think about this, this stupid newbie asks somthing in 4 words and doesnt provide the distro.
you could ask or just use the distro icon, since somtimes they dont even respond you could assume a newbie would only have one distro and use the icon.
sorry if this is offensive, just being realistic.

1) I strongly suggest that you refrain from using offensive descriptions for someone who may not have had time to learn the difference between Linux and Windows. (And I have noticed that you post mainly with Vista )

2) That only works in certain situations. While many 'newbies' do only have one distro, for one reason or another, they post their question from a Windows machine (school, library, work, etc.)

So far, the biggest advantage I see is that some (most?) members like to see their distro icon in their profile column.

It is not "realistic" for the reasons many of us have given. Newbies and even old dogs like me often post from one machine while asking about another (especially if the one being asked about is down). For you to assume that most people are posting from the the machine they're asking about seems silly.

It IS however "offensive" to talk about "stupid newbies". None of us were born knowing Linux or UNIX. It often amazes me how little tolerance some in forums and mail lists have for newbies. The whole point in such places is to ask questions so I often wonder why such trolls bother to subscribe in the first place.

1 members found this post helpful.

i still have used it many times to get the distro.
for example, if i forget i can just scroll to the top and look again.
i havent seen any arguments about it, i dont see much reason to keep it but i also havent seen any reason to take it off.

Microsoft purchased what may have been an unneeded license from SCO and they played a role in getting BayStar to invest $50 million in SCO. Yes, some way was eventually arranged for BayStar to get at least some of their money back.

test

I can't agree more with dragonslayer48dx about newb, it's not wise to judge by the cover by the way. And maybe, not all new member linuxquestion is "newbie" just because their just join.

About logo , i don't mind if on or off by default

Thank You. It seems like a lot of us forget why we are here. I know I came here to help give back to the linux community. Since I am not a c programmer it only seemed natural that I help by solving issues for others.

On another note we are all still students, and can even gain new ways at using linux to solve problems by listening and helping each other.

1 members found this post helpful.

pretty cool

I just wanted to point out that the OS from which I'm posting is Windows 7, but the icon reveals an older version of Windows.

What browser?

I don't believe this icon is a terribly important or useful feature. It's just more visual clutter on the page. Since it can be set by the user in his user agent string, it is no more reliable as an indication of what OS or distribution they are posting from than the distribution information in the user's profile.

I don't advocate eliminating the feature since many people seem to like it, and there's no reason why they shouldn't be proud of their distro of choice, and want to let others know about it. But I'd prefer to see it set in the profile rather than parse it out of the browser user agent string. That way a user can disclose it or not, and it would reflect his choice of distro, presumably the one he most wants to advertise, rather than the system he is currently posting from. That would seem marginally more useful if the intent is to help others identify the distro that a user is asking a question about. But in that case, the icon is no more than a graphic representation of the distribution information that can already be specified in the user profile.

Another reason why I'd rather see it set in the user profile is so that it is only accessible to this site, and then only by choice of the user who sets it. By setting your distribution in the user agent string for your browser, you make that information available to every site you visit unless you take care to use a privacy filter or proxy of some sort.

It should be noted that even when not logged in, I can tell that you run Slackware 12.2 and 13.0 as you have set your distribution and version numbers in your profile. There is no security issue with displaying the user string, all it shows is a pretty picture. It makes identifying other users of your distro easier and is one of the many things provided on the site for free.

You can, though, disable the icon in your user profile and it will not show up on your posts.

I understand what you are saying, but that's not what I was referring to. On this site, I am happy to declare that I am running Slackware 12.2 and 13.0. The information may be useful to someone who is trying to answer a question for me, so I willing supply it. But of course, it only shows up on this site since it is a profile setting for my user account on this site.

If I add Slackware to my Firefox general.useragent.extra.firefox string in my about:config settings, then I get a pretty picture on this site, as you pointed out. But it also becomes available to every other site I visit. I may not want that. That's why I'd rather see it as a user profile setting, and not as a browser user agent setting.

Well, it's not mandatory to set it up, only if you want to advertise your distro. As you can see from my sidebar, I haven't set up the string in Chrome so it isn't detected.

I am curious though, what negative effects do you experience from your user agent advertising your distro? It's already showing you as a Linux user...