[ale] Again with the filesystem recovery SOLUTION?

[John Wells]

Drew,

With white flags a waving, here's how I look at it:

A friend of mine bought a BMW M5 recently.  I still hate him for it.
But, damn, what a car.  It just reeks of power and style.

Before the M5, he had a Ford Probe.  Drove it just fine.  But when he
bought the M5, his dad (an ex-BMW road racer) had him take a class at
Road Atlanta to learn how to drive the thing.

Why?  Because up until then, he had only driven a Ford Probe.  The M5
had too much power, too many intricacies (yes, a true sports car should
be driven properly and there's a lot of details to understand) to be
used efficiently by someone who had no idea how to control it.  His dad
felt it wasn't safe to set him out on the road before he had a decent
understanding of how to drive it.

Did the fact that the Probe *didn't* warrant special training to drive
it make it a better car?  Perhaps, depending on who you ask.  If you ask
someone who doesn't care about speed, German engineering, and a racing
supension that can take the sharpest curves at 80 mph, they'll
probably tell you the Probe is indeed the better car for them...it makes
things easier, but sacrifices a certain amount of speed/handling/etc. in
the process.  They don't need that extra kick.

However, ask someone who can appreciate the M5 for what it is...someone
who has either been trained or has driven an M5 long enough to know that
there is a certain skill in being able to drive it and drive it well,
and they'll definitely tell you the opposite.

Kinda the way I look at Windows/Linux.  With Windows, you can jump right
in and it has enough safety features in place that you probably will be
able to develop some level of comfort rather easily.  Windows is an
economy car.  Linux, otoh, is the M5 of the popular operating systems on
the market: fast, efficient, and potentially dangerous, if you don't
understand what you're doing.

So, you make the choice on what you drive.  If you want the M5, go for
it.  But, if you don't take precautions and make time to learn how to
drive it, don't blame BMW when you total it.  And don't complain to all
the other BMW drivers that their cars suck because you wrecked yours.  You
knew (or at least, know now) the risks going in.

And, don't give up.  Many people are working very hard to develop an
"economy" Linux for the masses...it just isn't quite there yet.

John



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