4 ms·

So if they strike a deal with Apple, that's OK and fully transparent and open, but if it's with Dell or HP or any other MS-based laptop, that's evil? And what's

So if they strike a deal with Apple, that's OK and fully transparent and open, but if it's with Dell or HP or any other MS-based laptop, that's evil? And what's wrong with, say, a Linux or FreeBSD laptop? Here is another argument: the article states "the program is being paid for with existing resources at no extra cost to the taxpayer, which is good news in the current economic climate". Surely saving even more money by going with an open source alternative would have been better? I mean, it's worked for France ( http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/03/french-police-saves-millions-of-euros-by-adopting-ubuntu.ars http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/03/french-polic... ).

unalone 18y ago
Is there an open source alternative that's as easy to install and use? I mean, my computer network had problems and it was using Windows XP. I don't think moving to Ubuntu would have made things any easier. Open source OSes are very good for some things. "Get things done easily" isn't one of those things. People who aren't tech people get confused by a lot of stuff a lot of the time. Meanwhile, I've never met a kid who finds Macs confusing.
- pierrefar 18y ago
  If you want to nit pick, I can point out flaws in every single OS we have currently available. They're all as crap as each other but for different reasons just like they are as good as each other based on different features.
  - unalone 18y ago
    They're all as crap as each other Condensed rant: I HATE lines like this. We're talking about millions of lines of code that let you do anything you want to by looking at a screen and typing. When I was a kid I used a friend's typewriter and thought that was the coolest thing I'd ever used, and now I have TextEdit. There are flaws in everything. OS X has this flaw where it's not clear that I can only encode a certain length of video onto a DVD no matter how compressed I make the files. That's tolerable if a bit annoying the first time. Meanwhile, Ubuntu has this flaw where sound won't play, and where to install sound I have to go to Terminal, and if I type Bad Things into the terminal my hard drive will melt. If I have a choice between "slightly confusing DVD burning options" and "may melt a hard drive" I'll go for the slightly confusing thing. (Also, I assure you: I nit pick far worse than you do. I'm aware of every small little thing on OS X that irritates me.)
    - pierrefar 18y ago
      _There are flaws in everything._ That's exactly my point. Sorry if my wording wasn't as eloquent as it could be. Personally I use Ubuntu, Win Vista and OSX for various reasons and have love/hate relationship with all of them. Happy to compare nit picks :)

unalone 18y ago

Is there an open source alternative that's as easy to install and use? I mean, my computer network had problems and it was using Windows XP. I don't think moving to Ubuntu would have made things any easier. Open source OSes are very good for some things. "Get things done easily" isn't one of those things. People who aren't tech people get confused by a lot of stuff a lot of the time. Meanwhile, I've never met a kid who finds Macs confusing.

pierrefar 18y ago
If you want to nit pick, I can point out flaws in every single OS we have currently available. They're all as crap as each other but for different reasons just like they are as good as each other based on different features.
- unalone 18y ago
  They're all as crap as each other Condensed rant: I HATE lines like this. We're talking about millions of lines of code that let you do anything you want to by looking at a screen and typing. When I was a kid I used a friend's typewriter and thought that was the coolest thing I'd ever used, and now I have TextEdit. There are flaws in everything. OS X has this flaw where it's not clear that I can only encode a certain length of video onto a DVD no matter how compressed I make the files. That's tolerable if a bit annoying the first time. Meanwhile, Ubuntu has this flaw where sound won't play, and where to install sound I have to go to Terminal, and if I type Bad Things into the terminal my hard drive will melt. If I have a choice between "slightly confusing DVD burning options" and "may melt a hard drive" I'll go for the slightly confusing thing. (Also, I assure you: I nit pick far worse than you do. I'm aware of every small little thing on OS X that irritates me.)
  - pierrefar 18y ago
    _There are flaws in everything._ That's exactly my point. Sorry if my wording wasn't as eloquent as it could be. Personally I use Ubuntu, Win Vista and OSX for various reasons and have love/hate relationship with all of them. Happy to compare nit picks :)