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Author Topic: Life with Linux: The series ... [Bob Sutor, IBM]  (Read 6714 times)

zridling

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Life with Linux: The series ... [Bob Sutor, IBM]
« on: August 03, 2009, 10:47 PM »
Bob Sutor went from Windows to Linux to Mac and back to Linux, and he chronicles his Linux setup in a series of posts. Quite nice.

life-w-Linux-sutor2009c.png

Innuendo

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Re: Life with Linux: The series ... [Bob Sutor, IBM]
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2009, 11:27 AM »
Let me preface this message by saying that although I am a dyed-in-the-wool Windows user I love to read about other OSes. I love reading about Linux & OS X.....and even oldies like BeOS or NextStep and cutting edge stuff like ReactOS. I love to see what problems the other OSes encounter, how they do things, and how I can apply that knowledge to my chosen OS to make my computing experience better.

It is with these high hopes I read that series of articles. Yes, the entire series. No offense to you, Zaine, but these articles sucked. Life with Linux, I thought. Hmmm...I'm going to get a good look at the way a Linux user lives with Linux and applies it to his daily life, I thought.

But....no. I read the first six articles in the series and while I hoped we might get to the part where someone, somewhere was living with Linux it was never meant to be. They entirely consisted of his trials getting his software installed. How disappointing. However, the seventh article with its title of On The Road seemed like it might be the pay-off. All right, I thought, he's been building to a rich pay-off where he shows the world how he can take his Linux mojo on the road and keep up with any other OS by outlining situations in his work & personal life and validating his choice of Linux by performing in these situations well.

But....no. The title On The Road just alluded to him being away from home and configuring and installing yet more software. Grrrr...

Okay, bonus time...everybody likes a good bonus so I tackled the bonus article. Maybe I'm finally going to get some meat by seeing how upgrading a desktop computer can be a rewarding experience. Maybe something along the lines of showing how each task can accomplished in Linux that can be accomplished in XP by illustrating what the differences would be with good tips on how to work around & through the differences.

But....no. He wastes no time in jumping into a diatribe about Windows 7 and what it might be or might not be. That's the first half of that article. The second half is all about how you should try Linux while you wait for Windows 7. What could it hurt is his argument.

What. The. Frick. As I opened each of the articles I felt like Charlie Brown having the football yanked away from him. Eight. Frigging. Times.

The only payoff for me was the chuckle he prompted when he was talking about how he didn't like Windows software sometimes doesn't work right & then later talked about how he couldn't install Firefox 3.5 on his Linux machine because it wouldn't work right. :)

I knew I probably should have stopped reading when he was talking about the Windows registry bogging down. That hasn't been a concern for a very long time. He's out of touch with the Windows world for him to be making any meaningful comments on the subject.

Sorry, Zaine. Usually I like your little glimpses into the Linux world, but this batch misses the mark by a large margin.

urlwolf

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Re: Life with Linux: The series ... [Bob Sutor, IBM]
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2009, 03:45 PM »
Same feeling here. zero content. Please refrain posting similar stuff in the future (although I appreciate the effort). I go back and forth between Linux and win and appreciate good posts on this.

40hz

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Re: Life with Linux: The series ... [Bob Sutor, IBM]
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2009, 10:12 PM »
Please refrain posting similar stuff in the future (although I appreciate the effort).

Nice. Real nice...


zridling

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Re: Life with Linux: The series ... [Bob Sutor, IBM]
« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2009, 01:05 AM »
Wow Innuendo, at least you weren't bored!

(1) It took you 531 words to tell us you hated Bob Sutor's blog posts (no one said they were articles);
(2) You attributed a Win7 slam to Bob Sutor what was actually upgrade advice written by WSJ's Walter Mossberg, and only in your mind was it a diatribe; and
(3) You wasted a lot of (negative) energy here on me when you could have responded directly on Bob's blog. But you didn't share a single one of your 531 words in any comments on his blog.

