The issue is that if you are working with both time and content sensitive documents/spreadsheets any glitch may be a deal breaker. The fact of the matter is that people use products from companies that they may despise (think MS and Adobe) because they're clean, orderly, and get the job done correctly the first time with no necessary tweaking to fix a minor error. Until opensource projects can do these things, they really are just a novelty for most businesses large, small or otherwise.

Holy shit that's it. I knew there was something off-putting here. It's going to be the blue-tooth 'try-hard to look young' of the next ten years. Someone mod this genius up.

I don't believe that we've ever done things because they were right. I honestly believe that our propensity to knee-jerk reactions is just a stem of the evolutionary tree that started with loud noises = excited monkeys. Name me one thing we've done because it was RIGHT, not because we were scared of something, or lack of something, or because it would profit us as a country. Just one.

FTFY, he is a shameless self-promoter - google that, I'm too lazy to provide proof.

I would argue that it does. I have been accused of several things in my on-line persona: being a female, being a male, having bias against females, having bias against males, being gay, being straight, being asexual (that was a weird day). I would argue that gender neutral, on-line, generally becomes masculine, simply because of the stereotype of on-line nerdy kids that still exists today.

My 'political correctness disease' in that post is a conscious choice to show that both females and males tend to overvalue their own skills where I teach.

That is called bait. . . . But the missing hyphen isn't - see the AC response to your post - it does make me laugh, though.

I assume that you mean parents hold me accountable? I get calls on a semi-regular basis from parents. They want to know why Jonny/Jill isn't doing well. It happens. In my class, I publicly berate the student WHO IS AN ADULT for having their Mommy and Daddy call me. It's a matter of time before this gets me fired.

Nope - she doesn't support my lifestyle at all.

I think you missed my point. My point is that the attitude that students are there to be GIVEN information, not to earn it, and that EVERYONE is a genius is pervasive. I said nothing about how I do business (I fail the ones that earn it). I really don't think you understood what I said.

At my school, we have CLEP tests. The two intro classes I teach are eligible for CLEP. SO. . . . The people taking this class have already failed those exams, and yet still, despite actual, concrete evidence to the contrary, believe that they are smarter than this class and don't need it. It's like there is no logic in a self-important, hand-held student these days.

I teach in college, and I see this attitude every fucking day.

I have students who will tell me that they already know the subject, that this class isn't giving them anything (entry-level/mid level English), and that they shouldn't have to take it at all. Throughout the course of the semester, almost every student will tell me this.

In the 6 sections I teach, of ~30 students, I would say 2 actually don't need this class. A VAST majority just see stuff like what you say spouted constantly on-line and by there ignorant ass friends. A VAST majority simply over-value their skills and abilities.

I'm not saying that you aren't different, I'm just saying that in a majority of cases where 'the student knows the subject already' it really is 'the student believes that s/he knows the subject already, but really doesn't know his/her ass from a hole in the ground, but because s/he is such an entitled, self-important precious little snowflake, s/he can't make wise decisions'. Believe me when I tell you this - in most cases where the student is acting out because "he is bored with the coursework," in all actuality, "he just has piss-poor self-control and his parents don't hold him accountable." The little geniuses that parents see are really just average kids who are supremely lazy in most cases. (Keep in mind that I acted out in school because I was an advanced learner, they do exist, just not as often as you would be led to believe by parents.)

Somewhere along the way, the attitude in college shifted from the very collegiate ---I'm here to learn--- to the very secondary school ---you have to teach me, good luck---. What you see with this - where instructors can track the number of pages read, is just the simplest form of teacher-student coercion to do actual God Damned work that happens every day in various forms.

Honestly, other than an ego boost, what is the point of buying followers? I thought the idea was to get eyes onto your information, not numbers. . . Anyone have input here?

Like it or not, you are simply denying the fact that most people, if they even know what linux is, assume that it's only for someone who is very tech savvy and technical minded. Most people see Linux as a neat hobby for hardcore nerds. Most people believe it is damned near impossible to use unless you have countless hours to devote to fixing compatibility/other sundry issues. For many, many years, Linux was only spoken about on-line, and if you actually ran across a conversation in real life, it was in some sort of deep-tech/troubleshooting capacity.

Denying that there isn't a stigma attached to Linux doesn't make it go away. And, waving away the very real stigma attached to this product, while simultaneously calling the end-users stupid (which you essentially do by saying that the only reason people don't run linux is because they don't understand it) just makes you come across as an arrogant fan-boy. Which, by the way is about 99% of the image problem here. You want people to use it, don't be an ass.

Because you base your opinion on television and media in general. For fuck's sake, how have you not figured out that people are generally the same, regardless of arbitrary country designation. We're mostly just people trying to get by, worrying about family and the weather and work and the same kinds of things.

The fact that you can't find a middle ground tells me that you've never traveled in the states, and that you're as ignorant as the stereotype you're touting. Educate yourself. Travel. Talk to people. Or, remain ignorant and smug - you know, whatever works.

It was the White Castle Diatribe. Do be completely honest, that comes across as a bit serial-killeresque. It made me giggle, but it was still a bit disconcerting.

You're not normal, are you?

OH GOD DAMMIT, YOU USED RATIONAL THOUGHT AND LOGIC. NOW THE POWER OF MY HYPERBOLE IS DESTROYED.

Seriously, though. This seems like a relatively good solution to a shitty problem. But, I do have to ask, why did you resign yourself to the fact that

Really, if we know they can, and know they should, why aren't they?

Just wondering what your thoughts are. I have ideas, but they mostly revolve around hell-spawn and hatred of humanity.

Jobs and economy are not a banner under which businesses can steamroll our rights as citizens to choose whether or not we sell our home. They want my property? They offer what they believe it's worth. If I think it's worth more, then they're shit out of luck, and should maybe try offering more money.

Being a corporation and 'job-creator' does not exempt you from playing by the rules the rest of us play by.