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I've got a new Linux box, how does it work... WOAH, only asking :-/

Here's what happens when Reg readers talk about Torvalds' toys

CoTW You're an average Joe. You have a Windows computer you're fairly fed up with, for whatever reason. So you decide to try out Linux. Yet, naturally, you're a bit confused about how it all works so you take to the support forums. What do you think happens next?

Firing up passions on both sides of the great Linux/non-Linux users' debate in this week's selected picks of poster excellence (and execrableness) was Taylor1, whose experience of trying Linux out generated tens of both upvotes and downvotes:

Wrong. That's exactly the attitude he is talking about. A few years ago, I gave a few versionsn of Linux a shot, got tire of Windows, didn't have the money for macs. So I downloaded and installed, played around, wasn't bad, not Windows good, but for free, hey, couldn't complain. But some advance things and even a few basic task required me to drop down to a command line. Not a problem, but I didn't know all the commands, structure, files,locations settings, ....you get the idea.

So I go online, decide to try the official forums located from the makers of these various Linux versions and ask a few questions. I found out very quickly those users liked to Insult new users who couldn't do simple task. Long story short, ice will ornomate Satan's firy relm before I go that route again. Lack of knowledge isn't the holdback with Linux, in my case, it was the behavior of the support.

Linux support is apparently a bit lacking. Perhaps it's worth what you paid for it?

In other news this week, we learned that the best way for hot babes to get a job in IT is, according to science, to proudly flaunt what they've got. It's not a question of gender, as this Anonymous Coward points out:

It's the skirts and nail polish. I couldn't get a job either until I ditched the make-up and dresses and I'm a 6'2" man of 17 stone so clearly gender isn't the issue.

Which seems fair enough to us. If you wear clothes which mean you aren't fitting in, social groups will probably reject you. Just ask any goth...

Meanwhile, silver-badged reader Vladimir Plouzhnikov was succinct and to the point in commenting on the news that the chief of Britain's National Crime Agency thinks the Snowden revelations have damaged public confidence in his ability to mine all of our data just in case someone might commit a thoughtcrime:

The [rogue NSA sysadmin Edward] Snowden revelations have damaged public confidence in our ability, ......, to access and use data in an appropriate and proportionate way,”

Well, if you'd accessed and used the data in an appropriate and proportionate way in the first place, then no rogue sysadmin's (or anyone else's) revelations could have damaged public confidence in your ability.

50 of you agreed with that noble sentiment, so expect the police to raid your homes and cart you off to prison at around 5am tomorrow.

Fellow reader Chas was even more succinct:

If you want to snoop on people, get a fucking warrant like you're supposed to, you lazy bastards!

A further 60 of you will be added to the gulag trucks in due course for agreeing with that blatantly terrorist sentiment.

In more technical news this week, we learned that Microsoft collects an average of $3.29 in "taxes" from Samsung for every Android device that it makes. Bronze-badged veteran TheVogon waded in, and he wasn't popular for saying this...

"How much would Samsung be paying Microsoft if Samsung was the US company, and Microsoft was Korean?"

The reason that Samsung pay Microsoft is that Microsoft spend a far higher percentage of revenue on R&D - and Microsoft accordingly have a much stronger patent portfolio.

Hence why Apple (a US company) have to pay Nokia (a non US company) similar patent fees....

"If you make an Android phone you have to pay Microsoft $3.29. If you make a Windows phone you have to pay Microsoft nothing at all."

And you also likely have to pay Nokia and Apple. But in this case Microsoft make more money overall - both from Bing search advert revenue - and from the Windows Store.

Yeah, no comment.

The Wooden Twig of Fail

This week's Wooden Twig of Fail, awarded to the comment judged least popular on El Reg during the last seven days, goes to Anonymous Coward, who decided to chip in with this missive about women in the IT workplace:

Well, what stupid comment on what to wear at work. Women tend to dress smartly for work whatever job they have, while men turn up un-combed, un-kempt, unshaven and look scruffy in a dress down atmosphere of an office. By dressing down you just end up merging with the other coding clones and disappear into the ether of background noise.

Why shouldn't someone, man or woman make the effort to dress for work or dress smartly. I'd rather have a smartly dressed woman working next to me than a dressed down jeans wearing apology.

And if she has great legs and a short skirt..... Even better!

And if you made more of an effort you'd be more successful and pull.

We can see why everyone downvoted that so heavily. A touch of Dagenham (three stops beyond barking, you uncultured lot) with a slight touch of sexism and general misanthropy to boot.

And the winner of the Golden Vulture Dropping of Excellence is...

Going back to that earlier story about the friendliness of Linux support forums in times gone by, Captain DaFt's anecdote about the situation then and the situation now was so universally popular we couldn't not award it Comment of the Week:

Wow, that's actually a blast from the past! In the 1990s it seemed it was prerequisite to rag the the newcomers and defend Linux against any and all attacks, real and imaginary.

Back then:

Skorp:"Hi, I'm new to Linux and have hit a snag. How do you frebnle?"

Dekl: "LOL RTFM, NOOB!

Kewy: "Yeah, LOL, man pages are there for a reason... NOOBZ, AMIRITE?

The proper way was to attack to get an answer:

Skorp: "Linux is sooo lame, it can't even handle something simple like frebnle!

Derkl:"That's just typical M$ FUD!! All you have to do is ]p[io/frpn in bash, job done!

Kewy:"LOL, he said frebnle, not drebnle, cockface! Look, I've just wrote a script to Frebnle in Linux, {download here} Just unrar that in usr/share, bash frebnle and you're good to go! See? Easy! Linux does everything!"

Today, most distros have forums for the newbies, and even the dumbest question will usually result in no more than a link to the FAQ or post dealing with the answer.

Ask a question and you'll get the answer. Surely that is all we need to navigate through life? ®

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