No, I probably overreacted because I get very sick of hearing about how Linux is poised for this or for that technically and yet appears to have ignored the social engineering side of things entirely.
What I mean to say is that no one, outside of the incredibly narrow "geek community" (whatever that is) has any intention of learning anything new in terms of computers. Windows has, for better or worse, has set a whole slew of precidents that Linux (or anyone else) must meet to even get a second look. If, as in the parent comment you originally replied to, the guy isn't getting what he expects from a FS app, then that's bad because, in his mind and the mind of virtually the entire world, it's wrong.
I get very tired of watching the Linux collective tell its potential clients that everything they know is wrong in the breath before wondering why no one is listening.
"Just because it doesn't work like you expected it to, doesn't mean it's wrong"
Congratulations, young (presumably) man, for you have just demonstrated why Linux is still eons behind. If I'm going to switch away from Windows, I don't give a filthy crap about the technical right or wrong, but that it does what I want and expect. Someone's Gramma is going to have no patience with this continuing "our way is better than what you know" attitude problem that seems to permeate anti-Microsoft groups and neither is the business world. It doesn't matter in the least if your way really is better when you insist on phrasing it in such an egotistical way.
In many ways, the Linux community, despite the propaganda, is a lot less interested in freedom than it wishes it was. If you want to sell Linux to me and those like me (read: the vast, vast majority), you will do it on my terms, not yours.
Should we immediately start referring to Linux (et al) as an easy touch for these worms? This is now two serious vulnerabilities in the last three days. Sure, there are fixes available, but there are also fixes quickly available for similar Windows holes and, yet, when "sysadmins" don't apply them, everyone blames Microsoft. So, that means Linux sucks too, right?
Let's face some facts, there are probably more "forgotten" Linux servers than Windows ones, simply because Linux can run unattended for months at a time and Windows cannot. Making the reasonable assumption that a sizable number of these neglected machines will not be fixed, suddenly Linux and OSS looks no better than the Windows machines that are still infected with Nimda or something similar because no one has been bothered to apply patches.
We can put a man on the moon and yet still can't come up with a means of buying things online that aren't --
a) far too convoluted and insecure (Paypal)
b) not convoluted and insecure (everything else)
You know, I keep hearing the endless screaming matches over the direction of the Internet -- either a free exchange of information as originally intended or as a capitalist haven as has more recently been the goal. Well, kids, things have moved about ten light years from the communal dreamscape envisioned by the original developers and, as demonstrated by this most recent theft of CC numbers, is about the same distance from the global mall imagined by about sixty million marketing majors named "Leif". What does that say? The Internet doesn't actually do anything well right now. Isn't that something?
Like. Freaking. What? There is nothing in this crazy, mixed up world that actually does anything to "actively" get to the root of this problem.
Spamcop? Hooray! I wasted six months forwarding my spam to this service and was rewarded with categorically nothing in the way of a reduction in spam. In fact, and I am not claiming that this is SpamCop's fault, I received more spam.
Report the spammer to his ISP and get the account pulled? Lovely! He's got a new account somewhere else in less time than it takes to give myself a high-five for such a proactive approach.
There are no laws that can stem the tide of spam, because spammers don't care about legality and are so anonymous. There are no tools that can stem the tide of spam because spammers are so transient and will instantly abandon an account when it becomes notorious. The best that I, or anyone, can do is do what I can to avoid having to see it, so don't even bother shaking your finger at those who spend time honing filters instead of trying to eliminate each rain drop that falls during a storm. Personally, I just buy an umbrella.
Some of us already have. There is no such thing as "good" software (and there is nothing on the horizon) and its why I'm back in college in a completely unrelated direction. After five years as a professional nerd, the most rewarding moment was when I resigned from my last IT job and started shopping for school supplies.
If DRM becomes as big of a deal as the Slashdot malcontents are certain that it will, I will shut this god-damned PC off for the last time with a big filthy grin on my face. Since leaving the tech world, I have learned how to snowboard, mountain climb and, if you can believe it, I have a tan this summer! Life is too short to swim upstream in a river of capitalism. The RIAA, Microsoft and any number of other greedy entities will get your money as long as you "need" what they offer.
You know what else? I'm not the only one who is going to just vanish instead of, as someone else said above, suddenly realize that Linux isn't so needlessly difficult (which it is). Ask around. Recreational computing doesn't matter that much to all of us.
The Linux what? Oh, you must have mistaken "market" for "a small, selfish group of malcontents who want everything for free and will bitch and moan until the sun goes down for the last time if anyone attempts to actually turn it into a market in the economic sense". Easy mistake to make.
If I saw that anywhere, it would be the last time I visited that particular site. I do not need your sanctimoneous nudges to make any decisions, much less one that is supposed to be fueled by the "best tool for the job" axiom.
That being said, it is absolutely no surprise that you have been moderated up.
