To all, my apologies. You may skip this post if you wish. My name was mentioned specifically and I would like to clarify some points before resuming my silence. A call for impassioned responses from Doc Mana was timely.
On Mon, 14 Jan 2002, Andy Sy wrote: > The reason I called Eric Pareja an IDIOT was because he > was flamebaiting me!!! Observe from > > http://lists.q-linux.com/pipermail/plug/2002-January/014904.html > > "But Cygwin is not from Microsoft! In fact, Cygwin is from Red Hat > (they acquired Cygnus which does most of the development on GCC). > Golly gee. Isn't that amazing? And it's Free Software. ;P > (For the unfamiliar http://www.redhat.com/cygwin) > > It runs counter to Microsoft's anti-Free Software stance > for you to use it, isn't it?" > > He seems to assume that anyone who likes Windows is > automatically a Microsoft zombie and does not deserve > to use free software. If this exclusivity and elitism > is the attitude of certain open-source advocates, then I > am not suprised why Microsoft would want to associate free > software with being anti-American or 'communist'. Thank you for at least expounding to the list why you called me thus. Your reply in private was puzzling because it was a single line. I couldn't resist baiting you like that because the entire thread was reaking with flamebait itself. Like begets like, so I'm surprised at your responses, which agitated many. Note that in your original post which I simply responded to, you took a potshot at all and sundry ("Oh, oops, did I blaspheme again? Sorry... didn't realize that freedom of code doesn't include freedom of speech." cf http://lists.q-linux.com/pipermail/plug/2002-January/014904.html) and I just couldn't help but bait you. However, name calling is NOT consistent with your declared intent to provide a balanced view. So if you'll tone down your hooks that just beg for a similar response, maybe we all can have a less passionate discourse about the merits of either operating system. Even within this group of Linux aficianados (I wouldn't call us fanatics), we have our own disagreements about which is the better software for this or that function (postfix v. qmail, emacs v. vi, etc, etc.), but we don't just lambast anyone who claims otherwise. The tone of your posts is perhaps what raised the hackles on even the most jaded amongst us. So dispense with the vitriol and you will probably be heckled less. I can't guarantee it from all of us, but many of us here can disagree with each other while maintaining a healthy respect for one another. Now to the points you've raised, in the first place Cygwin is intended to provide a UNIX like environment for the Windows developer, and this is not for XP alone. That the toolset has been ported over to Windows is a clear example that applications do exist in the UNIX world that are beneficial even in the Windows environment. In like manner, applications in Windows that enjoy a large user base might benefit from being ported over to Linux or UNIX. Applications aren't necessarily operating system locked, but Microsoft enforces this as a competitive advantage for its operating systems, and nothing prevents the converse, Free Software gets ported to Windows a lot. I doubt though that you can name important applications that run in Windows alone that has no functional equivalent in Linux or UNIX. You are reading more into my question than is there, Andy. I am not disparaging you for liking Windows, but asking whether Microsoft's anti-Free Software stance was compatible with using Cygwin. Is that question idiotic? As to Microsoft's resorting to tagging their detractors as being anti-American or "communist", I felt that that was an appeal to American sentiments when they were going through the Anti-Trust case. My sentiments about Microsoft have nothing to do with Microsoft being an American corporation. I, however, am not an American. So it bears little weight with me. In the same manner, I don't swallow their propaganda about the Anti-Trust case being anti-innovation. You can call me a communist, but the truth is I am not. You can call me a Linux zealot, I wouldn't mind that. But if you post flamebait to the list with full knowledge that it is populated with die-hards, expect a response. Don't expect all the responses to be polite if you have taken an effort to be abrasive and cute. I'm certain that everyone would learn more without popcorn flowing and asbestos suits on. -- ___ Eric Pareja ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) | Information Management Service [IMS] \@/ Network and Systems Administrator | University of the Philippines Manila v "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future." -Galadriel _ Philippine Linux Users Group. Web site and archives at http://plug.linux.org.ph To leave: send "unsubscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the Linux Newbies' List: send "subscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