Heckuva job!
_______________
PS: I like Linux. I'll continue to post about what I know and use. If it bothers you that much, just sidestep my posts. And for the record, I hated Vista but like Win7's corrections. I won't be using it personally, but family and friends will. Not a problem.
« Last Edit: August 05, 2009, 01:08 AM by zridling »

mouser

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Re: Life with Linux: The series ... [Bob Sutor, IBM]
« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2009, 04:44 AM »
zaine with all the great posts you share with us, surely you are allowed a clunker or two occasionally  ;D

Innuendo

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Re: Life with Linux: The series ... [Bob Sutor, IBM]
« Reply #6 on: August 05, 2009, 10:31 AM »
Zaine, like I said in my post...my comments were not meant to discredit you or even to disagree with you. My problems were with the posts on the blog.

1) In today's post-print world I think blog posts can be considered articles. I'm sorry if my classification as such didn't sit well with you. I referred to them as articles as I wanted to convey that I was treating his words with respect. In retrospect, I suppose I could have referred to these posts as ramblings on a blog, but I think that would have struck you even worse than the word articles did.

2) I'm sorry I neglected to attribute the original words to Mossberg, but Sutor agreed with the supposition put forth by Mossberg & built on top of it without even knowing if what Mossberg said was true. I'll retract my comment on calling it a diatribe and replace that thought with him pushing forward a personal agenda instead.

3) I could have posted my comments on his blog, but seems very much a Linux fanatic/zealot so I doubt my words would have fallen on anything but deaf ears. Besides, if he doesn't know that life with an operating system goes beyond just installing apps after the OS installs then he has bigger problems than any comment I could make would cure. As to why I posted them here, you brought the series of posts to light here so that's where I posted my reaction to them.

Thank you for taking the time to count the words in my post. It's comforting to know that someone pays that much attention to my word count, but with all due respect Zaine, and I mean this sincerely, with all due respect, I know you love Linux. I know you don't like Windows. I know you are going to continue to take the time to post about what you like and use.

That's great. No, really. That's great because you must have missed in my post where I distinctly stated that I usually enjoy your posts about Linux. I enjoy everyone's posts about Linux provided they have content. This post of yours did not so I didn't enjoy it, but it's not your fault. It's Sutor's.  Your usually insightful posts on Linux relied on Sutor's empty words this time.

Now, if you were personally offended by my reply then I do apologize. I am sorry as that was not my intent at all. I was all set for some high-quality Linux musings like you usually bring to the table and all I walked away with was a guy trying to get his apps installed after a fresh install of an OS.

I will admit that I did see one comment in his series of posts that does bear repeating. Linux needs to quit trying to look like Windows & start pulling the good ideas from OS X. Even better yet, Linux needs to strike out on its own and set its look apart from other OSes.

And I'll try to re-iterate this one point one more time before I close. I enjoy your posts, Zaine. Linux is under-represented here & we could use more people expressing the Linux side of the story as it can only make computing more enjoyable for all platforms.

However, I just did not like Life With Linux. At all. Sutor's name is attached to those posts not yours so don't take my 531 words of criticism personally because you had nothing to do with the failings of those blog posts.


mouser

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Re: Life with Linux: The series ... [Bob Sutor, IBM]
« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2009, 10:40 AM »
I think it's worth saying that I think it was useful for Innuendo to post here with his negative view of the linked series, just because it puts them into perspective when you go read them -- to know that maybe this isn't the best intro to linux.

urlwolf

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Re: Life with Linux: The series ... [Bob Sutor, IBM]
« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2009, 02:31 AM »
Personal opinion follows...
Yes, the thing is that negative feedback is useful (I think).
I religiously read everything Zaine posts here.
I always like it.
Since he has 'clout', I keep reading every single article from sutor, not believing that they were just fluff.
If I find something that Zaine has missed, it's my duty to give him feedback ASAP.