GP didn't even mention Linux. Many of the questions in his post are answered by "Perhaps a Windows, but not Windows 8," as he apparently too subtly implied.
The point seems to be that Windows 8 is never the best solution, whatever your problem is. Even you are ranting about how wonderful Windows 7 is. Why the hell would anybody want Windows 8 then?

There is no conflict between what you say, and what GP says. Android does not natively support X. The N9 does, because Nokia implemented it themselves. Its UI is award winning (whatever that means), presumably proving that X does just fine on a handheld device, contrary to OP's point.

[citation needed]

Every X-user I know uses network transparency. And given your numbers and estimated number of people using X for their desktop, I apparently know every single network transparency using person in the world, and then some.

It is much more common than you think, apparently.

And call it Phoenix? :)

You are correct, just as your fellow AC which pointed this out earlier. I apologize for my poor choice of words, and thank you for clarifying.
The point I tried to make, is that whether the use is commercial or not is irrelevant. GNU licenses tend not to care about whether you charge for copies you make, only that the recipient is granted certain freedoms (which in practice makes commercial grade redistribution challenging, but that is beside the point).

No. GNU licenses have never been about restricting commercial use, only prohibitory use.

Hardly

No, but it does have a science icon, which would have been more fitting. This is primarily a story about physics, not one about what happens in the US.

Die in flames, you worthless heretic! The cloud was purple!

"The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology."

I think you have misunderstood the Ig Nobel Prize. It's not intended to mock the recipients. It's intended, partly, to reward basic (and sometimes not so basic) research into areas you'd otherwise forget might benefit from research.

"Are you ridiculing science?
No. We are honoring achievements that make people laugh, then think. Good achievements can also be odd, funny, and even absurd; So can bad achievements. A lot of good science gets attacked because of its absurdity. A lot of bad science gets revered despite its absurdity."

http://www.improbable.com/ig/

Obviously a moron, as I am no shill. Care to elaborate on how we benefit from DNT being ignored from the start? Use small words, so a moron can understand them, please.

Make no mistake, the only result from this action is that DNT will be ignored. It is thus just garbage data that will be sent along with some HTTP requests, increasing maintenance and network load for everybody.
For the record, as a user I really don't give a fuck. I'm adblocking everything anyway. As a developer, I'm quite tired of "standards" that I have support (or at least be aware of) but nobody honors. It's funny that when Microsoft finally decides to honor a standard, they do it, seemingly, just in order to kill it.

If few enough use it, I think the "serious" ad networks will honor it. Google might, for example.

So do I. That's not really what the discussion is about, though. DNT is a compromise between users and advertisers that may work for both. This is the industry's attempt at self regulation, before they get laws shoved in their face.

Ironically, you are logged in - using a cookie - while posting that ;-) Truth to tell, I agree with you, but that train is long gone. HTML/HTTP is a weak basis for application building (this I say as a programmer who has written both desktop- and web applications), but there you go - every application that's written these days is written for the browser. Would I have preferred it differently? Yes. Is it a reality we have to live with? Yes.

We care that they care. If they choose to ignore DNT due to Microsoft's actions (or rather, probably deliberate attempt to make the feature ignored) we do care. We prefer that the ad networks honor DNT, and they might, if it's not turned on by default.
It's that simple.

I would do what I did since long before "desktop" was a concept people spoke about in the *nix world. I would install a decent window manager, and leave it at that.
The desktop nonsense only makes things more complicated, and harder to understand.
My choice is dwm, but there are dozens.

Yes. Because all verdicts are made with 100% accuracy, and no innocent man has ever been sentenced to death.