LXer: Linux is a Monkey Wrench?

LXer · 02-10-2009, 10:50 AM

Published at LXer:

Linux, a mere tool? Blasphemy! Someone commented on one of my posts the other day, stating that Linux is a tool and not a religion. Can this be true? I would hate to think that for the past 15 years that I've invested in Linux, it would turn out that Linux is merely a tool, a--dare I say it--a monkey wrench?

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TITiAN · 02-10-2009, 12:54 PM

I believe that Free Software is more than a tool, it creates commotion, controversy, trouble and a lot of fun... but calling it a religion would really be exaggerated, I think.
Still, for me, it's not just about stuff we can use in a Linux distro, it's a philosophy, a passion, and there are (unfortunately, I believe) not so many people who share this view, as you can see in such comments.

H_TeXMeX_H · 02-10-2009, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TITiAN

I believe that Free Software is more than a tool, it creates commotion, controversy, trouble and a lot of fun... but calling it a religion would really be exaggerated, I think.
Still, for me, it's not just about stuff we can use in a Linux distro, it's a philosophy, a passion, and there are (unfortunately, I believe) not so many people who share this view, as you can see in such comments.

That's good, because if it were a religion, I wouldn't believe in it.

Anyway, I agree that GNU/Linux is far more than a tool. For one, it is freedom, it is a dream, to have an operating system that is FLOSS and have the system work and be developed in a cooperative manner by people all over the world, people who in many cases don't even know each other, but all strive for the same goal, and they succeed. Not only does it succeed, it flourishes, I believe the last quota was a line of code changes every 3 minutes in the unstable version. I don't think anyone can match that kind of dynamics, I think maybe that's what M$ fears the most.

Besides the freedom to develop it, there is also the freedom from enslavement. I think that's M$ goal:

"One World, One Web, One Program." -Advertisement for Internet Explorer
"Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuehrer." -Adolf Hitler

Furthermore, it gives you choice, and hopefully it will always stay that way. There's also BSD, and other OS's that offer choice.

TITiAN · 02-10-2009, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H

Besides the freedom to develop it, there is also the freedom from enslavement. I think that's M$ goal:

"One World, One Web, One Program." -Advertisement for Internet Explorer
"Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuehrer." -Adolf Hitler

I tried to research that, and it seems this isn't actually an IE ad.
Still a fitting idea xD

H_TeXMeX_H · 02-10-2009, 03:50 PM

It isn't ? Then what is it ? Just a joke ?

TITiAN · 02-10-2009, 04:04 PM

I searched it on google and on the m$ page; it appears this wasn't used as a slogan by m$.
I could be wrong (I actually hope I'm wrong here =P), but yes, that's just a joke.
Using a nazi-like slogan for your product isn't very popular in germany, after all (except for some *s, but let's ignore those).