Supporting Ubuntu growth

[Jamon Camisso]

Chris Thompson wrote:
> Now, now, ladies and gentlemen.
>  
> Comments suggesting we should hope that Microsoft goes bankrupt, or that 
> this is war (meaning, I assume FOSS vs. proprietary software) simply 
> don't belong here.
>  
> While we can all be passionate about linux or Ubuntu, expressing hatred 
> or contempt for commercial products or Vendors only serves to harm the 
> open source community. From outside of the community, it is perceived as 
> geeky arrogance.

And we mustn't express any discontent with "Vendors" or commercial 
products since Canonical hopes to spin the Ubuntu "open source 
community" and their product into something profitable. To criticize one 
company would allow criticizing another i.e. Canonical.

> We have lots to do and talk about in this forum, but engaging in 
> religious debate is at best a futile waste of everyone's time, and at 
> worst, alienates those who may be on the edges of the open source 
> community and damages our image and reputation.

Everything in moderation yes, but at the same time, GNU/Linux isn't 
about any one particular distro, and those on the fringe, reading this 
mailing list are likely quite able to go to fedoraforums or gentoo 
forums. Fanaticism, while distasteful to some, will never go away in the 
computer world, and while it could be toned down sometimes, I wonder how 
many people have joined the community because of it?

> I am not trying to limit free speech, because fact based complaints or 
> commentary about other vendors, products, and users are really OK.
>  
> But bashing and wingeing about everything other than FOSS is a waste of 
> our collective time, and frankly doesn't leave me with a positive image 
> of the author or the community.

How many people really want to read about someone's preference for 
gcc3.4 over gcc4.1? I for one could not care less, but I am very 
interested in hearing about other user's experiences and *opinions* 
about Ubuntu *and* other distros and OSes. GNU/Linux isn't an 
anti-Microsoft thing, nor should it be, but it is an alternative and as 
with any alternative you are going to get alternative views. The 
beginning few years of using GNU/Linux for many users entails strong 
opinions and even fanaticism for some. Why should people be limited to 
everything FOSS when so much outside the GNU/Linux world affects us?

Sorry, I just felt the need to speak up and speak out. I do agree that 
things can get OT very quickly and many times those bashing on large 
vendors (no names) compose their messages in the heat of the moment 
without considering a more moderate tone and approach. Part of the 
problem with the internet... Most people in person are never as vehement 
or fanatical about something -- the internet as a faceless medium 
encourages seeing the world as black and white.