Sounds like Carmack is still more interested in targeting woefully outclassed console hardware instead than cutting out an impressive PC-level engine for a change, particularly since Steam has shown there's significant life and popularity (and money to be made) on PCs still. But no, he prefers to target the lowest-common denominator of hardware. Not quite the philosophy of the iD software I grew up with.

There are no choices, nowhere for users to run to

Don't be so dramatic. A Windows user has two choices:

(1) Downgrade to Windows 7 or just don't move to Windows 8 in the first place. I have 32 and 64-bit ISOs of Windows 7 Ultimate with a Windows Loader activation tool which guarantees I'll be able to stick with Win 7 for as long as I like. I guarantee there's no chance you'll find yourself unable to use a program because it's Windows 8-only any time soon. Metro apps pale in comparison to full-blown Win32/.NET applications.

(2) http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33642_7-57496506-292/how-to-get-the-start-menu-back-in-windows-8/
The above link lists several Start menu applications that, depending on the options you select, either complement the Start screen or replace it entirely with a Start menu (either classic or Vista/7 style). They can even be set to boot straight to the desktop, bypassing the Start screen entirely.

It's actually surprising how often he does get modded to 4 and 5 though. Heck he posted in this very thread (http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3319169&cid=42306651) and right now it's Score:5, Informative, which tells me that there are definitely people on Slashdot who are also tired of ignorant shit and like to see some legitimate information posted about Windows from time to time. If he's pissing anyone off it's because his posts challenge their narrow-mindedness.

It's not like I'm even a Microsoft fan, or even a Windows fan. I'm just sick of incessant FUD and the encouragement of not wanting to know much about the operating system the majority of the world uses. As an Engineer, it pisses me off to see fellow geeks enjoy their ignorance.

Dude, this is Slashdot. It's one great big echo-chamber for the ignorant. There's no point in trying to educate them since they'll just hear the same incomplete information from other like-minded (but incorrect) individuals, and it ends up reinforcing their ignorance.

I think hairyfeet is close to a mental collapse trying to deal with these idiots sometimes. They WANT to believe incorrect information because it means they don't have to be challenged to deal with not really knowing much about the state of modern Windows, for example.

Pull out, stop, wait, track in, stop, enhance reflection, zoom, pan right, find a water droplet, zoom 80, enhance reflection, stop, rotate 170, zoom 220.

I think I understand now. Thanks.

The stuff I pirate is generally TV shows and some movies. However I tend to try to hold onto whatever I've downloaded for as long as I can, since well, I downloaded it, I expended quota and time on it, might as well keep it handy. But I don't want to keep buying drives to hold onto stuff as not only does this expense add up over time, it also can result in "media paralysis" as you have so much of a backlog of stuff to watch, you end up barely watching any of it. So I occasionally clear things out and download a bit more, but if I were to try to download at the rates you're downloading, I'd have serious media management issues very quickly.

BUT... sounds like you aren't too concerned about holding onto everything and instead the Internet for more disposable content than I'm used to. I've got some leave during Christmas - sounds like a time to clear out the crud. :)

Once you start mixing politics and software methods, most people tune out at that point. That's the problem - it's such a dry topic for most people that unless you're a geek, you're likely not going to care so much. And even if you're a geek, it doesn't necessarily mean that you'll agree with the FSF in the first place.

The closest phone we've seen so far which adheres to the tenants of free software as thoroughly as possible has been Openmoko's Neo FreeRunner, which was complete shit. You have a normal person compare that thing to the iPhone, a heavily proprietary design, and the number which would select the proprietary phone is so far slanted in its favor you'd stop taking votes after a while.

People end up not listening to RMS after a while because he comes across as the crazy man sprouting a bunch of things that, unfortunately, are often true, but are also mixed in with other stuff that ends up being hyperbole that destroys the whole message. Plus, what he advocates is generally to go without something that people often enjoy using (iPhones), and people don't just change because some bearded toe-cheese eater told them too.

Something tells me you'll never have enough time to watch/listen/play all that content, particularly if you've acquired nearly a terabyte within 6 months. Are you collecting? Or do you just have way too much time on your hands?

No snark, just genuinely curious. I really don't approve of downloading HUGE amounts of pirated shit "just because" (smaller amounts, yes, just not wholesale quantities). Just because the MPAA and their cronies are dicks doesn't mean we have to go so far in the opposite direction ourselves.

Fucking right. I gave up running Linux as a primary OS because I got suckered into the promise of things getting better - and they did, in some ways, while in others things went backwards (general stability of software is IMHO WORSE than 5-10 years ago).

At some point it just makes sense to stick with a mature, winning solution, which in my case is Windows 7.

No. and rms most assuredly wouldn't want to be a poster child for the Open Source movement.

The Free Software movement, however, is a very different thing ... look up th difference sometime.

People still confuse the terminology because they're so very similar and only subtly different that you'd have to be really funny and care about licensing to know the exact differences (in such a way that someone might care enough to know).

The mere fact people think Stallman is a proponent of open source rather than free software, speaks volume about how catastrophically bad the FSF has been in presenting their message.

Sure, I agree. Not to paint a wide brush on the Linux community (which I'm probably going to now), but it wouldn't surprise me if a LOT of Linux users have Asperger syndrome. There's something about Linux which seems to attract such folks. Which is good, if not for the fact that it's sufficiently notable enough to affect the posting style of such users and can put off non-Asperger people if they aren't aware of this fact.

Phoronix, which is a very pro-Linux site, has quite a lot of posters who really can't handle difference of opinion and take trivial (in my mind) things way way too seriously and out of hand. It's pointless posting there unless you also think Linux is all about a war against the world.

I really, really, really hope he's going to announce McAfee Anti-Virus for Linux!

Plus there are some posts that seem to take it seriously

In my experience a lot of Linux fans (basically the ones dedicated enough to register and post on bug trackers) to be somewhat weird and detached, and do not understand sarcasm and parody. Perhaps it's the nature of the Internet, but it's clearly to me that the "bug" was intended as a joke. Supposedly smart geeks though are often unable to deduce such things though, which amuses me greatly.

If not satisfied, then why not ask for your money back ..

I know you're trying to be snarky but this is ridiculous. Not only are you suggesting that Ubuntu/Canonical cannot be criticized due to Ubuntu being free, you're ignoring the fact that the success of Ubuntu lies solely on its USERS by virtue of them, well, using it and pushing and advocating Ubuntu in the first place. Without these (free) users, Ubuntu and hence Canonical wouldn't have reached the level of success in the Linux market that they have (which relative to other operating systems is not much of course, but relative to Linux's traditional mainstream footprint, is a fair bit). Canonical grew solely because its users were fanatical about its Linux distro. Now it's changing in a way that those users are horrified with... and you have the balls to be smug?