Published at LXer:

MCFARLAND (WKOW) -- Abbie Schubert paid more than $1,100 for a Dell laptop hoping to enroll in online classes at MATC. But something stopped her: Ubuntu.

[From the 'Computers should be licensed like cars' file. - AZ]

Read More...

Is it just me or does this story bother anyone else. I'm wondering how this kind of s**t makes it into the news. Now that I've seen several of these kinds of articles, all involving women, I'm wondering if there is some sexism behind this as well. I mean I realize that many, if not most, women are (to be politically correct) underrepresented in the field of information technology devices, but to bring into the news these kinds of, I would say, extreme cases of computer illiteracy and ignorance can't be good for the general image, ya know.

Well, maybe it's just me.

The main problem is that it is winter in Wisconsin and, well, not much happens. Since the local "news" organization still has time to fill, this kind of crapola gets tossed out there. It is highly likely that the entire WKOW news organization is just as clueless as the woman in question. Personally, I stopped watching all sorts of "news" shows because any time a story needing even a minimal level of scientific or technical expertise is done, they almost always screw it up. My throat was getting sore from screaming obscenities at the TV.

I don't think that there is any sexist agenda, it is just that when men screw up, they tend to keep it to themselves.

Yeah, I guess, but this is definitely flamebait, in just a few hours it racked up more than 1000 comments on slashdot.

I'm not so sure it's flamebait, but rather just a very sad example of the fact that when it comes to science and technology, your average American is pretty much a complete fucking moron.

It's not that they're morons, it's just the fact that they have no awareness of or interest in operating systems: Windows, Linux, whatever. All they want is to use the applications: word-processors, browsers, etc. If they expect to see the most familiar things, M$ stuff, and don't get it, well...PANIC!

I can try but I can't understand this woman.