root@utoday.com (Superuser) (03/02/91)
Will user organizations ever be effective in steering open systems? Question #1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This question is being posted to gather responses for a regular column in UNIX Today! called "net.views". The purpose of the column is to generate user response to questions of importance in the Unix industry. By sending an e-mail reply to the above question, you are granting UNIX Today! permission to consider your comments for publication. A summary of *all* e-mail responses to this post will be posted in this newsgroup two weeks from today. /* Please include a daytime telephone number! */ ------------------------------------------------------------------------
aronb@uunet.UU.NET (Aron Burns) (03/03/91)
In article <1991Mar01.185214.904@utoday.com> you write: >Will user organizations ever be effective in steering open systems? > > > Question #1 >------------------------------------------------------------------------ If one includes users of some influence and dedication in the user organization, the answer is yes. The archetypal user group - a group of disciples gathering in the unused areas of a town hall or university - are viewed by manufacturers as public relations areas, not as strategic research areas. Moreover, such groups do not have the discipline or clarity of purpose to have an ongoing commitment to a large issue such as the direction of open systems. These issues can be discussed in an informal setting with ease and abandon; actually commiting ideas to paper in a way that others can understand and critique them is an enourmous amount of work. The strategy adopted by UniForum Canada of encouraging corporate membership seems to be the best way to be effective in steering open systems (these observations are based on deduction and my experience chairing a group in a large organization - I have never actually attended a UniForum meeting). As the corporate members feel some ownership in the process and are simultaneously exposed the the requirements of a considerable end user community, there may be enough energy to affect the momentum of decisions made by the corporate members. As well, corporate membership can bring the resources required to address, on a long-term basis, issues surrounding open systems. While individuals may be able to sustain the interest (and the labour) needed to formalize an opinion regarding the direction of open systems, a corporate member with the support of his/her organization stands a better chance. This partnership of users in the form of corporations, and users in the form of technology end-users, is a way for user groups to effectively steer open systems. -- Aaron Burns "Nothing I say on the net is binding aronb@gkcl.ists.ca to our corporation" Toronto, Ontario "Life is a forge, and the purest metal (416)392-4310 comes from the hottest fire"
sean@utoday.com (04/29/91)
QUESTION #3: Are X terminals a cost-effective solution? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This question is being posted to gather responses for a regular column in UNIX Today! called "net.views". The purpose of the column is to generate user response to questions of importance in the Unix industry. By sending an e-mail reply to the above question, you are granting UNIX Today! permission to consider your comments for publication. A summary of e-mail responses to this post will be posted in this two weeks from today. /* Please include a daytime telephone number! */ ------------------------------------------------------------------------
andreess@mrlaxs.mrl.uiuc.edu (Marc Andreessen) (04/30/91)
In article <1991Apr29.160744.25080@utoday.com> netviews@utoday.com writes: > This question is being posted to gather responses for a regular >column in UNIX Today! called "net.views". [...] Garbage like this makes me say 'yo' to a moderated .research group... please... soon... Maybe in honor of UNIX Today! this group should be renamed `comp.graphics!'. Marc -- Marc Andreessen___________University of Illinois Materials Research Laboratory Internet: andreessen@uimrl7.mrl.uiuc.edu____________Bitnet: andreessen@uiucmrl
peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) (04/30/91)
In article <1991Apr29.160744.25080@utoday.com> netviews@utoday.com writes: > Are X terminals a cost-effective solution? A cost effective solution for what? -- Peter da Silva. `-_-' peter@ferranti.com +1 713 274 5180. 'U` "Have you hugged your wolf today?"
6sigma2@polari.UUCP (Brian Matthews) (05/01/91)
In article <1991Apr29.160744.25080@utoday.com> netviews@utoday.com writes: |QUESTION #3: | Are X terminals a cost-effective solution? That's easy. The only possible answer is: What problem are you trying to solve?