When someone points out something that does not work, that's not destruction, that's information. Software testers do it all the time, and that's a good thing. An established name is difficult to change, in large part because lots of people know the name. But it's also difficult to change because a better alternative needs to be ready to replace it. So, with what would you replace Mageia? Consider trademarks, international law, etc. Naming products isn't easy. The folks at Mandrake would not have changed that name if a court of law had not ruled that Hearst Corporation was more deserving of Mandrake name usage than a Parisian software house. Could they have chosen another name? Yes. Which one? and Why? Five years ago they chose Mandriva as a combination of Mandrake and Connectiva, their new Brazilian acquisition. Now, Mageia turns again toward a magic theme, as did the former Mandrake. If you don't prefer Mageia, with what would you replace it? And why?
Your escalating comment reminds me of a Stephen King character named Leland Gaunt, who was, for a while, proprietor of a shop called Needful Things. Gaunt commented to someone "and in the end I'd always offer weapons. And they'd always take them." Gaunt brought destruction to town, not constructive assistance.
A faggot of wood can be used for good or ill, as can magic or sorcery via Mageia. Yes, branding matters a lot, and how brands are used matters more. Mageia has a neutral connotation when its meaning is realized, but its meaning can be twisted as well as most words. Names can be used either way, depending on intent. Since the intent is to bring useful benefit from Mageia, your mocking says more about you than the name.
The original Linux Mandrake was started in 1998 to merge KDE 1.0 with a Linux base. KDE was added secondarily to Ubuntu to expand its appeal. KDE is at the heart of Mandriva, and is just an add+on for Ubuntu.
Translations of the Greek word (Mageia) include magic, magic arts, and sorcery. Perhaps not everything needs a sexual connotation, in English, at least.
Software development begins with the question "Is there a problem?", and proceeds given an affirmative answer. Does you brother want to learn to program? If yes, then "Why?" "To solve what problem?" "To satisfy what creative urge?" At age 12, he may not have answers that suggest C coding, thus providing you with a reason to show him your C programming skills.
Perhaps you could show him how he can gain a greater degree of control over the program he uses most. This might be a game, or the text editor he uses. It may be that the most appropriate language with which to start is the one embedded in his application of choice, which might lead you down a path such as Word Basic, Visual Basic for Applications, Visual Basic, then C++.
On the other hand, he might enjoy a blank editor screen, a simple problem, and the process of figuring out how to make the computer do what it must to present the correct solution. His call. Your mission. It's great that you're willing to be of service.
But I look forward to a day when engineering, science, and humanities majors can put aside their differences, come together in a spirit of unity, and make fun of business majors.
"Look forward to"? Folks engaged in commerce have held less than the top social status since before Aristotle wrote his lecture notes. C.P. Snow's omission of them in his Two Cultures discussion is only a hint of their continuing fall. Consider that much commerce is now automated, giving some former clerks, bookkeepers, and route salesmen opportunity to re-orient themselves before more of their colleagues follow them.
Whether from these occupational re-orientations societies will be granted the needed services of more economic ethicists remains to be observed.
How much technical support do you plan to offer, personally or otherwise, to each individual and to the collection of recipients? Would you pay for technical support to cover your recipients' Linux support questions?
Your distribution choice should be based, to some degree, at least, on capabilities to facilitate your recipients' favorable experience with their (presumably) first Linux distribution.
I think your gift idea is interesting, and likely is worthwhile for well-selected recipients. However, I would give a priority to minimizing the painful AARRGH! reaction of potential problems before maximizing the WOW! of whichever benefits you wish to emphasize. Here's to Happy Holidays . . .
Since there are so many government entities whose needs are similar but not identical, sharing the results of systems analyses for particular types of problems, and the systems designs for those problems' solutions, may be useful during other locales' discussions of similar situations. Linking specific open source to particular solutions would highlight what's ready to go, and what needs more development for a locality.
Governments tend to use Geographical Information Systems for many types of activities. Integrating open source GIS (e.g., GRASS) into discussions of governmental open source efforts seems a good idea.
For several millennia humans have consumed longer-lived trees and forest habitat at higher rates than they have been replaced.
Forest resources may be able to be renewed, but they are not being renewed at sufficiently high rates to stop or reverse their age-old
consumption rates.
Civilization generally, and advanced society in particular, is so dependent upon various levels of technology that are not well-integrated with nature that it seems unlikely that the biosphere
can continue indefinitely to support humankind without more human concern for biospheric stability and continuity.
The question of the next few millennia may be whether or not humankind can learn how to put the essence of humanity into some reproducible non-biological form before the biosphere is no longer able to support biological human habitation.
