On Tuesday 12 October 2004 01:34 pm, Brad Bendily wrote: > ... Just so we all know that we're not totally bias against MS software.
Speak for yourself =;) I think you have it backward. Zealots loudly discount things they know nothing about. Most of us here are intimately familiar with Linux, Microsoft, Unix and other systems. I've never seen anyone here call their stuff a "cancer" or "unAmerican". The people calling you a Zealot typically know nothing and want it to stay that way. There's nothing Zealot like about recognizing technical and ethical problems. Microsoft has oodles of both and all of us pay for it, even those of us who don't run it. Technical issues are the ease of 0nership, poor, inconsistent interface, crap filesharing and planned obsolescence for software and hardware. Ethical issues come from EULAs that limit your ability to use the software as you please, denies sharing things with your friends, forbids reverse engineering, demands access to all your data and even limits what you might say about the software. Those are all big deals and the only Zealots are people who plug their ears whey you want to tell them about it. Microsoft has programmed many Zealots. Microsoft's poor performance hurts everyone. I can't share files securely with people who run Windows and have to run an http server for them, read only. We all suffer spam from cable boxes, have out ports blocked, and numerous other direct harms. These impact the usefulness of email and I shudder to think about what's going to happen to online retail in the future. More importantly, Microsoft's bad record rubs off on every other kind of system because people are told that nothing is better than Microsoft and they believe it. I'm not a Zealot. When and if Microsoft steps up to the plate with real security, uptimes better than 30 days, multiple window managers with multiple desktops, integrated ssh, tabbed browsing and word processors that are not annoying I won't loath using their legacy systems. When they honor the four software freedoms, I might even buy and install a copy. In the mean time, I've got more money than I would have and I'm much happier without them.
