Ask the same question to the average suicide bomber? Promises of afterlife glory are very persuasive to poor people with nothing else to lose.
I think that is a poor comparison, the former is about someone who dies for a belief (as in his own life), while the latter is someone who is killing for a belief (and taking many other lives with his own).
Funny - I've usually seen it's the geeks who take the trouble to turn on the 'classic' look and feel in Windows and get rid of all the cloying eye-candy. Meanwhile non-technical users just stick with the default.
That's the power of the "default" which is a big deal as well. Most non-technical people don't even realize such options exist or that you do not have to use the default. To be fair though, to Microsoft's credit, often the default is good enough and many don't even care to change it because it will typically allow one to get the job done. Some might say this is NOT the case with some recent changes in Linux desktop environments.
Couldn't agree more. This article would be 2/3rds right if this was 1995. But almost every thing in this article has been corrected for years and years.
I find it odd how people go on and on about how stuff isn't ready for prime time in Linux but I run the bleeding edge of the raw hide branch of Fedora on multiple computers doing different tasks and I never see the kinds of problems these people go on and on about. I run server farms with Redhat and stuff just works. The only time stuff doesn't just work on Linux is when Solaris admins go "Linux is Unix" and then try to run their Linux boxes like they are Solaris and screw them up.
I think it is very possible that with the right hardware someone might have your opinion, and with the wrong hardware someone might have the opinion expressed in the article, which would still imply that problems DO exist.
I am experienced enough to not be affected by many of those issues, but it is very obvious to me that XP seriously outperforms my Fedora.
And as far as I understand, Redhat is Server not Desktop, which is not really the points of the article.
It is a difficult situation. Someone coming out and saying that Lori Drew should not be credited for the death of Megan Meier usually gets vilified. But the truth is, as you say, what of the countless others who have committed suicide after being bullied? What of the other people in their lives that should have seen that they were depressed and try to help?
The bullies and the others who could/should have helped also share in the blame.
"A June unveiling that coincided with the actual product launch would have kept customers and Wall Street expectations in line; concealed product details from competitors; given Apple TV the full spotlight when it ships; kept iPod sales robust and would have helped Apple gracefully negotiate the rights to use the name "iPhone." In short, it would have been the traditional Apple home run. Steve Jobs blew it.
Software production is assumed to be a line function, but it is run like a staff function. -- Paul Licker
