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SubjectRe: Is the boot logo politically correct?
From
Sprach Chris Black <cblack@cmpteam4.unil.ch>:
> Well, first of all, the main reason it should be a plain penguin,
> despite people saying "we should do what we want, screw them" etc.
> Is because some of us have to get linux to be accepted by people who
> might count a beer-drinking bird as a logo against linux.
> Not that we should share their views, or that we are doing this to make
> everyone happy. I think we should do this so it removes a possible
> impediment to the acceptance of linux. period.
> So the discussion isn't whether it is acceptable to US, but whether it
> may hinder the acceptance of linux by others. Some of us like to use
> linux in situations where it must be approved by others (who may not be
> as open minded as we are).

I'm honestly shocked at how long this discussion has continued. This is
all I'm gonna say about it.

If we wanted to "remove an impediment to the acceptance of linux" then
we should make the code proprietary, form a corporation, issue stocks,
create a massively incompetent tech support organization, and extrort
vendors into only providing Linux to their customers.

The primary (and I would even go so far as to say "sole") reason why
Linux is superior to every other OS that man has ever conceived is
because we change things based on purely technical reasons. When we
actually do something for nontechnical reasons ("which boot logo?")
it's for reasons that reflect our own history and SCREW THE NORMALS!
We don't let market pressure or political correctness or legal
liability or anything else undermine our technical or cultural
integrity.

Fact: Linus likes penguins.
Fact: Linus likes beer.

The beer-drinking penguin is a reference to Linus, dammit. If Joe "No
Technical Clue" Suit doesn't like that, FUCK HIM! If Rev. Billy
"Anally Retentive" Cleric doesn't like it, FUCK HIM! If Mrs. Martha
"For God's Sake, Think Of The Children" Nosiness doesn't like it, FUCK
HER! If you don't like it, FUCK YOU! Patch the damned thing
yourself.

If Red Hat, Caldera, SuSE, Yggdrasil and the rest want to worry about
that kind of marketing bullshit, that's perfectly fine: they've shown
a willingness to patch the kernel before, they can just continue to do
so. No one will begrudge them that.

I've contracted with companies big and small. Some international,
some local. Some have accepted Linux right off the bat regardless of
anything as silly as a logo, and others refuse to accept Linux because
it doesn't have a multi-billion dollar corporation backing it. So
even in the case where they're being stupid, the logo doesn't even
enter into the picture. I'm perfectly willing to let my clients
wallow in their NT or Solaris or HP/UX misery in spite of my
counseling to the contrary, because I know that within a few years
they'll come crawling back to me asking me to set up Linux on their
systems. Besides, I get paid for the counseling, not for whether or
not they actually implement my suggestions. If they want to choose
operating systems today on non-technical grounds, that's fine with me:
2 years or 5 years or 10 years down the line, they WILL switch.

Remember, people: we aren't "competing" per se with those other
operating systems: we're swallowing them. There's no way that Billy
can ever hope to put us out of business. He can't buy us out. He
can't outlaw us. Linux will always be here, and it'll always get
bigger. NOTHING CAN STOP THAT. It's only a matter of time before
every operating system outside of specialty niches is freeware. As
long as you're willing to let that time stretch out to decades, THERE
IS NO NEED TO BOW DOWN TO POLITICAL CORRECTNESS. Now if it were
remotely conceivable that we could somehow go bankrupt, then I'll be
willing to consider that MAYBE there is some cause to be concerned about
whether or not your clients are willing to switch to Linux this summer.
But as things stand, IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER.

But if that even happens, I know a lot of people who'll jump right off
the Linux bandwagon and go back to their own operating systems that
have been on hold for years.

Now this isn't anywhere close to a kernel issue. If you think it's a
big deal, then SHUT UP, make a patch, and post THAT to the linux-kernel
list. If you just want to keep whining about Linux acceptance, then go
over to one of the advocacy mailing lists and leave us to discuss the
KERNEL on the KERNEL-LIST.

And whatever you do, do NOT send any replies to this message to the
kernel list!

--
Jon Paul Nollmann ne' Darren Senn sinster@balltech.net
Unsolicited commercial email will be archived at $1/byte/day.
Fleez whorshatz poon int horkumn? Cremnant irideize mee-flut.
Lord Arnold Pintle, 1st Legion of Luxembourg, 783AD

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