You're a mean one, mr grinch
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| tuxchick Jul 24, 2005 10:59 AM EDT |
My dear little rant-o-matic, your ravings are absolutely cathartic. Allow me to add a few bits. Yes it's true that many computer users are dunces. And Microsoft deliberately markets to this crowd. They have successfully perpetrated the myth that PCs are easy, and that merely possessing one automatically turns the owner into an accountant, graphics artist, writer, Web designer, librarian, publisher, etc ad nauseum. When we all know that PCs are extremely complex tools, and that it takes training and practice to use one effectively. And of course users' own experience should demonstrate to them that computers are neither easy nor magical. But well, you know how people are. They would rather whine, complain, cry, piss, moan, and repeat the same ineffective tactics over and over and over, rather than getting a bit of training, or actually offering their harassed geek chums money to help them. And you and I know that starting over with a new Windows PC is ridiculous- like drinking from the same sewage pond with a different cup. So offering these poor fools Linux is indeed the optimum solution. Because the problem with trying to rescue a Windows computer is it's impossible and uneconomical, no matter what you do. Suppose you want to reformat and reinstall. That takes a couple of hours, and then you have to decide if you want reinstall all the patches and updates, which takes several more hours and reboots. Then you have to reinstall all of your applications. More hours, more reboots. Then you have to apply updates and patches to your applications. More... you know. And if you're using any applications that require registration keys, you have to hassle with those- some even require contacting the vendor for re-activation. Microsoft and other software vendors work very hard to tie their products to specific hardware- they don't want you messing with anything, except when it means pouring more money into their pockets. The economics simply don't justify it, if you value your time and labor. What if you pay someone else to do it? Well, you might as well buy a new PC as spend a few hundred clams paying someone to fix your old one. (if you really want to waste your money call in the Geek Squad, or take it to CompUSA. Lordy, what a bunch of minimum-wage dimwits they call "techs". Sheesh, and the FUDsters claim you can't get Linux support. They never tried getting Windows "support.") And what do you have when you're all finished? Why, the same old malware-friendly piece of excrement that you started out with, all sparkly new and ready with open arms to welcome a fresh batch of Trojans, worms, spyware, adware, bots, and viruses. A minor nit- don't assume that all Linux geeks are into girls. ("Make sure that the person who you gave the disk to has your email addy. (if she's pretty, make that your phone number"). Really now, is this not the 21st century? It's OK to acknowledge that the Me-big-straight-he-man-rescues-pretty-girl model just doesn't apply in a sizable number of situations. |
| dinotrac Jul 24, 2005 12:38 PM EDT |
Tuxchick -- You can rescue me anytime (but don't tell my wife). ;0) |
| Kagehi Jul 24, 2005 1:01 PM EDT |
But tuxchick, the point here is that they are not even bothering to do anything sane with the machine, just tossing it into a dumpster. Hell, I would lover to see these twits flood the local charity places with machines they can no longer use, I need a file server, but buying a complete system would cost too much. lol Seriously, even something as simple as spending five minutes to reformat the drive, to protect the data, is too hard? Never mind that there are problably lots of dumpster divers just looking for some moron to throw out a machine that won't even work well enough, do to their incompetence, that they also can't even erase any of the confidential data on them. Nope, he has it right. These people are total idiots, right across the board and *not* being a similar moron, Ijust wish I had one for a neighbor... |
| AnonymousCoward Jul 24, 2005 3:31 PM EDT |
tuxchick: as long as sheilas elect to play (or be) the helpless victim, it will be hard for blokes to do other than take up one of the other two positions on the triangle. And yes, as long as blokes expect to play the role of all-conquering hero, playing the moron in distress will be the easiest way of getting the most out of the (mostly-bloke) technical community. However... and this is important... The two genders really are different; they think fundamentally differently, are physically fundamentally different, and so on. Each has their advantages in different situations; there is some (much) overlap, but trying to pretend that we're identical is a CFWOT. It also needs to be said in offence of the original author's position that some of the most interesting girls are not particularly pretty, at least to my eyes. Stereotypes amuse me. One particular interesting lass that I know of would not be turned on by the all-conquering hero role. It turns out that the way to get her really excited is to hand her a lawn-mower. She really gets off on the smell of freshly-mown grass. Another regrets not having time to stop and fiddle with her business's website, because she's really turned on by the technical intricacies of HTML -- but she knows that if she let herself go, her "real" business would suffer. |