In the Linux world, you have the right to choose the best tool as long as it agrees with the zealot philosophy. It's a lot like the old "any color you want as long as it is black" Henry Fordism.
Boy, have I been told. Look, junior, if you really, genuinely assert that a) Netscape is still alive in anything but a purely technical sense, or that b) OSS has anything to do with IBM's continued success, then there is absolutely no value in me bothering to even laugh at such embarassing misconceptions.
Some of us in this world live with our eyes open -- you should really try it some day. Until then, enjoy those pie-eyed ideals, big guy.
MS knows it will eventually have to give away Windows for free
Say what? You know, I come to Slashdot to read the ridiculous comments, but sometimes even I am surprised at the idiocy. I am impressed, however, at your mind-reading abilities.
Are you serious? Allow me to make this clear enough so that even you can understand:
1) Netscape: Dead. Been dead awhile. If you want to debate this, you are in need of more help than I can provide.
2) IBM: Perhaps the largest, but certainly no thanks to Linux or OSS. In fact, if they are still indeed the largest, it is purely because of a philosophy that is exactly opposite to what is throttled around this commune.
3) Transmeta: Perhaps not dead, but certainly inconsequential at the present time. Remember when the Cruesoe was supposed to shake the entire world? Remember what actually happened? Me neither.
Nobody expects you to be objective around Slashdot, but it would be wise to at least consider what you are saying before doing so.
Way to utterly, completely run around the point in a manner that only an OSS zealot could -- unless, of course, you are suggesting that OSS should be Government funded. In such a case, I have already overjustified your brutal stupidity by replying this far.
Quick question: How do yourself and the other black helicopter nutcases keep track of all the ongoing boycotts? Is there some kind of easily accessable database or a Flintstones-esque "goink, goink, goink" guy who follows you around and pulls the plug whenever you're about to patronize an establishment that is currently being boycotted? Seriously, you guys call for boycotts more often than Louis Farakhan and I'm curious to hear about how you keep up.
Oh, if this isn't the quintessential Linux-zealot-talking-out-of-his-ass post, I don't know what is.
Microsoft is suddenly run by "evil persons", is it? You don't know jack about anyone at the top of Microsoft other than what CNN feeds you and yet, suddenly, you're able to make character judgements and actually use such subjective garbage in point form to rebut (and, in your case, that term is used very loosely) someone else's assertions? Have you ever debated anything before?
And, "most corporations try very hard to obey the laws of the united states" is also pure crap. Any business that can make an extra two bucks by stomping all over the laws of any country will do so without a second of hesitation. In fact (and I don't mean to alarm your soft little mind), it's probably going on right this second. I'll bet that Red Hat does it daily. Ooooooh!
There are plenty of businesses run just because the person likes what they're doing and not because they're purely interested in profits!
Name one successful one. No, Uncle Fred's Shoe Repair doesn't count; I mean one that is actually successful on a real scale and yet isn't in it for the money.
Slashdot Mirror
What I mean to say is that no one, outside of the incredibly narrow "geek community" (whatever that is) has any intention of learning anything new in terms of computers. Windows has, for better or worse, has set a whole slew of precidents that Linux (or anyone else) must meet to even get a second look. If, as in the parent comment you originally replied to, the guy isn't getting what he expects from a FS app, then that's bad because, in his mind and the mind of virtually the entire world, it's wrong.
I get very tired of watching the Linux collective tell its potential clients that everything they know is wrong in the breath before wondering why no one is listening.
Get lost, fanboy.
Congratulations, young (presumably) man, for you have just demonstrated why Linux is still eons behind. If I'm going to switch away from Windows, I don't give a filthy crap about the technical right or wrong, but that it does what I want and expect. Someone's Gramma is going to have no patience with this continuing "our way is better than what you know" attitude problem that seems to permeate anti-Microsoft groups and neither is the business world. It doesn't matter in the least if your way really is better when you insist on phrasing it in such an egotistical way.
In many ways, the Linux community, despite the propaganda, is a lot less interested in freedom than it wishes it was. If you want to sell Linux to me and those like me (read: the vast, vast majority), you will do it on my terms, not yours.
Tell me, young man, how much blacker that kettle can actually get?
Smart? Aw, shucks. Mom? Is that you?
Let's face some facts, there are probably more "forgotten" Linux servers than Windows ones, simply because Linux can run unattended for months at a time and Windows cannot. Making the reasonable assumption that a sizable number of these neglected machines will not be fixed, suddenly Linux and OSS looks no better than the Windows machines that are still infected with Nimda or something similar because no one has been bothered to apply patches.
I await your wrath for being reasonable.
a) far too convoluted and insecure (Paypal)
b) not convoluted and insecure (everything else)
You know, I keep hearing the endless screaming matches over the direction of the Internet -- either a free exchange of information as originally intended or as a capitalist haven as has more recently been the goal. Well, kids, things have moved about ten light years from the communal dreamscape envisioned by the original developers and, as demonstrated by this most recent theft of CC numbers, is about the same distance from the global mall imagined by about sixty million marketing majors named "Leif". What does that say? The Internet doesn't actually do anything well right now. Isn't that something?
