Does this mean that I need BSD to become Evil.....?

All precedents are abused. So what. When they are abused, litigate them. As soon as some idiot cops somewhere says that Fidos "woof" is a nod of approval to enter, that suspect will take it to court, and it will be litigated.

I've never really understood the point of sporting video games. If you're playing a game, why wouldn't you fly a spaceship or kill aliens or build a railway or raid tombs or do something that you couldn't otherwise do in real life? Why play a soccer video game when you can just go outside and play soccer? (Exceptions, of course, for those people with physical disabilities. If you like soccer and don't have use of your legs I suppose it makes sense, but I also assume this is a small minority of players.)

What is this "real love" thing people keep talking about ? Does it resemble sex ?

NETCRAFT IS DEAD!

After all, it's the first step of automating management, and replacing all that management types with a bunch of shell scripts.

And who gets to write those shell-scripts in the end? Who? Exactly, we, the techies.

So it may be a slight inconvenience for a time, but in the end we will only have to do what the shell scripts we wrote ourselves are telling us to do. Sounds pretty much like paradise to me.

No need to turn this into a Vim vs Emacs debate.

I must be imagining the copy of Team Fortress 2 that came in my copy of The Orange Box for the PS3. And yes, I know that the PS3 version is hatless, but it's got the same gameplay.

I have a question for the readers with professional qualifications (ie - PhD's):

Is Bill Nye qualified?

His Wikipedia article lists him as a scientist. He has no advanced degree, only a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell. He has a couple of patents, including one for ballet pointe shoes, and served as "honorary professor" for five years.

Every time the "can amateurs do real science" question comes up, the response is always a resounding NO! from the professional readers of this site. You can't do real science without an advanced degree, institutional funding, and collaboration.

In particular, he doesn't have a degree in evolutionary biology. He's an entertainer.

Does he qualify as "gentleman scientist"?

Is he the right person as spokesman for science in this debate?

(I applaud Bill Nye's contributions to science and education, and think he's eminently qualified. I just wanted to hear what the professionals think of his status as a scientist.)

People are frightened by what they can't control, can't predict, and don't understand. That's why people invented gods to help explain unpredictable weather and other disasters. It works that way with people too. People want other people to be predictable, controllable, and understandable.

You know what is one of the traits I like least in a person? When they assume that it's everyone else who is ignorant, rather than check their facts.

Yes, one meaning of converse - apparently the only one you know - is to take part in a conversation. However, there is another meaning which has a similar meaning to inverse and obverse.

So basically, your post is laden with iron.

• Very irony in fact

. Such disdain. Wow.