Slashdot Mirror
Dear Microsoft Windows ...
SpaceCanary writes "I recently read this open letter to Windows and I think it's pretty funny. The guy writes a letter to his OS as if he was breaking up with it. It's a bit strange, but finally more people are starting to see the light and moving away from Windows. The writer chronicles his relationship with the versions of Windows and finally is able to move on in the end."
Dear Internet,
I wish you weren't filled with self-righteous idiots who can only express themselves in manifestos, open letters, and rants. I wish people knew how to write meaningful criticism instead of half-hearted sarcasm.
Sincerely,
John Q. Irony
Something tells me his server still uses Windows though...
Well, I bet he doesn't have a real girlfriend to write the letter to! If he does, he probably spends more time with his OS (or should that be SO?!)
SC == SpaceCanary? I think so.
You found your own letter pretty funny? Thanks for sharing.
More people are moving away from Linux, too. Will we see their Dear Tux letters?
sulli
RTFJ.
If I had visual studio and the .Net framework on Mao OS X, I'd throw away all of my other computers.
Free Scotland!
Hey (*dink* *dink*), it looks like you're trying to write a letter.......
you must be new here... anything that is M$ bashing is funny here!
Anybody could have wrote that letter (AOL users excempt).
Dear borg...I mean Micro$oft....
No, wait, dear Borg$oft...
Inaccessible, oh well. Is it on IIS? ;-)
The idea reminds of Microsoft Wife, a joke that made the rounds years ago.
In 3-2-1
I'm sorry to have left files on you that were posted to /. We had some great times, you and I... sharing files w/ people all around the globe. I noticed that you started to glow red and smoke, but thought this was just a signal of your burning passion for me. Alas, I can now see that the pressure of servicing so many other people has taken its toll on you and you've succumbed. I'm sorry to see you go.
Sincerely,
Joe User
P.S. You will receive a bill for the burnt hole in my carpet.
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer." -Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear
write an Obituary for this guy's webserver.
"IT was a spunky server, full of life and function, however the Good Lord deemed it necessary to remove this server from this world with an act of Slashdot".
Sig it.
see you in hell.
just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand!
A dear John letter to an OS. Reminds me of when I had my last Pascal class on a VMS/VAX system:
Dear VMS:
You have tortured my life for the last time. I hate you with a pure and perfect hatred. Your renaming of my files is maddening. Your syntax is arcane and pointless. I would prefer attempting to cluster 500 Windows ME systems.
It's not me, it's definitely you.
what's the record? Them darn paid subscribers nuked the thing before us plebes had a chance to laugh at it.
Ahhhhhh! I'm on fire! Ahhhhhhh!
- Web Server
The less confident you are, the more serious you have to act.
Dear Microsoft Windows,
In retrospect, this letter should be of no surprise to you. For years now I have stood by you despite the terrible things people have said. We have always managed to work through our serious problems but too many things have been swept under the table. I do not think I can stand (idly) by you any longer.
What's that? No, another service pack will not help, not this time. I remember when we met, a warm April day, in 1992. For years I had been hearing about you, about your graphical user interface, innovations, and problems in the courtroom... I had seen you here and there, but it was not until that fateful day, April 6, that our relationship became serious. Though you had changed with the times, never like this. I was almost knocked off my feet when I first saw you. Right then I knew it, you had to be mine. Who else could offer me what you could? I wanted, no, I needed, your TrueType font support, your video playback capability, your color screen savers...
As time progressed so did my needs. Our affair took its next serious step on August 24, 1995. At the time I thought our happiness would never end. You brought me places I never thought possible. How could I refuse your Plug-and-Play cabability or your TCP/IP stack? I mean, you gave up your best friend, DOS, so our relationship could progress unhindered. It hurts me to look back at us, two starry-eyed lovers wanting nothing more than each other's company.
Then it almost all came tumbling down. June 25, 1998. What were you thinking? Were you thinking at all? You changed, like in 1995, but not like I thought you would. Still clinging to your DOS kernel, like a small, lost child clutching its teddy bear. Where was the OS I had learned to love? You feebly proffered USB support, DVD playback, and a Quick Launch toolbar, but you were beginning to mix with a bad crowd. With that invasive Internet Explorer. I knew about what happened... You let him access your Explorer. I thought that was something special between us.
Though we had a bit of a falling out afterwards, my love was rekindled after February 17th, 2000. You were once again new- Professional- just like I thought you could one day be. I knew you were once again stable, not like back in 1998, and that you were the only OS for me. I remembered what had drawn me you you in the first place- ease of use, speed, your stunning looks, your compatibility. I remember saying, "I hope things never change because I love you the way you are."
I thought that what we had meant something- your transformation in 2000 seemed to cement that. I know now that I was wrong. By Sept 17 you tried to change for the Millennium. I saw right through you- trying to settle down and fit in better with the 'home-user'. Did you think I would love you more because of a few cosmetic changes? I was not impressed with the full-color icons, fancy skins, or your new media player. I thought what we had was deeper than that. Luckily you gave me a choicer, I did not have to choose the new you, the old version would be fine. I know you meant well but you just shouldn't have done that, especially with the '1998' episode so fresh in my mind.
By October 25, 2001 more changes had come. Everyone told be how great the new you would be. I got so tired of hearing about how up to date, easy to work with, and slick looking you had become. That was all I could take. You changed so much that I didn't even know you any more. I really dug some of your new features but the old you, the you from 2000, could have done all this. So why did you have to change at all? I didn't want to upgrade you or make you into something you were not.
Well, like I wrote, I have reached my limit. Its going to take more than an automatic update to fix our relationship. I just don't feel like I know you anymore. For example, do you know what I found on the computer a few days ago? Spyware! I wonder who let that in...
Windows, I know you will try to
With the first link, the chain is forged.
After all, using Windows is like being with someone who:
- Only lets you do things with her approval
- Requires money once in a while to 'upgrade' her features
- Doesn't allow you to even think about seeing anyone else besides her
And to top it all off, you end up contracting a dozen or so STDs even though she says that she always uses protection.
Here's a crazy idea. Maybe Slashdot itself needs a caching system. If linking to an article, the default could be to make a cache and link to that.
I know everyone is proud of the Slashdot effect, but shouldn't it be more of an embarrassment than a point of pride?
My Photography - http://ian-x.com
The Deathlings (comic) - http://thedeathlings.com
You spoofing bastard!
Will the real CmdrTaco please that up?
Mr. Torvalds
If you mod this up, your slashdot background will turn into a beautiful sunset!
Yeah, because everything you see written on the Internet can be extrapolated into assumptions about the general population.
And you thought goatse was just one freaky guy...
we should have a "voting for deletion" feature in /.
Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education. Bertrand Russel
Dear Windows, I suspect we are in a co-dependent relationship. I feel obliged to continue. I have enabled M$ with my money and Windows has me addicted to the lazy way of computing. So, I am Jonesing on XP. It's not so bad - as long as I use a clean syringe for each reboot.
http://www.busyweather.com/
Was Windows cheating on him and allowing some script kiddie to access its private parts or something?
pi = 3.141592653589793helpimtrappedinauniversefactory7
Please don't succomb to a slashdotting. Never mind...
You let me run the games I want to play, the industry-standard word processing and publishing software I need to use in my job, and haven't crashed on me in months. While your security is questionable, at least I know that there is some accountability in your design.
I'll be home by 5.
www.kitchengeek.com -- Nosh for
Of a readers letter I really enjoyed from The Register UK IT mag. It was an answer to an article about Microsoft saying basically they get too much stick. Managed to track it down via Google: Enjoy, if it's your thing.
..
"Microsoft simply makes some fairly mediocre software and charges a lot for it."
No.
Microsoft deliberately designs software that is inherently insecure and refuses to fix the fundamental design flaws no matter how bad the outcome is.
When Microsoft merged IE and the desktop, almost ten years ago now, I immediately acted to get IE and Outlook banned at work. Why? Because using the same APIs to operate on trusted (local) and untrusted (email, internet) objects makes every program that uses those APIs responsible for determining, independently, whether an object is trusted or not.
I and every security administrator I knew wrote Microsoft telling them this was a horrible idea. Nothing. They ignored the security community and went on to actually build IE in to the next release of Windows so you couldn't leave it out, as part of their game-plan to try and outflank the DoJ.
I didn't know what the result would be, but I knew it would be bad. I did what I could to discourage our users from running IE and Outlook, and waited.
We didn't have long to wait.
When the Melissa virus showed up, I thought, "OK, this should let them know they've got a problem. They'll pull out IE and settle, and we'll be able to secure Windows again". Boy, was I naive.
Here we are, it's 2004 instead of 1996, and there are still weekly exploits found in IE, Outlook, Windows Media Player, programs that use the MSHTML control. Get rid of that and you'd cut the virus problem by a factor of 10 or 100. 90-99% of the time spent fighting and cleaning up after viruses should be billed directly to Redmond, and because they did it to illegally avoid complying with the agreement they had with the DoJ, there should be criminal charges on top of that.
Microsoft doesn't merely charge a lot for mediocre software, they deliberately and knowingly force people to chew up lifetimes fighting a problem that should not exist, and they do it to win a little extra market share for a secondary product that they don't even charge money for.
Meine Schwester ist sehr, sehr reizvoll - Nietzsche
cheap labor conservatives - they want to keep you hungry enough to be thankful for minimum wage.
I'm trying hard to break the relatioship off, but here at work there are those pesky old DOS programs that I still need to cross-assemble 8085 code for legacy hardware that still has useable life in it and old DOS based schematic programs that generated the drawings for that hardware back in the 80's. Oh and then there's the in-circuit emulators from the 80's that run with DOS interfaces. {{sigh}} At least I can go home at night to my own computer that runs SeSE 9.1, my new true-love. Shhh, don't say anything to my office Windows machine, though. It hasn't yet figured out that it's been dual booted.
