Somebody please...hold him back...

Story: SWsoft Virtuozzo for Linux 3.0Total Replies: 24
Author Content
helios

Aug 29, 2006
6:25 PM EDT
Just when one thinks it has gotten as bad as it can get, here comes another Ubuntu love-fest.

OK, so maybe I should be glad that SOME Linux distro is making a good noise but please,

THE FIRST FRIGGIN' RULE OF FAN-BOI-ISM: OVER-STATE, OVER-EMPHASIZE AND EVEN LIE about how good your distro is going to be. You suckered the new reader/user in and then end the article with:

...Can Ubuntu completely replace Windows or Mac OS X? Probably not. It doesn't work perfectlyout of the box..."

My gripe isn't that he ended it like this, I'm seein' red because there ARE distro's that CAN replace Windows or Mac for the majority of users and they DO replace windows out of the box.

HEY EVERYBODY...THIS IS THE GREATEST THING SINCE WINDOWS XP!

(well not really, but it will be some day, really it will, honest!)

There ought to be a friggin' law.

I just THOUGHT my review-writin' days were over.
dcparris

Aug 29, 2006
7:21 PM EDT
Sick 'em Helios! :-)
pat

Aug 30, 2006
3:01 AM EDT
What exactly is Helios ranting about, I don't see Ubuntu mentioned in the article at all.
dek

Aug 30, 2006
4:15 AM EDT
From the article: "(Red Hat, Fedora, SuSE 9 and CentOS are all acceptable)"

I'm wondering if Helios didn't mean to post this to another Article? Because I, like Pat, don't see any mention of Ubuntu anywhere in the article.

(not that I don't think Ubuntu isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread . . . .) ;-)

Don K.
dcparris

Aug 30, 2006
9:03 AM EDT
Yeah, this was meant for another article. I can move it to another forum, but not another article.
jimf

Aug 30, 2006
9:46 AM EDT
I think it's a great rant... Even if it is misplaced :D
devnet

Aug 30, 2006
10:05 AM EDT
There had to have been a problem with the forum on this...both Helios and I posted Ubuntu blasts on the same article...I thought I was posting on the "could Ubuntu be yadda yadda" article and I'm sure Helios did too.
cjcox

Aug 30, 2006
11:42 AM EDT
Ubuntu is the greatest distribution ever. I'm thinking of just saying 'Ubuntu' instead of Linux from now on. Linux could mean anything... including all of the horrible distributions. Without Ubuntu... we'd all be lost...

There.... now helios can comment... :)
Scott_Ruecker

Aug 30, 2006
1:38 PM EDT
cjcox: You are a brave soul, stupid, but brave..;-)

I am just kidding in case you did not get the humor.

Seriously.
jimf

Aug 30, 2006
1:43 PM EDT
jimf/sees helios hand cjcox his head on a platter :D
helios

Sep 14, 2006
2:52 AM EDT
Nope...spared by a 2 week out of town business trip. MAN it's good to be home. Give me the next day to unpack, unwind and then unpack everything I've done into human-readable text.

As PH exclaims...

stand by for news.

h
Scott_Ruecker

Sep 14, 2006
3:40 AM EDT
Helios my good man! Please help me with all these crazy people!! ;-)
NoDough

Sep 14, 2006
5:40 AM EDT
..Can Windows completely replace Ubuntu or FreeBSD? Probably not. It doesn't work perfectly out of the box...

Cool! I get to bash Windows and get the goads of helios and devnet in a single post. Ain't life grand!
helios

Sep 14, 2006
9:54 AM EDT
Yep...that would be a day, but wait...let me check here first...

Nope, I still got my goads. That reminds me...oh, nevermind...the reference to a good rash cream didn't work out in print. Sure was funny in my head though.

h
nalf38

Sep 14, 2006
12:27 PM EDT
Will someone please explain to me the appeal of Ubuntu? It's not a bad distribution, but why is everyone flogging it so much like it's the best thing to ever happen to Linux? I installed it in VMPlayer, and found it to be pretty average. Not better than any other distro I've used, but certainly not any worse. Besides the Debian base, which no new Linux user cares about anyway, what differentiates it from Suse, which has amazing hardware support and software installation utilities?

There is a distro for Windows users. Unfortunately, it's called Linspire. It has all those things we hate: a proprietary DVD player, licensed Windows codecs, etc. Yeah, it runs as root and that's stupid, but beyond that, if were going to switch my 60-year-old parents, that's probably what I'd use, or maybe Xandros or Suse as close seconds.

Linspire is pretty much everything I dislike about a Linux distribution...it propagates the belief that there should be absolutely no learning curve when switching to Linux, and that's odd because no one would ever assume the same thing when switching from Windows to Mac. Desktop Linux isn't hard, it's just different. What's so bad about that? Are end users so stupid that they can't figure out to how save files to /home/foo-bar?
SFN

Sep 14, 2006
12:34 PM EDT
Quoting:Are end users so stupid that they can't figure out to how save files to /home/foo-bar?


Without hesitation, yes.
techiem2

Sep 14, 2006
12:55 PM EDT
Oh yeah. If they get lost when they sit down at a different computer setup exactly the same as their normal one, you really think they'd understand a real filesystem without massive training?

