[TriLUG] don't sweat the M$ issue...

[David R. Matusiak]

Dear Greg Brown (and those like him) --

it is completely understandable to be flustered with MicroSoft. he**, if you 
have worked in any sort of computer admin position for any period of time, you 
have had to deal with their lame products, loose security, and domineering 
licensure. not to mention the nearly-brainless users and their never-ending "How 
do I save this document?" questions. after a while, it builds to a point that 
you simply don't want to deal with them anymore.

this happened to me in 1997. earlier for many others.

but there are some valuable things you have to retain focus on during these 
frustrating times. life lessons, if you will.

i'm typing this to you from a windows 2000 Dell PII 300 Mhz P.O.S. 
i'm using SecureCRT to ssh2 to a server in california from which i do all my 
emailing in pine. why am i telling you this? why does it matter?

it matters 'cause the world ain't gonna bend to your will. there are a lot of 
people in the world that F*****G HATE microsoft. much, much more than you ever 
will. i'm talking about huge masses of people here - many of them techie 
decision makers. and how has that effected the computing landscape over the past 
decade?

well, if i were some big shot reporter for Network World or PC Week, i would 
take this opportunity to GUSH about how linux is clearly taking over the world 
and how friggin' fantastic it is. and then i would have to eat my words later 
and look like a dork.

instead i'll give you my level best. i would say it hasn't changed the picture 
that much. there are still bazillions of win machines out there and it will be a 
cold day in hades before that changes. same thing with AOL. they have made these 
utterly complex boxes approachable to the knuckle-dragging EveryMan (and the 
shopping-obsessed EveryWoman -- just to be fair). and these are the poor souls 
who will forever be chained to clunky interfaces, slow transaction times, and 
deteriorating service.

but still there will be places/occasions where you have to deal with the beast. 
what if i want to check my email from my mom's computer?
what if my work requires me to use an M$ "technology?" (thankfully, it doesn't).
what if i lose my job and the economy blows so bad that i have to do tech 
support for 50 Win98 browsing stations?
what if...
  what if...

my point is this - you seemed to be getting quite upset in your "F**K Microsoft 
in the A** for 2003" campaign and i wanted to make the suggestion to 

          "just let it go............"

do yourself a major big favor and go buy a new macintosh. ANY ONE.
then proceed to wipe the disc (including the botched OS 9) and re-install OSX 
cleanly. then whatever apps you might need (yes - including whatever M$ products 
you might think you'd use). then start your own "Computing Happily Ever After" 
initiative. i would bet you find it to be a much more pleasurable experience.

leave the linux, bsd, etc for the "True Hackers" (read: gluttons for punishment) 
and simply get on enjoying your life. and a final point for all of you:

          these "tools" are supposed to be just that. tools. things we use to 
          make our lives easier/better. no one ever said that you have to spend 
          your whole life compiling kernels or installing patches to use a 
          computer. that lifestyle may make you feel l33t, but it will not 
          get you laid. it will not improve your golf swing. it will not help 
          you understand your fellow man or communicate more effectively.

what do you want a computer for?
what do you intend on using it for?
why worry? why stress?

don't stress. simply, do.

apple is not going to custom-burn you a damn thing. and why are you so special? 
'cause you are pissed off? if that is the case then you should be out there 
everyday writing a better browser. i proudly use IE 5.14 on Mac OSX, not to 
mention the beautiful integration of M$ Office for OSX (much superior to Win 
variants). M$ does make some amazing products and i would like to encourage them 
to do so. the real problem lies in their weak, insecure OS and their disgusting 
market domination. don't blast the entire product line because of their OS. 

if you truly can't have these on your machine, then AppleWorks will read/write 
all the docs you want (it is slow as heeeeee********). and mozilla or omniweb 
should suit you just fine for browsing. there are always replacement options. 

lastly, i would like to correct you on your "addiction" comment. forced 
compliance is NOT addiction. addiction is an inwardly-guided personal choice, 
usually based upon an individuals' weaknesses. being forced by someone with 
more power to eat s**t your whole life does not mean you are "addicted to 
eating s**t." 

like Mike says -- "...be realistic..."
drm
___  _ _____ . ....
m a h t o o z e e a c k  a t  s p e e k e e z e e  d o t  n e t
------ / / .........     . . .

