[wplug] Re: which linux is for me

Bill Moran wmoran at potentialtech.com
Tue Feb 22 13:46:05 EST 2005


Vance Kochenderfer <vkochend at nyx.net> wrote:
> Bill Moran <wmoran at potentialtech.com> wrote:
> > Steve Bierly <s_bierly at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > > I am leaning towards red hat. But I am not sure and I
> > > read that linux does not support all computer
> > > hardware. Could I use a brand new computer or should I
> > 
> > To choose an OSS operating system, you should look deep inside
> > yourself and figure out what kind of person you are.  Then you
> > should go out and find software that has the same _philosophy_
> > about software that you do.
> 
> You may be getting a little *too* philosophical.  Think about the shoes
> you're wearing now.  Did you deeply consider the materials they're made
> from and their impact on the environment?

Yes.

> Did you ponder the working
> conditions of the people who made them?

Yes.

> Did you thoroughly investigate
> the business and marketing practices of the manufacturer?

Ok, that I didn't do.

> Or did you
> just buy a pair that were comfortable and reasonably priced?

I never buy anything because it's reasonably priced, and I will always
spend more on something if the less expensive one is made by a company
whose business practices I don't approve of.  My flaw is that I don't
have the time or patience to research every company I purchase from.

For example, the best cell phone service I know of is Verizon.  I will
not own a Verizon phone or any Verizon product, however, because of
the strongarming and other unethical business practices of the company.

I think if more people thought like me, then a lot of criminal organizations
would go out of business without the need for a lot of icky police and
lawyers.

I'm not perfect, but I try like hell.

> I'm not discounting the philosophical issues.  And hey, maybe we should
> be more thoughtful when buying shoes.  But a large number of people are
> interested primarily in practical concerns, and I think new OSS users
> especially fall into this category.  I know when I started using Linux
> it was for the "this is neat" factor, not the "this is right" factor.
> The philosophy developed later.  While I refuse to use some non-free
> software (nVidia), I still accept some (Acrobat).  As the years pass, I
> find myself thinking that Stallman makes more and more sense.
> 
> So while the philosophy is important, I don't think we should greet
> newcomers with "Choose wisely, for as the true operating system will
> bring you freedom, the false operating system will take it from you."
> Let people discover on their own how good freedom can be.

Nonsense ... the wrong OS will lead you to a dreary existance of
dispair and suffering, from which even death is no escape.

In all seriousness, I agree that the initial choice is not critical,
and if I came across like that, I apologize.  My point was only that
"ease of use" and "popularity" are not the correct criteria for
someone who wants to be a computer geek.  Just like "reasonable
price" isn't the correct criteria for someone who wants to be a
professional marathon runner to use when buying shoes.

> Back to the original point, Beth Lynn talks about the Wheel of Distros.
> I think it would be a cool project to have a hackathon on this at some
> future installfest.  The idea is to combine the SuSE, Mandrake, Ubuntu,
> Knoppix, FreeSBIE, Slax, etc. live CDs onto one bootable DVD.  Spin the
> wheel, and take your pick!

That sounds like a very neat project!

-- 
Bill Moran
Potential Technologies
http://www.potentialtech.com


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