RE: Microsoft's plans to kill open source: TCPA
Colin Watson said on 5 November 2002 1:38 PM
>Why, thank you so much. I generally don't complain publicly about this
>sort of thing, and don't propose to change that because I'm no good at
>it and would generally just be counter-productive. I take offence at the
>suggestion that I'm "[sitting] on my bum"; if you like you can just
>uninstall anything I've been involved with.
>
>(Yes, I know, this is also a mini-rant. It's late at night, so there.)
My apologies Colin - my comments were not meant as a personal attack on
people but a demonstrative point that the majority of people sit on their
arses and do nothing. Then when the shit hits the fan they're the loudest
and most vocal of components against the "wrong doing". For sure people sit
on their bums for a particular reason - myself I really should sit on my bum
and do nothing because I am very blunt, and bluntness is not always the way
to solve an issue. But I figure if I don't say something, then i'm wasting
my viewpoint.
As for Matthew' comments earlier today, i'll ignore his sarcasm. Senator
Richard Alston wouldn't know how to wipe his arse let alone answer an email.
What would the Australian government do if 80% of the population said they
did not want palladium, or software that contained palladium components? I
do realise that most people are computer illiterate and non technical so
they wouldn't necessarily understand the gist of the technical things, until
you explained it to them in laymens terms. It can be done - i've taught
senior citizens basic computer skills (unpaid community volantary work) and
if I can teach them stuff, then i'm sure most of us (debian) users [who are
generally more technical savvy than ordinary people] can figure out how to
explain it to our families and friends. Most people know the term "big
brother" and don't particularly like it, but accept it. That's why it's
useful to encourage them to complain about issues like this. Seriously, if
no one complains palladium/tcpa will succeed. I don't think anyone of us
really want that to happen. It would basically ensure Microsofts ongoing
market dominance and I don't think that's healthy for the software market as
a whole.
Dave
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