[plug] MS Curriculum at schools and TAFEs ...

[Peter Wright]

On Mon, Apr 23, 2001 at 05:18:43PM +0800, Simon Scott wrote:
> > When did he actually claim he was going to test out all the software?
> > I specifically remember him saying that he wasn't going to have time
> > and was just going to look up the web sites etc.  
> 
> ooooooh, there's journalistic integrity. We all know that web sites and a
> bunch of guys on a local mail list consitutes indepth research.

Actually, I don't think he was pretending that it _did_ constitute in-depth
research. Quoted from his article, from the third paragraph:

  "I sent a message back, a small list of the programs I regularly use
  under Windows, and challenged the Linux penguins to prove there was
  enough Linux software out there for me to abandon the Borg once and for
  all."

  "The list was fairly ordinary: word processing, Internet, music and video
  applications. I wanted to retain the same functionality. My computer is a
  tool and I want the best tool."

He's not saying that he's tried them out himself. He's not offering any
particular judgement and certainly not pretending to do a serious review of
each of the mentioned applications. He's just giving what he refers to as
"the Linux crowd" a chance to say something about application availability
on their preferred OS.

> We all know that websites never lie,

And he did include the URLs to software websites in almost all cases -
which enables the readers themselves to easily verify at least that the
software exists and is available to download, and in some cases get a rough
idea of looks and functionality from screenshots/documentation.

About the only URL I'd suggest he missed was one that I doubt any of us
mentioned to him - the PLUG mailing list archive. As he said at the end of
the article: "There was a lot more to this conversation but I've run out of
space." Including a URL to the archives and instructions to look up the
thread(s) would have been great.

> but maybe next time he'd like to go straight to the source and ask
> Microsoft PR???

What would MS PR know about application availability on Linux? :-)

> Dont forget, this is a guy that thousands of people rely upon to do their
> research for them. This is a guy who should possess intimate knowledge of
> his subject matter and if he doesnt, spend the time to get it.

Again, I think your idea of what journalists should be is a tad optimistic.
Where would you draw the line? At what point does the knowledge become
"sufficient" for you? After a week of using Linux? Two? Three? Months?
Years? I've been using Linux for years and I certainly don't consider
myself as possessing intimate knowledge on every aspect of the OS or
the wide range of applications that run on it.

> He should make unbiased judgements based on said research. People rely on
> him for this. This is what he is paid to do, not just relay a bunch of
> quotes from a linux mail list and stuff gleened from some websites.

What would you qualify as sufficient research? I'm serious here, not just
taking the piss out of you ;). If you consider getting a copy of a program
and taking the time to seriously evaluate it - well, a proper review of
just ONE application can easily take up as much or more than his column
space as it is. Hell, have a look at his rather thin reviews of an app
(CubicEye) and a game (Legend of the Dragon) below the column. How many
apps were mentioned in his article?

*pete goes off and counts*

StarOffice
WordPerfect
Abiword
Corel Office (wasn't distinguished from Word Perfect)
Mutt
KMail
Netscape 4.x
Mozilla
Konqueror
Pan
Netscape 6.01
Opera 5
Gnapster
XMMS
XCDRoast
Gnome Toaster
Xine
Gimp

That's 18, not counting (cross-platform) games such as Q3 and UT.

> As someone else said, un-fucking-believable.

I hope you'll change your mind. I do think your opinion (and some of the
others expressed on the list) is/are overly harsh and judgemental. There
may be some things that he hasn't done right - however, if you want to
criticise, be specific. Quote your source. Explain why it's wrong,
preferably with evidence why, and quote your source.

Do the things that you're criticising him for not doing. :)

Pete.
-- 
http://cygnus.uwa.edu.au/~pete/

--
hundred-and-one symptoms of being an internet addict:
134. You consider bandwidth to be more important than carats.