Re: Help

[kmself@ix.netcom.com]

On Wed, Mar 29, 2000 at 02:20:23PM -0800, Erik Ryberg wrote:
> 
> 
> kmself@ix.netcom.com wrote:
> 
> (snipped)
> 
> >
> > Your observation is probably sadly accurate -- people are coming to
> > Linux with zero understanding of the command line or Unix philosophy.
> > I'd prefer to see occasional ribbing a'la Oswald than a less featureful
> > sig.
> >
> > On Wed, Mar 29, 2000 at 11:20:57AM -0800, John Bagdanoff wrote:
> > > I've subscribed & unsubscribed several times over the last 2 years
> > > easily enough, but never could decipher the signature of this list.
> > > Since more and more people from corel and storm distros are joining,
> > > maybe a more decipherable sig could be written?
> 
> (snipped)
> 
> If your objective is to keep debian only for former and current Unix
> users, then your proposal/attitude makes plenty of sense.  

Hardly.  I don't mind explaining the incantation.  Moreover, there's the
remote possibility that either as a result of this explanation, or by
way of independent research, someone might actually learn something and
derive further insight.  It's elitist to the extent that it requires an
ability to learn.  However, it's also a meritocracy -- anyone with
ability can join this group.

> If you wish
> to assist the spread and use of linux and debian and free(dom) software,
> then it doesn't.  My own vote is to discard every element of geekish
> elitism immediately.  That doesn't mean discarding the Unix way of doing
> things, it just means helping others get there more smoothly.

Strong disagreement.  There are ways of packaging Linux (or any OS) to
minimize the dissonance caused by ignorance -- MacOS X is essentially a
BSD box, but it's got some really pretty chrome.  See also If the
masses need a box for the masses, provide that as a seperate offering.
I'll take my Debian raw and uncut.  We aren't a business, we don't need
mass market share.  What we do need is sufficient mindshare -- *of the
elitist, "geekish", obscure-but-oh-so-elegant subset of the population*
-- to propogate development of a better Debian.  At least within this
group.

> Erik Ryberg

-- 
Karsten M. Self (kmself@ix.netcom.com)
    What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand?
    http://gestalt-system.sourceforge.net/