Lorum Ipsum Dolor

In October of 2001 I made a newgroup post about people who say "Linux sucks". A while later I modified that very slightly and posted it here.

It's been attracting comments ever since, many intelligent, though unfortunately some have little value.

I think many of the Windows proponents missed the point entirely and don't understand why I said that they don't really "use" their computers. One person insisted that browsing the web or reading email is "using", but that is very nearly passive activity, not much different than watching television. When you really use a computer, you are making use of its *computing* abilities. Many Windows users would be quite happy with a TV that could browse and send email, but most Linux/Unix folks would consider that a toy.

I was amused by the hatred of the command line: "As for the power of the command line you have got to be kidding?" and "LINUX SUCKS AND SO DOES ITS PATHETIC COMMAND LINE" are two examples. Amused because Microsoft is beefing up its (truly pathetic) command line capabilities with its new MSH.

Recently someone titled their post "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetaur adipisicing elit". If you don't recognize that immediately, it may feel vaguley familar because you've probably seen it before: it's "nonsense" text often used by typesetters to demonstrate fonts or as other place filling text. The person making the comment went on to say "Windows is noise" (like the 'lorum ipsum dolor' quote).

I thought I remembered that the phrase did have meaning, went a-googling, and found this:

From http://nwalsh.com/comp.fonts/FAQ/cf_36.htm:

"Lorem ipsum is latin, slightly jumbled, the remnants of a passage
from Cicero's _de Finibus_ 1.10.32, which begins 'Neque porro
quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur,
adipisci velit...' [There is no one who loves pain itself, who
seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain.].
 

That's more in tune with my original point: Windows actually is harder to use than any Unix or Linux. Painfully hard.

Recently, politics have come into the comments. That made me wonder if anyone has ever surveyed OS preference on political lines; I do remember that in the last election the Republicans seemed to favor Windows while Democrats and others more often chose something else. Probably Windows and Linux users are a very mixed bag in general, but I bet that Mac folk tend to be in the more liberal camps.

A recent comment expressed the hope that I would drink poison. That's a heart warming sentiment I certainly never expected.

Well, the post has been attracting comments for more than four years, and probably isn't going to stop now. I hope they have more reason and less "Windows rulezz!"

Comments?

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