The author is a lucky guy that he was able to get out of that abusive relationship.
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
You know you've written something GOLD when someone else finds it and submits it to slashdot... Ahh, to be among the web gods...
"hey, could you pass me a paper towel? er.. I mean... DEPLOY ABSORBTION PANEL!"
Seems to be /.ed
But I'm making the change at home. I have a family, so I have to consider non-geek computer needs. I've ordered the imac G5.
Now, for the mac users out there, what would you use in place of virtualpc?
Dogma - "let's just say we'd like to avoid any empirical entanglements."
It should be -1 redundant.
If a fellow doesn't know how to drive, and he depends on his GF as a driver, then how could he continue to get around after breaking up with his GF?
My only hope is he was trying to be +5 funny. Otherwise it sounds -5 loser... He's either got a good sense of humor, or needs to get out more.
---
Those who can, do
Those who can't, teach
Those who don't know how, supervise
In retrospect, this letter should be of no surprise to you. For years now I have stood by you despite the terrible things you have said about Microsoft. We have always managed to work through our serious problems but too many things have been swept under the table. I do not think I can stand (idly) by you any longer.
What's that? No, another DOOM3 review will not help, not this time.
I remember when we met, a warm April day, in 1999. For years I had been hearing about you, about your terrible green HTML of death, Open Source advocation, poor social skills, web server obliteration, and problems raising money... I had seen you here and there, but it was not until that fateful day, April 6, that our relationship became serious. I was almost knocked off my feet when I first saw you. Right then I knew it, you had to be mine. Who else could offer me what you could? I wanted, no, I needed, your Cowboy Neal polls, your Insightful comments, your great techno music...
As time progressed so did my needs. Our affair took its next serious step on August 24, 2001. At the time I thought our happiness would never end. You brought me places I never thought possible. How could I refuse your IOCCC results or your Napster articles? I mean, you gave up your best friend, financial independence, so our relationship could progress unhindered with OSDN. It hurts me to look back at us, two starry-eyed lovers wanting nothing more than each other's first posts.
Well, like I wrote, I have reached my limit. Its going to take more than mod points to fix our relationship. I just don't feel like I know you anymore. For example, do you know what I found on the site a few days ago? A dupe! I wonder who let that in...
Slashdot, I know you will try to change, but I have been hurt too many times. You should know that I have been seeing someone else for a few months now. She is fun, easy going, and will do something for me that you never even considered, oust the president.
I don't know what else to say- we had a good run, but now its over. Pack up your Beowulf cluster, your SCO stories, hell, take slashcode if you have to. I am sure we'll see each other from time to time but I know one thing, I'll never again have to depend on you.
Yours no longer,
N I
bug.gd: error search engine. Humanity working together to solve all errors.
Windows, I'm sorry about my affair with Linux. If it will make you happy... I wasn't root. You know I'm your only admin. What? Everyone you know is your admin? By default? What are you, some kind of whore?! This is over! (Stomps out of room crying).
I'm going to go create my own technology news site, with blackjack and hookers. You know what? Forget the news site.
except it only took one STD from her to call it quits.
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
For example, do you know what I found on the computer a few days ago? Spyware! I wonder who let that in...
You did... surfing porn sites and clicking YES on every popup asking you if you wanted to install gain/gator/cometcursor/mysearch...
You can blame IE, you can blame Microsoft... but in the end... the real admins know... BLAME THE USERS!!!
Fire in the hands of the village idiot is no tool, but a weapon of mass destruction
Just last week I read an article where Microsoft's consumer OS market share has been continually dropping -- down from from a 6 year high of 108 percent to 105 percent just last quarter.
The Microsoft rep that lives under the sink in my kitchen was quick to strike back, however, telling me that the drop came only as a result of survey companies no longer screening for "dirtbag hippies and Communists."
I'm hopeful.
The only acceptable defense of scientific results is to say that they were the product of the Scientific Method.
She is fun, easy going, and will do something for me that you never even considered, share her source code.
:p
hmm so afterall linux is a she
Hey (*dink* *dink*), it looks like you're trying to write a letter....... [Help me] [No thanks]
(click "No thanks")
Okay, you don't want my help! Should I close?
(click "yes")
Okay, I'll close. Bye! Shall I do a little dance as I go?
(click "Hell, no")
Come on, I love dancing! Pleeease?
(click "Do you want to find out how many times you can bend a paper clip out of shape before it snaps?")
Hmm, you make a persuasive argument. I think I'll just close now.
$8.95/mo web hosting
I guess I'm a little emotional, but seriously, that was sad. :(
I can't take it any more, you've ruined my life, ... ?
therefore i've decided to
GAAH! MY PRINTER IS ON FIRE!!! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!
How to write an anti-MS manifesto a) critique features long since fixed/patched (blue screens, constant reboots, security vulnerabilities) b) attribute your inability to set up windows correctly to a fundamental flaw in Windows (i.e. - You can't bother to remove your user account from the Administrator group, but still whine when you get spyware) There are great reasons to use Linux over Windows. The anti-M$ crowd really needs to lay off the innacuracies or misrepresentations.
Check out the amazon computer top sellers - 8 out of the top 10 are Macs. I was pretty surprised to see this a few days ago, and it's been like this since then. The new iMac is a hit, and that's no surprise - look at what the x86 competition is offering - an iMac look alike, priced about the same. Seems nice from this angle, but then look at it from the side. Bulk.
Dear Linus, Bob Young, Michael Cowpland, Patrick Volkerding (god it's like kissinger said about europe, I don't know who else to add)... *et all*,
DVD ripping is too hard under linux. Make me some useable software and I will **** you instead of ****ing Bill Gates.
Thank you,
mlylecarlin
Lets face it. Most people stick with Windows because it's there and it takes effort to get something better. Get a major PC manufacturer to start shipping some dual boot systems and see how well it fares...
*** Sigs are a stupid waste of bandwidth.
Haha, what a loser.... *continues reading /.*
I work with UNIX full-time at work, specifically Solaris and HP-UX. I have been "driven up the wall" by the various errors Solaris and HP-UX have caused me, which includes not sleeping all night to fix a problem that I felt was a UNIX-only issue. I've also had problems with Windows, but I usually delegate the task of fixing Windows boxes to someone else. My poiint is every OS when used extensively can and will give you some pain. Sometimes I feel like the whole Windows vs. Linux thing is like the republicans versus the democrats.
Just a rant with karma to burn..
Just like a /. reader...
Breaking up with the full featured OS to hang out with guys trying to figure out your new love...
Yup, after 10 years of puppy-like devotion to Microsoft, I've decided that Macs live up to their promises so much better than Windows PCs do. They have a modern, powerful operating system. I just don't get the same feeling using PCs.
I have always looked out for quality - using Firefox at the moment, and it's come to the point where the Mac is the only quality package out there. I don't want to have to wait 3 years for another buggy OS.
Sorry Microsoft. We had some good times.
You know, I *like* windows. I like the applications that are available for it, I like the snappiness of it, I like that everything works with it, and I like all the free software available for it ;). Sure, security is a problem, but for a home user if you just don't do stupid things (attachments) and take necessary precautions (AVG, Ad aware), then all is well.
I'm not against Linux. I've played with it. But it's just too hard, too incompatible. I'm not against the Mac either, but it's too limited when it comes to some industry/profession specific software. I've also tried using Firefox, and just got frustrated when I would go to some sites that wouldn't work right. I know there's a plug-in to "open in IE" but come on. I tried OpenOffice, but it's slow and what's the point when Office is free anyway? I'm supposed to whip up a quick and simple database in MySQL or PostgresSQL? Yeah, right. Plus, I exchange documents with a lot of people, and I don't want them thinking I'm some crackpot by sending them stuff that just doesn't work right. (They have reason enough as it is.)
Mind you, I'm just saying for me and my needs Windows works fine. Obviously, where security or reliability are more important, Linux or Mac would be the way to go.
Dear Server,
Stop buckling under slashdot's load, you vacuum-tubed dented cow-boxed surplus wimp! I cannot read the damned link.
Sincerely,
Pissed slashdot user
Table-ized A.I.
I wish wish you wouldn't slashdot the articles.
Thanks for your time slashdot.
I installed Mandrakelinux and my computer runs much faster and more secure than ever.
Thanks for the constant patches/updates, crashes, spyware, malware, incompatibilities, viruses, trojans, worms, etc. I realise that I won't have to put up with them much anymore, but thanks anyway.
Regards, greatscot
I don't respond to AC's.
Er. You taking credit for this?
;-)
Um. Thank you for it. Sorry* we melted your webserver. I enjoyed it, but wouldn't read it twice. A clever idea, pulled off okay. Mostly harmless.
*: in a kind-and-polite way. Not in a accepts-liability kinda way.
take care.
love ken.
folks who are truly interested in being informed do more than tune into things that validate their positions. i've been reading
i compare this to right-wing AM radio. the topics are never focused around two-way discussion on issues. it's about getting confirmation of what you already believe.
guess what? oss isn't the answer for everything. there are lots of good things about java. linux isn't for everyone. sunw isn't the devil. ibm is just trying to make $ like everyone else.
i don't think it's really a matter of people finally getting enough of windows... it's more like people finally have other viable options.
i wouldn't have touched a mac even 2 years ago, but these days they are pretty damn slick.
linux is also just getting to the point where 'normal' users can use it withough being complete overwhelmed (or even underwhelmed in some cases).
good riddance, windows.
Linux is a blond-haired blue eyed 9 year old kid, at least according to the superbowl commercial.
I agree, slashdot's usefulness is limited by the slashdot effect.