| AnonymousCoward Jul 24, 2005 3:34 PM EDT |
Kagehi: seconded! |
| tuxchick Jul 24, 2005 7:41 PM EDT |
Kagehi, True. I wouldn't mind being the beneficiary of some nice "contaminated" winduz boxen. Like the fake psychics who relieve customers of their "tainted" money. dinotrac, nothing personal- it's more likely I'd want your wife's phone number. ;) |
| number6x Jul 25, 2005 4:04 AM EDT |
Tuxchick, I advise them to buy macs. Macs are nice computers that do everything these users want. There are cute macs and cool high-tech tower macs. That covers the spectrum of desirabilty. If I switch them to Linux, they only bug me more for help. It would be nice if they threw a few of those used Windows boxes my way now and then. |
| helios Jul 25, 2005 4:04 PM EDT |
Tuxchick - How dare you accuse me of being a sexist...when I have overtly demonstated it time after time...accusations are redundant. I have been away awhile and a friend actually sent me this discussion page on "The Rant". I see now what I should do. Write my blog, submit it here...then plagerize you guys when I publish it openly. LOL You'se guys are good. That's why I love this community. ...and as an aside. We (or I) write mostly based on observation and reaction to other's observations...pretty much thought theft actually. Seems the only FlameMail I received (and there is tons) was from people who openly agreed that throwing away a digitally corrupted computer was a logical choice. However, throwing red meat into the den isn't really the ideal way to gain new users...but seemingly, KIND offerings of help and expertise does not either. I think I need a drink...who's with me? helios |
| Libervis Jul 25, 2005 5:13 PM EDT |
When I've read this story by Helios I thought to myself: "to hell with niceness, he's totally right". There are some things that just cross the line. I know it maybe shouldn't be my concern, it probably shouldn't, but I can at least acknowledge the fact that those poor guys and gals who are more willing to buy a new windows PC instead of getting out of a problem once and for all by taking an actual initiative and trying GNU/Linux, are idiots. They don't think straight really, and I am hard to see it otherwise. Now, don't get me wrong. That doesn't mean that I would hate those idiots or that I am calling them idiots because I want to offend them. It is more that I think of them as people who have a desiese. I pity them for being idiots. Besides, why should we yell at someone who recognizes idiocy in this world and speaks up about it. It's not like idiocy is rare to see. In a contrary, it is everywhere. And constantly being nice guys approaching everything like some kind of psychologists or saints who never say an ugly word isn't always the best way. Sometimes saying it up straight and loud is better. That's all Helios does here. Btw: This doesn't mean I approve stupid flame wars over trivial stuff (e.g. vi vs. emacs and similar). That's totally beyond my point. Thanks Daniel |
| tuxchick Jul 25, 2005 5:16 PM EDT |
helios, WTF... I didn't accuse you of being a sexist. I do accuse you of being thin-skinned and touchy. Sheesh. |
| helios Jul 26, 2005 5:45 AM EDT |
tuxchick...I failed to communicate effectively (imagine that). I was trying to be silly, and to a point, you may be correct in gauging the vertical mass of my epidermis...was trying to do a bit of bonding is all. And doesn't WTF actually stand for "why the flame?" That is what I told my 12 year old daughter when she read this post...yes, I am growing a linux geek. For THAT I may deserve flame. Peace Tuxchick...we're friends. helios |
| SFN Jul 26, 2005 6:10 AM EDT |
"And doesn't WTF actually stand for "why the flame?" That is what I told my 12 year old daughter when she read this post." A guy that I work with gave me one of those "WTF" mugs from ThinkGeek for Christmas. The President of the company saw him giving it to me and wanted to know what "WTF" stood for. Without blinking an eye he said, "Windows Task Force". |
| peragrin Jul 26, 2005 9:41 AM EDT |
Quoting:A guy that I work with gave me one of those "WTF" mugs from ThinkGeek for Christmas. The President of the company saw him giving it to me and wanted to know what "WTF" stood for. Without blinking an eye he said, "Windows Task Force". Windows Task Force, and What the Fsck are basically the same thing. You usually say what the fsck is going on when dealing with Windows Tasks. |
| tuxchick Jul 27, 2005 7:49 AM EDT |
helios, OK I take it all back. sorry! It's the heat making me grumpy. Yeah, that's it, the heat. (You will have the courtesy to not notice that my house has central air, and is comfortable. So comfortable that it becomes infested with sweaty neighbors seeking refuge. I tell them to cool off in the irrigation ditch, but they merely smile sweetly and help themselves to more food and drink.) |
| geso Jul 29, 2005 12:40 AM EDT |
Thanks peragrin for brinnging that out. When I read tyhe thoughts of Libervis the first wods i uttered were WTF .No need of beating around the bush. Anyway What the Fsck is not going on! HAHA |
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