Does it mean, that one day, some Rubyist will write a tool to scan your source looking for monkey pathing? Some Java/C++ editors have tools to take care of searching for operator overloading to make your job easier. No matter how hard you try you will always have problems with program maintenance. Does it mean that someone else has to use less powerful, and less expressive language? Or rather do you think your code should be commented properly, so there are no problems mentioned in your post?

I've been using Ruby since 2002, and started dabbling with Rails only this year. To be honest, Rails make me cringe sometimes. In general with version 3 things went a bit in right direction, so who knows, maybe one day more people will be happy with the framework. Some people seem to be aware of potential problems with Ruby and Rails, if you have time watch this quite interesting talk from RailsConf 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX3iRjKj7C0

The fact that Ruby and Rails make bad programming practices possible doesn't prove anything. The same can be said about any language. I'd rather apply something that has been already said about Lisp. Ruby and Rails are programmer amplifiers, making performance of bad programmers worse, and good programmers even better. Monkey patching can be a very powerful approach, if used properly. It makes possible to write very readable code. It's not so much about changing your code but rather extending it. It can be a very useful technique if used properly.

What is the point in relentless chase for more features? I am pleased with spartan Gnome, and to me it offers better experience. People have different tastes, and beauty of Linux is that you can choose different desktop without being forced to use something you don't like. In my opinion it would be better if more energy was spent on adding features and polishing various applications instead of desktop environments.

then they fight you, and then you win

Learn the basics of Lisp and try again :-). When you use Emacs + slime it sounds like most wonderful symphony when you press right key chords.

You already have example of that when you run nautilus in browser mode and have a tree view in side pane. Now imagine having chance to put spatial equivalent of side pane wherever you want, or even have several 'side panes'.

It's a matter of taste I think. There will always be some people who like spatial mode.

I never had 20 unused windows in spatial mode. If I want to close current window and open another I use middle click. I hardly ever have more than 3 windows open when I work in spatial mode.

When I installed Linux I have changed default setting to spatial. And put on the panel an icon that will start nautilus in browser mode. Both modes have their advantages and this way I have the best of both worlds. I can't understand why people hate spatial mode. It is more flexible in laying out content than browser mode. If it is used properly it can make a lot of things easier. I wonder how many other ex-Amigans like spatial mode as well.

> Contrary to what the article states, MEarth is not an amateur astronomy group. MEarth is
> headed by the former Discover Magazine's Scientist of the Year, Harvard professor David Charbonneau.

Being headed by someone of high qualifications does not in any way preclude being an amateur group, especially in the older senses of the word "amateur".

What's with all this hatred of the command line? The command line is an interface, just like the graphical one, and it is a very powerful interface that can do things GUIs will never do (how do you even try to make a full (not just if x in the line sub y with z) GUI for sed without making it a textbox?)

Debian uses spatial by default. I know, because it's about the first thing I change on a fresh install.

I don't need any reference. From my experience I can tell that you can still have excessive fat and experience symptoms of starvation. If you suddenly get into troubles your body can't burn fat at a rate needed to keep vital systems going. And besides that fat doesn't provide everything your body needs, that's why I believe you could starve to death having excessive fat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catabolysis

When I tested beta version of Karmic I realised it's not beta at all, it's an early alpha. Serious constant crashes rendered my desktop system unusable. On my netbook I have been using Linux Mint for a while. It is based on Ubuntu but it seems to be more polished and so far I had no problems with it. I think many Mint users are Ubuntu refugees. Maybe if the problems continue I will put Mint on my desktop too. Anyway someone on Mint forum made following comment: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=33183&start=30/

Oh gosh...I keep my fingers crossed for the next Mint-release. In the worst case we have to postpone the next release with a few months I guess. But first wait for the final Karmic-release. Perhaps Ubuntu will come up with a miracle in these last remaining weeks... :? In my experience it was like:

04 = beta
10 = alpha
LTS = final after 2 or 3 months

not true!

see: http://www.medilexicon.com/drugs/nitrostat.php/>