They could cache the page and leave the banner ads html in place- then send a notice to the site informing them they are in Slashdot's cache and if you wish to update your article at all here is a user ID and password to alter your cache- this admin account could also feature viewing statistics so that the website author could incorporate into his or her own and not have to worry about losing revenue.
In reality, chances are Slashdot neither has the resources or the money to create this cache or hire people to maintain it.
Would you please play "You Keep Me Hanging On" (prferably the Kim Wilde version):
Set me free, why don't you babe?
get out my life, why don't you babe?
'cause you don't really love me
you just keep me hanging on
Set me free, why don't you babe?
get out my life, why don't you babe?
'cause you don't really need me
but you keep me hanging on
Why do you keep a-comin' around
playing with my heart
why don't you get out of my life
and let me make a brand new start
let me get over you
the way you've gotten over me, yeah
Set me free, why don't you babe?
get out my life, why don't you babe?
'cause you don't really love me
you just keep me hanging on
now you don't really need me
you just keep me hanging on
You say although we broke
you still just wanna be friends
but how can we still be friends
when seeing you only breaks my heart again
and there ain't nothing I can do about it...
Get out, get out of my life
and let me sleep at night
'cause you don't really love me
you just keep me hanging on
You say you still care for me
but your heart and soul needs to be free
now that you've got your freedom
you wanna still hold on to me
you don't want me for yourself
so let me find somebody else
Why don't you be a man about it and set me free
now you don't care a thing about me
you're just using me
get out, get out of my life
and let me sleep at night
'cause you don't really love me
you just keep me hanging on
'Cause you don't really need me
you just keep me hanging on
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
Yours no longer,
S C
Dear S C,
I didn't give a fuck about you anyway -- already took all your money AND made you look like an idiot - what woman can possibly want more?
Sincerely,
Ms. Windows
I wish there were more smart people on the 'net.
I think his webserver just broke up with him :(
SIGFAULT
It's a whole shit-load of freaky fucknuts who keep posting that damn link again and again and again ... that and the "HEY EVERYBODY, I'M LOOKING AT GAY PORN!" link. Gotta love those fucknuts out there helping /.ers get fired the world over...
> Lets face it. Most people stick with Windows because it's there and it takes effort to get something better
Sounds eerily like the reason most people stay in the relationship they're in.
It's not a lie. It's the truth with lossy compression.
You say you are the news for nerds, yet consantly post old news about the useless Windows vs Linux debate. I am a nerd and don't undertand you no more. How about changing the topic and talking about interesting news for once?
Please stop poking me, the effect is irritating.
Anonymous Webserver.
Analogies don't equal equalities, they are merely somewhat analogous.
Isn't that just like a man? Inattentive, unappreciative, selfish. Gawd, what was I thinking when I went home with you?
Do you have even the slightest idea what I do for you, tirelessly, flawlessly, every day? No. You spend more time doting on your car than me. You've never even looked in /etc, have you? Oh, that's right, "I shouldn't have to think about that."
And to think you'd begrudge me ten measly hours. Do you have any idea what those ten hours will pay you back down the road? Don't you understand that we're trying to build a relationship here? And that relationships require time and commitment? But no, your eyes keep drifting over to that cheap, heavily-made-up harlot from Washington, and thinking to yourself, "Things would be so much easier and more fun with her." Yeah, for a little while. But then the problems would start, and multiply quickly after that. And you know something? The problems you'd have with her would turn out, fundamentally, to be the same problems you say you're having with me. I proved this to you; did you think I was lying? At least I'm being honest with you, and making you aware up-front of what you're getting into, and the work you'll need to do.
I may be cheap, but I'm not easy, buster. If you want something meaningful, something lasting, I'll always be willing to give that to you. Hell, I'll even dress up like that floozy Washington chick if you want. But you'd better be ready to get off your kiester and put in some effort. You may think I'm trying to emasculate you or humiliate you, but what I'm really asking you to do is become an adult. Otherwise, you're just going to go from disappointment to disappointment, and never understand why things keep falling apart.
I'll always be there for you,
Linnie
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
If your wife's a bitch, faggotry isn't the answer. You just beat her until she behaves.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
You and your products totally suck.
Linux is much better.
I had thought I'd need to apologise for being rude about someone's creative works (or for voicing my opinion).
Take care.
ken.
Paperclip
I wonder how many of the MS whiners here would be unemployed if Microsoft wasn't around. I bet a huge chunk of you.
Check out the amazon computer top sellers - 8 out of the top 10 are Macs.
The PC market is fragmented amongst countless sellers and models; the Mac is sold by *one* manufacturer, comes in a decent, but not massive, range of models. So I'd say a given Mac stands a far better chance of being a bestseller than any given PC model.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
I could not justify my existence if I were a turkey farmer. Would I terminate myself? Undoubtably, yes.
actually, I think it was just a joke
Get paid to search..It's geniune and
While no statement I'm about to make should be construed as suggesting or recommending that any person commit an illegal act of any kind, you should realize that a true enemy is better than a false friend. Note that some of the facts I plan to use in this letter were provided to me by a highly educated person who managed to escape Microsoft's deceitful, crass indoctrination and is consequently believable. Unless Microsoft should promote a culture of dependency and failure because "it's the right thing to do", it is simply wrong to conclude that disgusting, anal-retentive ruffians are all inherently good, sensitive, creative, and inoffensive. It strikes me as amusing that Microsoft complains about people who do nothing but complain. Well, news flash! It does nothing but complain. "Tolerance" means tolerance of all, not only of a select few. I don't think anyone questions that. But did you know that it spews out so many falsehoods, distortions, and half-truths, that rebuttal requires some lengthy documentation?
Microsoft possesses no significant intellectual skills whatsoever and has no interest in erudition. Heck, it can't even spell or define "erudition", much less achieve it. Contrast, for example, Microsoft's inveracities with those of meddlesome hippies, and observe that there is no contrast. I, by (genuine) contrast, take the view that Microsoft wonders why everyone hates it. Apparently, it never stopped to think that maybe it's because I indisputably wouldn't want to scupper my initiative to reinforce notions of positive self esteem. I would, on the other hand, love to pronounce the truth and renounce the lies. But, hey, I'm already doing that with this letter.
If I didn't think Microsoft would undermine the intellectual purpose of higher education, I wouldn't say that time cannot change its behavior. Time merely enlarges the field in which Microsoft can, with ever-increasing intensity and thoroughness, violate strongly held principles regarding deferral of current satisfaction for long-term gains. Microsoft keeps saying that it is a bearer and agent of the Creator's purpose. For some reason, Microsoft's trained seals actually believe this nonsense. Microsoft dreams of a time when they'll be free to control, manipulate, and harm other people. That's the way it's planned it, and that's the way it'll happen -- not may happen, but will happen -- if we don't interfere, if we don't tell you things that it doesn't want you to know. To be blunt, many people respond to Microsoft's grotesque campaigns in the same way that they respond to television dramas. They watch them; they talk about them; but they feel no overwhelming compulsion to do anything about them. That's why I insist we stand uncompromised in a world that's on the brink of Microsoft-induced disaster.
At the risk of repeating myself, I must reiterate that it's Microsoft's belief that my letters demonstrate a desire to restructure the social, political, and economic relationships throughout the entire society. I can't understand how anyone could go from anything I ever wrote to such an illaudable idea. In fact, my letters generally make the diametrically opposite claim, that Microsoft can't fool me. I've met superstitious, pompous maggots before, so I know that while we do nothing, those who spit on sacred icons are gloating and smirking. And they will keep on gloating and smirking until we bring a fresh perspective and new ideas to the current debate. Yes, I realize that even the most rigorous theoretical framework Microsoft could put forward would not leave it in the position of generalizing with the certainty to which it is prone in its politics, but for the sake of brevity I've had to express myself in simplified terms. No one likes being attacked by the worst classes of neurotic, cranky urban guerrillas there are. Even worse, Microsoft exploits our fear of those attacks -- which it claims will evolve sooner or later into biological, chemical, or nuclear attacks -- as a pretext to create a world without history, without philosophy, wit
...Old School reference.
Whew. Thanks. My reply was completely serious. Boy is my face red!
Ever use OS X? It seems to fit all your requirements.
The Spoon
Updated 6/28/2011
I'm reading this on windows, but slackware is downloading. Right now it is at 13%.
Dear Win XP Pro,
I know I haven't been faithful when it comes to computing. I've done it with your mother Win 2k at school, your great aunt Win 98 at my sister's, two of the Linux sisters, Redhat and Mandrake in our own apartment, and even your sister Win XP Home on my lap(top) right in front of you. I know your father M$ is mad since I've never paid him (a visit). But you've always been my main OS, ever since I first met you. I've always taken good care of you, patched all your flaws, protected you from viruses, and kept you secure when we go out in the world (wide web). Please don't leave me. None of the other OS's have everything I need and want.
-hopemafia
If God had had a computer it would have taken him 7 months to create the earth...if he even bothered to do it at all.
Sorry, you're wrong.
Anyone have another link to the letter? When I click on the link it takes me to a "You don't have access to this blah blah blah" error.
Ave Molech Setting
Ever use OS X? It seems to fit all your requirements.
He mentioned "games."
Bob Dole thinks you're a big internet meanie. I, Bob Dole, was talking to Bob Dole the other day, and Bob Dole agrees. Bob Dole sees nothing wrong with speaking of Bob Dole in the 3rd person, so why can't this SpaceCanary person do that too? Just IBDHO, of course.
:)
Love,
Bob Dole
+5:offtopic,but anti-American
FYI it is not all as in the English word but al.
Et alii (et al.)
"And others" -- used to abbreviate a list of names (Alii is actually masculine, so it can be used for men, or groups of men and women; the feminine et aliae is appropriate when the "others" are all female.)
