Home Tech Support

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Sunday, 26 December 2010

Featured Comments: Week of 2010 December 19

Posted on 16:13 by Unknown
Unfortunately, there were no comments on articles from the previous week (2010 December 12), so there was no accompanying "Featured Comments" article. That can be attributed to the fact that I wrote very few posts that week. Anyway, there were a whole bunch of comments this past week, so I can only post a couple.

Review: Slackware 13.1

There were many comments about this, so I'll post a couple, as well as my responses to them.
An anonymous reader writes, "You never even talked about this distro whatsoever. You just complained about what stuff you were used to that slackware didnt have. if every distro was the same then there would be one distro. Slackware is one of the most stable distros still surviving. You want a extremely stable distro here it is. While i agree that there is no dependacy checking, if you are going to slackware you are usually semi good at the command line and usually know how to install a program anyhow. so its "your" job to do it."
Reader Hannes Worst had this to say: "I think it's an ultimately unfair review. It only states the preferences of the writer and nothing about Slackware. It's like someone allergic to fruit writes a review about apples. From the first sentence on prejudice is shown. When you aren't capable of exploring and researching Slackware, don't write a review about it."
To the anonymous reader, I ask, if complaining about what isn't in the distribution isn't saying something about the distribution itself, then what is? Also, the last point leads me into my response to Hannes Worst.
I may not have made it clear in the review itself, but relatively speaking, I am a newbie to Linux. I like using Linux a lot, but I still have neither the skills nor the patience to work with something like Slackware for a long time just to get it working. I had a feeling that my experience wouldn't turn out so well for this very reason. But I wanted to test this feeling, so I did; I then wrote about the experience. Please tell me: what exactly is wrong with that? I figured that I made it abundantly clear that my issues with Slackware were never meant to reflect poorly on Slackware; quite the opposite: they reflect poorly on me as a Linux user.
I hope all that is cleared up. Next!

Familiarity Breeds Fondness, not Contempt

Reader T_Beermonster had this to say: "Probably the big one for me is the package manager. I've just got so used to APT over the years that I find other (probably equally good) systems don't feel right. Kind of like getting into someone else's car, the biting point is wrong and the seat is the wrong hight." I feel the same way as well, but I must ask, what about when familiar front-ends are applied to different back-ends? For example, PCLinuxOS uses RPMs in the back-end, but its GUI package manager is the familiar Synaptic. How would you feel about using that there? Or am I missing the point entirely?

Bad Experiences are Forever

Reader T_Beermonster wrote a long diatribe against Apple's Macs: "I have a visceral loathing of Apple Macs - not the hardware which in recent times has been quite attractive looking (if overpriced/underspecced). It's the OS."

FOLLOW-UP: Linux and Breakfast Cereals

Commenter twitter had this to say: "Diversity and choice are good, restrictions are bad. Despite the differences between distributions, they all share the same core of free software and all of it tailored to a wide variety of hardware architectures. That means that users get the software they want on the platform they want. Skype is difficult because it is not free software and the company has to do all the hard work of packaging things themselves. If you want Skype to work as well as Mozilla, ask Skype to liberate their code and rely on an honest service model that does not demand undue power over users."

