[ale] OT: The Amazing WEB

[William Wylde]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Original Message <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

On 2/18/02, 1:18:09 PM, Dow Hurst <dhurst at kennesaw.edu> wrote regarding Re:
[ale] OT: The Amazing WEB:


> The internet is for passing information primarily and if you don't know
> anything, you can't pass any info worth listening to.  Also, the "greed
> motive" applied in the sense of true American capitalism is simply
> betterment of resources and lifestyle and is not really greed in an evil
> sense of stealing or hurting others.  So Micro"evil"Soft examples don't
> apply to normal American capitalism.  Unregulated capitalism is actually
> regulated by the morals of each person involved.  A democratic and free
> society can't function without each individual having internal rules of
> law and order guiding them in choices.  Without that you have to enforce
> laws since people choose not to enforce them upon themselves and we know
> where that path leads...

> Anarchy!


Actually, anarchist theory incorporates "inner laws" into it's worldview.
 It just doesn't agree with the logical conclusion that equitable society
demands a thrid-party intermediary, "government", in order to settle
disputes. Everybody working for the collective good spontaniously,
yadda-yadda.

...well, it's an OT thread, anyway... heh.  ;-)

As to Micro$oft being an "evil empire"- I think it's more IBM's decision
to put DOS on it's PC's, PC's being generally cheaper than Macs, and the
concurrent proliferation of DOS/Intel boxes which accounts for
Micro$oft's supremacy.  We may scoff at M$ products as being "designed
for simpletons", and indeed it is, but at least I, for one, came into
computing through the hobbiest route- and with no teacher "simpleton" is
the best enviroment to be in.  :-)

Linux is primarily an interest of power-users, programmers, and
network/IT people- since the features which make it interesting address
the needs of those people.  While I will agree that most things really do
run better in a linux enviroment- ESPECIALLY net-related stuff- until
linux is made as accessable to "simpletons" as windoze is, it'll always
be a niche-market (which isn't to imply by the term "niche market" that
there might not be considerable impact on computing in both terms of cash
involved and work done). Joe Six-Pack, who's buying his first computer
about now and who's never worked with any kind of computing equipment in
his life wants and needs a "simpleton" level interface to use the thing
at all.

Which isn't to make an argument, one way or the other, about Micro$oft's
buisness practices- simply for it's success.  A rather roundabout way of
saying that it's the need it fulfills, and not it's buisness practices
which account for it's success...

Never forget that not only do some people know what goes on "under the
hood" in windoze, but they don't even WANT to know!

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