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cmdr_zoomToo-Much-Slashdot Dept.:
Linux will never "succeed" (in the sense of being a true consumer alternative/competitor to Windows) because there is a significant portion of the user/coder base (in the Linux community, they’re often one and the same) with a personal investment in keeping it inconvenient and incomprehensible. If Linux were no longer a Mystery Club, with initiation rites and Sekrit Handshakes, on what would they base their claim of superiority over the manifestly stupid Common Man? These are the sort of snobs who screech at any compromise or concession to the idea of making things easier for the end user. Computing is a privilege, not a right; only smart people should be allowed to use a Real OS! If you can’t assemble and compile a kernel by hand, you should just give up, go back to the kiddie table, and accept your status as an untermensch "luser."
(For that matter, I sometimes wonder if these guys use their own computers for anything besides coding, email, and posting to Slashdot; or are they, like a certain class of car buff who never seems to go driving, too busy tuning, tinkering, stripping down and rebuilding, and sometimes giving it a fresh glossy coat of Enlightenment or KDE?)
Maybe Tux, the cute slouching penguin mascot of Linux, should have a green star added to his belly. Then we'll all know who's l33t by who has stars on thars.
It’s the eternal "outsider" conundrum: we want to be popular and accepted, but we don’t want to change. We want other people to suddenly start liking the esoteric things we like. Of course, if by some miracle they do, they ruin it in the process; those things are now "too mainstream", dumbed down and tainted by their inclusion into popular culture, and no fun anymore.
Linux will never "succeed" (in the sense of being a true consumer alternative/competitor to Windows) because there is a significant portion of the user/coder base (in the Linux community, they’re often one and the same) with a personal investment in keeping it inconvenient and incomprehensible. If Linux were no longer a Mystery Club, with initiation rites and Sekrit Handshakes, on what would they base their claim of superiority over the manifestly stupid Common Man? These are the sort of snobs who screech at any compromise or concession to the idea of making things easier for the end user. Computing is a privilege, not a right; only smart people should be allowed to use a Real OS! If you can’t assemble and compile a kernel by hand, you should just give up, go back to the kiddie table, and accept your status as an untermensch "luser."
(For that matter, I sometimes wonder if these guys use their own computers for anything besides coding, email, and posting to Slashdot; or are they, like a certain class of car buff who never seems to go driving, too busy tuning, tinkering, stripping down and rebuilding, and sometimes giving it a fresh glossy coat of Enlightenment or KDE?)
Maybe Tux, the cute slouching penguin mascot of Linux, should have a green star added to his belly. Then we'll all know who's l33t by who has stars on thars.
It’s the eternal "outsider" conundrum: we want to be popular and accepted, but we don’t want to change. We want other people to suddenly start liking the esoteric things we like. Of course, if by some miracle they do, they ruin it in the process; those things are now "too mainstream", dumbed down and tainted by their inclusion into popular culture, and no fun anymore.
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(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-20 06:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-20 07:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-01-21 09:32 am (UTC)