Well, that's all for this week. I hope all the confusion surrounding my motivations regarding the Slackware review are cleared up, and I sincerely apologize for not delivering adequately to those who were expecting a more substantive level appropriate for an intermediate or advanced Linux user trying Slackware. As always, if you like the content, please continue commenting and subscribing. Finally, happy holidays!
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Posted in bad experience, bias, familiarity, Featured Comments, misconceptions, misrepresentation, newbie, prejudice, Slackware, weekly | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • Long-Term Review: openSUSE 12.2 KDE
    I did this long-term review on my normal UROP desktop computer with the 64-bit edition of the OS. Follow the jump to see how it fared. Also ...
  • How-To: Make Xfce Like Unity
    This is more or less the sequel to this post. It came about because I wanted to see if it would be easy to make Xfce look like Apple's ...
  • SourceForge, Pages, and Respins
    I may have mentioned this in a previous post, but I have added new static pages to this blog. I wanted to mention this again as I will proba...
  • Review: Trisquel 4.0.1 LTS "Taranis"
    Main Screen + Main Menu I've read a couple of reviews of Trisquel GNU/Linux, an Ubuntu-based distribution which aims to remove as much n...
  • Review: Fedora 18 "Spherical Cow" GNOME
    Although I have reviewed a number of Fedora remixes, I haven't reviewed proper Fedora since the very first review/comparison test I post...
  • Review: KDE 4.6
    A couple days ago, KDE 4.6 was released for the world to enjoy. It boasts myriad bug fixes, new features for applications like Dolphin and M...
  • A Disappointing Review of #! 10 "Statler"
    Before I say anything else, I'd just like to say that the reason why I haven't posted anything in 2 weeks has been due to me being q...
  • Review: Linux Mint 14.1 "Nadia" MATE + GNOME 3/Cinnamon
    Wow. It's been a really long time since I've had the time to sit down and do a review like this. The reason for that is because this...
  • Review: Pardus 2013 KDE
    My spring break is coming to an end (I only have 1.5 more days), so I figured it might be nice to do another review while I still can. Today...
  • Review: Slackware 13.1
    KDE Main Screen I never envisioned myself trying out any of the more advanced distributions like Slackware, Arch, or Gentoo, but having trie...

