BW )(: Call for Constructive Flaming

[Paul Barnard]

On Jun 26, 2008, at 2:22 PM, MJ Ray wrote:

> Paul Barnard <paulrbarnard at hotmail.com> wrote:
>> On Jun 25, 2008, at 8:19 PM, MJ Ray wrote:
>>> But only if you buy all your hardware from Apple, right?  There is
>>> quite a lot of types of hardware for particular tasks that Apple  
>>> don't
>>> even make.  Third-party hardware doesn't seem particularly more
>>> reliably compatible with Mac than with Linux to me these days.
>>>
>> They have come a long way.  Most things you buy will just plug in and
>> go on a Mac nowadays.  There are some obvious exceptions like  
>> printers
>> that run only on windoze for example.  Generally though it is very
>> much plug and play.  [...]
>
> As others note, most things I buy just plug in and go on Linux.  I
> really don't see much difference now that Mac is Unix underneath,
> apart from the Mac has a slicker interface, but is harder to debug
> when needed.
>
>>> At least with Linux, you can try to get most hardware working  
>>> yourself
>>> *and* you can check that one program isn't p-ing in the pool.  Both
>>> the source and the debugging tools and information are probably
>>> readily available, which isn't the case with Mac hardware and  
>>> drivers.
>>>
>> You might be bale to but the other 90% of the population can't hence
>> the thrust of the original analysis
>
> I often rail against the myth of a need for a computer priesthood.
> Also, I'm a statistician: what's the basis of that 90% claim?
>
The statistic uses the same premiss as the fact that 67% of all  
statistics are made up on the spot ;-)


> I've no special computer-fixing ability.  I've surprisingly little
> formal education about computer hardware (pretty much none beyond
> basic electrical safety IIRC).  I think more of my success with it
> comes from being the son of a mechanic/builder/storesman/barman...
> most people can learn and it's usually hard to break things badly, so
> look up the basics (now easier than ever on the internet - I used to
> make trips to the library much more often) and start experimenting!
>
> Best wishes,
> -- 
> MJ Ray (slef)
> Webmaster for hire, statistician and online shop builder for a small
> worker cooperative http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ http://mjr.towers.org.uk/
> (Notice http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html) tel:+44-844-4437-237
>
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