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 12:00:02 -0400
From: "trilug-request at trilug.org" <trilug-request at trilug.org>
To: "trilug at trilug.org" <trilug at trilug.org>
Subject: TriLUG digest, Vol 1 #369 - 18 msgs

--__--__--

Message: 13
From: Greg Brown <gregbrown at mindspring.com>
To: trilug at trilug.org
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 06:54:34 -0400
Subject: [TriLUG] Re: Frustrated MS users turn to Linux, Apple
Reply-To: trilug at trilug.org

I know I'm frustrated!  I'm actually putting together a webpage called 
"Microsoft Free in 2003" where I'll be detailing my efforts to displace ALL 
Microsoft software in my house.  I started to outline this project on the 
long flight back from Korea and it's actually more complex than just 
purchasing new Apple hardware or loading up Linux on the existing systems.  
My entire household depends on the existing computer infrastructure so there 
is bound to be more than a little resistance to the new software as we are 
all addicted to MS in some way or another.  Besides, the default browser for 
the Mac is Internet Explorer - the result of a dance with the devil between 
Steve Jobs and Billy-Bob Gates.  Since I cannot - and will not - purchase any 
software from MIcrosoft does this rule out Mac laptops?  The other question 
is does Microsoft make any money from Apple when a new Mac is sold (for the 
IE software)?  If they don't then I suppose I can still purchase the Mac and 
immediatly rip out IE as step on - or better yet - contact Apple as ask them 
to ship a custom burn of OS X without IE, which I doubt they'll do.

One thing that stikes me as weird here is it was easier to quit smoking 
cold-turkey than it is to change operating systems.  That's an addiction on 
some level.

Anyway, I'm still working on the webpage.  I'll send out a link when it comes 
on-line.  I picked 2003 to be MS free because .NET is on the horizon and I 
will NOT upgrade my systems to XP or .NET.  I'm sick enough of my computers 
transmitting data to Microsoft and other compaines without my premission 
running Win2k.

Blah blah blah.

Greg

--__--__--

Message: 14
From: Mike Helms <Mike.Helms at martinmarietta.com>
To: "'trilug at trilug.org'" <trilug at trilug.org>
Subject: RE: [TriLUG] Re: Frustrated MS users turn to Linux, Apple
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 08:13:30 -0400
Reply-To: trilug at trilug.org

Greg,

A couple of thoughts.

It would be virtually impossible for me to ditch Windows completely.  Part
of my living is made on AutoCAD, and there simply isn't a competing product
that can do what I do with AutoCAD.

I have also yet to find a suitable replacement for Microsoft Office.  I know
there was a lengthy thread about this earlier - but love it or hate it, Word
and Excel are the standards of the world, and for a lot of what I do, I need
to submit reports (fairly complcated ones at that, with embedded tables and
graphics and advanced formatting).

So, for that reason, I'll probably always have a Microsoft machine on my
network.

However, it won't stop me from running a good firewall that will block it
from "phoning home".  I do, and I open up only the ports that I need for my
regular internet activity.  I believe that this is good network dilligence,
and not just something to spite Microsoft.

Having said all of that - I love the idea of moving the bulk of my day to
day work over to Linux.  Email and web browsing probably constitutes over
half of my work, and there's absolutely no reason why this can't be moved
over with minimal pain and agony.

I think the sentiment of "Microsoft free in 2003" isn't a bad one, but it
may not be realistic, given Microsoft's virtual domination in the various
computing standards of the world.  Make sure your motives are actually going
to make you more productive and effective, since political agendas rarely
get work done.

Cheers,
-- Mike Helms