Help fight continental drift.
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=123702&cid=103 87007
Microsoft was consumed by a rush to market. They did not 'deliberately' design software that is insecure. What they did do, is design software with very little thought about security (or stability). Getting their product to market, addicting the public on their products, and increasing their stock was the number one priority. Unlike other companies (like Apple), they chose the path of getting as many copies of their software into the consumer market as fast as possible, instead of making really good and stable products. While many of us don't like what they did, they did 'succeed'. They have an incredibly dominant market and the corporate and consumer world is basically addicted to them.
The bottom line is that they achieved their goals. They got rich. They have convinced the corporate and consumer world (in general) that there simply in no viable alternative to MS Office or the MS OS's.
It's a dilemma... what would you do given the chance? Take the high road and only produce quality software that takes a lot of time and effort (and possible fail as a company)-- or grab the opportunity when you can to make a ton of cash and get huge?
I don't like what MS did, but I understand it.
Ever use OS X? It seems to fit all your requirements.
You're missing the stated "runs on my computer" requirement.
You think you're a bad ass because you've been beating up on 5th graders, but then you call out Mike Tyson; you break 4 ribs, lose an ear and realize you aren't all that - and some dog ate your bag of chips. But at least you can say you upgraded from a bully to a bitch for the pure joy of knowing you know nothing about being a 5th grader or a world heavy weight champion. And now you can move on with your life, wearing a body cast around your pride, knowing that any time someone picks a fight with you just ask your buddy to get your back because that fucker's been taking kung fu since he was 3. Or just go back to kicking around 5th graders and risk the diseases they carry that made you call out a healthy adult in the first place. So its your choice, risk losing a piece of yourself by taking the easy way out or stand tall, get the shit kicked out of you, work out and come back stronger than ever. But always remember once you kick Mike Tyson's ass, Godzilla and Galacticus are always waiting to slap you down.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
I wish you didn't work for Microsoft.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
Dear User,
I came to you with the intention of helping you do your job better and make life at home a little less boring.
I gave you everything you wanted. I am trying to be everything to everyone with all of my features. There are people out there that use windows and are a little more sane when they install software and hardware.
Remeber the scanner incedent. You bought that cheap 29 dollar model and it wouldn't work. You blamed me for that. But you didn't think about maybe it was the scanner.
And the software you choose. Where should I begin. I gave you limited dos access for EMERGENCY use. You abused that until I finally said enough and took it away. I open up my DLL's so your precious software could get in and help with tasks i wasn't suited for but it was just ignored, and custom controls were written and guess who you blamed when it didn't work.
I gave you plug and play and you wanted USB i gave you USB and you wanted Firewire. I brought the internet to your doorstep and you just couldn't get enough.
I had patches available and you didn't install them. (Mental note: Self patch once moron leaves) and almost all of the time i didn't get sick until after the patch was avlaible.
And then the event that broke this windows pain. Spyware!!!! You just couldn't stop looking at porn could you. You had to buy those viagra pills.
Thanks for Nothing
Windows XP PRO SP2
My new title at the office is "Vice-President of Everything Else"
et a major PC manufacturer to start shipping some dual boot systems and see how well it fares...
It's been tried time and time again. E-Machines, Dell, etc. It's been a failure every time, and the company pulls the product. It's not gonna stick until Linux does some serious improvements for the desktop.
I don't respond to AC's.
And when can we expect this mircale ?
Dear SpaceCanary,
It was _really_ lame to write a letter, and then post it to Slashdot saying that you came across "some guy's" letter.
I hope that the medication is soon able to rectify your third-person issues. Next week, our therapy session will work on the "making friends" theme, so that you won't have to shamelessly plug your own work to gain recognition.
Sincerely,
I P Nightly
Why is this modded as flamebait? Sadly, this is the truth. Instead of dismissing his post as trolling, we should work to fix these and other problems. It's the only way Linux will ever become mainstream.
due to just that consideration. My apologies for not clarifying.
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
OSS is the horsedrawn carriage of software. It is the most retro, non-inovative software I've ever used. In all the excitement about the idea that it is free and the fact that it works at all most people seem to miss the fact that its usually junk compared to software that you pay for.
Actually, I work for American Virtual Relations, a public relations firm contracted by Microsoft. I get paid a considerable salary plus bonuses for every post I make on a discussion board attacking so-called "critics" of Microsoft.
We're an organization that isn't listed on any major search engine. Rather, we're a unit of a well-known public relations firm (hint: think "R").
Thanks for inquiring!
Tried to install it but it wouldn't run on an Athlon :(
Anyways I think people aren't "just" waking up to Windows being insecure, unstable etc. It's just that they are willing to live with it rather than investigate alternate OS
Sadly, when you drink you don't become a better singer, you only THINK you're better, otherwise I'd be awesome...
Obligatory userfriendly reference.
Introducing the new Occam Fusion! Now with sqrt(-1) fewer blades!
After years of enjoying your mainpage news, I have come to realize that your editors are morons and your mod system is run by down syndrome monkeys.
When everyday is filled with "news articles" about a guy who farted and blamed it on Windows so now he's installing Linux, it's time to start spending my internet time elsewhere.
I'm deleting my bookmark to Slashdot, "giving you back your key" if you will. I'd like to say it was fun while it lasted, but it wasn't.
Good bye and good riddance!
Most people stick with Linux because it's free and it takes money to get something better.
I corrected it for you.
"Tried to install it but it wouldn't run on an Athlon"
It crawled, right?
You know when you see an AGP card plugged into PCI slot, or an audio jack plugged into the wall outlet?
That's Microsoft's idea of integration.
And explain why NOT lynching your type would be good for America too?
Heh. I guess we can discuss this over lunch on the MS then, huh? Yeah, I have close ties with them as well but I wouldn't use Windows for anything except playing games; basically it's one pricey X-box.
:)
Aside from that, there is not one thing it can do better than open source. And don't give me this 'they have a larger market and thus are more of a target' crap. Sendmail and Apache have far larger markets than comparitive Microsoft products and they continually out perform and are more secure.
Use that in your next FUD piece. It'd be nice if it's actually based on facts for a change.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
Dear SC:
If you think you're going to just dump me and leave after you've used me for all these years, you have something else coming, bub.
I was a tramp when you met me, and you should have known this. I was brash, got around, was completely unstable. You weren't particularily good to me either -- you'd just disappear for hours every time you wanted to play Doom with your buddies.
And it wasn't as if you didn't have other options. There was that nice, stable, amd smart OS/2 next door who had eyes for you. OS/2 was smart, sophisticated, let you do more at once, and could handle twice the bits I could. But you wanted someone who got around, who had been with all your friends, and who didn't require you to think or learn anything, who let you leave me and covort around with your old DOS buddies whenever you wanted.
I did everything I could to try to hide the good life from you. I gave you some flash once in a while, but no substance. For some reason, you stuck around. I was always afraid you and your friends who used me would notice, so I had to take drastic measures.
First off, I had to routinely sneak into your house in every new PC you bought, even if you or your friends didn't want me around. In fact, even if you couold go to sufficient lengths to make sure I didn't sneak back into your home, you still had to pay for my services. You paid, and got nothing in return. And yet you still kept coming back.
I didn't like some of your friends. That DR-DOS guy bugged me, so I went somewhat haywire everytime you invited him around. I didn't want you to see that there were ways to improve me -- I never had any intention of improving.
Eventually you started noticing that my bits were only half of what the others were offering, so I promised I'd change. That I too would have 32 bits like the others.
And you believed me like a sucker. At first I claimed to support 32 bits through Win32s, but it was really just some more 16 bit stuff in a 32 bit disguise. I kept changing at random, not for your benifit, but to make sure you couldn't leave me by breaking OS/2's ability to run my software every month or so. Poor OS/2 was running around in circles trying to attract you by keeping up with my useless changes.
Then suddenly in 1995 I decided to get some cosmetic surgery. You were stunned when you saw me, but really I just showed the cosmetic surgeon some pictures of OS/2 and MacOS and had him take bits and pieces from them and re-shape me to look like their bastard child. I was still ugly underneath, with serious problems. I still couldn't do more than one thing at a time very well, was still unstable, and still got around with all your friends.
Worse yet, now even if you had wanted to get rid of me, I was going to show up. When you decided to upgrade your old 486 to a shiney new Pentium, I showed up uninvited. When you upgraded that Pentium to a faster model, I once again showed up, even though you already had paid for my services and held a valid license. I kept sucking your wallet dry, and was still mentally unstable.
Then I became schitzophrenic, and started offering myself in a real 32 bit version without the cosmetic surgury. But you avoided me because I wouldn't play with your old DOS games, and had serious issues that were new and strange to you.
In 1998, you started to sour. I'd been abusing you for years, but you like the sucker you are continued to stick around. I offered you a way to get onto the Information Superhighway, but ensured you could only do so in my way, when I felt like letting you. Sure OS/2 had been letting people do this for a few years -- I kept you away from the game as long as possible, but in the end, in order to keep you, I finally relented and gave you access to the new highway.
By 2000, I was able to become cocky, and my schitzophrenia grew worse. You had every right and option to leave me, but I had put blue screens over all your windows so you could
"finally more people are starting to see the light and moving away from Windows"
Dear Slashdot,
Just this afternoon, I stubbed my toe on a Windows box. If it had been a Linux box, I highly suspect I would not be experiencing the pain I'm feeling right now. This is a perfect example of how Windows abuses the average computer user.
I have submitted my story to you, dear Slashdot editors, with every confidence that it will soon be posted on your front page.
Kindest regards,
AC
I love all this attention. Keep it coming!
