[ale] Volunteer work for non-profits

[Joe]

"Greg" <runman at speedfactory.net> writes:

> > -----Original Message-----

[scissors of brevity]

> > > 3.  It's a M$ world.  I know that this is a poor forum for
> > pointing out this
> > > fact, but a fact it is.
> >
> > So that's a reason to proliferate the illegal monopoly?
> 
> 	Geoffrey, you really need to get over this fixation with Microsoft you
> have.  The last time I looked, any person in the US could use any software
> they chose.  Just because the majority chose Microsoft is really no reason
> to get upset.  Who really cares ?  I don't.

I do, for at least the following reasons:

(1) MicroSoft gained its dominant, market-distorting position through
*illegal*, anti-competitive tactics.

(2) The state of the IT landscape, given M$'s dominance, is such that
it is difficult to get an IT job that doesn't involve M$ products.
Personally, I despise working with M$ products. If M$ dominance
is eroded, that will open the field for a richer selection of
employment opportunities in the IT realm.

(3) A software monoculture is vulnerable to hostile agents in
the same way that a biological monoculture is vulnerable to
plague. In this sense, diversity == robustness, and with
M$ running the show, we've got little diversity. Just look
at the effects on the entire internet of the recent MS-SQL
vulnerability.

> 	If you cram Linux down everyone's throat, aren't you guilty of the same
> thing ?

Absolutely not. If Geoffrey makes a reasonable alternative to M$
monopolyware known to a potential client, how does that constitute
"cramming Linux down everyone's throat"? Furthermore, unless
Geoffrey enters into criminal contractual arrangements with
his customer and VARs, there's no merit to the comparison.

>  And to say that Linux is the end all and be all is just so wrong on
> so many levels. 

Who said that? There are lots of non-M$ software options. Linux
is just the most visible. (Consider, for example, Solaris, the
*BSD family, QNX, etc.)

[scissors of brevity]

>  I don't think a religious war is appropriate here.

Geoffrey's post seemed perfectly reasonable to me.

>  If
> you want to get into one, fine.  You win.  I am not going to reply to
> anything else on this thread. I am not much on cyber jihad's anyway and I
> think you really need to heed something said a while back and stop looking
> into an abyss:
> 
> "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not
> become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also
> looks into you." -- Friedrich Nietzsche (Beyond Good and Evil)
> 
> >
> > If you're giving a computer to someone who can't afford it, give them
> > something they can continue to use.  I would think they wouldn't want to
> > get into the grey area of having to prove they have valid licenses for
> > these machines.
> 
> 	Somehow I don't see the SBC (or whatever) ringing doorbells in the
> tenements.

I can see it. It's a nauseating thought, but I wouldn't put it past
M$ and their cronies. Admittedly, that statement does sound a bit
paranoid :-), but in fact M$ has sicced BSA auditors on, for
example, public schools in various parts of the US, so I guess
the aphorism about them really being out to get us is appropriate.

>  They also address this on the website.  If you talk to them, I
> believe this has been addressed. And even if it is illegal I don't' give a
> damm.  If anyone wants to lock me up, fine.  I am in the telephone
> directory.
> 
> 
>   Further, teach them how to update the machine and get
> > the free goodies that come with a free OS.
> 
> 	Ok.  Are you volunteering to do this or is this just mere words ?  I will
> be there next week at 12:00 noon.  I expect you will also with your plan to
> do just this ? And if your plan is rejected are you prepared to teach M$ or
> take your toys and go home ?

Does anyone bother to teach these folks about the Windows stuff,
or do they just hand them a box of manuals and sent them out
the door?

>  Dude, these folks need help & solutions, not a
> religious war.

I think that on nearly any scale *other than* popular opinion, Linux
and available open-source applications will win the "solution" war
against any Windows comer, if the criteria include stability (most
stable releases of open-source software are rock-solid) and support
(even the free pseudo-support available via Usenet and lists like ALE
is quite good compared to most commercial support).  As far as
usability goes, IMO things are rapidly improving in that
area.

> And yes, I am serious.  I would like to see you there.

I'd be there if I wasn't 2000 miles away :-) It sounds like a
blast.

[snip, snip, snip...]

Cheers,

-- Joe Knapka

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