Saturday, May 10, 2008

Being free is being "COOL"

Everyday i hear these advertisements and posters,screaming out the definition of "COOL", and how to transform yourself,if you are not.
People who dont smoke/drink for instance are straightaway labelled as uncool. Why ?? Because they dont cater to the definitions laid out by the advertisement/media industry,wherein a smoker can easily win over a girl,coz its supposed to reflect his machismo.
Though you are choosing not live that life,but still your freedom of choice is labelled as "UNCOOL".
While the same person who fags,confined under the contraints and definitions of "manliness" and "cool" as laid by media considers his action as "COOL" and "LIBRE".What kind of freedom is this,wherein your thoughts and actions are supposed to cater to some dynamic definitions.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

why MS is so mulish ?

Ive been a dedicated user of linux since december 2005, and the very first time i laid my hands on it,all my window panes went down.The very first thing i noticed while installing linux was its bootloader - Grub/Lilo.
Its ability to check for the presence of other operating systems (linux or windows) and its ability to load them in boot list. So one can easily switch over to os of their choice and not to forget the flashy "bootsplash" screen.While windows people have been following the policy of monopoly,so much so that they stench of it.If you ever tried installing windows over linux,you'd have noticed that it doesnt detect any other os apart from any previous windows installation.The windows bootloader will out of mercy wipe off any other os. I thought that vista would be loaded with a bootloader ala GRUB/LILO,but in vain.Though,even after that an intermediate/expert user can recover his linux installation. But the thing that im pointing here is "the attitude",though an expert can always recover from issues like this,but its the attitude of MS and its so obstinate,that even a basic bootloader screams of it. As it wipes off your linux from the boot sector,it screams of the perennial windows monopoly,that "if u cant win them,just buy/wipe them out"
attitude.