Hatred of M$ at Robert Pogson

I have been accused of being a “hater” and I admit that, but at least I do something constructive about freeing people from M$. We discussed some PR from M$ recently about how loved they are and there is a follow-up on The Register and ZDnet.

The reasons given for hating M$ and the remedies demanded are diverse. Some of them I share. I think no matter what M$ does it can never remedy the evil it has done. Paying back money or issuing vouchers will not compensate for pain and suffering and days lost per user. No apology or new mission statement or even genuine change from within or without will erase the bad memories.

Read the comments on The Register. It’s a Who’s Who of grief. I would not buy a used lawnmower from these guys let alone a key part of the infrastructure of IT. Yesterday I bought a used John Deere mower. It is over 10 years old, and apart from a bit of wear is still serviceable. I bought it because my father owned one and it never gave a bit of trouble until a bearing gave out after about ten years on an acreage. I have an acreage now and need that kind of reliability. I know the thing will work indefinitely. People run them for 20 years. Compare the rep of JD v M$. What’s the difference? JD never tries to mess with anybody and M$ messes with everyone. We do not have to deal with M$ ever again if we choose not to do that. JD gets 284000 hits for “hate”. M$ gets 1000 times more. It’s not the haters that are the problem. It’s the hatee.

My Mission

My observations and opinions about IT are based on 40 years of use in science and technology and lately, in education. I like IT that is fast, cost-effective and reliable. I do not care whether my solution is the same as yours. I like to think for myself.

My first use of GNU/Linux in 2001 was so remarkably better than what I had been using, I feel it is important work to share GNU/Linux with the world. I have been blessed by working in schools where students and school systems have benefited by good, modular software easily installed in most systems.

I have shown GNU/Linux to thousands of students and hundreds of teachers over the years and will continue in some way doing that until I die in spite of the opposition.