I wonder how much of this study is impacted by better medicine. They should also test an area with minimal air pollution as a control to see if the people there also experienced an increased life expectancy where the air quality remained relatively the same. More details of how the study was conducted should be published.

"why would you want people forming their first impression of your software from untested development releases?" You're thinking like a product development manager rather than a programmer. If you think very practically, as a programmer, you have a tool that you need and you need it in a certain time frame. You don't have the resources, but it seems like something that others would want. So you hit the open source world and find that there are other projects that either have a vision to do what you want or maybe already have 90% of what you want. You add the 10% and now you've gained back the life you would have spent building that 90% for yourself. That is why, if you run an open source project, you want as much exposure as early as possible. It's not about selling a product or competing in the market space. It's about getting something done that is unique and serves a purpose.

I've been waiting for a good reason to get out of my Verizon account for a while now and they have just given it to me.

Perhaps it's because I fall into the Reagan-Republican category that it appeals to me, but I sort of like a razor-thin OS as a platform for applications. The one thing it should do in its "expanding role" should be to protect running programs from other running programs, but not try to protect a running program from itself. One program should not be able to consume all the resources on the machine, nor should it be starved for resources by other programs. IF the OS is successful at providing that service first and foremost, then perhaps it can start delving into other services, but not at the expense of the former.

The ~6k years number is derived mainly from genealogies. For instance, I could derive your father's age given your age and his age when you were born.

I reject this logic. I can't believe that, given the same amount of time and familiarity, that users will find Gnome or KDE less user friendly than Windows. What exactly is less user friendly about a linux environment? The fact that you can't download any old executable file and install it? Do you really think that's easier than using a package manager? If linux got 1/10th the attention from software and hardware vendors, making things work wouldn't be NEARLY as difficult. So I guess I call BS on you with that statement because I think what you are really saying is, "it needs to be more like windows", in which case I heartily disagree. I recently had to switch back from Linux to Windows because I changed jobs and I find the Windows environment so cluttered and annoying, I think it's LESS user friendly than the Gnome environment in Ubuntu. I can list a ton of reasons like the "always on top" feature, native virtual desktops, the ability to kill a locked process and have it actually die, a useful shell(much easier for giving people directions than spending most of your time telling them how to navigate a hierarchical menu), tons of tools for distributed system administration, tons of useful software for free, filesystem support that is GENERATIONS beyond FAT or NTFS, the ability to work without being continually asked if I really want to do something.... should I continue?

He just needs enlightenment. My dad is 80, my mom is 73 both run Ubuntu.

It's not given to the government. To give something implies ownership... and technically, no one owns the code if it's open source. The point isn't valid, lots of schools use Linux in their server environment. Even my old high school that produces graduating classes of about 80 has mail servers running on Linux. The only difference is the desktop. The problem is not this complex. It stems from people thinking that the OS someone learns today will be the OS they use in the workplace. I used Apple IIgs, Commodore 64, and TRS-80 when I was in school and I don't have a problem at all adapting to other OSs. What we do now is more along the lines of indoctrination than education. If they want to equip students, they need to teach them how to learn rather than how to use Windows... or Linux/Unix/Mac, etc for that matter.

It's somewhat true, there is really nothing for free. Someone spent the time to write the code that makes up free software, the difference is, they can't build an entire application by themselves(or don't have the time to), so they commit small portions. In and of themselves, those small pieces of code are nothing, but when you have lots of people doing the same thing you end up with a working product. It's not about sharing or being kind to your neighbor or any of that warm, fuzzy crap. It's about a bunch of people who need the same thing so they work together on it and make it happen. I am reminded of an Amish barn building. The labor isn't free, but because they all need a barn and it's much easier if they all help each other than to do it by themselves. THIS is what we need to be enforcing when we talk about free software. If you go around spouting RMS lines to people in Texas or the midwest they'll call you a communist and tune you out. The very fact is, open source works because none of the participants can build it on their own, but small contributions and enhancements make up a great end product. That's what this teacher doesn't understand and that's what people who say "you don't get anything for free" don't understand. It cost a lot of people a little and since no one can really claim ownership, we all benefit. And by the way, that means if WE ALL contribute a little to an open source project that does something you need rather than making feature requests to developers who have day jobs, then you will realize how the process works and be better able to explain it to people when they come up with ignorant comments like that. It doesn't need to be code... it can be documentation or helping answer user questions in a forum. There are many ways to contribute to open source without writing a single line of code.

"What it is doing is trying to make the 50 states DLs uniform." Why, so they can stop underage drinking? Besides, what information does a police officer look at on your drivers license? They take it back to their car, run it through their computer and get your full records. They way the license looks is irrelevant.

And require them to store a lot more data. I'm not saying that's a technical or financial barrier. Disk space is cheap... but it's the government and they very rarely make intelligent decisions when it comes to technology. I mean, the young, hip, supposedly tech-savvy President-Elect uses a Zune. That right there should tell you something.

You can add to this that Microsoft's market share for the operating systems dropped below 90% for the first time in forever. Now if I could only install a Linux desktop at work, my work life would be much improved.