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If your computer is failing you, maybe the first question is; 'maybe it would have been a better idea to purchase something that actually costs more than $50 with a $150 AOL rebate' or better yet, don't install 10tonnes of crap off the internet, everytime a popup advertises something.

popup what is that? I'm sorry I use FireFox and don't have to deal with popup hell like you do buddy! And your a troll! you say you have used Linux since day one but Windows is better? Your a lier! If fact were known I bet you don't have the knowledge to install and set up a Gentoo system, you act like you do but your rhederic shows your stupidity.

Where did he say Windows was better? Try reading people's posts properly before responding.

I started with Slackware in 1994 when I started college. Right now, I think Windows makes a better desktop because it allows me to do what I need to in order to make money and keep my job. Plus I can play games without screwing with WINE.

You can call me a liar as well, but if you do, there's something wrong with you.

popup what is that? I'm sorry I use FireFox and don't have to deal with popup hell like you do buddy! And your a troll! you say you have used Linux since day one but Windows is better? Your a lier! If fact were known I bet you don't have the knowledge to install and set up a Gentoo system, you act like you do but your rhederic shows your stupidity.

1) I use Firefox, and hence, I see no popups either - with that being said, I'm not mindlessly loyal to Firefox, if IE 7 proves to be a better tool for the job, I'll give that a try.

2) Learn what a troll is before you start throwing around words; a troll, by definition is an individual who makes inflamatory comments, then disappears afterwards to watch the carnage, then possibly re-appear under a different psuedonym and provide the argument further - I don't fall under that, as you obviously see by my profile.

3) I never said Linux or Windows was superior; I simply pointed out WHY people use Windows over Linux; Windows, for all intensive purposes is GET - Good Enough Technology. It may not be the best, but its good enough to get the job done with minimum fuss or bother for the end user, and that is what counts at the end of the day, not fancy technical jargon about open standards and the like.

4) I posted on comp.os.linux.advocacy (aka COLA) for several years, under several different handles, so please, don't try to paint me off as 'yet another windows fanboy'.

You know, that "tiddling" isn't exactly a giant waste of time if your job is little more than efficient "tiddling" . And that's a very valid job classification, it's called administrator.

So, to insinuate that those who "tiddle" must be 13 year olds with nothing better to do is a bit naive and makes you come off as trolling.

The next trouble is the higher level of tiddling. Maybe Redmond's version of how to use a computer is exactly what yours is. I'd find that odd for someone who sounds like he uses his computer a lot, since their default setup is more lent toward someone who's first seeing said computer and may use it for a half hour a week . The idea that we should have no "tiddling" but should simply use our computer as is is silly. Would you leave your office as it was given to you? Would you be fully content with that half broken Dell keyboard as it was given to you? Are you honestly telling us all that upon getting a cell phone you do not ever enter a number into the address book, attach ringers to names, or any other such "tiddling?" Do you even do the touchpad adjustment on your PDA, or is that "tiddling" too?

Setting up a device which you spend most of your working day on to your needs/likes is not "tiddling." It's called customization, and it's a very important ability to have. One which I think Microsoft has done a pathetic job on in Windows. They've made Office adjustable. Word adjusts its menus to you, and you setup your own toolbars. But Windows, you can use classical or xp mode for the start menu! You can have the panel in any one of 4 locations! And it can be multiple levels thick too!
I sincerely doubt this is the optimal way of things for everyone. I'm much happier with an environment that allows me to customize it to my preferences.

There's always going to be some people who need some app, and that's life.


As for blaming the hardware. Sure, it's often a problem. But I guarantee that more than half of all PC related issues are software. I say this because the complexity of the software is vastly greater than the complexity of the underlying hardware, and so the chance of error is higher. There are simply far more untested permutations of use for software than hardware!


I also don't remember referring to anyone as an "idiot." I'm well aware of technical users who are unable to move to Linux, even though they're accurately aware of it. Had you read my whole post you'd have noticed where I spoke of personal preference; many of them may fall under that category. And if not, they, as a whole, would be little more than a statistical anomoly (smaller, even, than the current group of Linux users). I was really trying to speak more of large trends rather than niches.
So, again, in short, my post wasn't about you or people like you, like me, or pretty much anyone else who posts on this site.


And one final thing. Don't refer to me as "babe"; it's demeaning.

1) I never said, 'Don't tiddle' I said, 'don't tiddle if you want a stable system' - when ever you tiddle with something, you *COULD* possibly cause instability problems, just as one would expect if one ran a beta driver because it offers a speed increase, or a piece of software that tweaks undocumented features in Windows which could affect other applications.

