[CLUE-Talk] Thoughts on GNU.

[charlie oriez]

On Sunday 26 May 2002 21:59, Jeffery Cann wrote (quoting a kook):

> "But the $15 question remains: would you board an airplane designed by,
> say, 2nd year biology student as a night-time hobby? So what makes you
> think their software design skills are any better?"
>

there was an excellent post somewhere about the theory of airplanes being 
designed like operating systems.

To take great liberties with the discussion between the geek and the luser 
from memory:

Geek: "With the Microsoft plane, it aborted three times between the gate and 
the runway.  Then it couldnt use the first runway it was assigned because it 
wasnt a Microsoft runway.  Then it got most of the way to the destination and 
had to divert 400 miles because the original destination airport wasnt a 
Microsoft airport.  I had to make my reservations 4 weeks in advance and pick 
them up at an approved Microsoft reservation center on the other side of 
town.  The ticket cost me $489 for a 300 mile flight, and drinks cost me $4 
each.  I got to my destination a day late".

"Flying back I took a linux plane.  I didn't need a reservation.  I brought 
my own seat, which was a recliner, and screwed it into the floor using their 
standard tool kit.  The flight was free, left on time, and arrived on time.  
Drinks were free too, since Richard Stallman across the aisle from me 
brought his own cooler of Fat Tire and shared them.  I provided the popcorn.  
Quite a pleasant flight."

Luser: "You had to do WHAT to the seat?"

There was another old joke that a survey said that 99 of 100 mamangers would 
immediately exit in fear any plane found to have been designed by his  
project team. The 100th manager declined to leave, on the theory that any 
plane designed by his team would never leave the gate.

-- 
Charles Oriez, coriez at oriez.org
39  34' 34.4"N / 105 00' 06.3"W
**
"Anyone who slaps a 'this page is best viewed with Browser X' label on a Web 
page appears to be yearning for the bad old days, before the Web, when you 
had very little chance of reading a document written on another computer, 
another word processor, or another network."
             -Tim Berners-Lee in Technology Review, July 1996