The motivation of Microsoft doesn't matter because their actions are all we are privy to. Let their behavior encourage the other GPL violators to "do the right thing" and also see that GPL-licensed software can co-exist with other-licensed software; one just need follow the terms of the licenses.

IANAP, but is there anything useful to the community in the GPL'ed code released by Microsoft? It seems like a useful utility and there are FOSS ways to make USB/thumb drives bootable.

Q: Tell us of an accomplishment.

A: When I was at university, I made a foolish decision and -- insert very brief but accurate description -- and although there were no criminal charges or anything serious, I have regretted it ever since and have used the lessons learned to make the following improvements in my life and the lives of others: blah, blah, blah.

Democrats AND Republicans = False Dichotomy.Both are sides of the same coin. The rank and file are overwhelmingly decent people who are concerned about their families and communities but are clueless about how things are accomplished in government (HINT: follow the money). The political leaders are almost without exception opportunistic asshats.

Should never have been running anything else on this machine. Get her a second machine for all the personal stuff.

Agree. This is also one of the reasons I quit co-authoring Fedora Unleashed. The publisher wanted the book out by Christmas (it may be a Christmas gift for the Slashdot crowd, but few others) which meant that I had to deliver a completed manuscript in September based on a beta version but written to look like it was for the final release. No arguing with the marketing department.

I think what they are looking for is

man -m real_documentation 8)

man -k cd is not useful.

But man -k dvd yields

brasero (1) - Simple and easy to use CD/DVD burning application for the Gnome Desktop

dvdauthor (1) - assembles multiple mpeg program streams into a suitable DVD filesystem

dvddirdel (1) - Deletes a previously authored DVD directory structure in DIR

dvdauthor (1) - assembles multiple mpeg program streams into a suitable DVD filesystem

dvddirdel (1) - Deletes a previously authored DVD directory structure in DIR

dvdunauthor (1) - Removes DVD-Video file structure

growisofs (1) - combined mkisofs frontend/DVD recording program

so man -k or apropos is useful if you can ty enough different words.

Some man pages do offer examples of common usage; those are great. The worst are GNU apps that use info; their man pages are worse than useless and their info pages are overwhelming and confusing.

It would be great if software authors would accept patches to their man pages that would illustrate common uses of their applications.

The appalling state of Linux documentation is what got me involved as a writer in the first place, leading me to co-author RedHat/Fedora Unleashed for a while and edit English-language docs for Mandriva.

I ran into two kinds of editors: those who knew nothing about Linux and those who knew "lots". The latter group is what frustrated me the most and are probably very much like the software authors themselves: pedantic and arrogant when it comes to documentation. Poor documentation and "making you work for it" is part of the right of passage for the Linux elite.

You can see this in ESR's characterization of people who ask questions as "idiots" in his 'How To Ask Questions The Smart Way'. Not to pick on ESR, but that shitty attitude about those that feel the need to ask questions permeates the GNU/Linux/FOSS culture. 'Knowing' is what separates "us" from "them".

And that's why Linux documentation is so bad: because it's meant to be, you idiot.

That's exactly what flame wars are all about. Good data only ruin a good flame war.

Mandriva has long shipped with KDE as the preferred desktop and offer a good implementation of it, but they also offer a choice of several desktops.