Tiddling and instability is no different that if I were to install a UNIX, and start changing around the symbolic links; for example, I download and compile a new version of GTK, for example, and re-create new symobolic links to force all the applications to use that particular version - yes, that will cause instability issues, hence, people will advise, 'use the approved packages'.

No different in the UNIX world than the Windows world; start tiddling, and start expecting problems.

Oh, and for those examples, Microsoft INTENDS for you to modify those parts, hence, they make it possible; tiddling involves bits of software that patch, change and modify the underlying parts to make it do something it was never designed to do.

2) Want to know the epicentre of instability - Symantec and McAfee products; if there was ever a cause of problems I've see on Windows, that sits at the centre of it; and the perception by users that some how Norton makes their computer more reliable, because thats what is says on the box.

3) There are simply far more untested permutations of use for software than hardware! - I definately disagree there; there are hundreds of combinations of hardware, software, memory, video cards etc. Believe me, having fixed computers for a while, you will be suprised what hardware combination can cause alot of grief.

Got a VIA chipset, then you're asking for pain, got a cheap Nvidia graphics card whose company spent more time tweaking than stablising, that'll be another cause of problems.

Software is easy to nail down, its a process of elimination, but for hardware, different story, as the cause can be something as stupid as the memory, and simply replacing it with another branded memory fixes the problem.

4) I was really trying to speak more of large trends rather than niches - And what 'large trend' is that? if Susy home maker can't use Publisher to make her local church fait poster, and billy can't play his shoot 'em up game, then quite frankly, the operating system has failed.

Operating systems allow people to run software, people don't run operating systems for the same of running them - the operating system merely enables the end user to turn their piece of metal and wires into something usable. So even for the 'large trend' linux is making no inroads.

5) I'll call you babe if I want. If you're getting all touchy about it, may I suggest that you obtain some maturity, because you're clearly lacking it.

I've moved on, my teenage years of pointless tiddling with things has been overtaken with higher priorities, and for the vast number around the world, they have higher priorities that tiddling around with their computer

That's exactly my experience. Except that I was more than a teenager when I started tiddling with things, and this is thanks to this tiddling that I now have a well paid job.
Thanks Linux adn FOSS.

Windows XP, although not perfect, if you don't f*ck around with it, you won't have a problem

Even when doing everything the default way in Windows, you WILL have problems, because Windows need constant care, unless you don't do anything with it (like only browsing the web, and receive 1 mail by day). Just think about defragmenting.
Linux is way better for me : even when f*cking around with it, the OS is still there and works well since 2001.

this computer I am writing on right now, was last rebooted because of a system update; but apart from that, I've yet to see one blue screen or death or one total lock up - and this is on a generic Dell Dimension 8400; hardly something that would be considered 'bleeding edge'

The Windows client I have at home crashes every now and then when waking up. I then have to reboot it. It's a fresh install because the old one just auto destroyed itself, it became unusable. The PC it runs on used to run my Linux OS for months.

If there is a case of Windows XP problems, it'll be that thing that sits between the seat and the desk and its obsessive compulsive idea of installing and tweaking crap that doesn't need to be changed

And if there is one area where Linux is better, it's that I don't have to pull such insulting excuses for it not working. I can put my family on my Linux computer. If something does not work, I know it's Linux or the hardware is dead or bad, I don't blame the user. Windows users don't manage, because when they have a problem, Windows zealots tell them they are the problem, because they are unable to fix the problem.

Me? I have my generic Windows XP theme, same background, everything exactly the same when I installed it, I don't have tweakers, modifiers, speed boosters and other crap; and low and behold, I have reach the nirvana of stability

You didn't. I have more stability than you (you have to reboot for every Windows security patch at least), and everyone of my user on my Linux OS can tweak it to their heart content, and yet, the OS will go on for months, especially if I delay reboots to load the latest kernel upgrade.
The nirvana of stability is more what I experience : 3-4 simultaneous desktops more or less customised (Gnome, KDE, XFCE), 250+ processes on the PC, all that on 1 GB RAM. Well I have a bi AMD 2200+ and 15k RPM SCSI disks for the system. All of that runs for months if I don't reboot the system. This system experience 100% CPU usage on both CPUs for hours sometimes, you can barely notice it though, that's why I run gkrellm. Efficiency and stability are paramount on my Linux desktop.