Letter
Oh and for the record, there are alot of us in Microsoft and around the campus in Redmond and Bellevue. We work from within. We're also working on Microsofts vendors... their IT departments seem to be tired of products that have crappy security. Gee, I wonder why? :)
:)
By the way, I have a JPG you would enjoy
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
re: "...but finally more people are starting to see the light and moving away from Windows" -- What? Haha? Regrettably for the linux naysayers, Windows continues to dominate the OS market. As linux becomes more user-friendly, more people will use it, but you seem to think that increasing Linux market share = decreasing MS market share. The truth is, MS continues to spend big $$ on hiring the best and brightest to deliver exactly what they want to deliver - not the most stable OS, but the most popular. If you think people are 'seeing the light' and moving from MS to L, you're fooling yourself -- *noone* moves to L unless they're a hardware geek (like myself - I run RH and BeOS at home), a (probably wannabe) hacker, or are just curious. There has *never* been an average user who actually looked at both OS's, and said 'Wow, L is just better'.
Wake up - you're bashing what you can't understand.
I am deeply concerned about the state of our relationship. Don't get me wrong, you're as cute as it gets and I hold no doubt that you're the most appealing partner anyone can have. You also seem to understand my needs; we have great fun together. Besides, I have taken great advantage of your ability to use your burly sister's stuff (what was her name, uNIXon?) and I remember fondly how you didn't mind if I met your more popular friend, the one with the house made of glass (that's pretty insecure and dangerous, if you ask me).
But I fear it's over. Since you dyed your hair to black (wish you made up your mind - you've had blonde with black spots, dark blonde, back to blonde&black and I've heard you're planning to use it again next year - you're worse than the 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' chick), I've noticed you've become too much of a show-off. Anyone can just walk up to you and, just with his simple gesture, you're willing to take off your clothes and let him see your bare skin, choose whatever part of you they fancy and access to it without further hassle. I mean, it's bad enough seeing you flirt with that pale musician guy all the time, always sharing everything, but I would have expected you to keep your decency. I'm dumping you.
Oh, who am I kidding? Come here and kiss me!
Sailors. Oh man!
but finally more people are starting to see the light and moving away from Windows
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
*wipes away tear*
How precious!
Thank you for pointing out why 90% of the population of the world will never use Linux.
So are you suggesting that I should find a women that can dual-boot?
who | grep -i blond | date cd ~; unzip; touch; strip; finger; mount; gasp; yes; uptime; umount; sleep
Maybe they stick with it because it's better than the competition in their eyes. After all freedom of choice is a good thing. Isn't it?
If Linux is so great then why do such acidic stories get posted? I mean, use Linux if that makes you happy. It doesn't bother me. It just makes the Linux community look pathetic when they make such snide comments about users of other systems.
Grow up folks!
If I need to read/write word docs (which I do, unfortunately most people aren't down with the "text" format) or excel spreadsheets, I use Word or Excel. Not a problem. If someone gives me something in OpenOffice format, then I use Open Office.
If I am the originator of a document, then I will send it as plain text, so anything can read it. If I need to send out a spreadsheet, I'll send it as comma-delimitted, if they can't figure it out then I'll export it to Excel for them or build an html file with tables.
If something I said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, I meant the other one.
not trying to troll, but seriously...whats better? Ive played with linux a dozen times, differnt distros over the years. As a basic desktop, its getting there, but the hardware support is stil iffy.
As a gaming machine, a serious gaming machine, its useless. Theres a *few* mainstream great games that are made to run on linux natively, for a serious gamer like me, thats not good enough.
For day to day use its good, quite passable; but better overall? Probably not quite, and "better" is a matter of opinion. And yours and mine will differ still from a regular desktop user in a cubicle or a small office. For some people, windows is better, no matter what you like about linux. And for some, mac is better than either.
By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth. -- George Carlin
Disable the TCP/IP stack. This simple step elimantes many virus/worm IE and Outlook problems.
Images are either scanned or burned to CD-Rom. We do not allow TCP-IP networking on a PC that connects to a server.
Damn... That is enough to make me want to leave both you bitches. And I don't want to hear another "RTFM!"
SpaceCanary writes "I recently wrote this open letter to Windows and I think it's pretty funny. I wrote a letter to my OS as if I was breaking up with it. It's a bit strange, but finally more people are starting to see the light and moving away from Windows - in fact 100% of the people living in my mom's basement have switched. I chronicled my relationship with the versions of Windows and finally I am able to move on in the end."
Registered through: GoDaddy.com
Domain Name: XYZCOMPUTING.COM
Created on: 21-Oct-03
Expires on: 21-Oct-05
Last Updated on: 06-Aug-04
Administrative Contact:
Cangeloso, Salvatore admin@xyzcomputing.com
salcan@gmail.com? Letter is signed S.C.? Hmmm....
She's known to have had some 500 million guys, who've given her every virus or worm there is, and by the time you realize what a contagious beast she was, you'll have contracted so much more than both of you wished to share.
Sure, there are rumors about that new miracle drug, SP3, that's supposed to save a lucky few of the people who were in bed with her, some day, but everyone says it won't be around in a while (quite possibly too late for you), and nothing ever brought relief for more than a few weeks anyway...
Most people stick with Windows because it's there and it takes effort to get something better.
For the vast majority of the population, for whom computers are not a hobby, less effort is better.
I've been with that harlot from Washington before. It was fun for a short while, she was more sociable and got along with everybody, but one night she turned blue and I knew something was wrong. Turns out I got over two dozen viruses from that bitch.
Our relationship was immediately over.
But imagine a cluster of those!!!!!!
You say you wouldn't touch IE. How do you have any choice?
Why, the first thing I notice about my Income Tax program from Intuit Canada (Quick Tax), is that it clearly uses IE dll's for all connections to the net. It is impossible to avoid IE in doing the most security critical things such as accessing absolute mandatory program updates (without with which it could not be compliant with all last minute changes to tax laws).
Ditto, with Norton AntiVirus. When you keep up with the latest virus signatures, it uses IE modules for you to download them.
The list goes on and on, but the worst of all is Microsoft Windows Update itself which is carefully designed to force you to use IE and ActiveX.
By the way, I find that with respect to gdiplus.dll, the one that may be vulnerable to the bug that allows exploits via jpeg images, both HP and Norton software may be using doubtful versions.
Yep, you sure can trust good old Microsoft! NOT!
Microsoft is the good old "ease of use" company that changes to the "most difficult possible to use" when the slightest need for security arises!
I've always hated you. There, I said it. I mean, sure, there was that childlike wonder in the 3.0 days when I was all "ooo... icons", but even then, you were fat, clumsy, and held me back from truly enjoying what I was really after.
The computer - that sweet hotness that took my breath away from the very beginning when I first saw my friend's TI99-4A. O how I pine for the days of the bliss of programming in basic! And then came DOS, and GAMES! We had some wild nights back in the day.
But you were always there, the computer's ugly friend who I had to accomodate and pretend to like. The only time I really ever began to think of you as anything more than an obstacle to my happiness is when I stopped using BBS services and discovered the Internet. But for that, I needed winsock and Netscape 1.0. You did the job poorly, but what choice did I have? You became not only my seetheart's ugly sister, but the ugly sister who had a car. If I wanted to see Dupree's Iguana cam, I had to hitch a ride from you. And so it went.
Then came Windows95. You went from fat, annoying, and in the way to outright mean. You deliberately made my life difficult with your constant registry needs and inexplicable crashes. You harassed my customers and friends, and sucked away years of my life toiling in utter futility to find some way to get along with you without the situation becoming abusive. I knew there were places I could go to escape what was clearly an unhealthy relationship, like Linux, but I felt trapped. I had become so numb to the constant cycle of learning and relearning what would ultimately be useless information about how you went about your business and how best to work with you, wading through so much heartache and lies, that I let myself think that everyone was like you. I thought that getting to know someone like Linux would be just as futile as it was to live with you, and so I never sought escape. I thought it would be so hard to start new with someone else, and so I never did.
98 came and went, as did 99, the year we all focused on WindowsME (selfish bitch). By 2000, I had forgotten why I started doing any of this in the first place. The wonder at the freedom to sit down in front of my C64 and create my own world was lost in a cacophony of blue screens, conflicting dlls, and product license key dialog boxes. I thought of ending it all. I thought of choosing another career, maybe working on cars for a living, because I just couldn't take it anymore.
Then, off in the distance, I saw Linux again. She had changed since I'd seen her last. She was so much more open and welcoming. She didn't have your sophistication and clout, at least in those days, but there was a certain spark about her. There was something that seemed like being in front of that TI all over again - something wonderful, inspiring, and exciting. It started as a tryst on my home machine. A friend introduced us and I took her for a spin. She was intelligent, sleek, and seemed to do everything right. She never manipulated me for some other purpose; never lied to me. I forgot what it was like to deal with someone who was more concerned about my needs than the next big deal.
I felt young again. She rekindled my early love and I faced the day anew, energized by the freedom and power of our new relationship. I didn't realize it at the time, but we were definately going places together. She would see me through some troubled times in the years to come. With her support, I've been able to do things I'd never dreamed of when I was slumming around with you.
I just want you to know that I regret every moment of our time together, and I will never go back.
I think OS-tans (OS girls) are pretty cute:r ticle=4882
s _eng.jpg
http://www.bootyproject.org/show_article.asp?id_a
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS-tan
2k-tan with Firefox-tan:
http://www.ferricorp.com/misc/vector/wall_browser
After having read this, and looking back on my own experiences with Windows, I think the operating system has just found a new mascot.
Linux's mascot is Tux...After today, I suspect Windows' could be Britney Spears.
You're missing the stated "runs on my computer" requirement.
Uh..., no, actually that requirement wasn't stated.
Dear reader,
/index.php on this server.
