From:	Clemens Valens <c DOT valensNOckSPAM AT mindless DOT com>
Subject:	Re: WARNING: DOS is about to die.
Newsgroups:	comp.os.msdos.djgpp,comp.os.msdos.programmer
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Date:	Mon, 06 Sep 1999 00:51:04 -0700
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To:	djgpp AT delorie DOT com
DJ-Gateway:	from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Reply-To:	djgpp AT delorie DOT com

I did not want to reply, but I couldn't help myself. I 
mean, do people ever think?

If you are using MSDOS now then you will probably have a 
back-up of it somewhere. So no matter what OS is shipped 
with a new PC, you can still transform it into a MSDOS 
machine.

Then, if your employer *forces* you to use Windows or 
whatever, what are you using MSDOS for? Not for your work 
in any case. So if you want to use MSDOS you simply install 
it on another machine at home.

The only thing that is correct here is that the new Windows 
will probably again become the most widely used OS in the 
world, but that leaves everybody completely free to choose 
any OS they want. There is nothing new here, it has also 
happened with previous versions of Windows.

If you want to use MSDOS, use it. If people want to use 
programs that were written for MSDOS (or any other OS) they 
have to have an MSDOS (or any other OS) capable machine. If 
Microsoft does not provide it anymore, then get it 
somewhere else.

And then the crack about icons and the ability to read. 
This is of course utter nonsense, which can only come from 
somebody who has no understanding whatsoever of the average 
computer user. People who say this usually also claim that 
vi (or edlin) is a user friendly program. (Please note that 
I am not talking about vi's editing powers here, of which I 
have no knowledge at all, because I never managed to 
understand the program's interface.)
The fact that you can do a text-only interface does not 
mean that it is the best way to do it (also for GUI). 

Finally, the Kantor quote shows once more that "celebrity" 
quotes in general are a lot of crap. Little icons are also 
symbolic abstractions of the reality. I mean, what does a 
small drawing of a folder have to do with a disk with a 
complex magnetic density pattern?

Clemens

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