"FrozenNorth" wrote in message
...
J. Clarke wrote:

FrozenNorth wrote:

"Standard" is not measured by popularity, but by adherence to
internationally recognized protocols.

If 90 percent of the installed base is adhering to a single vendor's
protocols, and the remaining 20 percent is adhering to
"internationally recognized protocols" then the "internationally
recognized protocols" become nonstandard.

Do you always give 110%?
;-)

10% overlap. Not everyone is so pure in their beliefs. MS enjoys much deeper
market penetration such that it becomes remarkable, for example, to note
when someone is *not* using Windows on their desktop. That's a simple fact.

Back on topic, Craftsman is the standard in woodworking tools,
just
because they made/sold good stuff many years ago?

Oh, I see, you take "standard" as being some measure of quality,
not
of commonality.

Correct, you are starting to see the "light".
;-)

You are putting politics ahead of utility, which makes you a fool.

Politics has nothing to do with it, utility and quality have everything to
do with it.

"Standard", as in ubiquitous, as opposed to "proprietary". Proprietary
hardware didn't do so well. Witness Sun OpenSPARC, their open source
hardware core, apparently a last gasp seeking relevance for their
processors. Mac dumped proprietary hardware and interfaces to become what it
is today, just another PC clone with minor benefits and differences.

It is and has long been politically incorrect to slam the underdog, just as
we have the Special Olympics. At some point, though, products have to reach
their own maturity and be counted on their merits. I think it's fair to say
that both the Mac and Linux are now mature products. There is no more "wait
and see". They are what they are, and if you're into counting, they're the
"also rans", the best of the rest. I didn't decide this, nor did Bill Gates.
The market has voted and Wintel won by a landslide. For whatever those
merits might be.