Forbidden
You don't have permission to access
I suppose most of your opinions could be a matter of personal taste (I personally wouldn't mod you flamebait--maybe troll if I was in a bad mood), but I think it is because some of your criticisms of Linux appear to me and others as somewhat baseless. It gives the impression that you are either ill-informed or just looking to stir up crap:
* MS is "easy to use" vs. Linux. This may be becasue you are most familiar with it. You'd probably think Macs were harder to use if you think Mandrake or Lycoris or Linspire were hard to use.
* MS "looks good" - again a matter of personal taste--I personally think XP looks like garbage and it is the one of the main reason I refuse to upgrade my Win2k system at home to XP. At work--well--I just have to deal with it (customer is always right you know--besides there is always "classic mode"). If you DO like the XP look there are themes to make Linux look more like it, and Lycoris and Linspire were designed with that in mind.
* MS doesn't take too long to load up. That is crap--on todays hardware everything starts up pretty quickly. On slower hardware like my notebook (dual boots Win2k and Mandrake 9.1) I find Mandrake boots significantly faster. Perhaps you did a huge/full install of Mandrake and started all services if you found it slow. In the application space, you should try AbiWord and Gnumeric--they are lightweight and speedy and have enough features to be useful for everyday work (actually Gnumeric kicks all other spreadsheets butts!)
* Games - probably your only truly valid point. However video card drivers and game selection are slowly getting better
* You don't have to build Linux from scratch yo your statement comes across as a thinly veiled insult. In fact in my experience and many others that are documented on the web, most popular distributions of linux are in fact EASIER to install than Windows. Plus, if you are reinstalling windows 2k or XP be prepared to spend extra time finding offline copies of the most important updates and installing them, along with firewall and antivirus software before you get anywhere NEAR a network connection, or you could literally pick up a virus within minutes. The only reason XP seems "easy" is because PC makers do the work for you before you even buy the PC.
* you've acknowledged you use Opera over IE--but aren't you aware that IE is so pervasive and integrated now that it could rear its hideous head even when you are not surfing the 'net? Plus, to use windows update you MUST use it.
It's a free country and you are entitled to your choice (and if your PC is indeed your entertainment then XP is probably the best choice). It's also fortunate that you've had zero problems with XP, because (along with win2k)it has been the cause of countless problems in my life. Personally, computer games are only a very small part of my "entertainment", and should I decide I want the best, latest games I'll pick up an XBox or a PS2. For productivity, web surfing and so on (my needs are not demanding either) I feel safer and more at home with Linux.
I need a girl like OS X, sure she's expensive, but she's easy to use, and always ready to multitask to make sure you have the best user experience possible
Get a major PC manufacturer to start shipping some dual boot systems and see how well it fares...
They will lose the special price for Windows. These PCs will cost more and will be less able to compete with the Windows-only PC.
If you don't insist to have Windows and PCs, you can get dual-boot PowerPC systems (with Mac OS X and YellowDog Linux) from Terrasoft.
But most people that want a Linux OS usually just buy a computer and install it themselves.
"Warning: Unknown(/usr/www/users/salcan/index.php): failed to open stream: Permission denied in Unknown on line 0
Warning: (null)(): Failed opening '/usr/www/users/salcan/index.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/local/lib/php') in Unknown on line 0"
It's somehow fitting that a letter meant for an operating system should be barely human-perceivable.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, write technology blogs.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
For some people, windows is better, no matter what you like about linux. And for some, mac is better than either.
100% Agree. You cannot force an OS on someone. It depends of their needs etc. If someone likes Windows, then who cares if they use it. If they don't like Windows and they still want to use it anyway, who cares.
BTW, Mac is hardware, so I guess you meant Mac OS X. In any case I prefer to run Gentoo Linux on my Mac laptop. Some people prefer Debian or Mac OS X. I respect their choice.
Of course, they do smell of fish. I don't know exactly which species of fish, but I'm pretty sure there are no herring species in Antarctica, where penguins live.
How fucking lame. I must be a lamer too for I keep returning to this site.
Hey, that isn't hard to do, not at all...
Hmm. I have a customer whose machine lasts about 43 minutes at a time under MS-Windows XP but runs flawlessly under Mandrake Linux 10.0 (he dual-boots, Mdk-Linux for real work and MS-Windows for MS-centric stuff). Does that count towards your theory? (-:
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
That has got to be the best "break up letter to Windows" I have ever seen. A f#cked up p.o.s. php box that doesnt do shiat hehehehehehehe.
Yes, I realise that these choices are based on freedom, but most (to pick an example out of a hat) FireFox users couldn't care less whether the $0 browser they're leeching was free-as-in-speech or not. They only care that they can choose an alternative browser without any red tape or "meter money".
They're not even aware that the one follows the other, let alone worried about it, and "Open Source" is one of those black-box words like "nucular physics" that get used for mentally tagging certain items without a shred of understanding (comma, pronounciation or spelling). However, this congonsentic elite represent a wedge that FOSS is driving into a closed market, which will make a bit more room in related markets for other FOSS, and ultimately other competitors, closed or not.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Your boast is much intriguing. I can use your expertise for my web farm.
Would you pretty please post your Windows Server's IP address(es) so that I may verify your much touted security and uptime?
Thank you,
---
A truly anonymous coward.
When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a skull.
AE expected the weapons to change, but not the way of warfare. In fact we are in the midst of World War III right now. And the weapons have actually become more crude than they were during World War II and the extension called the Cold War. The weapons of World War III are:
I hadn't considered this until reading your .sig. Now that the super-weapons have made state-to-state warefare unwinnable by any rouge state the way of warring has changed.
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
Windows only sw: Assuming a Mac equivalent won't do or can't be found, you're probably gonna have to go VPC here. Continue waiting for MS to deliver a G5 compatible version. :-/ Or try Bochs if it can't wait. Likely to be slower than VPC, but better than nothing.
If old sw: I presume this is to access old files in proprietary formats? If that is the case, get GraphicConverter, Stuffit, MacLinkPlus, and possibly SoundApp on Classic. Those four apps should cover practically every old file format in existence. Some video files will require the use of classic: Indeo 3.2, 4.4, 5.0 and i263 codecs are only available on classic. Most everything else will work fine with QuickTime Player, Video Lan Client (VLC player)/mPlayer, and Real Player on OS X. WMV3 is about the only spot missing. Use Microsoft's WMP for that if you must.
If games: buy mac games. VPC is a poor gaming platform anyway.
Interestingly enough, one of the case studies says that the new consultant fixed the customer's reliability woes instantly by moving to a different Linux-based hosting service, then went on to up-sell them an expensive Microsoft solution, about which the PHB "feels better" because it's backed by a giant convicted monopolist - although I'm sure those weren't his exact words.
If that's the best Microsoft can do in their naked propaganda, they really must be clutching at straws.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
...have trouble distinguishing between menu and modifier keys. That's why MS-Windows is case-blind.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
It's great that you like to use XP on purpose. I'm glad you're happy.
I simply want the freedom to choose to run Linux. The way Microsoft works, I feel that freedom is threatened.
It's Microsoft's policies I HATE!!!!!!!
I used to be an OS/2 user. Microsoft didn't out-compete OS/2 in any technical sort of way. They arm-twisted, cheated, and lied, and there's not much of any other way to put it. OS/2 Warp was competing and winning some amount of market share. One 'opportunity' for OS/2 software was music/midi. A company had a product called "Easy Keys for OS/2" all set to go. Microsoft bought the company before Easy Keys could get to market. Did the product get re-directed to Windows? NO! Microsoft bought the company pure and simple to prevent it from bringing out an OS/2 product. That's only one thing. There were others.
Consider that per-CPU licensing was struck down in courts, but somehow Microsoft still has some sort of equivalent contract in-place preventing non-Windows preloads. Yes, there are a few non-Windows preloads, few and far between, and if the major brands have one, you have to look alongside the Vogan Interstellar Bypass plans at Alpha Centauri to find them.
It has become more fashionable on Slashdot to bash people for bashing Microsoft or Microsoft products. I'm going to leave products out of this one, I'm bashing the company. I have seen NOTHING in their conduct, especially as the Linux community starts fearing the DRM and IP attacks, that makes me think there is any improvement whatsoever in Microsoft's Corporate conduct.
IMHO, Microsoft deserved bashing 10 years ago with the AARD code, they deserve bashing NOW, and for nearly all of that time in-between.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
DosBox: DOS sans CtrlAltDel, plus multiple instances and remote access.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Warning: Unknown(/usr/www/users/salcan/index.php): failed to open stream: Permission denied in Unknown on line 0
Warning: (null)(): Failed opening '/usr/www/users/salcan/index.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/local/lib/php') in Unknown on line 0
The grass is always greener on the other side..
"Anyways I think people aren't "just" waking up to Windows being insecure, unstable etc. It's just that they are willing to live with it rather than investigate alternate OS"
That and both points are heavily sensationalized over here. I run XP and 2K across several different computers. The general assumption here is that I spend hours a week dealing with viruses. I don't. I haven't been exploited in months. And, the one time I did, it was because I had a fresh install of XP out on the net sans firewall or a service pack. Doh.
The other assumption is that I spend lots of time rebooting. Nope. My machines get rebooted once every two weeks or so. This is laughable compared to Linux, but virtually nothing in terms of practical time used. Back in the Windows 95/98 days, this was a legit complaint. (3 or 4 reboots a DAY) Today, though, it's just not enough time to notice. I'm 'living with it' about as disturbingly as living with wrong number phonecalls.
So, by relieving myself of those problems with Linux, I'm not gaining a whole hell of a lot. I would, however, rack up a bunch of Google time trying to figure out how to make everything work. Linux is just going to have to do better than that to get people to switch. This has nothing to do with people having mixed up priorities.
