"Storing contacts, having a calendar, etc. is great, but it's faster and easier on paper."
Are you sure about that? I have a couple of thousand contacts in my addressbook and a very full and detailed calander in my datebook (I use a Palm btw) and I couldn't imagine trying to do the same with a paper Rolodex and a paper Planner. Using paper is in no way shape or form easier or faster. Text entry is smooth with this app I installed called simplyWrite for the Palm. It makes grafitti much easier to use but even without it using the PDA is much quicker for basic PIM stuff than paper is. IMHO.
A computer should not be so damn fragile in concerns to the proper operating environment. If Apple knew it was going to be that picky about where it will work properly they should have re-designed it.
Whats astonishing is the implication that if you do not have a degree, you are either incapable of thinking or unwilling to think. I guess thats why we ended up with so many rubber stamped MBA's running those silly dot.coms into the ground. How did it happen? Those MBA's had degrees! They were supposed to be SMART!
Why are you so homophobic? Do homosexuals not have the same rights to spouses as straight people? Whats it like to grow up in a fundamentalist conservative household?
How about instead of requiring the hundreds of millions of web browsers out there to make their lives more difficult, we instead request that the minority of weirdos who choose to use non-standard browsers simply start using either IE or Netscape?
Even if you don't respond I have to say this much. I think the entire concept of Linux development as being "community based" is antiquated and no longer as accurate as it once was. People love to think that its a bunch of distributed lone hackers sitting in their own homes or basements slowly adding to and improving the source code. That may have been how it USED to be, but its not how it is anymore and will be less so in the future.
IBM employs a large number of core hackers. As does Red Hat. The remaining distros do so to a lesser extent but they do so. The one exception is Debian since its not a company, can't therefore pay anyone who works on it.
The point I'm making is that of all the Linux developers out there, those who make the contributions that matter the most, are in either direct or closely indirect employment for that exact purpose. The rest, the chaff, as you will simply don't matter. And if that chaff were to, lets say, get fed up with all the loser newbies then their departure from the community would have a negligiable effect on code production. It might even improve it since the experienced hackers wouldn't have to constantly review, examine and reject shoddy code. The Linux "movement" has been very much co-opted by corporate interests and is very much a corporate product. Just because its not the product of one corporation does not mean it isn't a corporate product in abstract. Their vested interests are too great to let it slowy evolve in its natural distributed hacker form or to be jepordized by the flighty whims of pedantic geeks. So they've basically taken its future into their own hands.
This is why I do not understand why you think that the community is being harmed by lasy demanding users. The "irritated hackers" aren't carrying the burden anymore and haven't been for sometime now in the first place so to me their complaints ring hollow. To me an anaology of this situation would be local police getting tired of having to do heavy infrantry. Well what are they tired of? Its not their responsibility! The military handles that, not the police! In order to get upset, the police/fringe hackers have placed themselves in an elevated position of worth. One they used to have but no longer do.
Do you and the long time Linux users that you know equal the Linux community at large? Do you speak for them all? Have you done extensive polling and research to see if your view is even in the majority in the Linux community?
Before I continue let me get this clear. You are not allowed to dismiss an argument or a statement simply because name-calling was used. If you can unilatterlly dictate who and who does not belong in the Linux community, then I can unilatterally dictate under what conditions you can dismiss responses to your statements.
Back to the subject. I don't see how you can say that Linux will "remain" a community. All movements evolve. The Open Source "movement" is rapidly approaching mainstream whether you like it or not. Thanks to the efforts of distro's of Mandrake and RH, folks who know jack squat about command lines are using Linux. And they have a right to expect improvements and upgrades without contributing something back. Whole corporations now rely on Linux without giving anything back. You don't DO Open Source and or Free Software in the expectation of anything in return. Thats why its "Free". Not even that madman RMS would agree with you here. Perhaps if you had the PROPER views on how developers of open source software should interact with those who simply use it.
I'll repeat if you do not understand. As a possible developer of Open Source/Free Software(I'm not sure if you are one or not) you are not allowed to be exclusive and or elitist in concerns with who else uses Linux or participates in the Linux community. Its simply not your call to make. You don't own the software. Everyone and no one does. You personally don't own it. Your LUG does not own it either.
I'd really love to know more details on what got those folks expelled from your LUG. Where they being violent? Or just demanding? Why did you not redirect their requests/demands to the proper dev mailing lists so they could talk to developers directly? What did you try to do before expelling them just so you could have your Lord of the Flies kingdom?
....because by adding Linux support you obviously show that you are compassionate, like puppies, can sit still during a chick-flick marathon, are in touch with your inner female and are just an overall good person.
Read this back to yourself and think about how it sounds:
"For years, I was an advocate of user-friendly Linux. My mind was gradually changed by the kind of people I saw coming to Linux. Not people who wanted to learn, to give back, to teach those who came after them the way those who went before me taught me. Not people who wanted to improve the product for the sake of improving it. There were some of those, of course, but they were a minority."
Do you know how idiotically elitist this sounds? Does no one understand that you CAN overdo the "elite" thing? The "We're so l33t we don't want anyone else to join club yay!" Contrary to what you think you're not enhancing anything by being a jerk. You're just being a jerk.
