[CLUE-Tech] GPL loopholes

[Matt Gushee]

On Sun, Jul 20, 2003 at 07:35:34AM -0600, Joe Linux wrote:

> Hey, I'm a point and click guy.  If an OS needs a manual just to do 
> simple things, it isn't very good and Joe Public won't use it.  People 
> like computer systems that are simple for an end user.

Not exactly: people like computer systems that are simple for people
like themselves. What's appropriate for a business desktop user, a
professional graphic designer, a scientist, a system administrator, or a
programmer may be completely different things. When you consider the
Unix heritage of Linux, and how things were just four or five years ago,
it should be clear that Linux has come a very long way in a short time.
The fact that some old-timers may think it's come a long way in the
wrong direction ... well, frustrating as it may be to those who just
want a working system, that's part of what makes Linux what it is.

I think most sensible people are open to suggestions for improvement,
regardless of the source. I completely agree that Linux could stand to
be a lot more user-friendly. One reason it isn't is that many past and
future developers really have no idea how to make a system usable for
the average person--yet many of them have contributed tremendously to
making Linux one of the best-performing and robust OSes there is. So,
while constructive criticism is always good, comments like "it isn't
very good" just make it sound like you don't appreciate all the hard
work that others have done for free.


On Sun, Jul 20, 2003 at 10:10:03AM -0600, Collins Richey wrote:
> On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 07:35:34 -0600
> Joe Linux <joelinux at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> > Hey, I'm a point and click guy.  
> 
> Me too.  I point at the bix X and click when I get mail from people who
> hide behind an alias.

On Sun, Jul 20, 2003 at 11:19:34AM -0600, Chris Tubutis wrote:
> 
> I'm also reluctant to try and help people who won't show their faces,
> who won't make their real identities known. Most everybody else in the
> Open Source community uses their real identities (albeit sometimes
> obfuscated), I don't see the need to hide behind an alias. Maybe I just
> don't understand the reasoning in this particular case. Regardless, I
> feel like I'd be trying to help somebody who is hiding inside a closet
> behind the door. Not real comfortable, doesn't make me want to help.

Uh, guys. "Joe Linux" isn't trying to hide. I don't know why he chooses
to use a pseudonym, nor do I necessarily approve of it. But he's a
semi-regular on the list, participates in discussions, usually
constructively or at least politely, and has given a CLUE presentation
... yes, in the flesh. I was there.

Let me ask you this: if he didn't choose to use a name that is so
obviously made-up, would it ever have occurred to you to call him
sneaky? And further: how do I know your names are really Collins Richey
and Chris Turbutis? For all I know, you could be Charles Manson and
Oiver North.

So I say give the guy a break.


-- 
Matt Gushee                 When a nation follows the Way,
Englewood, Colorado, USA    Horses bear manure through
mgushee at havenrock.com           its fields;
http://www.havenrock.com/   When a nation ignores the Way,
                            Horses bear soldiers through
                                its streets.
                                
                            --Lao Tzu (Peter Merel, trans.)