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Blog Archive 2005-December 2005-November 2005-October 2005-September 2005-August 2005-July 2005-June

Tue, 13 Dec 2005

Desktop Linux Today

In this blog entry James Robertson says he doesn't think Linux will ever exist as a viable desktop alternative because things don't "just work".

I'd encourage James and others to check out how far the Kubuntu and Ubuntu projects have come.

Everything on my laptop just works... as well as a desktop machine. Wireless cards, USB keys, etc. For me, it all just works. And since both buntus come with live CDs that you can run boot and run live, trying out the system doesn't require a partitioning or an install to your hard drive.

Out of the box you get an office suite, graphics editors, and a lot more. And they all just work.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of Windows and OSX, but neither comes with all the applications you need out the box.

I've used Linux since Slackware was the only game in town. There was a time that James was right.

But today? I'm not convinced. What do you think James? Willing to give Kubuntu a whirl? It might surprise you!

Jared

posted at: 18:15 | path: | permanent link to this entry

I Hate Email

Really. I do. Somedays more than others. Today? A lot. :)

Email is a very poor medium for communication. It's just flat text after all. ASCII. But it's one of the main communication methods geeks use. Andy Hunt often says that the bandwidth on email is limited and I experience that more somedays than others.

So what's wrong with email?

You can't see the smile or the frown. Whether you're the sender or the reciever, you have no idea what the tone behind the message is. You're left to assume the tone. Sometimes this works quite well. Sometimes it doesn't. When the reader is having a bad day, even a well-composed email can be interpretted poorly.

You can't stop talking in the middle of an email. In a face-to-face conversation I can see you getting angry or annoyed and stop talking. With email, you've got the entire message already typed out and if something strikes your reader the wrong way you can't snatch it back again.

So the tip for the day is this. When you recieve an email and you're just sure the person just attacked you, don't reply.

If you have an overpowering need to reply, remove all names from the To: field... this avoids accidentally sending out the message with a wrong keystroke. Then type up your reply and save it in your Drafts folder. Don't send it.

Then do one of two things. The first and best option is wait until tomorrow. Give it time to cool off and for everyone to get a little perspective. Sleeping on it is a great idea.

Second, walk over. Call. Switch the conversation to a better, richer communication medium. Make a personal connection with the person involved and find out what was really going on.

Assume it was innocent and see what happens. It won't always be a case of misunderstood intentions, but I find it very often is... and it's a very nice surprise when that happens.

Have a comment? Send me mail! :)

Jared

posted at: 12:34 | path: | permanent link to this entry