It’s an old joke about the Miss World contest. The gals had to line up in a frock, in a swimsuit, and actually I forget the other one, except that it wasn’t a diver’s suit with a bell helmet. And at the finale, they were interviewed and asked what they wanted out of life.
It was always “World Peace.” Even Miss Yugoslavia wanted World Peace. And as an aside, and to show that they were well rounded and not just possessors of fine-looking bumpy bits, they would normally add something like “learning to play the trombone.”
It is cruel to laugh at an eighteen-year-old girl who comes out with this guff, because at some level (probably not the musicianship level) they are utterly serious. And who wouldn’t be? World Peace is a wonderful aspiration.
Of course, they didn’t have a hope in hell on either aspiration. They didn’t even have the rudimentary tools required.
And so it goes with the Loons. Absolutely nobody is going to complain if all software is magically free, and yet the producers somehow get paid for it. Absolutely nobody really wants to pay $29.99 for a Windows licence that you can’t actually do without.
Absolutely everybody would love to wake up in the morning and magically be able to play the trombone. Or at least look good in an itsy-bitsy polka-dot bikini, anyhow.
Life is a matter of compromise and broken dreams, kids.
Get over it.
Comments
No, i don’t want all software to be free. Because all software i would produce would automatically become free. Which means, i wouldn’t own the rights for any software i would have made. Even the software i may not want to share with anyone else, not even in binary form for a fee.
But I would want the “always in demand” software such as media players, photo editors, video editors and operating systems to be free, as it would be less money spent on software and more on popcorn.
The good news is that it’s going to happen. The infinite geeks on infinite keyboards phenomenon says that the loons will eventually hammer around the flaws of their software, and come up with something that’s “good enough” for the average user. The bad news is that there is no time frame in this phenomenon, so the operating system thingie may take them 10 more years, at least. 'Till then, i ll just buy proprietary software that works.
And no, i do NOT want world piece. Here in Greece, we are overrun by Muslims, because our stupid border police is too pacifist to shoot them in the head when they illegally cross the borders. They have turned the center of our capital to their ghetto, so we need some non pacifist guys to just kill those illegal jerks.
Know what?
If somehow I actually wrote the software of my life — call it a spreadsheet, thirty years ago — I’d be more than happy if it was given away for free.
On the hardware side, have you ever looked at Wosniak’s cheesy little grin?
He was stiffed by Jobs, the same way that Allen was stiffed by Gates.
He stuck twelve chips onto a motherboard and created the sweetest little thing you could ever see (I know. I worked on one).
God give us that, and more of that. And more and more and more.
But that free thing? I’m afraid it just gets in the way.
I’m cheap, but I ain’t free. I aspire to glorious, but that still ain’t free.
Not too sure how to address the Attican racism angle, though.
Good luck with that one. Try to peace out first.
Remember, most Greeks are actually Albanians, unless they come from Bithynia or Trabzond …
So shoot me.
> No, i don’t want all software to be free. Because all software i would produce would automatically become free.
That’s where magic comes into play:
[i]Absolutely nobody is going to complain if all software is magically free, [b]and yet the producers somehow get paid for it.[/b][/i]
But as already pointed out, it’s not going to happen – so we’ll need to make tradeoffs. Most loons are all about “free as in beer” (don’t care about developers), but some of them are about “free as in development is nothing – support rules” (don’t realize how development works). The former are hypocrites, but the latter are just morons.
> And no, i do NOT want world piece.
Didn’t get it again. It’s not about “let’s go hand in hand without removing any actual problems, that lead to conlicts”, it’s about “wouldn’t it be nice if armed conflicts wouldn’t be NECESSARY at all” (in your case it would mean “no muslims”, “no agressive muslims” or better yet “no religions at all”). Again, not going to happen, but that’s the whole point of this TM.
Is it? I was accidentally wise beyond my means, apparently.
But yes, you’ re pretty much spot on.
Fun thread, some random comments, why not.
“Even Miss Yugoslavia wanted World Peace.”
Of course she did and with good reason, remember Miloševi?? No? How about Mladi??
“The infinite geeks on infinite keyboards phenomenon says that the loons will eventually hammer around the flaws of their software, and come up with something that’s “good enough” for the average user.”
No. Linux is getting worse over time, not better.
In 10 years’ time it’ll be farther behind than it is now.
“Remember, most Greeks are actually Albanians…”
The only worse comment would be if you called them Macedonians, good god we’d probably be in a bloodbath flame war by now.
Just saying.
And did you guys know that Hitler too, wanted world peace; and only their ThousandYearReichTM (reminds me of the EternalFiveYearsTM of the loons) could have made that possible.
Fanatics who seek absolute solutions are quite dangerous… or funny if they reach loon level of incompetence.
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