Semantics

A friend pointed out a great article about ditching the 'ready for the desktop' thought process (no pun intended). I happen to agree with him, though more on principal than the semantics of the statement.

A little qualification here first: to me the term 'ready for the desktop' means nothing more than at least 98% of the bugs and interoperability issues for a given release of any operating system and it's bundled software have been handled and either patched, repaired or a documented workaround developed. Having said that...

I think it is time to get rid of the sentiment that one OS or distro or [insert comparable software package term here] is any better than any other. You can spend your entire life arguing that one anything is better than any other but what it comes down to is your preferences versus another person's preferences. The same is true in the OS world: Windows is good at what it does, so are Mac and Linux. They all have their flaws (I speak from personal experience on all accounts). They all have their benefits. And they all have their uses. Take a look at any linux form, fansite, discussion board or junkie hangout and you're likely to see at least one poll asking "which is better: a, b or c flavor of linux?" Why? Because we like to discuss it.

By the same token you can go to a Mac forum, board, etc... and see the same discussion: which version of OS X/Mac OS do you prefer? And there's the constant argument between the different versions of Windows that are out there and which did the best job. Wanna know what the secret to computing life is? Being satisfied with what your are happiest using and makes you the most productive for the work you are doing.

So, did I make my point or did I spend the last five minutes blowing smoke? Let me know, my HTTPDoor's always open.

Gryyphyn, out.
Section-9/The Wired

The return of the DF/W!
Yeah, I suck. Want to know who's worse though?

/ring
Gryyphyn, how can I help?

Tell me why my computer sucks. I can't log on to the internet because my crappy anti-virus program won't let me! It keeps saying that it's out of date and it's locked down the internet!

Did you update your anti-virus?

How do you do that?

Hook it up to the interwebs and tell it to update.

I really did say interwebs, force of bad habit I have to keep under tight control most of the time...

I don't want to hook it up to the internet until it's updated! I don't want to get a virus! You're trying to get my computer infected!

Do you see where this is going?

you have to hook it up to the internet so it can get updated. It has to go out to [virus manufacturer's] website to get the updates so it can apply them and protect your computer.

long pause

Now it's telling me that it can't update because it's not registered! You're making this worse!

30 seconds of me yelling at a muted headset

You have to register the AV or the servers won't allow the program to get updated. In order to register you have to be online. It registers through the AV program so you don't have to get on IE.

laboring under the delusion that it's not the interwebs if it's not IE

long pause

Ok, I'll register it and let it update. But if I get a virus I'm gonna sue your damned company for making me get on the internet without any anti-virus to stop the popups!

Yeah, cause viruses are the primary cause of popups. I love my job, I love my job, I love my job...