Categories

  • 11
  • 13
  • 1st birthday
  • 200th post
  • 2010
  • 2011
  • 2012
  • 2D
  • 3 Idiots
  • 3D
  • 4
  • 600-series
  • 600C
  • 670C
  • 7
  • 7z
  • 8 glasses every day
  • A Short History of Nearly Everything
  • Abiword
  • abuse of copyright
  • Acer
  • ACTA
  • Activities
  • Adafruit
  • admission
  • Adobe
  • Adobe Flash
  • advertisement
  • Afghanistan
  • agricultural company
  • airport security
  • Albert-Laszlo Barabasi
  • amarok
  • amateur
  • amazon
  • Amy Chua
  • anaconda
  • android
  • AP
  • apology
  • apple
  • applications
  • April fools
  • aptosid
  • Arch
  • ArchBang
  • Arizona
  • asana
  • asthma
  • asus
  • Athena
  • ati
  • ATT
  • AUSTRUMI
  • autofailblog
  • autonomy
  • avatar
  • ayurveda
  • bad experience
  • ban
  • basmati rice
  • Ben Kevan
  • bias
  • Big Bang
  • big brother
  • Bill Bryson
  • biography
  • birthday
  • blackbox
  • blind
  • blog
  • blog catalog
  • Blogger
  • Blogilo
  • Blogspot
  • BMW
  • Bodhi Linux
  • bombing in russia
  • Book Review
  • bootloader
  • boson
  • brand name
  • break
  • breakfast cereal
  • Bridge Linux
  • British Chiropractic Association
  • broadcast
  • browser
  • BSD
  • Burj Khalifa
  • Bursts
  • bus
  • cable
  • calculus
  • cambridge
  • canonical
  • capitalism
  • care
  • Carolus Linnaeus
  • cell
  • cell phone
  • CentOS
  • central planning
  • CGS
  • Chak De India
  • Chakra
  • Chamber of Commerce
  • chat
  • cheese webcam booth
  • chemistry
  • chicken
  • chicken tax
  • china
  • choice
  • choqok
  • Chrome OS
  • Chromium
  • chrysler
  • Cinnamon
  • Cinnarch
  • City ID
  • class
  • codecs
  • coffee
  • college
  • commodore
  • Commonwealth Games
  • comparison
  • compatibility
  • competition
  • compositing
  • conference
  • congress
  • copyright
  • copyright infringement
  • corruption
  • counterfeiting
  • courts
  • Creative Commons
  • crunchbang linux
  • cryptography
  • crystal
  • CSS
  • CTKArchLive
  • custom linux spin
  • CwF + RtB
  • Daniel Craig
  • Das U-Blog by Prashanth
  • DEB
  • debian
  • debt
  • Dedoimedo
  • deficit
  • democrat
  • denial
  • Department of Justice
  • derivative
  • desktop effects
  • Die Another Day
  • disability
  • disappointment
  • disney
  • distribution
  • DMCA
  • DNA
  • dolphin
  • donation
  • dormitory
  • dream
  • DreamWorks
  • driver
  • DRM
  • Dubai
  • dvd
  • earthquake
  • Ease
  • ebook
  • economics
  • Edmunds
  • Edubuntu
  • education
  • educational
  • EFF
  • electricity
  • elementary
  • empathy
  • Enlightenment
  • enzo tedeschi
  • EPDFView
  • epiphany
  • essay
  • Evince
  • exam
  • excitement
  • eye of gnome
  • F-Spot
  • facebook
  • Faenza
  • familiarity
  • family
  • FBI
  • Featured Comments
  • fedora
  • Fedora Core
  • Feedbooks
  • felicia
  • Fermat's Last Theorem
  • Ferris Bueller's Day Off
  • fifa
  • file sharing
  • first
  • First Amendment
  • first sale
  • Fluxbox
  • Folder View
  • FOLLOW-UP
  • football
  • ford
  • free software
  • FreeTechie
  • frequency
  • FreshOS
  • frisk
  • frivolous
  • Fuduntu
  • Fusion
  • future
  • FVWM
  • Gabrielle Giffords
  • Gauss
  • GDM
  • gentoo
  • George Lucas
  • GhostBSD
  • GIMP
  • Gloobus
  • gloria
  • glyn moody
  • gm
  • Gnash
  • gnome
  • GNOME 3
  • GNOME Activities
  • GNOME Shell
  • gnu
  • Gnumeric
  • google
  • Google Docs
  • Gottfried Leibniz
  • government intervention
  • gparted
  • graduation
  • graphics card
  • GRUB
  • gtk+
  • GUI
  • gwenview
  • gwibber
  • Hackers
  • happy new year
  • hardware
  • Harry Potter
  • health
  • heartbeat
  • Higgs
  • high speed rail
  • hollywood
  • homeland security
  • homeless
  • honda
  • How To Train Your Dragon
  • How-To
  • hp
  • HTC
  • HTML
  • i386
  • ibm
  • Ice
  • Iceweasel
  • identity
  • In Defense of Food
  • incentives
  • Inception
  • india
  • Infinite Monkey Theorem
  • Inside Line
  • installation
  • Intel
  • intellectual monopoly
  • intellectual property
  • internet explorer
  • internship
  • Investopedia
  • ipad
  • iphone
  • iphone OS
  • ipod touch
  • Iraq
  • iron man 2
  • Isaac Newton
  • isadora
  • issues
  • ITworld
  • jailbreak
  • James Bond
  • james cameron
  • japanese
  • jill sobule
  • jim lynch
  • jon
  • Julia
  • Julian Assange
  • justice
  • KahelOS
  • Katya
  • KDE
  • kde 3.5
  • KDE 4
  • kde 4.4
  • KDE 4.5
  • KDE 4.6
  • KDE 4.7
  • KDE Activities
  • KevJumba
  • keyboard
  • Kinect
  • KOffice
  • kolourpaint
  • Kongoni
  • konqueror
  • Kopete
  • Kororaa
  • kpackagekit
  • KPresenter
  • kubuntu
  • kwin
  • Lage Raho Munna Bhai
  • laptop
  • last week of school
  • Latvia
  • law
  • lawsuit
  • learning experience
  • LED
  • legal fees
  • lenny
  • Leonard Mlodinow
  • LG
  • liar
  • libel
  • liberal
  • LibreOffice
  • LILO
  • linux
  • linux live cd
  • Linux Mint
  • Linux Today
  • Lisa
  • live cd