The "child" he was arrested for contacting was actually an FBI agent pretending to be a 13 year old girl. Unfortunately the FBI entrapped him and thats why he's not in prison. So no he's not out there waiting any minute now to "rape" anyone.
I'm really getting sick of the trendy pop conceptions of evolution. Evolution takes generations to show any affects. Careful people of one generation could raise their children with all the awareness possible, until those kids get drunk and screw someone without a condom. Oops! Its simply unrealistic. Oh and no one ever lies. "Honey, I never cheated on you! I swear! So lets get back to our marital unprotected sex now! No thats not a rash!"
What does your first example have to do with anything? Its well known that there were two scientists who claimed to discover aids first. So what? And as for the other cases. Name another disease where someone hasn't tried to profit from the drugs that serve those with the particular disease. It doesn't mean AZT doesn't work for AIDS patients.
Nice agenda. I'd like to buy one myself. I mean, sometimes I just get bored and want to refute commonly known knowledge without any evidence of my own to back up my claims. Oh wait I've found one! 1 plus 1 equals 3. There you have it. Those who say it equals 2 have been brainwashed by society to keep the Math Inc machine going!
You would be 100% correct if this were the planet Vulcan and our president were named Spock. But its not. We're humans. Humans do not always follow the most logical course of action. To suggest that with mere education we could wipe out AIDS within a few generations by simply altering our behaviour suggest you wholly lack the most basic concept of what it is to be a human. Its bordering on a major social flaw on your part. I'm alomst tempted to ask you if you suffer from Aspergers syndrome or full blown Autism but I'd rather not jump to conclusions as quickly as most do on this website. We need a medicinal cure to combat this disease. Education isn't cutting it.
Me. I like to buy things at all hours of the night. Its awesome to be able to do that and not have your shopping hours dictated to you by someone else.
Why don't you just stop speeding? You're not the only one on the road you know. You put other people's lives in danger when you fool around like that. I'm not trying to be a jerk but can't you find some other way to have fun?
Slashdot Mirror
No actually it will be RedHat. They run their business based on good business decisions rather than touchy feely open source community feelings.
"Storing contacts, having a calendar, etc. is great, but it's faster and easier on paper."
Are you sure about that? I have a couple of thousand contacts in my addressbook and a very full and detailed calander in my datebook (I use a Palm btw) and I couldn't imagine trying to do the same with a paper Rolodex and a paper Planner. Using paper is in no way shape or form easier or faster. Text entry is smooth with this app I installed called simplyWrite for the Palm. It makes grafitti much easier to use but even without it using the PDA is much quicker for basic PIM stuff than paper is. IMHO.
A computer should not be so damn fragile in concerns to the proper operating environment. If Apple knew it was going to be that picky about where it will work properly they should have re-designed it.
Whats astonishing is the implication that if you do not have a degree, you are either incapable of thinking or unwilling to think. I guess thats why we ended up with so many rubber stamped MBA's running those silly dot.coms into the ground. How did it happen? Those MBA's had degrees! They were supposed to be SMART!
Why are you so homophobic? Do homosexuals not have the same rights to spouses as straight people? Whats it like to grow up in a fundamentalist conservative household?
How about instead of requiring the hundreds of millions of web browsers out there to make their lives more difficult, we instead request that the minority of weirdos who choose to use non-standard browsers simply start using either IE or Netscape?
Even if you don't respond I have to say this much.
I think the entire concept of Linux development as being "community based" is antiquated and no longer as accurate as it once was. People love to think that its a bunch of distributed lone hackers sitting in their own homes or basements slowly adding to and improving the source code. That may have been how it USED to be, but its not how it is anymore and will be less so in the future.
IBM employs a large number of core hackers. As does Red Hat. The remaining distros do so to a lesser extent but they do so. The one exception is Debian since its not a company, can't therefore pay anyone who works on it.
The point I'm making is that of all the Linux developers out there, those who make the contributions that matter the most, are in either direct or closely indirect employment for that exact purpose. The rest, the chaff, as you will simply don't matter. And if that chaff were to, lets say, get fed up with all the loser newbies then their departure from the community would have a negligiable effect on code production. It might even improve it since the experienced hackers wouldn't have to constantly review, examine and reject shoddy code. The Linux "movement" has been very much co-opted by corporate interests and is very much a corporate product. Just because its not the product of one corporation does not mean it isn't a corporate product in abstract. Their vested interests are too great to let it slowy evolve in its natural distributed hacker form or to be jepordized by the flighty whims of pedantic geeks. So they've basically taken its future into their own hands.
This is why I do not understand why you think that the community is being harmed by lasy demanding users. The "irritated hackers" aren't carrying the burden anymore and haven't been for sometime now in the first place so to me their complaints ring hollow. To me an anaology of this situation would be local police getting tired of having to do heavy infrantry. Well what are they tired of? Its not their responsibility! The military handles that, not the police! In order to get upset, the police/fringe hackers have placed themselves in an elevated position of worth. One they used to have but no longer do.
