Microsoft busy at work on a version of Longhorn specifically for gay people
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Armand Apr 25, 2005 11:03 PM EDT |
In an effort to make up with a disenfranchised gay community Steve Ballmer announced that Microsoft would release a discounted version of Longhorn dubbed Longhorn SSE (safe sex edition). The fully featured version would also include extra security patches at no extra charge. |
| AnonymousCoward Apr 26, 2005 2:29 AM EDT |
Er... contains only tasteful pastel themes? Includes free clothing and house designer, recipe book preloaded with quiches? Free copy of BackOrifice on the CD? The bind moggles... On a more serious note: if this were a real announcement, WTF would a polarity-disadvantaged buyer look for in an OS? I presume different things for different genders? Or even different sides of a not-completely-bipolar pair? |
| sbergman27 Apr 26, 2005 8:51 AM EDT |
Hey, guys. Could we cut the stereotypes, please? (It just makes us look like a bunch of rednecks.) |
| PaulFerris Apr 26, 2005 10:18 AM EDT |
/me seconds. In general, this is a sensitive topic and one that probably should be avoided. |
| sbergman27 Apr 26, 2005 11:09 AM EDT |
I appreciate your second, Paul. Thank You. But I have no problem with sensitive topics, as they pertain to Linux, being discussed on LXer.com. My objection is to equating *people* to *stereotypes*. It really does make us look bad. (And we in the Linux minority should know better.) In addition, it's hard to see how this topic really pertains to Linux. OK. Maybe my Gene Roddenberry/Star Trek roots are showing through here. But it just bothers me... |
| Tsela Apr 26, 2005 11:11 AM EDT |
Well, I personally found this worthy of a smile ;) . Although I find the term "polarity-disadvantaged" a bit so-so. I'm not one for political correctness (I call a cat a cat and a *BEEP* a *BEEP* ;) ), and I'll take it it was a parody, but it was at the border of tastelessness (and with this comment I'm probably at that same border too ;) ). But anyway, if ever Microsoft was to release a "Gay" version of their "thing" (I can't call it OS, and product would still give it too much merit), that would mean they're on the edge of destruction. I mean, everyone knows gay people are all free software enthusiasts, since it allows them to fool around with their code! (OK, extremely bad humour, I'm not myself today...) But you're right Paul, many people would find this far too sensitive a subject to carry it on. PS: before anyone reacts, yes, I'm gay, and a free software enthusiast, and left-handed, and French (those items were not sorted in order of importance). Did I give enough sticks to beat me? ;)) |
| Armand Apr 26, 2005 1:03 PM EDT |
Thanks for being good sports. I posted this because Microsoft bowed to pressure from a prominent evangelical church in Redmond to withhold support of the gay rights bill. http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/business/microsoft-gay-rig... |
| TxtEdMacs Apr 26, 2005 4:09 PM EDT |
Armand - now I know why your stories are never accepted!! They were busy damnit! |
| dinotrac Apr 26, 2005 7:15 PM EDT |
Tsela -- Gay, not a problem. Open Source enthusiast? Definitely not a problem. Left-Handed???????????????? Well, I guess there's one in every crowd. But French? One must always be suspicious of any connection with the land of the 2CV. |
| AnonymousCoward Apr 26, 2005 9:29 PM EDT |
Tsela: thanks for your sense of humour, without which we would all be doomed to living in perpetual fear of stepping on a politically incorrect crack in the pavement of life. (-: Since you seem to be cross-grained from keel to crowsnest anyway, I wonder if you could be tempted to a more or less serious answer: is there anything which a gay male would find useful in a UI or OS? Try as I might, I can't imagine anything specific to the situation. Is there anything other than swapping the mouse buttons around which would be substantially useful to a southpaw? Menu on the right edge of the taskbar? |
| tuxchick Apr 26, 2005 10:24 PM EDT |
Well now, "gay" covers a lot of territory. Ifn yer talkin' lesbians, that means ruff, tuff, and killer at softball. Certainly not pastel and all femmey, yech. Oh, and pickups with gun racks and big dogs with big teeth. Usually more teeth and in better condition than the owners'. |
| Tsela Apr 26, 2005 10:52 PM EDT |
AnonymousCoward: Seriously, there is really *nothing* gay men would want in an OS that would be specific to them. I mean, anyone can add a sexy background anyway ;) . The only thing I can think of that Microsoft could do would be a gay Clippy, like a gorgeous guy stripping every time you save your Word document ;)) . But that's something straight women could enjoy too, and anyway we want Clippy to die, don't we? ;) No, the OS question is just orthogonal to the sex orientation question... tuxchick: Please, don't make me laugh like that, I'm at work dammit! ;))) |
| r_a_trip May 04, 2005 4:56 AM EDT |
Gay OS? Coming from Microsoft? I thought this market was already 100% cornered by Apple ;) But seriously, as a gay man myself, I cannot think of an OS feature that would be exclusively gay. Don't all people want a snappy, secure OS that runs all the applications they need? Besides, there are no straight people... All are gay, lesbian or bisexual. Did you know that my mother is gay like myself? (Meaning into men). My father is a lesbian... |
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