[wplug] Re: which linux is for me

[Vance Kochenderfer]

Bill Moran <wmoran at potentialtech.com> wrote:
> 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.

It sounds like you do more than most (more than me, anyway).  There
are companies I refuse to deal with, and there are some principles
I try to follow (preferring local businesses, for instance) but for
the most part I don't invest a lot of time into research.  The time
I do spend puts me far outside the mean, and I expect you are sitting
several standard deviations farther out.  :)

> 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.

Good point.  I was looking more at sheer numbers.  I think that
Stallman, with all his philosophy, has actually taught fewer people
about the value of free software than Linus, whose only real impetus
has been to produce software that doesn't suck.  There is a valid
question about how deeply those masses value software freedom.  But
at least it's in their consciousness somewhere.

I'm not saying your approach was incorrect, just that there are a
lot of people who aren't really ready to hear what you're saying.
There's probably a good chance that the subset of people who ask
questions on the WPLUG mailing list are more receptive than the
general population, though.

Vance Kochenderfer        |  "Get me out of these ropes and into a
vkochend at nyx.net          |   good belt of Scotch"    -Nick Danger