Do you and the long time Linux users that you know equal the Linux community at large? Do you speak for them all? Have you done extensive polling and research to see if your view is even in the majority in the Linux community?
Before I continue let me get this clear. You are not allowed to dismiss an argument or a statement simply because name-calling was used. If you can unilatterlly dictate who and who does not belong in the Linux community, then I can unilatterally dictate under what conditions you can dismiss responses to your statements.
Back to the subject. I don't see how you can say that Linux will "remain" a community. All movements evolve. The Open Source "movement" is rapidly approaching mainstream whether you like it or not. Thanks to the efforts of distro's of Mandrake and RH, folks who know jack squat about command lines are using Linux. And they have a right to expect improvements and upgrades without contributing something back. Whole corporations now rely on Linux without giving anything back. You don't DO Open Source and or Free Software in the expectation of anything in return. Thats why its "Free". Not even that madman RMS would agree with you here. Perhaps if you had the PROPER views on how developers of open source software should interact with those who simply use it.
I'll repeat if you do not understand. As a possible developer of Open Source/Free Software(I'm not sure if you are one or not) you are not allowed to be exclusive and or elitist in concerns with who else uses Linux or participates in the Linux community. Its simply not your call to make. You don't own the software. Everyone and no one does. You personally don't own it. Your LUG does not own it either.
I'd really love to know more details on what got those folks expelled from your LUG. Where they being violent? Or just demanding? Why did you not redirect their requests/demands to the proper dev mailing lists so they could talk to developers directly? What did you try to do before expelling them just so you could have your Lord of the Flies kingdom?
....because by adding Linux support you obviously show that you are compassionate, like puppies, can sit still during a chick-flick marathon, are in touch with your inner female and are just an overall good person.
Read this back to yourself and think about how it sounds:
"For years, I was an advocate of user-friendly Linux. My mind was gradually changed by the kind of people I saw coming to Linux. Not people who wanted to learn, to give back, to teach those who came after them the way those who went before me taught me. Not people who wanted to improve the product for the sake of improving it. There were some of those, of course, but they were a minority."
Do you know how idiotically elitist this sounds? Does no one understand that you CAN overdo the "elite" thing? The "We're so l33t we don't want anyone else to join club yay!" Contrary to what you think you're not enhancing anything by being a jerk. You're just being a jerk.
You silly lawbreaker sympathizer. If its a Federal Crime to do something you don't have to cross state lines to get arrested by the Feds.
The "child" he was arrested for contacting was actually an FBI agent pretending to be a 13 year old girl. Unfortunately the FBI entrapped him and thats why he's not in prison. So no he's not out there waiting any minute now to "rape" anyone.
I'd rather be a corporate whore than a anti-corporate, counter-culture loser.
So what exactly is worth doing for 800 hours a week if not playing video games?
How the hell are folks going to destroy the game market by messing with MS?
You're an idiot. Pure and simple.
If you DO buy an X-Box even without buying any games you are still giving MS $200.
If you do NOT buy an X-Box, MS gets NOTHING from you. That costs them more than simply buying the X-Box and then not buying any games.
I'm not saying abandon education. I'm just refuting the belief that by education alone AIDS could be eliminated.
I'm really getting sick of the trendy pop conceptions of evolution. Evolution takes generations to show any affects. Careful people of one generation could raise their children with all the awareness possible, until those kids get drunk and screw someone without a condom. Oops! Its simply unrealistic. Oh and no one ever lies. "Honey, I never cheated on you! I swear! So lets get back to our marital unprotected sex now! No thats not a rash!"
What does your first example have to do with anything? Its well known that there were two scientists who claimed to discover aids first. So what? And as for the other cases. Name another disease where someone hasn't tried to profit from the drugs that serve those with the particular disease. It doesn't mean AZT doesn't work for AIDS patients.
Nice agenda. I'd like to buy one myself. I mean, sometimes I just get bored and want to refute commonly known knowledge without any evidence of my own to back up my claims. Oh wait I've found one! 1 plus 1 equals 3. There you have it. Those who say it equals 2 have been brainwashed by society to keep the Math Inc machine going!
You would be 100% correct if this were the planet Vulcan and our president were named Spock. But its not. We're humans. Humans do not always follow the most logical course of action. To suggest that with mere education we could wipe out AIDS within a few generations by simply altering our behaviour suggest you wholly lack the most basic concept of what it is to be a human. Its bordering on a major social flaw on your part. I'm alomst tempted to ask you if you suffer from Aspergers syndrome or full blown Autism but I'd rather not jump to conclusions as quickly as most do on this website. We need a medicinal cure to combat this disease. Education isn't cutting it.
Who cares? Onward progress! Hoooooooooooooooooo!
Me. I like to buy things at all hours of the night. Its awesome to be able to do that and not have your shopping hours dictated to you by someone else.
I don't even have a driver's license. I don't have a car. So I don't know how I could be slowing anyone down on the freeways. Jerk.
Why don't you just stop speeding? You're not the only one on the road you know. You put other people's lives in danger when you fool around like that. I'm not trying to be a jerk but can't you find some other way to have fun?