Orchid XP v8 wrote:
> Weirdly, this kind of thing never seems to happen on Windows. I guess 
> because "Windows" is one monolithic block of software, whereas "Linux" 
> is several billion tiny pieces, all of which are in a sense optional.

It's more like people actively avoid using what doesn't come with Windows, 
or they buy libraries for support that allow redistribution. When's the last 
time you bought a Windows program that had documentation in PDFs but didn't 
have adobe reader on the CD, or a game that didn't have a DirectX install 
directory on it, or etc?

When there are big enough packages that people *do* want to rely on them 
(say, .NET runtimes), you wind up installing prerequisites.

> over IRC seems to be like getting blood out of a stone. I guess 
> everybody is in a different timezone to me?

Or, maybe, you're not paying them so they don't care? :-)

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   "Ouch ouch ouch!"
   "What's wrong? Noodles too hot?"
   "No, I have Chopstick Tunnel Syndrome."

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