Like. Freaking. What? There is nothing in this crazy, mixed up world that actually does anything to "actively" get to the root of this problem.
Spamcop? Hooray! I wasted six months forwarding my spam to this service and was rewarded with categorically nothing in the way of a reduction in spam. In fact, and I am not claiming that this is SpamCop's fault, I received more spam.
Report the spammer to his ISP and get the account pulled? Lovely! He's got a new account somewhere else in less time than it takes to give myself a high-five for such a proactive approach.
There are no laws that can stem the tide of spam, because spammers don't care about legality and are so anonymous. There are no tools that can stem the tide of spam because spammers are so transient and will instantly abandon an account when it becomes notorious. The best that I, or anyone, can do is do what I can to avoid having to see it, so don't even bother shaking your finger at those who spend time honing filters instead of trying to eliminate each rain drop that falls during a storm. Personally, I just buy an umbrella.
If DRM becomes as big of a deal as the Slashdot malcontents are certain that it will, I will shut this god-damned PC off for the last time with a big filthy grin on my face. Since leaving the tech world, I have learned how to snowboard, mountain climb and, if you can believe it, I have a tan this summer! Life is too short to swim upstream in a river of capitalism. The RIAA, Microsoft and any number of other greedy entities will get your money as long as you "need" what they offer.
You know what else? I'm not the only one who is going to just vanish instead of, as someone else said above, suddenly realize that Linux isn't so needlessly difficult (which it is). Ask around. Recreational computing doesn't matter that much to all of us.
The Linux what? Oh, you must have mistaken "market" for "a small, selfish group of malcontents who want everything for free and will bitch and moan until the sun goes down for the last time if anyone attempts to actually turn it into a market in the economic sense". Easy mistake to make.
Oh, but that's probably not what you meant with your embarassingly weak little jab there. Sorry.
Tell me that this was meant as irony so that I can avoid wasting an afternoon making fun of you.
That being said, it is absolutely no surprise that you have been moderated up.
With as much sincerity as I can possibly purvey I hereby state the following: absolutely nothing is going on at K5.
In the Linux world, you have the right to choose the best tool as long as it agrees with the zealot philosophy. It's a lot like the old "any color you want as long as it is black" Henry Fordism.
Some of us in this world live with our eyes open -- you should really try it some day. Until then, enjoy those pie-eyed ideals, big guy.
Say what? You know, I come to Slashdot to read the ridiculous comments, but sometimes even I am surprised at the idiocy. I am impressed, however, at your mind-reading abilities.
1) Netscape: Dead. Been dead awhile. If you want to debate this, you are in need of more help than I can provide.
2) IBM: Perhaps the largest, but certainly no thanks to Linux or OSS. In fact, if they are still indeed the largest, it is purely because of a philosophy that is exactly opposite to what is throttled around this commune.
3) Transmeta: Perhaps not dead, but certainly inconsequential at the present time. Remember when the Cruesoe was supposed to shake the entire world? Remember what actually happened? Me neither.
Nobody expects you to be objective around Slashdot, but it would be wise to at least consider what you are saying before doing so.
Way to utterly, completely run around the point in a manner that only an OSS zealot could -- unless, of course, you are suggesting that OSS should be Government funded. In such a case, I have already overjustified your brutal stupidity by replying this far.
Now who's being naive? Oh well; the level-headed among us know the truth.
On women, too?
Quick question: How do yourself and the other black helicopter nutcases keep track of all the ongoing boycotts? Is there some kind of easily accessable database or a Flintstones-esque "goink, goink, goink" guy who follows you around and pulls the plug whenever you're about to patronize an establishment that is currently being boycotted? Seriously, you guys call for boycotts more often than Louis Farakhan and I'm curious to hear about how you keep up.
So, in other words, there aren't any.
Microsoft is suddenly run by "evil persons", is it? You don't know jack about anyone at the top of Microsoft other than what CNN feeds you and yet, suddenly, you're able to make character judgements and actually use such subjective garbage in point form to rebut (and, in your case, that term is used very loosely) someone else's assertions? Have you ever debated anything before?
And, "most corporations try very hard to obey the laws of the united states" is also pure crap. Any business that can make an extra two bucks by stomping all over the laws of any country will do so without a second of hesitation. In fact (and I don't mean to alarm your soft little mind), it's probably going on right this second. I'll bet that Red Hat does it daily. Ooooooh!
Wake up, fanboy. You're embarassing yourself.
Name one successful one. No, Uncle Fred's Shoe Repair doesn't count; I mean one that is actually successful on a real scale and yet isn't in it for the money.
Take your time.