Quote:
Originally Posted by Sil_liS
But as the maker of an OS, is it the same/better/worse? It might me a matter of time, and 10 years from now it will considered as evil as MS and Apple.
The reason why I prefer MS to Apple is because at least I get more hardware options. Google is more open than MS, but again, given enough time...
What Linux version do you use?
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I agree...Google could become a major concern in the future. (Some say it already has become one.) But so far, I think Google has generally done a good job in terms of being an advocate in favor of free speech and the free exchange of ideas, of not trying to eliminate its competition through litigation and threats to anyone who dare allow a competitor to get any traction, but just by providing a product that consumers prefer.
The whole social networking thing could backfire on them, though (real names on Google+ controversy, etc.) -- they are, after all, a company that makes its money by figuring out what you like and serving you advertising that might appeal to you.
As for Linux, I'm a proud user of Puppy Linux (running as a live CD and rebooting fresh every time I log on, installing other Pets as I need them...zero viruses, zero system maintenance in three years because it is a fresh boot every time I start the computer. And booting fresh off the CD is still faster than booting XP on my PC. I still have XP for the very few times I really need Windows, although I've used it maybe 3-4 times in the past five years).
I love the simplicity and ease of use of Puppy. It is a great, complete OS, very powerful, and just ~100 Megs. Great ebook reader (FBreader) as long as DRM-free, fairly modern version of Firefox, lots of additional software available as pets.
The only problem is that my ebook choices are limited to DRM-free sites like Smashwords, Manybooks, Gutenburg, Feedbooks freebies, etc. I really hate that you can only download Amazon books from withing the Amazon app (within Windows), even if they are DRM free.
I really respect Smashwords in particular and find it much more appealing than the walled gardens of Amazon, Apple, et al. Smashwords trusts readers to do the right thing by selling DRM free, multiple formats, and available worldwide. And yet they offer a great royalty arrangement to make it attractive to authors...I wish more authors would get onboard with Smashwords and promote awareness of the site to readers.