Unfortunate Ubuntu media coverage

[Peter]

Phillip Mills <phillip.mills1 at ...> writes:
> > I can't help but ask myself, have you or your
> > friends ever tried a Mac ?
> 
> If various definitions of freedom -- and applications requirements -- 
> don't get in the way, then this has been my recommendation since the 
> origin of OS X.  I like the idea that I can choose from moment to 
... <snip>

One more thing: Invariably discussions around this theme lead to political wars.
Beyond politics, people have a simple choice: pay for an integrated product that
does what they need, such as a Mac, or pay very little for a bootable Linux
image on CD or DVD and live with the tiny problems that may occur, problems
which may require some help from a discussion group (like this one) to sort out,
or even a paid session with a professional linux expert who will actually
customize a bootable distribution to perfectly suit the person's needs (and I
have done this repeatedly in the past). So there are lots of choices but
comparing apples with prunes (full Linux distribution install vs. crippleware
vs. boot-and-use appliance style computers like Macs) is not fair, and does not
serve the community (ANY community). Clueless journalists writing 4 page
articles about Linux based on notes and discussions with 'experts' (some of whom
are paid employees of various interested parties) is not exactly the best news
source in the world, and blogs are in the same category since it has become
common knowledge that bloggers can and do get paid for what they write. Remember
that viral advertising works in both  directions (both as a smearing campaign
and as an awareness raiser).

Peter


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