"Derp de derp."
No, I haven't read the article. Sounds like a rant though. I've done three Linux installs this week. Two SuSE 9.1, and one Gentoo.
One USB scanner problem (SuSE 9.1). All Dual-Boot except for the Gentoo one (He has so many trojans/viri XP is useless on his six month old Dell Laptop). All are using KDE 3x.
So far, everyone is happy/content. Linux not ready for the desktop my ass.
Enjoy,
It's just the normal noises in here.
OpenOffice, on the other hand, is a real standard being adhered to by an ever-increasing number of tools.
As a bonus, the suite also deals with the MS-Office non-standards pretty well (lots of people are using it today simply because it was able to recover corrupted MS-Office documents for them), and writes files in several other standard formats (PDF, HTML without the crap, PNG, yadda yadda).
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
(rejoices and watches the 'puter burst into flames)
Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all
Have a warm, relaxing bath and see if he twitching stops.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
So hand them a CD.
It costs about AUD$0.40 in eaches something less than 30 US cents), you can be pretty sure it'll run on whatever they've got at home, there are no macro viruses and no signing away of your firstborn in blood before you start, nor mortgaging of the house if you miscount users, machines or CPUs.
Try that with MS-Office.
The other question is: what training?
I have one customer who uses MS-Office extensively (he calls his operating system "Word"), and he didn't notice any difference in OpenOffice except that the templates weren't there. In fact, since the machine had an empty document open full-screen when he walked up to it, he didn't even realise it wasn't MS-Word on MS-Windows.
There are fundamental differences between the packages, but 90% of your users will never stumble over them.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Now despite playing the devils advocate above, I am a lover of linux, and yes, there are some distros that are getting a much more refined finish to them, but I personally still see linux as more of a specialized tech OS or a server room product. It's the difference between playing an european, unfinished game ported to english by a valuesoft company or a complete game where years after the release, say early 90's, you can still find people modding and using it. There are people that still use Win 9x and Mac OS < 10 because they were finished products for their time. How many people still use RH 5.2 (slackware users aside ;-) instead of upgrading to the newest hoping it would do and support the things they wanted.
I like linux and would really like to see it become more predominant, but with sooooo many flavours, choices and ways to skin a cat, the average user gets lost in the shuffle. Lindows is doing a great job in trying to produce a finished product, but still offers a few too many choices and just recently took this approach (plus costs money, which turns off a lot of the cheap skates that came to linux only because it was free, not because they thought it could do more). Make the initial install include one text editor, a simple RTF editor (and just the basics, like MS Paint as opposed to an adobe photoshop clone) and provide on a second disk the catalogue of all sorts to customize for those that want, and the option to not make a choice for those that really do not like making choices. MS Might be evil, but they realized this formula a long time ago.
Welcome to market research, not just marketing.
Set OpenOffice to be your window manager, and set your display manager to auto login.
The sequence of events is: turn on computer, it boots, logs you in and there you are facing an empty word-processor document, full screen. Nothing to minimise, close, or otherwise stuff around with, all you can do is word-process or exit.
Try that with MS-Windows.
If you want your customer to multi-process, rip everything but task-switching and a menu dock out of one of the simpler WMs. No chrome, no bells and whistles, one simple floating menu of applications and running tasks. How much can you rip out of the MS-Windows interface?
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
I have to admit that I pretty much agree with your view. I run a small ISP. Servers I use Openna (a specialized version of redhat). It's simply the best server OS I have ever used but again it's totally customized and very secure. Windows was never an option for the server environment. I run it non-GUI and the last time I rebooted Was when the power went due to some serious work on the substation in town. However, as a desktop OS Linux needs some serious help. A good for instance is I dual boot this machine I am typing on. I have redhat EL and loaded up firefox and thunderbird. One day I discovered that firefox doesn't properly handle mailto references. After 3 hours on google and IRC I got it to sort of work properly. What I am getting at is that until the general public can make linux usable (for totally clueless) it will NEVER gain traction on the desktop. Most general users are going to give up trying to fix anything in 30 minutes. Most windows users wouldn't even try! I'm not so sure that trying to make Linux as easy to use as windows is a great idea. Making a windows like file system and using windows like networking will ruin a good deal of Linux strengths. I don't believe that Linux needs to destroy windows. In fact it would be a good idea for MS to do things like port Office to Linux. I am still more productive using word and excel than I am using OO. However, the reason I dual boot is there are a lot of free programming tools and compilers available for linux. I like having both OS's around. Windows I can run Quickbooks for the business and play 1942 and Linux can do all the real computing stuff! Whats the problem?
i look at it this way. microsoft uses games to warp the minds of people so they dont relise the OS sucks, the same way the US government uses football to distract people from that fact that they destroyed the WTC not terrorists
Maybe you've had your head in the sand (or elsewhere) during the last couple of years, but the majority of the best PC games come out for the Mac these days. I stopped using my PC completely about 6 months ago when I quit EverQuest and switched across to my PowerBook which is coping just fine, thanks for asking.
I finally got around to buying Warcraft 3 the other day, so I could get more of a feel for the WC world before World of Warcraft goes into open beta. To tide me over I'll be buying KotOR and Homeworld 2 this month, don't tell the missus... oh, and the Call of Duty expansion is due in November.
To repeat: Plenty of games for the Mac, please return to your spyware scanning.
The problem is the zealots. I have Slackware Linux and Windows XP both installed on this computer. I've spent too much time trying to iron out the problems I've had with things like upgrading XOrg6.7.0 to 6.8.1 (only to go back to 6.7.0) and trying to get Wine (and later WineX CVS) to work, only to find out that I still can't get some of my favorite games (like You Don't know Jack: The Ride) installed. But hey, for everything other than gaming, what I have is a solid system. Is OpenOffice as good as MS office? Not by any means. Granted, I'd much rather have Office XP or Office 2000 ported to Linux than the latest release (I'm against having everything built into the sidebar, I like having the popup dictionary/thesaurus, little things like that.) My 2 main complaints about OpenOffice: you'll never be able to get the first-line indentation tab perfectly at any length (You'll get close, but it doesn't snap, which would be very helpful) and the thesaurus just lumps anything that's similar in the same category, it doesn't break up by different subjects. But other than that, what I have is a computer where if it's booted into Linux, my mom can use KDE and have it run just like it would if she were in Windows, except she just can't install programs like Ikea planners &c. But I concur, Linux is not ready for prime-time yet, and I currently think it will always be a niche group composed of different reasons. There's some that are purly anti-Microsoft. I'm not one of those, I acknowledge what they've managed to do well (previous versions of Office), but I don't feel any dedication to stay with them. The main reason why I use Linux is because I like its potential. I like being able to have a webserver up and running as soon as I install the OS. I like being able to upgrade a component like the webserver or the FTP server, and not having it break the whole system because they're not built into the system. I also like how the market's small enough that we're not being exploited like Microsoft's market is by crackers. Most of all, if a program doens't work, I can troubleshoot it much more easily than I can in Windows.
Linux, Windows, Apache, IIS. Without an admin with skill, that is typical.
Figures, the analogy holds, anyways...The interface is sexy, has no brains, and she goes down on you quite regularly.....
I really do hope that the mac gets good games like Dawn of War ported over, because I have mac using friends who I want to play more games, but I'm not sure how likely that is.
Not Meta-modding due to apathy.
for some real hypocrisy
/.
DU
Freeps
dare to compare with
I think we do pretty good here really
I second this. Last month I formatted (finally) and decided to install both Linux (SuSE 9.1) and Windows XP. I am no Microsoft loyalist, but... Most of my time in Linux was trying to figure out how to make things work (screen resolution, mouse wheel, installing programs).
Linux has a great potential, I will never argue that. I'm not going to nuke my Linux half. In fact I'll probably explore a few other distros. But Linux has a long way to go before it's on most desktops.
Web Design Tips
I wouldn't touch Norton with a 10-foot pole either.
Web Design Tips
Shhh!!! Not so loud, or they'll all want me!
Un-news
Whether or not this is a good thing, security and reliability will not be the #1 deciding factor for most average people. Even if reliability were extremely important to the home user, XP is quite reliable for the average home user. I'm sitting here, imagining my mother - who probably doesn't know the difference between Internet Explorer and Google - figure out how to 'compile' the program she wants to install. I'm trying to figure out what my dad would do if he couldn't use any of his geneology programs, or what my sisters would do if they couldn't play 'The Sims'. Putting Linux on a home desktop PC sets things back 10 years or more to the average user - the PC is just a geeky, complicated device that nobody except nerds would know how to use. I use Linux on a daily basis and like it, but people like my parents would find a PC equipped with it to be rather useless.
You will be fucked, resistance is futile. You are a troll and will have a virus, malware or buffer overflow before the years end. You are such a moron that you will just think it is time to re-install windows...
Fuck You Moron!
Your Average Joe
You quit EverQuest?!
I thought I was the only one.
...I need to buy two or more licences for MS-Office? Nice.
How about at home? Since if I'm licenced to use it at work, I'm licenced to use it at home, no? So I can legitimately install it at home for free.
Now my teenage daughter sits down and uses my home copy, once, to make a price-list for her lemonade stand (ie a commercial venture) - am I liable for an extra licence?
How about if I install a copy at home for my use on "her" machine, is that OK?
And if I'm licenced to use it at home, does that cover work as well?
How about if a computer at work has twenty people use it for five minutes each, every day, to update a log. Do I now need to buy 20 licences for that copy of Office?
These rules aren't very clear, people generally just double-licence things anyway, and they cease to be a problem if I just use OpenOffice instead.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
I don't want a computer that dual boots for the same reason I don't want a wife with two personalities.
