[PLUG] Clinic, Ubuntu Unity (RANT)

[Keith Lofstrom]

On Wed, Oct 24, 2012 at 03:53:03PM -0700, Michael Dexter wrote:
> On 10/24/12 11:59 AM, Keith Lofstrom wrote:
> >On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 11:01:32PM -0700, Benjamin Kerensa wrote:
> >>>A whole clinic is required to show people how to install Gnome on Ubuntu?
> 
> Ubuntu is an African concept of 'humanity towards others'

Hey Michael and Benjamin:

I think Benjamin was confused about all the different things
we do at the clinic, about my snarky announcements (no, Bill
Gates and Steve Balmer do not show up for help with Linux),
and the reasons for my idiosyncratic opinions about media
consumption software.  I am not seeing his side of the
conversation (I get the list digested, and only CC's sent
to me) so perhaps Ben is ranting about my rant.  I probably
should have toned it down a bit.  

I am passionate about resisting America's lethal (literally,
I can show you the research) addiction to media, but on the
other hand, I have fast hardware for scientific computing
because gamers demand it for entertainment.  I would rather
a few hundred thousand a year did not die of diabetes- and
obesity-related illnesses in order to provide me with the
tools I need for research. 

But as long as the hardware is available, and the distros
I depend on are not so damaged that I can't use them for
my purposes, the life-waste and self-destruction of others
is not my decision to make.  Just please, remember that
some of us Morlocks are laboring down in the bowels of the
machine so the Eloi can amuse themselves in the sunlight. 
H.G. Wells got the "Time Machine" story wrong;  the Morlocks
were not attacking the Eloi out of malice, they were just
protecting the system from lusers: http://xkcd.com/705/

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com         Voice (503)-520-1993