But Alfador is right, if you're gonna promote Linux in general against Microsoft and Apple, you shouldn't just call out one build/flavor, but the whole spectrum of taste offered. Back on topic?
XD First of all, I wasn't promoting Linux in general, and by "Hello Ubuntu" I purposely put it in brackets because it was an
example of the perfection in GUI that was indirectly influenced by the Apple-craze (and also because it's my OS of choice, duh!). If I said, "Hello Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Red Hat, Slackware, Arch-Linux, etc." that'd sound weird... By merely implying "Ubuntu" I was actually hoping to people to realize that it includes every other distro, since Ubuntu is based on Debian is based on Linux, which is contained in every other distro, yadda yadda.
Um, tushantin? Ubuntu's pedigree is well-known, and has absolutely nothing that I can see to do with Steve Jobs. A South African named Mark Shuttleworth created Ubuntu to make a buck by selling support services, a guy named Ian Murdock created its parent distro (Debian) because he wanted a Linux that followed certain policies, and it all ultimately goes back to one Linus Torvalds, who decided to create a MINIX-like OS as a hobby. Where do you see Steve Jobs fitting into that? Or have I completely misunderstood what you were trying to say?
Alfy, I won't deny that you know a whole lot more about Unix-based systems than a
scared-of-the-command-line mook like me, but you mistook my point. I was talking about Job's influence, not his direct creations.
The guy was a true pioneer. Before his time,
computers were only thing that mostly "hackers" and military folks dabbled with, and yeah... the command-line crap. It wasn't until Xerox (sometime after acquiring the
Sigma mainframe computers) developed the first GUI computing that the potential exist, but even then the company didn't see sufficient sales opportunity. Then, guess who came into the picture?
Steve Jobs; he took their technology, developed it, brought it out in the open and began the long line of modern
Personal Computing legacy. That was the first greatest thing he gave to mankind, though it resulted out of greed or whatever: he made computer personal for the first time in human history, a tool that eventually brought about a new level of Information Age. Bill Gates, supported by Steve Balmer, was the next to follow his footsteps and gave things for cheaper prices than his predecessor. Also, the community that Linux Torvalds, Ian Murdock, Mark Shuttleworth and all the other dedicated Linux developers followed was one that struggled to keep software "free" from proprietary clutches and free to share (my definition may be flawed here, but I'm sure you can correct me), but there's no surprise that even they eventually took the same lead as Gates and Jobs did.
Not to mention that Jobs was also quite an artist. He didn't just envision "beauty" on the looks alone, but how flawlessly it could work for people, and it was these methods that certain GUI environments decided to follow, such as Gnome (partially), Unity, and hell even Windows 7's new taskbar was inspired by the Macintosh Dock! Not to mention that the iPhone was the first to actually make smartphones "smart", immediately followed up by Android, which took the same lead. Unlike Microsoft, who mostly targeted towards business users, Jobs was wise enough to target commoners and used that psychology to help them finish tasks with lesser hassle (though obviously Apple would be more than happy to charge more for apparent superior services). Agreed, that Steve Jobs himself was never a philanthropist -- he was anything but -- though his ideals often rubbed off on an awesome bloke, Mark Shuttleworth, who also believed that (unlike previous Linux distros) a good, free OS should be geared towards commoners, and thus approached the same philosophy of
simplicity as Jobs, but also mixed with
human-connection and
sharing. In this case, Ubuntu was the offspring when the ideals of Steve Jobs and Linux married.
The truth is that he knew how to spot the potential value in things and turn that potential into something real that he could sell, and boy did he know how to sell...
XDDD He sure did. Anywhos, I hope the above response of mine answers it.
