> Who cares about such numbers, can always astroturf them up.
Agreed ... in part.
On the other hand, consider that becoming familiar and acquainted with Ion
demands some effort (why?--is another story; would all the users not be
*spoiled*, in the Pavlovian sense, the situation might be different).
Thankfully, Ion's rating can't be diminished ... not *normally*; but it
can be brought to *starvation* (to borrow from some vocabulary).
Let's consider another window manager, Fluxbox. Well, the rating of Fluxbox is
an astronomical 9.33/10.00. (There are other projects overrated, just for not
departing in other considerations; or for not digressing right now already.)
Who has tried Fluxbox? I have (for a limited period in the O( weeks )
say, I don't remember, though)--this for not making a scandal of my
"astronomical"-remarking; and meaning, I have seen Fluxbox from near a bit
once ... hence, I have made my idea on what it's worth in truth--today,
anno 2008 minus a couple, 2-3, of years. (Would you rate ... 9/10, say, the
discovery of hot water in contemporary times?)
So, assuming that one is trying and snooping a bit (possibly the case of
many), which *escape* ways has he for shifting away from GNOME or KDE? Let him
google a bit, or do a search at freshmeat.net.
Let him try Ion. He will quickly, on the average, found himself in the
situation of Pinocchio when he has to swallow the bitter medicine.
I have been an experienced scuba diver, have even been in the Swiss national
team (underwater orientation: things such, e.g., 'M's for those who know);
have been in a rescue team for years, and have been a rescue-swimming trainer.
Believe me, and I have seen it with my eyes: swallow a bit too much water at
once in the wrong canal while swimming, or within the water for any other
reasons, and you will instantly find yourself paddling like a dog in the
water, and desperately trying to climb an imaginary staircase on *surplace*.
Even if you are a good swimmer, and a support is at reach, say 1-2 meters from
you. You would not be able to break this vicious circle, and wold inexorably
drawn unless another person helps you--but not anyhow!, or there could be
easily two, instead of one, people paddling to their death in the water.
Back to Ion (Vim, elvis, Mutt, LyX, cdrtools, ...), if you don't have a
knowledgeable tutor at hand, are not *enlightened* enough (but then we have
a kind of ideological *bootstrapping*, or chicken-egg problem) to know that
you will be fully rewarded because of your efforts, or are not trained/used
in logical thinking too much, you will grasp the nearest familiar thing you
know--when daring to experiment. (Adorno talks of the cow, which *happily*
returns home the evening, following the path she knows and has learned.)
In those cases, "such numbers" (ratings) may not be without their ... ehm,
effect. The chances to have to pass through m metastable, often contradictory
or unnecessary stages in your Gulliver-trips-like travel before being able
to reach a valuable and worthy destination (provided you manage to get there
eventually), are augmented. Not to your advantage in general, though 2-3-4
other direct *experiences* may not be completely useless, and may not waste
your time unconditionally.
Do you know what 'pheromones'^1 are? Pheromones are also used in
agriculture--e.g., as implicit pesticides ... to build traps for insects
(which are attracted by the pheromones). (Alternatively, male insects
populations are grown, irradiated, or chemically treated ... but so that they
still can fecundate females; and freed at given times where desired; of course
the goal is to have life-incompatible defects for the [insects'] offspring.)
/Roy
1. A pheromone (from Greek "to bear" + "hormone") is a chemical that
triggers a natural behavioral response in another member of the same species.
There are alarm pheromones, food trail pheromones, sex pheromones, and many
others that affect behavior or physiology. Their use among insects has been
particularly well documented, although many vertebrates and plants also
communicate using pheromones. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheromone]
--
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS buruk muka cermin dibelah
SSSSS . s l a c k w a r e SSSSSS ugly face, the mirror is split [blaming
SSSSS +------------ linux SSSSSS the wrong cause or creating a scapegoat]
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
