i read this here from a different thread...
"Windows is instant noodles. Bad for you, but convenient.
Now linux...linux is a kitchen." -moogs
Ian Dexter R. Marquez wrote:
Hi, Wilson!
On 1/30/06, *Wilson John D. Barbon* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> wrote:
Silly of me for asking in this mailing list--intended for
"technical" matters. But I remember when I signed up for this list
when I stumbled into PLUG website a couple of months ago it
says--mailing list for newbies.
The plug-newbies list has been deprecated. If you cared to read through
the archives, you'll learn why.
I don't intend to be philosophical in raising that question. I got
the idea of asking that question after reading some articles in
Linux Magazine about how Linux solutions can also have myths--and
can be very frustrating for desktop users like me and the many PC
users on the planet.
The thing is, the way you phrased your question required answers that
will go nowhere. There are questions, and there are smart questions. As
Paolo said, the question you raised is of the type that's "amorphous"
and better left for beer-drinking sessions -- or in the case of PLUG,
our catch-all channel, plug-misc.
Since we talk about philosophy, Socrates was famous for saying "know
thyself" or "the unexamined life is not worth it"--for linux failing
to see linux beyond the many "technical" blabber in this mailing
list or beyond the flame wars that are happening--we may never know
where we are going.
Linux can and do see beyond mere "technical blabber". (Now, why do I
feel weird about this personification of Linux?) Linux developers and
the community are all humans -- well, most are, and rumor has it that
*some* kernel hackers are actually Turing machines -- and they have
actually bothered to make road maps for Linux. We wouldn't be able to
do half the things we can do now in Linux, had there not been careful
examinations of what makes Linux tick.
Personally, after many sleepless nights looking for solutions just
to make my soundcard work, or wifi device to work--I am aksing
myself is it worth it? Using OpenOffice alongside MS Office users is
a nightmare.
<snip>
Damn it, I completely trusted OpenOffice Impress to just smoothly
convert to .ppt and did not bother to check if its ok for the file
to be opened in powerpoint.
OpenOffice.org != Microsoft Office. Never was, never will be. ;)
Am i more productive in Linux than using MS Windows XP? I asked.
Rhetorical?
Flame wars, it really sometimes annoying but it is in flamewars that
we get feedback from Linux users. It is through rants and complaints
that Linux and other FOSS shape up
No. Flames burn, some more badly than others. It is only through
well-thought discussions that Linux/FOSS (and the community) can grow.
I have expected some more factual information from the views of
Filipino Linux users like how these articles view Linux. But instead
of getting these, i was dismissed as irrelevant and should stay in
the "plug-misc" maling list. Again, if this mailing list is
technical in nature, I apologize for the error. I do understand the
limited resources we have Linux and spending bandwidth for these
"intellectual masturbation" is really a waste of resources and time
especially for a maling list intended for geeky and technical
blobber. Months after I have been a member of this list most of the
entries and subjects are coming from sysadmins, developers,
programmers--few are coming from desktop users. I sometimes I get
the impression that linux is not ready for the desktop user all the
more for people who are not into programming, sysadministration and
the like.
I'm sorry for the tone the post you're referring to has taken. I would
have taken umbrage in it myself, but people here have to don asbestos
suits sometimes. ;) The common misconception, though, that "Linux is for
geeks" is outright false. Linux is for those who care enough to learn
it. It's not for the impatient. (And, yes, Linux on the desktop has been
around. I have "users" here who take to Linux on the desktop as penguins
to water (or salmon); and to take they've been weaned from MS quite
successfully.)
If you have specific questions (read: not open-ended ones that tend to
go nowhere), fire away. But think through your questions first: maybe
you already have the answers -- you're just not looking very carefully.
Read the manual. Ask Google (it's your friend). If all else fails, post
it here, complete with the steps you took. But please note that people
here volunteer to answer questions -- they're not your personal butler
nor Google keyword factory -- so they appreciate well-crafted questions,
and will answer them happily, if they can.
Well, hey, Wilson. Don't fret, and don't get discouraged. :)
--
Ian Dexter R. Marquez
http://iandexter.co.nr [PGP key: 0x707F6E40]
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