For anyone who does not keep up with Rory’s BLOG, he’s been having a little back and forth with Martin Streicher, the editor of Linux Magazine. It started when Martin wrote a rather scathing “Letter from the Editor” in a recent edition of the magazine. Rory retorted on his BLOG, and copied the message to Martin. Martin has recently replied to Rory, thus opening up a brand new can of worms.
I find it rather fascinating that someone would write such a hate filled article (in a magazine, no less) then blatantly tout how much he hates maintaining his Windows PCs at home. Isn’t the open-source community supposed to be better? Wouldn’t rebuilding the system with Fedora and Open Office give you a more stable (and cheap) system and contain the basic necessities of all computers? I guess not. You see, Martin feels it necessary to keep multiple PCs with Windows (maybe they won’t work with Linux…that tells you something right there). In my opinion, this goes beyond curiosity over the competition.
Continuing on, since when did writing software for Windows or Mac make someone an expert on those systems? He wasn’t writing kernel level stuff here, were talking video games. Frankly, it doesn’t surprise me he had more problems developing against Windows than Mac. Why? Simple, Windows supports more hardware and installations. Therefore you’re going to see more conflicts between drivers, software, etc. Think of it in terms of a mechanical engineer. It’s much easier to develop some new device for a Cessna than for an F-117.
In an earlier post, I addressed some of the animosity between the open-source and retail communities. In the end, it goes back to convictions and whether or not someone has the courage to stand behind them. To rant and rave about how crappy Windows is and yet carry around a few installations of your own is rather stupid. It would be like if I were to complain that I hate Ford cars, and then go out and buy a Ford. I doubt anyone would give me any sympathy. Therefore, it’s hard for me to give sympathy to many of the open-source whiners out there. Still, there are a few that adhere to their beliefs, and, if nothing else, they have my respect.