*NIXEDBLOG 3.0

Thomas Holbrook II | *NIXEDBLOG 3.0

First, just read this thread on LXer.  After looking at said thread, I nearly face palmed myself.  Herzeleid brings up a point pertaining to human nature while at the same time being honest with his assessment of a current political issue.  Then he’s accused of violating the terms of service for the site.  I’m just beginning to wonder how much of the complaints pertaining to the mention of any political topic whatsoever just happens to be coming from those who disagree with the person’s point in the first place.  I find the whole idea of the site "not advocating a political position" ridiculous.  As a reader of said site, I also find it to be downright insulting.  Hello?  Can I decide what to think instead of having someone else do it for me please?  This is getting ridiculous folks, and it’s about time sites allow political discussion.  Remember that freedom of thought and expression are the very things that allow for innovation in the first place.

Thomas Holbrook II | *NIXEDBLOG 3.0

I saw a recent announcement for a new site under the wing of Phoronix Media.  It’s interesting to see that they’re attempting to expand the horizons a little bit.  It would be a wonderful way to expand into another market and bring people closer together.  However, I have noticed a trend lately that could not only hinder progress, but utterly destroy it as well.  By reading this thread on a popular Linux news site, I hope you, the reader, can figure out what I’m getting at.  Michael Larabel was essentially accused of being a sexist, and wrongfully so.  A similar thing occurred with Richard Stallman and his joke pertaining to Emacs virgins.  I don’t always agree with everything that RMS says or does, but I think his words were taken out of context.  It appeared that he was poking fun at religion, and for those who bother to read his personal website know, he is far from ignorant on the issues of today.  So what am I getting at?

Here’s the deal.  For a good portion of my life, I lived with my mom and sister.  Jokes were made about how I was outnumbered most of the time.  It was all in good fun.  If anybody were to say that women were worthless and that they should stay home in the kitchen "where they belong," I wouldn’t be amused in the slightest.  But what about the wonderful ladies out there who do stay at home to raise a family and who do cook?  Who is standing up for them?  Before anyone accuses me of being a "sexist," allow me to explain.

A friend of mine goes by the nickname Squirrel.  She follows an alternative religion to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.  She has a wonderful sense of humor and does things that are not very traditional in today’s world.  She once explained to me how she wouldn’t mind being a stay at home mom, raising children.  Plenty of people today would actually see something wrong with such a notion, especially if things such as home schooling were to enter into the fray.  Is it now becoming unacceptable to consciously choose something that was more common decades ago?  Let’s hope not.  Kids need guidance when they get home, and I personally don’t care if it involves a "stay at home mom" or a "stay at home dad."  I don’t even care if it’s another family member, friend, etc.

With that said, there are still plenty of women out there who do indeed cook.  There are still plenty of women out there who want their significant other to get off the computer and stay off the computer.  Foodstruments could be a way to bring people together, even if it doesn’t involve a married couple.  People have to eat sometime.  That is a simple inevitable fact.  The only issue I see with the site is that it doesn’t have recipes.  Adding recipes would be a great way to attract a new audience, and while we’re at it, why not link it to Phoronix?  That could bring in a whole new audience.

Unfortunately, it seems that too many of us out there are busy being offended.  Larabel stated that it wasn’t his intent to offend, yet people went on being offended anyway.  It sort of reminds me how too many people are fighting over the ethical implications of Mono to realize that Microsoft has essentially re-armed itself with Windows 7, thus diminishing chances of alternative operating systems being able give the Redmond giant a run for its money.  For those who are looking for a reason to be offended, please!  Get a life!

Thomas Holbrook II | *NIXEDBLOG 3.0

Related: [Phoronix] 550 Days Later, UT3 Linux Appears Dead.

One of the biggest arguments going against “Linux on the desktop” is often “lack of good games.”  Now there’s plenty of games to choose from on most distros.  Every now and then, a gaming company may decide to be truly multi-os or multi-platform and release their product for Windows, OS X, and systems running on top of Linux.

In the past, the makers of Unreal Tournament have had a decent track record in regards to releasing stuff under the Linux platform.  With UT3, the story’s now a bit different.  It has been over a year now, and there’s no port in sight.  There was not even any official word of what was going on.  This is not how you treat customers, and as far as I’m concerned, Epic Games deserves to be punished for this offensive behavior.  I have an interesting idea, but it’s still incomplete.  For now, just let this marinade in your mind for the entire weekend.

Thomas Holbrook II | *NIXEDBLOG 3.0

Related: The Linux Mint Blog » Blog Archive » Palestine.

I read an entry by Clem LeFavre, the founder of Linux Mint, a wonderful distro that I am running on one of my systems at the moment.  Version 6 is not too shabby, and I’m very excited to see the upcoming release.  After reading the blog linked above, either one of the two may happen:

• A: People may agree with Clem.
• B: People may disagree with Clem and decide not to use Mint due to him committing a “thought crime.”

Now I didn’t list it, but those who can see beyond their own personal bias for a moment may also realize that he was simply expressing an opinion and getting it off his chest.  Now for those who would rather have a quick summary of what he said, it’s quite simple.  He doesn’t like what’s going on in Palestine at the moment what with innocent bystanders being attacked and all.  Not only is his country passively supporting it, but so is the United States with funding going every year to Israel.  Unfortunately, there are those who are so foolish that they can’t see both sides of the whole story.  Allow me to give an example.

Our first douchebag is Scotty Bones, and here’s what he has to say:

I also feel disgust. I am disgusted with a nation of people who’s extreme racial and religious hatred for another race of people makes them think its ok to seek their complete and total elimination. I feel disgusted that they think it is ok for them to launch thousands of missiles into Israel. I am disgusted that these cowards hide among their civilian population in order to increase collateral damage when retaliation occurs. Israel has tried to make peace with these people. They have given up land and made concession after concession. And how are their efforts for peace repaid, By Palestinians fireing more rockets at them form the very land Israel gave up. I can feel no love for a people who elect a terrorist origination to run their government.

Here in America we try to respect the decanting opinions of others. But if you are petty enough, that you feel that people who do not agree with your opinion should not use your product, then consider it done. I had more respect for you than that, I can see now that it was misplaced. If you wish to remove my forum account as well, go right ahead, its Scotty Bones.

Thank you for your understanding. I can only hope that one day you open your eyes to the truth that is reality.

Respectfully signing off for the last time,
Scotty Bones

Well Scotty.  Guess what?  I too am an American citizen as well, and I disagree with the nation’s support of Israel.  As a matter of fact, I also disagree with funding other countries.  You see, I agree with Ron Paul’s stance on foreign policy: never get involved with entangling alliances.  Also, let me get this straight.  Just because enemies were hiding with civilian populations, it was perfectly okay to attack the civilians?  I call BS on that one.  Keep this in mind: So called terrorists may also be viewed as freedom fighters.  It all depends on perspective.  There are other individuals who declared that they wouldn’t be using Mint anymore, because its founder had the audacity to state their opinion.  Oh how dare he do such a thing on his own blog!  It’s his blog folks.  It’s his website!  Get over it!

Just for the moronic comments pertaining to the issue at hand, the next Linux Mint release will be the next stop on the Distro Journey after iMagicOS is evaluated in full.  For those who don’t truly respect Clem’s right to stating his opinion and why his views are what they are, I have one thing to say: Just shut the hell up.  You’ll look more intelligent that way.