ANY Linux users are secretly pleased with the current state of Linux adoption, which is rather slow and yet steady. Others are somewhat disappointed that it remains a minority among the ‘operating systems pie’.

Many people out there wish to migrate to Linux, genuinely and wholeheartedly so. This move is often prevented by fear, as well as impulsive attempts to jump onto Linux without that initial and temporary dual-boot ‘cushion’. Sometimes, the former fact, namely the desire for eventual change, makes Linux users victims of others’ envy. Sometimes, the latter is a cause for admiration, for Linux users are falsely collectively believed to be masters of the command line, as well as code wizards of the unknown. It is a fallacy, a misinformation that must be fought. Linux has become very trivial to use and set up. It can be bought pre-installed from large vendors too, with full support.

Meanwhile, many failed migrants remain underpaid yet overworked due to viruses and related issues. The mind boggles: what is it that led wide audiences to believing a Linux user’s life revolves around computers and troubleshooting? Wishful thinking probably. For instance, when things go awry for a Windows user, there is usually a neighbour or a friends to voluntarily help. So, a Linux deficiency is prevalence of skills, not the operating system in its own right.

To borrow another key point, many would whine about hardware support in Linux. Yet, the horses must be put before to carriage. Hardware which was originally bought for Windows need not necessarily be compatible with all platforms. The move to Linux is a worthwhile investment, not an overnight change of pyjamas.

Bill Gates arrested in his younger days (photo in public domain)

Foreword: I syndicated Robert Scoble’s blog for a few months in the past, mainly in order to keep an eye on Microsoft’s ‘software politics’ and developments. I thought I would see the nicer face of an aggressive corporation, but I soon dropped it like a hot plate.

consider very few things to be “shocking”. There are very few things as adverse-to-logic and even shocking as Robert Scoble using Firefox and running his blog on WordPress (LAMP technology). This has been the case ever since his so-called ‘Net dad’ had weblogs.com sold out to VeriSign — a rather evil company. Scoble is a Microsoft evangelist, but he decided to practically infiltrate a world of Open Source. At some stage, it ended up badly.

Before Scoble became Dave Winer’s ‘surrogate child’, he wasn’t doing anything too admirable, but he was among the first people to blog. Then, years later, he would rave about ‘RSS this and RSS that’. It was Winer’s technology. Scoble only understands computers as a user, rarely realising the underlying issues in depth. He is no developer and no great writer either, yet his reputation and momentum, as well as being outspoken and critical of Microsoft while being paid by them is what makes him somewhat exceptional. His reputation is overrated.

When it comes to technology, I found that Scoble cannot tell his ass from his face. Microsoft employed him only because of his Web statistics. It is a public relations trick — companies buying readership (through popular voices) and promote propaganda to improve the Windows brand name and image. Microsoft had plans of employing many freelance bloggers to promote evangelism, using money. Scoble now runs on Linux and when I mailed him about it, he could only come up with a lame excuse about this choice.

If you seek a popular blog to aggregate, skip Scoble. It is an utter waste of time. Grossly overrated.

In line with my recent inclusion of personal philosophy:

I try quite hard never to eat outside my house.

The intent is to minimise exploitation of others through labour.

Perhaps I simply dislike the notion of “classes” in society.

Without restaurants, you see, people would do what they have passion for.

Many waiters, waitresses, cooks (not chefs), and cashiers seem unhappy.

People at a production-line fast food kitchen feel imprisoned.

I would know because I worked at Burger King for a year.

I still believe that many of us could cater for our own culinary needs.

Having let my opinion be heard, I feel quite relieved, so thanks for reading.

Sidal, timely note: I am beginning to feel that I would rather blog about personal opinions at the expense of news items and some daily ‘geekery’ of mine.

Season of the playful penguins from Oyonale

INUX is spreading exponentially, or is at least nearing that pace. But how does the expansion work or what is it based upon?

One person learns Linux, thereby acquiring experience and knowledge (not necessarily expertise). It is a self-taught approach which involves a valuable learning curve. In turn, parents the friends, among other parties, get exposed and that ‘Linux knowledge’ is passed on. Colleagues form a more positive mental image — that which breaks preconceptions as to what Linux looks like (no bug-riddled applications and command-line stereotypes). That impression is then passed on, it propagates.

Knowledge is power. The ability to support the operating system of peers makes Linux adoption like an avalanche going down the hill. Knowledge and familiarity only needs that flame that lights it up and starts the domino effect. Linux will spread like fire as soon as it gains steady inertia. It is only a question of momentum and we are on the cusp of significant changes.

HERE is a certain stigma or two among Web designers. Blaming of Web design be attributed to miscomprehension of design principles. Take for example some astigmatic accessibility issues, among other key factors such as browser ‘racism’. These mistakes illusrate clumsiness in Web design and infuriate minorities, which comprise equally-important Net citizens.

Pedagogues in the field of design are either unaware of accessibility matters, or they cannot be bothered with them. In due time, they recommend Flash, user-agent (Web browser/reader) sniffing and the like — all of which are bad practices for the large majority of sites, if not all. It is dishonourable to many users who must suffer due to such cretins, owing to laziness in learning and implementation.

Then comes the issue of content, which can assume user proficiency at times and thus leaves many surfers baffled. The author must escort the less technically-inclined hand-in-hand. For example, one should always abstain from equivocal text that does not attempt to clarify the main points made. In my sites, I tried to incorporate a full ‘acronym striping’ facility, using style sheets. Those of us to whom English is not the mother’s tongue should hopefully be able to digest the key points.

In summary, there seems to be dissociation and estrangement when it comes to the small majority of visitors or customers, i.e. there is no desire to give contentment to all. This is one of the biggest crimes committed in Web development, authoring and design, more so in cases where the site gives exclusive information, e.g. where it serves as a gatway to governmental agencies.

EOPLE’S opinions and favourite choices are respresentative of their individuality. Mocking these things is like mocking the person. In practice, admitting that you detest a particular film or song would upset anyone who likes it, not only those involved in the production. To expand on this point, merely anything we choose is a representation of our choice and judgement, so it can be a person’s default search engines or primary operating system.

One way to be liked by others is to praise everything they like and stay quiet otherwise. Either like everything, remain impartial and rave about nothing that gets you hyped up. An outspoken character has very few merits, but we sometimes need to unburden ourselves and be critical.

The Wall Street Journal has taken an overview on per-for-use campaigns, which have become the norm among search engines.

Microsoft Corp. launched a campaign last week
offering $1 million in prizes…
…to users of its MSN search engine

…roughly a cent to a charity of the user’s
choice every time a search is conducted on
its Yahoo-based search engine…

…Amazon.com Inc. offers regular users of
its A9 search engine a 1.57% discount on
most Amazon.com purchases…

… Blingo.com, powered by Google, gives
away prizes like iPods and movie tickets
to lucky users who happen to search at
random times…

Users are getting paid to get served (and absorb advertisements in the process). In due time, this builds up loyalty and dependency. Yahoo offer many other benefits, which are not mentioned in this article. Google rewards people for using Firefox, which is a separate-yet-related matter altogether.