Linux article in the times

[glenn at aoi.ultranet.com (Glenn Burkhardt)]

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>From owner-flexfax-outbound at celestial.com Thu Apr 24 11:26:49 1997
From: evan at telly.org (Evan Leibovitch)
Subject: Re: Linux article in the times
To: h9025909 at asterix.wu-wien.ac.at (Hermann Himmelbauer)
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 1997 10:24:11 -0400 (EDT)
Cc: flexfax at sgi.com
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Sender: owner-flexfax at celestial.com

Hermann Himmelbauer writes:

> I know that a lot of you are not affected but I also know that a lot
> of you are using linux.

> The times has published a _very_ irritating article about Linux last
> Sunday. I really have to say: I never read such a piece of shit.
> [...]
> If you feel like me, do something against it - write a comment to
> the times or whatever.

This isn't really worth getting in knots over, you know.

Considering the inflammatory and insulting language the author used,
you just know that

a) You're not going to change his mind with a letter.

b) he's tried (and apparently succeeded) to prod many of his 'geek'
   targets to reply in anger, exactly what he wants. If this letter
   had appeared on the newsgroups, it would have been branded a 'troll'.

Newspapers and columnists love to be loved, and they love to be hated.
What they can't take is being ignored, or for people not to care.
Your hate mail is substinance for the author and the Times. The author
gets to feel vindicated of his 'geek' remarks and the Times gets to
feel it is being taken seriously by the computer literate.

I prefer to look on the good side. This fellow, one way or the other,
has called attention to the magazine that distributed the Linux CDROM.
And that, no matter how you look at it, is a Good Thing. Those who
are of like mind to the author, who label the computer literate as
'geeks', wouldn't be buying the computer magazine anyway, for that
act itself would confer upon them a badge of geekdom.

BUT... to those who just might happen to secretly identify with the
author's description of a geek, as insulting as it was... to these
people, the Times has just called attention to Linux! Computer fans
who don't normally buy this magazine might consider doing so, just to
have a look at 'the program from hell'. Why would the magazine's editors
choose to put such an awful program on that issue's CDROM?

If this author's rant gets *one* person to buy the magazine and look
at Linux out of curiosity, to install Linux and have a genuine critical
look, isn't that a Good Thing?

Publicity, even negative publicity, is good. The Times has discovered
Linux, and considers it a significant enough work to deserve such
criticism.  One can easily see from the author's tone his own fear of
computers and intimidation by those who are comfortable with computing.
Those intelligent enough to see the underlying tone (and the Times does
attract a reasonably intelligent demographic, it doesn't depend on
topless women to get readers) will be intrigued to find out just
what could get this geek-hater so worked up... what is he scared of?

(After all, when someone prominent says "don't do X", it usually
causes more people to discover what X is, than to actually heed the
warning. I've heard that record companies often *want* those parental
advisory stickers for some albums -- forbidden fruit and all that...)

Indignant replies are futile: the way piece was worded, even the
most even-toned and reasonable rebuttal can be shrugged off as the
ranting of the geeks.

So take it easy, save your writing talents for something more worthy
of your opinions, and take comfort in the fact that Linux is getting
a rise out of people. Sure, it's not the most preferred reaction, but
it *is* reaction. And such reaction, even bad, can only lead to curiosity,
and the creation of such curiosity about Linux can never be a bad thing.

-- 
 Evan Leibovitch, Sound Software Ltd, located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario
Supporting PC-based Unix since 1985 / Caldera & SCO authorized / www.telly.org
   "Windows for Dummies" isn't just a book title, it's Microsoft philosophy


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