Re: An Open Letter To The Linux Enthusiasts.

From: Mr. Tapeguy (mr.tapeguy_at_pro-tape.com)
Date: 06/05/05 

Date: 4 Jun 2005 20:51:55 -0700

jackson_pyle@yahoo.com wrote:
> I've been following these Linux threads with some interest because I
> personally feel that Linux is going to, at some point, overtake
> Microsoft and I also believe that it will be a Linux/Apple world with
> Microsoft a way distant 3rd.
>
> What I fail to understand however, is why Linux users seem to be so
> nasty, obscene and self righteous. Some of the comments made to the
> fine folks in rec.audio.pro are just uncalled for.
> Is this what Linux advocacy is about?

No Jackson, that is what people hiding behind their computers and
forgetting all about common courtesy and treating each other with
respect is about. It isn't just Linux users...it is common in the
Windows/Mac argument and I've seen in in Sony/JVC and other such
places. You'd think they were talking about Israel and the
Palestinians. I take that back - you'd think they WERE Israel and the
Palestinians.

Here's an article for all you unabashedly mannerless flamers who think
that anyone who has a different point of view is a stupid moronic
*** or some derivative thereof:

Ground Rules for the Windows-Macintosh War by David Pogue of the New
York Times

Last week, I wrote about some of the changes Microsoft has in store for
the next version of Windows, which is slated for the end of 2006.
Interestingly, very few of you responded to that column, probably
because so much may change in the next 19 months.

But a few of you fired off diatribes about how I'm either a Microsoft
"shill" or an Apple "apologist" (or maybe it was the other way around).
It's not just me, either; it's a running sardonic joke among tech
columnists that you can't even USE the word "Apple" or "Microsoft"
without getting hate mail from somebody or other.

It's kind of amazing that various extremists could find the same column
too pro-Microsoft AND too pro-Apple. But hey--that's the nature of
ideological soldiers, whether they're in the conservative-liberal war,
the evolutionist-creationist war or the Hummer-Prius war.

The Mac-Windows war, though, is especially pointless, protracted, and
winnerless. There will always be people on each side who are every bit
as rabid and un-convincible as those in any other religious war.

Still, I'd like to suggest, as a starting point of civility, a few
pointers forparticipants in the O.S. war. Consider it one man's version
of, "Can't we all just get along?"

1. Hate something for its failings, not for its success.

It's totally fine to criticize something because of its flaws--to hate
Windows because it's bloated and cryptic, for example, or the iPod
because it's too easily scratched. But condemning something just
because it's the dominant product is just sour grapes. Arguments along
the lines of "I hate Bill Gates because he's rich" or "I hate the iPod
because everyone has one" add nothing to the dialogue.

2. No condemning something until you've tried it.

If everyone abided by this idea, about 95 percent of all the
Windows-Macintosh diatribes would evaporate overnight. But here it is:
If you haven't tried something, then you really have no basis to
comment.

3. Execution matters.

I'm so tired of reading discussions like this: Person A: "I love Mac OS
X Tiger! That Spotlight thing is so cool: press a keystroke, type a few
letters, and get an instantaneous listing every file, folder and
program containing that text."

Person B: "You pathetic loser! It's called hard-drive indexing, and
Windows XP has had it from Day One." Of course, the truth is that
Windows Indexing Service is to Spotlight as Thomas the Tank Engine is
to a bullet train. In Indexing Service, you can't search with a single
keystroke, the speed is nothing like Spotlight's, you can't search for
metadata (115 kinds of secondary information, like music genre,
Photoshop layer names, camera settings in digital photos, etc.), the
index isn't updated in real time as you create or delete documents, and
so on.

It goes the other way, too. "I love how Windows XP lets me delete or
rename files right in the Open or Save dialog boxes."

"What's the big deal? On the Mac, we just switch to the desktop and
delete or rename things there."

Sorry, but that's just not as good as being able to do it within the
dialog boxes.

The bottom line: How well something works and how elegantly it's been
built is also relevant to the "which is better" discussion.

4. Don't make grandiose purchasing plans by guessing on technology's
future.

This pointer is directed exclusively at Mac-bashers, particularly the
ones on the nation's boards of education.

If you decide to standardize on Windows across all schools, fine. But
make sure you have legitimate reasons like economics or the need to run
some Windows-only software suite.

"We want the kids to learn what they'll one day use in the business
world," however, is NOT a good reason. If you think you know what
anyone will be using in 2020 (when today's first graders will graduate
from college), you must have a heck of a magical crystal ball.

Truth is, by 2020, no operating system will look anything like it does
today. By 2020, we may well be using holography or tablets or glorified
cellphones instead of computers. Claiming to know what company's
operating system today's kids will be using when they graduate college,
or how that software will work, is nonsense.

5. Consider that they may have a point.

Neither side's members should be allowed to cover their ears and sing
"Blah blah blah!" at the top of their lungs when they hear an argument
that could rock their worldview. As long as the points are factual,
fair and substantive, you should consider them.

Remember: Apple and Microsoft routinely play O.S. leapfrog and
regularly adopt each other's feature ideas; eventually, aficionados in
both camps will enjoy similar enhancements to the computing experience.
As we carry on the never-ending debate, try to generate more light and
less heat. Only then can we discover what aspects of system software
are truly valuable, and thereby usher them into existence for everyone
to enjoy.

This week's Pogue's Posts blog.

Visit David Pogue on the Web at DavidPogue.com.

Love, Craig