[ale] AJC won't run anything on Expo!!!

[R I Feigenblatt]

>I am sending the following out to the whole ALE list since I feel this
>would be of interest to all.
>	OK, I just got done talking to Brooks Dobbs who works at AJC and
>	was obliging enough to show the press release for the Linux Expo
>	to the person who does quite a lot of the "Personal Technology"
>	section they run once in a while. That person said they would not
>	run anything about this because everytime they mention to words
>	"operating system" they get lots of mail asking "what's an
>	operating system?" so they shy away from that.
        
BIG SURPRISE. At least to me. At the risk of saying something which reflects
an "*extremely* counterproductive" attitude, I'll point out that in my post
of Sat, 20 Jan 1996 13:51:34 I suggested that:
   
   "a> One handout should explain that Linux is an operating system,
    defining that term and giving other examples. It should explain that..."

>	BTW, the person at AJC who said this is Bill Husted and his E-mail
>	address is tchnobuddy at ajc.com so if anyone else besides me feels
>	this is unequal treatment feel free to send him a message letting
>	him know.

Oh yeah. Great idea. Flame the guy with endless complaints of "inequity"
after AJC has taken the trouble to explain WHY they made the decision they
did. A large media outlet does not rely on an obviously organized campaign of
irate mail to make policy: they know how to WEIGHT the "What's an OS" letters.
A newspaper BUSINESS exists to feed the paying appetites of its mass audience.
If anyone thinks he can do better, he can start his own publication; I'm
not being facetious here: this is the golden age of MICRO-publishing. One
can even make it what's called a "vanity press" and underwrite the costs.
All "spontaneous" mail will accomplish is to convince the guy who took time to
make a polite and frank response that it was a mistake to do so - and not make
the error in the future. Not quite "How to Win Friends and Influence People".

>	Brokks is going to try and get a notice in their Community computer
>	events column and on a community web page they have so I would like
>	to thank him for all his efforts even if he did run into a brick
>	wall with the above person.
>Steve DuChene              sad at hpuerca.atl.hp.com               1-800-633-3600
>	       The HP North American Response Center, Atlanta

Good manners are always appreciated Steve; kudos!

Now allow me to let some of the readers of this list in on a little "not so"
secret. The COMPUTER trade press is getting SICK AND TIRED of Linux fanaticism.
"UNIX Review" gave Linux it's "GEM" product award (not to mention effusive
praise) in its December 1994 issue. But by January 1996 editor-in-chief
Andy Binstock found it necessary to write this:

        "Whiner's Award (Given Each Year To The Operating System
        Whose Users Cannot Understand Why The Whole World Does
        Not Embrace Its Obvious Superiority): Linux.
        (Previous winners: NeXT, OS/2)"

If this pisses you off, please suspend judgment long enough to read the
break-out box titled: "The Sound And The Fury" in Tom Yager's article
"Linux Matters" in the February 1996 "BYTE". Tom quotes a Commodore
Computer executive on the failure of the Amiga: "The fanatical element
among our customer base hasn't done us any favors", and then argues that
"Linux fanatics display similar zeal..."

I had no undue trouble publishing my gentle introduction to LINUX in
"Atlanta Computer Currents" two years ago. Among other things, I 
ACTUALLY respected the demographics and deadlines of the publisher.
But I'd be damned to approach a trade publication again with a LINUX
article in the current hysterical atmosphere.

Linux would do better in the world if it was promoted by folks who knew
one tenth as much about computers and only twice as much about people as
the typical person now so engaged.

One final personal note concerning:
>       The group needs suggestions of things to do, that's for sure.  But we
>       also need for people to put in effort and dedicate a little bit of time
>       and energy above and beyond just writing e-mail, chastizing people for
>       not listening to them or doing what you tell them to do.  
Linux user groups are still few and far between. If I'm not in Atlanta late
that day,
I have to flip the third digit on my auto odometer to attend a typical ALE
meeting.
When you guys start holding meetings on the Alabama border, I'll be there.
Now maybe
my posts are junk mail, but that is the price of an unmoderated mailing list.

Ron Feigenblatt

P.S. If someone wants to complain that LINUX is not being properly evangelized,
one might instead make cordial, construction suggestions to our friends at
Caldera.
In the dealer kit they sent me, a handout records the system requirements
for Caldera
Network Desktop as being "Memory(MB) 16". Now, Caldera does have a BUNDLED
package,
but just recall the hue and cry when computer publications "exposed" that
Windows 95
multitasks quite slowly with only the specified minimum 4M of RAM,
suggesting that
8M was a more realistic amount. RedHat now (3.03) runs in 4M for a very good
reason.