[luau] Hat 7.3 / Drake 8.2 / Simplicity

[W. Wayne Liauh]

I really don't feel like responding to this thread.  But I feel that I 
must take a very unpopular position here.

One of the best considerations of Linux is, of course, the worldwide 
"free" user support.  However has anyone ever thought what the 
consequence will be if everyone takes this "free beer" attitude for 
granted?

There are free advice "doners" and there are "donees".  Most of us are 
donees, who, of course, would like to have everything given to us free.  
Not only do we want our questions answered free, we also want to have 
them immediately.  Within the former catogory, there are also causual 
doners like many of us who don't care about getting paid to help 
others.  But we should also respect the possibility that eventually 
there will be "professional" Linux service providers (there are already 
some), who may be more than willing to give out their services free, but 
they, like any other ordinary person, have bills to pay, a family to 
feed, and a mortgage that will be there even after they go six feet under.

On the MandrakeExpert issue, 85% of the fees go to those qualified 
"experts".  A "Mandrake expert" starts out by giving "free" advices, 
then when his/her knowledge is recognized by the community to have 
reached a certain level, s/he will start getting paid.


Joe Linux wrote:

> Well I disagree about paying to have questions answered.  We are here 
> as a group to help each other.  I have helped you, you have helped 
> me.  I have helped Warren, he has helped me.  That's the way it should 
> be. While the goal of running Windows software on a Linux system is a 
> noble one, I would rather see Linux become very strong in the user 
> friendly department and thus attract more users.  With a a large user 
> base there should be more incentive for good native Linux software.  
> I'm actually rather committed to just running native Linux stuff and 
> forgetting the rest.  The reason I say this is that I had a Mac PPC 
> 6160 Dos Compatible.  It actually had a 486 processor in it and the 
> two processors booted simultaneously.  What it taught me is that one 
> operating system running under the control of another one is not the 
> best of solutions as it it overly complex.  In the 60's there were a 
> lot two engine top fuel dragsters, but now all the records are set by 
> cars running just a single engine.  The Indy Racing League started up 
> and one of the changes they made was to remove the turbo chargers from 
> the cars. Now the qualifying field for this year's Indy 500 was the 
> fasted ever by quite a few MPH.  Wine and crossover may be good in the 
> short term, but they are bad in the long term.  But to each his own.  
> If you want to struggle with an overly complex system go right ahead, 
> but I prefer a car with hand crank windows and a standard transmission.
>
> W. Wayne Liauh wrote:
>
>> We have to learn that sometimes, or most of time for Windows users, 
>> we need to pay to have our questions answered.  Mandrake has a 
>> MandrakeExpert, where you can pay to have your questions answered.)
>>
>
>
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