Very important for certain customers:
RH has a Common Criteria certificate. So, it's basically the ONLY Linux you can run in an IA environment. The other option is Windows. I don't even know if Solaris is there, still. I've seen customers migrate entire Ubuntu networks to Red Hat, to meet this set of requirements.

This means revenue for Red Hat, and this drives them to work towards being a one-stop-shop for IA Enterprise systems.

With other environments leaning towards HIPPA and other sets of security regulations, the fact that Canonical doesn't really play in this space means that Red Hat is pushing in this direction.

You're cherry-picking information to attack libertarians, and your argument is flawed. Perhaps you forgot about the Japanese during WWII, or maybe the fact that state nullification of Federal laws was first used to protect people being pursued under the Fugitive Slave Act.

Or maybe the racist federal war on drugs: "Since the 1980s, federal penalties for crack were 100 times harsher than those for powder cocaine, with African Americans disproportionately sentenced to much lengthier terms.".

I wouldn't call it wild speculation. I'd call that a likely scenario.

We're just a screen saver.

A generalization that's wrong more than right isn't a generalization, it's an unsubstantiated anecdote.

No, of course not. However, in America, HR runs the company, so there's no way around this idiocy.

It's worked fine for me for 16 years (mine was the very first model, not the later touchscreen models), except for the big mold issue (which after a couple years they did a factory recall and sent a technician to my place to install a bunch of new, redesigned parts in the door and front area), and the water pump failed a couple years ago which I replaced myself. There haven't been any electronic issues. I have read of some people having problems with the wax motor (the thing that controls the door locking) control circuit.

It can be very hard to get a new programming job if you haven't been doing it for a while. It doesn't matter how competent you are or if the language hasn't changed in 20 years. Many companies outright refuse to interview someone if they've been unemployed for more than 6 months.

You want a surgeon working on you who isn't passionate about medicine, and just wants to put in his 8 hours and go home?

So how do the Europeans do it? Just look at how cheap and high-quality cellphone and ISP service are in western European countries. Government regulation seems to work pretty decently over there.

I ask IBEW members in Alaska to do that, and they say yes, with a smile. Just because everyone's an asshole to you (wonder why), doesn't mean they are to everyone.

Where are you where everyone's in a union? Given the movie example, I'd lean towards CA, but I've worked with grad students and didn't run across any unions there.

You don't think microwaves can boil water?