And lo on Tue, 12 Feb 2008 15:59:05 -0000, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> did  
spake, saying:

> Phil Cook wrote:
>
>>> They have succeeded in convincing the general public that it's  
>>> "normal" for software to not work properly, and there's no real  
>>> competition to illustrate the falsehood of this idea. So why bother  
>>> making a better product when you can just continue ripping people off?
>>  To be fair they've failed to pass the blame on to the faulty/cheating  
>> device drivers that are more often the cause of the problems, to be  
>> unfair they should have written an OS that didn't allow faulty/cheating  
>> device drivers to function.
>
> You can't really prevent crappy software from being crappy. But when you  
> release crappy products yourself, and generally create the consumer  
> expectation that it's "normal" for software to not work correctly, why  
> are 3rd parties going to aim any higher?

As I implied a failure to educate users.

>>> If M$ suddenly started making really awsome products, people would  
>>> like it.
>>  Well yeah and as has been mentioned if Ford started making Rolls  
>> Royces at 'normal' prices then people would like that too.
>
> Software that works properly is *not* Rolls Royce design. It's *basic*  
> design! You don't go to a watch shop and hear "well, you can have this  

> actually tells the right time", do you? In a watch shop, *ALL* the  
> watches WORK PROPERLY! Even the absurdly cheap ones. Sheesh...

Er this from a guy whose sister bought him a new watch because the  
batteries weren't lasting in his old one. Crappy watch = short lived life,  
poor time keeping; quality watch = long life, perfect time keeping. Both  
watches work for a given value of work.

>>> What everybody hates is being forced to buy extortionately over-priced  
>>> crapware because somebody has illegally exterminated all competition.
>>  No-one's forcing you to buy a computer, no-one's forcing you to buy  
>> Microsoft products
>
> No-one's forcing you to buy a computer. But IF you buy one, it's pretty  
> much a certain that you *will* have to run M$ software on it. I tried to  
> escape, but it just can't be done...

Depends on what you want to run. Again, as has been pointed out before,  
for basic clerical work Linux works. The problems can be summed up with  
Nicholas's "That's the *basic* installation method on Linux. If you don't  
even know how to unpack a .tar.gz... you don't know Linux."

>>>> At least we've LiveCDs now that helps so much.
>>>
>>> BTW, have you ever used a Windows Live CD?
>>  I've yet to be inflicted with the pleasure.
>
> Norton Ghost.
>
> The old version I've got at work boots into PC-DOS and lets you run the  
> software. However, the newer version my Dad has boots into a Live  
> Windows and only lets you perform restores, not backups. You must  
> install the bloatware onto your HD to perform backups. >_<
>
> You know how CD-ROMs have a *really* long seek time? Well, for random  
> access, that's BAD.

Remind me, was Norton this bad before it was acquired by Symantec.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

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