Being an active member on tech forums, you come across some really interesting things and people. I have a lot of friends and readers due to these very forums. This article was in the making for quite a long time, but recent events on one of India’s biggest tech forums made me finally sit and write this.
Is Windows/Microsoft the biggest hindrance in FOSS adoption? Are FOSS supporters pro-FOSS or anti-MS?
The OS wars is a huge part of forum activity. I like these OS wars, they are a huge resource for learning about the history of an OS or some features not known about the OS. Then again, you come across some really dead head absolutely mindless fagots whose sole objective is to bash Microsoft & Apple (Microsoft more than Apple).
I find these guys to be like the great Osama Bin Laden. The guy who leads the group that caused havoc around the world.
Osama bin Laden, in the simplest terms, propagates anti-US feelings in the name of Islam. He uses Islam as a cover shield for propagating his agenda of generating anti-West feelings. What has he done in reality other than destroying the peace of the world? He has generated a huge amount of hatred against the religion of Islam in the eyes of the West and all others affected by terrorism.
A few forum members are no different. Their main objective to propagate anti-MS feelings and they do so using FOSS as a shield. I refer to these people as FOSS Fagots & hence the title. They will bash Microsoft for everything they do saying that it hampers FOSS. Are they actually promoting FOSS? No. As a matter of fact they are doing what Osama is doing, propagating anti-MS feelings in the name of promoting FOSS. This is detrimental to the development and adoption of FOSS by casual users. This move by some fagots actually is back firing very much like Osama’s. People want nothing to do with FOSS.
The biggest threat to FOSS adoption is not Microsoft, but these very people who abuse and try to show Windows users as bad and dumb. These so called FOSS supporters go around spamming in any and every post about Microsoft with links that show MS in bad, then in the same post say, support FOSS! I had sometime back made a post about the User Based Charity Initiatives by Microsoft on a forum and keeping in true Bin Laden style these anti-MS (FOSS Supporters) crapped that entire thread by calling MS a cheat and MS users low lives. The result, a lot of members felt that this move by the so called FOSS Supporters was absolutely cheap. A member on the forum went on to say that the self proclaimed FOSS supporter was someone in the modern world who is known as a thread crapper and not a FOSS supporter.
If that is not enough these FOSS Supporters publicly pledge their support for Piracy as an alternative to DRM! How cheap is that? Why? You have something against DRM, accepted, but saying that I pledge support to Piracy to keep DRM at bay, is really detrimental to the hard work put in by the huge community behind Linux.
Linux, from what I understand was supposed to be an open and free for all initiative, but now it has more become of an anti-MS initiative. Not really good for FOSS according to me. If you want to promote FOSS do it the right way, a method by which people will see the difference between FOSS and Windows and if they want they shall switch. Saying that I support Piracy or calling MS users as gays & morons does in no way help the FOSS cause.
I can take my personal example I was a neutral user, someone who wanted to try out FOSS but about 3 and a half years ago, this forum member & others constantly kept on hurling abuses and cursing Windows users, which turned me completely off FOSS and everything related to it. There are many like me.
Let me quote India’s first prime minister here, Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru said, “The biggest enemy lies within.”
Here is a quick guide that will ensure you become the biggest FOSS supporter and in turn it’s biggest vice:
- Spam every thread remotely related to MS with links showing MS in bad.
- Call MS users dumb, gays & morons.
- Pledge support to piracy to avoid DRM.
- Keep hurling abuses at Bill Gates in every thread.
- Bring Microsoft & abuse it in and every thread even if it has nothing to do with the same.
So, please think again, are you supporting FOSS or are you degrading the whole FOSS movement.
June 24th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Well written, presents the exact picture.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Why do you care? They think Mac users are dumb as OS X makes things very easy and intuitive! Don’t give a damn abt them. I feel it’s only because you people they get excited and bash MS at every other possibility.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Ah, OS wars, might be up there with System Wars.
SW can get quite pathetic you know, because majority of the flamers there are immature kids, atleast people who talk in OS wars are a bit grown up.
Or is it that kids who think they are ‘cool’ come and start spreading anti-MS propoganda knowing nothing about how OS work etc.
June 25th, 2008 at 2:17 am
Hi Manan,
I think the moderator Saurabh has banned me on thinkdigit forum. Can you please PM him and find out the reason?
Thank you
-Rohan Shenoy
June 25th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
^^ I was wondering why Rohan was banned.
June 25th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
I PMed him in the afternoon, haven’t yet got a reply from him. SO no idea. I asked Kalpik, but he said that the reason is known to Sourabh only.
June 25th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Hi Manan and Rajbir,
Saurabh banned me saying that I had gone offtopic and that I made personally offensive comments against a user.
I will take this issue after being free from ban.
Ban is for 2 days, prolly will be free on Friday early morning.
Till then, miss you all
Bye
June 25th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
See ya on Friday
Manan’s blog is now our new discussion place, just like a canteen in colleges
June 25th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Thanks :D,
I hope Manan will forgive us for this
btw I had not expected that my comment(see comment no 4 to this post) will be made public.
I had posted that comment because I had no way to speak to any of you. I thought that I will let Manan know, and then Manan will unapprove that comment because it ain’t related to this post. But he made it public and things continued
Sorry Manan
June 26th, 2008 at 5:11 am
Must say Praka has gone totally out of control. The very thought of using Linux after looking at the way he writes is sickening.
I think the FOSS guys themselves should knock some sense into him.
And did I forget to mention that Window$ $uck$ and Apple rocks?
As for you comparing this whole thing to Osama, are you sure he even exists? (And by exists, I mean as the evil terrorist from the middle east). This whole thing might just be/is a sham created by those american bastards trying to carve this world just a little more to make a few extra bucks.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:38 am
@Rohan: No issues man, I don’t mind you guys using this space as your canteen.
@Goobi: The conspiracy theory might be true might be not, either ways Islam has lost respect in the eyes of a lot of people, if Osama is real then due to a Islamic itself, if it were conspired by the US then they just pulled off the world’s biggest bluff and a political master stroke. They made Islam the villian with themselves being shown as damsel in distress.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I agree with manan, I mean if a person is using windows and someone comes and tells him hes and idiot and all stuff coz hes not using linux,that person will want to use linux. The human brains behaves in a pretty weird way. If it is told sumthins is goood use it, the brain will agree. If it is told you are an idiot using that use this it is good, the brain won’t agree this time.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
awesome ! I hate the praka guy you know!
He should be banned permanantly!
but dont use such nasty words!
-singular
June 26th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
@Kenshin: Exactly.
@Singular: Well, I’m Just Being Manan.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:41 am
The forums wars will stop soon one way or the other.
Everyone is getting fed up of it.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:22 am
Unbanned finally :D, so no more discussions here!
Thanks Manan
June 27th, 2008 at 10:55 am
@Pallab: Good to see you here, I feel that an end to personal comments & abuses should be brought and anyone abusing another member should be facing a ban and not the ones who are into a friendly OS war.
@Rohan: yeah, I saw you on the forum. Nice to have you back.
June 27th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Yeah, to an extent I agree. Although not every Linux user is a “Fossama”. Cheers.
June 27th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
lolz…much happened in Digit Forum !
July 4th, 2008 at 9:11 am
hmmm.. looks like the whole digit forum is here in this post.. anyway, nice post
July 5th, 2008 at 7:14 am
^ Yep, looks like everyone is here, Giga!
Btw, I agree with Manan and all of you. Sometimes, when I read the posts, I think of gifting him a self helf book that reads, ‘get a life’.