Actually I don't think this is much of a reason anymore; if you really wanted to switch to Linux, VM software (like Virtual Box) is now good enough that you can run most Windows software through it, and using "headless" modes you can even mostly hide the fact that you are using a VM from the user. I think actually it comes down to people not seeing a reason to change; then you may need to retrain staff, etc. and it's easier to just stick with what you know.

Yes, I can't remember the last time I remember anyone referring to AOL as a "major tech company" - maybe it was when they bought Netscape?

I don't remember any of the book titles, but I do remember borrowing many BASIC books from the local library, entering all the sample code into GWBASIC and then playing around with it to see what I could make it do. I suppose if I'd never found those books I probably would never have gotten into computer programming.

After that there weren't really any books; when I moved onto Pascal I learnt from some tutorials I found on a BBS, then I learnt C from internet guides and Java from university. Who reads books anymore when all the information you really need to learn this stuff is on the internet, easily locatable via Google?

I can tell you that I personally picked this option because it points out the irony of these sort of questions so well; everybody who supports these policies seems to think "yeah, they should do that to all the bad people" but never seem to stop to consider that other people might consider _them_ to be bad people. Smoking, public drunkenness, littering - where do you draw the line?

A better question is "Would you support your DNA being put on file to help in solving crimes?" After all, someone you are related to could commit a crime and your DNA could help find them. This question however really drives home that its not just other people's privacy that is in question, but YOURS too.

How do you know my wife??

You've obviously never been to Australia. In Australia, everything seems to cost roughly twice the US price. Example: iTunes tracks in the US - $0.99. In Australia - $1.99, even though the Australian dollar is roughly the same value as the US dollar.

You mean like a skylight? I hear they're quite popular.

Actually I saw RMS speaking at Melbourne University a couple of weeks ago, and he recommended HTC mobiles running Android, because apparently you can remove the non-free software and everything that is left is GPL.

So ... if they had more iPhones in Afghanistan the war would be over?

Can you stop yourself from replying to replies to your posts?