On Tue, May 14, 2002 at 10:16:00PM +0100, M.Blackmore wrote:
In article <20020514003455.B23612@mango.veggie.com>, frank@esperance-linux.co.uk (Frank Shute) wrote:
Have you got a link to the flamewar on Cix?
Somewhere in the mists of time in the linux conference - I dunno where now, purged it years ago off my personal database!
I've heard rumours about RMS >;)
So have I! I respect him for all he's done & how he's stuck to his principles but my guess is he's a bit of a nut.
However, I will spring to the support of the Guardian in its general reportage - the degree of well thought out articles are one of its strengths IMHO,
I'm afraid I have to disagree with you there. It's probably better than most other papers but then that's damning with faint praise.
and its economic reportage has been highly accurate in terms of predictions/outcomes over the last couple of decades.
But aren't these economic predictions/outcomes little more than glorified astrology? ie. I can safely predict an economic boom in the not too distant future but that's little cleverer than predicting that the sun will rise tomorrow morning. I don't want predictions, I want facts so I can make my own bogus predictions!
What one generally misses is the sheer mass of basic news reportage anywhere, though.
That's the problem. The content tends to be `celebrity' based, not just in the sense that a lot of it is about celebrities but a lot of it's about `attractive' events eg. paedophiles, murderers, earthquakes and other disasters. A lot of what I'd call news is actually pretty boring and I can understand why they don't want to fill their paper with it - I'd still like them to though.
But back to linux - I'd agree, the computing section is a dis-service to the customers, and prejudices aside, one could do a lot better (hell /I/ could do a lot better!) in commissioning stuff that would allow the ordinary adequately educated punter to get a handle on informational technology, and the connections to longer term developments in tek as well as the socio-economic implications of these.
I agree they need some distinctive content on that front. As it stands, it almost strikes me as an afterthought. Sort of `every other paper has got an IT section, we better have one also' but subsequently putting no real effort into it.
To give the G its due, its the only mainstream that has consistently had its eye on the ball with regard to globalisation, but in common with most of the British technically illiterate "ruling class" (courtesy of the Oxbridge cleverly-stupid culture) simply hasn't grasped the manner in which technological developments are becoming pretty deterministic with regard to the exercise of power by dominant organisations.
I think there's an awful lot of rot talked about `globalisation'. The world's been getting a smaller place for millenia and now people have seemingly re-discovered that fact and are getting their knickers in a twist about it. OK, it's happening ever faster but I guess we'll still get by and it's no excuse to fill your paper with fanciful stories - leave that to the science-fiction writers. As for `dominant organisations' they always eventually die. Nobody seems to think the USA Empire will crumble but it surely will and no amount of technology can save them. The people over there are largely bone idle, corrupt and over-fed and depend on slaves to keep them in a lifestyle to which they've become accustomed - sounds too much like Rome circa 500AD for their downfall not to happen ...and the Barbarians already knocked on the gate on 11/9 -- Frank *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Boroughbridge. Tel: 01423 323019 --------- PGP keyID: 0xC0B341A3 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* http://www.esperance-linux.co.uk/ Whatever became of eternal truth?