REAL PROGRAMMERS write a new Web Browser in machine code for each session...

I must disagree with you saying "Micsoft does not innovate"!
(I shall ignore the spelling!)

Microsoft does innovate - Metro is an innovative way of pissing customers off, and the 'Surface' was a way to piss of their OEM's!

Actually Linux is the most commonly used O/S. More things run Linux than any other O/S, I think Apple is 2nd.

Android is Linux, and that has well over 50% market share, eBooks run Linux, lots of embedded stuff runs Linux. more & more desktops run Linux. Note that Chromebooks run Linux. Most servers run Linux.

In our house 2 adults & a teenager:
3 Linux desktops
1 Apple Desktop
2 Linux laptops
2 Linux phones
1 Apple phone
Note: no Microsoft computers

Hmm...

Probably because it is not so hot to put them down in the dark???

Or perhaps you don't realize that the Moon rotates with respect to the Sun, so no part of the equator is in permanent darkness, except perhaps things like very deep craters.

The arguments that the proponents of 'Intelligent Design' use to attempt to discredit Evolution, are far more effective at showing the absurdity of a 'Creator'!

As far as I can remember: the 'correct' singular of 'dice' is 'dix'!

Anyhow which football?

Association Football (Soccer), Rugby Union, or Rugby League?

The size & speed in metric units would actually be more useful for most people!

"Is that life, or just an obscenely complex self-maintaining chemical process?"

Referring to "Life" on Earth??? :-)

I must steel myself not to make such bad puns, and rely on my iron constitution to have the stamina to resist.

And now for something completely different, my Dad was a copper for a few weeks!

Well if they had called it something else, like 'Fashionista' or something, and had actually maintained GNOME 2 (as far the user functionality was concerned, all they really needed to do was add back in the useful functionality they had dropped!). It would not have been so bad, but it was definitely not an upgrade to GNOME 2.

My hardware is fairly modern, Haswell processor, 32GB of RAM.

I have 35 virtual desktops, I have a grid of 5 rows by 7 columns in my top panel. I tend use the virtual desktops in a consistent fashion, and I have about 5 relating to different aspects of my main project.

Within one virtual desktop: often I want to look at at 2 or 3 windows in quick succession relating to what I am doing in just one aspect of my project. I frequently want to look at a browser tab, type stuff into an editor, & then execute a command in a terminal (additionally, check an API in another browser instance).

To get at applications, I use several methods depending on the nature of the app & how often I use it. For update & installs I use yum in a terminal, more control & get more useful feedback, instead of the GUI version.

Ways I use to launch an app:
        icon on a panel
        menu on top panel
        right click menu on a window (e.g. to get a terminal for the directory window I'm on)
        icon in a pull down drawer
        typing the first few characters in a terminal and then pressing tab
        hot key combination

I have hot key combinations for:
a terminal,
pluma (text editor),
LibreOffice writer,
Firefox,
& Seamonkey.

I have an Android phone with version 4.4.2. I find the interface cluttered, and would like to remove most of the Apps. However. I am happy to use a different GUI on my phone than my desktop - though a built in terminal would be nice (in case I have to log into a server while I'm out).

I found the arguments for the changes in GNOME 3 unconvincing, to put it diplomatically. I hate this dumbing down approach, dumb people can always go to Apple.

Possibly, but after what the GNOME developers did, I no longer trust them. There were a host of things I found useful in GNOME 2, some of which the GNOME developers had already dropped before GNOME 3 - the changes in GNOME 3 were the last straw.

Anyhow, I suspect that Mate is easier to configure the way I want to operate than GNOME 3 - even assuming GNOME 3 has the features & functionality I needed.

I am very, very, glad I was not supporting any clients relying on the GNOME 2 desktop.

Well the beta of Slashdot is a sure way to drive the value down further.

As it looks like I, and many others, will not be visiting Slashdot after it changes to the new layout.

I agree with your first line - but not your last lne, as I am a bit fussy about the software I have sex with...

I agree, the beta looks worse than current, and why are there so many new sites I have to allow (I use noscript, to control JavaScript)?

Chuckles!

NSA: Not Secret Anymore

Why bother with a huge spy network, when you only need one well placed mole in the NSA???