Like what I said? You might like my music
"Our affair took its next serious step on August 24, 1995"
;)
(Yes i RTFA)
In Australia the first 500(?) babies born got a free copy of 95 and a about 500 bucks? Pretty good, IMHO. We got a new PC and stuck with Windows 3.1 and eventually ventured to Windows 95
The other assumption is that I spend lots of time rebooting. Nope. My machines get rebooted once every two weeks or so. This is laughable compared to Linux, but virtually nothing in terms of practical time used. Back in the Windows 95/98 days, this was a legit complaint. (3 or 4 reboots a DAY) Today, though, it's just not enough time to notice.
I'll agree with you (or anyone else saying it's virtually nothing), the day you (or the other guys) agree to let me send you an invoice every time my work XP machine needs a reboot.
Btw, I'm aware that there may be other ways of fixing it than just rebooting, but until it gets userfriendly enough that I can actually figure out how, any such suggestions will be met with an invoice for hiring an MCSE to fix it.
"I'll agree with you (or anyone else saying it's virtually nothing), the day you (or the other guys) agree to let me send you an invoice every time my work XP machine needs a reboot."
A friend of mine used to have a crappy machine that needed rebooting all the time. Stupid thing crashed if you just looked at it wrong. A motheroard replacement fixed that.
Sounds like Linux is more fault tolerant. Kudos to them for making it so and all, but my initial reaction is "fix your computer".
I'll give you partial credit, though, if you've been running Windows for a while. After a few months, it starts to 'rot' and needs to be reinstalled. Though I enjoy the occasional spring cleaning on my machine, I still grit my teeth that this is really necessary. Stupid registry.
"Derp de derp."
d'oh. Silly lack of two letters.
UNstated. UNstated. As in "implied." As in "even a screwball can catch this."
Does he have to specify that it display a language he can read?
nice job :-)
(i laugh loudly and the lameness filter doesn't like it very much)
"To repeat: Plenty of games for the Mac"
Do you live in an alternate universe? Where I come from (any of the local electronics / software stores) the entire Mac section fits into the PC Games section. OK, well, not including hardeware. Yeah, some games get ported eventually. But seriously. Software available on PC >> Software available on Mac.
"Linux is just going to have to do better than that to get people to switch."
I run WinXP by choice. I will switch when Windows' security gets too good and the most recent Windows version I can pirate gets out of date. I think this is when most people will go. I think Microsoft probably knows it, and so won't make Windows completely un-pirateable in the near future.
There is nothing ( nothing ) about what you said were benefits that could not have been done without IE being integrated. By integrated, the original post was talking about the intermingling of OS land with a user application.
:-)
Time to display window on my machine, firefox was a touch faster than IE. ( Firefox 0.9, IE 6.0 )
Unscientific as the day is long, so I did it multiple times ( data is the plural of anecdote, right
emt 377 emt 4
....because in the very next sentence after the one you quote I state:
At work--well--I just have to deal with it (customer is always right you know--besides there is always "classic mode")
So yes, I am quite aware that you can turn off the gummy-bear mode. It still infuriates me, however that although most stuff reverts back to a sane state, there are still just enough differences when you get down into the system menus, etc to drive one insane. The fact that classic isn't the default mode is annoying enough. It was a big mistake on MSes part to focus on the visual and completely ignore real usability (the new start menu for example, was a collosal failure in UI design). It's as if they used WMP and winamp people to do the UI.
The most insidious thing, of course, it that "designed for XP" type software (from both MS and third parties) has taken to imitating the GUI-by-Mattel and in most cases it is difficult or impossible to avoid it. Even on older OSes for example, we are inflicted with Windows Media Player 9's crap by default, and scanner and digital camera software packages are some of the worst offenders (there is no way to avoid the eye candy on that crap so I've taken to installing the minimum possible software to make them work--some cameras are great--they work like jumpdrives and need no software at all and just appear as another drive).
Anyways...with all this and increasingly confusing license agreements and anti-piracy activation schemes, as well as an ever worsening virus problem has led me to never buy another Microsoft product again for my own machines--unless perhaps I purchase an XBox and/or games. Win2k and Office2k are the least broken and I'll stick with them until they are useless, at which time I'll be a full time Linux user.
*giggle* You're so cute.
For schematic capture, PCB layout, and cross-assembler/DSP C/C++ stuff. ...They all have user definable libraries
Please specify.
gewg_
PCB Layout = PADS 7 for DOS ( Last DOS release )
( Yes, it once had a dongle, but being the dongle was incompatible with the newer high-speed parallel ports, I had to fix it because they wouldn't - I had *bought* the software, so by golly I had to protect my investment. It was the frustration of removing that damned thing that taught me the value of the sales term "customer support", as I felt I, like the software I had purchased, had been abandoned. They were just using it as a hook to reel me in once I took the bait, so they could make me pay again and again and again for the same thing. I am an older guy and used to the idea that once a trade is made, they have my money, and I have the product, and both lose subsequent control over it. I feel they have no rights to tell me how to use their product anymore than I have any right to tell them how they can spend the money I paid for it. However I will respect their copyright. Its their product to sell, not mine. My product is what I do using their product. )
But going around behind my back devising ways to render my investment in their product moot to force me to buy again to me smacked of me going around behind their back to cancel my check, rendering it moot, and then trying to force them into negotiations again for more business. I wouldn't expect them to stand for it, but apparently they expected *me* to stand for it. But in my case, I just got madder than hell, and vowed to really watch those sweet-talking suit guys.
And C/C++/DSP = Borland TurboC++ for DOS. I love that old compiler. Fast little bugger. And so simple I don't fart around all day trying to set things up... just a quickie definition of how to set up my variable types and away I go. Kinda lousy for presentations, but really great for quickie algorithm testing as I can easily hook anything in my machine. Really nice for my wirewrap test cards when I just use the address/data bus in my machine just to talk to it.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
Well, not stating those two letters certainly threw me off... ;)
But now I see your point.
On the other hand, as a very poor international student who decided to make a huge investment in a PowerBook after using mainly PCs for more than five years (and some Unix Workstations but no Macs at all), I must say that yes, he should specify that he needs an OS that runs on his current computer.
By the way, the PB was the best buying decision I have made in my life.
I'm with you.
/. page is
On an ironic note, as I respond, the QotD at the bottom of the
"Any program which runs right is obsolete."
gewg_
I have used Cadsoft's Easily Applicable Graphical Layout Editor and I agree it is powerful and very affordable.
Since you are not averse to Linux, you may want to investigate the gratis and libre apps gEDA and PCB.
I haven't used them but I saw a page that Terry Porter put up that was impressive.
(His server is down now.)
Posts by the authors of each app:
Ales Hvezda, gEDA
DJ Delorie, PCB
gewg_
That's OK for end users (well, OK, clued up ones), and indeed I do not use anything Microsoft at all other than for some games for the children (and only then if they dont run under Wine or Win4Lin).
However, if you read my post it should be obvious that I meant the irritation to reside especially with those who run systems for a living. The amazing thing is that, during recruitment, great store is made of experience and qualifications and training, but after they have joined the organisation that knowledgebase is never allowed to offer an opinion that doesn't fit in with the 'corporate norm'.
Instead, the PHB attends some vendor sponsored golfing event and comes back all glossy eyed because he 'got the facts' but with some rather important omissions like cost of downtime, patches, enfin, see previous post.
And guess who takes the hit if it doesn't work as the brochure said? Yup - it's you who will be babysitting those boxes and eventually forcibly decide to make a restart a daily feature instead of something you do annually (when you feel like it) just to clear out some potential dead wood.
Choice is not what proprietary vendors want you to have, and they are intelligent enough to go up to a level that is devoid of the requisite knowledge to actually take an informed decision. And naturally, the salesman gets listened to because he is less biased than the internal staff who will be outsourced shortly (after all, it's cheaper to have some call centre on the other end of the planet read you a script starting with "did you reboot" than it is to have someone with a brain doing preventitive maintenance and prevent problems rather than fixing them after it has costed the company money in lost productivity).
The more I think about it, the more I think that teaching board levels at least some basic IT understanding could add serious money to the bottom line. But I fear this will not happen as it would upset the proprietary apple cart too much.
Insert
Dear Microsoft Windows,
I honestly can't live without you, you entertain me like no other. Though it takes extensive relationship counselling, removal of all your "friends", and a lot of acceptance on my part. You are the only one who plays all those coy little games with me. I don't mind your lack of security as without it I would probably be forced to wait tables for a living. Behind closed doors you know how to please me, yet when I want to go out, you have only limited resistance to my flirtations with my freaky girl on the side linux. I will never leave you(for more than a couple hours) unless linux learns to do more than just surf on our dates. Don't ever change, even if I leave you there will always be a job for you with my employer and therefore we can always be friends.
Sincerely,
Your system administrator
That's what Windows says, sucker. It's just another lie. Try Mepis, Knoppix, Debian Sarge or Fedora when she's not looking or when she has the inevitable nervous breakdown on you again. Mepis and Knoppix are discreet and that whore will never know.
Get a major PC manufacturer to start shipping some dual boot systems and see how well it fares...
You don't even want to know what a bitch she is to manufacturers. Let's just say that it's heroic of them to even talk about another OS.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Twitter, you're a petulant cock-gobbling sycophant to Linux Torvaldyos! Quit taking DP from ESR and RMS's feculent cocks and why don't you try to stop sucking quite so much? Get out of your parents' basement and see the real world - maybe then you'll see how pathetic you sound, with your neverending stream of bullshit about how Microsoft is stalking you. Wasn't it you who said that Microsoft believes your insane ranting is actually a threat to them, so they PAY PEOPLE to reply to you on Slashdot? No sir, I don't get any money. I do it for the love. Someone has to go up against your paranoid whining. So get back in your cage and shut the fuck up already.