Hi,

Interesting article!

Linux: We're All In This Together, Right?

Most users are helpful, some are blunt but still helpful...

Some new users are lazy, arrogant know-it-alls who demand step by step instructions tailored to suit their needs. It's these people who tend to run off and write articles like the one you linked to.

Then there are fanbois who like to post "window$ sucks!"/"distro xyz sucks!" and there always will be (There's also the complete failure of many to separate the banter from the outright hate - they also run off with their tail between their legs and write a silly blog...).

The idea that all of these people need to somehow "unite" is somewhat naive as very few of them are developers and all of them are using some distro or other because they prefer it to some other distro - that's kind of the whole point... If something is shit, it should be said, without it being seen as divisive or as evidence of distro vs distro fanbois. In my opinion the uninformed who write these tech press blogs, do so for the sensational effect and to encourage plenty of comments, links and hits and not much else.

All distros have pros and cons, no one distro is perfect. But I don't see many GNU/Linux users bashing fedora, gentoo, debian, etc, etc... I do see people bashing 'buntu, but perhaps there's a reason for that? Perhaps just perhaps, if a distro has been getting a lot of flack, despite being popular, there is a valid reason for that - and despite the official forums efforts to censor criticism and perma-ban those who do not conform, this will get out eventually and GNU/Linux users, who have freedom of choice, will make up their own minds. Perhaps the fact that Linux Mint has overtaken 'buntu is evidence of some users voting with their feet? It's easy enough for someone just dismiss anyone they may disagree with as a "hater", but that makes them no better than their perception of them.

The divisions will always exist, it's the nature of the beast. From my perspective, it can only be a good thing.

Yeah, I wonder about those reasons, sometimes. Well, I have no reason to bash Ubuntu or any other Linux distro. If it works here, fine, I'm glad to get an operating system at no cost to me. If it doesn't work here, then it doesn't work. Either way, I appreciate that people took the time and effort to put it out there for other people to use.

If you see some things that are wrong with a distro and you point those things out, that's one thing; but a lot of the bashing, especially with regards to Ubuntu, seems like... pointless bashing... to me, anyway. Seems like a lot of people react negatively whenever somebody tries to do something different, and Canonical has been trying "different" things all along -- for better or for worse, but at least they try. I hope they continue to stir things up.

If I react badly to Canonical and Shuttleworth, it's because I don't like tax dodgers. I pay my taxes and I don't see why the rich can't do the same. When Shuttleworth transfers his money out of a poor country into a tax haven, that's not what I'd call "ubuntu" (Zulu for "humanity"). And it's a rotten distro.

I also bash Ubuntu, and they do deserve it. Just because it has a Linux kernel, doesn't mean it is Linux ... see Android.

Democratic systems always trickle up. In fact, the real meaning of the word has nothing to do with majorities. It literally means "rule by the governed" or "by consent of the governed" to quote the founding fathers of the USA. Authoritarians hate Democracies and want to make everything trickle down from their high horses. I suggest you read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ca...and_the_Bazaar

The way things are currently going in the "community", Linux as we know it may cease to exist. Now go rewrite all your progs to use SELinux and the new cryptic /dev/sr0 device names, or else!

I for one have seen a lot of what this article was talking about. I hate to say it, but some of the moderators are the worse of the bunch as far as sarcasm, picking, etc. go. I have seen new users get on who don't know a kernel from a CLI get picked apart because they don't. I have also seen much selfishness and, dare I say it, piggishness between the users of various operating systems.

Of course, not all Linux users are like this. Hopefully we can all better help each other and the community that we live in. United we stand divided we fall!

Cheers,
Nbiser

Sometimes united we fall.

Hi,

Care to provide some examples? If you indeed see this occur then please use the <Report> button so we can hopefully correct the situation(s).

Here at LQ, we do have rules: LQ Rules so as to prevent this from occurring. Nothing wrong with a good positive interaction between members who disagree.
Most member interaction here at LQ are positive but sometimes opposites do not always reply to each other appropriately. That's when a Mod should help resolve the situation.

"New" is a relative term that you and I could understand and apply differently, but the /dev/sr* device has been in Linux from the very earliest times. It designates SCSI "ROM" devices.

This sr.c device driver with a copyright of 1992 has a module description "SCSI cdrom (sr) driver" - http://lxr.free-electrons.com/source/drivers/scsi/sr.c

Cryptic, perhaps, but no more so than /dev/hd* or /dev/sd*. I wouldn't call it new.

We may indeed be fortunate that we do not have such moderators here. Quite the opposite ...

And as for the "inevitable posts," well, that's what you get when you put a podium in a public place. The mere fact that someone is standing upon it and exhausting his or her "15 minutes of fame" does not, however, mean that you must (or should bother to) listen to them, let alone respond. It will thus merely be a brief disturbance in the wind.