Whether or not it would be easier, in the long run, to plant trees, create forest habitat, and live as humans in better harmony with the
terran biosphere than to attempt to embed some subset of human characteristics into non-traditional materials in order to be able to
live in radically altered terran or non-terran environments is a moot question if humans continue to resist living in sustainable harmony upon the only planet we are sure can sustain us.
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When someone points out something that does not work, that's not destruction, that's information. Software testers do it all the time, and that's a good thing. An established name is difficult to change, in large part because lots of people know the name. But it's also difficult to change because a better alternative needs to be ready to replace it. So, with what would you replace Mageia? Consider trademarks, international law, etc. Naming products isn't easy. The folks at Mandrake would not have changed that name if a court of law had not ruled that Hearst Corporation was more deserving of Mandrake name usage than a Parisian software house. Could they have chosen another name? Yes. Which one? and Why? Five years ago they chose Mandriva as a combination of Mandrake and Connectiva, their new Brazilian acquisition. Now, Mageia turns again toward a magic theme, as did the former Mandrake. If you don't prefer Mageia, with what would you replace it? And why?
Your escalating comment reminds me of a Stephen King character named Leland Gaunt, who was, for a while, proprietor of a shop called Needful Things. Gaunt commented to someone "and in the end I'd always offer weapons. And they'd always take them." Gaunt brought destruction to town, not constructive assistance. A faggot of wood can be used for good or ill, as can magic or sorcery via Mageia. Yes, branding matters a lot, and how brands are used matters more. Mageia has a neutral connotation when its meaning is realized, but its meaning can be twisted as well as most words. Names can be used either way, depending on intent. Since the intent is to bring useful benefit from Mageia, your mocking says more about you than the name.
The original Linux Mandrake was started in 1998 to merge KDE 1.0 with a Linux base. KDE was added secondarily to Ubuntu to expand its appeal. KDE is at the heart of Mandriva, and is just an add+on for Ubuntu.
Translations of the Greek word (Mageia) include magic, magic arts, and sorcery. Perhaps not everything needs a sexual connotation, in English, at least.
Software development begins with the question "Is there a problem?", and proceeds given an affirmative answer. Does you brother want to learn to program? If yes, then "Why?" "To solve what problem?" "To satisfy what creative urge?" At age 12, he may not have answers that suggest C coding, thus providing you with a reason to show him your C programming skills. Perhaps you could show him how he can gain a greater degree of control over the program he uses most. This might be a game, or the text editor he uses. It may be that the most appropriate language with which to start is the one embedded in his application of choice, which might lead you down a path such as Word Basic, Visual Basic for Applications, Visual Basic, then C++. On the other hand, he might enjoy a blank editor screen, a simple problem, and the process of figuring out how to make the computer do what it must to present the correct solution. His call. Your mission. It's great that you're willing to be of service.
How much technical support do you plan to offer, personally or otherwise, to each individual and to the collection of recipients? Would you pay for technical support to cover your recipients' Linux support questions?
Your distribution choice should be based, to some degree, at least, on capabilities to facilitate your recipients' favorable experience with their (presumably) first Linux distribution.
I think your gift idea is interesting, and likely is worthwhile for well-selected recipients. However, I would give a priority to minimizing the painful AARRGH! reaction of potential problems before maximizing the WOW! of whichever benefits you wish to emphasize. Here's to Happy Holidays . . .
What is the status of application file format knowledge? Which unknown file formats would be most useful and/or desirable to know?
Since there are so many government entities whose needs are similar but not identical, sharing the results of systems analyses for particular types of problems, and the systems designs for those problems' solutions, may be useful during other locales' discussions of similar situations. Linking specific open source to particular solutions would highlight what's ready to go, and what needs more development for a locality. Governments tend to use Geographical Information Systems for many types of activities. Integrating open source GIS (e.g., GRASS) into discussions of governmental open source efforts seems a good idea.
For several millennia humans have consumed longer-lived trees and forest habitat at higher rates than they have been replaced. Forest resources may be able to be renewed, but they are not being renewed at sufficiently high rates to stop or reverse their age-old consumption rates. Civilization generally, and advanced society in particular, is so dependent upon various levels of technology that are not well-integrated with nature that it seems unlikely that the biosphere can continue indefinitely to support humankind without more human concern for biospheric stability and continuity. The question of the next few millennia may be whether or not humankind can learn how to put the essence of humanity into some reproducible non-biological form before the biosphere is no longer able to support biological human habitation. Whether or not it would be easier, in the long run, to plant trees, create forest habitat, and live as humans in better harmony with the terran biosphere than to attempt to embed some subset of human characteristics into non-traditional materials in order to be able to live in radically altered terran or non-terran environments is a moot question if humans continue to resist living in sustainable harmony upon the only planet we are sure can sustain us.