> Isaac Rabinovitch

Believe it or not, I don't like to "flame" back at people, and I'd much rather
be constructive in a quiet way than shout and scream.  I would much rather see
valuable and constructive commentary on the deficits in one operating system
vs. the "extras" in another.

However, there are quite a few religious converts on the net who have forgotten
BSD 4.0, or maybe SIII.  Both of those systems were, shall we say, less than
perfect.  But, discussions on the bugs concentrated on how to fix them, and
not whether SIII was better than 4.0.  This situation seems to have disappeared
where the XENIX vs. Microport issue is concerned.  That is too bad.  Both
operating systems have their high and low points, but neither has that
"special something" which makes one better than the other.  I have, and still
do, use both operating systems.  For my personal system, I chose Microport
due to price, it's being System V compatible, and the availability of DOSMerge.
XENIX is based around System III with some System V enhancements, but was
not close enough to the SVID for me.

I spent quite some time on the telephone with both companies, and found
that the Microport crew was a bit friendlier and much more willing to send
patches and other data out to users.  Their BBS system is a very good idea,
allowing Microport users to get patches, sources to PD utilities, and
other programs which ease the use of non-distributed software.

On the other hand, the Microsoft group seemed a little bit tight-lipped when
I got through to them, and used the expression "it's being worked on for
the next release" a little too much for my taste.  And, that IS a religious
opinion :-).

The original posting (my comments) was answered privately by the person
I was reverse posting to.  I offered him the ability to log in to my
Microport system and play with it, in an opportunity to see what he might
be buying.  That offer still stands.  I wish that both Microport and Microsoft
would offer this service.  That way, prospective users could "try before you
buy".  Of course, there is a limit to how much you can do in a guest account
before you make a nuisance of yourself.  Having worked for the now-defunct
Cadmus systems company, I found that allowing customers to run benchmarks
of their code on our systems actually INCREASED sales. 

I agree that "flaming" is counter-productive.  I apologize to anyone whom
I may have offended by my comments.  They were not meant to offend, but
to attempt to put an end to the "my car is better than yours" debate.
Both operating systems are UNIX, both have the ability to run DOS as a
task under UNIX, and both provide a full set of utility programs to the
buyer.  It is up to the user to make an intelligent choice, and if he is
disappointed, to constructively comment on the software.

Burt Janz