: This is utter nonsense! Linux has many good features, but QA is not
: one of them,
Ehm, i think we are talking about two different things here: QA (writing test
drivers, doing simulations etc.) applies _before_ a product is shipped.
Instead, Linux people give away "beta versions" (say version 1.2.0) and ask
users on the net to test this out. Students pick up the new kernel from
ftp sites and test it, report bugs, suggestions, bug-fixes to the appropriate
mailing-list and a new kernel comes out: 1.2.1.
This continues with 1.2.2, 1.2.3, ... until no more bugs are reported.
Linux version 1.2.13 is the last stable kernel and is tested by about 3 million
people for over one year. It has been tested against the Posix.1 standard
by the National Institute of Standards NIST (write to posix_at_nist.gov, topic
"send 151-2reg" to verify this) and is in use in large companies like
NASA, Compuserve, Dornier Aerospace and Deutsche Bahn (german railway).
: testing mechanism in place and a change was put in the "stable"
: version instead of the 2.1.0 development version.
The "user kernel" (don't confuse this with "stable") 2.0.20 is still beta.
: Linux is a great and wonderful operating system, but it does not
: have the things which a vendor concerned with profit would provide.
See www.caldera.com.
: If no one decides to do something, it goes undone, because it's not
: someone's job to worry about installed customer base.
Sorry, but this is rubbish: Linux started 4 years ago with a two process
sheduler.
Look where it is now: It is Posix.1 conformant and it is expected that it will
receive a SPEC1170 (Unix 95) brand in 1997.
: if Linux was a stable and bug free as you say it
: wouldn't be an adventure.
Do not confuse the beta versions you can get via ftp with the
old, but stable versions that companies like caldera offer.
If you want all the nice features a new kernel has, pick it up from the
internet and happy bug hunting. Instead if you want a fast WfW-server,
a web/database-server, a router, a desktop operating system which
is not commonly associated with CONTROL-ALT-DELETE _and_ if stability is not
a political but a real question: buy a supported Linux 1.2.13 based
distribution instead of a crippled OS like WinNT Workstation, where you don't
know what is going on inside the system.
From the product description of Applixware for Linux:
Description
Applixware, the most popular and complete office automation suite for UNIX(r) systems, has been
ported to Linux. This is an Office Suite for Linux that takes advantage of a "real" operating system.
...
Underlying all the Applixware components is ELF (Extension Language Facility), an interpretive
programming language and powerful back-engine that provides Applixware with its unique
capabilities, including:
