RE: When is a Windows network not a Windows network

> From: Dr Syd Nicholson
>
> When I added my two pence worth at the beginning of this discussion,  I
> didn't realise just how much interest and argument it would provoke. All
> I was asking was whether IBM took Netscape into account. Obviously I hit
> a nerve, but perhaps I would have been better keeping quiet!!

Absolutely not, Syd!  Good-spirited controversy is, I think, one of the
things that makes this list so valuable.  I admit that it sometimes gets a
little heated, but opposing opinions are valuable for all of us.

We have to be able to see all viewpoints if we are to serve our clients (in
the case of vendors) and our users (in the case of IT professionals).  The
trick is to distinguish business realities from personal opinion, and that's
very difficult for any of us.  Without rational discourse with other people,
we only have our own opinions to guide us, and as I have been told, my mind
is a dangerous neighborhood to visit alone <grin>.

Unfortunately, I contribute to that heat on occasion, although I really have
tried to be less inflammatory in my elder years.  The problem is that I
rarely speak up in acclamation of a view I agree with - usually the person
who said it did as good a job as I could have, and my additional comments
would be superfluous.  So in general my comments are an opposing viewpoint,
and that makes me sound rather argumentative - moreso than I really am by
nature.

But that's okay.  Those who listen to me may gain some insight (or not!) and
those who ignore me, well they just ignore me <grin>.  But no matter what, I
think that if you have an opinion, you've got not only a right but in some
ways an obligation to share it with the rest of us, if only to make sure we
are being rigorous in our own decision-making processes.

So thank you for your input on this issue, and please keep contributing.

Joe