[NTLUG:Discuss] Something to ponder (bad Linux enterprise experience article)

[Lance Simmons]

On Thu, Aug 14, 2003 at 10:11:58AM -0500, terry wrote:
> Lance Simmons wrote:
> >
> >>Most of the problems raised have some validity... our attitudes need
> >>adjusting... I see it even on the NTLUG list from time to time.
> >>Patience and understanding are key.
> >
> >The article spoke of "Open Source" instead of "Free Software" and
> >"Linux" instead of "GNU/Linux",  so I stopped reading after the first
> >line.  :)
> >
> You'll need to explain your self a little better, at least to me.

My fault.  I was making an overly-cryptic joke about one particular
attitude of some GNU/Linux users that might need some adjusting.
Perhaps there really are some people who on principle would immediately
stop reading an article or talking to a person that used offensive
phrases such as "Open Source" or "Linux".  I, however, am not such a
person.  I really did read the article, even though its early use of
"Open Source" and "Linux" signalled to me that I would probably find it
uncongenial.  As it turned out, and as several others on this list have
attested, there was a lot more to dislike about the article than its
widely shared assumptions about free software versus open source
software! :)

Of course, it's easy for me to be a purist about free software -- I
started using GNU/Linux in 1998, and am barely to the point of writing
elementary (and even then really, really bad) shell scripts!  Actual
programming will likely turn out to be beyond me, but I hope some day to
find out.  In any case, since I'm not employed in the IT sector, and
thus don't have a personal financial stake in whether free software or
open source is "better for business", I may be missing some deep
insights that would help me better understand the issue.  Of course, in
most matters we typically think impartiality allows people to think more
clearly, but I won't try to pursue that line of argument.

Anyway, sorry for the failed attempt at humor.

-- 
Lance Simmons
Irving, Texas

Kent: And the results are in.  For Sideshow Bob, 100%, for Joe Quimby,
      1%.  And we remind you there is a 1% margin of error.
		-- "Sideshow Bob Roberts"