Heh, lots of average users don't even know where their docs are. It's always amusing to work on a machine and find data anywhere from drive roots to windows dirs to the desktop..... They just save where the save box points them.
nalf38

Sep 14, 2006
1:24 PM EDT
"Heh, lots of average users don't even know where their docs are."

Yeah, I guess you're right. But then how would Linux be any different? (laugh cue)

Seriously, it seems like Linux would be easier in that regard since the average unpriveleged user is limited to their /home directory. Don't know where you saved that PDF file? Hmmmm, let's see, where to look....where to look.....

techiem2

Sep 14, 2006
1:30 PM EDT
That's true. Linux apps pretty much point right to the user's home dir. So it would take more "effort" on their part to totally lose stuff (like somehow managing to save in /tmp or something. hehe).

jimf

Sep 14, 2006
2:15 PM EDT
> Are end users so stupid that they can't figure out to how save files to /home/foo-bar?

Absolutely, or, they just 'don't want to know'. I could never make that info stick with my wife in spite of the fact that she's otherwise quite intelligent.
dcparris

Sep 15, 2006
5:08 AM EDT
On that note, the wife in the family I wrote about recently called. She had attempted to send an ODF file to the local community college, which needed an MS Word doc. That's when I got on her case about not paying attention early on, when I tried to teach her and her husband that, but both of them were too busy running in and out, doing other things. "I see now I should have been paying attention," she said. So, how many in this forum are willing to bet that she did?
NoDough

Sep 15, 2006
5:09 AM EDT
Tech support: What kind of computer do you have? Female customer: A white one...

===============

Customer: Hi, this is Celine. I can't get my diskette out. Tech support: Have you tried pushing the button? Customer: Yes, sure, it's really stuck. Tech support: That doesn't sound good; I'll make a note. Customer: No...wait a minute... I hadn't inserted it yet... it's still on my desk...sorry.

===============

Tech support: Click on the 'my computer' icon to the left of the screen. Customer: Your left or my left?

===============

Tech support: Good day. How may I help you? Male customer: Hello... I can't print. Tech support: Would you click on "start" for me and... Customer: Listen pal; don't start getting technical on me! I'm not Bill Gates!

===============

Customer: Hi, good afternoon, this is Martha, I can't print. Every time I try, it says 'Can't find printer'. I've even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor, but the computer still says he can't find it.

===============

Customer: I have problems printing in red... Tech support: Do you have a color printer? Customer: Aaaah....................thank you.

===============

Tech support: What's on your monitor now, ma'am? Customer: A teddy bear my boyfriend bought for me at the 7-11.

===============

Customer: My keyboard is not working anymore. Tech support: Are you sure it's plugged into the computer? Customer: No. I can't get behind the computer. Tech support: Pick up your keyboard and walk 10 paces back. Customer: OK Tech support: Did the keyboard come with you? Customer: Yes Tech support: That means the keyboard is not plugged in. Is there another keyboard? Customer: Yes, there's another one here. Ah...that one does work...

===============

Tech support: Your password is the small letter a as in apple, a capital letter V as in Victor, the number 7. Customer: Is that 7 in capital letters?

===============

Customer: I can't get on the Internet. Tech support: Are you sure you used the right password? Customer: Yes, I'm sure. I saw my colleague do it. Tech support: Can you tell me what the password was? Customer: Five stars.

===============

Tech support: What anti-virus program do you use? Customer: Netscape. Tech support: That's not an anti-virus program. Customer: Oh, sorry...Internet Explorer.

===============

Customer: I have a huge problem. A friend has placed a screen saver on my computer, but every time I move the mouse, it disappears.

===============

Tech support: How may I help you? Customer: I'm writing my first e-mail. Tech support: OK, and what seems to be the problem? Customer: Well, I have the letter 'a' in the address, but how do I get the circle around it?

===============

A woman customer called the Canon help desk with a problem with her printer. Tech support: Are you running it under windows? Customer: "No, my desk is next to the door, but that is a good point. The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is working fine."
dcparris

Sep 15, 2006
10:43 PM EDT
Still giggling. I remember some of those.

> Tech support: What anti-virus program do you use?

Customer: Netscape.

Tech support: That's not an anti-virus program.

Customer: Oh, sorry...Internet Explorer. ============

That is sooooo on the money. So many people still don't know the difference between the OS and an application! I once suggested to the IT guys where I work that they could almost literally replace WinXP with some GNU/Linux variant and tell the employees "it's the newest version of Windows". Quite a few would never grasp the difference.

BTW, I like the one - supposedly real - where the caller complained about her PC monitor suddenly going blank. After a bit of troubleshooting the techician asks if the PC is plugged in. Caller can't tell because it's dark. Apparently there was a power outage. When the tech suggests returning the computer to the manufacturer, the caller asks, "is it that bad?" "yes, I'm afraid it is." "What should I tell them?" "Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer."

I'm so glad high tech has simplified our lives so! ;-)
jimf

Sep 16, 2006
12:42 AM EDT
> "Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer."

We wish we'd said that!

Just a quick google will let you see that this one goes back 'at least' as far as 98. Since anyone who's done tech support, for any length of time, has ultimately had an all to similar experience, it rings true. The only difference is that we didn't respond with the cool punch line, but sucked it up and continued on. A cool urban legend though.
dcparris

Sep 16, 2006
9:27 PM EDT
Yeah, I figured - just to lazy to do a search on it. Still good for a laugh.

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