If you want to have a chance of getting anyone to listen to what you're trying to say, calling them stupid is the worst possible way to start. Your average Linux user is anything but clueless, rather they generally have to be more tech savvy and computer literate than the average Windows user because Linux is much less automated and simplified than Windows. I'll agree that the most vocal Linux users are rather blinded by loyalty to an OS that, while very powerful, is very complex and demanding to use. It's also worth pointing out that the average Linux user enjoys the unique challenges it presents. Linux isn't for everyone, and Windows, right or wrong, definately has a place in the OS world. However, if you honestly want to use professional grade tools to develop much of anything, you're looking in the wrong place. For art (video and audio) most professionals use tools that are only available on a Mac (Final Cut Pro and Logic, respectively), for applications development, unless you're developing Windows-based software, the professionals are generally working in a UNIX or Linux environment, and a website can be developed equally well on any platform (Windows, Mac or Linux). Linux has it's quirks, the same as Vista, the same as any system for that matter. The fact that it "pretty much" works out of the box isn't so impressive, the same can be said of any major Linux distribution, and OS X works 100% right out of the box (mostly because it requires very specific hardware). There is definately a strong anti-Windows sentiment on Slashdot, but it is largely deserved, and, of course you're talking about a forum that caters to the very tech savvy, most of whom tend to run Linux. If you don't want to see the Windows bashing I suggest you look elsewhere, right or wrong it's a Slashdot tradition. You've lost just as much reason bashing on the Linux crowd as they have bashing on Windows, so you really don't have any room to talk.
As for your last comment, that shows a lot of maturity...
I write this from one of my Windows computers, I also have Linux computers, and a Mac. I believe that each OS offers something unique and to be able to take full advantage of technology requires using the right tool for the job, without blindly trying to force everything into the same mould
Okay, I don't know why people get so hung up on this, but I feel compelled to put my $0.02 into this discussion.
First and foremost, telling your children that Santa Claus is real is not a lie, Santa is quite real, but it isn't the person that's real, it's the CONCEPT. Santa Claus is a personification of kindness and goodwill, of giving to others for all the right reasons. I realized from a rather young age that there was no person named Santa Claus who dropped down the chimney and left presents under the tree for me, but it's not about some random person, it's about the spirit of Christmas, it's something almost magical about people being selfless for no purpose other than to see the joy it's brings to those they love. Santa is a big part of what makes Christmas a beautiful holiday, and it doesn't seem right to me to deny my children (when I have them) that experience. Sure, they'll come to realize the fiction in the story, the same as I did, but they'll also come to understand the real message behind the story.
Slashdot Mirror
If you want to have a chance of getting anyone to listen to what you're trying to say, calling them stupid is the worst possible way to start. Your average Linux user is anything but clueless, rather they generally have to be more tech savvy and computer literate than the average Windows user because Linux is much less automated and simplified than Windows. I'll agree that the most vocal Linux users are rather blinded by loyalty to an OS that, while very powerful, is very complex and demanding to use. It's also worth pointing out that the average Linux user enjoys the unique challenges it presents. Linux isn't for everyone, and Windows, right or wrong, definately has a place in the OS world. However, if you honestly want to use professional grade tools to develop much of anything, you're looking in the wrong place. For art (video and audio) most professionals use tools that are only available on a Mac (Final Cut Pro and Logic, respectively), for applications development, unless you're developing Windows-based software, the professionals are generally working in a UNIX or Linux environment, and a website can be developed equally well on any platform (Windows, Mac or Linux). Linux has it's quirks, the same as Vista, the same as any system for that matter. The fact that it "pretty much" works out of the box isn't so impressive, the same can be said of any major Linux distribution, and OS X works 100% right out of the box (mostly because it requires very specific hardware). There is definately a strong anti-Windows sentiment on Slashdot, but it is largely deserved, and, of course you're talking about a forum that caters to the very tech savvy, most of whom tend to run Linux. If you don't want to see the Windows bashing I suggest you look elsewhere, right or wrong it's a Slashdot tradition. You've lost just as much reason bashing on the Linux crowd as they have bashing on Windows, so you really don't have any room to talk.
As for your last comment, that shows a lot of maturity...
I write this from one of my Windows computers, I also have Linux computers, and a Mac. I believe that each OS offers something unique and to be able to take full advantage of technology requires using the right tool for the job, without blindly trying to force everything into the same mould
Okay, I don't know why people get so hung up on this, but I feel compelled to put my $0.02 into this discussion.
First and foremost, telling your children that Santa Claus is real is not a lie, Santa is quite real, but it isn't the person that's real, it's the CONCEPT. Santa Claus is a personification of kindness and goodwill, of giving to others for all the right reasons. I realized from a rather young age that there was no person named Santa Claus who dropped down the chimney and left presents under the tree for me, but it's not about some random person, it's about the spirit of Christmas, it's something almost magical about people being selfless for no purpose other than to see the joy it's brings to those they love. Santa is a big part of what makes Christmas a beautiful holiday, and it doesn't seem right to me to deny my children (when I have them) that experience. Sure, they'll come to realize the fiction in the story, the same as I did, but they'll also come to understand the real message behind the story.
Linux, not unlike UNIX, is very user friendly, its just infinately picky about it's friends...