Code + Docs Politics
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| dthacker Aug 26, 2007 3:26 AM EDT |
Amen! The heck with Redmond. Write some code. Write a how-to. Nothing you write about Redmond will make my computing life better or easier, but code and docs will. For example:
Two days ago I had the chance to install linux on the computer owned by one of my son's friends. I put on Kubuntu, and went over to his house to get it installed on his network. No printer drivers for his Canon inkjet. Rats! Linux bombs again.....or does it? I found a howto in the Ubuntu forums. It wasn't pretty (d/l RPMS, use alien, install debs) but it was complete, accurate, and it worked!
I and my fellow users/evangelizers/businesspeople need more of that and less of articles on what Redmond is doing. BTW, a personal note to Carla, if she reads this. That squid article about redirecting a user to kittenwars.com when they to somewhere they are not supposed to? My teenage son really hates that. I really love it. Thanks! Dave |
| dinotrac Aug 26, 2007 4:52 AM EDT |
Amen all around, brothers and sisters.
(Am I allowed to say that?) What makes this little piece all the more impressive is the source. Tom is a former Lxer Senior Editor who, ummm....you might say he was just a little itsy bitsy bit obsessed by the Mean Team from up Washington way. That's a problem. Wasting too much energy worrying about the MacroNasties at Microsoft doesn't make free software any better and doesn't help a single new user make the switch. Heck -- while we're foaming, we're not taking a serious look at our own warts and figuring out how to make them go away or make them easier to live with. Microsoft ends up beating us without having to try. Which is a good thing for them, because trying doesn't seem to work very well these days. Vista may do more to open people's eyes to Windows alternatives than all of the free software ever written. The question is this: Do people buy Macs or do they try Linux? Sitting around fuming about how rotten Microsoft is won't cost Apple any sales. |
| Bob_Robertson Aug 26, 2007 11:53 AM EDT |
I re-read Neil Stephenson's _In The Beginning Was The Command Line_ over the last couple of days. I find his observations c. 1999 to still be spot-on 8 years later. Also interesting is the tie-in with his suggestion that people _want_ to believe they're getting something for their money, with the _Windows Is Free_ article. "I got it for nothing, but it's worth something or they wouldn't be selling it." compared to "How can it be any good if no one is making any money from selling it?" Yelling and screaming just drives people away. I've seen it over and over too. I think we aught to keep a few liveCDs around and just be there when they need an alternative. > Sitting around fuming about how rotten Microsoft is won't cost Apple any sales. I've seen very few "converts" to or from Macs. People who like Apple tend to like Apple. I remember that it was Apple who put computers into schools in large numbers before Microsoft did, too. I guess by the time the Apple2's came up for replacement, the hardware price difference was enough to cause the shift. |
| dinotrac Aug 26, 2007 4:34 PM EDT |
>I've seen very few "converts" to or from Macs I've seen quite a few. I must admit that I'm surprised because this didn't used to happen, but it does now. I've certainly recounted ad nauseum the story of getting a beautiful $8500 HP server from somebody who got fed up with Windows Server and replaced it with a Mac Server. I think people used to be more patient with Windows. Now, they've lost it. Apple makes cool stuff and the prices aren't as crazy as they used to be. People buy Apple iPods and iPhones, maybe a Mac doesn't seem so far a stretch. |
| Bob_Robertson Aug 26, 2007 4:58 PM EDT |
> I think people used to be more patient with Windows. Now, they've lost it. I really like to think so. Certainly the "functionality" difference no longer exists. It's a matter of applications. |
| gus3 Aug 26, 2007 8:47 PM EDT |
dino: Do you have that story posted somewhere? If not, maybe you could make an article out of it. As soon as I make an article out of my family members' experiences with Linux. |
| dinotrac Aug 27, 2007 3:19 AM EDT |
>dino: Do you have that story posted somewhere? If not, maybe you could make an article out of it. Nah, it's just something I mention when it seems appropriate. Not really enough there to make a story, especially since a few permissions might be involved. |
| gus3 Aug 27, 2007 8:37 AM EDT |
Take out the names of people and brands/models, like: "I've certainly recounted ad nauseum the story of getting a beautiful, and expensive, High-Power server from somebody who got fed up with the Wasteful server from Redmond and replaced it with a Munchy server from Cupertino." Or some such. |
| tuxchick Aug 27, 2007 10:43 AM EDT |
"BTW, a personal note to Carla, if she reads this. That squid article about redirecting a user to kittenwars.com when they to somewhere they are not supposed to? My teenage son really hates that. I really love it. Thanks!" Thanks Dave! That is one of my personal favorites. Thank you to Peter Stevens who invented the Upside-Down-Ternet- I've had more fun with that! http://www.enterprisenetworkingplanet.com/netsecur/article.p... "Peter Stevens, brilliant inventor of the Upside-Down-Ternet, kindly published the scripts he uses to torment wireless freeloaders. They invert images, turn images upside down, or re-direct moochers to Kittenwar.com, no matter what URL they try to access." It works fine on wired networks too. |
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