Obnoxious postings from Google Groups

[rurpy at yahoo.com]

On 11/02/2012 03:36 AM, Jamie Paul Griffin wrote:
> / rurpy at yahoo.com wrote on Thu  1.Nov'12 at 15:08:26 -0700 /
> 
>> On 11/01/2012 03:55 AM, Jamie Paul Griffin wrote:
>>> Anybody serious about programming should be using a form of 
>>> UNIX/Linux if you ask me. It's inconceivable that these systems 
>>> should be avoided if you're serious about Software Engineering
>>> and Computer Science, etc. For UNIX there are loads of decent
>>> news reading software and mail user agents to learn and use. slrn
>>> is a good one and point it at gmane.org as someone else pointed
>>> out. I can't even imagine using a browser or Google Groups, etc.
>>> now.
> 
>> Are you saying that this group is only for "serious" programmers?
> 
> I don't see where my comments suggested that this group is only for
> serious programmers. I simply believe that the UNIX platform, in
> whatever form, is better placed and designed for all sorts of
> computing and engineering projects. The history of UNIX speaks for
> itself. Many Universities that offer respected and credible science
> based degree programmes, namely engineering and computing programmes,
> strongly encourage students to become competent with UNIX systems.
> Windows in my opinion is really for those who use the internet on a
> casual basis or in a commercial environment where its staff are not
> necessarily computer literate and therefore need a platform that they
> can use which doesn't require them to learn more complex techniques
> and protocols. But, having said that, I'm not against Windo ws at
> all. I use it frequently and enjoy using it most of the time.

Wow, that makes me feel like I am back in the 1990s!  
Thanks for the trip down memory lane.  :-)

>> "serious" is also a matter of opinion.  I have some serious 
>> programmer friends who maintain, in complete sincerity, that 
>> serious programmers should not waste time on slow, script-kiddie 
>> languages like Python, but should be developing their skills with
>> serious professional languages like Java, C#, etc.
> 
> That is a narrow minded approach. different languages serve different
> purposes and it's down to the developer to use which language she
> needs to achieve what it is they've set out to do. Sometimes, basic
> shell scripts can be extremely powerful for certain tasks; other
> needs will require something different. I certainly wouldn't describe
> Python as a "script-kiddie" language. It's extremely powerful and
> modern. So there ;-P lol

Right.  I happen to agree with you and was just repeating
an elitist attitude I've often heard where what *I* use 
is for *serious* business and what *they* use is just 
for playing around, for those without as much technical 
competence as me, etc.

Without a quantitative definition of "serious" and some
objective evidence supporting it, your opinion that unix
is more "serious" than windows is as narrow-minded as my
friends' opinion (which was the point I was trying to 
make and which you seem to have missed.)

I don't particularly like Windows and am able to mostly 
avoid it these days, but think you should realize that 
describing it as not for *serious* use is going irritate 
some people and make you look like you are not able to 
make objective judgements.  

(I also hope I haven't just been suckered by a troll
attempt, windows/unix is better then unix/windows being 
an age-old means of trolling.)