GNU/Linux: Too Much about Hate, Not Enough about Pride (LinuxPlanet) [LWN.net]

GNU/Linux: Too Much about Hate, Not Enough about Pride (LinuxPlanet)

Posted Apr 7, 2008 19:18 UTC (Mon) by allesfresser (subscriber, #216)
Parent article: GNU/Linux: Too Much about Hate, Not Enough about Pride (LinuxPlanet)

I think the portrayal of Linux supporters as being only defined by their opposition to
Microsoft is true only for those Linux supporters that are only defined by their opposition to
Microsoft.  :)  There is such a group.  But they are only a subset, albeit unfortunately a
vocal one.  I have found that those who have a history of contributing positively to the free
software ecosystem tend to just ignore Microsoft as much as possible, rather than ranting
about it...

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which came first?

Posted Apr 8, 2008 4:30 UTC (Tue) by dmarti (subscriber, #11625) [Link]

But are they Linux supporters who post on message boards about hating MSFT, or MSFT haters on
message boards who happened to latch onto Linux?  Just getting someone on your side in an
online argument doesn't mean that you have any meaningful connection with the person.  In the
user group scene I have seen people arriving motivated by curiosity, by wanting to get a
certain project done, and by dislike for MSFT -- the first two are strong enough to get the
person over the transition to an unfamiliar OS, and the last one isn't.   

In the late 1990s I saw a mental health article that pointed out MSFT and then-CEO Bill Gates
had passed "the government" and "aliens" as a subject of paranoid delusions -- mental health
practicioners were reporting that patients told more stories of MSFT spying on them,
implanting chips in their heads, etc. than the previous top two.  I don't have the link,
though -- anyone remember this?

which came first?

Posted Apr 8, 2008 6:18 UTC (Tue) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]

No, but I'm sure Google is making its way up there now. :)

which came first?

Posted Apr 8, 2008 15:30 UTC (Tue) by man_ls (subscriber, #15091) [Link]

As it well should... they already have your mail, your videos, your internet queries, and they want all of your traffic. MS is jealous with reason.

By the way, have you realized that people able to configure a mail client (not even a server) are the 21th century equivalent of those capable of building their own car in the 1920s? OK, I'm exagerating, but not that much. In any case, preconfigured internet services are now a commodity for most people; and that entails trusting your provider in ways previously unthinkable. I know that for me Google searches follow my thought processes closer than an EEG.

which came first?

Posted Apr 8, 2008 7:39 UTC (Tue) by viro (subscriber, #7872) [Link]

You are forgetting the third possibility: advocates.  It doesn't matter
_what_ is advocated - no more than for any other tosser.  S/h/it might
change the poster when it's sufficiently covered with, er, drying evidence
of affection and the next one might even have a different picture on it.
If you hold your nose and look into old usenet archives, you'll see any
number of those migrating from one "community" to another - Amiga to OS/2 to
MacOS to BeOS to whatnot, with the same kind of rethorics and the same
whatever it is that replaces mind in fanboys.  VMS ones too, if you go a bit
earlier.  They migrate; it had been rather amusing in a sick kind of way
to watch exhalted Linux advocates go and pester FreeBSD folks in a more
embarrassing capacity - that of equally exhalted FreeBSD advocates.  BTW,
they seem to have a territorial behaviour of sorts; ones who discover the
new territory appear to emit satisfied noises in direction of their slower
brethren.  Ironically, it resembles earlier behaviour of locals, who used
to enjoy relatively idiot-free environment and to taunt the previous victims
of advocates' attention by associating those with the flocks of turd-flinging
pests.

The choice of enemy also can change.  FWIW, it looks like the real attraction
for persons in question is a safe and heroic fantasy - that of bravely
fighting the terrible enemy of humanity and feeling themselves comfortably
exempt from any kind of work that might require intellectual efforts.
IOW, Luke Skywalker wannabes.  It's not about being anti-MS or pro-Linux, etc.
What really counts is seeing a setup that might match their template.

I'm not a prude and I certainly do not deny that they are entitled to their
kinks of choice, but there's a difference between being hostile to people
fond of buggering dead chipmunks and being annoyed by vigorous demonstrations
of the same in public places...