On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 12:00:06AM -0500, a Linux user wrote:
> Hey guys I am pretty new at using Ubuntu or any other distro of linux for
> that matter, so my comments might not be so important but here goes.

The comments are important, however they are a bit one-sided...

Please don't take it personally - I do not intend to pick on you (I
changed the e-mail attribution on purpose), but your e-mail is a
good example.

> I want to use linux in order to get away from an OS that is bloated and
 ^^^^^^^^
> cumbersome and full of problems which make my daily use of it a constant
> repair job. Now by my own admission I am relatively poor and cant afford
> to spend more on my software than I did on the desktop or laptop I managed
> to buy. I hack a lot of programs just to be able to use windows at all and
> that includes the OS. I am bothered by doing that believe it or not and
> wanted to get into an OS which I could afford to use legally. I plan to
> donate when I can find some extra cash around and I do promise to do that.
>
> In the meantime I simply want to find something to read my email and
                 ^^^      ^^^^^^
> look at my videos or links from youtube etc. I dont want to have to take
                                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> 2 years of classes to be able to understand the system enough to make
> it work in a minimal way. I am sure I am like most people who wish to
> use a computer as a tool and not have to go through the same anguish
> as with windows. I do want to learn and I will continue to do that,
                  ^^^^^^^^^^^
> but please see that most of us simply want the OS to work well without
                             ^^^^      ^^^^^^
> constant problems such as we have using windows. Constant bother and
> malfunctions without limit along with issues of having to constantly
> upgrade the computer. I have better things to do than to spend all day
                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> long getting my system to work for another day.

A plethora of demands...

Now, what do you offer?

> That should be the immediate goal of the distribution: to make it work
> well without hundreds of issues to solve. Secondary to that is to improve
> it so it can take advantage of new hardware, but most of us dont change
> our systems every six months anyway. I personally went to linux to find
> something that just plain works and is stable and can be depended on to
> keep working day after day. That is only a dream on my windows machines.
>
> The object should be to get as many people as we can to use linux and
> then hardware manufacturers will put effort into making their stuff work
> on our OS and not just to struggle along on windows. I am grateful for
> all the guys who help make the OS better and help solve out issues with
> software and hardware. I accept that I have to learn and will keep at it,
> but that is not my main issue to leave windows and embrace linux. I like
> that it simply works. Keep up the good work and I will do all I can to
> help others myself.

Some high level of fuzzy advice and a smattering of gratitude.

Have you tried that approach with the mechanic?  Or a plumber?  A
farmer?  A hairdresser?

Look - it is free stuff: free software, free advice.  Taking the
position that you have more important stuff to do than do write your
software or even learning how to use what is out there and that other
people have to make it work your way is... insulting.

You know?  _I_ have more important stuff to do than listen to your
demands - _I_ am making software work the way _I_ want to.

florin

PS: A grandmother and her nephew are walking along a beach when
suddenly the skies darken, a strong wind rises and a mighty wave
surges over them, snatching up the toddler and carrying him far out
to sea.

Stricken by grief and horror, the mother falls to her knees and prays.
‘O Lord!,’ she cries. ‘I beg of you! Bring my baby back to me! If you
do this for me, I swear on his life that I will never ask you for
anything ever again!’

Thunder rolls, lightning flashes and another awesome wave rolls in,
delivering the boy – shaken but unhurt – safely back to the arms of
the grandmother.  She clasps him in her arms and smothers him with kisses.

Then she says, ‘Just one more thing, O Lord. When that wave took
him away, he was wearing a new little hat’...

-- 
Bruce Schneier expects the Spanish Inquisition.
      http://geekz.co.uk/schneierfacts/fact/163
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