  • live dvd
  • live usb
  • long
  • Lubuntu
  • lunatic
  • LXAppearance
  • lxde
  • LXPanel
  • mac
  • mac os x
  • Madbox
  • madurai
  • Mageia
  • mainstream tech press
  • malware
  • mandriva
  • Manjaro Linux
  • marginal cost
  • mark shuttleworth
  • Mark Zuckerberg
  • market
  • market share
  • massacre
  • mastery
  • MATE
  • mathematics
  • Mayans
  • MBodhi Linux
  • mcps
  • meat
  • mebibyte
  • media
  • media companies
  • medicine
  • MEEP
  • Megabus
  • megabyte
  • mepis
  • Metacity
  • metric system
  • MGSE
  • Michael Nielsen
  • Michael Pollan
  • mickey mouse
  • microsoft
  • microsoft office
  • middle
  • Midori
  • misconceptions
  • misrepresentation
  • MIT
  • MLB
  • Mokshagundam
  • money
  • monopoly
  • mouse
  • movie
  • Movie Review
  • Mozilla
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Mozilla Prism
  • mpaa
  • multiboot
  • MultiSystem
  • MWM
  • national health service
  • national security
  • nautilus
  • NCAA
  • ncurses
  • netbook
  • Netrunner
  • neutrino
  • new computer
  • new york
  • new york city
  • new zealand
  • newbie
  • news corp
  • NFL
  • NHS
  • NIST
  • normal distribution
  • novell
  • numbers
  • nutrition science
  • nutritionism
  • NVidia
  • NZCS
  • obama
  • okular
  • One
  • open standards
  • open-source
  • openbox
  • openoffice.org
  • opensolaris
  • openSUSE
  • Opera
  • oracle
  • Oxidized Trinity
  • P. W. Singer
  • panel
  • paramount
  • Pardus
  • parenting
  • parody
  • particle
  • patent
  • pay-to-pirate
  • PC-BSD
  • pclinuxos
  • pcmanfm
  • Pear OS
  • pearson education
  • Peppermint OS
  • Peter Pan
  • philosophy
  • Photograph 51
  • photonic
  • PHP
  • physics
  • pidgin
  • Pierce Brosnan
  • Pinguy OS
  • pink
  • Pink Floyd
  • piracy
  • plasma
  • plasmoid
  • poll
  • Porteus
  • power
  • power law
  • prejudice
  • presentation
  • president
  • president obama
  • presumption of innocence
  • Princeton
  • printing
  • prisoner
  • privacy
  • profit
  • programming
  • progress
  • Project Natal
  • promotion
  • proprietary
  • public domain
  • purpose
  • qed
  • QEMU
  • qt
  • quantum electrodynamics
  • quantum mechanics
  • radio
  • rape
  • Rawhide
  • Razor-Qt
  • red hat
  • Reflection
  • Rekonq
  • religion
  • Remastersys
  • rent
  • repossession
  • republican
  • retroactive copyright
  • review
  • rewards
  • RHEL
  • RIAA
  • Righthaven
  • RMA
  • robotics
  • rolling release
  • rootkit
  • ROSA
  • royalty
  • RPM
  • RSS
  • rule
  • rupert murdoch
  • sabayon
  • safari
  • saints
  • Salix OS
  • Samsung
  • sarah palin
  • Saudi Arabia
  • scanner
  • school
  • school network
  • science
  • Scientific Linux
  • security theater
  • selection
  • semester
  • Semplice
  • senior
  • Shiki
  • shooting
  • Shotwell
  • shut down
  • SI
  • sidux
  • Simon Singh
  • simplymepis
  • Skype
  • skyscraper
  • Slackware
  • slander
  • slashdot
  • social media
  • social policy
  • socialism
  • software patents
  • solar
  • SolusOS
  • SolydXK
  • sony
  • sony-bmg
  • SOPA
  • Source Code
  • SourceForge
  • SPARC
  • special effects
  • spying
  • spyware
  • Squeeze
  • SSH
  • Star Wars
  • State Department
  • statin
  • statistical mechanics
  • Statler
  • Stella
  • steve jobs
  • stewart
  • Stuxnet
  • subscriber
  • subsidy
  • substitute
  • sun
  • Sun Tzu
  • super bowl
  • Super Bowl XLV
  • super user
  • Suresh Kalmadi
  • survey
  • Symbicort
  • synaptic
  • tablet
  • Talledega Nights
  • tax
  • tech company
  • Tech Drive-in
  • techdirt
  • Technorati
  • Ted Williams
  • terrorist
  • thanksgiving
  • The Adjustment Bureau
  • The Amazing Race
  • The Art of War
  • The Code Book
  • The Drunkard's Walk
  • The King's Speech
  • The Social Network
  • the tunnel
  • the undercover economist
  • thermophotovoltaic
  • thunar
  • tim
  • Tim Harford
  • tint2
  • torrent
  • Toy Story 3
  • toyota
  • tracking device
  • trademark
  • train
  • treason
  • Trinity
  • Trisquel
  • trivial
  • troll
  • TSA
  • TuxMachines
  • Twitter
  • TWM
  • UberBang
  • ubuntu
  • ubuntu one
  • UK
  • unetbootin
  • unintended acceleration
  • units
  • Unity
  • Unixoid Review
  • UROP
  • US
  • utopia
  • V. S. Narayana Rao
  • VectorLinux
  • vegan
  • vegetarian
  • Verizon
  • vesa
  • Viewnior
  • ViewPad
  • ViewSonic
  • violation
  • virtual desktop
  • VirtualBox
  • virus
  • Visvesvaraya
  • vlc
  • warfare
  • water
  • WattOS
  • wavelength
  • Wayland
  • web-connected printer
  • webcam
  • WebOS
  • weekly
  • whistle
  • widget
  • wifi
  • wiki
  • Wikileaks
  • William Shakespeare
  • windowing system
  • WindowMaker
  • windows
  • windows 7
  • windows vista
  • windows xp
  • Wired for War
  • word
  • WordPress
  • world cup
  • Wubi
  • x11
  • XBMC
  • xbox360
  • xfce
  • xkcd
  • xp
  • yahoo
  • yoga
  • YouTube
  • YSA
  • Zenwalk
  • Zorin OS

