pretty weak argument you got there. I own this account before ms ever bought hotmail. I ain't letting a corp push me out of my mail account.
not really any kind of argument. no argument was being made. merely pointing out the irony which i found to be amusing.
So basically I see it as you read my email and comments and the only smart thing you had to say was to point out I used hotmail. Maybe because you couldn't counter my GPL arguments. Maybe because you didn't feel like writing them down.
i had no intentions of countering any arguments, and agree with many points you have made. i do, however, find it offensive when people throw themselves atop a monumental pillar and shout down at everyone else on how much more noble one may be then everyone else. which is what you were saying, and continue to say. i don't believe it is a "pretty bad reason" to run linux because it is more stable, better supported, and more finely crafted than windows. i also don't believe it to be a "pretty bad reason" to run linux because of the GPL. i understand why you say you want linux users to be linux users because of the GPL, not because of a feature of KDE2. but i find the sentiment a bit alienating. the fact is most people will not use linux *solely* because of the GPL. i would not use linux *solely* because of the GPL. if linux absolutely sucked compared to all other operating systems, but had the GPL beneath it, i do not believe the majority of people would use it. my impression is that people use linux because of a large, rolling ball of reasons -- with the GPL included in them. but you also stated that you don't care if the average person uses linux. and, again, i completely understand this. i just don't agree with it. i don't agree with ignoring, alienating, and insulting anyone who may be doing something slightly different than me, or someone who may be trying to gain knowledge, experience, etc. but are stifled by the lack of support from their fellow people. you say yourself that you get help on mailing lists, linuxdoc, etc. but if people who need such help go to those places and see posts insulting "newbies" and posts stating "they don't understand the sphere we are working in," how do people get help? And, why would people want to continue such pursuits if they are being insulted? those are the things i disagree with. i agree with your spirit towards the GPL, i agree with your wishes of companies developing one or two kick-ass cross-linux platform utilities, i agree with the complaint (i think it was a complaint) about distribution-specific configuration utils and how one must be familiar with 48 different distros to be able to install, config, support linux on a broad spectrum. i just don't agree with your handling of users. ph.