Windows Rant

[chris]

On Mon, 2010-07-12 at 21:10 +0100, Angus MacGyver wrote:
> On Mon, 2010-07-12 at 14:53 +0200, Amedee Van Gasse (ub) wrote:
> > On Sun, July 11, 2010 23:44, Angus MacGyver wrote:
> > 
> > > Good grief - have you no heart ?
> > > Are people *REALLY* that greedy these days ?
> > > Have we lost compassion for one another, the joy of gifting and most
> > > importantly love ?
> > > I'm appalled and disappointed.
> > 
> > Read my mail again. Read it very carefully.
> 
> Assumption #1 - that I didn't...
> Fact #1 I did - many times with abject horror and disbelief.
> 
> > I can't help it if it causes cognitive dissonance in your mind, but it has
> > *NOTHING* to do with greed.
> 
> Unwillingness to give your own time for your *OWN* family without
> charging - that is selfishness, and yes, greed, if not for money, but
> for "your" time.
> 
> Quoting your original email...
> "Why do you support your relatives for free?"
> "who would otherwise have made a small profit "
> 
> On the point you raised with Doug - I am also married with children, but
> will still gladly give my time to sort family's "PC" problems, I just do
> it when my kids are in bed so they don't lose out.
> 
> > Obviously you don't work in IT. 
> 
> HAHA...EPIC FAIL.
> Sorry, but you really have no idea.
> That was Assumption #2
> Fact #2
> 
> I *HATE* Windows with a passion, so much so, my own Desktop Services
> department aren't surprised that when my company laptop supplied with
> Windows goes back to them to have the next "mandatory fix" installed,
> *THEY* were the last people to turn it on and login, somewhere about 3
> months ago.
> It's a standing joke with them that I don't use it, so why do I need it.
> (it's something known as on-call)
> 
> I have a Sun workstation under my desk running something sensible to do
> my job - really need a Windows app? - it's called Citrix/RDP.
> 
> Even though I despise Windows for a great many reasons, quite some time
> ago it used to make me a living, and I know what I'm doing, so I will
> happily work on Windows for my family.
> 
> 
> > Obviously you never heard questions like these:
> 
> > * Hey Mark, I don't have a modem and can't connect to the Internet, can
> > you fix this?"
> > * "I removed some of the pins from my monitor cable because it didn't seem
> > to fit right, now it's not working at all...can you fix my computer?"
> > * Hey Sally, Can you fix my Internet, everytime I visit a website it says
> > my host is unknown"
> 
> 
> I've probably heard them all - and more, my mother is by far the best
> example (in the technology arena) of the developer's mantra of "....the
> universe will make better idiots" 
> It might help if she actually read her notes she makes on "Post-It"'s
> mind, but that is just one frustrating, but nonetheless, endearing part
> of what make my mother who she is.
> 
> Y'know something though ?
> It's been massively better since she upgraded WinXP to first Redhat 9.0,
> then Sun Java Desktop, OpenSuse XX, and finally Ubuntu since 6.10 (or
> 6.04, I forget now)
> 
> Hell, I even talked her through a remote / fsck when her lappy failed to
> boot at a conference - all gratis of course..
> Respect ?
> Ohhhhhh yeaaaah.... and then some.
> 
> > So why am I on this mailing list, for free? Because here I can choose. I
> > only answer the questions that I find interesting. I am truly fascinated
> > by interesting problems, and the joy of learning that goes with it. I
> > really want to share that joy.
> 
> Which is great, but is separate from the content about free family
> support.
> 
> >  But only on my terms. I will respect you if
> > you respect me, and vice versa. There is nothing wrong with that, on the
> > contrary: this world needs more respect.
> 
> Yeah, the world does, and a lot more besides.
> But unfortunately with your assumptions about what I do/don't do, and
> belittling attitude because of it, and your attitude towards your
> family, IMHO, you've fallen a little short in my eyes I'm afraid.
> 
> > The Thinkgeek tshirt is tongue-in-cheek, but if you want to read a serious
> > blog post that I agree with, then I recommend this one:
> > http://www.broowaha.com/articles/3671/no-i-will-not-fix-your-computer
> 
> Agree with very large chunks of the article...
> 
> BUT...
> 
> The fine article describes how in a corporate environment, some random
> joe/jane asks their *CORPORATE* "IT guy" to work on their personal
> machine...
> 
> 
> ...and that has precisely *WHAT* to do with family as per your post ?
> 
> 
> (and yes, this post has a lot to do with Linux, one for the plus points
> it has given my mother, and two about the giving nature of the people in
> FOSS that actually make it happen)
> 
> 
> 

Hi Angus, 
really this is a political discussion. My personal point of view - you
cannot argue with the greedy so why bother.
God help us if we cannot help out friends and family
cheers the kiwi