Blog Archive

  • ►  2013 (63)
    • ►  September (4)
    • ►  August (9)
    • ►  July (3)
    • ►  June (9)
    • ►  May (7)
    • ►  April (10)
    • ►  March (11)
    • ►  February (6)
    • ►  January (4)
  • ►  2012 (85)
    • ►  December (4)
    • ►  November (3)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  September (6)
    • ►  August (8)
    • ►  July (12)
    • ►  June (12)
    • ►  May (7)
    • ►  April (6)
    • ►  March (6)
    • ►  February (9)
    • ►  January (10)
  • ►  2011 (179)
    • ►  December (5)
    • ►  November (8)
    • ►  October (9)
    • ►  September (12)
    • ►  August (15)
    • ►  July (15)
    • ►  June (15)
    • ►  May (16)
    • ►  April (15)
    • ►  March (19)
    • ►  February (21)
    • ►  January (29)
  • ▼  2010 (173)
    • ▼  December (24)
      • A Quick Update on the Respins
      • Review: Chakra 0.3.0 "Ashoc" (on FreeTechie)
      • Symbicort: Shooting Itself in the Foot (or Lung)
      • Movie Review: How To Train Your Dragon
      • Apologies about the Slackware Review
      • Featured Comments: Week of 2010 December 19
      • NCAA: Bad for Future Business Leaders
      • FOLLOW-UP: Linux and Breakfast Cereals
      • Bad Experiences are Forever
      • Familiarity Breeds Fondness, not Contempt
      • Review: Slackware 13.1
      • Movie Review: Toy Story 3
      • Done with 1st Semester!
      • An Update on this Blog and the Respins
      • Featured Comments: Week of 2010 December 5
      • Introducing UberBang 10.04
      • Fedora 15: A Potential Savior?
      • Wikileaks: American Entertainment Better than the TSA
      • Lage Raho Wikileaks!
      • Movie Review: Die Another Day
      • Featured Comments: Week of 2010 November 28
      • Introducing Oxidized Trinity 6 "Squeeze"
      • In Praise of the Arch Wiki
      • It Really is Security Theater
    • ►  November (23)
    • ►  October (34)
    • ►  September (36)
    • ►  August (15)
    • ►  July (18)
    • ►  June (13)
    • ►  May (8)
    • ►  April (2)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

Unknown
View my complete profile