wish i had a clue stick to smack buffet upside the head!

[Jamon Camisso]

ted leslie wrote:
> you are of course assuming that the stamping out of innovation over 7-10 years of MS
> hasn't amounted to global loses of in excess of  trillions of dollars, making all these
> donation numbers strictly "tiddly winks" of a return against the massive losses racked up world wide
> over the years.
> 
> -tl

Indeed I am in this case. Call me a bleeding heart, but I do think
sometimes instead of helping ourselves make things incrementally better,
our efforts and dollars would make much more of a tangible difference in
the quality of life for other people who are suffering in the world. Now
of course Linux can play a part in that endeavor, don't get me wrong,
for computing is not simply a lifestyle choice for many now.

It's tough to not think about things in binary -- I do agree that if
said hypothetical (or real for that matter) losses amount to any
substantial amount you could argue that innovation and such would mean
more wealth to redistribute/spend on said charitable endeavors. But
again, the fact is, Buffet seems to be attempting to do some good, as
are Gates and his wife. There is such a thing as redemption in my mind,
and I honestly think it would be a great thing indeed (ironic even?) for
the Gates' and Buffet to spend the money they've extracted from people
and companies over the years on charitable projects that we would never
have donated to in the first place for wont of maintaining our petty
middle class comforts.

That being said, I wouldn't have discovered computers without said
middle-class status... so it goes. Regardless, we're here now, someone
is trying to make a difference in the world. That someone *can* affect
the quality of life of a large number of people to a considerable
degree. Let's not forget that is really my entire point.

Jamon
--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://tlug.ss.org
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://tlug.ss.org/subscribe.shtml