On Aug 25, 2010, at 21:03, Adam Morris <adam.morris at redstargaming.net> wrote: > On Aug 25, 2010, at 7:07 PM, Mike Miller <mbmiller+l at gmail.com> wrote: > >> On Wed, 25 Aug 2010, Adam Morris wrote: >> >>> You obviously haven't been using Linux for long. I've seen more elitism >>> in the Unix and Linux communities than one would find in any of the Ivy >>> League schools, and that includes the Professors... >>> >>> Annoying as he'll to those of us who would one day like to see the >>> general public using Linux. >> >> It's a step in the right direction. First it's "elitist," then it >> attracts users who want to be elite (or is it spelled "1337"?), then you >> have enough of those people around so that the average guy/gal asks his >> geeky friend, "how can I fix my Windows virally-incapacitated Windows >> machine?" and the friend says, "I don't have a lot of time for that, but I >> can install Linux on it with loads of great free software and I'll help >> you to keep it working." That's actually how my son first got Ubuntu on >> his laptop. He has another dead Windows box at home (also loaded with >> viruses -- why does that alwayss happen to teenage boys?) with a 64-bit >> processor ready to run Ubuntu next time I get my hands on it. >> >> Mike > > That's a good point. Still, there are many (and I mean too many to count) Linux users I've met over the past 11 years who would rather mock and ridicule their friend who is running Windows than help them install Linux. Those are the people I'm talking about. > > Using Linux does not make you better than anyone else. Some of the brightest people I have met use Windows for the sole fact that it suits their purposes. Having to learn a new OS would simply interfere with other more productive uses of their intellect. At the end of the day, It comes down to personal choice and needs. > > I also want to add, I've seen some pretty dumb twits using Linux over the years... Most people possess the ability to learn something technical. What separates an intellectual from an idiot is how that person uses that knowledge. > > -Adam > I think it also has to do with age and occupation. I've seen "Linux is only free if your time is worth nothing" in sigs and it's partly true. Before ubuntu it seems to me it was mostly younger/student types whose time really is worth close to nothing, or the curious types (usually engineers, scientists, academics and the like) who either were already Unix literate or saw it as something potentially worth learning for their work. That's