[Just OT] (Was:) Re: copy/paste XP cmd

[Georg Wrede]

     OT

(This message contains no Serious content. It's just full of rants and 
debris.)

"You on duty? Skip this!" Or at least mark it unread for now, and check 
it out only tonight, if ever. You've been warned.



Matthew wrote:
> wrote in message 
>> Matthew wrote:
>>> From: "Hasan Aljudy"
>>>> Ameer Armaly wrote:
>>>>> "Sean Kelly" <sean at f4.ca> wrote
>>>>>> Matthew wrote:

I know this constitutes digging in old archives.

>>>>>>> Thanks for that. Now I can just hate XP because it
>>>>>>> crashes, and three months after each re-install it
>>>>>>> decides that some COM object somewhere is missing so it
>>>>>>> can no longer save Word or Excel documents (or let you
>>>>>>> copy their contents).

BT,DT.

>>>>> Same here; I've gotten it to hold up since June of 04 with no
>>>>> problems whatsoever.  But then again, I've been known for
>>>>> beeing a complete Nazi as to what goes in and out of my
>>>>> computer.

Yup. I do that too. On W2k. And I take it that "since June of 04" means 
no harddisk wipes and reinstalls since then. (See footnote #1)

>>>> XP is perfectly stable .. the only time it crashes on me is due
>>>> to hardware faults.

(See a couple of paragraphs down in this mail.) This is a glaring 
example of what's been discussed there.

>> I think there are far more people unhappy with linux than there are
>> people unhappy with windows.

OK, in a university class, granted. Then again, taken all computer users 
together, let's just say that the number of people forced to use Linux 
is smaller than the number of people forced to use Windows.

Outside these two forced groups, most Linux users use it out of Free 
Will. It's their own choice, and the day they'd get fed up with Linux, 
they'd switch back to Windows. No need to explain or tell anyone.

>> Go to any computer science lecture room/theater, and ask students
>> who uses windows and who uses linux! I think windows will always
>> win, at least in my university!

And?

>> Even better, ask how many people have linux installed, then ask
>> those people, how many of you actually use it? One prof asked us
>> this question once; about 13 people raised their hands for "I
>> installed linux on my machine", 

I think folks have grown up with Windows. Shute, by this time, those 
starting university have seen Windows everywhere for the last 10 to 15 
years. Many of them don't honestly see a difference between Computer and 
Windows.

So, trying out Linux means noticing any differences as "aw, lame copy", 
instead of understanding that there really are "a million" ways of doing 
the GUI. THINK, most of us live in countries with RH drive. So, you fly 
to Ireland, go to Avis rent-a-car, and off you go. After the 3rd 
crossing your blood pressure is high enough to not let you come to think 
that these Natives may feel the same about driving in your country.

We: "Heck, 'round my place there's a Right side to the road. Here it 
seems there's a right and a "right" side. Geez, who the hell ever gave 
them permission to buy cars here in the first place before they got 
their sides Right???"

>> and only _one_ person raised his hand for "I actually use it!".
> 
> Sorry, but at what point did I even intimate that Linux was a
> preferred alternative, never mind mention it? You appear to be
> picking an argument with someone and supplying both sides of it.

:-)

> Surely a person has a right to say "Windows XP is shite" without

 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

The word shite may refer to various things

     * A synonym for shit which originated from Ireland.
     * A shi'ite, that is, a believer in Shi'a Islam
     * The shite, the principal character in a Japanese Noh play
     * Shite, the person who performs the technique in Aikido.
     * Shite the Industrial band with strong Techno roots.


I suggest to spell it "shitt". Bit less of a chance to offend various 
Aliens. By Bob! (If one wants to avoid adult filters, that is. Other 
"filter safe" synonyms may be: dung, manure, stool, dropping, excrement, 
feces, ... But I do admire your stamina in keeping this a Family Grade 
Shite. Except for Friday Nights I can pull this off too, to some 
extent.) ((( No offense, Matthew, I just had to say this, 't was too 
tempting. ;-) )))

> being accused of having any opinion whatsoever on other operating
> system families, no?

What I particularly have a PROBLEM with, is the universal psychosis that 
interprets Windows problems as "Gee, my computer is behaving again" 
(subconsciously incriminating the hardware), or "Oh, manure! It's the 
application, Bob, they're dung!", or "Bob-damned graphics drivers, I 
think _microcomputers_aren't_ready_for_video_editing_" (this one 
(paraphrased)(C) Walter, recently).

Never, ever, is it Windows or Microsoft.

((( I _hate_ their products, but I (grudginly must admit, in the name of 
honesty,) that I don't have a problem with Bill Gates. )))

I too use W2k. Probably the last M$ "OS" I'll ever install.

Additionally I've got RH 9, 8, 7, 6, FC 4, Sun Java Desktop System (man, 
if there ever was a more solid lie in a product name...!!!!), and W98 
and W95 running. (I have 26 computers[sic] at home. And I haven't yet 
listed all the operating systems currently in use. ;-) )

So, whenever anything crashes, "[Whatever happens to be the OS or 
application] is sh.. er, excrement!" -- Unless it's W*, then one blames 
whatever else -- without even noticing _themselves_. And *that's* what 
I've a problem with.

> Or has moral relativism crept into IT? Bob, forfend ...

PC-IT: pick _your_ interpretation of _this_!

--- Footnontes:

(#1) In discussions of Windows one usually means the time one last 
"formatted the hard drive"((#2)), whereas in Linux discussions this 
means "last powered down, or rebooted" the machine.

(#2) The concept of "formatting" in Windows (or MSDOS) roughly 
corresponds to make-file-system on Unix. The Unix Format concept is 
comparable to Windows "low level format". These two forget the "real" 
low level format, which (on modern IDE and SATA drives) is something 
that only a Qualified repair workshop should do. (Things were different 
with RLL and MFM drives, in the good Old Days. Oh, and anybody remember 
hard- and soft-sectored floppies?)