Nethead's Nook

- by Brandon Fesler

Hello once again, everybody.

Well, I'm thinking of pounding my head up against the wall. I've refused a job offer that seemed too good to be true. You see, I'm big into web design -- you could even call me a fanatic!

So, last month, these guys call me and tell me they have a great job for me, with plenty of time for meditating and thinking about... uhhh, some grey skinny dudes. (Don't ask me, I thought they looked like aliens).

I was somewhat suspicious as to whether these people were for real... but it seemed somewhat OK. There didn't seem to be any heavy Windows reliance... for example, he told me:

"We have a lot of UNIX running around here."

...and:

"You can get a free EMACS-ulation."

Whatever that means. In the end though, I turned it down after hearing they bought their office furniture from K-Mart. I mean, as a Web Lord, you have to have STYLE!

I guess it was a good choice too -- I called these people back and nobody answered. Guess they went out of town or something. I hate long travel trips.

Well, anyway, enough about me, this month I want to rave about something that has really bugged me for a while now.

It seems to me that Stardock has become the Rodney Dangerfield of the OS/2 world. They, "can't get no respect," no matter how hard they try to fulfill the wants and needs of OS/2 users.

We wanted OS/2 games. Stardock gave us OS/2 games. We wanted a great looking, more-functional GUI. Stardock gave us that, too. We wanted a million dollars... oh, well, okay. Maybe the naysayers have a point there.

But seriously, folks. Look at Stardock's track record. They have given us what we want, in a no-nonsense fashion. They love OS/2 just as much as we do. If they didn't, why then are they working to give us yet more things we've been wanting, like font anti-aliasing and plugs for the input queue holes?

Instead of second-guessing this company, let's give them a year and see what they do. OS/2 is on the verge of a new and exciting revision next year, and I personally would bet five bucks that Stardock will be leading the way on the ISV front when it goes multiplatform.

Oh yes, and for all of you who are claiming that Stardock is "abandoning OS/2" because of their whopping 1 multi-OS program, Entrepreneur, consider the future plans of this company, and the bullish attitude of its biggest outspoken employee, Brad Wardell.

Look at their ideas and visions, and their wishes for OS/2. Look at how they have fought to keep OS/2 in the mainstream, and to give it a "fighting chance" among the mainstream press and its "Windows Everywhere" attitude. Look on the software shelves of your local CompUSA. There have been unseen battles to get that software on those shelves.

Most importantly of all, look at what they do. Watch them for a year. Then reconsider their true position on OS/2. You may find that they are on our side, after all.

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