[ale] Let's Party! (To celebrate computer viruses!)

[Jeff Lightner]

Please...

 

If people are more turned off by "inane" comments of some proponents
than they are by the actions of Microsloth then it says more about their
own mindsets than it does about us.

 

Personally I find this line or argument close to those for certain
political or religious views.  Either you buy it or you don't and
attempting to force others to see it your way is itself a form of
zealotry in my not so humble opinion.  "Adults" do play and word play is
certain a form of play.   Those who decry such play try to imply those
of us who engage in it are "children".  They are themselves guilty of
the same attempt to cast aspersions on opposing views as the ones that
seem to offend them.   As a "adult" I'm quite willing to enjoy puns,
irony, alliteration and other forms of word play and yes even if some
without a sense of humor are "turned off" by it. 

 

________________________________

From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of
Brian MacLeod
Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 3:11 PM
To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts - Yes! We run Linux!
Subject: Re: [ale] Let's Party! (To celebrate computer viruses!)

 

 

On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 2:17 PM, Michael B. Trausch
<mbt at zest.trausch.us> wrote:

Or, expressed with slightly less obvious bias:  Windows lacks a sound
philosophy for compartmentalized software and is, has been, and will be
until its death vulnerable to all sorts of problems stemming from poorly
thought out design and implementation.  Even worse, the company is and
historically has been a very good _business_, in the sense that they
know how to get the money, regardless of the social, security, or other
implications.

Of course, I think many of us could go on and on and on, but really.
Let's at least be adult about it and call it like it is, without
resorting to childish wordplay and dysphemisms.  After all, they have
given us enough to work with without making ourselves look like the
imbeciles we already know they are.  It gets old.


As a business major, I find the association of the name Microsoft and
the idea of good business insulting.  They are a great marketing
company.  But good business entails meeting the needs of a segment and
having everyone feel they got something good out of it, and that society
overall benefits from the interaction.  It is obvious that the business
which Microsoft conducts typically yields significantly less benefit for
society than for itself...

...since we're in the mood to be correcting things.  

I too tire of the zealotry to the point of renaming things, but not
because it's annoying for me to parse, but for me to have to explain to
others who are looking for options that 1) don't require further
explanation as to the renaming/making fun of the first option (yes, I
get asked this, and yes, Microsoft Windows is often people's first
option, it just is), and 2) doesn't look like to be supported by a bunch
of loonies.  I'm not saying we aren't loonies (I'm one to speak), but
there's a time and a place, and trying to get people off the Microsoft
treadmill is not one of them.  Reasoned arguments, such as the one
Michael put here, are going to be much more effective in that because we
haven't forced someone to internally squelch our statements because we
look like we're insane or cliquish.  

I have seen a lot of interest in my MBA program for Linux, but I have
seen many turned off because of this behavior which they consider
inappropriate.  I've got a few now working on their own installations,
but it's taken a lot of convincing that being anti-Microsoft is all
there is to this community.  

Being for something doesn't mean you must always speak poorly of the
opposing view.


Brian
 
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