Linux Tipping Point?

[Dan Kahmann]

Ode to gcc ......
Where would I be ....
in my source tree ?
Were it not
for gcc ..?
Compiling you ....
and building me....
we all are free ....
oh gcc.

Enjoy the fact that you can build your own special flavor .... I say
Where in any other OS would you get the oppurtunity to do it so easily?
Much to the credit of all those developers who have worked so hard to
properly 
document their sources in order that normal people could build them
successfully
on their individual machines.
Everyone loves the binary install - and I can remember feeling the same
way, but today 
I say - bring me the source - I love the build - I can tailor make the
software to suit my
needs specifically - and believe me, I'm no developer! Yet still I can make
(pun intended?)
a generic routine/driver/application to be no more - and no less - than
what I need, and to 
further the point I can make it better for me - and share that. All of it
could not have been possible
were it not for the time spent by developers and normal people who went
before me, on whose 
shoulders I stand. I must thank them all, but the list would be so long -
likely infinite at this point.
To all those - then and now - I offer a sincere thank you !

.... and ED - I attained YDL to extend the life of a bastard powerbook that
made it's way into
my hands, when I discovered that my dear wife (who is in no way "computer
savvy") was able 
to use it easily, I threw OS 9 in the trash.

ps - sorry for the poor attempt at poetry - it's early ... he he he 


> On Jun 7, 2004, at 9:41 AM, Ed Sutherland wrote:
>
> > I do agree that Linux has matured to qualify as an OS for the average 
> > computer user. And that's quite an accomplishment.
>
> The biggest holdback to Linux becoming something that the general 
> computer buyer might grab and use still comes down to what I refer to 
> as "packaging".
>
> Until the most useful things are in binary distributions that people 
> can just download and use without having to recompile, reconfigure, etc 
> Linux will remain a "geek" thing.
>
> OS X and Windows are still easier in this category for people to just 
> download and use.
>
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